Fundraising Talks
News and updates from the USM Office of
Advancement Research
Upcoming Events

When: April 13, 2022, 3 pm, EST
 
When: April 27, 2022 at 1 pm EST
 
When: April 27, 2022 at 1 pm EST
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Looking for funding opportunities? We've identified a few funds that might be useful to you. Visit the links below to learn more about the requirements and deadlines for these opportunities. 

Richard King Mellon Foundation
(Deadline: April 20, 2022)

Andrew W. Mellon Foundation (Deadline: April 20, 2022) 

(Deadline: May 4, 2022)
Contact Us

Director of Advancement Research
301.445.2709

Prospect Researcher

Office Clerk
301.445.1950
Letter from the Director
Welcome to April’s newsletter. The popular saying, “April showers bring May flowers,” can easily be used within the fundraising sector. In fundraising, it means that even though there was uncertainty and challenging times during the past couple of years, these experiences provided opportunities for development professionals to be resilient and rethink the idea of the "new normal." When I think of the new normal, I think of how many of us have utilized technology to conduct our business operations. While technology enables us to perform the functions of our jobs more effectively and efficiently, we must also practice caution to avoid any pitfalls.

The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s recent article, How to Make the Most of Artificial Intelligence and Other Technologies: Advice From Experts, shares advice by the co-authors of The Smart Nonprofit: Staying Human-Centered in an Automated World, on how nonprofits can make the most of artificial intelligence and other technologies. In fundraising, artificial intelligence and technology tools enable us to identify prospective donors, help fundraisers optimize their prospect lists, analyze donor data, and suggest personalized appeals. The article suggests that nonprofits should not be afraid of utilizing technology to improve fundraising efforts. At the same time, organizations should exercise caution and select tools only after researching and learning about the vendors and products. It is also good to keep in mind that data and products are not always “value neutral” and that there may be biases built into the system that we should take into consideration. Technological tools help individuals in an organization to do their jobs better, but they require humans to put the tools to application. Organizations should also practice ethical usage of technological tools by ensuring the privacy and security of the data used within them.

Switching gears, have you seen this report on wealthy donors of color by The Donors of Color Network (DOCN)? The report provides valuable information on factors that motivate wealthy individuals of color. The report shares historically overlooked demographics and features data from interviews with 113 high net worth (HNW) of Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) donors. Below are some of the key findings from the report:

  • The HNW donors of color interviewed were mostly first-generation wealth creators and often the people in their families of origin who had crossed into a new socio-economic class.
  • Nearly every single HNW donor of color interviewed personally experienced racial or ethnic bias. These experiences motivated many to seek systemic change through philanthropic or political giving, although many expressed not knowing how best to effect the changes they wished to see.
  • The donors interviewed gave generously to a range of issues and causes and utilized varied practices of giving. Over 50 percent of interviewees explicitly ranked their top five donor priority causes. 44.4 percent prioritized social justice, 39.7 percent women's and gender rights, 36 percent racial justice, and 34.9 percent health. Donors gave most often to educational institutions which many credited as critical to their success.
  • HNW donors of color reinforced the importance of learned cultures of giving that shaped their approach to money, generosity, and the sharing of resources.
  • Interviewed individuals participated in many networks of civic, professional and other civil society organizations, and viewed these as important to their giving practices.

As mentioned above, we hope that new and innovative technology is carefully selected and used to increase efficiency in workflows by fundraising organizations. Also, we hope that the insights provided from the report on donors of color will further aid in creating stronger relationships with donors of similar backgrounds. As always, please feel free to reach out us with questions, comments or any assistance with prospect research!

Best Regards,
Sapna and USM Advancement Research Team
Did you know?

The University System of Maryland Foundation has access to a library of recorded webinars from the Annual Giving Network (AGN) that you may watch at any time from your computer. While we cannot currently gather in person for professional development events, this work from home period provides a great opportunity for you to learn on your own time! Please click here to see what webinars are available from AGN.
 
If you are interested, please email Linda Bowman (lbowman@usmd.edu) and she will help you access these webinars for free. Please do not try to access these webinars on your own, as you will be charged a fee.

Please also note that the Foundation only has access to free AGN webinars, not workshops. Workshops are available at a marginally discounted rate.

USM Webinars

Join the USM and the Osborne Group for free webinars this spring. Click here for more information.

Join the USM and Washburn & McGoldrick for free lunch and learn webinars this year. Click here for more information.
New research from “The Emerging Potential of Longitudinal Empirical Research in Estate Planning: Examples from Charitable Bequests," based on the Health and Retirement Study has identified a top ten list of lifetime characteristics that are most important in predicting charitable transfers. The study tracked more than 14,000 people since age 50 in order to connect lifetime giving and other characteristics to see where estates have actually been transferred. In order of importance, the top ten characteristics are:

  1. Consistency in donating, i.e., the share of all survey years in which the respondent indicated donating at least $500 to charity;
  2. Having no offspring;
  3. The highest amount ever donated in any one year during life;
  4. Consistency in reporting having a funded trust;
  5. Being female;
  6. Wealth in the final survey;
  7. Not being married;
  8. Donation amount in the year of the final survey;
  9. Having a growing trajectory of wealth leading up to death; and,
  10. Consistency in volunteering.
Donor vetting practices help minimize financial, legal, and reputational risk and should be top of mind when engaging in frontline fundraising, as well as when developing and managing prospect pipelines for significant gifts. While most gifts won't cause problems for your institution, it's essential to consider how a gift or donor could impact your organization in positive and negative ways. We all are familiar with the "Varsity Blues" scandal and could speak to the renaming of buildings on our campuses, so donor vetting should not be a new concept. NonProfitPro gives tips on how to address financial and legal risks, reputational and ethical risks, and how to protect your organization before these issues arise. Click here to read more.
At your organization, the importance of qualifying prospects should be equal to the importance of disqualifying prospects. Disqualifying prospects will ensure that your team is engaging prospects with genuine, current interest in your organization. In order to incorporate prospect disqualification into your prospect management work, Graham Pelton suggests clarifying your organizations definition of disqualification, completing outreach, recording activity, and reviewing regularly; and staying in touch passively. Click here to read more.
This article from the Helen Brown Group, discusses donor advised funds and surprising elements about these funds that are key to understanding their donors and sponsors. For example, a previously-held assumption about DAFs is that people make anonymous gifts through them because they want to give to causes that might conflict with their public political or personal beliefs, or because it was a one-off gift and they do not want to be contacted by the nonprofit. However, "Anonymous Giving Through Donor Advised Funds," a study conducted in 2022, shows that of more than two million grants made in 2020 from donors through the big five sponsors, only 4.3 percent of those gifts were given anonymously. Click here to read more.
This article from CCS Fundraising discusses why and how businesses donate to nonprofits and how nonprofits can find success in building corporate partnerships. The article gives a short summary of the landscape for corporate giving, as well as reasons why corporations give back. The article suggests the following ideas for nonprofits to engage corporate donors:

  1. Solidify what corporate engagement opportunities you can offer.
  2. Do your research. Look local and ensure alignment.
  3. Leverage your current connections to open doors to new opportunities.
  4. Focus on building the relationships and utilize moves management.
Within Fidelity Charitable's annual Giving Report, three key themes have surfaced: tireless generosity amid challenging times, increased sophistication of donors, and a next generation that is leading the way. This article from Forbes breaks down each of these themes and discusses how they may shape the future of philanthropy in America. Click here to read more.