Helen Brown Group

By

Don’t miss these 3 things – International Research, Justice, and Seismic Fundraising Shifts

Hi there! Thanks for coming by the blog today. There are three really interesting and important things that I’d like to amplify this week because I really didn’t want you to miss them.

New newsletter!

The first is a brand-new newsletter by a prospect development colleague I recently met, Nan Nielsen Zhang. Nan is a due diligence / prospect research expert building a relatively new consulting business called Astra Due Diligence focusing on Asian individuals, companies, trusts, and foundations. Nan speaks Chinese (Mandarin and Wu dialect), Japanese, and Korean, (as well as English, Russian, and Spanish) and has built a thriving business because of her talent and unique access to due diligence/research resources in those languages. You can sign up for her free bi-weekly newsletter, China Philanthropy News, at the bottom of her company’s web page.

Bold article

Veteran fundraiser Armando Zumaya has written an important op-ed that was published in the Chronicle of Philanthropy last month. The article, To Achieve Racial Justice in Philanthropy, We Must Invest in Fundraising and Make It Inclusive, provides a roadmap with 5 key on-ramps of action, including making a long-term and deep investment in fundraising, and working to build diversity in the whole nonprofit ecosystem: staff, board, and donor base. In the article, Zumayo boldly and publicly poses a question that many in our sector have been reluctant to ask because of the power differential between donors and recipients: Why don’t foundations make grants that support a nonprofit’s infrastructure – including fundraising?

Seismic shifts

It’s a question that’s critical to the long-term… well, not even growth, but viability of our sector, and that Ford Foundation head Darren Walker is actually doing something about. In this 60 Minutes interview with Lesley Stahl, Walker makes a statement that probably wouldn’t have been uttered 5 or 10 years ago, and even now has not bubbled up into the consciousness of many foundations:

“It is both arrogant and ignorant to believe that you can give money to an organization for your project, and not be concerned about the infrastructure that makes your project possible.”

As a self-described capitalist and former bond trader, Walker views philanthropy from a business perspective, but he is also philosophical about philanthropy’s role in inequity, politics, and ultimately in the future of our country. But it’s not all talk – the Ford Foundation has made bold, extraordinary changes in the past few years to try and change that power differential between the foundation and the nonprofits it supports. Don’t miss the interview – it’s worth your time.

Thanks for letting me share those important and helpful voices with you today – please do check them out. Have a great rest-of-the-week!

By

What the heck are NFTs (and why should you care)?

Reflections. Photo by Julie Kahn (c) 2021

Research Pride is a celebration of all aspects of our wonderful profession, and the thing I probably love most about prospect research is that we’re constantly learning. Lots of times it’s about odd things that you never knew existed but discover quickly that they are an up-and-coming thing. Take for example today’s topic, NFTs – non-fungible tokens.

I started seeing the acronym NFT flying through my social media feeds about a month ago. The articles were relating to wealth and art, and just like with SPACs a few months ago, when I start seeing a mystery acronym that pertains to wealth, naturally I have to know more.

What I found was that there is an increasing amount of digital artwork being traded via blockchain for astonishingly high amounts of money.

Okay, let me back up and start at the beginning.

I first saw the term “non-fungible token” or NFT in relation to an auction that Christie’s is doing of a work of digital art, The First 5000 Days, by Mike Winkelmann, an artist who goes by the name Beeple. Christie’s website touts that it is the first time they are offering at auction a piece of digital artwork, and it’s also the first time they’ll be accepting cryptocurrency – Ethereum, specifically – as well as more standard forms of currency from the eventual buyer.

Now, you might be thinking, “Wait. If it’s a piece of digital artwork, what’s to prevent it from being copied a billion times or displayed on the internet for free?” and in fact that’s a very good question because The First 5000 Days currently is being displayed on the internet and you can go see it for free. Go ahead and check it out. I’ll wait here ‘til you get back.

Here’s how it works: this specific piece of digital artwork is being sold as a token, a small piece of digital real estate on a blockchain, which forever authenticates it as being a unique thing, an intangible, tangible thing, in the same way that Bitcoins (and Ethereum, and Dogecoin, and all cryptocurrency) are also things – tokens on a blockchain with a value that’s determined by the market.

Because they’re tracked on a blockchain, these specific things can’t be forged or hacked. But while there are more than 18 million interchangeable (aka “fungible”) Bitcoins, there is only one original of any single piece of artwork, which is why they’re non-fungible: one piece of artwork can’t replace another one on a 1-to-1 basis. It’s apples to oranges – they’re both fruit/both art – but not the same thing.

So why do we care about NFTs?

Well, for one thing, within one hour of going up for auction on the Christie’s website, bidding on The First 5000 Days went from $100 to $1 million. As of March 5th bidding was up to $3.5 million but the auction closes today, March 11, so we’ll know the final price as soon as Christie’s publishes it.

UPDATE: It sold today for $69 million. SIXTY. NINE. MILLION. DOLLARS.

It’s clearly a hot new market for art lovers who are also tech savvy, like Elon Musk of SpaceX and Tesla, and Chamath Palihapitiya, the chief executive of the technology holding company Social Capital and former Facebook executive. Both are NFT collectors, and it’s clearly a fast-growing market, too.

In fact, the market for NFT art was $342 million. Last. Month. That’s more than all of the NFT sales in 2020 combined and up from $12 million just in December. NFT art sales are hot and moving like a high-speed train on a 700 mile-long prairie. People are even burning extant art to make NFT art!

But back on the ground, and perhaps more importantly for our purposes: nonprofits are benefiting. A Banksy-style artist (is it actually Banksy? He says not but the works are verrrrrry Banksy-like) created NFTs that recently sold for $900,000 and a portion of the proceeds went to Save the Children.

Also, part of the sale of a lightly-animated Wonder Woman NFT created by veteran comic book artist José Delbo recently sold at auction and netted a $23,196 donation to the nonprofit Girls Who Code. So philanthropic tech art-philes are finding creative ways to fund their favorite charities!

So check out NFTs and do some mining to discover if you have any prospects that love them. This might be a good time for your nonprofit to look into accepting cryptocurrency, too, if you haven’t already.

FURTHER READING

Post-sale explainer from The Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/03/12/nft-beeple-christies-blockchain/

By

Celebrating Research Pride Month: Elevating Prospect Development & Celebrating Community

Happy International Prospect Research Pride Month! This week to officially kick off Pride month I am beyond delighted to invite my friends and colleagues, Misa Lobato and Melissa Bank Stepno to cut the virtual ribbon and to share what Research Pride means to them and to our professional association, Apra. Welcome and thank you, Misa and Melissa. ~Helen

March 2021.  Some might be marking this month as the one-year anniversary of when COVID rocked our world and began to turn 2020 into one of the most tumultuous years in modern history.  Rather than focusing on the profound misfortunes that challenged us over the last year, as the current President and President-Elect of Apra, and Trustees of the Apra Foundation, we would rather focus on the 7th anniversary of Research Pride month.

To celebrate, we could not find a more appropriate place to do so than on the blog that birthed International Research Pride.  On March 6th, 2014, Helen proclaimed: “I officially declare that from now on, March is International Research Pride month.”

We are Apra

For readers who are unfamiliar with Apra, Apra is the association for all professionals who strategically harness information and data to drive fundraising for philanthropic institutions. This, of course, includes Prospect Researchers but also people who work in data science and data management, relationship management, annual giving, advancement services, consulting, campaigns, and many, many others who serve data intelligence functions within fundraising and philanthropy.

Comprised of more than 1,800 members across the globe, Apra is committed to serving, representing and advancing both the professionals and the practices that enable the philanthropic success of institutions that rely on fundraising for achieving their missions. Apra fosters a collaborative environment for sharing and discussion, while leading the development, dissemination and advancement of best practices, resources, thinking and trends.

Why is Research Pride so important to us?

In an age where so many in society move around from job to job without finding a meaningful career, how many could say that they find their chosen path invigorating, energizing and stimulating? We would venture a guess that a higher percentage of Apra members would choose these words than in many other professions. We are mission-driven professionals who show up with passion, intelligence and focus in our interactions with each other and to our work in the fundraising industry.

As a community, we are advocates for the vital role of data in informing the future of philanthropy, and we continually evolve and learn to meet changing demands and technology.  As a community, we have supported each other through comradery, mentorship and training. We have both learned, and continue to learn, so much from Apra leaders, volunteers and mentors.  Even when we chose to follow a less-than-traditional career path, Apra still continued with us on our journey. We find fulfillment in giving back to the community that supported our professional growth.

Apra is a uniquely collaborative community of lifelong learners, where members are always willing to share best practices and help one another problem solve. This community orientation was on full display over the past year, when Apra members immediately stepped up to help one another navigate personal and professional hardships, connect and build networks, and master new skills. Apra members have shown up for one another in ways that are both inspiring and inspired.

These are the reasons we choose to serve on the Apra Board, these are the reasons we celebrate Research Pride month, and these are the reasons that we choose to give back financially to support our fellow Apra members.

Giving Back

Earlier this year, the Apra Foundation launched the Apra Foundation Professional Development Assistance Fund, initially established from the sales of our digital cookbook, Data Driven Deliciousness: The Apra Cookbook. The fund has a singular goal: to support prospect development professionals who have experienced financial hardship due to COVID-19 or other factors.  The fund will provide grants of $200 for Apra members to use toward any Apra-hosted educational event or Apra University content. The Foundation Board is currently reviewing the first round of applicants and will be providing the first awards this month. We plan to award another round of awards later this year.

We want to support as many Apra members as possible through this fund, so the Apra Foundation has set a fundraising goal of $2,000 for Research Pride Month. This will fund 10 Professional Development Assistance awards!

And now the appeal (since we are fundraisers, after all!): We know that many of you have experienced the learning and community benefits of Apra. Would you show your Research Pride by donating what you can to help support your fellow Apra members?

100% of Apra Foundation Trustees have pledged commitments. Join us in providing professional development opportunities for Apra Members and DONATE NOW! Thank you!

Misa Lobato

President, Apra

Director, Prospect Management & Analysis, Rhode Island School of Design

 

Melissa Bank Stepno

President-Elect, Apra

Director, Analytics & Business Consulting Services, Blackbaud

By

Identity and Blackness in Prospect Development

This week we are pleased to welcome a guest author on The Intelligent Edge to share her (and others’) perspectives on identity and Blackness in our profession. You may know Joan Ogwumike as the author for the past four years of the blog, A Researcher’s Diary, but she is also the writer of the Apra-Illinois blog as well as Prospect Research Associate at the Obama Foundation. I’m  delighted and thankful that Joan said yes to carving out time to share these perspectives and advice with us.

Joan Ogwumike

Although small in number, Black prospect development professionals deserve an opportunity to share experiences and knowledge pertaining to diversity, inclusion and equity, wealth analysis, and ways this industry could grow.

I interviewed three Black prospect development professionals on their views and experience in our industry. The views they shared are not representative of every Black person’s experience or understanding of this industry, but they are valid and relatable to many. Due to the candidness, vulnerability and bravery to educate us, as readers and learners, those who have shared their reflections and experiences here have chosen to stay fairly anonymous.

It is important to recognize the voices of Black colleagues who have experienced stifling, bias, and distrust of their expertise and voice, just as it is important to recognize the voices of Black colleagues who have been welcomed and respected within their prospect development teams. This platform acknowledges both experiences and their validity.

To uncover the presence of identity and Blackness in Prospect Development, you must begin at the concept of presence. After a conversation with a Black colleague in the field, I was able to learn that there has been growth – over time, people of color were seeing this industry as a career option, and after decades you could spot 2 or 3 in a session at a conference. Is this exponential growth? Is this an ideal answer to presence? I think it’s a start, but it’s time for us to consider presence in our research and prospect pools.

Many Prospect Development professionals stepped up in 2020 to be better allies, more intentional, and started reading all the books and watching a lot of movies. My question to them is: will there be longevity in these efforts? In the year 2030 will there be a presence of equity and representation on your donor walls and annual reports?

When delving into identity, there is just so far to go. Identity is a multi-faceted and murky concept that is personal, central to lived-experiences, and complex. As prospect development professionals, to then analyze wealth and be the optimal fundraising professional, your identity can either be central to decision-making because you speak from a place of having a healthy relationship with money, or it can be compartmentalized to take the form of what you have learned from others’ experiences with money.

Blackness is a word loaded with more meaning than can ever be expressed in one article – differing in meaning for each Black person with a few commonalities and a particular thread called perseverance. The reality of Blackness is the double-edged sword it’s crafted from – a history and present-day saga full of bias, violence, pain, and discrimination; but with renewing hope, celebrating, redefining odds, attaining wealth and prescribing to freedom. Both extremes of this reality cut deeply into how society works, how we fundraise, and the ways in which we see each other.

The unique glimpses of race and identity within prospect development colleagues requires the experiences and statements below (and I would like to acknowledge the many others whose experience differs from those below that also require your attention). Therefore, as readers and learners, I urge you to please be attentive as you read what your colleagues have shared. And, be patient with yourself as you internalize the purpose, their message, and your understanding of words.

Viewing wealth beyond the historical limits and colorblind perspective.

In my youth, I didn’t think much about race, so my identity as I saw it, was simply tied to my own “nerdy” pursuits. As I matured, I began to understand that race is not biological and that race and identity cannot be separated. Identity is not only how we see ourselves but also how others see us, so the perception of race is pertinent. This was always true whether I understood it or not. Looking back on my early life has been both challenging and illuminating, but it has helped me share experiences that hopefully inform others on how race shapes identity.

My understanding of prospect development has always been shaped by two attributes: wealth (who has it and how much) and affinity (will they donate to our organization). Race seemed less important through that lens, so that was reflected in my work. Now, it’s clear that the old approach and the infrastructure built from a colorblind perspective will only surface the same narrow pools of people. The challenge for us is attempting to view wealth beyond the historical limits we’ve created and to build on the knowledge of those who have provided ongoing scholarship on the subject of race and wealth.

Advice: I understand that, as researchers, we’re always looking to find answers quickly, but in this case, patience and perseverance are required. We simply have to make time for change in our work and in our lives.

-K., Senior Research Associate

The presence of being the “only,” and advocating for “many.”

From undergraduate studies, to graduate school, to joining the workforce – I’ve always been the only. The only Black girl in the class or on the Development team or Board member. At a point I realized and owned my only-ness, as sad as the truth is. But I realized being the only mattered when a Black woman approached me in Los Angeles, several years ago, and told me that the fact that I was teaching the importance of prospect research, as a Black researcher, meant a lot to her. Seeing me, meant a lot to her because there wasn’t a lot of us.

To be honest, I was taken aback by this because I was just doing my job and passion, and obviously compartmentalizing the most crucial layer of my being. Who knew seeing me would mean something? So, I am eternally grateful to her for the reminder and for giving me the pivotal message (and gift) that what I represent matters. My presence in the field not only matters physically but also adds to how I generate prospects who I unequivocally know have potential and capacity beyond their race and external biases. I analyze wealth knowing that it can and is attained by people who look like me, however, we need to strive to do the work and include them. Instead of holding on to Oprah, Michael Jordan, Robert Smith – the only names we seem to know.

We need to create a crowd.

Prospecting Advice: Set a date, set a time, block out a chunk of time in your calendar – whatever you need to do, and prospect based on publicly available lists. This is intentional work.

-J., Prospect Research Associate

Your perceptions on identity and race can come with consequences.

Identity is who I am, which has been shaped by my experiences over time, but is independent of how people perceive me. And I am many things, but my identification as a Black woman – specifically – is more a political affirmation than racial identity. I think identity plays a role in every person’s work, no matter how they identify. Personally, it plays a bigger role when employed at predominantly white institutions (PWIs) and fluctuates according the cultural competency of my colleagues.

I still use the word race a lot because of convention, but I prefer “racial designation” or “racecraft.” The distinction is important because it reminds us that race is an ideology that people subject others to; race can’t cause or explain anything. Practices, policies and laws informed by racial ideology cause and explain conditions and outcomes. In other words, nothing can happen to me because I am Black. But many things can happen to me because people categorize me as Black, and their perceptions of Blackness come with consequences they may or may not be aware of.

Every organization and institution engaged in fundraising is materially influenced by racial ideology in some way. As I spend more of my professional time and energy on diversity, equity, and inclusion work, I have more occasion to give voice to my thoughts and put them into action. Bridging the gaps between prospect research, prospect development, and prospect engagement is of particular interest because fundraising success relies on proficiency in all three.

Encouragement: Everybody should consider race and identity in their daily work, not just when it’s on the agenda for a staff retreat or HR training.

-R., Director of Prospect Research

 

 

By

Giving Priorities for America’s Top Philanthropists in 2020

This isn’t a super long post this week, but I did some figuring and chart-making on something that piqued my interest that I wanted to share with you.

Last week Forbes magazine published a list of the top 25 donors of 2020. In past years the list has been longer – it’s normally 50 – and I’m left wondering why, in such a year of incredible generosity as 2020 was, that it was a shortened list.

Still, it’s good to see the venerable publication celebrating how much billionaires have given away versus simply glorifying how much they’ve amassed. I hope that behavior modeling spurs other billionaires to give competitively, if pure philanthropic motivation isn’t enough.

None of the names will surprise you if you’ve been paying attention to mega philanthropy over the years: the usual Buffett, Gates, Soros, Bloomberg, Broad and Moore crowd, with the fantastic new addition of Scott – MacKenzie Scott – to the list.

I was interested to see what this group of 25’s priorities were in 2020, so I created a chart that I thought you might like to see, too. For comparison’s sake, I tried to go back and look at Forbes‘ 2019 numbers to see how they compare by priority, but the Forbes Givers list published in 2019 looked at 2018 numbers. Pffft. So we’ll have to wait to compare these priorities with the Giving USA report for 2020 across-the-board giving when it comes out in the summer.

Education was the number one priority, but as you might expect, COVID-19 relief and related human service needs were big priorities. Here is the breakdown of giving priorities for this group for 2020:

Please be aware that some of this “education” giving included COVID-19 relief such as related assistance to students and university-based virus/vaccine research, so it’s not a pure education category.

My guess is that the environment, poverty, food insecurity, and criminal justice numbers are way up as a percentage of top donors’ giving, but it’s just my sense of how things went last year.

I’d love to hear any thoughts you might have on these priorities or other numbers you’ve seen.

By

Philanthropy is a broken puzzle. And we have to fix it.

It’s a useful exercise to think about our society as a puzzle where governments, and government-run operations, and businesses, and civic life, and religious organizations, and educational institutions and hospitals and charities and NGOs each, interdependently, make the picture of society whole.

We’re so busy trundling through each of our own parts, though, that we take the others…well, maybe not entirely for granted, but as if they’re permanent fixtures. I know that I’ve always assumed that things like restaurants and cute little shops and, you know, the post office would just always be there.

Now that COVID-19 has darkened our lives in uniquely individual ways like the fires have turned West Coast sunshine to midday night, it becomes harder for us to see each of those puzzle pieces that are farther afield. All of the everything going on in our own world obscures the picture on the box that reminds us what the integrity of the whole looks like.

We’re cut off, and it’s making us focus on our own piece and less on the whole.

As a fundraising intelligence professional, my work-life has been focused on identifying and bringing to life current and potential donors in a way that faithfully and ethically tells their story and motivates a fundraiser to begin (or continue) a relationship with that donor.

I’ve always deeply believed in the power of philanthropy and the good it does on both ends – making the world a better place and giving donors the opportunity to feel how amazing it is to do that.

And I still believe that, but if you read my article from a few weeks ago, you’ll remember that lately I’ve been concerned that prospect development has had a role to play in missing out on the next generation of donors. Not entirely, of course, and I know that our profession (and our company) is doing our part to help organizations find mid-level and future major donors quietly putting up their hands.

But still. I’m working harder than usual lately on trying to see beyond my piece.

And now that I’ve pulled the focus out a bit, I realize that there’s an even bigger picture which I’ve struggled against for over a year and tried to ignore because it’s too difficult to think about.

I know the nonprofit sector is by no means perfect. It’s hard to attract the level of talent and experience for jobs that for-profits can because nonprofit salaries are lower. Small nonprofits don’t have the bandwidth to compete with larger ones for much-needed funding. Large nonprofits are bureaucratic behemoths that have lost the ability to be nimble.

But large or small, every single nonprofit has to sing and dance for their supper. Every. single. day.

Every single day nonprofits are called on to Show Their Impact.

Be Donor-Centered.

Meet State Laws. Federal Laws. International Laws.

Every day they have to jump through ridiculous hoops to gain institutional funding that, in the end, may not even cover the cost of gaining, tracking and reporting the donation.

As a sector, we’re working really hard – really hard – with fewer people because of furloughing and permanent separations, to secure the next gift just to survive right now. And there’s just so much wealth out there.

It’s exhausting. It’s not just. And it’s not tenable.

In our time of greatest need, Chuck Collins, director of the Program on Inequality at the Institute for Policy Studies asks in his opinion piece for The Guardian, “Why aren’t the rich giving more?” Many of the philanthropists that fund nonprofits are richer than ever before – some are richer because of the pandemic. He reminds us that the wealth of members of The Giving Pledge has nearly doubled since February.

Collins writes:

 Many have stepped up to give during the pandemic. But their giving is not keeping pace with their exploding wealth.

This leads to the second problem: in all likelihood, most of what they give away won’t go to on-the-ground charities, but to private family foundations often controlled by wealthy heirs and their advisers. Instead of supporting charities on the frontlines of problem solving, these billions end up sitting in tax-advantaged intermediaries.”

The Chronicle of Philanthropy has just started a 5-part series specifically to discuss what’s next for the philanthropy sector, and I highly recommend it. I’ve long admired the work of Lucy Bernholz, director of the Digital Civil Society Lab at Stanford University’s Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society, and her article (part 3 of the series) is a barn-burner. In “Let’s Dismantle Toxic Tax Policies That Feed Big Philanthropy” Bernholz writes:

 In the United States today, a toxic tax code permeates our soil and prevents us from growing into a more equitable society. Our current tax laws starve our schools, hospitals, transit, and elder-care systems. They allow individuals to become trillionaires and corporations to pay nothing. They enable the amassing of philanthropic fortunes so large that people turn to them when government efforts fail.

For decades, these policies have concentrated financial benefits on the white ruling class while extracting wealth from low-income Black and brown people. The pandemic is the “big reveal” of the truly shared nature of these systemic inequities.”

As someone who deeply cares about our sector and who is steeped every day in understanding wealth, it’s been increasingly difficult for me during these past 6 months not to get angry and frustrated while learning about any non- (or weakly-)philanthropic individual’s increasing billions – knowing that it would require almost no sacrifice for them to significantly create lasting change for the world. Or even one piece of it. Especially when so many others are doing so much.

Nonprofits shouldn’t have to sing for their suppers. They should be funded to fill the gaps in society, and there should be fewer gaps to fill every year as we work toward a healthy republic, not more and more.

Our professional association boards and leading practitioners should take seriously what the philanthropy scholars, experts, and writers are saying now; consider the many solutions they’re offering; and join with members of congress who care about fixing this broken system. This sector is vital to making our society one that makes sure everyone – not just the wealthy – thrive. We’ve got to make it work.

By

Questioning philanthropy

With so many nonprofit organizations needing funding fairly desperately right now, this might not seem like a particularly great time to critique philanthropy and philanthropists. That hasn’t stopped people like Anand Giridharadas, David Callahan, Rob Reich, Ben Soskis, Alan Cantor, the folks at Mother Jones, an anonymous op-ed writer in The American Conservative, and many, many others.

And the critics have a long list of grievance: Foundations have too much power. Foundations don’t give away enough. Billionaires are stingy. Billionaires are stepping up, but not enough. Wealth inequality is distorting philanthropy. It’s imperiling democracy. DAFs are the best thing since sliced bread. DAFs are evil.

It feels like there’s a crescendo of criticism lately. And they’ve got a point – there is so much more need, the inequity gap is an increasingly yawning crevasse, and trillions are locked away in philanthropic vaults, ticking up interest and income for investment offices and institutional sponsors. And there are billionaires who could change the course of poverty/hunger/you-name-it with one check (and some, like MacKenzie Scott, who seem to be actually trying).

As they have for over a generation, medium and large nonprofits are focused laser-like on that top tier of prospects and those prospects’ assets are growing by the second, even during this pandemic. Some because of the pandemic. Sometimes I think that small triangle at the top of the pyramid is going to separate and blast off like the SpaceX Dragon.

A small voice in me wonders if prospect development has played some role in this problem of declining donor numbers. Because of our part in the fixation on that nose-cone.

And, to be fair, it has made practical sense, right? When bank robber Willy Sutton was asked why he robbed banks, he said “because that’s where the money is.” Well, yeah.

Have we been myopic?

So yes, we’ve focused on the richest of the rich because they’re the ones with the most money to give away. But is that one (of the potentially many) reasons why our nonprofits have shrinking donor pools? Because we haven’t spent the time to identify and involve the next generation of donors because the low-hanging fruit was just so much easier?

What about the next tier who may not be able to make 7-figure gifts now (or ever), but could make multiple 5 or 6 figure gifts over a lifetime? Have we in PD not done our duty to insist to leadership that those prospects are worth the work so we can ensure that fundraisers working at our organization in 10 years’ time have great portfolios to work with?

Is the scarcity mindset that deeply entrenched in our sector’s collective psyche that nonprofit leadership doesn’t feel it can take the long view to ensure that their nonprofit will be here in 50 or 100 years and needs to go for the quick wins now?

Or, to play devil’s advocate, in this increasingly unequal world is it more expedient (and ethical) for us to have stayed focused on the top of the pyramid to the…maybe not exclusion, exactly, but certainly decreased emphasis on that important second tier? I wish I was sure. That small voice gets louder these days telling me “no”.

Fortunately it’s not an either/or choice. Those critics are airing out the Third Sector’s dirty laundry and it doesn’t smell too rosy. So what we have here is an opportunity for all of us, particularly in prospect development.

So what can we in prospect development do?

We have to start involving people below the Forbes 400 level – now – for all kinds of reasons.

First of all, although their bank accounts are growing at astonishing levels and their numbers are creeping up slowly, ultra-high net worth individuals (UHNWI) are still a tiny subset of the general population. Also they tend to give their support exclusively to large, well-established institutions (the equivalent of the Forbes 400 of the nonprofit world).

Second, I don’t know of too many nonprofits whose constituencies are exclusively over 60, male, and white. All-white boards may have worked in the 1970s, but we all know that style of board should have died out long ago. The fact that the status quo has lasted this long is frankly lazy and embarrassing. Female and BIPOC representation amongst trustees, volunteers, donors, and fundraisers, has to increase and fast in order for nonprofits to stay relevant (and afloat).

And third, donors have an increasing number of giving choices that completely bypass nonprofits and go straight to the recipient. Let me repeat that – donors are bypassing nonprofits entirely (read the embedded-linked article in that last line). Or they give money to nonprofits through vehicles like Facebook, which cuts out the nonprofit/donor relationship. Right now, when people can’t get out to volunteer or to attend events, these options are a way for mid-level donors to make a direct impact. This makes prospect identification, philanthropic-interest research, and engagement all the more difficult for an increasingly important demographic.

And although they may not be 100% correct, the critics care enough about the success of our sector to venture an opinion and point out where we need to fix things.

As a prospect development professional, I can’t fix DAFs, or foundation payouts, or wealth inequality, or the tax code. But there are many things we definitely can do to make our sector – and our own nonprofits – better. And that starts with making the pie bigger.

Elbow-grease prospecting and segmentation are even more critical right now. There are opportunities in every single fundraising database to be found through analytics and wealth screening, peer networks and philanthropy. There are common-sense ways to find new or previously overlooked donors in the communities where we operate and that we serve.

As an industry, we need to figure out how to present newly-identified prospects in such a way that fundraisers will rush to set up a Zoom call. And managers need to find new ways to motivate fundraisers to do that. Great prospects sitting in a portfolio growing cold are the very worst kind of waste. Internally we need to discover ways to communicate excitement and opportunity.

Something that’s been exciting for me is a project we’re working on right now within our Data Insight team: identifying the ways that the research tools we use don’t identify (or appropriately weight) female and BIPOC prospects and building up our own custom appends and methods to counter those deficiencies for our clients.

I’d love to hear your thoughts about any or all of this.

 

By

Donors that are stepping up right now

While it becomes increasingly easy to believe that the nonprofit sector’s glass is half empty at the present moment, the reality is that people want to help nonprofits, and they are stepping up. If you don’t believe it, I thought I’d share some of the many places you can go to get some really good, heartening news.

At the same time that 80 percent of US nonprofits surveyed were telling the BBB Wise Giving Alliance that they expect revenues will be down in 2020, Fidelity Charitable announced that giving from its donor-advised funds was up 36% this March compared to the same time last year.

Fidelity surveyed its donors who had given at least $1,000 during the second half of March. Over half had no plans to decrease their giving this year, and 25% said that they planned to increase their giving.

Including support just for COVID-19 related giving (which was $160.7 million as of yesterday, and up $20m since last Friday), total giving from Fidelity’s DAF donors so far in 2020 is well over $2 billion. This month Fidelity issued a “COVID-19 Relief Challenge” to its donors to give $200m before #GivingTuesdayNOW on May 5. This is clearly having a positive impact on their giving numbers.

If you haven’t yet read the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s April 9th article by Michael Theis titled “Giving From Donor-Advised Funds Surge as Pandemic Spreads” you should get on that now – it’s a barn-burner full of hope and a call to action. From the article:

 Money is not simply flowing out of the funds. Donors are also contributing to their accounts, even though the slide in the stock market and the tumbling economy might have caused some supporters to pause their giving.

Deanna Spaulding, a spokeswoman at Fidelity Charitable, declined to provide figures for incoming gifts, but she added that the number of new fund accounts opened has also grown since the start of the year.”

And it’s not just Fidelity. DAF sponsors large and small all over the country are reporting the same thing.

Giving from funds at Schwab Charitable were up 21% February 14 – March 31 compared with the same period last year. Schwab “asked the Center for Disaster Philanthropy for a list of organizations responding to the pandemic globally and highlighted them on its website. Those organizations saw a nearly 450 percent increase (emphasis mine) in grant dollars from Schwab account holders.”

Over the past few weeks, the new CEO of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, the place where tech millionaires and billionaires send their philanthropic dollars to DAF, has been calling donors asking them to spend at least 5% of their invested funds now. And she says they’re seeing donors answering the call.

Even smaller DAF sponsors are seeing a huge uptick. ImpactAssets DAF reported to Barrons that by the end of the second quarter of 2020 investments in its fund will exceed $143 million, more than total investments made in the fund for all of last year. Their DAF donors made more than 1,000 grants totaling $11 million from their DAFs last month, two times the number made in a normal March.

If there was ever a moment for DAF donors to allocate those funds they were saving for a crisis, it’s now, and they seem to be stepping up.

Who else is giving right now? Startups.

Earlier this month, Crunchbase reported that a number of startups had accelerated their philanthropic giving due to the pandemic. Their initial article listing 24 startups grew so fast that they abandoned adding to the article and embedded a running spreadsheet of companies, which is now up to 140. Check out the interactive list to see if there’s a company donating in your area.

Also, private and family foundations, companies, and LLCs

Candid reports on their new popup COVID giving/tracking webpage that total coronavirus giving they’ve counted so far stands right now at nearly $8 billion.

Just like the number of coronavirus cases out there, there is likely lots more giving that just hasn’t been counted yet.

Donors are eager to give and, as we pointed out two weeks ago, there are plenty of companies and industries that are doing really well right now. We may have to adapt or throw out some old ways of doing things and adopt new technologies and strategies, but it appears that as the need for funding has risen, so have the numbers of donors who want to be helpful.

FURTHER READING

Charity is off the charts amid the coronavirus. Is that a sign of America’s strength or weakness? By Laurence Darmiento, LA Times, 4/20/2020

Community Funders Balance Priorities in the Face of Overwhelming Needs, by Paul Karon. Inside Philanthropy, 4/22/2020

Special Report: Covid-19 and the Charitable Sector. Give.org BBB Wise Giving Alliance

Want to see some fascinating stats on email solicitations right now? NextAfter has created a web page chock-full of real-time analysis of 90 nonprofits with lovely charts and graphs showing

  • The types of verticals in the analysis
  • Median monthly visitors for each vertical (the top nonprofit type has 4x the visitors of #2)
  • How has the average number of gifts changed Jan-April this year vs last?
  • How has avg. revenue been affected in recent months? (Spoiler: it mostly hasn’t)
  • How has each vertical changed their volume of messaging in recent months? (these numbers were really interesting).

By

Prospect Research for the Here and Now

In the midst of any crisis, after the first moments of stopping and taking stock of what is happening around us, the next thing people normally do is jump into action to help. This week my colleague Grace Chandonnet shares her perspective on practical ways that we in prospect research can jump into action to be helpful to our organizations. Be well. ~Helen

We’re a few weeks into the new (for now) normal and lucky to be in an industry that lends itself well to remote work. It seems like a good time to be strategizing around ways to get through an economic downturn with our organizations intact, and also a good time to look ahead and prepare for the future.

I’ve been thinking about things that we fundraising intelligence pros can do to make the present moment more productive and satisfying that will also help prepare us to move ahead through – and past – turbulent times. Here are some practical things that we can do now.

Projects and Planning

This might be a good time to consider all those things on your to-do list that you never seem to have time to fit in. What can you be doing to look to the future and be ready to hit the ground running when we emerge? For example:

  • In-person events are off the table right now, but can you work on prospecting projects for future event attendees?
  • Now is a great time to plan and implement analytics projects to find the hidden gems in your own databases. Consider appending free or inexpensive data to make your data insight projects even more robust.
  • Research and draw relationship maps to identify strong prospects who might know your organization’s friends and family and want to be engaged?
  • If you’re working at a school or university, now is a good time to re-imagine your parents research programs as we’re heading into summer.

Supporting the Front Line

Now is a great time to be looking for additional ways to support our frontline fundraisers. Our extroverted colleagues may be really struggling in a time of enforced social distancing. The logistics of business as usual – building relationships with donors and prospects – has been suddenly altered drastically.  If you’re a prospect development pro, take the opportunity of having more planning time with frontline colleagues and discuss their priorities and concerns to strengthen your relationships with them.

  • Work with fundraisers to help them re-balance their portfolios to set them up for future success. This could include re-assessing capacity with an eye toward the industries that are recession-proof vs. those that might not be – we can lead these discussions and also touch on the overarching economic outlook.
  • Use the aforementioned analytics and prospecting projects to target the prospects that will help fundraisers meet their visit and solicitation goals.
  • Set up some interactive trainings or presentations geared toward frontline fundraisers – perhaps a quick training on basic research – to give them tools for things that they can do themselves to get ready for a meeting or phone call when there is no time for formal research.
  • It might also be a good time to focus on process-oriented training, such as short sessions on entering research requests, prospect management moves, and/or contact reports into your organization’s CRM.
  • Now might also be a great time to host a few virtual coffee breaks – that have no set agenda – with small groups of fundraisers and you or your team of researchers just to get to know each other a little better.

Take advantage of trainings and webinars

We can also be focusing on our own professional development. Apra and many of its chapters  as well as  familiar vendors like iWave and DonorSearch offer ongoing, as well as timely and relevant virtual trainings and webinars on a variety of topics relevant to our industry and ways we can weather the pandemic. Is there something that you’ve been wanting to know more about? Wishing to take a deeper dive into certain industries, or know more about the hands-on intricacies of data analytics? With fewer research requests in the queue, it could be a good time to set aside some time for some of these free training opportunities.

Breathe

“Self-care” is an oft-used expression that means different things to different people, but there is no doubt that most of us are experiencing an increase in stress and anxiety, and a little self-care couldn’t hurt. It’s more important than ever to take a few minutes during your day to stand up and stretch, step outside and maybe take a walk around the block (as weather and social distancing guidelines allow), try out a meditation app, or to just sit quietly and breathe for a few minutes.

I do believe that our industry will weather this. We are a resourceful bunch (literally!) and we’ve been through troubled waters before. Let’s have each other’s backs and we and our organizations can emerge stronger than before.

By

Working From Home and Homeschooling

For the past several weeks we’ve been sharing our best advice to help you deal with the new normal of working from home – or more appropriately for most – trying to work while being at home. For many, this also means adding the job of teacher into the daily mix, so I’m so pleased this week to welcome my colleague (and one of several parents on the team) Angie Stapleton to the Intelligent Edge. In today’s article, Angie shares some great tips and advice for working and schooling at home. ~Helen

“So, we’re homeschooling now?”

This was the message that popped up in a group text of my mom friends a few weeks ago. In the span of a few days, most everyone on the text was making the transition of working in an office to working from home. On top of that, we were now making the transition of working full-time from home to also homeschooling children.

My guess is that some of you have recently found yourselves in a very similar group chat. Needless to say, the past few weeks have been an adjustment for us all.

Currently – four weeks out of the initial shock and into homeschooling – we’re beginning to find our rhythm. We’ve figured out a few things that have helped us to navigate the new normal.

Here are some things that have saved our house, and I hope will help your families too.

If you can, make your schedule work for you

Starting off, I’ll recognize that I’m in an incredible place of privilege because I have a job that is stable and can be done completed remotely – and for that, I am very grateful! Our company leadership is also generous in their acknowledgement that work/life balance matters. During this time, I am hoping that leadership everywhere will recognize this is a time when standard work hours may need to shift to allow for employee productivity.

For our family, I have found working longer hours but taking more breaks throughout the day allows me to get more work done and be available to my new “co-worker” for homeschooling questions (and hugs throughout the day). If your kids are older, maybe that looks like starting earlier and plowing through your day while your kids are completing virtual learning so you can end the day early. If you have littles, maybe that looks like working an hour or two after they go to sleep so you can really focus.

The important thing here is to be open and honest about what you need to create the most value for your company and your family in this season. Talk to your leadership, and this is important: go with a plan. Draft a schedule that works for you and your company and ensures that you’re meeting the deadlines that matter.

Give your new co-worker(s) a special work space

This suggestion came from my boss, Maureen. (Aren’t you ever so grateful for the veteran moms in your life?!)

Creating a special work space for your child helps them to feel valued, productive, and a part of the process. Making sure all the supplies they’ll need for the day are immediately available allows for more self-direction and less interruptions. Using only the “fun school supplies” helps kids to be excited about school and makes homeschool feel like a novel adventure. Basically, never underestimate the power of a fresh notebook and a new pack of multi-colored pens!

As I type this, my daughter is sharing half my desk. While it may seem counter-intuitive to have an inquisitive seven-year old next to you all day, having her space so near mine means I’m always there to answer a quick question.  On the flip side, she can also see when I’m really focused on something and she needs to wait before asking.

Plan and when plans change, be flexible

Taking time over the weekend to create lesson plans for the week has been key! It allows me to make sure we have all the materials my daughter will need throughout the week printed, organized, and available so I’m not rushing around to print a worksheet minutes before a conference call.

If your teacher/school allows for it, let your children have a say in what they are learning. Part of planning over the weekend means my daughter can help me choose what she wants to learn. A biography or cultural site for social studies? Paint or clay for art? I love seeing what captivates her imagination. And selfishly, I also know she will stay focused for far longer on her tasks throughout the week if she is studying things that really matter to her.

Though we have a basic framework, plans change. New meetings are scheduled. Requests come in with short deadlines. So throughout the week, adjust. The overall goal here is to pair your child’s activity (based on how much of you it requires) to whatever work you have planned at that time.

Similarly, if plans change for your kiddos, adjust.  In this time of physical distance, we’ll always shift to take a video call from a grandparent or a friend. We’re flexible if she needs more time to finish an art project or read “just one more chapter” before moving on to the next activity.

Schedules keep us organized, but flexibility keeps us sane.

Respect Your Bandwidth

A note on staying sane… There are a million wonderful free resources available right now. It’s amazing! And, it’s overwhelming. Look at the lists, ask your teachers, ask your mom friends, and then choose what’s right for your family and go with it. Please hear this: you don’t have to do it all.

Right now, I am feeling very lucky that I’ve had the opportunity to become acquainted with several ed tech apps through my work with HBG’s education reform clients. Because I’m already familiar with them and trust the quality of the platforms, we’re primarily using the same five to 10 websites for my daughter’s daily studies.  Also, that’s because that’s all the mental bandwidth I have to take on right now.

We’ll likely add new ones as we go, but for now, what we’re doing works. Everyone is happy – she’s learning and I’m able to focus on work throughout the day – and that’s what matters.

Incorporate the things that are important to you

One of the major benefits of homeschooling is that we get to include the subjects that excite us. For example, in addition to the core subjects taught at my daughter’s school, we’ve added in time for foreign language, coding, and projects intended to help cultivate a spirit of gratitude and self-confidence. We’ve tailored her social studies and science to create projects based on awesome female scientists. And, we definitely make sure there is ample time for art, music, and movement.

Since we are a family of faith, we are setting aside time in the morning for a Lenten devotional and to pray for specific groups of people affected by the pandemic. This helps our family to see the bigger picture and give thanks for how lucky we are – but also allows us time to talk through any fears/anxieties my daughter has and to brainstorm ways we can be “helpers” or sources of encouragement to our community.

So, what matters to you?  If you can find ways to incorporate your values into homeschool, it becomes a lot more than just lessons and certainly a lot more fun to manage.

Be Intentional About JOY

My first priority for this season is that my daughter remember this as a time filled with JOY. When so much of the world is filled with fear, anxiety, and a bit of panic, I want my daughter to be able to look back and know her home was a place of peace, joy, and lots and lots of laughter. That it was a place where she felt safe and loved.

Because we have unlimited together-time and I still have work to do, we had to set some boundaries. I intentionally built our schedule in 15/30/45 minute blocks of time. Arranging our schedule this way allows me to plan my work time accordingly. For example, I know I can check email in a 15 minute slot of time, make a call during a 30-minute slot, or really focus on a deliverable when I have 45 minute slots.

But, we were also intentional about scheduling specific times during the day for joy. For impromptu dance parties or finding a few pieces for the puzzle splashed across our dining room table. We created a “Social Distancing Bucket List” as well as a calendar of special nightly activities.

It can be hard, especially for littles and elementary age kids, to understand that you’re home but you aren’t necessarily available. With joy factored in, kids have something to look forward to when they are practicing a self-directed activity.

Lean into community (or at least lean within 6 ft. of community!)

During this time of physical distancing, social interaction is important. This is a great time to make sure the parents on your team feel supported. On our team, schedules are more fluid. Our Zoom chat has been filled with resources parents are using for homeschooling – in addition to our normal work-related banter. We expect to see children (and fur-babies!) on our team calls. My daughter has even become pen pals with a colleague’s daughter so they can pass the time together.

At the end of the day, challenges are always opportunities to strengthen relationships and to build trust on your team. This is no different. If handled well, we’ll come out a stronger team at the end.

Offer yourself (and your co-workers) some grace

This is hard. It’s ok to say that. It takes a lot of work and a lot of preparation, and you’re going to get it wrong some days. Shoot, I get something wrong pretty much every day.

During this season, I’m learning to ask myself two questions each evening:

  • Did my clients get what they needed from me to do their jobs better and raise more money for their cause?
  • Did my daughter feel loved and maybe learn something today?

If I can answer “yes” to both, then it was a good day. If I can’t, then I know what needs more of my attention tomorrow.

Our Work/Homeschool Schedule and Available Resources

For practicality, I’m sharing our homeschooling schedule which is geared towards elementary aged children, though a lot of the resources have activities for multiple age groups. As mentioned above, I really encourage you to find what works for your family and unique circumstances – but sometimes it just helps to know what others are doing too.

This schedule works for us because it provides enough self-directed time to allow for eight hours of work, which if we’re honest is (hopefully!) around 7 quality work hours after all the “Lois! Mom! Mom! Mommy! Mommy! Mama!” coming your way.

Here, I’m including the resources that we’re primarily using. For additional options, check with your local school district (ours has a list of recommended resources) and Amazing Educational Resources, which  has compiled a list of hundreds of online learning companies and organizations currently offering free resources or services. For younger kids, check out this Google Doc for additional ideas.

 

Time Subject Favorite Resources
8:30-8:45 Set Daily Intentions Family devotional, meditation or mindfulness practice
8:45-9:30 Math IXL and/or Khan Academy
9:30-10:00 Reading Check out your local library’s online offerings!
10:00-10:15 Family Time – Child’s Choice
10:15-11:00 Movement Cosmic Kids Yoga or Koo Koo Kanga Roo
11:00-11:45 Creative Time Crafts, cards, clay, painting, sewing, Legos, etc.
11:45-12:30 Lunch & Family Time
12:30-1:00 Afternoon Reset Gratitude Jar, Big Life Journal (lots of free printables!)
1:00-1:45 Social Studies BrainPop/BrainPop Jr. (click here for free access) or Museum Virtual Tours
1:45-2:30 Science Scholastic, BrainPop/BrainPop Jr., or Zoo/Aquarium Live Cams
2:30-2:45 Foreign Language Duolingo or IXL (Spanish only)
2:45-3:00 Family Time – Parent’s Choice
3:00-3:30 Music Practice a musical instrument
3:30-4:30 Movement Go outside and play!
4:30-5:00 Coding Code.org
5:00-6:00 Educational TV Our favorites: Storybots, Magic School Bus, Wild Kratts, Disney Earth, Any National Geographic, MythBusters, NOVA

*Note:  Blue font indicates time spent with family and not working.

So, now I’d love to hear from you! For those of you homeschooling or taking care of littles while also trying to work, what has been most helpful for you? Do you have any resources you can share with our community? We’d love to hear them!

 

 

 

ABOUT HBG

The Helen Brown Group was formed in 2002 with a goal to be different.

Allow me to explain my personal philosophy to you.

Latest Intelligent Edge Articles

Privacy Quick Links