Avoiding Zombie Fundraising

Seven Easy Ways Raise Funds …

Giving and getting charitable donations, as we have known it for the past six decades, has changed forever in just a few short months of a global pandemic exacerbated by vigorous social unrest and unwavering protest.

Confirming this change is coming message, the Washington Post’s Will Hobson penned a great article recently on popular donor advised funds stashing away billions in generosity but not distributing those donations to charities in dire need, especially in today’s multiple crisis climate.  

“Zombie philanthropy,” Hobson tagged the growing practice.

Change is indeed coming to how charity does business in this third 21st century decade, whether we like it or not. Change in a segment of the American economy that generates a $449 billion-plus annual contribution to our way of living, according to USA Giving. 

For the first time since World War II, we are essentially in a start-over market, meaning that if we do it smartly, the playing field in fundraising has been leveled by the coronavirus pandemic that has been geographically indiscriminate.

To prevail philanthropically, consider adopting seven possible fundraising strategies in this global pandemic to successfully overcome a traumatic 2020:

1.     Quickly assess where you are and what you will realistically need to survive 2020 and beyond. You can overcome the challenges ahead if you act in an expeditious manner to perform at a more competitive level. Conduct an enterprise excellence evaluation and determine where you truly sit in your market.  Do you have measurably strong programs to offer your beneficiaries? Have you reduced your expenses as low as reasonably possible? Are your ethical standards up to par at a minimum? Are you transparent in your need and your performance? If not, it is time to get with the game plan immediately. If so, there is always a better way to give, get, and manage generosity more preeminently.

2.     Collaborate everywhere possible, especially if you determine you can no longer achieve your mission alone. There is strength to be found in working together, despite what modern-day politics might now indicate. Share strategies and expenses with other like-minded charities to survive. Work together with the charitable resources that are always available in your neighborhoods from community foundations to private family foundations, family offices to trust companies. Reach out to area tax attorneys and estate planners for advice and counsel. Wealthier clients, who rely on their expert advice and guidance, can often use tax-saving strategies to generate the gift your charitable venture might need to survive the year.

3.     Break reliance on seeking transactional donations. Special events and annual funds are typically a great way to introduce donors to your charitable initiatives. Unfortunately, they will be distracted as the virus spreads, wanes, and spreads again. Many other charities will be competing for attention, too. Transactional donations are traditionally provided by donors who do not have a lot to give in the first place. It will be even harder for them to do so in the weeks ahead, especially if gatherings in larger groups remain nearly impossible to host. Donors, who can still give, do not want to donate to a deep, dark hole just to realize a tax deduction. It is time to get to know these donors better and cherish the benefit that comes from generosity that often does make multiple donations over time.

4.     Deepen your prospect pool by cultivating principal gifts as well as smaller and major gifts. Capable donors will be looking for exciting and impactful places to entrust their donations. If your mission is compelling – and it will need to be to survive the madness to come – you will need to adapt to wealth’s greater discerning nature. Know that it takes about as much time and effort to secure a principal gift as it does to secure a major gift. Put your time into adapting to the new demand, and do it more intelligently, with at least as much emphasis on impactful gifts. Higher dollar gifts do take skill and talent to land, but that skill and talent is out there to help you achieve a more efficient operating budget for the same effort.

5.     Recruit stronger talent to your professional staff. This will be an employer’s market over the next few quarters. Find that stronger talent and get them on board with your mission. Experienced fundraisers can do more with less and save you precious resources which will help reduce your cost-to-raise-a-dollar ratio. Remember, donors and their trusted advisors do look at these metrics and expect to see standard-setting performance from those they support. How you raise money is an art you cannot afford to ignore. Reward your talent, seek out the best in their fields to help you, and you just might succeed sooner yourself.

6.     Consider establishing a Program Related Investment fund with your local community foundation. PRIs were a favorite tool of our founding father, the inventive Ben Franklin, as far back as the late 1700s. PRIs are very-low interest philanthropic loans that can be used to provide short-term and emergency funds at risk or from interest-generated grants. Over time, their proper use and structure, which has been memorialized in federal statute, makes PRIs a much less risky tool to the wealthier donor and their trusted advisors to provide when funds are especially tight. Moreover, by partnering these funds with a community foundation in your market, you can help avoid the costs associated with reporting and compliance, not to mention, have expert advisors of your own on hand to help you administer your programs moving forward. PRIs just might be the anecdote you are looking for when it comes to avoiding “zombie philanthropy.”

7.     Finally, look in to participating in any public-private partnership that might help fulfill your mission. Neither government, nor the private sector, can do it alone anymore. They need the advantage, too, that philanthropy can bring to the table to generate greater socially beneficial results in our communities. Look to the recent SpaceX/NASA mission to the space station to see how this works. If an appropriate public-private partnership is not obvious to you, then think about forging one of your own. Leadership is an invaluable asset in nonprofit fundraising. It may be your ace in the hole.

Remember, we are all in this together today and your opportunity to rise and shine for those you serve, and for those who rely upon you for help coming out of this debilitating crisis, is now. Take advantage of your do-over opportunity and do it even better this time if you can. 

None of us need be afraid of the fundraising zombies!