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November 20, 2008
Most Small Companies Make Charitable Donations, Survey Finds
Small businesses give generously to charity, with three-quarters of small-business owners in a recent survey saying they donate a percentage of their profits to nonprofit organizations.
On average, small companies contribute 6 percent of their profits to charity, according to the study, which was conducted by American Express.
The survey was based on interviews in August with more than 750 people who lead companies that have fewer than 100 employees.
Companies with the highest revenues were the least generous, with just 69 percent of companies that earn more than $1-million contributing a percentage of their profits to charity.
By contrast, 80 percent of businesses that earned between $250,000 and $1-million gave a share of profits to nonprofit groups, and 77 percent of companies that earned less than $250,000 gave to charity.
Female business owners tend to give more than men, with 6 percent of women in the survey saying they were inclined to donate more than 10 percent of their profits. Just 1 percent of men said they were inclined to do so.
For more on giving by small businesses, see this survey conducted for The Chronicle, and the accompanying article
Seeking Your Advice on Getting Commitments to Special Events
Kat Rice, a Web designer in Dallas who recently founded the social media Web site Give Cheerfully, is planning a fund-raising event for the new organization.
The event, which features a wine tasting and silent auction, takes place Saturday.
And Ms. Rice is looking for advice on how to get potential participants to commit to attending.
She recently posted a short item to the Chronicle‘s Twitter page seeking advice.
“Having trouble getting people to make a firm commitment to attend my event,” she wrote. “Any suggestions?”
What tips can you offer to help Ms. Rice get more people to participate in her event?
Click on the comments link below this post to share your ideas.
What Are Your Favorite Fund-Raising Blogs?
Roger Carr, the founder of the Web site Everyday Giving, recently created his top 10 list of favorite fund-raising blogs for the site Blogs.com.
Mr. Carr listed his favorites in this order:
The Chronicle‘s blog Give & Take also offers a comprehensive list of blogs about fund raising and other topics related to philanthropy.
What are your favorite blogs on fund raising? What topics do you wish fund-raising blogs covered more frequently?
Click on the comments link below this post to share your thoughts.
Putting Board Members Under a Fund-Raising Contract
Many, if not most, charities want their boards to be more engaged in fund raising.
To persuade her trustees to take the idea seriously, Alexi Miller, development director of Acterra, an environmental group in Palo Alto, Calif., asked them to sign a contract stating that they agreed to be active fund raisers. Ms. Miller recently discussed her charity’s contract for trustees on a listserv maintained by the Association of Fundraising Professionals.
Ms. Miller said that her group recently started using this annual fund-raising contract with board members, which she borrowed from CompassPoint, a San Francisco management consulting organization.
The contract asks board members to specify contributions they would make in four areas: making a personal financial donation; arranging meetings, hosting parties, and other donor “cultivation” activities; helping to secure big gifts from others; participating in events; and “other” fund-raising activities that each board member can suggest on their own.
To make sure the contract idea did not scare off board members, Ms. Miller first got feedback on the document from her executive director and the board’s development committee. Then the chairman of the board introduced and invited discussion about the contract at a board meeting — the idea of trying it out for one year. The chairman followed up by meeting individually with each board member to go over the contract and answer any questions.
Has your organization used a fund-raising contract with trustees? What was their response?
November 18, 2008
Why Young People Should Race to Find College Fund-Raising Jobs
Amid the gloomy news about hiring freezes and shrinking job opportunities, John Burkhardt offers a hopeful note on the Future Leaders in Philanthropy blog.
Mr. Burkhardt, a professor of higher education at the University of Michigan, which has just started a new concentration for graduate students in college fund raising, says that jobs raising money for universities are “one of the fastest growing and most satisfying career opportunities in the nonprofit sector.”
While college fund raisers once worked mostly for elite, private institutions, now most public and community colleges are “getting into the game,” and overall the field is becoming more sophisticated, says Mr. Burkhardt.
Among the reasons why he thinks fund-raising jobs at colleges are so appealing:
- College towns are attractive places to live, and they are largely immune from economic downturns.
- University fund raisers have to be well-versed in a variety of academic pursuits, and they are working with professors who are, for the most part, passionate about their work.
- Salaries tend to be good, and the benefits are even better.
What do you think of Mr. Burkhardt’s perspective? Will college development offices do a lot of hiring in the bad times?
Americans Rate Charity Gifts a Priority This Holiday Season
Amid widespread concerns about the economy, Americans are planning to cut their holiday spending but not their charitable giving, according to a new study. In fact, some Americans may actually increase their year-end giving, as they make donations on behalf of friends and family members in lieu of purchasing presents.
Seventy-one percent of Americans are trimming back on their holiday spending, according to a study conducted for World Vision by the polling company Harris Interactive.
But nearly half (49 percent) said they are are more likely to give a “charitable gift,” such as a child sponsorship, a tent, or a cow to help someone in need as a holiday present.
Eight-four percent of people in the study said they would prefer to receive a gift that would benefit someone else rather than a traditional present, such as clothing or electronics.
The study showed that Americans enjoy giving and receiving presents, but do not necessarily need or care deeply about the gifts they receive.
Nearly 60 percent of people in the survey, which was conducted in late October, said they wanted a gift for the holidays. But only one-third said they needed something, and more than half could not remember what they had received the previous year.
New Online Resource for Charities Battling a Tough Economy
To help charities survive in the tough economy, the National Council of Nonprofits has created a new online Economic Vitality Center.
The online resource seeks to help charities — as well as grant makers, policy makers, journalists, and the general public — understand the financial meltdown and how it is affecting different types of nonprofit organizations across the country. To that end, it contains examples of ideas that charities are trying to cope with hard times, from holding brainstorming meetings of local nonprofit groups to sharing back-office functions to save money.
Officials at the National Council of Nonprofits, a Washington umbrella organization for state and regional associations that represent charitable organizations, said that they plan to continually update their new online resource.
In addition to examples, the site contains statistics on the economy and the nonprofit world, information on affected nonprofit organizations by geographic region and mission, and different ways nonprofit groups can wage advocacy and publicity campaigns in support of measures that could help them weather the downturn.
The Chronicle also has devoted a special section of its Web site to articles showing how charities are dealing with the economy.
November 16, 2008
Crafting Winning Appeals: Will Donors Pay for Airfare Costs?
Jed Margolis, executive director of Maccabi USA/Sports for Israel in Philadelphia, is looking for advice from readers on a draft of a direct-mail letter his organization is planning to send to potential donors in the coming weeks.
Below is a draft of his letter. Readers are encouraged to offer their ideas for improvements by posting a comment. As always, we ask that your ideas be constructive.
Dear Maccabi Supporter,
If you have flown anywhere recently (and, I suppose, even if you haven’t), you know what’s happening to air fares.
Fuel surcharges … security and baggage fees … airline pricing schemes. Today’s inflated air fares are having a tremendous impact on our getting Team USA to Israel this summer.
I’m writing to ask for your help.
Here’s the bottom line:
Roundtrip air fare to Israel for the 2005 Maccabiah Games was $1,400. We anticipated an increase this year and budgeted $1,800 per ticket. Now it turns out the cost will actually be $2,100!
That’s $300 more than we expected for each ticket. And we have to buy a lot of them.
I’ve negotiated the best deals I could. For prior Games, the airline was willing to charter us an entire plane — or two — so that we could fly to Israel together as a Team.
But, no more. Seats today are priced individually at different rates, so we’ve had to get the best rates we could, where we could, in much smaller lots.
We have made deposits to secure our reservations. Now, final payment in full is due next month.
Will you make a special donation today to help cover the additional expense for tickets? I wouldn’t ask if it weren’t so critical.
All told, we’re planning on sending a contingent of nearly one thousand people to this summer’s Games — that’s about 850 athletes plus 150 coaches, managers, medical staff, and our Team Rabbi. It’s going to be our greatest showing yet of our solidarity with the People of Israel and Jews everywhere. But first we have to get there.
We have already increased the registration fee athletes contribute to the Maccabiah Games. It covers transportation. However, we know that many of our athletes will need financial assistance in order to meet their obligations — and Maccabi USA has promised to cover part of the cost for others traveling with the Team.
So, I’m turning to you, our Team USA supporters.
You joined the Maccabi USA family out of pride in our athletes’ competitive spirit … and in support of an event that gives young men and women from throughout the Diaspora the opportunity to connect with Israel and their Jewish heritage.
Now the 18th Maccabiah Games are just around the corner. They’re also across an ocean.
Please help Team USA get there. Please help cover the cost of the plane tickets they must have. It’s such a basic element of travel, and so essential to the Games.
Please return the enclosed form with however much you can contribute. Every one of the athletes who get to go to Israel in July will thank you — as I do now.
Sincerely,
Jed Margolis
bq. Executive Director
bq. Maccabi USA
P.S. Again, final payments for plane tickets are due next month. Please let me hear from you soon to ensure we have all the seats we’ll need.
To submit your own letter for a critique by Prospecting readers, send an e-mail message to Peter Panepento
November 14, 2008
How to Translate Positive News Coverage Into Donations?
Last month, the Environmental Investigation Agency scored a publicity coup. The New Yorker magazine published a feature about the Washington charity’s efforts to stop illegal logging, filled with detail and intrigue culled from a year’s worth of reporting.
Now, the group is trying to turn that positive news-media attention into donations. Vincent Holmes, the charity’s donor manager, says the article has provided an “entree” with new donors, and given the group a reason to get in touch with past supporters.
“Because it’s so prestigious, it can be a nice door opener,” he says. “We get other media coverage but this article is really in a class by itself.”
Mr. Holmes says he is reaching out to foundations that do not accept unsolicited applications — but do support forest-protection efforts or other environmental issues — by sending a letter of introduction mentioning The New Yorker‘s depiction of the organization’s successes.
The Environmental Investigation Agency is gearing up to send out an online and direct-mail appeal to people who have not supported the charity, but have signed up online to receive information about its work. The appeal will point readers to The New Yorker coverage.
The group is also pondering an event in New York, perhaps in conjunction with the magazine, that would focus on threats to the world’s forests.
Among the other ways the group is using the publicity:
- Highlighting the article, as well as radio and video interviews with the author, on its Web site.
- Referring to the article in online and print advertising.
- Including the article, along with other press coverage, in packets sent to prospective donors.
How have you used positive news-media coverage to your advantage? What recommendations would you have for the Environmental Investigation Agency?
—“Caroline Preston”:mailto:caroline.preston@philanthropy.com
November 13, 2008
Spending a Little to Get a Lot
Amid a tough economic climate, finding ways to maintain fund raising without adding costs is a challenge, but plenty of low-cost approaches can boost donations, writes a fund raising consultant on the Future Leaders In Philanthropy blog.
Among the tips from Holly Lillis, of Changing our World:
- Engage in simple Web-site maintenance, to ensure the organization shows up high on search engine searches
- Host volunteer drives to offer ways for supporters to give at time when they might not have much extra cash.
- Craft simple, brief, e-mail messages to take the place of more expensive traditional mailings
- Have a “friend raising” event to recruit new donors. Ask board members or other supporters to invite their friends and colleagues to a party to learn about the charity, for example.
Has your organization adopted any of these tactics already? What approaches are you considering to keep fund raising from dropping off in this economic downturn? Share your thoughts by posting a comment below.
Copyright © 2008 The Chronicle of Philanthropy