A weekly rundown of the latest fundraising news, ideas, and trends gathered by our fundraising editor Rasheeda Childress, fundraising reporter Jie Jenny Zou, and other Chronicle contributors. You’ll also find insights from your fundraising peers. Delivered every Wednesday.
Hi, I’m Eden Stiffman, a senior editor at the Chronicle of Philanthropy.
This week we’re talking about how fundraisers are coping with the immense pressure of our moment. Plus, new data shows a sharp decline in first-quarter giving compared with last year.
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Hi, I’m Eden Stiffman, a senior editor at the Chronicle of Philanthropy.
This week we’re talking about how fundraisers are coping with the immense pressure of our moment. Plus, new data shows a sharp decline in first-quarter giving compared with last year.
These are extraordinarily challenging times for nonprofit employees at all levels, and that is especially true for fundraisers who often feel personally responsible for raising enough money to ensure essential programs aren’t cut and colleagues aren’t laid off. The weight of crisis after crisis is taking a toll.
Many fundraisers have had to cope not only with the challenge of seeking donations when dollars are scarce and uncertain (see the latest Fundraising Effectiveness Project data below for more on that) but also with the personal pressures brought about by sickness and loss, my colleague Maria Di Mento writes.
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Mental disorder, finding answers, confusion concept. Woman suffering from depression, closing face with palms in despair, girl trying to solve complex problems. Simple flat vector. (iStock)
Added to that: the challenge of balancing personal or family time with the weight of work while sequestered at home all day every day since March. And in recent weeks, many fundraisers are facing additional stress as the pain of racial injustices has deepened nationwide. Fundraisers of color say they have been especially overwhelmed, both by the wave of protests and by the greater likelihood that they know people who have suffered or died from Covid-19.
For Kellie Glenn, development director of Covenant House Georgia, a sense of urgency is a regular part of her job leading a team that raises money to help young people who have faced significant traumas. The weight of that urgency has gotten heftier since the pandemic hit. A growing number of the young people the charity serves have lost jobs and housing because of the recession. And those who live in communal settings like shelters now risk Covid-19.
Fundraisers like Glenn who are working to help such vulnerable populations are keenly aware of the burden they are shouldering to ensure they raise enough money to keep the young people they serve from falling further through society’s cracks.
“We’re the providers, and that’s a very heavy burden,” says Glenn. “We know it’s up to us to raise these funds so that our doors can remain open so that we can continue to serve our young people.”
Many fundraisers carry the burden of needing to raise enough to support not only those their charity serves but their colleagues as well, Alan Yu, head of development at the Committee for Hispanic Children and Families told Maria.
The stark realization that it is largely up to the fundraisers in any nonprofit to raise enough money so the organization can continue to pay its employees’ salaries is overwhelming even in the best of times. But in this moment of unprecedented economic and social upheaval, the specter of not being able to raise enough money to keep your colleagues employed can be debilitating.
“Knowing our job directly affects theirs and their ability to provide their services to the communities they serve, the psychological weight of that has been a lot to deal with,” Yu says.
And the stress level for fundraisers of color carries extra dimensions, fundraiser Nneka Allen told Maria.
Allen lost her job in May after six years at a Canadian health-care organization. Out of a team of seven major-gifts and planned-giving officers, she was the nonprofit’s only Black fundraiser, which has been the case in all the fundraising shops she’s worked in throughout her career That brings its own unique pressures and scrutiny, but is even more challenging in the Covid era, she says.
For her, the challenges increased as the toll of the pandemic rose and it was becoming clearer that people of color were catching Covid-19 and dying from it at higher numbers than other groups. Twelve people in Allen’s orbit — friends of family and friends of friends — have died from the virus, but no one she worked with at the health-care organization thought to ask how she was doing, and that stung sharply.
These fundraisers and others shared some of their own tips for dealing with the stressors coming from all angles. Read Maria’s story.
How are you coping with the stress of doing your job right now? We’ll be talking more about fundraiser layoffs in the coming weeks. If you’ve recently lost your job — or have had to make tough staffing decisions yourself — and are open to sharing your experience, drop me an email.
Need to Know
-6 percent
— Decline in individual giving during the first quarter of 2020 compared with the same time last year
The sharpest drop came in big gifts: Donations of $1,000 or more declined by 7.4 percent in the first quarter. Midlevel gifts ($250 to $999) also decreased, but far less significantly, dropping by 2.2 percent. But there was one bright spot that surprised researchers: Donations under $250 rose 6 percent.
The first two months of the year were good ones for fundraisers, followed by an 11 percent decline in March compared with March of 2019. However, there are early signs of a second-quarter rebound. How big that rebound will be remains to be seen.
Giving “was beginning to tick up again” at the end of March, said Michael Nilsen, vice president forf marketing, communications, and public policy at the Association of Fundraising Professionals, which manages the survey. Further, Nilsen said donations to social-justice causes in the second quarter, spurred by protests against systemic racism sparked by the killing of George Floyd, may affect charitable giving.
And in case you missed it, catch up on our coverage of the latest “Giving USA” report, which showed that giving rose 2.4 percent last year.
Plus:
As the United States shines a light on the racism and systemic inequalities much of the population has long ignored, a veteran fundraiser is launching a new membership group that aims to create a national gathering place for women of color to find mentorship, networking, and career advancement. Women of Color in Fundraising and Philanthropy — referred to as WOC and pronounced “woke” — was founded by Yolanda Johnson, president of Women in Development, New York. The concept was inspired by the experiences women fundraisers of color shared with Johnson after she became that group’s first African American president in 2019, Emily Haynes reports. “They did not see themselves strongly reflected in the organization’s programming or leadership,” Johnson says. Further outreach confirmed that philanthropy needed to invest not only in attracting more women fundraisers of color to the field but also in doing more to include, promote, and champion them.
Also read Johnson’s column on some of the ways Women in Development has worked to shift perceptions of and expand opportunities for professional women of color.
On the latest episode of the Business of Giving podcast, Bill Strathmann, CEO of online giving platform Network for Good discusses how the Covid-19 pandemic has affected fundraising.
What We’re Reading
Racial-justice groups have been flooded with donations from Americans eager to support protests against police brutality. The groups are grateful, but some are also struggling to figure out how to handle the unprecedented influx of cash. And now they’re facing another problem: angry donors who feel their contributions weren’t used as intended. Read the story in Vox. Plus, the New Yorker’sJia Tolentino has a smart piece on what’s next for bail funds, which have been among the groups getting inundated with donations. “The readiness of organizers to meet the demands of the moment is the result of steady work that has been going on for years,” she writes.
The wishes of long-dead white donors are complicating local officials’ plans to remove Confederate statues. Richmond’s statue of Robert E. Lee was set to come down by order of Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam until a descendant of the 19th-century real-estate developer who entrusted care and protection of the statue to the state got a court injunction delaying the removal. Similarly, in Charlottesville, a 19th-century philanthropist gave the city parkland with the proviso that a statue of Lee would be erected and maintained there. Attempts to remove that monument sparked protests in 2017 and have drawn legal challenges. There is precedent for courts vacating these types of bequests, particularly when they seek to perpetuate segregation and other discriminatory practices, University of Richmond law professor Allison Anna Tait writes in the Conversation.
“These are the piggy banks of charity. We should be breaking our piggy banks right now.” The Washington Post does a deep dive on donor-advised funds, including a look at how the DAF structure came into being, how critics think they should be regulated, and how advocates say DAF dollars are being put to work. Plus, revisit a Chronicle story about how some charities are finding success connecting with DAF holders.
Organizations that fund biomedical research are reporting record revenue drops because of the pandemic, according to a piece in Science magazine. Canceled runs and walks, galas, and other major fundraising events are one major reason. Many groups are trying to stem the losses by cutting staff and delaying, trimming, or outright canceling grants to scientists. Researchers seeking funding for high-risk ideas that can’t get support from government agencies are especially concerned, Maryrose Franko, CEO of the Health Research Alliance, which represents 85 nonprofits that finance scientists, told the magazine. “We derisk research for the government, and we embrace failure,” she says. “If we’re not funding it, who will?”
3 New Higher-Ed Fundraising Trends That Should Last: Creative online gatherings, a focus on mission and results, and an appreciation for good managers are three trends advancement professionals have noticed since the Covid-19 crisis hit.
Covid-19 Coverage: Financial Sustainability: As the pandemic spreads and economic uncertainty looms, many nonprofits are struggling to stay afloat. This collection offers guidance on how to access emergency aid and address financial challenges.
Engaging Your Board During Covid-19: Amid the crisis, nonprofit leaders and staff members need help from their board members more than ever. This virtual forum offers advice to activate your board during this difficult time.
Why ― and How ― to Cultivate Women Donors Now
Join our webinar tomorrow ― Studies show that women are more likely than men to support health care, communities, and families — all causes critical to the Covid-19 response. Plus, more online gifts come from women than from men, and women at all income levels give more generously than men at similar levels.
How can you tap into the generosity of women donors, especially during this crisis?
Join us tomorrow at 2 p.m. Eastern for a 75-minute webinar that will explain how to adapt your fundraising strategy to prioritize women. Three expert guests will share easy and effective ways to identify women who may support your cause, create messages that resonate with them, and build strong ties to inspire greater giving over time. Register today for a special 40% discount off the regular price.
