Fundraising Talks
News and updates from the USM Office of
Advancement Research
|
|
In a typical year, it is relatively easy to make fundraising predictions for the coming year. However, 2020 has been anything but a typical year. How can you prepare for 2021 and ensure fundraising success for the rest of 2020? This article from NonProfitPRO provides a comprehensive overview that will help fundraisers consider the last three months of the year, as well as predictions of what's to come.
|
|
|
According to a new report from Indiana University's Women's Philanthropy Institute (WPI), 56 percent of households in the US engaged in charitable giving to help their neighbors through COVID-19. The report, which surveyed 3,405 people in May, states that one third of US households gave money directly to charitable organizations, individuals, or businesses. Almost half of US households engaged in charitable giving indirectly by ordering takeout from local restaurants, buying gift cards from small businesses, or continuing to pay for services such as daycare that they were unable to use during quarantine. Although indirect giving isn't typically considered charitable giving, it was a lifeline for many small businesses and service workers. |
|
|
According to The Conversation, there has been an outpouring of donations from individuals, corporations, and foundations in support of racial and social justice across the country. A GoFundMe for George Floyd's memorial campaign has garnered more donations than any other campaign in the platform's history with more than $14 million raised from 500,000 individual donors from 140 countries. In the realm of higher education fundraising, donations to HBCUs are on a sharp rise this year. In 2018, there were seven major gifts to HBCUs totaling $48 million. However, in 2020 (as of September) there were 33 major gifts to HBCUs totaling $347 million, according to a list by The Chronicle of Philanthropy. Read more findings here.
|
|
|
Many of us are feeling burnt out as a result of the pandemic. At first, it was challenging and a little exciting to pivot to virtual communications. However, now it seems as though a socially distanced world is here for the long haul. Instead of giving into the doldrums, this is a great time to regroup and find perspective to move forward. GG+A suggests checking your institution's messaging. New priorities have emerged for many organizations and fundraisers should be ready to answer when a potential donor asks "what if the best gift I can make right now?" In addition, this is a good time to take a candid review of your major gift portfolio and ask qualifying and re-qualifying questions. Finally, consider how you can use major donors, key volunteers, institutional leaders, and development colleagues to identify next steps for your portfolio. Invite key stakeholders to join in donor meetings as appropriate in order to expand connections across your institution and provide "insider" levels of engagement for your best prospects and donors. |
|
|
Forbes has changed their methodology for The Forbes 400 philanthropy score. Instead of counting dollars that Forbes 400 list members have put in their foundations over a lifetime, they have tallied grants made by those foundations and direct gifts Forbes can track to estimate how much The Forbes 400 has actually given away. Forbes did not count money put into donor-advised funds and only took distributions from donor-advised funds into account when list members shared details about the grants that were actually paid. Additionally, there is no credit given to money pledged but not yet given out. As a result, the biggest donor is Warren Buffet. Forbes estimates that he distributed $40 billion to nonprofits. The most generous giver is George Soros, who donated 64 percent of his original fortune to support justice, education, public health, and independent media. On the other end of the spectrum, Forbes found that Jeff Bezos and Walmart heirs Jim Walton and Rob Walton have given less than one percent of their wealth. Read the full findings here.
|
|
|
A recent article from OpenSecrets.org mentions that there has been an emergence of record levels of small-dollar giving during this 2020 election period. It will be interesting to see if this trend translates into higher education fundraising.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
