by Ted Grossnickle

I am honored to be a campaign co-chairman and trustee for my alma mater. This makes me think about the advice I am asked to give to clients in a new way.

When I talk with clients about what ought to be expected of trustees and other volunteers, I have a perspective as a trustee and volunteer in addition to that of a consultant.

It’s not that the two are mutually exclusive. They’re not. But they are different.

Certainly you want a consultant to be objective- even dispassionately so. You want a trustee and co-chairman to be passionate about the cause.

Both perspectives are required for success in a campaign. It is the blend of those two ways of looking at strategy (and tactics) that help (in this case) a College find its way with philanthropy in challenging economic times.

From these two perspectives, I recently shared in a short video what I believe are key questions a trustee should ask when they hear about a proposed campaign:

1.  Do you understand why a campaign is proposed and will it advance the mission of the organization? Will it help you help people? Will you do better work?

2.  Have the staff and the CEO thought through the campaign… thoroughly? Do they know what will be required of them? Can they support the effort? Are they ready to support volunteers?

3.  Are you prepared to be personally very generous to the campaign and also serve as an ambassador sharing your passion and explaining the mission of the organization to others?

4.  Has an objective set of eyes studied the campaign – and reported authentically on what will make it work— and what might derail it?

I’d be interested in hearing your perspectives about these key questions. Please let me know what you think. We’re all students when it comes to getting it right for our institutions…

by Angela E. White, CFRE

I often speak passionately about the importance of broadening our philanthropic initiatives to include women philanthropists. I recently recorded a short video interview on the subject and would like to share with you what I think are some very important insights into Women’s Philanthropy.

Over the years, my colleagues and I at JGA have developed significant expertise in Women’s Philanthropy issues through our work with the Women’s Philanthropy Institute at the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, my work with Women’s Fund of Central Indiana and previously as the VP of Institutional Advancement for Saint Mary of the Woods College, in addition to our extensive work with clients at JGA for the last 15 years.

We know through our experience that the ability of women to contribute and make a lasting impact in philanthropic campaigns is often over looked and under-utilized. 

After examining the results of the Women Give 2010 report, it is evident that in truth, women are driving many of the philanthropic decisions in this country.

I’d like to share with you 10 helpful insights gleaned from this report and my own experience in Women’s Philanthropy that can help engage women in your cause:

1.  Women are responsible for 84% of household’s consumer purchasing decisions – they are not a niche market, but are the market.

2.  Forty-three percent of the nation’s top wealth holders are women.

3.  Women’s median income has increased more than 60% over the past 30 years.

4.  Married men and women are more likely to make larger gifts than single men.

5.  Single women are more likely to give than single men.

6.  When it comes to approaching a couple about making a donation, make sure that the woman in the couple is also engaged in the process and their input is equally valued.

7.  Never overlook or underestimate the philanthropic potential of female CEOs and small business owner’s.

8.  Remember, women’s philanthropic involvement does not mean to exclude men, but rather include women.

9.  Women are drawn to causes where they feel a personal connection or in support of those causes that their family or friends are involved. Find ways to enhance the social aspects of giving with women and involve their social networks.

10. Women want to establish a relationship with organizations they give to, it means more to them than just a business transaction.  Make sure you take the time to foster that donor relationship.

Too often women are an untapped resource in philanthropy.  It is time nonprofits accept that they simply cannot afford to ignore this influential audience. I hope you will use these tips to better engage women to help you advance your mission.

by Andy Canada

So who is tired of hearing about credit ratings, a possible double dip recession and an up and down (mainly down) stock market?

It has certainly been a really interesting and unsettling few days in the financial markets. The recent news is coming on top of a slower than expected economic recovery and will most likely allow the seed of uncertainty to grow in your donors’ minds.  

So how will you and your organization deal with these ever changing times?

It is hard and most likely impossible to predict when the economy will improve, but you and your organization need to stay on course and continue executing your plan of action.

Stay in communication with your donors and continue telling your story. The recent economic news might make people slow down their gift decisions or make smaller gifts, but your donors will still want to hear from you and stay connected to the mission of the organization.

During the last economic slow-down, the non-profits that stayed in contact and maintained close relationships with their donors came out with stronger relationship and more loyal donors.

We don’t know what the recent events will bring or how long this uncertainty will last but we feel that the same principals will apply and that the time you spend with your donor base will have a long lasting impact on your organization.

By Kris Kindelsperger

August marks the practical beginning of the fundraising year for education institutions and others that are on a fiscal year beginning in June or July.

So what does the coming year look like from a fundraising perspective?

We don’t hear many development staff believing that 2011-2012 is going to be dramatically better. A slower than expected economic recovery, continued high unemployment, and the remaining uncertainty around a whole range of fiscal policy issues don’t do much to suggest that this will be a banner year in fundraising, at least based on donor confidence.

In our observation many annual fund programs have been holding their own and, in some cases, growing modestly.

Donors are not abandoning the organizations that they have funded over time.

Attracting new donors is a challenge, and our research on millennial donors suggests ever more sophisticated strategies will be required to secure them as donors.

Designated giving continues to be popular. Giving online, and the use of social media are all growing though not at the rate some had projected just a few years ago. Most institutions find they need to “do it all” – mail, phonathon, social media, online giving, and personal visitation to get the job done.

Major gifts are a bit trickier. Donor confidence continues to wax and wane, and a gift officers continue to hear some variance of:  “I’m not sure this is the best time; I’m waiting to see if my business recovers; I’m waiting to see what the market will do, My broker is cautioning me to go slow.”

I’m not sure you would define this phenomenon as exactly “stalling techniques” but the decision making that goes into making major gifts -particularly lead and large major gifts – is definitely impacting the timelines of campaigns and other time-sensitive fundraising projects.

Capital fundraising, especially for new buildings, seems to have lost much of its luster with more and more individuals and foundations focusing on programs and endowment.

Planned gifts are an increasing part of the mix of larger commitments.  Extended payment schedules (up to 10 years or more) as well as structured gifts that don’t mature until the donor’s death are frequently negotiated to reach high 6 figure and 7 figure gifts.

These realities do not seem to be dampening the expectations of nonprofit leaders or boards.  The pressure to raise more and more remains strong. 

Our advice is to take a deep breath, plan well, be assertive, try new techniques, and continue to build personal relationships with your organization. 

People and organizations are still giving and still giving generously.  But staff and volunteers alike need to be prepared that minus a “lightening strike,” geometric growth in fundraising results may not be in the cards for 2011-12.

by Dan Schipp

Conventional wisdom tells us there are two ways to raise more money from individual donors:

1. Get the donors you currently have to give more
2. Get more donors to give

But, new research indicates you may need to adjust your messaging based upon which group of donors you are approaching.

A recent study conducted by researchers at the University of Texas, the University of Chicago  and Sungkyunkwan University may provide insights on both counts.

The study evaluated responses to direct mail appeals and found that donors who identified closely with a cause were more motivated by a great need than they were by accomplishments. 

Conversely, they found that less connected donors were more likely to give and give more when they saw an organization had already made progress towards a goal, and were less motivated to give purely by a statement of need.

This research aligns with the standard wisdom in campaign fundraising. We encourage our clients to begin their campaigns with a silent phase during which they share their organizational needs and vision with their closest and most supportive donors. 

Once this early effort has reached a critical mass and a significant portion of their goal has been reached, an organization can use that success to spread the campaign’s message more broadly in the public phase of the campaign.

Beyond this affirmation of conventional campaign wisdom, this study also presents a blueprint for engaging new donors or upgrading your current donors outside of larger campaigns.  

If you are looking to expand your donor base, you should be keenly aware of milestones in your organization’s work, either fundraising or programmatic in nature, which could be used to show potential donors the tangible progress that appears to motivate them. 

Meanwhile, messages of need can be targeted specifically to those donors that you know identify closely with your cause.

by Ted Grossnickle

Since the early 2000s, JGA has hosted “Notes for the Reflective Practitioner” on its website. We’ve hosted some other blogs over the years, but “Notes”- written by Paul Pribbenow, President of Augsburg College, is the longest running.

We’ve had several persons tell us that “Notes” is the thing they most enjoy about our site. We’ve had others tell us they enjoy it exactly because it is so unlike a traditional blog and because it brings us back to careful reflection in a world increasingly wanting or expecting the fast, immediate “first blush” thought.

Paul’s “Notes” usually run somewhere along 7-9 pages and contain references to books he’s recently read, scripture, poetry and has sections entitled: “Reflect On This,” “Practice This,” and “Pay Attention To This.”

Hardly the usual “blog” and hardly a perfect fit for what we are urged to write when we communicate via blog, email, twitter and even standard professional business language today…

With good reason, we must be efficient and very concise nowadays in our communication on the day-to-day matters we are charged with.

But what seems to have gotten lost in the last decade or two is the occasional, careful, thoughtful and reflective time – in conversation and in writing. Time which often causes us to:

• Remember why we started something,
• Rethink why we are still doing something,
• Realize there may be some new way to approach something, or,
• Gain an insight into our life and work that we had missed.

Notes for the Reflective Practitioner makes more sense to me today than it did even a decade ago when Paul started writing them.

It is because the world wants things faster and with less thought that we must regularly find time to slow it down and to think, to reflect and to make connections.

That is at the heart of what I believe JGA does very well with its clients – helping them take stock of the situation, to look ahead, to see patterns and opportunities—- and to remember why they are doing what they do.

Paul has our thanks for his continuing effort to take the time to reflect with – and for – us.

by Angela White

In June, the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy released its annual Report on Giving which held seemingly great news for healthcare fundraisers.  According to the survey of AHP members, giving to hospitals and healthcare systems increased by 8 percent in 2010 and totaled over $8 billion! 

A few days later, one of JGA’s clients, Wishard Hospital Foundation, announced a transformative gift of $40 million from Sydney and Lois Eskenazi that was the largest in the hospital’s history.

So, is it time to pop the champagne and celebrate a renaissance in giving to health organizations?  Not exactly. 

AHP is the premier professional organization for healthcare fundraisers in the country. So a survey of their members tells us that things are improving at a good pace for organization’s committed to fundraising best practices.

This is an important insight, but it doesn’t mean all health organizations should count on 8 percent growth next year.  

In contrast, Giving USA estimates that giving to all healthcare organizations in 2010, including non-AHP members, grew a more modest 1.3 percent. This estimate lines up with what have been historically slow growth rates for healthcare philanthropy following previous recessions.

Also, though the gift to Wishard is among the largest ever given to a public hospital, it is joins a smaller number of extremely generous gifts given to health organizations across the country during and since the Great Recession. 

In 2010 there were 11 announced gifts of over $10 million to health organizations, only a slight change from 9 such gifts announced in 2009 and down from the 22 gifts of that type announced in 2008.

AHP’s findings are encouraging and support the idea that in challenging economic times, as  in any economic environment, institutions that commit to a high standard of professional fundraising are likely to fare better than those that don’t.

by Andy Canada

Does the old adage “you’ve got to spend money to make money” really hold true in fundraising?

The Nonprofit Research Collaborative (NRC) released its 2010 Nonprofit Fundraising Study earlier this year that found that generally speaking organizations that increased their investment in fundraising last year also raised more money. 

While it’s not breaking news to hear that you need to spend money to raise money, the study also concluded that any increased financial investment also increased the likelihood that an organization would meet its fundraising goals – whether those goals increased in proportion to that investment or not.

Does this mean that everyone looking to improve their fundraising should just throw money at the problem?  Definitely not! 

The same study showed 24 percent of organizations that increased their investments in fundraising by 15 percent or more actually saw their giving stay the same or decrease.  Not exactly the bulletproof evidence you want to take to your board if you are looking for a blank check for new fundraising initiatives!

So what should you make of these statistics? 

In our work with clients we regularly see organizations that haven’t invested enough resources in their development programs, but I also see organizations that are over-invested, and others that have allocated the right level of resources but are using them inefficiently. 

The key to improving any of these situations is to be strategic in your future investments.

While mission-related expenses will generally take priority over fundraising investments, nonprofit executives and boards should take note of the stats from the NRC. 

Just like the stock market, there is no risk free investment in fundraising, but if you take the time to analyze your situation and invest confidently in a proven course of action, more likely than not, you’ll reach your fundraising goals. 

As you look at your own operations, where do you fall on the scale?  Are you spending a lot and not seeing a good return? Hoping that a minimal investment will beat the odds? Or have you found a good balance?

by Dan Schipp

Not long ago I had the opportunity to attend an organization’s annual gathering for members of its planned giving society. 

It was an impressive event, not because of great fanfare or an extraordinary venue, but because of the generous hospitality extended to the guests and the messages conveyed to them:  we’re glad you’re here, we care about you, you are helping us accomplish great things, and we thank you for building the endowments that help sustain our programs and outreach.

This organization got a lot of things right with this event. First and foremost, the hospitality was superb.  

• A staff member greeted arriving guests in the parking lot and directed them to the reception area. 
• Golf carts transported those who needed assistance. 
• Name tags (with sufficiently large print!) were provided to all guests and staff.
• Overnight lodging was arranged for those who had traveled a distance. 

In addition to making all guests feel genuinely welcomed and appreciated, the organization impressively carried out several other aspects of this “thank you” event for members of its planned giving society. 

• New members of the society were introduced. 
• Members of the society who had passed away in the past year were remembered.
• The president of the organization, not only extended his gratitude to the members for their support, but inspired them with his remarks about the lives impacted and the exciting opportunities made possible by their generosity. 
• A print annual report, listing members, summarizing the different programs and activities funded by endowments, and offering a brief recap of the endowment’s growth and performance during the past year, was distributed to guests. 

One last highlight of this well-planned and executed event was the featured speaker at the after dinner program — a recent alumnus of the school.  He acknowledged that as a student he did not realize how endowed funds were influencing his education and he gave personal and concrete witness to the impact of endowment-building through planned giving.

• Endowed scholarships not only directly assisted him, but they also promoted greater diversity within the student body. 
• Endowed faculty development funds helped the school retain a top-notch faculty.
• Lectures presented by outstanding speakers were made possible by endowments, as were study abroad opportunities. 
• Even today the alumnus benefits from planned gifts to his alma mater by way of a continuing education program in which he is currently participating and for which the school is building a sustaining endowment. 

Yes, this organization offered its planned giving donors a memorable evening because it did several things right. 

• It executed a well-conceived plan. 
• It attended to the details of hospitality. 
• It enabled donors to hear and see in a very personal way how their planned gifts were assisting others.

I hope you can find ways to incorporate some of these key elements of hospitality into your own donor recognition events.