Looking for funding opportunities? We've identified a few funds that might be useful to you. Visit the links below to learn more about the requirements and deadlines for these opportunities.
Deadline: Ongoing, with deadlines or by invitation only (depending on funding opportunity)
LOI Deadline:
July 12
Proposal Deadline, December 2016
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Letter from the Director
Dear Colleagues,
We hope you are enjoying your summer! I thought it would be good to bring your attention to a recent blog by
Bentz Whaley Flessner on research verification since many USM institutions soon will be receiving results from a wealth screening of their alumni/donor databases. Wealth ratings on philanthropic capacity of donors and prospective donors are calculated by looking at wealth indicators found in publicly available resources. These wealth ratings are helpful in crafting a successful strategy in fundraising.
Specifically, wealth ratings are calculated using data on real estate, stock holdings, employment, political, and charitable giving information. Once wealth screening results are ready, the ratings are checked for accuracy before they can be used to drive solicitation strategies. Therefore, researchers check the data before sharing it with fundraisers. Not only does this increase confidence in the estimated capacity ratings, but it also saves fundraisers valuable time by helping to eliminate low capacity donors which were included in the results due to unconfirmed assets or assets that belongs to others.
Researchers can use validated wealth data to identify names of donors for different fundraising programs. Demographic data such as age and household income can be combined with other pieces of internal data found in the alumni/donor databases to determine appropriate strategy to engage prospects. Verified data about existing and potential donors can then be used to update and maintain donor/alumni databases.
As you can see, wealth screening provides a nice starting point to help you identify prospective donors and clean up data. The rest is up to the fundraiser, who then follows up with conversations to qualify prospects and secure gifts.
We have been quite busy with research requests over the past few months. In addition, Prospect Researcher Nell Walker attended the APRA Regional Conference in Chicago which gave us a good opportunity to learn more about the field and network with other research professionals, especially those from the Mid-Atlantic region. In his keynote speech, Andrew Means, co-founder of The Impact Lab, spoke about how data and storytelling intersect in fundraising. He stressed the importance of telling honest -- rather than overly dramatic or exaggerated -- stories about the impact of donor funds. Donors are internet savvy and will look up those stories! Donors today demand accountability. As a result, data is becoming more and more important as we develop our impact narratives.
We hope to hear from you as you begin to review wealth screening data. As always, please feel free to contact us if you have any questions, comments or need assistance with prospect research.
Best Regards,
Sapna and USM Advancement Research Team
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Some of the country's most iconic nonprofits have struggled to raise money in the past few years while a new breed of philanthropic organization is thriving thanks in large part to its appeal to millennial donors. While the American Red Cross ran an operating deficit after its worst fundraising year in over a decade in fiscal 2015, ended last June,
Charity: Water reported its best year ever in 2014, raising more than $27.9 million for clean water. And its donations have increased each year since its founding in 2006. It is clear that in order to survive, older charities will need to adapt to appeal to Millennials, who have overtaken previous generations in sheer numbers of potential donors. Read more
here.
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In a new report for 2016, The Chronicle of Philanthropy has identified  the most generous companies in corporate America. Of the top 150 public companies in the Fortune 500, the Chronicle lists the top 20 companies of the Fortune 500 which, in aggregat,e have donated $3.5 billion in cash donations. Pharmaceutical, drug and financial services companies are the most generous type of corporate donors. This year's report also includes a new feature - insights into these companies' grant-making priorities
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A new report from UCLA's School of Public Affairs found that despite national trends, charitable giving in the Southern California region is down and has been since the Great Recession. Among explanations given are lower incomes and immigration. See the
article for more detail.
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Given workforce development needs, funders like the Howard Hughes Medical Institute are looking more and more at investing STEM Programs. The Howard Hughes Medical Institute has launched an initiative, Inclusive Excellence, to draw students into STEM fields and keep them engaged in those fields. Through large, multi-year grants, HHMI seeks to address challenges caused by changing demographics and dropout rates among students initially majoring in STEM disciplines. More
here.
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How Are Nonprofits Incorporating Technology to Advance Their Causes?
 In Chicago, the startup, Hearken, describes how nonprofits are using technology and data to reach donors. Not only are nonprofits using technology to donate online, but they are also going further in using it to tell their stories and reach donors bases to build strong relationships. While nonprofits have limited technology budgets, they are seeing an increase in donations as they use it to help their fundraising efforts. See the
article for more details.
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