Giving USA Data -- Next Steps
From Giving USA 2024, we now have a much clearer understanding of where American philanthropy stands. For sure, there are warning signals and significant challenges to be met, but let’s never overlook the resiliency demonstrated over the past six decades. As before, we can again prove our capacity to overcome obstacles through that winning combination of working hard and working smart.
First a quick recap of the findings. It’s generally good news. Giving in the U.S. reached a new high during 2023 — $557.16 billion — an increase of 1.9% compared to 2022. But the impact was smacked down by inflation of 4.1%, with giving by individuals, bequests, foundations and corporations showing a combined decline of 2.1% compared to 2022 in real dollar impact. Individuals made up 67% of giving, an increase from 64% during 2022. Foundations contributed 19% of all philanthropy tracked compared to 21% during 2022. Bequests were 8%, down from 9% during 2022. Corporations inched up 1% to 7% of all giving.
Giving to religion topped the donors’ recipients list at $145.81 billion, followed by education at $87.69 billion and health at $56.58 billion. Giving made up 2% of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) for 2023.
It’s encouraging to see this rebound from last year’s dip. To be sure, challenges, including inflation loom in the future and will test American generosity. Giving USA is the longest-running and most comprehensive report of its kind in America published by Giving USA Foundation, a public service initiative of The Giving Institute. It is researched and written by the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at IUPUI.
We can’t change data or alter trends, but we can rethink and reprioritize discovery, cultivation, solicitation and stewardship initiatives.
In response to the findings, Eskin Fundraising Training is releasing this special edition to highlight 10 actionable ways that non-profit leaders can more effectively ask for and secure gifts that will fuel their noble missions of touching, improving and saving more lives, especially helping those who are struggling. These are based on proven principles of the art and science of fundraising, innovative strategies and best practices. Your programs, staff, board, volunteers, donors, and especially beneficiaries deserve nothing less than the best.
1.Ensure Mission, Vision and Values Reasonate
Put yourself in the shoes of donors. There are more than 1.5 million non-profits in the U.S. serving every conceivable mission under the sun. Donors aren’t choosing between the good and the bad but are forced to make difficult decisions between the good and the good. Even the wealthiest donors can’t respond favorably to every request they receive. Gather management, board, staff, volunteers and donors together for frank discussions on what makes your nonprofit distinctive. What can you say about your non-profit that all those other good causes can’t? Revisit your mission, vision and values to ensure they resonate in an extremely competitive non-profit environment.
2.Set Stretch-But-Realistic Goals
Be specific. How are you going to retain current donors and, more critically, how are you going to acquire new supporters? The good news is that there are more communications tools to tell your story, and many are affordable for small and mid-size organizations. At the top of the list are videos that can be produced from smart devices and for social media campaigns.
3.Engage an Entire Non-Profit Village
If you think this can be completely delegated to the director of development, staff and development committee, you will be doomed to fall short of your potential. Everyone — no matter what their title or role — can make a contribution in telling the story and spreading the word about the good works accomplished by your organization, so enthusiastically engage all members of your non-profit family in robust friend-raising fundraising activities.
4.Focus on Major Gifts
Major gifts are defined differently from organization to organization and even differently within the same non-profit as it grows, but they are the surest path to success. The overwhelming majority of your gift income will come from a very small share of your donor base. We like to emphasize the enormous infusion of momentum created by a small or midsize non-profit scoring its first or next million-dollar gift. From that moment on, it will be viewed very differently both internally and externally. Major donors will consider you an appropriate place to donate seven-figure gifts. As it has for virtually six decades, the name of the game is gifts from individuals that account for about two thirds of all giving.
5.Lead by Example
It starts with the board and management setting the fundraising chessboard for everything that follows. Any campaign or appeal begins by challenging board members and management to make their personal stretch-but-realistic gifts. Quite simply, they won’t have credibility in the community when soliciting others if they have not given at a personally significant level themselves.
6.Ask for Unrestricted Gifts
MacKenzie Scott has set an inspiring example by contributing more than $17 billion in unrestricted funds, recognizing that recipients understand best how to put the money to good use. This is aptly being called “trust-based” philanthropy. Too many non-profits shy away from such solicitations with self-defeating attitudes that donors won’t respond favorably. Consider that people don’t designate the purpose when investing in the stock market and rely on monitoring the company’s bottom line performance. Why should non-profits be any different? Ask unabashedly for unrestricted gifts that empower your organization to use the funds when and where needed most.
7.Prepare for the Largest Wealth Transfer in History
There are only three places that treasure chests go — loved ones, government or charity. Donors can typically make legacy gifts from estates several-fold larger than gifts from income, while potentially postponing any out-of-pocket expenditure. The overwhelming majority of these are charitable bequests, retirement plans and life insurance policies. So get ready for the mind-numbing $70+ trillion wealth transfer from the Baby Boomer generation.
8.Collaborate, Collaborate, Collaborate
There are many win-wins out there for non-profits sharing mission space. The obvious one is making joint requests that funders love to receive. Others include teaming up on and sharing the costs of services, programs and back-office operations.
9.Walk the DAF Talk
Donor-advised funds (DAFs) have dramatically emerged as the most dynamic component of American philanthropy. The National Philanthropic Trust reports that the value of grants from DAFs to charities around the world increased to an astounding $50+ billion — a number that no doubt will continue to grow. Just like monthly giving, your websites, marketing materials and donor conversations should highlight DAFs.
10.Invest in Training
The return on investment is well-documented. Frankly, we’ve discovered most professional and volunteer non-profit leaders are scared of asking for gifts because they’ve never experienced a genuine solicitation for themselves. So, this really boils down to a fear of the unknown. Fundraising training will pull back the curtain and show that asking is both art and science that can be learned and practiced by all different personalities. All those involved in discovery, cultivation, solicitation and stewardship should receive either in-person or online fundraising training. Your non-profit — programs, services, staff and particularly the beneficiaries of your mission — deserve the best. More money means more mission. Empower your non-profit to aim and reach higher in improving the world.
Summer Update
We will be pausing our webinar series during the summer months until September. This will enable us to complete my second book, Scoring Your Non-Profit’s First (or Next) First Million-Dollar Gift, which we plan to release in September. For smaller non-profits this is a complete game-changer and after achieving the first million-dollar gift the organization is viewed entirely differently both internally and externally. During the summer we also plan to introduce our Virtual Town Halls and tape a TV broadcast featuring clergy leaders from different faiths addressing the challenge of healing a divided society. We will continue to release podcasts saluting unsung heroes in the non-profit sector. Andrea and I again want to express our heartfelt gratitude to our learning community of professional and volunteer non-profit leaders for their robust commitment to their noble missions that improve the quality of life locally, nationally and globally. You inspire everything that we do!
Stratagems is published monthly by Jim Eskin, Founder of Eskin Fundraising Training, LLC. We offer workshops and customized training sessions for board members, staff and volunteers of non-profit organizations of all kinds and sizes. For details about our services and information, or to find out how to schedule a training session for your organization, visit our website. Follow our events on Facebook, and read more articles about philanthropy on our LinkedIn page.
Jim Eskin, Founder
Eskin Fundraising Training
Email: [email protected]
Cell: 210.415.3748
www.eskinfundraisingtraining.com
