The #GivingUSA Hot Take You Never Asked For

Coming on the heels of this year’s Giving USA report in June, it seems like everyone has a hot take on what happened in philanthropy in 2022, as well as a prediction for what 2023 holds.

I'll spare you mine.

However, I did get a great email last week from Jim Shapiro and he said this:

"In major gift fundraising, there's an old adage that goes like this:

• When times are good, donors give.
• When times are bad, donors give.
• When times are uncertain, donors hold.

Well, times are uncertain right now. And major giving has slowed."

So what can you do?

To paraphrase the rest of the email (plus a little of my own perspective mixed in), here are a few things you can do right now to help you thrive no matter what’s happening externally in the economy:

• Say thank you often and report back to people on the impact of their giving.?
• Stay in touch with givers so that when they decide to give, it’s to your organization.
• If you start running too far behind, it’s okay to tell your champions… especially if you can let them know how the shortfall might impact the people you serve. The people who truly believe in your mission want to know what’s going on so they can give and help out when times get tough.

He then goes on to say:

The silver lining is that if you haven't been doing those things, you've got "pent-up giving." It means you have a surprising number of people who would give surprisingly large gifts if you ask them more powerfully than you've been doing. And tapping into that "pent-up giving" will get a lot of organizations through whatever lies ahead. Because even in times of economic uncertainty and recession, there is a lot of money to be raised.

Yes, yes, and so much yes.

Giving USA is always an interesting read, but be careful how much influence you let news of last year’s giving impact this year’s behavior.

Remember... people rarely stop giving during times of uncertainty or difficulty.?

• Sometimes they shift their giving to focus on the causes and nonprofits they care most about.
• Sometimes they shift their giving to the nonprofits doing the best job communicating impact and staying in touch.
• And sometimes, they take a wait-and-see posture until things change or they hear a compelling need.

But they rarely stop giving altogether.

Generosity and giving are resilient. Always have been. Likely always will be. Never forget this.

When things seem uncertain, if you focus on the activities that inspire generosity (communicating impact and need, saying thank you, staying in touch, etc.), you will be just fine.