Training Yields Big Payoff in Giving

Kendra Stanley-Mills/AP Images for Boys & Girls Clubs of America

At the end of 2011, Boys & Girls Clubs of America had big goals requiring lots of money.

One was to serve more children and teens through educational offerings, sports leagues, mentoring workshops, and other programs that the charity provides.

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Another was to measure outcomes. Were the children it serves doing well in school? Were they engaging in healthy behaviors, such as exercising and staying away from drugs and alcohol? Were they being productive in their communities? Volunteering? The organization also wanted a more effective marketing and communications plan.

“Obviously, to achieve those goals meant that we needed to be successful in raising more resources,” says Julie Teer, chief development and public-affairs officer.

So the nonprofit gave itself a big target: $2 billion in annual revenue by the end of 2017, a 30 percent increase over 2011. That kind of growth for a legacy charity would require a big push on multiple fronts, including foundation support, corporate sponsorships, government grants and contracts, and, especially, individual donations.

“One of the greatest opportunities across the Boys & Girls Clubs enterprise was to really build the capacity and engagement of individuals as donors,” Teer says. That effort was key to smart, sustainable growth.

The Atlanta-based nonprofit’s remarkable success was achieved in part by getting many of its 1,100 local chapters better trained in how to raise big gifts. In 2017, its annual revenue from individual donors was $258 million, more than double where it was in 2011.

Over all, it raised $909 million in 2017, vaulting it to number 7 on the Chronicle’s annual list of charities that bring in the most in cash and stocks.

Boys & Girls Clubs of Oshkosh

Building a Development Plan

In 2012, the nonprofit launched a program called Advancing Philanthropy with support from the Deerbrook Charitable Trust. Chapter presidents, board members, and development staff travel to training sessions to learn the basics major-gifts fundraising, including how to build a development plan and identify potential supporters. A consultant is assigned to help the chapters carry out their fundraising plans over 12 to 18 months.

Today, a team of 14 employees at the national headquarters leads trainings and assists local staff. About half of the group’s chapters have gone through the program since it launched.

The Boys & Girls Club of Oshkosh in Wisconsin was one of the first groups to enter the program.

After attending a training session, Marc Dosogne, chief executive of the chapter, said he and the fundraising staff and board quickly went to work on a plan to identify potential big donors in the area. They developed a priority list of people who were most likely to make substantial gifts quickly and went after them. They also built relationships with those who didn’t know much about the chapter’s work.

“You have to be thoughtful about not only the people you’re currently working with, but who are you building in the pipeline?” he says. “And I think Advancing Philanthropy really taught us that.”

The approach worked. When Dosogne started in 2003, the chapter raised about $650,000 from all sources. By the end of 2018, it expects to bring in more than $3 million, much of it coming from big supporters.

Just Getting Started

Of course, other fundraising has been important for Boys & Girls Clubs of America, too. Corporate donations and revenue from special events grew 13 percent and 4 percent, respectively, from 2012 to 2017.

But giving by individuals has grown the fastest. By 2025 the organization wants to double its total revenue.

To help hit that target, it wants to get the rest of its chapters through the Advancing Philanthropy program by 2021.

Teer adds: “We’re really just getting started.”