Giving outlook grim, fundraising poor but hey we’re tweeting!
Today, some important news released:
1. GuideStar said today the giving outlook is grim (though as I always like to point out, online giving is up). Notably, The Effect of the Economy on the Nonprofit Sector: A June 2010 Surveysaid:
•Some 40 percent of participants reported that contributions to their organizations dropped between January 1 and May 31, 2010, compared to the same period a year earlier.
•Eight percent indicated that their organizations were in imminent danger of closing.
•Sixty-three percent reported a total increase in demand for their organization’s services between January 1, 2010 and May 31, 2010, compared to the same period a year prior.
•In order to balance budgets, 17 percent of respondents reduced program services, and 11 percent laid off employees.
•More than 60 percent of participants reporting decreased contributions attributed the drop to a decline in both the number of individual donors and the size of their donations.
•Among organizations that use volunteers, 17 percent used one or more in what had formerly been paid positions.
•About a third (32 percent) of organizations increased their reliance on volunteers, whereas 9 percent experienced a decline.
•Eight percent indicated that their organizations were in imminent danger of closing.
•Sixty-three percent reported a total increase in demand for their organization’s services between January 1, 2010 and May 31, 2010, compared to the same period a year prior.
•In order to balance budgets, 17 percent of respondents reduced program services, and 11 percent laid off employees.
•More than 60 percent of participants reporting decreased contributions attributed the drop to a decline in both the number of individual donors and the size of their donations.
•Among organizations that use volunteers, 17 percent used one or more in what had formerly been paid positions.
•About a third (32 percent) of organizations increased their reliance on volunteers, whereas 9 percent experienced a decline.
2. We’re not doing a good job cultivating large donors.
This, according to Greg Ulrich, a management consultant who has worked with businesses and nonprofit groups. He led the study, Money for Good, and he said in today’s Chronicle of Philanthropy (article requires membership to access):
What we learned is both encouraging and frightening. On the encouraging side, we found that $45-billion in potential donations is available annually from people who make $80,000 or more a year. (Those people make up the wealthiest 30 percent of American households.) That figure includes gifts that donors would be willing to switch from the charities they support now and new money they would be willing to donate to organizations that appeal to them the right way.
On the frightening side, we learned that most nonprofit groups are pursuing the $45-billion in the wrong ways—ways that, despite their best intentions and efforts, are unlikely to be effective. And being ineffective is easy given that $150-billion of the donations that affluent Americans contribute annually is essentially out of reach. Donors are exceedingly loyal to the organizations they already support, and they are not likely to change their minds about how to distribute that $150-billion.
In case you are concluding this is my most depressing post ever, he has some good advice for you, which includes:
*Approach your donors with a focus on their motivations and behaviors, not simple demographics.
*Concentrate on just a few types of donors that may be attracted to your cause, not everyone!
*Be focused, consistent and simple in your marketing approach.
*Concentrate on just a few types of donors that may be attracted to your cause, not everyone!
*Be focused, consistent and simple in your marketing approach.
Listen to this:
It turns out that only about one-third of all donors do any research before making a donation, and the vast majority of those who do, research simply to validate their gift (not to look for the charity that will make the greatest difference with their donation). Donors also want simple facts and figures and look to the nonprofit itself for that information. So make that easy to find. You don’t need to provide them with 15 key measures of performance or an abundance of information that does not matter to them (like, for instance, the size of the problem you are trying to solve).
Great advice in my view.
3. While we may stink at fundraising and giving is down, at least we’re tweeting! Yikes. Maybe our time would be better spent following Greg Ulrich’s advice.
Hat tip to Agitatorfor highlighting this data:
