Yes, We Can Reverse the Decline in Philanthropic Giving

I hope you have all seen the recent Giving USA report. It's alarming. Check out this well-written article in the Chronicle of Philanthropy on it. https://www.philanthropy.com/article/drop-in-giving-from-2021-to-22-was-among-the-steepest-ever-giving-usa-found?cid=gen_sign_in

What's unique about this article is that it raises challenges in fundraising as a reason for the decline in giving. What's startling is that this is rare. These days one has to say “Giving Comes from Asking”.? Most people and organizations talking about this crisis focus only on Giving.

Commonly you will read “experts' explain the decline in giving by saying that it's the economy, or some mysterious decline in generosity in this country, or a sign of divisiveness in the US. All of this is conjecture.?

Secondly, much of the work and discussion around giving has been focused only on donors. Some have theorized, and that’s the word, that donors need better tools to give. Websites and apps have been funded and supported to increase giving. They often ignore the fact that donors need to be asked. That the vast majority of donors only give when asked.?

What is needed is a national conversation around supporting fundraising and fundraisers. We need to more deeply support relationship-based and long-term fundraising strategies at all nonprofits.

With the alarm in giving decline rarely does anyone ask about where this is NOT happening. All around the country, there are nonprofits bucking these trends, raising more money. When you take a look at any of them you'll see some of the same things over and over.

• Leadership who understands fundraising
• Complex fundraising teams, not just one person
• Support and time to build fundraising
• A focus on building relationships with donors, not gimmicks
• Well-run organizations with good missions

During the pandemic when organizations took terrible hits in revenue,some collapsed these organizations with relationships with the donors didn’t suffer as much, some even made more giving happen.?

So why aren’t all organizations deeply investing in relationship-based fundraising? It seems like a smart investment. Here’s why:

People Hate Fundraising- Let's face it fundraising could use an expensive PR firm! I would say most nonprofit leaders loathe fundraising. They put it on the back burner every chance they get. It is seen as something slimy and distasteful. You find these attitudes in CEOs, Executive Directors, and Boards of Directors. It's the thing most organizations need desperately and it's the aspect of nonprofits most desperately avoided.?

Overhead- There is still a prevalent attitude that fundraising is wasteful overhead. When it’s the opposite. It's the engine of your organization's growth and resilience. Starve the engine and your organization will pay for it. Hiring, training, and retaining a team that will raise you a great deal of money takes a big investment to start this up. It's not cheap, it takes time and there is risk and uncertainty. Many organizations cannot handle this, they want immediate return on investment. This isn’t sales or business, it's fundraising.?

False Experts- Leaders often treat fundraising like anyone could do it. I have heard Board Members say “I know fundraising”. Do they? Our profession receives a lot of disrespect. Leaders often don’t see the need to train their Development Officers. Board Members who have helped raise $1,000 for team uniforms feel empowered to tell a 20 year fundraising veteran who has raised millions how to do their jobs. When it comes to fundraising advice. 1. Respect the Profession 2. Consider the source.

Time- It's common to see successful growing development teams undermined by Boards and Leadership who suddenly look at the calendar and declare “where’s our money”. I call it the “one-year rule”. I have seen many nonprofits where the Board doesn't understand the work it takes to build relationships loses patience. . It's a self-fulfilling prophecy. For example, building a Major Gifts program can take 3 years. Few people in leadership know and when there is financial strain on the organization many throw up their hands and declare it a failure.?

Let's switch gears and talk about solutions. We of course need to change attitudes and information towards fundraising and fundraisers. However here are some ideas for nonprofits, funders and other activists in the nonprofit community.?

Fundraisers Need to Raise their Voice !: We are a silent profession, our jobs are not safe and we need to pay for kids and rent. We need to let the philanthropic world know we are here and we know about giving.??

Funders Need to Support Professional Development: Most fundraisers aren’t trained. They are given the “sink or swim” option. Especially small and medium nonprofits need to train their fundraisers and support them in professional communities. Funders don’t support that overwhelmingly. Why? It's the lifeblood of any nonprofit but funders generally ignore it as a funding opportunity.

Give to Organizations Investing in their Future: When evaluating a nonprofit grantee ask the hard questions about growth and resilience. Are they only focused on grant writing, do they have development staff? If so, how long do they last? Are they fundraising in multiple ways or just one? Not sure how to assess an organization on this topic. Find a fundraiser and ask them.?

Greatly Expand Funding: Many foundations and funders have small parts of their budgets for organizational effectiveness, infrastructure, resilience, and strengthening. Whatever it's called there is very little of it. Why? I am sure it's more fun to give out program money but what’s the point if that organization is dependent on grant funding and isn’t growing all of its revenue sources? Plus in the OE/Infrastructure world very rarely does anyone fund fundraising. They fund “leadership”.?Strong grantees growing in their fundraising is a powerful gift for any funder to give.

Boards Need Mandatory Fundraising Training: Want to have a lightly attended Board Meeting? Announce that it will be a fundraising training. We need to engage Board Members in new ways around fundraising. Training that includes the cycle of fundraising and explains their roles in this process. If Board Members help even a little in fundraising they learn a great deal about the inner workings.?

I hope you will take this article as a call to action. A rallying call for hope. Fundraising has made giving happen for 150 years in this nation. It has built great universities, funded cures to diseases, protected wilderness, and fought for civil rights. If we honor and respect fundraising and the professional fundraisers who make it happen we will be asking more people, more creatively, and building more relationships with donors. In my opinion, it's essential to reverse the decline in giving.?