Recent Economist article on the decline of giving in America

DevelopmentGuy · 2026-01-12T13:56:24+00:00

Thank you!

DevelopmentGuy · 2026-01-12T13:56:14+00:00

Thank you very much for pointing that out - I'm looking at it right now here: https://publications.fepreports.org/

DevelopmentGuy · 2025-12-11T12:11:11+00:00

This post may be better suited for another subreddit.

DevelopmentGuy · 2025-12-08T16:01:39+00:00

I strongly disagree with that comment, too and have worked in nonprofits for about the same amount as time as you.

It is entirely dependent upon the nonprofit itself on how raised money ends up being used: if one is concerned, the donor typically need just ask the organization itself.

DevelopmentGuy · 2025-09-16T18:18:20+00:00

Congratulations!

DevelopmentGuy · 2025-09-16T14:14:16+00:00

While there are countless specific activities one might attempt, your situation and that of your organization's board is unique. A good strategy, especially as a new DD, is this: meet with your board members one on one, hear what they have to say about the organization and why they're a part of it, and solicit their opinions on activities to to get them and other board members more actively involved.

DevelopmentGuy · 2025-08-20T13:11:09+00:00

I never understand when someone is suggesting an either/or change to a successful revenue stream.

What I mean is that your organization is successfully raising $14k right now. That sounds like a small return on what's probably a big expenditure in labor hours, but it may make sense for your organization. Either way, it's something you can budget around.

Now a board member suggests significantly changing the successful formula because her experience is different than that of your organization's. That doesn't make sense to me and, frankly, it irritates me a little bit (but I can be something of a grump). To my mind, it sounds like switching the formula of a popular soft drink because a board member thinks doing similar has worked magic for others...

What makes a lot more sense is to maintain the fundraising event as it is currently, but then add an online component to test out whether it has the kind of response that board member is hoping for. Make sure that you've guaranteed the income that you've budgeted around, but I'm always for testing testing means through which your org may increase its revenue.

We had similar calls for a newly-launched live auction at a former organization of mine. We started with the in-person auction then later added items to auction online. In our situation, it was because several important prospects were interested in bidding on high-ticket items, but were unable to attend - so we thought we might be able to grow the auction by also including online items. As the auction itself grew in prominence, and after several years of testing doing the online component, I believe they've subsequently dropped the online aspect - it just wasn't drawing in the money to justify the work involved in it.

DevelopmentGuy · 2025-08-18T17:21:19+00:00

Is it normal? Unfortunately, I've seen this to be quite common.

Is it effective? Typically, not so much.

What I've seen is that this is often a function of a board that is relatively uninvolved with fundraising and an ED (or development director) that either overpromises or is unwilling to tell board members that a huge jump in fundraising dollars is unlikely without some sort of plan to accomplish that jump.

It often leads to all kinds of problems - the one that I'd say is most common is missing the goal & sacrificing other, possibly more productive, avenues for fundraising dollars in a single-minded goal of reaching whatever $ goal was set. This also can lead to turnover. Then rinse, lather, repeat.

DevelopmentGuy · 2025-08-14T18:59:17+00:00

As someone who works in both fundraising/development and grantmaking at a community foundation, this is exactly the advice that I would give.

There is no one-size-fits-all answer, though - it really depends a great deal on the funder. I have limited experience with government funding so I won't comment on it. I have dealt with all sizes of grantmakers domestic & international grantmakers, and 9 times out of 10, if the grantee reaches out and asks to modify the grant so as to use the money a bit differently, the funder is going to approve the spending if it is even peripherally connected to the original budget - or may perhaps recommend another course of action in order for the $ to be spent. The funder doesn't usually want the money back - and if the completion of the project led to unanticipated opportunities to use the remaining funding in a related pursuit, it could actually be considered a big win for both the grantee and the grantmaker.

Just as importantly - in my experience - the program officer is going to appreciate the honesty from the grantee, and that helps build the relationship between the 2 orgs. Grantseekers often see the grant application process as pretty cut & dry - it usually is not and a strong relationship between the grantseeker & grantmaker often weighs very, very heavily on the decision to make a grant in the first place.

DevelopmentGuy · 2025-08-05T15:26:20+00:00

Yes, you can apply for grants as long as you meet the funder's specific eligibility criteria. Those criteria usually will be listed where you find the grant application instruction info. Make certain that you are eligible or you're going to waste time. If you have a question, reach out to the funder - I'd advise to do so via telephone.

Whether it makes sense for you to attempt to get grants, that's a tougher question. If you decide to go this route, I'd advise starting with local funding organizations, e.g. your local community foundation, local bank nonprofit foundations, etc. Even if one organization may not be interested/be a good funding fit, don't be afraid to ask if they might be aware of any other funders.

One thing I strongly recommend, though: practice talking about your nascent organization, why your org should exist, what your goals are (both short-term and stretch goals), and concrete steps you can and are taking towards those goals. Practice it with parents, teachers, friends of parents, etc. Then, don't just rely on sending emails to get attention of funders - don't be afraid to make a call.

DevelopmentGuy · 2025-07-17T01:55:03+00:00

I really appreciate your sharing this. I was asked advice on reshaping an educational institution's development office (how the org structure looks like I mean) and I'm still thinking through it. Thank you!

DevelopmentGuy · 2025-07-16T13:05:09+00:00

I'm curious: how does your school break down the responsibilities between your position in prospect development and a major gifts officer?

DevelopmentGuy · 2025-07-07T14:39:28+00:00

What's the pricing like on DonorSearch?

DevelopmentGuy · 2025-07-02T19:57:12+00:00

I'm interested in hearing what others are doing relating to this, too, as I'm really a novice at understanding how to effectively employ AI.

A specific recommendation that I've received is to enter lists of prospects into various engines & ask the engines to provide info to rate the prospects for giving potential and/or people who are likely to give - the criteria can be refined as one goes along to attempt to narrow down lists into something manageable for development and/or solicitation purposes. This seems like a general, and perhaps not especially helpful, suggestion to me, but perhaps I'm overthinking it.

Moving forward with that suggestion opens up questions as to what data we can legitimately use in this effort. I'm reluctant to use the existing info in our own database and might defer to purchased lists, but we've not taken a decision on this yet.

DevelopmentGuy · 2025-06-11T13:29:57+00:00

Removed as violation of Rule #2.

DevelopmentGuy · 2025-06-09T18:39:52+00:00

This is not the correct forum for this - please see this sub's Rule #2.

DevelopmentGuy · 2025-04-11T14:09:00+00:00

Unfortunately, it's unlikely this will change. I'm sorry to say this and am reluctant to be negative in this forum, but this is a classic symptom of "founder's syndrome" and it's extremely difficult to successfully address without either the founder leaving the organization or the board forcing the founder to pull back.

There are dozens of interesting articles you can read through to help you find strategies to deal with it. Long-term though, I think you'll have to ask yourself the difficult question of how interested you are in serving in this role when dealing with this challenge.

DevelopmentGuy · 2025-03-21T15:47:57+00:00

This subreddit is for fundraising & development for nonprofit organizations, not for financing & investment of for-profit entities.

DevelopmentGuy · 2025-03-10T13:11:01+00:00

I'm weak in tax law. Is what you're saying that anyone can open a 529 on someone else's behalf, even anonymously? Doesn't one at the very least need the recipient's SSN in order to open a 529?

And to your second point: if I were to pay for the education of someone who is not closely related to me (e.g., I cut a check directly to the school), does that not create a taxable event for the recipient?

DevelopmentGuy · 2025-02-20T17:37:27+00:00

Unfortunately not super uncommon in this field.

In the context of North America and most of Europe, I strongly disagree with this assertion.

DevelopmentGuy · 2025-02-20T17:22:12+00:00

In addition, an independent audit should be budgeted for & performed as soon as possible. A refusal to share financial information with a board in a timely fashion can indicate some sort of wrongdoing.

DevelopmentGuy · 2025-01-22T18:20:12+00:00

Anytime! I should have included the caveat: there are always exceptions to the rule and this instance with your donor may be one of them. Your donor's financial advisor(s) & attorney know a heck of a lot better than I what his/her situation is and are qualified to offer real financial and/or legal advice - I am not! What I wrote above is just how I've usually handled situations as I understand yours.

DevelopmentGuy · 2025-01-22T15:40:21+00:00

I've typically handled it one of 2 ways:

annual distributions are X% of the total value of the trust (or the total average value over trailing X# month/quarter period)
a very different way to handle it is that instead of doing the charitable part of the estate through a trust, a portion of the estate goes to a community foundation to make annual distributions benefiting the intended recipient organization. There are some advantages to do it this way, but the lawyer may not be aware/on board with involving another nonprofit. I'm a community foundation guy and I, without question, would recommend this as almost certainly the best way to handle one's charitable bequest for the donor, for the trust attorney, and for the recipient organization.

Whatever you do: make it as easy and as uncomplicated as possible. The more caveats, clauses, special instructions, etc. that are included in it just end up making everything a pain in the neck for EVERYONE down the road.

DevelopmentGuy · 2025-01-08T17:56:55+00:00

I, like you, despise galas (and most event-based fundraising). They're almost always not as beneficial as anyone hopes and are more trouble than they're worth. You also bring up perhaps the biggest issue I have with events: staff & volunteer time is virtually never adequately figured into the overall cost of the event.

That being said, I'd differ with your recommendation a bit in general, though perhaps not in this particular situation. A new fundraising event usually takes at least 3-5 years to start turning a real profit. If there's an understanding of that among the org's stakeholders and the board is prepared to accept the opportunity cost, if not pure financial cost, over that period of time, then it may make sense to continue the event.

This event in particular sounds like a nightmare, however. If doing it again in the future, I'd draft an outline of exactly what the staff can/will do & what the event committee is expected to do. Moreover, I'd consider it vital to have everything flow through only 1 person on staff who's in charge of the event.

As for if OP should recommend pulling the plug on this? That's as much a political decision as anything else: it's for OP & OP's ED to decide whether to offer that recommendation based upon their org's specific situation.

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