The start of a new fiscal year has buoyed college fundraisers — and advancement leaders in particular — according to a new survey by fundraising firm Washburn & McGoldrick.
Among the 430 respondents, 40 percent say they’ll reach their fundraising targets for the financial year — nearly double the share who expressed similar confidence in June. Just 14 percent don’t have confidence in their ability to meet their fundraising targets this year.
Meanwhile, an even greater share of senior fundraising officials — 59 percent — said they expected to meet their fundraising goals. That’s up from a confidence rate of just 17 percent in June.
Even with this sunnier outlook on the future, fundraisers have tempered their timeline for a full financial recovery from the pandemic. In June, 40 percent said they expected it to take a year at most to recover their losses from the recession. By September, however, 43 percent said they didn’t anticipate a full financial recovery for one or two years — that’s 19 percent more than the portion who expected that timeline in June.
“Donors who postponed closing gifts because of Covid are now waiting for the outcome of the election,” one fundraiser said. “This is pushing back the ‘recovery’ rate for us.”
What’s more, some fundraisers are letting go of the idea of a recovery altogether. “It’s hard to quantify recovery in this sense,” said another fundraiser. “Adaptation is different than recovery. There may be elements of our past practices to which we never return.”
Another senior fundraiser noted the steep drop in annual fund donations and the squeeze it has put on the college’s unrestricted cash on hand. “Alumni relations will need to continue to reinvent itself,” the fundraiser said.
Prioritizing Racial Justice
Fundraisers also report that their colleges’ priorities are changing. Eighty-seven percent of fundraisers said they were now more focused on financial aid, 85 percent said they’d stepped up appeals for social-justice and racial-justice programs, and 77 percent said their search for unrestricted dollars had increased. On the other hand, 44 percent of fundraisers said they were dialing down appeals for support of new campus buildings and other capital projects.
Washburn & McGoldrick first noticed the focus on social and racial justice in its June survey, when many respondents mentioned those efforts in open-response questions. This newest survey is the first of the firm’s three pandemic surveys to ask respondents how they were prioritizing funding for social- and racial-justice programs.
Some fundraisers reported that their colleges were not doing enough to encourage diversity, equity, and inclusion, but others noted strong responses on campus. That focus will probably outlast the pandemic’s financial squeeze, one leader said.
Uncertainty and Adaptation
Uncertainty has been a constant across each of Washburn & McGoldrick’s surveys during the pandemic. While fundraisers expressed more confidence in September about meeting fundraising goals, 46 percent of respondents said they did not know whether they would be able to meet their financial targets during the coming financial year.
This survey reveals that fundraisers have adjusted to appealing for donations and connecting with donors remotely. Video and telephone calls were the preferred communication methods for 54 percent of fundraisers, but phone calls continue to be dominant. Forty-two percent of fundraisers said they eschew video calls when courting new donors, and 35 percent said they avoid them when asking donors for gifts.
Fundraisers expressed high levels of confidence in involving new and existing donors in virtual group activities and one-on-one conversations. For example, almost eight in 10 fundraisers said they were confident they could connect with alumni, potential donors, and existing donors through virtual events like webinars and happy hours. Another 78 percent said they could easily pitch the college’s fundraising priorities to donors.
But despite six months of practice, 48 percent of respondents said it’s still challenging to identify potential new donors remotely, and another 53 percent said they lacked confidence in finalizing donations virtually.
Even with these challenges, however, fundraisers say they like working remotely and continue to be productive. Nearly half said they would like to continue remote work, and 39 percent said they would like a mix of in-office and remote work. Just 15 percent of fundraisers said they wanted to return to full-time office work.
Asked to imagine a future beyond the pandemic, fundraisers anticipated a changed work environment, including less work travel and rethinking what activities count as donor engagement. Fundraising leaders, in particular, have consistently expected this change at high levels. In September, 98 percent said they expected the pandemic’s impact on their field would last. Ninety-two percent of fundraisers also expected that — a 13 percent jump from June.
Among other findings:
- Participants said they were challenged by a loss of workplace community and often felt isolated and disconnected from their colleagues.
- Health concerns often drive the current discomfort with full-time office work: Forty percent of respondents said they preferred to work remotely or partially in the office while the coronavirus continues to circulate unchecked.
