Boomers – Carolyn's Nonprofit Blog

In fall 2019, I drafted my annual prediction post about what lies ahead for nonprofits. During 2020, our world was turned upside down by COVID-19. You might like to read my post, “During Good Times, Don’t Forget to Prepare for Rainy Days.” In addition, see, “Economy and Philanthropy,” written originally during the economic downtown of the early 2010s. I caution fundraising staff members to do their research carefully. Some philanthropists are negatively impacted during an economic decline, but others thrive. Shift your thinking. You might enjoy, “High Tech Prospect Research Worth the Investment.” In spring 2020, I gave two video presentations about how I conduct research and links to those are provided.

Federal Funding

I still believe nonprofits must continue broadening their funding sources by identifying and embracing a wider variety of types prospective donors (individuals, families, corporations and foundations), and to reduce over reliance on federal funding sources.

Ruth McCambridge wrote for Nonprofit Quarterly, “Implosion of $47M Nonprofit Highlights Risks of Government Dependency” (October 2019). “The demise of YPI … was predictable but only to those who understand the business model dynamics of government-funded agencies. Rapid growth that shifts the proportions of government restricted dollars with unrestricted dollars is extremely dangerous.”

I rest my case.

The website Republican Views On the Issues shares insights into what the party believes.

“The government should only intervene when society cannot function at the level of the individual. This also means that the party believes in keeping the government as close to the individual as possible, and should be focused mainly on the state and community level, not centered at a federal level.”

As an aside, with all the heated arguments at the federal level this year between Republicans and Democrats, what has been lost is a meaningful conveyance of the core values of Republicans, many of which have merit. But we seem to have lost site of them. Let’s hope the polarization we are seeing in Washington, D.C. will be reduced in the coming year.

Update: have you downloaded the Grants.gov app yet? #Handy

Cryptocurrencies

The past few years, I have studied cryptocurrencies for social good, and I maintain a blog page with links to helpful resources. 2019 has been a roller coaster ride for cryptocurrencies.

Investopedia notes in, “Where is the Cryptocurrency Industry Headed in 2019?” (September 2019):

Bitcoin and other crypto currencies have emerged as a new asset class that has seen extraordinary returns over the past decade.
After reaching nearly $20,000 in early 2018, Bitcoin fell to just around $3,000 as the rest of the crypto market also fell.
2019 has proven to be a year of recovery, with Bitcoin strengthening to above $10,000, but will the bull market last?
Several new developments such as increased institutional interest, pending ETF approval, and the popularity of stablecoins suggest a continued positive trend.

I continue to believe crypto and blockchain are forces to be reckoned with going forward. Check out this list of companies that accept Bitcoin from 99Bitcoins. And it keeps growing!

Here is a helpful discussion from BitPay, “BitPay Supports Over 100 Non-Profits Processing $37 Million Since 2017” (June 2017). “The Tony Hawk Foundation becomes the latest major charity organization to open up its donation efforts to blockchain payment efforts, joining other notable organizations such as the American National Red Cross, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), Greenpeace, The San Francisco Foundation, Heifer International, The Water Project, Teach for America, United Way Innovation Fund and the Wikimedia Foundation.”

How it works:

“In accepting Bitcoin donations through BitPay, the Tony Hawk Foundation and other charitable organizations can broaden its donor base while still being shielded from the price volatility that can occur with Bitcoin transactions. The customer makes the donation in Bitcoin or Bitcoin Cash and BitPay verifies the funds and accepts the Bitcoin or Bitcoin Cash on behalf of the organization. The organization has the option to take Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash or fiat currency or a split. If the organization chooses to take 100% fiat currency, the dollars are deposited into the organization’s bank account the next business day minus a 1% fee BitPay charges for the entire process. This fee is significantly less than the fees charged by credit cards allowing organizations to keep a larger percentage of overall donations. The organization is also protected from any Bitcoin price volatility.”

Hence, despite volatility in the cryptocurrency market this year, I believe the crypto space will continue to grow in the years ahead. Again, check out my blog page which includes a variety of helpful links for follow-up.

Crowdfunding and Major Gift Fundraising

On another front, crowdfunding continues to gain popularity. My resource page for nonprofits also provides helpful guidance for those wishing to embark on crowdfunding campaigns. I would also like to add a book to your reading list, “Crowdfunding for Social Good: Financing Your Mark on the World” by Forbes Contributor Devin Thorpe.

“Crowdfunding for Social Good is both practical and inspiring, featuring the stories of real people who have successfully raised big money using crowdfunding and practical advice to help you do the same. Crowdfunding is the newest way for nonprofits and social entrepreneurs to raise money for their causes, projects and companies. By reading this book, you can join the thousands who have successfully raised money to change the world. Learn how to organize your friends, colleagues and volunteers to help you raise big money. Gain insight into creating a video that will help you spread your message via social media. Read how to “start before you start” so you can have 30% of your goal raised before you even launch your crowdfunding campaign.If the only thing preventing you from changing the world is the money you need to do it, you are out of excuses. You can raise the money you need to leave your mark on the world with Crowdfunding for Social Good.”

As I have mentioned in past nonprofit predictions, the traditional “donor pyramid” is being turned upside down. I know many nonprofit organizations that would prefer a broad-based approach to major gift fundraising (multiple smaller donors), rather than embarking on traditional, somewhat old fashioned fundraising campaigns that are promoted by many consulting firms.

But my same caution remains. Crowdfunding requires advance research, planning, scheduling, attention to detail, and continuous monitoring and communication, including long after a crowdfunding campaign attains its goal. Crowdfunding is not simply an “easier” way to raise money. And many – if not all of these above factors – are involved in traditional major gift campaigns.

Traditional major gift campaigns are not dead, but they are having to morph as new technologies improve internal and external communications, volunteer performance and data collection overall.

I would also like to point out a series of articles on my blog that start with, “Are You Ready for a Capital Campaign.” I believe the traditional feasibility study needs to be reworked. In my post, “Nonprofits and Startups | Bird of a Feather” I note that traditional startup methods promoted by the corporate sector could be used to help nonprofits develop their own major gift campaigns internally. I still hope 3 Day Startup will consider developing an intensive program along these lines specifically for nonprofit organizations! Stay tuned.

Data

To collect data, interpret it properly, to manage it across departments, and to continually make improvements for the benefit of the organization’s future requires trained nonprofit staff. But sometimes it also takes convincing nonprofit leadership that hiring data managers makes sense.

A 2019 study from ORACLE NetSuite makes some powerful arguments about the importance of collecting and reviewing nonprofit data for more positive, data-informed future.

“Nonprofit organizations are struggling to demonstrate the outcome of their work according to a new study conducted by Oracle NetSuite. The study, Connecting Dollars to Outcomes, which provides insights from more than 350 senior nonprofit executives in the U.S., found that while nonprofit executives believe that outcomes measurement supports their top three priorities for 2019 – financial stability, staff turnover and donor retention—only 29 percent of nonprofits are able to effectively measure the outcomes of dollars invested.”

You can access the study via the press release, “Where Do Donations Go?”

Happily, software companies like this also have nonprofit donation programs – both software and expertise (if you cannot afford to hire a staff member but believe in the need). You should also avail yourself of technology discounts provided via TechSoup. It is free for nonprofits to sign up, and a variety of products are available along these lines. To find providers of data skills and related technical training, see my Professional Development Resources.

Donor Advised Funds

Having conducted a great deal of hands-on research using Candid’s Foundation Center database at our new Austin Central Library (where one can access it free of charge), I know donor advised funds are only growing larger and becoming more popular. They come to the top of almost every “search.”

Hence, nonprofits must educate and cultivate professional advisors as well as donors. This is a challenge because it can be difficult to discover the people behind donor advised funds. It is also true that extra diligence about how your nonprofit looks online and establishing credibility at fundamental levels is more important than ever. I have done some public speaking about how nonprofits can achieve greater credibility and ramp-up their major gift efforts, for instance. My blog and ISSUU page contain quite a bit of helpful information in this regard. But if you need more help, reach out via my secure contact form.

In my article, “Building Relationships with Professional Advisors” (one of the first on Carolyn’s Nonprofit Blog and continually updated), I also note that Baby Boomers and older adults are a growing sector of our nation’s population, highly inclined to charitable giving and volunteering. The nonprofit sector must avoid stereotyping, and focus to a greater degree on engaging these age groups in the months and years ahead. We also need nonprofit support organizations to offer discussions online and during professional conferences about how best to work with professional advisors, and how to break down barriers to meaningful communication with them.

Last But Not Least

One topic that bears discussing is advance preparation for disasters and emergencies. Follow this link to TechSoup documents you can download regarding disaster planning and recovery. Be mindful that your nonprofit serves an important function in society. Your smart smart thinking and planning can save lives and help your nonprofit continue meeting its worthy mission.

Best wishes for your fundraising success,

Carolyn M. Appleton | November 17, 2019

The graphic used to illustrate this post was composed by me using Adobe Creative Cloud.

Despite the ups-and-downs of my experiences in the nonprofit sector over the course of thirty years, I remain optimistic about the future. A few years ago, I wrote a blog post on LinkedIn about the Millennial generation. There, I reference an article by Jean Case, in Forbes (June 18, 2014), “The Business of Doing Good: How Millennials Are Changing the Corporate Sector.”

“Many in this generation are known for being well-educated, entrepreneurial, tech savvy and idealistic. They take risks, are bold and want to change the world. Unlike past generations, they want to make their passions, inspirations and desire to do good part of their identity—and part of their work. The lines between personal passions and professional engagements are already rapidly disappearing. As a result, this commitment to doing good in the workplace is quickly becoming the new norm that will define the generation.”

My experience is that Millennial and younger generations following on their heels are committed to a fixing the problems of society and to creating a better world at all levels. They are unafraid of tackling difficult challenges with creativity and conviction. And, they are already dominating the workforce. Their impact will continue to be far-reaching for decades to come. Hardly any American corporation today can afford to ignore them.

As I note in, “Nonprofits and Boomers: Are We Missing the Boat,” nonprofit organizations must also be mindful that Boomer and older generations are key for successful fundraising, for their knowledge and their valuable life experiences. Boomers are a generous generation and highly supportive of nonprofit endeavors, yet they are often seen as being stodgy and old fashioned.

Marketing professionals continue to focus on the young and the aesthetics of youth. And while many older adults do strive to be “younger” in some ways, as time moves forward and the aging population explodes worldwide, we are seeing a growing pride in being “older” and in the aesthetic preferences of older adults.

A few months ago, I approached a large national foundation that also has a substantial number of donor advised funds. I wanted to submit a proposal to fund an outstanding nonprofit project. But the nonprofit’s annual operational budget – being “under $1,000,000” – meant the foundation declined support based solely on that criteria. They would not take even a cursory glance at what the nonprofit is accomplishing, at how well it operates and how worthy it could be as a partner. On a personal note, what that foundation’s professional advisors also missed is that some of the Board members and donors of that nonprofit were capable of establishing donor advised funds. They would have been thrilled to receive even a modest grant and might have themselves become donor advised fund clients. But the “under $1,000,000” rule supplanted all other considerations. But why is operating budget size so important?

Since returning to Austin in 2013 and helping nonprofit “startups” bolster their infrastructure and credibility in order to secure more substantial donations, I have noticed some of them are reluctant to support younger nonprofits because they are, “too small.” Potential donors cite the nonprofits have not been in existence long enough (i.e., five years or more). Some decline because these smaller and younger initiatives have not had formal audits, which are an expensive undertaking for most small nonprofit organizations (and there are reputable alternatives). I visited with one foundation a few years ago that required every nonprofit applicant to have four consecutive years of professional audits. That is way over the top. I advised focusing instead on gold-level or higher GuideStar profiles, and GreatNonprofits reviews by those actually involved with and volunteering for the nonprofits applying.

The fact is, many of these startups and young nonprofits are lean staff- and budget-wise, and they operate highly efficiently. They accomplish amazing things with relatively little and the staff are deeply loyal to their missions. In my opinion, there seems to be a disconnect between the donor and professional advisor sectors, and the vast majority of nonprofit organizations, which are in fact smaller in size.

From the GuideStar Blog comes, “What Does the Nonprofit Sector Really Look Like?” (January 6, 2017):

“The majority of nonprofits (66.3%) have annual budgets of less than $1 million. From there, as organization size increases, the number of nonprofits decreases. For every 1 powerhouse (annual expenses more than $5 billion) nonprofit, there are thousands of grassroots organizations.”

My hope is for deeper, long-term partnerships between younger and older generations, the latter holding significant disposable income to make charitable donations. Boomers and older adults (and their professional advisors), often focus their charitable giving on tried-and-true nonprofits that have been in existence for many years. That is certainly their choice to make, but having seen nonprofits large and small in some detail as a professional fundraiser, I can say without hesitation many of younger and smaller nonprofits, startups and social good enterprises are more efficient and more likely to create positive change in society than the older, top-heavy ones. But these younger initiatives are often seen as being, “riskier.”

Lose your fear and support startups and smaller nonprofit organizations. Younger generations are – and will be – driving much of the social change ahead. We need to trust and encourage them. But also, younger generations need to engage older citizens and tap their knowledge and enthusiasm for social good, as well as their charitable donations. Together we can change the world for the better.

You might also enjoy reading these articles from Carolyn’s Nonprofit Blog.

Thanks to the Adobe Creative Cloud free image library for the photographs used to illustrate this blog post.