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Despite a rainy day, the stars came out at night at the Ball for the Mall, held on the National Mall on Thursday May 11. OAI was proud to partner with Trust for the National Mall to celebrate 10 years of partnership with the National Park Service and help the Trust raise more than $1.5 million.
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Fundraising in the Era of Trump
How Can Nonprofits Adapt to and Take Advantage of the New Political Reality?
The beginning of the Trump Administration has been characterized by an unforeseen level of political turmoil. Inconsistent communication from the White House and a lack of national unity have transformed the funding landscape as disagreements over travel bans and healthcare catalyze support for some nonprofits while detracting attention from others.
These changing dynamics are evident in the nation's news.
TIME Magazine proclaimed that Trump's election spurred an "'unprecedented' rise in donations" for the ACLU and Planned Parenthood, and si
milar reports from
The Atlantic
detail a four-fold increase in monthly donations to the Sierra Club.
This ideological excitement - combined with instability in federal funding - requires nonprofits to think strategically about the future and develop practical tactics for moving forward. Nonprofits in sectors directly impacted by new policy directions such as immigration support, international rescue, and policy resolution must find ways to adapt to donor fluctuation and turn it to their advantage.
What is a thoughtful and strategically-oriented nonprofit to do? We suggest the following:
- Take care of your people. Maintaining morale is critical as your organization continues to navigate the political landscape. Policy change and budgetary uncertainty are likely to place heavy demands on your already-stretched development teams. Staff who are fully engaged in your mission, and have the tools and bandwidth to do their jobs, will be more motivated to stick with your organization through transitions and change.
- Ensure that your fundraising systems and structures are robust and allow you to steer a steady course, notwithstanding changing demand for your services and programs. This is not the time to skimp on research and investment in new technologies that will deliver more timely information about your donors and prospects, and allow your teams to become more efficient.
- Explore new relationships that come with the new administration. New administrations bring new people. Are there potential new allies for your organization in the White House or at other levels of government? If so, can you map relationships to them through your existing networks and invite them to engage in a meaningful way?
- Explore your mission and review your programs. Is there an opportunity to adjust programming in light of new political priorities and realities? Can you add new programs to address emerging needs? Do you need to sunset programs to ensure a focus on mission-driven goals?
- Communicate with your public and private stakeholders: Your communities and supporters need to know what you are doing to help them and how their money is being spent, especially as federal and other public sources of funding are threatened. Ensure that you continue to:
- Engage constituents on social media by sharing impactful stories;
- Recognize federal funding partners on your website and on social media, and acknowledge and celebrate their support in your annual reports and other communications.
- Experiment with scenario planning: Strategic planning is always difficult, but even more so in this political climate. Scenario planning can be used to anticipate the impact of reductions in federal budgets, changes to tax policy, changes in the law, and even influential public relations issues. Preemptively mapping out responses to different political scenarios can provide useful insights and drive strategic thinking.
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Orr Associates, Inc. stands ready to work with our client partners as you navigate the new
political reality. For example, our experienced professionals can provide support for your in-house teams by taking over tasks such as gift processing and stewardship of donors on an outsourced basis, allowing employees to focus on core activities and relationships. Interim staff and/or contract teams can provide flexibility and bolster your ability to respond to fluctuating demand. We can also recommend analytical tools and develop dashboards to streamline your donor outreach and ensure that you are focused on highest ROI.
Whether by partnering with you as a strategic thought partner, providing outsourced development, or tracking and analyzing campaign progress and success, we will help you as you continue to pursue your important missions and serve your constituents through this time of upheaval and change.
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OAI In The Community
OAI's CJ Orr and Jennifer Alpert with New York State Society
of CPA's Board Member John Lauchert at the 2
nd
Annual Moynihan Fund Gala.
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 OAI Client Spotlight:
NYC National Service Leadership
Council Growth
(+ Sustainability) Plan
The NYC National Service Leadership Council is a
collaboration of over 30 nonprofits
operating in New York City that utilize national service members to deliver programs. OAI has been jointly retained by the two entities facilitating the collective strategy: NYC Service,
an office of the New York City Mayor which is dedicated to expanding volunteerism
and service, and Service Year Alliance, a national nonprofit focused on increasing opportunities
 for young adults to dedicate a year to service. The intent of this collaboration is to double the number of service year participants in NYC to 8,000 by 2020, and to increase the number of participants nationwide to 100,000 by 2019.
OAI has worked to develop a case for support for this initiative, test this case with key prospects and forge a fundraising framework for this NYC national service collaboration. Service Year Alliance is seeking to develop a model they can transport to other cities where they are forging similar collaborations.
Ronald McDonald House New York
 Since its founding in 1978,
Ronald McDonald House New York (
RMDHNY) has provided temporary lodging and care for more than 35,000 families while their child battles cancer. Located on East 73rd Street in Manhattan and in close proximity to 13 major cancer treatment centers, RMDHNY can accommodate 84 families and is filled to capacity almost every night. In addition to heavily subsidized accommodation, RMDHNY offer families additional support through wellness programs, tutors, music, art, transportation, activities for siblings, holiday and birthday parties, and camaraderie.
Building on a strong foundation of past fundraising success, RMDHNY is now seeking to enhance their major gifts fundraising strategy to build significant beneficial and enduring relationships with existing and new major donors. OAI is working with RMDHNY to advance these donor relationships while simultaneously performing a dynamic development assessment to move RMDHNY's fundraising to the next level.
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OAI New Hires:
Andrew joined Orr Associates, Inc. (OAI) as a Director in May 2017. He brings 13 years of experience partnering with nonprofits in the health, community, youth and social service sectors, with a particular focus on fundraising for major academic medical centers. He works with client partners to maximize philanthropic revenue and advance major gifts, capital campaigns, prospects pipeline development, planned giving, event management, and online fundraising efforts.
Prior to joining OAI, Andrew served two stints at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, most recently specializing in the planning and solicitation of major and transformational gifts; and at the YMCA of Greater New York, helping to build, cultivate and maximize relationships with prospects and donors, the board, Y members and the surrounding community.
Leigh joined OAI in April 2017 bringing twelve years of experience in capital campaign fundraising for healthcare, cultural, higher education, public policy, religious and international nonprofits. She has worked closely with CEOs, boards, leadership donors, corporate partners, and volunteer committees. Her areas of expertise include: campaign development and support; board management; managing and coaching volunteers and staff and leading volunteer committees; developing prospect pipelines and prospect management; and donor cultivation.
Prior to joining OAI, Leigh served as campaign director for Bon Secours Virginia Foundation's $200 million campaign and completed strategic development assessments for Bon Secours' Florida, Maryland, Kentucky and South Carolina hospital systems, and a feasibility and planning study for Bon Secours to build a new College of Nursing campus. She also served as counsel for the University of Maryland Children's Hospital's NICU campaign.
Leigh is working with
Niagara University on preparations for their Major Gifts campaign, and assisting with strategy and execution for a transformational capital campaign for a multi-billion dollar healthcare system in the Mid-Atlantic region.
Caroline Moulton joined the OAI team in May 2017 as an Associate Director and has more than four years of experience in nonprofit development. Previously, Caroline worked as a Donor Development Manager at The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS), where she focused on stewardship, cultivation, and solicitation processes, strategic planning for major gift and foundation donors, and board management.
Erica Behrens joined the OAI team as an Associate in April,
2017.
She is working with the Marriott Foundation for People with Disabilities
to prepare for their Annual Bridges Gala, and assisting Girls Inc. with the development of their fundraising campaign. Prior to becoming an Associate, Erica was an intern with OAI.
She graduated with a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California in 2016.
Brandon joined OAI in May having recently graduated with an MA from State University of New York, Cooperstown, majoring in History Museum Studies with a focus in Nonprofit Administration and Development. He also has a BA in History from Whitworth University, Spokane, WA. While in school, Brandon undertook a number of internships, where he developed proficiency with donor relationship management systems, wrote grants, planned
and executed donor appreciation events and conducted prospective donor research.
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