While receiving an income tax deduction ranks low among reasons why people give, nonprofit leaders and fundraising professionals should be familiar with these changes to leverage them when possible. Please note that this information does not constitute tax advice.Encourage your donors to consult a tax professional to evaluate their personal situation.
What are the tax changes?
The one mentioned most often is the deduction for individuals who don’t itemize their tax returns. For the second year, they can claim a deduction of up to $300 for cash donations to qualified charities. A notable change for the 2021 tax year is that married couples filing jointly can claim up to $600.
Another incentive for 2021 allows individual taxpayers to deduct up to 100% of their adjusted gross income (AGI). That’s right – donors who itemize their taxes may be able to zero out their tax bill for the year!
One final provision pertains to corporations that make cash contributions to eligible charities. The 2021 deduction limit is 25% of taxable income, up from the usual 10%.
This sounds great! What’s the fine print?
There are a few important things to keep in mind for donors to receive the full benefit.
These provisions require cash contributions only.
Standard limits still apply for other gift types like noncash donations and appreciated securities.
Contributions must be made to qualified organizations – sorry, donor-advised funds don’t count.
What should nonprofit leaders and fundraising professionals do now?
Contact your annual fund donors who have not yet renewed this year and remind them to take advantage of this opportunity. Nearly nine out of ten taxpayers use the standard deduction and can take the $300 (individual) or $600 (married couple) above-the-line adjustment.
Talk to your largest donors about maximizing annual gifts or accelerating pledge fulfillment.High-income taxpayers predominantly itemize deductions. The 100% AGI deduction provision is a great way to encourage generosity for select donors.
Reach out to your corporate partnersto make sure they are aware of the 25% deduction and request increased support. For many corporations, 2021 was a very profitable year and they may want to reduce their tax burden.
Is this too good to be true?
For the most part, no. The incentives are straightforward for donors who don’t itemize and for corporations that do. The 100% AGI deduction is a little more nuanced. Just because you can do something, doesn’t mean that you should.
With graduated tax brackets, it might not be in a donor’s best interest to take the maximum deduction. The lower their AGI, the lower the tax rate that applies to each additional dollar donated resulting in diminishing returns.
Instead of deducting 100% of AGI this year, donors who carry a portion of their donation forward may end up paying less taxes overall. Even though it might be intoxicating to think about not paying taxes for a year, the total tax paid could end up being more than if one spreads those same donations over multiple years.
What’s the bottom line?
While not everyone can take advantage of these changes, those who do so can make a significant impact for their charity of choice this year. Take steps now to make sure your organization benefits by proactively engaging those who are most likely to donate. If you don’t ask them, someone else will.
There are currently 115,009 independent foundations in the United States with assets totaling $960 billion. And according to Giving USA’s Annual Report on Philanthropy for the Year 2020, foundation giving grew at a faster rate than any other source over the previous year, now comprising 19% of total giving in the United States. This leads to an overwhelming number of opportunities for foundation funding—so it’s important to focus your time!
In order to best use your team’s limited resources, it’s advantageous for all organizations to develop a system to qualify and prioritize new funding opportunities. This process will ensure that your team spends their time cultivating foundations and applying for grants where you have the strongest likelihood of success.
Criteria to consider when applying for a grant:
As you determine whether to dedicate time and resources to submit a proposal for a new funding opportunity, organizations should consider each of the below criteria on a scale of zero to five.
Mission Alignment: How well does your organization fit within the foundation or this particular opportunity’s giving criteria? 0 is a weak fit and 5 is a very strong fit.
Giving Capacity: What is the capacity of the foundation and what size grant could they give to your organization? 0 is a smaller grant and 5 is a large grant, as defined by your organization.
Relationship: Does anyone in your organization, either staff or a board member, have an existing relationship with someone at the foundation? 0 is no relationship and 5 is a strong relationship. Note: when scoring this section, be sure to consider how important a relationship may be in a foundation’s grantmaking. For example, does the foundation accept unsolicited proposals or is it necessary to form a relationship with the organization in advance?
Timing: How much time will it take your team to complete the application or next step? Will it take lead time to develop a relationship with the organization before you can submit a proposal? Is this a rigorous or straightforward application process? 0 is a significant amount of time or challenging process, and 5 is not much time or an easy process.
You can then total the score from all four categories to assign a priority level for the funding opportunity. We recommend utilizing the following ranges to assign priority:
High priority: 15-20 points
Medium priority: 10-14 points
Low priority: 7-9 points
Disqualified: Less than seven points
Criteria to consider when applying for a prize:
When applying for a prize, as in, there are only a certain number of “winners” for a specific funding opportunity, you may want to look at the above criteria differently.
Mission Alignment: Since prizes can be very competitive, you should ensure that your organization is a strong fit for the prize’s funding criteria.
Giving Capacity: Prizes often offer larger grants and come with great exposure for your organization. However, a prize may only lead to a one-time gift rather than consistent annual funding. If you are launching a new initiative with a ramp-up cost, this is a strong option, but you must be prepared to identify other sources to support ongoing budget needs.
Relationship: Your relationship with the foundation may not be as important when applying for a prize as it is when trying to get your foot in the door through the grantmaking cycle, especially when many foundations do not accept unsolicited proposals.
Timing: The application for prizes can be very time-consuming and include more steps than a general grant proposal. On the other hand, you may not have to spend as much time finding a connection to and forming a relationship with the foundation.
In conclusion, by taking time at the outset to develop a rubric and prioritization system, your organization will proceed through an otherwise overwhelming process with more confidence and with a greater chance of achieving success.
Uncover the latest fundraising trends in the 2025 CCS Philanthropy Pulse report! Packed with data-rich insights from 600+ nonprofit organizations across diverse nonprofit sectors, this free report will help you plan for success in 2025.
This report provides a comprehensive look at the current state of US philanthropy, compiling and analyzing annual data from Giving USA and other prominent research to ensure your organization stays up-to-date on the most significant industry trends.
Leaders are responsible for advancing equity and inclusion as core values in their organizations. In this episode, Bernie Banks and Minya Nance, Associate Deans of the Kellogg School of Management, and Dorri McWhorter, CEO of the YMCA of Metro Chicago, offer frameworks, ideas, and perspectives for leading change and building inclusive cultures.
Episode Two: Navigating Bias Across Organizations
To move beyond identifying bias, we must learn to navigate and mitigate it to address systems of inequity when engaging with stakeholders. In this three-part episode of Authentically Inclusive, Professor Nour Kteily of the Kellogg School of Management and Joy King, Chief Advancement Officer of Be the Match, examine how biases and power impact our lives and our work in the nonprofit sector.
Episode Three: Advancing Equity Through Empathy
Empathy is a critical component for advancing equity. In this three-part episode of Authentically Inclusive, Professor Gina Fong of the Kellogg School of Management and Franklyn Baker, President and CEO of the United Way of Central Maryland, talk about empathy, equity, and storytelling. Using examples from the nonprofit sector and beyond, they bring to life the role empathy can play in promoting equity at work.
CCS is proud to partner with the IU Lilly Family School of Philanthropy on the release of the Everyday Donors of Color report, funded by the Gates Foundation.
At the heart of nonprofit development operations is the process of accepting, acknowledging, and recognizing gifts. Gift acceptance policies can be actively deployed to advance equity within your institution, diversify and educate your donor base, make giving more accessible, and reinforce the values of your organization.
Data shows that women make larger and more frequent charitable gifts than men across almost every income bracket and are more consistent about monitoring their philanthropic impact over time. In this article, we offer three considerations for your organization when thinking about how to better engage women donors.
Today, CCS Fundraising, the leader in nonprofit fundraising consulting, announced new additions to its Board of Directors. Complementing their ten internal leaders, CCS welcomes Elizabeth (Liz) Moore and Ron Lumbra to the Board.
CCS is honored to welcome Ms. Moore and Mr. Lumbra to the Board. Both executives bring a deep expertise in professional services and nonprofit leadership. Ms. Moore and Mr. Lumbra have both held leadership positions at reputable firms and have received honors and awards for their exceptional business acumen. As lifelong mission-conscious leaders who have both worked to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), Ms. Moore and Mr. Lumbra share CCS’s enthusiasm for a robust strategy around DEI and are equipped with highly relevant experiences to inform CCS’s approach. With roots in employment law, Ms. Moore has worked closely with senior leadership in the private and public sectors on a wide variety of legal matters and has helped countless nonprofits advance their missions. For over two decades, Mr. Lumbra has advised corporate boards on ownership strategy, generational transfers, and succession plans. Together, their talents and experiences will be invaluable to the growth and success of the firm as CCS enters its 75th year.
Elizabeth D. (Liz) Moore, Former Senior Vice President & General Counsel, Consolidated Edison of New York: Until the end of 2019, Elizabeth D. Moore was a Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Consolidated Edison, Inc., and served on the Boards of its two subsidiaries, Con Edison Clean Energy Businesses, Inc. and Con Edison Transmission, Inc.
Ms. Moore earned a law degree from St. John’s University and holds a Bachelor of Science from the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University. Ms. Moore served on Cornell’s Board of Trustees for 14 years and in 2013 was elected Trustee Emeritus. Ms. Moore has received various awards and recognitions, including the 2019 Most Powerful Women in Corporate America, 2015 Top Black Lawyers, Fourth Annual Power List, 25 Influential Black Women in Business, Leader for a New Century, and the 11th Annual Ida B. Wells-Barnett Justice Award.
Ron Lumbra, Managing Partner, Heidrick & Struggles: Ron Lumbra is a partner at Heidrick & Struggles and a member of the global CEO & Board of Directors Practice. Mr. Lumbra has more than 23 years of executive search and succession consulting experience and an extensive track record of recruiting board directors and chief executive officers. In June 2019, Mr. Lumbra was invited to testify in front of the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services and Diversity in the Boardroom: Examining Proposals to Increase the Diversity of America’s Boards.
Mr. Lumbra holds a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Vermont. Mr. Lumbra is chair of the Board of Trustees for the University of Vermont and serves on the UVM Foundation leadership council. He serves on the Board of two SPACs, CRIS II Acquisition Corporation and Prospector Capital Corp, and is a member of the Executive Leadership Council. Formerly, Mr. Lumbra was a Board Director for the Alumni Association of the University of Vermont, the Harvard Business School Club of Greater New York, the Houston Youth Symphony, and the Board Chair and Director of KaBOOM!
These exceptional leaders join Caroline Chick (Managing Director), Derval Costello (Managing Director), Greg Hagin (Principal & Managing Director), Peter Hoskow (Principal & Managing Director), Eric Javier (Principal & Managing Director), Jon Kane (President), Tom Kissane (Principal & Managing Director), Sevil Miyhandar (Managing Director), Robert Rice (Principal & Managing Director), and Janine Triano (Chief Human Resources Officer) on the CCS Board of Directors. Learn more about the members of the CCS Board of Directors here.
The virtual environment has empowered many parishes to build a sense of community and engage more parishioners in deeper ways. As we approach the holiday season, CCS encourages you to leverage the momentum of your community to position yourself well for 2022. Now is an excellent opportunity to activate your parishioners who have been particularly engaged in parish life by inviting them to participate in a January 2022 visioning session.
The goal of a visioning session is to identify your parish’s aspirations, involve key stakeholders, and start to formalize a plan to meet your goals. Using our seven-part framework, your visioning sessions will undoubtedly bring your constituents closer to your mission and set you up for a successful year.
Step 1: Prepare for success.
Time: Days to Weeks
Prepare for your session by helping lead clergy create a shortlist of decision-makers that they would like to invite to the visioning session. You can also offer an open invitation to the full parish to ensure that all parishioners have a voice and feel valued. This should include clergy, volunteers, parishioners, staff, donors, and when relevant, community partners. We recommend a group of between five and fifteen individuals that represent different backgrounds and ways of interacting with your parish. Staff can be prepared beforehand to take an active role in supporting and facilitating your session.
Every interaction with a parishioner is an opportunity to thank them and show them how important they are to the parish’s mission. Be sure to send out preparatory materials beforehand and ensure that session attendees are comfortable, connected, and thanked!
Step 2: Set the stage.
Time: 20 Minutes
After an opening prayer, be sure to state the purpose of the meeting so all attendees are focused on the same goal. You will want to offer a formal overview of the financial and programmatic realities at your parish. For example, there may be anticipated changes to your parish’s income or costs that need to be addressed in your near-term plans. Next, center the group by reminding attendees about your mission and vision as a parish. Finally, be sure to identify key priorities for the meeting and commit to a strategy for next steps as a group.
Step 3: Brainstorm with the group.
Time: 45 Minutes
The purpose of this exercise is to begin dreaming and imagining future projects at your parish. Before you facilitate this brainstorm, be sure to have a plan for these four essential elements:
Identify three categories of your vision that you would like the small groups to discuss. For example, your parish’s vision might include: strengthen the congregation, welcome your neighbors, and serve the community.
Offer a prompt such as, “What do you want your parish to look like three years from now?”
Assign roles for facilitator and notetaker. Members of the staff often serve as helpful leaders for these exercises.
Conduct the conversation in multiple small groups. The groups will develop a list of possible projects within the scope of your vision.
Step 4: Review and prioritize ideas.
Time: 30 Minutes
At this point in the exercise, you will:
Review each group’s ideas.
Discuss which items to keep, change, or eliminate.
Identify additional ideas that have not been discussed.
Incorporate thoughts and ideas from parish leadership.
Identify opportunities for the group’s review.
The purpose of this step is to consolidate ideas from the previous step and begin to concretize which ideas are candidates for pursual.
Step 5: Identify points of intersection and divergence.
Time: 30 Minutes
As with any brainstorming session, there will be ideas that are pursued and others that are not. Everyone who has joined this session is undoubtedly a valuable contributor to your parish, so you will want to understand their emotional response and move forward as one enthusiastic unit with ideas that combine philanthropy and ministry. Some questions that could prompt this discussion include:
How did participants feel about this exercise?
How can philanthropy and ministry work together to accomplish our goals?
How can we align any differences in ideas?
After this step is complete, you should have group support for a shortlist of ideas to pursue.
Step 6: Define next steps and close.
Time: 30 Minutes
At this point, you should be ready to move your ideas from vision into action! Some helpful ways of doing this include:
Determine your timeline for each idea.
Discuss who will be responsible for the next steps for each initiative.
Develop themes into testable ideas and projects.
Identify your message from today’s workshop and how you will communicate this to the broader parish community.
Step 7: Follow up with contributors.
Time: Within One Week
After your meeting, you will want to follow up with a summary of your discussion, an overview of your timeline and next steps, and language that the group can share with other parishioners. We recommend using tools like the Cornell notetaking method, a Gantt Chart, and a RACI matrix to support next steps.
The above steps will help you align projects to your parish’s vision to ensure a successful start to the new year. If you would like to discuss best practices for a visioning session, or if you would like support with your parish’s strategy, please reach out to info@ccsfundraising.com.
Major gifts come with a bevy of benefits for nonprofit organizations. The most obvious is quantitative. The more money you raise, the greater the impact on the organization and those it serves. The ability to provide additional student scholarships is one example. There may also be a greater return on investment in staff time than the multitude of tasks that accompany special events. There are also qualitative benefits. A focus on individual giving allows the organization to build deep relationships with donors in which the donor learns more about the organization and its place in the community, and the organization better understands the donor’s passion for the organization.
The monetary threshold for what constitutes a major gift varies from organization to organization. For some, a major gift may be $25,000 or more; others may consider $10,000 a major gift. Regardless of your definition, savvy organizations and those newer to major gift fundraising may struggle with securing these high-level philanthropic investments.
One simple way to increase high-level gifts and ease the transition to major gift work is through pledges. Development professionals can maximize the philanthropic potential that already exists by asking for a multiple-year gift and documenting a pledge.
Why Pledges?
A pledge is a written commitment to making a specific gift investment over a set amount of time, typically three to five years.
For the donor, pledges can change the way they see themselves in relation to the organization. Their personal investment deepens their ownership of the organization’s success. Pledging can also consolidate the donor’s interests so they’re not constantly being peppered with requests. Additionally, less staff time requesting multiple smaller gifts means more time to provide a great experience for the donor through stewardship and conveying impact. It can also better honor their intentions and set recognition with one clear request and documentation at a higher level. A good example is a donor who intends to give $50,000 each year for five years. Without a pledge, your organization may recognize them at $50,000 annually. With a pledge, you would recognize them as a $250,000 donor to the organization, which could also inspire others to think bigger when considering their own support.
For the nonprofit, consistent income allows the organization to plan ahead. This is especially important as we remain in an uncertain environment regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and its ongoing ramifications. A solid foundation also provides the stability that organizations need to dream bigger and craft a vision for the next step. Additionally, pledges increase revenue over time because most donors only increase their support if and as they’re asked. The improvements to the donor experience will also serve the organization better.
Here’s an example of how effective a pledged multiple-year gift can be with the right process and stewardship:
Year
Donor Without a Pledge
Donor With a Pledge
2021
Gives $5,000 (recognized at $5,000)
Pledges $25,000, pays $5,000 (recognized at $25,000)
2022
Gives $5,000
$5,000 payment
2023
Gives $3,000
$5,000 payment, gives additional $1,000 annual gift
2024
Gives $1,000
$5,000 payment, gives $3,000 additional gift
2025
Gives $1,000
$5,000 payment, gives $5,000 additional gift (now giving $10,000/year)
2026
Gives $0
Asked for and pledges $50,000
Total Giving
$15,000
$84,000
Raise More Money
When considering how to approach documenting more pledges, it is most helpful to look inside the organization at your closest supporters and friends. Although you can certainly build a relationship that leads to a major gift from a brand-new introduction, faithful donors are the people most likely to make high-level gifts.
A process outline follows:
Identify regular donors, from direct mail, annual giving, and events.
Evaluate if a pledge is right. It may not be the best strategy to make this request of a foundation that makes decisions on a year-by-year basis, or a corporation that keeps their sponsor dollars separate from their other giving.
Inventory the donor’s giving interests from your records.
Identify an initial potential request amount to help you prioritize your outreach. For example, a donor giving $2,000 each year could pledge $10,000 over five years. If you have not asked them for a specific pledge before, you may use the opportunity to stretch to a higher amount.
Consider a blended gift, combining their interests into one request. This is a way to coordinate your approach, making it easier for the donor if they typically make a sponsorship gift in addition to a program gift. Also consider incorporating a planned gift request, if appropriate.
Cultivate – don’t take the donor or their interests for granted.
Solicit – make a specific request, ideally in person/by video with written support, based on their past gift levels, your research, and the conversations you’ve had to date.
There are many additional factors to consider when determining the right fit between a donor and their gift pledge. The following may be helpful:
Pledge length: Five years is recommended; you may lose two years of impact if you ask for a three-year pledge. Five-year pledges are also short enough, in most cases, to maintain urgency toward their fulfillment. There are a few caveats, however, for both shorter and longer pledges. For event sponsorship requests, shorter (2-3 years) may be a safer bet since the event may run its course or evolve significantly over just a few years. Pledges longer than five years should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Consider acceptance in circumstances where there’s a long-standing relationship with the donor or an extended timeline is necessary because of other gifts. An example of this is if a donor is committed to another organization but willing to make their pledge now. Payments may not begin until next year but the gift will inspire others and build momentum.
Documentation: For gifts with few components, pledge forms are clear and easy for the donor. A pledge form is typically up to two pages with the donor’s contact information, gift amount and designation, and payment details (don’t forget their preferences for pledge reminders). A simple letter may stand in for a pledge form if the donor prefers. Longer gift agreements or addendums to pledge forms are recommended for gifts with multiple designations or restrictions, or whenever naming is part of the donor’s recognition plan. For example, donors to scholarships may need an additional form to indicate award distribution timelines, or their preference for students with financial need or academic performance above a specific level.
Language: Consider using a different word, such as commitment or intention, if “pledge” is a culturally or individually sensitive term, or if it doesn’t translate well in the donor’s primary/preferred language.
An Example from the Field
Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) is a great example of the power of pledges. SLCC is the only community college in Utah and serves both students who intend to transfer and those in need of workforce training. It’s also the largest and most diverse institution of higher education in the state, with more than 60,000 students across 11 campuses.
SLCC is currently in a $40 million comprehensive campaign in support of its strategic plan. Faced with a significant goal to raise, their development team shifted focus from event fundraising to major gifts. Although fortunate to recruit and retain talented leadership and staff, this has not been a quick transition for SLCC.
Campaign success hinged on the first pledges to set the pace and inspire others. SLCC had many dedicated donors who gave each year, but who had not yet been asked to make a multiple-year commitment and document their pledge. An early conversation with a volunteer who had been giving annually led to a confirmed 6-figure pledge, which both motivated him to take a greater leadership role and ownership in the campaign, as well as inspired others to dig deeper themselves.
Make a Bigger Difference
Pledges for multiple-year gifts can help organizations raise more money and take donors to new levels of major giving. With more donor investments, nonprofits can have a greater impact and make an even more meaningful difference in their communities.
At the heart of nonprofit development operations is the process of accepting, acknowledging, and recognizing gifts. Gift acceptance policies can be more than a dusty procedure manual that outlines various methods of giving. Gift acceptance policies can be actively deployed to advance equity within your institution, diversify and educate your donor base, make giving more accessible, and reinforce the values of your organization.
Why Equity Matters
According to the U.S. Trust Study of High Net Worth Philanthropy, individuals are generous regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation. Making your gift acceptance policies more equitable is not only the right thing to do, but it is a best business practice.
Increase accountability and manage risk.
First and foremost, set a clear policy that your organization will not accept gifts with restrictions that unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, citizenship, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender, age, marital or partnership status, military status, or disability.
Make sure your donors know that you will respect the privacy of each individual and that you are working to create an inclusive and donor-centric giving program. Support donors in their journey to become a part of your mission by including a confidentiality policy.
That said, you must also prepare for the unlikely event that a gift would compromise the public trust or adversely impact the reputation, image, mission, or integrity of your nonprofit. Your organization has rights and, while it’s unlikely that you will need to take legal action, your gift acceptance policies can help to set expectations. Including “morality clauses” can help protect your institution financially and ethically by outlining the termination of recognition agreements and by stating that your organization has no obligation or liability to a donor and would not be required to return gifts.
Educate donors about what your nonprofit needs to be successful.
Donors have long been key influencers of institutional decision-making, both through their financial power and through their desire to make an impact. We all know the pitfalls: while donors may desire to restrict funds to a specific program or purpose, it may not always serve the long-term goals of the organization or the needs of the community you serve. This is not a reason to abandon major gifts. Instead, we must acknowledge that each of our donors approaches philanthropy from different points of view. At the same time, donors have a duty to stay engaged intellectually and emotionally in the advancement of the nonprofit organizations they support.
As nonprofit leaders and subject matter experts in your program and mission, you can create policies that gently lead and incentivize your donors to make high-impact gifts. Keep in mind that these policies may prompt authentic conversations and bring generative conflict. Prepare for and welcome these conversations in order to advance each donor’s understanding of your mission or the needs of the community.
One example of misguided donor education that can be remedied through gift acceptance policies is the overhead myth. The overhead myth perpetuates the idea that vital activities like staff compensation and utilities are somehow frivolous expenses, as Dan Pallotta discusses in this 2013 TED talk. Using gift policies, you can outline the importance and value of unrestricted giving, allowing nonprofit leaders to make financial decisions that serve the mission rather than the current interests of our donor base. If you do maintain categories of restricted giving, ensure that those gifts are not so narrowly restricted that they prevent effective use or administration. Having too many restrictions – either immediately or that accumulate over time – can be problematic.
Invite donor and vendor participation to increase your capacity.
Who is involved in policy development matters; it’s as important as the outcome since true inclusion requires viewpoint diversity. Consider inviting a focus group of donors to inform your gift acceptance policies and appealing to a broader donor base and expanding the ways of giving. Using your constituent database, you can also take time in advance to evaluate your donor community with questions like: “Who is already giving (and how) and who is not yet giving to your organization?” This process will make sure a diverse set of voices are informing your menu of giving opportunities.
We also know that time and staff capacity are precious in any nonprofit and that accepting these types of gifts may not always be straightforward. There are so many ways to give these days, from retirement assets, to vehicle and property donations, to stock and cryptocurrency. Consider partnerships like Donate Stock, Car Easy, The Giving Block, or Every.org to help make gift processing easier for your nonprofit.
Make your policies public.
Finally, don’t forget to make your gift acceptance policies public to ensure transparency and accountability. Making a gift acceptance policy public can also help your organization broadcast which types of gifts you are able to process. By showcasing a variety of giving vehicles, you may facilitate more diverse philanthropic activity at your organization.
This piece has been prepared for informational purposes only and is not to be construed as legal advice.
In the CCS Philanthropic Climate Survey conducted in January 2021, many nonprofit leaders shared that the renewed societal focus on racial equity and social justice has activated their organization to begin taking the necessary steps to adjust their overall workplace policies and board activities.
An organization’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is much bigger than individual silos of work or initiatives. To create meaningful impact, DEI must be a cornerstone of the organization’s mission and integrated into every facet of its work and culture. Many nonprofits are looking to diversify their board, aiming to understand what a focus on DEI means for their organization and board members. This is the beginning of a long, much-needed journey where everyone at your organization, including the board, can play a role and lead by example.
As you continue on this journey, consider the three key areas outlined below to ensure your board is diverse, inclusive, and equity-focused:
1) Assess the example your organization sets for the board
Consider creating a road map of how your organization as a whole will deploy DEI strategies and assess your efforts along the way, holding your organization accountable.
Take time to reflect on the following questions:
Is your strategic plan informed by ongoing feedback and guidance from the communities you exist to serve?
How are you creating an impact that is both deep and broad, understanding and working to solve the root causes of challenges facing the communities you serve?
How are you telling your organization’s story? What language and images are you using to honor the dignity of the communities you serve and avoiding the pitfalls of a savior complex?
Do your staff, board, and volunteer recruitment practices break down biases and intentionally seek out diversified perspectives and backgrounds?
How are you creating a work environment that embraces diverse cultures and perspectives, allowing your team to be present in their authentic self?
Are your staff, board, and volunteers reflective of the communities you serve or partner with?
Are you creating regular and frequent space for open discussions and education around DEI, supporting your team to be comfortable with being uncomfortable?
Have you created a DEI commitment statement? If so, has it been shared with your board and the broader community?
2) Cultivate a strong board culture that celebrates differences
The culture of a nonprofit board can define how work is carried out and the role the board plays in an organization’s mission. Individual volunteers provide their time, talent, and treasure because they have a connection to or passion for the cause. Open communication, trust, respect, accountability, and transparency among fellow board members and organizational leadership are crucial to success. Organizations must understand the complete identity of their board members to effectively engage and collaborate.
As you progress on your DEI journey, don’t forget to bring your board members along. The board chair sets the tone and cultivates the board culture through leading by example as it relates to how the board operates. A strong board culture doesn’t just happen overnight—it takes time and patience to cultivate. It is important to reflect on how inclusive your board culture is, what blind spots might exist, and what opportunities lie ahead.
Questions to consider:
Does your board have regular and ongoing conversations about diversity, equity, and inclusion?
What education opportunities exist in your current structure or need to be added in order to guide the board in meaningful DEI work?
When it comes to building a diverse board that truly reflects the community that your organization serves, what is the process for identifying these individuals? Is it inclusive?
Does your organization acknowledge, value, encourage, and leverage the different perspectives and life experiences of board members to create action plans on how to advance your mission or purpose?
How might you foster an environment that ensures board members reflect, listen, and learn from one another's experiences?
Are you providing opportunities for your board members to identify and process their blind spots and/or unconscious biases?
How is your board creating accountability to measure DEI progress and success?
How can the board adapt to better support the work that needs to be accomplished in the most impactful way?
3) Board composition and diversity: working to represent the communities served
A nonprofit’s board composition can either help or hinder how connected an organization is to the community they have set out to serve. It can signal if the organization values the perspectives, needs, and priorities of the community. While many organizations acknowledge the need to focus on building and recruiting a diverse board, the makeup of these leadership bodies across the country remains unchanged. According to BoardSource’s 2021 Leading with Intent report, less than 17% of board chairs identify as Black, indigenous, and/or people of color (BIPOC), and only 22% of board members nationally identify as Black, indigenous, and/or people of color.
Acknowledging the shortfall is only the first step to making change. Diversity is not a box your organization can check off and forget about. Think bigger and avoid the common pitfalls of tokenism by being proactive instead of reactive when it comes to ensuring everyone has a seat at the table. It will require implementing intentional DEI policies and practices to recruitment efforts in order to diversify board leadership. Diversity must move from intentionality to actuality and eventually be ingrained into your organization’s DNA. Take the time to honestly acknowledge where your organization sits on this diversity spectrum.
Diversity is much more than the color of one’s skin. It involves cultural backgrounds, lived experiences, skillsets, and viewpoints that an individual can bring to an organization. But one unifying tenet that should always remain constant in your search for board members is finding individuals who are aligned with your organization’s values.
As you take the next step to diversify your board, here are some key questions to consider:
Why is it important to your organization to build board diversity?
Does your current board composition show the community your commitment to understanding their needs?
Identify any gaps: what skillsets, perspectives, and identities are you missing on your current board?
Determine the key traits or characteristics of those in the community you serve. Compare these traits to the traits of your current board. What is missing?
How are you expanding your reach and recruiting candidates from diverse backgrounds and experiences? Are you choosing new diversity-focused websites or organizations to promote the opportunity?
How are you describing the organization’s focus on diversity with potential board candidates?
Final Thoughts
These three focus areas and key questions are a starting point to engage in thoughtful conversations with leadership, key volunteers, and board members on how DEI can and should be prioritized within your board. Take the time to be intentional in building a board culture where everyone’s perspective matters, where the diversity of your board reflects the communities you serve, and in which your approach to diversity aligns with your organization’s values. Understanding why diversity matters to your organization, board, and community is the foundation to becoming more diverse, equitable, and inclusive.
Your organization may find these additional resources helpful on your journey:
Mergers and acquisitions are widespread across the healthcare sector and have a direct impact on philanthropy. Whether it is a health system acquiring a community hospital as part of a larger growth plan or two health systems merging to improve healthcare services across a region, such significant institutional changes require foundations and development teams to adapt thoughtfully and efficiently in a fast-changing environment.
Based on decades of experience in the healthcare sector and witnessing firsthand countless mergers and acquisitions across the country, CCS offers the following lessons learned to help healthcare leaders in philanthropy seize new opportunities and navigate unforeseen challenges during this process.
Look Inward & Prioritize Communication
Moving forward with the new, shared corporate identity from the start is important, as changes are easier to make when the merger is first announced rather than many months or even years afterward. Initial steps to accomplish this include:
Define a unified brand and marketing strategy that highlights the benefits of coming together.
Do your due diligence and take inventory of what communication and messaging assets exist across institutions. Be prepared to answer the question: how will the newly merged entity better help our patients, their families, and our staff?
Ensure that digital content, website(s), and materials between the two entities are aligned from the start.
Plan for the appropriate, unified constituent outreach, starting with internal stakeholders, such as your Board and staff, and then including external stakeholders like major donors, grateful patients, and third-party event leaders.
Prioritizing communications and refining the message to your audience is imperative, but remember, one message does not fit all. Internal audiences will want to know more about the structure and mechanics of the merger, but it is best to keep these communications at a high level. With external audiences, focus on the benefits of the merger to patients, their families, physicians, and staff.
Define Leadership Structure & Clarify Roles
Merging leadership to form a single operation can be tricky and difficult, especially when the leaders and staff of each institution are popular among their constituents and donors. However, trying to preserve separate cultures across entities can leave a team vulnerable to a fragmented and disorganized environment.
Creating a single combined organizational structure to support the new institution is essential to success. Clear decisions about leadership and staff structure allow merged teams to understand their respective roles and to work collaboratively as their institutions come together. Institutional leadership should be clearly defined at the top and designed to be collaborative, not competitive. Remember, everyone is on the same team now. The new organization chart should encourage teamwork and communication. Additional considerations for establishing a healthy, unified team include:
Begin the alignment of operations, policies, Board responsibilities, donor societies, etc. as soon as possible to prevent any imbalances between the two organizations. Clever philanthropic leaders will take advantage of the impending merger to revise outdated policies, transition ineffective leaders and volunteers, eliminate inefficient legacy projects, and create new philanthropic initiatives.
In one case study, CCS worked with a health system in Boston following a community hospital acquisition to slowly dissolve the hospital foundation Board and integrate key Board members into the main foundation Board of Trustees for the entire system. To maintain local trust and a smooth transition, the system updated its foundation Board bylaws to require a specific number of representatives to sit on the local hospital Board. This revision also generated greater connectedness and philanthropic opportunity at the local level.
Prioritize performance metrics and volunteer committee operations in the newly established structure to ensure expectation setting, continued growth, and professional development. Leadership should continuously measure success and be open to needed changes throughout the first year.
In another case study, CCS worked with an academic healthcare institution in the Central U.S. region to support the merging of two separate development teams into one. Three key questions asked early on to inform the appropriate transition timing and approach included: What staffing structure do we need to support a unified effort?; Does the team have the necessary tools for success?; Do we have the right talent?
Engage Top Donors in the Process
Having previously made significant investments in the merging organizations, top donors will appreciate getting information in advance of any public announcements. Let the donor pyramid guide the sequencing of your communications – start with top donors first!
To ensure better coordination of top donors, the integration of (or collaboration between) the two institutional database systems is important to implement as soon as possible. Have a plan to reach out to key stakeholders as the merger is being announced and provide periodic updates afterward. Create a schedule for periodic communication but be careful not to over-communicate. Drawing constant attention to the merger may make it appear that difficulties exist. Periodic updates are welcome and assure donors that the process is going smoothly. Finally, the merger may present an opportunity to engage your top donors in a new way.
In another case study, CCS worked with a health system in New Jersey following the acquisition of a community hospital to help local hospital leaders inspire local donors to think bigger about their impact at the system level. In addition to supporting their community hospital directly, donors learned how their gift could have an elevated impact across the system.
Anticipate Pitfalls
Moving too quickly or too slowly can cause challenges. Rushing the merger of philanthropic efforts can cause confusion and frustration among donors and staff alike. Waiting too long can cause the entrenchment of leaders, the continuation of inefficient foundation workflows, the duplication of efforts, and help to perpetuate separate philanthropic cultures within the merging institutions. What’s the right speed? Of course, it depends on the size and scale of the organizations. That said, CCS offers the following sequence and general practice for consideration:
Time Period
Considerations
Pre-Merger
– Communicate with internal stakeholders – Audit each foundation’s strengths and opportunities – Create branding and marketing materials
Early Merger
– Integrate the database – Align foundation and Board policies – Create new organizational structure with clear and collaborative responsibilities – Prioritize communications with external stakeholders
Mid-Merger
– Consider sharing services for efficiency and enhanced coordination (gift processing, communications, human resources, planned giving, annual fund appeals, etc.)
CCS has experience helping healthcare organizations navigate mergers and acquisitions and a host of other challenges. If you are undergoing a merger or acquisition, email us to discuss how to apply the concepts in this article to your individual case.
Woven into CCS’s mission is our commitment to foster transformational change. We strive to ensure that our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion is reflected in the organizations and communities with which we partner. Most importantly, we are devoted to ensuring our approach and work is grounded in the realities and unique capacities of our partners. We therefore aim to share our learnings from primarily Hispanic parishes across the U.S. to elevate fundraising and operations as it pertains to sustaining the faith across these communities.
Hispanics make up a growing portion of practicing Catholics in the United States. Scott Whitaker, Director of Stewardship & Development at the Diocese of Austin, shared that in the Diocese of Austin, more and more young brothers and sisters of Hispanic origin are involved in the church and make up the vast majority of Catholics under 18 years old. As Scott expressed: “Hispanic families believe in community, gathering, and being with each other. They love their faith and have rich traditions and cultures that they bring to the church.” There are several ways parish and diocesan leaders can strive to ensure stability and growth in fundraising and stewardship at Hispanic parishes.
Recognize the deep and diverse history within each parish.
Beyond recognizing the need to engage Hispanic communities and tailor our approach to these parishes, CCS Executive Director José Rodriguez notes the diversity within the Hispanic community itself: “Hispanic parishes are very diverse. Hispanics come from a variety of countries with distinct histories and cultures. In addition, within a certain national cultural identity, communities from distinct regions can differ greatly in their ways of living, speaking, and approaching their environment.” Catherine V. Fraser, Interim Chief Development Officer at the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, also calls out the diversity of experiences in Hispanic communities: “Parishioners may have distinct cultural experiences depending on their country of origin and their immigration experience. They may have arrived in the United States fleeing civil war and genocide, or they may have come for more economic opportunity. They may have deep ties to their former homes, or they may have lost those connections. What unites the Hispanic communities is their commitment to the parish and their devotion to their faith.”
Importantly, the distribution of immigration is often community-driven, creating different Hispanic communities in different places. As Catherine highlights, “Some parishes have people from South America, others from Central American countries, like Honduras or El Salvador. Many are from Mexico, but even within Mexico, we see deep diversity of experience.” Thus, it is important to take into consideration the varied cultural and language traditions of different Hispanic communities when developing programs and communications.
Let donors guide their own giving decisions.
According to a study done at Stanford, Hispanic Americans are experiencing greater income development than their previous generations. However, when first approaching a Hispanic parish, a phrase that José heard many times is “everyone here is poor.” In fact, through her many years of experience fundraising for the Catholic Church, Gaby Nuñez, Vice President at CCS, learned that it is detrimental to a church’s own financial wellness to make such assumptions, because it reduces the likelihood to ask for charitable support.
Engage volunteers and community knowledge to ensure families are stewarded at the right level.
Among predominantly Hispanic parishes, there is a significant amount of cash giving. This means that fundraisers cannot necessarily rely on giving records. As Gaby puts it: “It’s important to take the time to review and engage leading parishioners and pastors about who should be approached and what giving request levels are appropriate. On more than one occasion, after assigning a request level based on limited previous giving history for a donor, a volunteer leader advised the team to put forth a larger request, which turned out to be successful.”
Stay digitally connected, regardless of location, demographic, and circumstance.
Likewise, with 24 years of experience working with the Catholic Church, Martin Camacho, Corporate Vice President at CCS, highlights the importance of staying digitally connected even at small community parishes. In his experience in rural Texas during the initial phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was first thought that the parishioners would not have easy access to the internet and that the parish would not be able to complete its campaign using virtual methods. However, these assumptions were quickly dismantled, as Martin shares, “It was remarkable how parishioners invested in fundraising. I don’t recall a single person not being able to join online meetings. One woman was helped by her young grandchildren to get her on Zoom; we could see the children peeking from over her shoulder. In the same way that Hispanic communities can gather three or more generations at Mass, parishioners made fundraising a family affair, and it was successful — they reached 300% of their goal.”
Establish deep relationships between pastor and parishioner.
While Hispanic parishes developed innovative ways to use technology and stay connected through online gatherings, drive-through events, and more, it is important to acknowledge that these communities, along with other communities of color, were disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Scott Whitaker observed that Hispanic communities in the Diocese of Austin experienced higher rates of virus transmission and loss of employment. Parishes also saw a greater decline in offertory and longer, sometimes still ongoing, recovery of the financial loss. In these contexts, Martin and Gaby both observe that parishes where pastors knew churchgoers on a personal level were able to reach out to parishioners and express pastoral care, thus enriching a sense of community. “This is not new, we’ve known about this for years, but the pastor is absolutely critical. If you have a pastor that embraces the Hispanic culture and is able to inspire them, all we can do to work with these pastors directly and help them grow is absolutely key,” said Scott.
Looking forward, as the Hispanic Catholic community continues to grow, it will be important for pastoral leaders, staff, and volunteers to recognize the particular context of each community, focus on gathering data to optimize communications, and adjust fundraising and programmatic strategies to the needs of the parish. Given the growing Hispanic population coupled with the threat of disengaged participation, “We need to understand the needs better and ensure that our parishes are engaging Hispanic communities with effective ministerial outreach,” concludes Catherine, “We also must recognize this need is urgent.”
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