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Fundraising Talks
News and updates from the USM Office of
Advancement Research

Upcoming Events


Abductive Reasoning in Prospect Research: Critical Thinking and the Logic of the Best Guess

When: February 15, 2023, 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm


Prospect Research Analytics Workshop

When: March 8, 2023, 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm


APRA Metro DC Annual Conference

When: March 23, 2023

Tell Me More...

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. 


Bank of America Foundation

Bank of America Foundation FAQ


Economic mobility focused on needs of individuals and families (health and jobs),

Deadline: February 17, 2023


Economic mobility focused on needs of community (affordable housing, small business resiliency, neighborhood revitalization): Applications accepted: May 29, 2023 – June 23, 2023


National Fish and Wildlife Foundation

Deadline: February 9, 2023


Teagle Foundation

Deadline: March 1, 2023


Environmental Research and Education Foundation Deadline: May 1, 2023

Contact Us


Sapna Varghese

Director of Advancement Research

301.445.2709


Lois Baker

Prospect Researcher


Bethany Jones

Office Clerk

301.445.1950

Letter from the Director

Welcome to the February issue of Fundraising Talks. Last month’s newsletter shared higher education trends reported by Educause, which included topics pertaining to staffing, technology, creating equitable environments, and normalization of hybrid and remote work arrangements. We're finding that these trends continue to emerge as relevant issues in other recent surveys and reports as well. Let’s take a look at what's happening in the technological world and check out some findings from a survey on advancement professionals.


Revolutionary technology shapes and impacts philanthropy and fundraising in many ways. Generative AI” is a fundraising buzzword found in a December 2022 article in the Chronicle of Philanthropy. Generative AI refers to artificial intelligence (AI) that can create new content such as text, images, and videos. Use of artificial intelligence is not new to fundraising. There has been a lot of talk lately about ChatGPT (Chat Generative Pre-Trained Transformed), which is a type of generative AI that became popular over the past couple of months. ChatGPT is an AI chatbot that interacts with users in a conversational way and provides responses to complex questions. Nonprofits can benefit from the use of applications like ChatGPT to create efficiencies and simplify business processes, however, we must consider any potential pitfalls and AI should always be overseen by humans. A recent article from Forbes explores the ways that university fundraisers can benefit from the use of ChatGPT such as using it to ask for inspiration with potential donor conversations, craft donor thank you messages, discover alumni engagement ideas, create effective fundraising appeals, and repurpose existing content. I think models like ChatGPT can be a great tool to produce content that can be used in fundraising, however, such technology must be used with vigilance and reviewed by humans. These tools can be beneficial for new development professionals who are looking for ways to get started with engaging donors for fundraising.


Washburn & McGoldrick’s December 2022 Advancement Moving Forward survey investigates timely and significant issues pertaining to fundraisers in US higher education. This is part of a series of surveys they have conducted since 2020. This latest report covers topics such as staff confidence in achieving fundraising goals, hybrid work environment, productivity of staff, alumni engagement and use of technology to engage donors. Some of the survey findings are as follows:

  • There is a decrease in the confidence levels of fundraisers in achieving FY 23 advancement goals. This is largely driven by shortage in staff, burnout, and morale.
  • Staff shortages and resignations are seen as a major challenge going forward.
  • Hybrid and remote work environments continue to be preferred by advancement staff.
  • There is an increase in face-to-face meetings with donors for qualification and solicitation purposes.


Results from the Washburn & McGoldrick survey highlight areas that the higher education industry can improve and it also indicates that it is slowly moving on from some of the practices conducted during the pandemic. Steps can be taken to mitigate risks with staffing shortages and assist professionals to feel confident by boosting their morale. Furthermore, institutions should not be hesitant to update and/or adopt new technology that creates efficiencies in work environments. As always, please feel free to reach out to us with questions, comments or any assistance with fundraising research!


Best Regards,

Sapna and USM Advancement Research Team

Did you know?


The University System of Maryland Foundation has access to a library of recorded webinars from the Annual Giving Network (AGN) that you may watch at any time from your computer. While we cannot currently gather in person for professional development events, this work from home period provides a great opportunity for you to learn on your own time! Please click here to see what webinars are available from AGN.

 

If you are interested, please email Linda Bowman (lbowman@usmd.edu) and she will help you access these webinars for free. Please do not try to access these webinars on your own, as you will be charged a fee.


Please also note that the Foundation only has access to free AGN webinars, not workshops. Workshops are available at a marginally discounted rate.

Philanthropy Trends To Watch In 2023

This article from Forbes by President and CEO: National Philanthropic Trust Eileen R. Heisman, explores current trends affecting the charitable sector and predictions for how they may impact giving in 2023. First, Heisman predicts that donors will increase giving to organizations that take action against the increase in hate speech and hate crimes. Next, she believes that donors will step away from effective altruism (using evidence and reasoning to work out how to do good and then taking action based on what is discovered) and will need more substantial reasons other than data in order to support charities. Additionally, Heisman believes that donors will be a sustainable source of support for organizations in times of market volatility, as they have been in the past. Lastly, donors may take a wait-and-see approach before making a major gift this year, as they may be uncertain about the stability of the economy. If markets continue to decline, there may be more cash gifts than complex assets. Read more here.

Looking for Love in All the Right Places: The Cause-Based Approach to Prospect Research

Finding donors with an affinity towards the cause your organization aids or promotes is essential. Best Friends Animal Society's Senior Prospect Researcher Marc Keller says that he likes to review fundraiser-prospect interactions from the past five years as a jumping-off point to find affinity clues - for example, he might find from an interaction report that a prospect adopted a golden retriever. Keller also looks at public social media profiles of prospects and sees who they follow and what they post. Additionally, Keller will utilize paid resources to identify what prospects are passionate about. Click here to read the full article.

Things Have Changed—has your Annual Giving Strategy?

This blog post from EAB discusses changes that annual giving offices have made to better streamline their processes and to have more success with donor interactions. EAB notes that many schools are no longer calling donors as eight in ten adults do not answer phone calls from unknown numbers. Additionally, digital payment systems such as Venmo and Apple Pay are here to stay, as they are gaining popularity among all age groups. Next, EAB notes that personalization is important - and not just adding someone's name to a subject line. Craft meaningful personalized messages to different segments of donors. Lastly, advancement teams are turning to hiring industry experts to help with annual giving campaigns, rather than new hires who may turn over quickly.

What Will Charitable Giving Look Like in 2023?

Kiplinger's top predictions for major giving in 2023 are as follows:


  • Asset-giving will increase when equity markets recover
  • Trust-based philanthropy will reach mainstream adoption
  • There will be acceleration in legacy giving
  • Collective giving will continue its rise
  • Advisers will start to differentiate on their ability to offer services and advice around giving


Click here to read more.

Promises and Pitfalls of ChatGPT

As mentioned in the Letter from the Director, ChatGPT went viral after its launch in November. According to Inside Higher Ed, the bot can "write stories, compose music, answer test questions, simulate human conversation, produce computer code and play simple games." Inside Higher Ed says that ChatGPT would be a good tool to use as a starting point for a busy employee who needs to come up with copy for a communications piece. They could take ChatGPT's work and flesh it out and make it more robust, using it as an outline of sorts. However, the program is not without its pitfalls. Inside Higher Ed notes that decisions about communications and marketing content, strategy, themes, and formats require an experienced human. Furthermore, ChatGPT often produces content with factual inaccuracies or content that can be racist or sexist. Click here to learn more.