Developing a Culture of Philanthropy

8/14/2019 Developing a Culture of Philanthropy

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Developing a Culture of

Philanthropy


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Exercise: What if.

I gave you $1,000 to give to any non-profitorganization of your choice (excluding

CFPC).

Take two minutes to decide and write

down your choice on a post it note.


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What if

Why did you pick what you did?


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What if

What are some other reasons people

decide to give to a particular

organization?


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What if

How did you first learn of the organization you

chose?

What interactions/communication have youhad with the organization?


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What if

Have you ever directly been asked for a donation

by this organization?


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What if

As you anticipate informing the organization

about the gift, how do you imagine they will

respond to your gift? What do you expect in recognition of your gift?


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Now, imagine

A few days later, you got a phone call from a

Board member or the ED thanking you for your

support which led to a conversation about what

most interests you in the organization why you

chose to give to them.


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Now, imagine

The following week, the development staff called

to ask how you would like your name to be listed

in the annual report, and asked if they could sendyou occasional email updates.


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Now, imagine

Several months after your gift, you were asked to

join a committee/task force/focus group to give

your input on an issue the organization addresses.


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Now, imagine

A few months later, the director of the area of the

organization you are most interested in sends you

a personal email to let you know they just made amajor breakthrough in their work and thanks you

again for helping to make it happen.


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Now, imagine

Two days later you pick up the local newspaper

and read a wonderful article highlighting theprogram/organization you gave your donation to.


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Now, imagine

A year after your gift, you were invited to an

event at the organization. Do you go?


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What is Fund Development?

The mission of fund development is to secure

donors, not donations. Its about loyalty and

commitment. Fund raising is not merely about raising

money. The inspired fund raiser understands

their job is to foster greater generosity andgratitude in the world.


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Development is simply the building of value-

based relationships between prospective donors

and organizations. Fund raising is a vehicle for

donors to act on these values, bringing joy to

themselves and others.

Your ability to successfully fund raise is

directly related to your capacity to support and

sustain these relationships.


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Fund development is a key competency and adisciplined, well-managed process that follows acircular cycle of:

making the case; identifying likely donors;

cultivating those donors;

making a request for funds; and

recognizing the donors


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To be successful, this ongoing process involves theentire staff and creates a development culture thatrespects and values existing donors and thoughtfullyand persistently attracts new contributors.


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What is a Culture ofPhilanthropy?

A culture of philanthropy is an attitude that

embraces relationship building. Once you build a

community of believers, the money will follow. To be truly successful and effective, you must

develop a culture of philanthropy.

Wh t i C lt f


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What is a Culture ofPhilanthropy?

The development staff works with employees

across the organization, encouraging them to

consider themselves institutional ambassadors

who demonstrate their respect for donors and

recognize that they owe donors evidence of

good stewardship.


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What Does it Look Like?

Employees at these organizations consider

fundraising an opportunity to spread their

mission, not an issue of asking for money.

Everyone can articulate a case for giving and

how a gift will be used.

Everyone can answer basic questions about theorganization.

O i ti L ki C lt


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Organizations Lacking a Cultureof Philanthropy

Fundraising may be crisis-driven or reactive: chasing

money, rather than following a predetermined plan.

Development activities are viewed as costs rather than

investments, resulting in development effort that is

unfunded or inadequately staffed.

The responsibility for fundraising is assumed by one

or a few people (most often development personnel orED) and there are few roles for the Board of

Directors, other volunteers, donors or program staff.

O i ti L ki C lt


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Organizations Lacking a Cultureof Philanthropy

Discreet activities such as special events or direct mailcampaigns are emphasized, rather than a comprehensivestrategy that taps multiple channels for giving.

If major gifts occur, they are usually unsolicited: no oneis charged with making the ask and few face-to-facemeetings occur for the purpose of cultivation.

Donors feel at arms length- their involvement is

primarily viewed in terms of contributions. They arerarely sought out to advise or assist in the developmenteffort.


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What is the Goal of FundDevelopment?

The goal is to work toward the systemic

integration of a fund development culture into the

organizations overall operations that can besupported and expanded as needed over time.


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Key steps in funddevelopment planning,

implementation andfeasibility testing


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1. Fostering a culture of philanthropywithin the organization

a) Assuring that everyone throughout theorganization values philanthropy and donors

b) Using systems thinking

c) Understanding that most fund development

problems are not fund development programs

but actually are organizational developmentchallenges

2 Id tif i t ti l f di


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2. Identifying potential fundingsources

a. Examining the charitable contributions marketplace in order toaddress such issues as:

level of congestion in fund development issues and organizations receiving donor focus strategies that have been effective in reaching donors

b. Identifying opportunities for networking with otherphilanthropic organizations and donors

c. Identifying current constituents (e.g., volunteers, referralsources, clients, etc.) and getting to know them well enough to

evaluate if they are potential donorsd. Identifying those who might be predisposed to your cause and

getting to know them well enough to determine if they might becultivated into constituents and then donors.

3 D l i th l ti hi


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3. Developing the relationshipwith potential funders/donors

a) Developing an ongoing process to get to know prospects

b) Understanding their giving interests, disinterests, motivations

and aspirations

c) Identifying the value match between your organization and theprospect

d) Developing communications and cultivation strategies to build

the relationship

e) Building mutual understanding and commitment

f) Providing adequate and appropriate acknowledgment and

recognition for donors

i i i i i


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4. Positioning your organizationwithin the philanthropic marketplace

a) Determining what constituents, communityleaders and those predisposed to your causethink of the organization.

b) Identifying interests, disinterests, motivationsand aspirations of prospective donors anddetermining if there is a value match withyour organization

c) Identifying optimum ways to communicateand cultivate relationships

5 Organizing to do the fund


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5. Organizing to do the funddevelopment worka)

Outlining the values, ethics and standards for funddevelopment at your organization

b) Defining the fund development functions, competencies andskills necessary to carry out fund development, and the

appropriate structure for optimum performancec) Defining roles of your organization staff, the Board as a

group and its individual members and other possiblevolunteers

d) Identifying training needs for volunteers and staff anddeveloping appropriate materials

e) Developing the fund development plan

6 Maximizing the return on investment


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6. Maximizing the return on investmentthrough the best use of solicitationstrategies

a) Determining the appropriate solicitation process,

request and solicitor for each prospect

b) Evaluating interest, readiness and capacity of

prospective donors

c) Estimating the dollars that might be generated, the

cost to do so, and preparing the budget

d) Using the skills and contacts of board members and

staff


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7. Implementation

a) Developing solicitation materials, e.g., case

statement, gift transmittal mechanism

b) Asking for the gift and securing the answerc) Monitoring progress, identifying challenges

and intervening

d) Evaluating productivity and return oninvestment


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8. Evaluation

a) Establishing criteria to measure return oninvestment and evaluating results

b) Compiling participation rates, e.g.,

acquisition, attrition, retention; calculating giftupgrades and average gift size. Determiningcost to raise a $, cost effectiveness and return

on investment.c) Determining trends and analyzing

implications


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Discussion

Documents

Developing a Culture of Philanthropy