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Welcome to the February issue of Fundraising Talks. I hope you are enjoying a remarkable start to the New Year, and are continuing to focus and build your fundraising pipeline for 2020. Council for Advancement and Support of Education's (CASE) report– “Voluntary Support of Education (VSE)” , indicates that giving to U.S. colleges and universities grew 6.1 percent during the 2018-19 fiscal year, which is a positive change from previous years. However, this increase is strongly influenced by larger gifts received by colleges and universities in 2019.
Even though the report shows an increase in overall giving, there are some areas that lacked growth in 2019. There was a decrease in personal giving, while organizational giving increased. The increase in organizational giving appears to be largely influenced by a single contribution of $1.2 billion from Michael Bloomberg through his Foundation to Johns Hopkins University. Other key findings from the report indicate:
Alumni giving decreased from 2018 to 2019; in 2019 alumni support represented 22.6 percent of total support compared to 26 percent of total support in 2018.
In 2019, corporations donated $6.8 billion and there was a 1 percent increase in total support by corporations.
Overall giving from individuals (alumni and non-alumni) decreased in 2019, while giving from organizations (corporations, foundations and other organizations) increased by 1 percent.
Giving to current operations rose 4 percent to $28.5 billion in 2019.
2019 saw an increase in giving for capital purposes, such as gifts for endowments, property, buildings, etc.
Giving to public baccalaureate institutions rose 29.5 percent.
Based on these findings, a strategic fundraising plan that focuses on increasing participation of alumni and non-alumni donors, while leveraging key relationships with foundations and corporations may be beneficial. Factors such as a weak stock market at the end of 2018, and the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act might have contributed to an overall decline of individual giving in 2019. Regardless, creating a plan that supports and demonstrates the value of giving is important. Another study by the Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors reveals that more wealthy families want to donate during their lifetimes, and they have identified education as one of the top causes to give to globally. This should encourage fundraisers to continue to cultivate and steward donors and strengthen relationships with them.
In addition to the reports mentioned above, there will be more resources and analysis on philanthropy and fundraising that will be shared in the future.
As always, please feel free to reach out to us with questions, comments or any assistance with prospect research!
Social media platforms are an excellent way to stay connected with your donor base and volunteer network. According to NonProfitPRO, organizations should do research on which social media platforms contain the highest concentration of their donors and volunteers. Furthermore, organizations should be willing to use any and all platforms to engage a wide range of demographics. Make sure to use visual storytelling to show the impact of your organization's work and post more than just fundraising asks on social media. Fundraising asks have the lowest engagement on social media platforms. Remember that your audience is also the general public and not just your donors and volunteers. Social media is a great platform on which to share your organization's services and mission. Finally, maintain an active presence on social media by communicating and responding to any questions or comments received on your platforms.
In this article from The NonProfit Times, author Dedi Oxenberg walks readers through a series of hypothetical fundraising ask situations and offers insight into "ask testing," which organizations may have never considered trying. While Oxenberg admits that this article isn't a simple solution to the question "what is the right ask," it's a good place to start.
Rockerfeller Philanthropy Advisors compiled a report, Global Trends and Strategic Time Horizons in Family Philanthropy 2020, on how the planet's richest families give away their fortunes. The report surveyed more than 200 wealthy, charitable families from 28 countries. On average, the families donated a total of $2.4 billion over the past year and are worth $1.2 billion each. One third of the families surveyed said that want to accelerate the pace of their giving and would like to see results of their giving within their lifetime. 81 percent of participants want to see the next generation of their family become involved in giving and 65 percent find it important to instill philanthropic values in the next generation of their family. Over all other causes, the rich give to education overall, followed by health and then arts, culture, and sports. Read more findings here.
As discussed in the previous article on the world's richest families, the Rockerfeller Philanthropy Advisor's report, Global Trends and Strategic Time Horizons in Family Philanthropy 2020, also gives insight into why families (and not just rich ones) give. Families of all wealth levels give to education overall. Environmental causes only make up 8 percent of families' giving portfolios. According to the report, most families choose to give in perpetuity. According to this article by Forbes, the next generation has a strong influence in the sustainable investment space and will significantly affect philanthropic giving in the years to cone.
As we enter a new year, we eagerly await what 2020 will bring to fundraising. Gravyty predicts there will be more competition for donor dollars which means that organizations will have to innovate in order to become leaders in the new year. Furthermore, more organizations will look to use artificial intelligence to increase fundraising capacity. Lastly, nonprofits will have to start finding the next generation of donors now in order to succeed in the future. Read all of Gravyty's predictions here.
