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Stratagems
is published monthly by Jim Eskin, External Affairs Counsel, who has more than 30 years of leadership experience in institutional advancement, fundraising, public affairs, and communications. His consulting practice helps people and organizations with philanthropy, advocacy, and image so they can more effectively touch lives and improve the world. He welcomes the opportunity to hear about your funding and institutional advancement needs as a first step in designing a strategy and effective plan toward building a stronger future.
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Contact Jim Eskin at:
10410 Pelican Oak Drive
San Antonio, TX 78254-6727
210-523-8499 (H)
210-415-3748 (C)
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ANSWERS TO THIS MONTH'S QUIZ
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Answers: 1=a, 2=c, 3=d, 4=b, 5=e
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More evidence that we truly are America the Generous:
Charities Aid Foundation finds that
more than half (55%) of Americans made a monetary donation to a charity, gave to a religious organization, and/or sponsored someone in the past 12 months. Based on a survey conducted in July, 47% of survey respondents had given money to a non-profit, 37% had given to a religious organization, and 33% had given directly to a person in need at some point during the past 12 months, while 23% had sponsored someone for a charity fundraising event. Another 33% reported that they had donated food or goods to a charity or religious organization, 24% said they had volunteered for a religious organization, and 23% said they had volunteered for a non-profit, while 32% said they had neither donated money nor volunteered. Survey respondents age 55 and older (70%) and those with household incomes of at least $80,000 (78%) were the most likely to have given or donated. The survey also found that 37% of respondents said they had given in support of religious organizations, followed by giving to help the poor (32%) or children in need (27%). Older Americans were more likely to give in support of medical institutions (12% vs. 8% overall), while those between the ages of 25 and 34 were more likely to give to programs for disabled people (24 % vs. 15%).
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This is the time for making resolutions for the new year. Do
yourself and the world a favor and include good works. Research from the
Women's Philanthropy Institute reminds us that
people who give to charitable causes are happier than those who don't, regardless of gender and marital status, and the more they give, the happier they are. The study investigated the connection between life satisfaction and charitable giving as part of ongoing work to understand differences in how men and women give. Men and women experience the increase in happiness differently: Men receive a greater boost when they become donors, while women see a greater jump in happiness when they give more of their income. In households where women drive or participate equally in charitable decisions, the entire family is happier. More specifically:
*. The more a household gives as a percentage of income, the higher the household's life satisfaction.
* Across marital status (single women, single men, and married couples), giving to charitable organizations is positively related to a household's life satisfaction.
* For households where either the wife makes charitable decisions or spouses make charitable decisions jointly, life satisfaction increases with the percentage of household income given to charity.
* For households where charitable decisions are driven by women and more than two percent of their incomes are given to charity, households making less than $100,000 per year experience more of a boost in life satisfaction from giving than those making $100,000 or more.
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Encouraging Signs for 2018
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The Chronicle of Philanthropy surveyed 645 donors in
September 2017 to explore how donor-engagement efforts are affecting the way these supporters decide whether to make subsequent gifts and recommendations to their peers. The survey spotlighted some encouraging trends -- namely that donors are generally more optimistic about the organizations they support than they have been in previous years. But it also shows that non-profits must be much more effective in telling their stories and showing how they are making a difference if they want to keep donors coming back. Not only are donors more satisfied, they also expect to give more to charity in 2017 than they did last year. More than a third of the donors surveyed -- 34% -- reported that they expect to give more this year, while only 6% say they plan to give less. These expectations are much more optimistic than they have been in previous surveys. In 2016, only 21% said they expected to give more, while 14% said they would give less. In 2014 and 2015, a larger share of donors reported that they planned to give less than give more.
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Facebook has announced a number of tools and initiatives designed to help people build
community and keep each other safe, including blood donation and suicide prevention initiatives and a
$50 million annual matching fund in support of communities rebuilding after disaster. During its 2nd annual Social Good Forum, the company also reported that $45 million had been donated by Facebook users on #GivingTuesday via a recently launched fundraising application. In the event's keynote address, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg detailed new and recent changes the company had or is planning to make, including the elimination of non-profit fees on donations made through the platform, an announcement that elicited loud applause from the audience of mostly nonprofit officials. The company also announced that it had expanded its charitable giving toolkit to allow people in Europe, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand to create fundraisers on its platform.
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Columbia University has received
a new gift of $250 million from Dr. P. Roy and Diana
Vagelos for its College of Physicians and Surgeons, bringing the couple's total support for medicine at Columbia to more than $310 million. A major portion of the gift, $150 million, will endow a fund that will help Columbia eliminate student loans for medical students who qualify for financial aid, currently about half of the student body in the medical school. About 20% of students -- those with the greatest need -- will receive full-tuition scholarships. The school, which is celebrating its 250th anniversary this year, will be officially known as the Columbia University Roy and Diana Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. The Vageloses have given more than $310 million to Columbia's medical school beginning with scholarship support soon after their graduation in mid-1950s.
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The efficacy of feasibility studies in preparing for capital campaigns has been a hotly debated
topic. So how about hearing from Jerry Panas, Founding Partner of
Jerold Panas, Linzy & Partners, arguably the most respected fundraising authority on the planet? The fundraising Zen master says that the
key to conducting a valid and successful feasibility study is visiting with the "right" sources. You need to meet with men and women who can make or influence large gifts. If you interview the proper 60 or so influentials and affluentials, you will be talking with those who will likely comprise 60% to 70% of your campaign goal and you will have a fail-safe blueprint for the campaign. As an added bonus, this represents a powerful cultivation step.
Here are crucial questions answered in the deliverables:
* What is the public image of (your organization)?
* How strong is the case for the proposed campaign program?
* Is there dramatic and emotional appeal?
* What is the overall economic and fundraising environment in the
area?
* What is the attitude regarding your leadership?
* Is leadership willing to accept major roles in your campaign?
* What level of financial support can you expect for the project?
* What is the proper timing and strategy for the campaign?
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The Collective Giving Research Group conducted a new study on giving circles in the U.S.
Giving circles have tripled in number since 2007, becoming an increasingly popular way for donors from a diverse array of backgrounds to support charitable organizations or projects of mutual interest. Members have a say in how funding is given and which organizations or projects are supported. Key findings:
* Giving circles have always provided avenues for those without substantial means to participate in significant giving, but this latest study suggests that
these groups now attract members from a wider range of income levels. Today, minimum dollar amounts required for participation range from less than $20 to $2 million, and the average donation amount was found to be $1,312 -- compared to $2,809 in 2007.
* Identity-based groups make up 60% of giving circles and drive much of the growth in collaborative giving. Giving circles attract many types of people, including those who may not typically engage in institutional philanthropy. Most groups are formed around a specific identity including groups based on gender, race, age and religion.
* Women dominate giving circle membership, making up 70% of all members. Men have a presence in 66% of giving circles, they are only the majority of members in 7.5% of groups.
* Networks of giving circles have emerged since 2007, with 25 networks now in existence. Today, 45% of identified giving circles participate in a network or alliance group. Community foundations, corporate partners and other outside donors view these collective giving groups as an effective way to give, with 52% of giving circles receiving additional funds or grants from these sources.
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U.S. consumers rate
Wegmans, Publix Super Markets, Amazon.com, Tesla Motors and USAA as the top companies for corporate social responsibility efforts, according to research
from The
Harris Poll Reputation Quotient, which has identified movement, trends and insights in a changing corporate reputation landscape for the past 18 years. Other companies receiving "excellent" corporate social responsibility ratings are Lowe's, UPS and L.L. Bean. Monsanto, Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs garnered "critical" corporate social responsibility marks in the Harris Poll study, which asked more than 23,000 consumers to rate the 100 most visible companies in the U.S. on social responsibility attributes such as: support for good causes, environmental responsibility and community responsibility. According to findings, employee treatment (39%), ethics (38%) and respectful treatment of customers (35%) are the most important corporate social responsibility issues, followed by providing affordable and accessible products and services (29%) and safety (28%).
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Our good friend David Kanter recently was a patient at the world-famous
Mayo Clinic in
Rochester, Minn. and suggested that I look into the inspiring philanthropy of fellow San Antonian Barbara Woodward Lips, for whom the Mayo Clinic's Patient Education Center is named. Lips was a loyal Mayo Clinic patient for more than 40 years. In 1996 she amazed everyone when she left an estate valued at
$127.9 million entirely to the medical institution. Mayo placed the proceeds from the Lips estate in an endowment and uses the income generated by the fund to support programs in innovative treatments, medical research and education. Lips was one of Mayo's major contributors for a quarter-century, making a number of significant gifts after her husband -- ranching, oil and gas magnate Charles Storch Lips -- died in 1970.
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Anyone who knows Andrea and me knows how much we love our two cats. This provides an
even keener appreciation for the fine work of
San Antonio Pets Alive!, a life-saving organization that rescues dogs and cats at risk of being euthanized. They're deservedly very proud of their leadership in
saving the lives of over 38,000 dogs and cats with no other hope. It was a delight to lead a three-hour interactive training session for their board and senior staff. We reviewed the art and science of fundraising and practical steps that everyone can take which can culminate in developing more resources. This organization is fueled by board members and staff with a genuine passion for rescuing dogs and cats who enrich our lives so robustly. I look forward to a long association with them. Here's a link to my
PowerPoint presentation.
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I also enjoyed speaking recently at a luncheon program of colleagues in the
Planned Giving Council of San Antonio (PGCSA). This is an
association of charitable gift planning
professionals committed to creating meaningful giving experiences for donors and their philanthropic priorities. I had originally been scheduled to speak in March, but my heart attack/stroke forced a re-scheduling. I received many thoughtful cards from PGCSA members. It was a privilege to speak to them before the end of the year. My presentation focused on making board members and volunteers more comfortable in partnering with fundraising professionals in identifying, cultivating, soliciting and stewarding donor prospects through 10 lessons from the common sense school of fundraising. The comments and questions were as insightful as any I've received from other groups.
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Blackbaud,
whose systems process a majority of the online donations made in the U.S. on
#GivingTuesday, processed more than $60.9 million from over 7,200 organizations receiving donations this year (November 28). Online donations were up again for the 6th year. Highlights:
*
Online giving grew by 500% since its creation in 2012
* Online giving has jumped by 28% since 2016
* Online donation volume grew by 20% compared to 2016
* 8% more social good organizations received an online donation on #GivingTuesday 2017 compared to 2016
* Online average gift amounts exceeded $134
* About 26% of online donations were made from a mobile device
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A new generation of donors is expected to inherit an estimated $59 trillion dollars by
2061 and to allocate almost half that sum to charitable causes. In addition to this unprecedented transfer of wealth, there are also a growing number of next-generation donors who have earned their own fortunes at a relatively young age and are currently, or will soon be, engaged in philanthropy in a significant way. In
Generation Impact: How Next Gen Donors Are Revolutionizing Giving, authors Sharna Goldseker and Michael Moody set out to illuminate the "collective mindset" of this emerging cohort of Gen X and millennial philanthropists, who, as a result of almost unprecedented wealth creation and concentration, are ushering in a "golden age of giving" marked not only by significantly more financial resources available for charitable causes than in the past but by dramatic shifts in the traditional norms of philanthropy. These shifts are the impetus for Goldseker and Moody's book; through interviews and surveys with hundreds of younger philanthropists, as well as first-person accounts from 13 next-gen donors, they aim to help the social sector understand who these next-generation donors are, how they're giving, and how they're likely to approach change-making efforts in the years to come.
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The divisions between Republicans and Democrats on fundamental political values --
government, race, immigration, national security, environmental protection and other areas -- reached record levels during Barack Obama's presidency. In Donald Trump's first year as president, these gaps have grown even larger. And the magnitude of these differences dwarfs other divisions in society, along such lines as gender, race and ethnicity, religious observance or education. A new
Pew Research Center study based on surveys of more than 5,000 adults conducted over the summer, finds
widening differences between Republicans and Democrats on a range of measures the Center has been asking about since 1994, as well as those with more recent trends. But in recent years, the gaps on several sets of political values in particular -- including measures of attitudes about the social safety net, race and immigration -- have increased dramatically.
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Quiz: Philanthropic Cities
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Charity Navigator compared the median performance and size of the largest non-profits in the 30 largest metropolitan markets in the nation. Those markets account for 62% of the 8,219 charities evaluated by Charity Navigator. Scores are based on overall financial health and commitment to accountability and transparency. Match the following metro markets with their non-profit score to answer this question.
Answers are shown in the green box at the bottom of the left column. Until next month ...
1. Boston a. 87.39
2. Chicago b. 87.58
3. Houston c. 88.53
4. New York City d.90.05
5. San Diego e. 90.10
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