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Oftentimes, nonprofits seek to resolve their database issues by buying a new CRM (customer relationship management) software subscription. Not all CRM problems are technical in nature, however, and the human element of data systems shouldn’t be ignored.

Before changing your donor database, carefully consider the problems your organization is attempting to solve and whether a new system is needed to remedy them. These five considerations can help your organization get to the root of its CRM issues and understand what it needs from the software.

1. Goals and objectives

Choosing the “right” CRM depends on knowing your organization’s needs. Your CRM selection is analogous to choosing a car—the required seats, gas mileage, horsepower, cargo size, and towing capacity depend on how you intend to use the vehicle.

Any database’s primary objective is to store and retrieve information. Before embarking on a crusade to switch your CRM, consider:

  • What information does our organization need to store and retrieve to meet its objectives?
  • Which departments and people currently input and maintain this information within our database?
  • Which departments and people currently retrieve information from the database, and how?
  • When and how does our organization use this data to meet objectives?

2. Training issues

Your CRM software could be the equivalent of a high-powered sports car, fully loaded with all the bells and whistles, but your staff may lack a license to drive.

Before investing thousands of dollars into a new CRM, first determine if your institution has committed to and invested in ensuring that staff members can complete accurate and timely data entry. To assist with data entry training, be sure to create an established process and procedure for defining terms and using information for organization-wide and team-specific reporting. Finally, have a plan for ongoing data management, onboarding, and training for fundraising teams. Think through the plan for training users to obtain data and reports and have proactive working relationships with Advancement Services for additional support.

3. Data source complexity

Nonprofits can have complex, multi-layered operations that use several software systems and flows of information. For instance, in healthcare, fundraising departments receive data from clinical software systems and other third-party sources.

When choosing a CRM, consider its ease of fit with your current infrastructure and workflows. How many additional steps are required to make these systems work together? What are the demands on staff time to migrate data from one system to another? For example, multiple payment processing systems may require staff to complete various intermediate validation steps to reconcile donor information, which slows down reporting efforts. Is the additional staff time or resourcing required worthwhile for the CRM under consideration?

4. Organizational siloes

In an ideal world, all users of a CRM have a common understanding of the terms used throughout the database. In the real world, terms have different meanings depending on the user.

As you consider a CRM switch, investigate if all departments and users of your CRM are on the same page.  In the case of one of our clients, fund code and account code were used interchangeably in conversations within Advancement Services, which caused confusion when they requested information from Finance. By discussing and creating a dictionary for database terms, the two departments operated more efficiently.

5. Data integrity

Bad data in means bad data out. This is the rule of thumb for any information gathered, stored, and utilized for making reports and predictions.

Nonprofit organizations need processes and controls in place to determine what donor data or transactional data should be inserted into your system, by whom, when, and how. Creating processes for consistent, accurate, and timely data entry will help your organization identify revenue-generating activities and make the most of its fundraising and marketing efforts.

Is your organization considering how to build an effective fundraising data and reporting structure? CCS Fundraising can help. To learn more about our Systems services, contact Allison Willner, Vice President of Data Strategy, at systems@ccsfundraising.com.

More Insights

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Custom GPTs for Fundraising: A Nonprofit Guide

May 31, 2024

Learn about Custom Generative Pre-Trained Transformers (GPTs), their application in fundraising, and how you can harness their capabilities to streamline your fundraising efforts and forge deeper connections with donors.

Article

Optimize Major Gift Portfolios Using Predictive Modeling Scores

May 30, 2024

Major gift portfolios determine where relationship managers will spend their time and energy. So, how can nonprofits ensure they’re focusing on the right donors?

SEE ALL IN: Data Analytics, Systems, & Research

In the last year, human services organizations have experienced an increase in philanthropic giving as a result of donors’ heightened awareness of the pandemic’s economic consequences and racial inequities faced by marginalized communities. Human services organizations, thanks to the influx in giving, were able to transform their work seemingly overnight to heroically meet drastic increases in demand for their support.

As organizations continue to deploy fundraising windfalls to meet ongoing heightened demand, many are revisiting their strategic plans with the goal of leveraging surplus funding to center the voices of their clients and more deeply address the root causes of the challenges facing their communities.

What We Are Seeing

Contributions to the human services sector compromised 14% of all donations received by U.S. charities in 2020. According to the recently released Giving USA 2021 report, giving to human services organizations grew 9.7% in 2020, totaling $65.14 billion.[1] Adjusted for inflation, sector giving grew by 8.4% between 2019 and 2020. Contributions to human services in 2020 totaled the highest inflation-adjusted amount recorded to date. Not only are more people giving, but they are sustaining or increasing their level of support. A Fidelity Charitable survey found that 9 out of 10 donors maintained or increased their giving because of COVID-19, with 46% of respondents giving notably more than before.[2]

We have also witnessed an influx of leading philanthropists making transformational gifts within the human services sector. According to a recent study by Bank of America and the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, nearly 90% of affluent Americans gave to charity in 2020.[3] Human services organizations were a focus of MacKenzie Scott’s $5.7 billion in giving in 2020, including 42 food banks and 30 Meals on Wheels programs.[4] Jeff Bezos made a $100 million gift to Feeding America, the nation’s largest hunger relief organization, in addition to considerable philanthropy throughout the human services sector and beyond.[5] Charles and Helen Schwab and Joe Gebbia gave generous gifts to support people experiencing homelessness, with homelessness being the top cause among their total 2020 contributions of $65 million and $27 million, respectively.[6] These mega-gifts, alongside many others, demonstrate that donors recognize the critical role human services organizations have had in supporting our most vulnerable populations throughout the pandemic.

Deploying Funds to Meet the Need and to Invest in the Future

The increase in philanthropic support provides a historic opportunity for organizations to strategically expand their vision and means of achieving their mission. What was once a moonshot idea may now be within reach because of unrestricted philanthropic support. Across the sector, organizations are deploying their funds in three overarching ways.

1) Immediate Need

At the peak of the pandemic, the World Bank projected that global extreme poverty (living on less than $1.90 a day) would rise for the first time in over 20 years.[7] And as communities were reeling from the repercussions of the pandemic, human services organizations had to completely restructure their operations to meet safety measures whilst finding a way to significantly increase their outputs.

Increased levels of philanthropic support enabled organizations to create innovative solutions to meet the immediate and incredible needs of their communities. We have seen food banks across the nation feed millions more neighbors through first-of-its-kind drive-through distribution sites of prepackaged food. Partner organizations such as the Salvation Army were able to strengthen their efforts to break cycles of generational poverty by providing extraordinary utility assistance and access to shelter. The job of a human services organization is never complete, but as the pandemic created a heightened need, increases in philanthropic giving have been vital to providing critical services.

2) Sustainability

Human services organizations are often hyper-focused on the issue at hand, and for good reason! However, an increase in philanthropic support has enabled organizations to think strategically around investing for long-term success.

The influx of cash that many human services organizations have received enables them to ensure the longevity of their work through the creation of an endowment fund and reserves. Whether through the creation of a general endowment fund, endowing a specific need such as technology, or creating or expanding a “rainy day” fund, organizations can now apply surplus funding to sustain client services.

Organizations have also invested in their staff. Through the addition of a new development team member or impact officer, nonprofits can focus on retaining new donors and have the means to sustain their mission. Nonprofits in the human services sector now have a greater ability to ensure their work continues well into the future.

3) Catalyst Investments

Some human services organizations that now have the funds to address immediate needs and build reserves are considering bold and visionary ideas. From expanding their scope of work to include wraparound services and/or advocacy, to streamlining processes to make services more readily available to their clients, human services organizations are exploring how they can make deeper inroads to addressing the root causes of their communities’ challenges. Additionally, many organizations are considering capital investments to achieve their work more effectively and efficiently and impact their community in a more meaningful way. An increase in philanthropy has allowed human services organizations to act on ideas they had previously dreamed about but did not have funding to realize.

Centering the Voices of Those You Serve

As human services organizations strategize the most impactful way to deploy surpluses from fundraising windfalls, they are uniquely positioned to double down on efforts that empower the most vulnerable populations in their communities. This comes during a time when donors are asking, “How are you helping to solve the challenges facing the populations you serve?” Organizations are finding that amplifying the voices of their clients is a critical step to truly meeting the needs of their community and creating a deep and lasting impact. We are seeing human services organizations approach this work in three key ways:

Understanding the Challenges of Their Respective Communities

Human services organizations are keenly focused on solving biosocial problems that impact people from an extensive range of socio-economic backgrounds. Thus, the needs of different communities can vary widely and present distinct factors that will inform how service organizations can deliver the most effective services. Organizations are meeting with community leaders in their service areas to learn more about the people they serve: their unique needs, hurdles they face in accessing support, and measures that can be taken to overcome them.

Some nonprofits have taken this work a step further by targeting their outreach to the most vulnerable populations, recognizing that socio-economic challenges disproportionately impact specific segments of their communities. These conversations and listening sessions inform how nonprofits can tailor their strategic plans to ensure funds are deployed in a highly intentional and impactful way.

Questions to consider when seeking to understand the challenges faced by the communities you serve:

  • How can your organization engage in conversation to co-create solutions to issues facing your service areas?
  • How can your organization prioritize the needs of the most vulnerable in your planning and realization of your mission?

Creating and Expanding Partnerships

No one organization can address every issue facing its community. Through complementary partnership, nonprofits, governments, and corporations can together create an incredible network of support that leverages the brain trust and skills of experts from different facets of human services work.

We have seen nonprofits who work to reduce food insecurity partner with local healthcare providers to tackle multiple social determinants of health at once. Financial guidance nonprofits, career training teams, social workers, and hunger relief organizations have combined forces under one roof to provide a one-stop shop for individuals experiencing poverty. Partnering with other organizations allows for increased impact, more amenable services to those you are serving, and providing a space for innovative ideas to come alive.

Questions to consider when looking to create or expand partnerships:

  • What partnerships can be deepened or built to more deeply address the root causes of the challenges your clients are facing? 
  • How can partnerships create more accessible services for your clients?

Reassessing a Client’s Experience

The past year has placed much-needed emphasis on breaking down racial stereotypes to build inclusive and equitable access. At the heart of this reckoning is the need to honor the dignity of individuals who access support. Human services organizations are uniquely qualified to make progress on these priorities. One of the ways they are doing this is by assessing how clients experience their support. For some organizations, this has meant distributing fundraising surplus as grants to immigrant-led nonprofits to ensure the deployment of culturally relevant support and services. Other organizations that have a prominent seat at the figurative “table” – whether that be with a government, nonprofit alliance, or professional association – are creating an opportunity for immigrant and marginalized community leaders to ensure true representation. Respecting and creating agency for the people you serve fortifies relationships, increases trust, and deepens your mission and impact.

Questions to consider when exploring ways to create agency:

  • Where can your organization focus on equity versus efficiency?
  • What shifts can your organization make to be more amenable to the clients’ needs, in turn meeting them with dignity?

Final Thoughts

Increases in philanthropic support to human services organizations provide a historic opportunity for organizations to explore bold and visionary investments. With immediate operational needs and financial reserves addressed by spikes in fundraising, nonprofits should leverage their additional surplus to explore catalyst investments. Engage, partner, and empower the communities you serve to inform how your vision should be pursued and how impact can be measured. Donors trust your organizations to be the experts in your respective work. Your commitment to centering the voices of the communities you serve will instill further confidence and enthusiasm in those who support your mission.

[1] The Giving Institute, Giving USA 2021: The Annual Report on Philanthropy for the Year 2020

[2] Fidelity Charitable, “A Year Unlike Any Other: How Donors Plan to Approach Giving at 2020’s Year‐End”

[3] Bank of America, “Helping Your Neighbor: A Story of Generosity”

[4] The Chronicle of Philanthropy, “Jeff Bezos, MacKenzie Scott, and Michael Bloomberg Top List of America’s 50 Biggest Charity Donors” and Food Bank News, “42 Food Banks Prepare to Spend Mega Gifts from Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott”

[5] Feeding America, “Feeding America Responds To $100 Million Gift from Jeff Bezos In Support of Food Banks During COVID-19 Pandemic”

[6] The Chronicle of Philanthropy, “The Philanthropy 50”

[7] The World Bank, “COVID-19 to Add as Many as 150 Million Extreme Poor by 2021”

Throughout the past 18 months, the Catholic Church was challenged to respond to the realities of COVID-19 by adapting to a new way of communicating with constituents. A critical focus remains placed on continuing communication by leveraging available technology while maintaining or increasing our human empathy and connection.

Throughout the month of June, join CCS Fundraising and #iGiveCatholic for a three-part video series featuring engaging conversations with dioceses, parishes, and schools to hear firsthand how these organizations have navigated stewardship in a digital world.

Series Introduction

Tune in for a series introduction featuring Cory Howat, President of #iGiveCatholic and Executive Director of the Catholic Community Foundation of the Archdiocese of New Orleans, and Brad Patterson, Senior Vice President at CCS Fundraising.

First Episode

Episode One of Perspectives on Stewardship in a Digital World is live! Tune in for a fun, brief, and informative discussion about Catholic stewardship in a digital world, featuring Julie Kenny from #iGiveCatholic. Thanks to our hosts, Cory J. Howat from #iGiveCatholic and Brad Patterson from CCS Fundraising!

Second Episode

Throughout 2020, the Catholic Church was challenged to respond to the realities of COVID-19 by adapting to a new way of communicating with constituents. Tune in to see how Amy Ponson, Executive Director at The Catholic Foundation of South Louisiana, navigated 2020 and 2021. Thanks to Cory J. Howat from #iGiveCatholic and Brad Patterson from CCS Fundraising, our series hosts!

Third Episode

Join us for our final episode of Stewardship in a Digital World, a video series on Catholic fundraising strategy! This episode features Rick Carrico, Development Director St. Leo Catholic Church. Thanks to Cory J. Howat from #iGiveCatholic and Brad Patterson from CCS for hosting this special series!

The recent headlines surrounding an increased focus on reducing the cost of higher education through the Biden Administration’s American Families Plan, along with the launch of the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF), have spiked curiosity among institutional leaders on how this could affect their overall fundraising strategy and donor messaging.

Private philanthropy is, and will remain, a crucial component of higher education institutions’ funding mix as it helps ensure overall access, excellence, sustainability, and growth. Philanthropy has historically complemented and accelerated government funding, allowing institutions to focus private dollars on ensuring student success through investment in programs, buildings, and people to help build the workforce of the future.

For years, private philanthropy has decreased barriers to educational access through scholarship support. Philanthropy, however, is so much more than scholarship dollars; it is a pipeline to innovation that allows institutions to implement bold new approaches that accelerate contributions to the social, technological, and economic growth of their communities. This steady revenue stream into scholarships, buildings, programs, and people allows institutions to fulfill their mission, regardless of what state and federal funding provide. And to be sure, these amounts fluctuate so while it might appear that the system is flush today, tomorrow might present a dramatically different view.

The foundation of successful fundraising is still based on the trusting, authentic, and respectful relationships you build with your board, your community, and your donors. Below are some high-level insights and key messages to consider when conveying the gap in funding and the continued need for private philanthropic support.

1. Unmet student need is greater than just the cost of tuition.

The total cost of attending college today goes far beyond yearly tuition. In addition to the cost of classes, students must factor in textbooks and school supplies, housing, food, transportation, and personal expenses. Students working full or part-time jobs in addition to attending school also have to calculate the benefits and trade-offs of earning an income to meet their financial needs while earning a degree or certificate to pursue the career of their choice.

The headline benefit of many public and government funding proposals is free or subsidized tuition, seemingly removing the need for student scholarships at two and four-year institutions. Advancement offices will be well-served to remind donors that philanthropy amplifies the work that government funders hope to accomplish by addressing the wraparound support that students need to be successful inside and outside the classroom.

It is important to acknowledge that a student’s timeline to completion can vastly vary, as many are balancing work, a family, and other personal responsibilities. Since institutions know their students’ needs best, scholarship dollars can be redirected to the most vulnerable community members or those who fall outside of public funding parameters, such as community college students enrolled in workforce training programs. In many cases, unmet need will still be a major challenge facing college students even with free or reduced tuition.

For one CCS higher education partner, the cost of tuition is a fraction of the total cost analysis facing the 60,000+ student body at the community college. Innovative scholarship funds and programs have been developed in recent years to creatively lower students’ financial burdens and are growing rapidly as donors see that need and impact clearly align with helping students achieve their academic goals. While having government funding absorb tuition fees would be a significant benefit to the students, transferring savings to another financial priority still doesn’t resolve the average unmet need of over $9,200 annually.

2. Share with donors the need to innovate and implement bold new strategies that will directly impact students.

Regardless of whether scholarship dollars are going to be as essential to future students as they have been to current and past students, the need to provide funding to stay up to date on emerging programming, technologies, and resources will remain crucial to ensure students are career ready and employable. Consider what the in-demand industries are in your region and what programs your institution has in place that directly funnel graduating students into these key industries. Are there programs that can and should be enhanced to better prepare graduating students for newly emerging industries? Continue to remind the donor about the role your institution plays in your community’s economic growth and share the success stories of your students.

3. Keep student stories front and center.

People connect with stories, and donors are no exception. We also know that people give to people. With every opportunity you have to get in front of a donor, whether that be announcing a new program, providing impact updates, or simply saying thank you, the act of including an individual student’s journey at your institution brings an irreplaceable human element to your work. Encourage students to go beyond the standard background information and share the hopes and dreams that lie ahead for them! Everyone loves to feel inspired by the next generation and the work your institution is doing to make their big dreams a reality.

4. Philanthropy can ensure long-term security of institutions.

Federal and state dollars fluctuate every year, usually with strict policies or timelines in place for specific spending requirements. Private philanthropy ensures flexibility and consistent resources are available well after federal dollars are spent. In light of this, consider the following forward-thinking opportunities:

  • Grow Your Endowment: Building your endowment by asking donors to leave a legacy that will allow for your institution to carry out your mission for current and future generations is a strong ask. By focusing on endowed gifts, you will show the community that you are thinking long-term and building an annual stream of income that can support the institution, its programs, and its students in perpetuity. The strength of your endowment also shows the financial health of your institution. The larger your endowment, the stronger you will be perceived as an institution.
  • Meet the Unexpected Needs of Students: As we experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, new student obstacles emerged, and philanthropy created opportunities to solve those challenges. The higher education landscape is fluid, and the economy and other external influences change the arc of stories all the time. Through the flexibility and immediacy provided through private philanthropic dollars, emerging student needs can be addressed quickly and on an ad hoc basis. Private dollars allow institutions to put the student first, which ensures a stronger opportunity for successful outcomes.

Philanthropy is here to stay. While ambitious public funding proposals to support higher education institutions evolve over the coming months, we must all remain focused on cultivating the private funding sources that will sustain our work. We must continue to meet students’ needs and help them achieve their goals.

At the same time, being proactive and flexible with your messaging is necessary. The heightened focus on student support through greater public resources puts higher education institutions in a positive spotlight but also requires institutions to be thoughtful about communicating the value of scholarship support and private support for higher education needs more broadly. Communicating the well-known value proposition of your institution’s mission will ensure its future long after public dollars are spent.

One year ago, CCS purposefully affirmed our commitment to racial justice and our efforts to foster a more inclusive and equitable world. The senseless killings of George Floyd and countless other Black lives ignited the desire to firmly stand in solidarity with our colleagues and communities of color. Systemic racism and discrimination have no place in our society. We actively condemn violence and aggression directed at anyone based on their race, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, disability, or gender.

Today, CCS remains dedicated and steadfast in pushing this commitment forward. While there are no words to describe the anguish and frustration as these injustices persist, CCS continues the work to create change both within the firm and beyond. We are a firm comprised of passionate, mission-driven people dedicated to making the world a better place, and we recognized that this work needed to start from within.

An important first step in advancing our commitment was creating our DEI Mission Statement to establish CCS’s core values. Through inclusive and challenging conversations amongst leadership and staff, CCS developed our guiding principles to hold ourselves accountable for creating a respectful, inclusive, and equitable company culture for all employees. Leadership listened, adjusted, and committed to growth to stimulate this cultural change.

As a firm, we also acknowledged that we have much to learn on this journey and decided to partner with professional consultants with expertise in areas related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. We began our partnership with Nadia Jones of Culture Cipher, who led us through the development of firm-wide training and education, as well as guidance in the key early decisions on our DEI journey. CCS also partnered with Holistic to conduct interviews, small group conversations, and a firm-wide survey to understand key factors of job satisfaction, growth, and belonging. Additionally, Holistic underwent a deep analysis of our recruitment pipeline to help us understand opportunities for more inclusive practices from the moment a team member applies.

Resulting from these initial steps forward, CCS committed to taking specific, measurable actions in the areas of:

  • Fostering leadership training and growth through regular conversations and meetings to prioritize DEI as a principle interwoven throughout our operations.
    • CCS overhauled its governance structure with new Board of Directors made up of nearly 50% women.
    • This new Board of Directors will also include two new external independent Directors – with diverse candidates already identified and their onboarding imminent – prompted by the intention to bring about greater perspective and diversity to the firm’s governance.
    • All CCS Partners have engaged in a series of trainings on centralizing DEI to all aspects of our business, from recruitment to retention and how we serve our clients. Trainings will continue through the end of the calendar year and beyond.
  • Valuing inclusivity by encouraging the development of several internal outlets which offer a supportive and diverse network of voices for the CCS community.
    • The CCS DEI Working Group is comprised of 24 dedicated employees across all staff levels, geographies, and backgrounds. The group meets regularly to guide CCS’s work across three priority areas, including: internal enhancements, client services, and external engagement.
    • 44% of CCS staff are members of our Employee Resource Groups, which include the People of Color and Multicultural Network, Aspiring Allies, PRIDE at CCS, and Working Parents.
    • We have hosted a series of firm-wide safe space listening sessions, which provide employees with a forum for discussion and learning about sensitive topics.
    • In addition to our firm-wide efforts, we formed four regional DEI committees throughout the firm to explore key concepts, engage in honest talks, and continue our growth.
  • Strengthening recruitment strategies across new avenues of inclusive hiring and upholding the re-affirmed company values, making this a desirable working environment for potential employees of all backgrounds.
    • Through a concerted effort to change our demographics, 32% of new hires brought into the firm in 2021 identify as BIPOC.
    • CCS began the search to recruit a Vice President for DEI, who will lead, coordinate, and facilitate CCS’s efforts in DEI moving forward. Encouraging progress is underway with a diverse pool of candidates.
    • A series of anti-bias trainings has been tailored to all staff involved in recruiting.
  • Prioritizing professional development by ensuring equitable access to training, tools, and leadership opportunities that promote career growth.
    • CCS staff across all levels and tenures have been invited to participate in educational sessions on topics such as anti-racism and unconscious bias. These sessions offer opportunities to learn from speakers from an array of multicultural backgrounds. Over the past year, CCS has hosted 8 of these firm-wide sessions.
    • Increased mentorship and coaching by leadership is a priority to foster an inclusive and supportive work environment.
  • Creating a vibrant client community by developing tailored resources for underserved nonprofits and offering our services to those most in need.
    • Our DEI Working Group is currently piloting the launch of a free public resource library and expanding pro-bono service to benefit this community.
    • The group also implemented a regular set of DEI-focused planning standards for webinars, publications, and communications that reflect our values and those of the diverse client base we serve.

We have made important and necessary progress this past year, but we recognize this is an ongoing journey, and our work must persist.

We will continue to develop resources and assess our operational practices to foster advancement and a positive environment for all employees, regardless of race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, parental status, national origin, different abilities, age, veteran status, or other invisible traits. We know that as a firm, we are only as valuable as our people and that there is strength in diversity.

CCS commits to learn and grow through compassion, humility, and accountability as we partner with organizations across the nonprofit community and beyond.

Click the video below for our DEI Mission Statement from the CCS team. 

Developing a comprehensive prospect list bespoke to your organisation and aligned to your programmes is a critical part of enabling success.

Given the changing economic and social circumstances nationally and internationally, it may be necessary to revisit your prospect list to ensure that you are focusing resources and time on those relationships most likely to progress your goals.

Below are five tips to refresh your prospect list…

  1. Re-Visit your Case
    Before you can ascertain if you have the right prospects, it is important to consider your case in light of the evolving environment. Are there changes you need to make to the proposition to reflect recent months? Do current challenges strengthen your plans and if so, how? Conduct a SWOT analysis; take every case element and give thought to the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that may exist when considering the funding climate for each. In doing so you will be able to prioritise programmes that, in the short term, are more likely to resonate with potential donors.
  2. Develop a Robust Criteria
    List core selection factors for prospects to be included on your list, these may be;
  • Financial ability to support your goals
  • Past giving to your organisation
  • Demonstrated interest in the programme area
  • Track record of philanthropy
  • Relationship with the organisation

Then use this system to refine your prospect list and determine the prioritisation of engagement.

  1. Gather Information
    Your prospect list may have been developed a number of months ago but it is still worth taking some time to research new opportunities with the current climate in mind. Consider:
  • What sectors are more robust now? E.G. software, technology, pharmaceuticals, food retail
  • To whom does this programme matter? E.G. Alumni, corporations, employers, government
  • What similar programmes exist nationally and internationally and what sort of funders do they attract?
  1. Fact Check
    With the economic uncertainty, spend some time  learning how potential funders may have been impacted in recent months. Though there is no exact science, you can use share prices for the year to date or news articles to give a good indication of a company’s performance.
  2. Road-test
    Once you have a refreshed list,  circle back to internal leaders that may be able to help make connections and build relationships. Your main objective should be to secure (virtual) meetings so that you can share your plans and gain insights as a first step in cultivating prospects. Even if you have established relationships you can move them along by asking for calls to discuss amendments to programme prioritisation and renewed areas of focus.

Community is the backbone of society, the heartbeat of philanthropy, and the purpose behind many social and human service nonprofits. The COVID-19 pandemic transformed the way we think about interacting with people and pushed us to explore new horizons of digital communications. As we’ve shared in our recent article about virtual fundraising events, there are many benefits to virtual communication that we should consider retaining after social distancing restrictions are lifted.

In particular, virtual solicitations have been an excellent way to reach a breadth of donors who live far away, have limited ability for in-person meetings, prefer remote communications, or have busy schedules. As you continue with these digital discussions, we’ve put together the following guide to help you refresh your approach to scheduling and conducting virtual visits.

Selecting a Platform

We have learned a few key considerations during our time in a virtual world on selecting a platform. Some questions for your reflection include:

Do you need to reach donors that are geographically spread? If so, consider a Zoom call that requires simple dial or call-in options with a suitable schedule to accommodate time zones.

Is your target generation more interested in in-person meetings? Feel free to simply ask your donor if they have a preference.

Do you want to share something that is location-based? Is this a location that is easy to reach in person? Perhaps you want to show a new wing of your homeless shelter, but don’t want to disturb the individuals staying there. Simply taking a video of the empty space and sharing the video at the beginning of a call can showcase your work without interrupting the privacy of your beneficiaries.

Do you want to foster communication and connection between donors? Should the connection be one-on-one, or as a group? If you would like for donors to connect amongst themselves, consider an in-person event or an avatar-based platform like Event Farm. If you are facilitating one-on-one connection, breakout rooms on Zoom could be a useful tool if you choose to stay digital.

Scheduling a Virtual Solicitation

Scheduling a virtual visit is similar to scheduling an in-person visit. It is important not to discuss details of your visit agenda when scheduling. To avoid this, remind the person that you have some materials you want to share with them during your conversation.

Step One: We just went through a global pandemic, which was a difficult and isolating experience for many. Start off with a personal check-in and show empathy by saying something like:

“This is (your name) calling from (your organization). We are making an effort to reach out to folks right now to make sure they are feeling connected and see how you are doing during this phase of re-emergence. We’ve missed seeing you!”

Step Two: Make the pivot from small talk to business with a phrase like:

“Have you received our emails about updates to our volunteer and services policies, etc.?”

Step Three: After connecting on a personal level you can extend the invitation to have a virtual visit. Consider saying something such as:

“As you know, we are engaging in an initiative here at (your organization) to address some of our pressing needs and we believe (the project that you are working on) will be life-giving to our organization. We are committed to advancing this effort in a way that makes sense for the current circumstances we are facing as a community. I was wondering if you might be interested in having a conversation with me over video call about this initiative? It’s been a nice conversation to have with folks, particularly at this time when we are so focused on what’s next after the pandemic.”

After Scheduling

When prepping for the visit, consider the following.

Materials should be shared with prospects prior to the meeting. It is ideal to mail the prospect the materials, so they have a hard copy to look at with you during the visit. This is also an opportunity to send a gift, logo items, or other treats. If you are unable to mail materials, you can send a “PDF packet”’ via email and/or a link.

Send a follow-up email to the scheduled prospect to confirm the date and time and include the details to call into the meeting. For some people, this may be their first time participating in a video conference. Screenshots and step-by-step instructions are a helpful resource to provide. Create a backup call-in option in the event the video conference cannot be accessed.

Conducting the Virtual Solicitation

You can conduct a virtual visit the same way you would an in-person visit. Stick to key best practices:

Open with small talk before transitioning to the case.

Present the case. Be sure to focus on your mission, the story of your organization, and your current needs.

Introduce the request for support. You can do this by demonstrating the credibility of your fundraising ask and your enthusiasm for the support you’ve received thus far.

Make the ask by articulating a specific number. Feel free to share your screen and show them the gift table for illustrative purposes. Finally, pause to give them time to process the request.

Handle their response. Some potential reactions could include articulating understanding for their financial situation, expressing gratitude for their generosity, or explaining the methods of executing the donation.

Keep timing in mind. Build in time at the beginning of the meeting for technical issues and aim to keep the overall timeline for the visit to no more than an hour. Finally, schedule a time to follow up with the donor.

Success Stories

Social and human service nonprofits across the United States have developed innovative digital communications strategies, including cocktail hours for spread-out communities, video tours of new building construction, and one-on-one video meetings with individuals who have been hard to reach for years.

In particular, one human services nonprofit in the Intermountain West offers marginalized women employment, career guidance, and life skills. Despite not having a background in major individual giving, this organization has had tremendous success through entirely virtual briefing and solicitations. They are on track to achieve their benchmark goals and are 38% toward their campaign goal in one year. The key to their success was keeping the mission and vision of the organization at the forefront of every conversation. The CEO and Development Director tailored conversations with donors to the donor’s interests – for those who appreciate data and results, they focused on current outcomes and the return on investment the campaign would have in making a difference in the lives of women. For donors who are compelled by stories, the team highlights individual women served and shares the impact the organization has on each individual to help them gain self-sufficiency.

Another social services organization on the West Coast approached virtual solicitations differently. This organization offers a range of therapeutic services on a beautiful campus, where they held a drive-through carnival barbeque complete with prizes, dinner, a take-home swag bag, and a band. Children were able to shoot hoops with a take-home basketball and have a family picture all from their cars. Invitees included big-ticket buyers and sponsors for the event. The event also acted as a cultivation touchpoint before a virtual major gift ask, and thus offered a great conversation starter during the solicitation.

We hope that your organization finds similar success as you refresh your virtual meetings approach post-pandemic.

An Annual Fund is a mechanism for encouraging parents, past pupils and volunteers to make regular gifts to your school. This guide provides practical tips for establishing or growing your Annual Fund, including adaptions you may want to consider in light of COVID-19. It is particularly aimed at UK schools, but much of the content is relevant for international schools and other fundraising institutions.

For many schools, the Annual Fund can become the institution’s lifeblood; to enable them to attract and retain the best teachers, provide financial aid or scholarships, enhance IT systems and maintain and improve facilities.

A successful Annual Fund appeal is predicated on four fundraising elements:

  • Case
  • Leadership
  • Prospects
  • Plan

Each is integral to reaching — or even exceeding — your Annual Fund goal. Planning should take place before or during the summer months, so that come September, the infrastructure is in place to jump right in!

Case for Support

The Annual Fund case for support should provide a compelling rationale for how gifts and pledges will be used to offer your pupils the best possible education. CCS believes that a strong case includes data, images, and testimonials.

  • Data: Many donors appreciate the use of data to communicate how your school is earning and spending money. What are your school’s current sources of revenue and expenses? How much do you provide in financial aid or scholarships each year? What is the average gift to the Annual Fund and what percentage of families are participating? Presenting hard data supports the role of the Annual Fund in a clear and engaging way. Simple infographics can be particularly helpful at communicating data in an easy to understand manner.
  • Images: Pictures of pupils involved in projects or extracurricular programmes at school is a great way to visually support your case. Photographs should capture various aspects of student life to showcase all your school has to offer.
  • Testimonials: Personal testimonials from pupils, past pupils and parents underscore the impact that your school has on its community. Quotations should be incorporated into the case to provide a personal touch that will resonate with donors.

Once you have developed your draft case, test it with prospective supporters to ensure it has the desired impact. Achieve this by seeking feedback from a number of parents — ideally through one-on-one or small group meetings — and incorporating their ideas.

The case for support should be finalised during the summer, once all Annual Fund data from the previous academic year has been generated. This way your school will be equipped to share the case with potential donors at the onset of the upcoming academic year.

Leadership

A successful Annual Fund needs great leadership. CCS recommends that every Annual Fund effort involve volunteer leaders by having a chair, or multiple chairs, to work closely with the development office to spearhead the fundraising.

Annual Fund chairs are frequently current parents who are well-known and respected members of the school community, are committed to the school’s vision, and have the leadership skills and influence to ensure a high level of activity and momentum throughout the year. The chairs will serve as ambassadors of the Annual Fund. In essence, they are the face and voice of the appeal.

From CCS’s experience, working with chairs as you would manage hired staff is highly effective. We recommend establishing a clear role and plan, and providing training. People respond positively to a structured environment, and your volunteers will be no different. For example, the role description for a chair might include:

  • Endorsing the case for support for the Annual Fund
  • Being a visible and vocal advocate for your school and the Annual Fund
  • Attending and hosting cultivation events (see below)
  • Helping identify and approach potential donors
  • Making their own personal commitment to the Annual Fund

Ensuring the chair’s role is articulated from the outset, and providing them with the tools they need to be successful, will put your school in the best position to reach your targets.

Prospects

The majority of a school’s Annual Fund is typically comprised of gifts from current parents and Governors/Board members. Therefore, special emphasis should be placed on engaging with these constituencies at the beginning of the academic year (with preparation occurring over the summer). Events provide an effective platform to achieve this.

Depending on the current situation with COVID-19 restrictions, gatherings could be in-person or held virtually. Below are three ideas to kick off the year:

  • Welcome Back Breakfast or Online Social for Current Parents: This is an exciting opportunity to engage parents at the beginning of the year and showcase your school’s vibrant community. Current parents will reconnect and hear from key leadership such as the Head/Principal, senior management, and Annual Fund chairs.
  • Governors’/Board members’ Reception or Virtual Briefing for New Parents: Welcoming new parents is vital. This event is an important opportunity to harness new parents’ enthusiasm about the school and engage them in your culture of philanthropy. New parents will interact with Governors/Board members and one another as well as hear from key leadership.
  • Governor/Board-Hosted Gatherings: Major donors will need additional preparation to ensure that they experience meaningful interactions with school leadership before they are asked for support. Governor/Board-hosted gatherings are a great opportunity to discuss the school with top donors and highlight the impact of their of their financial investments on its future.

To decide on the best structure and format of events, as well as considering the current COVID restrictions, think about your own school’s community and culture. Will parents be able to get to the school for a breakfast meeting or is the location inconvenient? Are there times when groups of parents will already be visiting your school (for example, for a sports fixture) and could a cultivation event be aligned with these to make it easier for people to attend? Should past pupils, or other potential benefactors, also be involved in the gatherings?

When planning the delivery of events, consider proven fundraising principles. Ensure you:

  • Articulate the request for support verbally. Use gatherings to underscore the importance of philanthropy, highlight the impact of gifts and a clear and compelling ‘ask’. For each event, identify who would be best placed to deliver the request — for example, the Head/Principal, the Annual Fund Chair or a Governor/ Board member. (For prospective major donors, you may consider making a specific gift request through a one-to-one in-person meeting/videocall).
  • Provide direction on the gift levels needed to ensure success. Develop a simple ‘table of gifts’ that outlines the number and size of gifts that are required to reach your Annual Fund target. Use this table to share guidance on the scale of commitments that are required. For example, ‘to reach our target we require families to step forward and make gifts of £25, £50 and £100 per month. We are also seeking to identify five families who may consider making an extraordinary pledge of £250 per month.’
  • Share information packs that enable families to make an informed decision. During or after events, distribute ‘take-away’ packets that attendees can read in their own time. Include the case for support and guidance on the Annual Fund target, giving levels, and the date by which the school is hoping to receive a decision.
  • Ensure effective follow-up. For all events, the follow-up is as important as the gathering itself. Develop a plan for ensuring that all attendees are contacted — ideally by phone — shortly after the event to answer questions and to receive a timely decision. This could be achieved with the help of your Annual Fund Chair or other key volunteers.

Finally, remember to plan events well in advance and communicate the dates to parents with sufficient notice to help ensure families are able to attend. If you already have an established events programme, consider how gatherings can be used as opportunities to recognise and thank past donors, as well as cultivating prospective supporters.

Plan

Ensuring your school has a strong and well thought-out fundraising plan is vital to a successful Annual Fund. Spend your spring and summer developing a clear roadmap that enables you to track and drive activity effectively.

There are a number of tools that are helpful for keeping your Annual Fund fundraising on target. These include:

  1. Prospect tracking chart, or a donor pipeline, which helps you prioritise the families that you are asking for support, ensuring that your school is spending time and energy building relationships with parents who are more likely to make a substantial gift.
  2. Progress report, which is typically a one-two page document that captures the recent gifts and underscores the priorities and immediate next steps. When used effectively, this tool helps fundraisers get school leadership and key volunteers behind the Annual Fund efforts and flag any challenges early to ensure corrective action can be taken.
  3. Timeline with milestones, which enables you to track progress against your plan. Importantly, the timeline can also help fundraisers to drive decisions and encourage families to confirm their commitments before specific dates.
  4. A GDPR-compliant database to store your donor records and donations, including a way to track opt-ins for fundraising communications, store Gift Aid forms, capture conversations with potential donors and run different reports to pull out the data you need to analyse your Annual Fund progress.

If you are already securing significant funding from parents and Governors/Board members for your Annual Fund, consider expanding your plan to involve past pupils as well — including targeted events, a tailored case for support, and recruiting alumni as Annual Fund chairs.

Remember, effective Annual Fund plans include any necessary preparation and follow up. You want to leave your donors feeling proud to have made a gift to your school and inspired to make one again.

Having a clear and compelling case, leadership involvement, an engaged pool of prospective donors, and a comprehensive plan are key elements for a successful Annual Fund. With these tools, your school’s Annual Fund is poised for success!

If you are interested in learning more about how to prepare your School for next academic year’s Annual Fund then please feel free to contact us directly.

The Biden Administration has begun to move in earnest to draft and pass new tax legislation that could dramatically affect the giving landscape in America. Though we do not expect new legislation to pass until the fall, it is important for fundraisers to pay attention to the proposals. Biden’s proposed changes may affect how your donors plan their charitable giving. This article provides an overview of the potential implications of tax reform on charitable giving, along with guidance for fundraisers looking to discuss these matters with their donors.

How Proposed Tax Policy Changes May Affect Donations to Nonprofits

Click here to download a PDF version of this article and an extended briefing on specific tax proposals to watch.

The tax policy proposals contained in President Joe Biden’s American Families Plan and Made in America Tax Plan, along with Senator Bernie Sanders’ proposed For the 99.5% Act, have made headlines in recent weeks. There isn’t one quick answer for how these tax proposals will affect donations to nonprofits.

On one hand, higher taxes lead to less cash on hand to donate. The Biden Administration’s proposals would raise income and capital gains taxes on American taxpayers making more than $400,000 per year.

On the other hand, the incentive to give increases as tax rates rise. When tax rates go up, charitable giving becomes more attractive since it often allows donors to reduce the amount of taxes they will pay. The illustration below demonstrates how charitable giving becomes more tax-efficient or “cheaper” for wealthy donors after an income tax increase.

Table showing that incentives for charitable giving increase when tax rates go up. For example, if Jane is in the top tax bracket, donates $100,000 to charity, and claims a tax deduction, that gift will "cost" less to Jane under a higher tax rate. Under a 37% tax rate, she saves $37,000 in taxes if she deducts her $100,000 charitable gift. Thus the actual cost of the $100,000 gift to Jane is $63,000. Under a 39.6% income tax rate, she saves $39,600 in taxes with the $100,000 deduction and the gift costs $60,400.

Complicating this is the fact that during his 2020 presidential campaign, President Biden expressed support for limiting charitable deductions such that taxpayers making more than $400,000 per year could only deduct to a rate of 28% (as opposed to 39.6%). This would mean that in the example above, Jane could only save $28,000 in taxes rather than $39,600.

However, the 28-percent-cap provision did not appear in the White House’s American Families Plan released in April 2021. Amid uncertainty as to whether this 28-percent-cap could show up in future legislation, Dan Cardinali, CEO of Independent Sector, stated that the national coalition of charities and foundations “will continue to urge policymakers to exclude the charitable deduction from any future efforts to introduce caps on itemized deductions.”

In addition, the estate tax changes proposed in Senator Sanders’ For the 99.5% Act would make more estates eligible to be taxed and increase estate tax rates. These measures might encourage donors to give by bequest or deploy other gift planning vehicles to avoid paying new estate taxes.

How Big of an Influence Does Tax Policy Have on Giving?

Tax savings are more of an incentive than a motivator for charitable giving. Individuals give to charity for complex and unique reasons. Decades of academic studies and historical tax data show that donors respond to incentives like the ability to itemize charitable deductions.[1] Yet research also suggests that donors are primarily motivated to give by an organization’s mission and impact.

CCS has interviewed thousands of donors in feasibility studies since 2011. In more than 20,000 of these interviews, CCS asked about the donor’s overall motivations for donating to charity. Donors most frequently cited that they are motivated by the impact of their gift and by a belief in helping others. Receiving an income tax deduction was the least frequently cited motivator for giving.

Similarly, the U.S. Trust Study of High Net Worth Philanthropy found that among wealthy donors, tax benefits ranked tenth on a list of 15 factors for making charitable decisions. Only 17% of donors said they always consider tax benefits when making charitable decisions.


Going forward, it will be interesting to see how individual giving rates are influenced by the universal charitable deduction of $300 available to all taxpayers in 2020 and 2021 as a result of the CARES Act. For now, we know that tax incentives do influence a sizeable portion of donors, but that they are far from the most common motivator for charitable giving.

Some sectors and gift types are more likely to experience volatility with the shifting tax landscape. Dr. Russell James III, a Texas Tech University Professor, found cash gifts to education are two times more responsive to tax price compared to cash gifts to religion. In addition, gifts of stocks are ten times more responsive to tax price than cash gifts to education.

Donor Relations Amid the Uncertainty

Many professional advisors estimate that Congress will finalize tax reform legislation this fall. In preparation for the proposed changes to the tax code, nonprofits can and should begin talking with donors about how the changes affect donors’ considerations for making a gift.

In a climate of uncertainty around tax policy changes, we advise fundraising professionals to:

  1. Read. Tax changes will be well covered by the media. Stay apprised of policy news via nonprofit-focused organizations like the Chronicle of Philanthropy, Independent Sector, and National Council of Nonprofits; national newspapers; and tax policy think tanks.
  2. Consider building a relationship with professional advisors to help with more complex giving situations. Nonprofit professionals do not need to be tax or legal experts, and in fact, cannot offer direction on either topic. By working with professional advisors like estate attorneys and financial planners, fundraisers can develop a high-level understanding and equip themselves with the vocabulary to recognize and suggest ideas that the donor might bring to their own tax and estate attorneys.
  3. Educate donors on gift planning vehicles. What assets and which vehicles to use to make a gift matter. Think beyond cash gifts to assets like stocks, real estate, business interests, or giving vehicles such as charitable trusts, annuities, and bequests. You can help a donor save enormous sums of money by pointing them to the correct combinations.
  4. Always keep your mission front and center. Tax incentives influence donors’ giving plans and can drive urgency and action when policy changes are on the horizon. Still, it is important to keep in mind that donors give for many interconnected reasons and tax benefits are often not their primary motivator. Center the giving conversation on the difference that the donor’s gift will make to your mission.

Click here to download a PDF version of this article and an extended briefing on specific tax proposals to watch.

Notes

[1] For historical information on tax incentives’ influence on charitable giving, see these resources recommended by the Giving USA Foundation: Charles Clotfelter, Federal Tax Policy and Charitable Giving, University of Chicago Press, 1985; Charles Clotfelter, “The Impact of Tax Reform on Charitable Giving: A 1989 Perspective,” National Bureau of Economic Research Working Papers, 3273, https://ideas.repec.org/p/nbr/nberwo/3273.html; John Peloza and Piers Steel, “The price elasticities of charitable contributions: a meta-analysis,” Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 2005, 24(2), 260-272; Gerald E. Auten, Holger Sieg, and Charles T. Clotfelter, “Charitable Giving, income, and taxes: An analysis of panel data,” The American Economic Review, 2002, 92(1), 371-382; Richard Steinberg, “Taxes and giving: New findings,” Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 1990, 1(2), 61-79; Christoper Duquette, Is charitable giving by nonitemizers responsive to tax incentives? New evidence,” National Tax Journal, 1999, 195-206; Nicholas Duquette, “Do tax incentives affect charitable contributions? Evidence from public charities’ reported revenues. Journal of public economics, 2016, 137, 51-69.

Sources

We are grateful to the following sources used to inform this article and the accompanying briefing.

This piece has been prepared for informational purposes only and is not to be construed as tax advice. Individuals should consult their accountant or tax advisor with regard to such matters.