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.
Happy New Year! As we ring in a new decade, it's time to reflect on how philanthropy changed over the past ten years and to consider what's yet to come! In the 2010s we saw nonprofits use new technology, the rise of donor-advised funds, tax reforms, and impact investing.
This decade, there is a lot to look forward to. Philanthropy in the 2020s: 16 Predictions, from Inside Philanthropy paints a picture of what fundraising may look like. We should take this article with a grain of salt, as it's hard to predict an entire decade of trends accurately. Nevertheless, the article offers some interesting predictions.
Big philanthropy will get bigger while small philanthropy will get smaller. This means that the wealthy will continue to make large donations and there will be a decline in the number of smaller donations.
The forecast of an increase in public-private partnerships indicates that there will be more businesses and corporations that will contribute to demonstrate their social value.
Just as we have seen the growth of donor-advised funds in the past few years, there will be an increase of intermediaries such as community foundations, giving circles, and social ventures.
There may be difficult times for nonprofits in the future. Inside Philanthropy believes that giving will become more politicized, scandals will continue to hit the charitable sector (for example, how many institutions took gifts from Jeffrey Epstein), and that public trust toward charitable giving will erode as new scandals come to light.
As the years unwind, fundraising professionals should keep a close watch on how tax laws, politics, the economy, and generational wealth transfer impact charitable giving and should make changes in fundraising strategies. We hope that the new year brings a renewed drive to successfully reach your fundraising goals for 2020 and beyond!
As always, please feel free to reach out to us with questions, comments or any assistance with prospect research!
If Inside Philanthropy'spredictions come true in the new decade, we will continue to see that the majority of gifts will come from a small percentage of donors. If that is the case, how can we best enhance our efforts in reaching major donors? Wealth Engine suggests that first, fundraisers should determine what qualifies as a major gift to their individual institution. Next, identify optimal donors and prospects and personalize your outreach strategy for those donors. Finally, implement a stewardship program that will express gratitude to your donors and make them feel valued. Overall, Wealth Engine notes that it's important for donors to know how their gift was used. This will help donors feel as though they are agents for change--now and in the future.
Aspire Research Group has come out with their end-of-decade reflection on prospect research and management. In the past decade, Aspire says that handling data was a major challenge for nonprofits thanks to new technologies and an influx of availability of data. Additionally, privacy laws rose in the past ten years with the EU's General Data Protection Regulation becoming law in 2018. As mentioned in our Letter from the Director, Donor Advised Funds continued to become more popular, as well as social media fundraising, cryptocurrencies, and Giving Tuesday. Despite the new trends that came to the forefront in the last ten years, one thing has remained the same, according to Aspire. Fundraising is still built around relationships.
Technology has made major leaps and bounds since 2009. There are undoubtedly more advances to come in the next ten years and Forbes has three key predictions on how new technology and philanthropy will intersect. First, Forbes believes that the industry standard will be interconnectivity, or pooled resources of funding and software that will aim to solve the world's problems. Next, there will be greater adoption of machine learning and artificial intelligence in philanthropy. Finally, blockchain will become a major player in philanthropy, where it has already been recognized for its utility and effectiveness at delivering funds to change-makers. Read more here.
Early data from the Fundraising Effectiveness Project reports that from January through September of 2019, the number of participating donors was down -3.6 percent and revenue declined -4.6 percent compared to the same period of time in 2018. This may be due to a number of factors, which you can read about here. While nonprofits cannot control the economy, they can control their interactions with donors and the technology they use to address the donor retention crisis. NonProfitPRO suggests that organizations should ensure they have a solid data policy before moving into more complex data management technologies. They also suggest making giving easy for donors and modernizing the metrics that your organization collects. Finally, NonProfitPRO says organizations should reflect on how they thank donors in order to make the donation experience a satisfying one.
The Lilly Family School of Philanthropy shared their top ten tips for fundraisers in the upcoming year. They suggest putting together a fundraising team that values empathy as a necessary skill, engaging your board in the process of fundraising, and putting systems in place that ensure little impact on donor engagement if a fundraiser leaves your organization, among other tips. Read them all here.
