Nonprofit Fundraising-Fund Development

Rogare’s U.S. Critical Fundraising Report… Prepped by cool colleagues… Pay attention to the bad news!!

• State of public trust and what it means for charitable giving.
• Stagnant donor retention rates and national giving levels.
• Tax reform and what it means for charitable giving.
• A look at diversity, inclusion, and gender equity in fundraising.
• The rise of data, technology and social media – and their effect on fundraising.
• The rise of social fundraising.
• The current and anticipated talent crisis.

Check out the Rogare blog. Rogare…the fundraising think tank – and home of critical fundraising.

Read the US Rogare report that focuses on critical issues facing US fundraisers. It’s not a pretty picture – and we’d better fix this pretty darn soon!!!!!

Maybe my next newsyletter will focus on how to measure fundraising.

BUT ONLY IF YOU ALL SEND ME YOUR THOUGHTS!!! 

I’m thinking 2 kinds of measuring:

Measuring our institution’s fundraising performance. What would those measures include? For example: Organizational culture. Culture of philanthropy. Fundraising body of knowledge and applying research.

Measuring the performance of the chief development officer. What would those measures include? (And I’m telling you right not, “making goal” is not an appropriate measure!!!!)

Ideas? Send them to me.

There’s a difference!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I’m tired of hearing about giving through the internet or through social media or…. is increasing. Do you mean “PAID ONLINE” or “SOLICITED AND GIFT GIVEN THRU ONLINE ACTIVITIES”.

I just loved your print donor newsletter. Loved that article about what ME and other donors like me did… And so I rushed to my computer and sent you a gift through the your website. (And then I visited Amazon and bought a book.)

Your direct mail (PRINTED!) made me really angry — which was what you wanted to happen. And the outside of the envelope made me open it immediately. I ranted all the way to my computer and made a gift through your really cool giving button.

OR

You periodically send out really cool little videos about the kitties. Your most recent one was so hysterical that I clicked on the link and made a gift.

There’s a big difference!!!!! REALLY BIG!!!!!! Quit conflating the two. JUST STOP IT NOW!

And work hard to distinguish and count PAYING ONLINE or GIVING IN RESPONSE TO THE ONLINE SOLICITATION.

YES THIS MATTERS….. LOTS!!!

Watch this video. Show this to your board. Share the video with your staff.

Maybe if everyone in the sector sent this video to every single foundation and corporation…. And the GOVERNMENT!!!!!!!! And even some of those individual donors. Hmmm….

Click here: WHAT IF PIZZA SHOPS WERE FUNDED LIKE NONPROFITS?

Maybe have this on a big screen scroll in the lobby of your organization. Maybe send this to every single taxpayer in your town, city, province, state. (I know. I’m getting carried away.)

Thanks, Bloomerang for sharing this MARVELOUS VIDEO and everything else you do all the time. Love you.

Make sure you know the difference. Make sure you know how important soft skills are.

Hey out there….fundraisers and fundraiser bosses… Check this out: Hiring effective sales people requires identifying the soft skills and traits that are fundamental to success. WOW. I soooooo thought of fundraising.

What to ask a candidate: “What motivates you as a sales profession?” 2 columns. Good answers (Go Green!!)    Potential red flags…

And those potential red flags sound so much like bad fundraising:

“The thrill of closing a deal keeps me coming back….I’m driven to come out in first place every quarter and to really maximize….I’ll do whatever it takes to grow our customer base. I won’t take ‘no’ for an answer!” This is not, actually, good motivation. This is quite questionable.

Have you ever heard talk like this in fundraising? Has your boss ever told you something like this: “You didn’t talk about us? You spent 2 hours with the donor and didn’t tell her why we need money and what for? If you ever do that again, I’ll fire you.”

I just love those initials WTF…. I mean really.

Really. I really mean, read this thing about motivation and inspiration and…. Click here now. Then think about your organization.

Once upon a time, there was a young girl (5 years old) named Sophia.

Sophia and her mom were watching the movie The Princess Bride.

In this one scene: Our hero Westley – and his beloved Princess Buttercup – flee through an icky landscape with many icky things chasing and snatching and and … Buttercup is mostly kinda shrieking and fluttering and doing all those icky things attributed to “girls” – that real girls (#LikeAGirl) actually don’t do so much.

Over and over, Westley rescues Buttercup from dasdardly evildoers and gruesome monsters.

Sophia is squealing and cheering as the story progresses. But…

Sophia finally jumps up and actually yells at Princess Buttercup. “Stop waiting for Westley to help you. Quit screaming and fight!”

After the story ends – of course, happily – Sophia invents a new game to play with her mom. But Sophia makes a slight variation.

“Mommy, you play Westley and I’m Buttercup. And don’t rescue me. I can rescue myself!” 

==============

That’s my kind of girl, woman, female…person.

Read this delightful book. Watch this cool movie. Cult status.

Check out William Goldman: American novelist, playwright, screenwriter. (Died 11-16-18.) Some of his other work: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Marathon Man.  A Bridge Too Far. All the President’s Men (Adaptation of the Bernstein/Woodward book). And so much more.

And for the writers out there, here’s what Goldman said…. “Writing is finally about one thing: going into a room alone and doing it. Putting words on paper that have never been there in quite that way before. And although you are physically by yourself, the haunting Demon never leaves you, that Demon being the knowledge of your own terrible limitations, your hopeless inadequacy, the impossibility of ever getting it right. No matter how diamond-bright your ideas are dancing in your brain, on paper they are earthbound.” [William Goldman, Adventures in the Screen Trade.]

LEARNING.   Learning more.   Learning new.   Developing yourself!!!   LIFELONG LEARNER.

Check out the Masters Program in Philanthropy and Development at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota.

See what the students say in this video.

Check out what our graduates are doing… For example:

• Aaron Sanderson (SMUMN Cohort 20) has been recognized by the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy (AHP) as one of the Forty Under 40.
• Cathy Mann (SMUMN Cohort 23) has been recognized as AFP Greater Toronto’s 2018 Outstanding Fundraising Professional.

The SMIT  (Single Most Important Thing)… THE RESIDENCY... On campus for 1 week together. Intensity of learning together, face-to-face. Sharing. Arguing. Laughing. Learning. (And you’ll want to build that back home in your office!)

Of course, there are great courses. I’m sharing just the tip of the iceberg in these bullets.

• Foundations of fundraising – and major and capital gift fundraising.
• Governance. Because the best fundraisers are highly knowledgeable about boards and board members and how to involve them and keep them in the right stuff and out of the other stuff!
• Strategic planning. Because without good institutional planning, how can your organization raise charitable gifts?
• Program assessment and evaluation. The criteria and process for creating programs with measurable outcomes. Without this, how can you prove that your nonprofit actually makes a difference?
• And how about legal and ethical issues? Some pretty weird stories there, I’ll bet!

Imagine showing this video every single year …. for your staff and for your board. Exploring questions. Then talking about the implications and applications for you as individuals, those you serve, and and and …

Better yet, imagine actually doing this live. And sure, staff and board members together.

And how about engaging donors in this? Hmmmm……

Learn about why and how and good and bad and and and on the Internet.

And check out the workshop at 2018 AFP Congress, too.

“New report exposes top-heavy philanthropy and its risk to the Independent Sector.”

What does this mean? Our sector – the nonprofit charitable sector – is changing … transitioning … Not so much broad-based support from lots of different donors giving different amounts of money. Now philanthropy is “increasingly dominated by a small number of very wealthy individuals and foundations.”

• Significant decline in # of households giving to charity
• Private wealth in US is concentrated in fewer and fewer hands — And philanthropic power is held in fewer hands, too

I think this is bad. No wait!! I think this is very terribly bad!!! Very very awful and deeply deeply sad. So very sad.

Money money money…. dominates too much. Dominates!! So the wealthy give money for specific things – and that doesn’t necessarily include ensuring an equitable society. Big money dominates choices made in corporations and charities and yes, government, too.

Money = power in our society. Money to elect the people who maybe don’t much care about civil society and civic capacity and equity. Most money is held by a few. The few expect and demand certain ways of doing things. Too many donors have their own ideas about how to solve problems and do stuff and… Those few may not (probably do not) know the right stuff and understand the lives of those who experience life differently.

I’ve been writing about philanthropy as a democratizing activity for more than a decade. And this new report comments: “Charity is now becoming increasingly undemocratic…”

I believe that philanthropy faces (has always faced) a moral dilemma…Big bucks. Wealthy people. Major gifts. The “right” people on our boards to get those major donors. (By the way, if there are major donors and major gifts – that means there are minor ones, too!!!!!) Read “Philanthropy’s Moral Dilemma,” the final chapter of Keep Your Donors: The Guide to Better Communications and Stronger Relationships (2008, Joyaux and Ahern).

I talk about philanthropy as an opportunity to make change – and making change must must must include ensuring social justice. I’ve long thought that philanthropy was too much about the status quo. I want philanthropy to also be a subversive activity. I want progressive philanthropy that strives for social justice. And that means a broad, diverse donor base.

This is what I believe: No healthy society can exist when only the wealthy play…lead…dominate…control. No matter the intentions of those wealthy. Some of the biggest most important movements in this country – and worldwide – weren’t led by or funded by the wealthy.

Read this report. Talk about the values and meanings therein. Talk about the implications for your organization…for your local community…for your nation and the world.

Talk about this report as part of a board meeting. (And yes, all senior staff and board members should read this!) It’s past time to talk about philanthropy’s moral dilemma. Way past time.

I’m sad and hugely pissed. And not surprised.

Thinking about my SMUMN…where I teach every summer. And yes, live in a dorm. Students and faculty are colleagues. We talk and disagree and agree and learn together. Just check out these comments from Cohort 28 final projects….

Some very good CRQs (cage-rattling questions). Thank you, members of Cohort 28!

1. Without passion, purpose, or predictability – what’s keeping me here?
2. How can we embrace both stability and creativity?
3. What are we – and only we – in the ideal position to achieve?
4. Questions to ask donors: How has this organization transformed your life? Out of all the gifts you’ve given, which one is most memorable to you – and why? How do your core values impact your philanthropy?
5. To what extent does status affect a person’s ability to make impact on a large philanthropic scale?