Tag Archives: philanthropy

Is Boomer Indulgence A Threat to Planned Giving?

From Flickr courtesy of thepeachmartini
The Los Angeles Times had a piece in September that wasn’t too flattering to baby boomers. It claimed many of them plan to spend all their money on themselves before death, cutting out their children–who the profligates feel they’ve already done enough for–in favor of travel, fine dining and other treats.

It bothered me that in all the talk about end-of-life planning there wasn’t a single mention of charitable giving. I went to the U.S. Trust 2011 survey of high net worth americans, cited in the article. The situation isn’t as grim as the paper led me to believe. I took away these points from the survey:

  • More than half the respondents (56%) have discussed philanthropy strategy with their financial advisor (slide 29). I’d like to see that number higher, but it’s not bad.
  • 80 percent either did not change or increased their charitable giving in response to the recession (slide 30). It’s theoretically possible that the 63 percent who did not change were giving zero, but that’s not likely.
  • 55 percent plan to volunteer more actively upon retirement (slide 34).

Clearly, there are boomers who will spend all their money and achieve the day-of-death zero banking balance that one woman in the article aspires to. And they’re entitled.

I’m gratified to know those folks don’t represent all the baby boomers, and that among the high and ultra-high net worth population, many intend to include nonprofits in their plans.

Nonprofit Radio for September 30, 2011: Engaging Employees & PR2: Prospect Research, Proactive or Reactive

Big Nonprofit Ideas for the Other 95%

You can subscribe on iTunes and listen anytime, anyplace on the device of your choice.

Tony’s Guests:

DeShele Dorsey
DeShele Dorsey: Engaging Employees

Corporate employees can make gifts to your nonprofit, but they can do a lot more for you. DeShele Dorsey, senior managing director for corporate social engagement at Changing Our World, shares smart ideas on soliciting and closing companies for mentoring, pro bono service, board membership, service sabbaticals, loaned executives and more.
 

 

 

Maria Semple
Maria Semple: PR2: Prospect Research, Proactive or Reactive

Regular contributor, Maria Semple, The Prospect Finder, explains the differences between the two ways to do your research, and how to determine which is right for your shop.

 

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world’s leading questionnaire tool.

Here is a link to the podcast: 061: Engaging Employees & PR2: Prospect Research, Proactive or Reactive


Every Friday from 1 to 2pm ET.

Top Trends. Sound Advice. Lively Conversation.

You’re on the air and on target as I delve into the big issues facing your nonprofit—and your career.

If you have big dreams but an average budget, tune in to Tony Martignetti Nonprofit Radio.

I interview the best in the business on every topic from board relations, fundraising, social media and compliance, to technology, accounting, volunteer management, finance, marketing and beyond. Always with you in mind.

When and where: Talking Alternative Radio, Fridays, 1-2PM Eastern

Sign-up for show alerts!

Here is a link to the podcast: 061: Engaging Employees & PR2: Prospect Research, Proactive or Reactive
View Full Transcript

If Donors Are Investors, They Need A Motley Fool

The Nonprofit Outcomes Toolbox: A Complete Guide to Program Effectiveness, Performance Measurement, and Results
More and more we hear of people “investing in” charities. I’ll discuss the trend with Dr. Robert Penna, my guest this week on Tony Martignetti Nonprofit Radio.

As that continues, investors will need investment advisory services, like The Motley Fool, Raymond James, MorganStanley SmithBarney and others. They’ll seek advice on where to place their money to get maximum return on investment. There are companies providing such services today, but they all serve wealthy donors investing in our charitable sectors.

The need for this expertise will reach modest investors, just as Motley Fool offers a comparatively low-cost, web-based advisory practice for people who need not have millions in investible assets. They recommend buying, selling, holding or watching individual stocks.

I expect we’ll see the same spring up for charities, where recommendations will be made to invest in, avoid or watch particular nonprofits, and it will be a startling change for the U.S.’s roughly 1.3 million public nonprofits. An organization could find itself on a “do not invest” list. This also raises provocative questions.

What will the sectors look like? Will they be mission based? Regional? I see them cutting across mission and geography, to give us the highest yield domestic violence shelter in San Antonio; or the “invest first” recommendations for mentally retarded and developmentally disadvantaged adult services in Illinois; or, what will cause the most turmoil, the “do not invest” advice for social justice in the southeast.

What will investment recommendations be based on? Most likely return on investment. Dr. Penna and I will discuss that this Friday.

What will ROI advice be based on? Probably outcomes and impact, and you’ll hear more about those different measures on Friday.

Rating services like Charity Navigator and GuideStar will be necessary to the investment advisory process, but will others enter that game? Will the advisory services perform their own ratings? Will they compete on the basis of their ratings models? Do the models have to be public, or might they be proprietary, as they are for today’s advisors in stock and bond markets? Will GuideStar and its ilk provide investment advice themselves?

This will all be a natural progression of charitable giving, as that phrase is replaced by “social investing” and as the pressure increases on charities to make, measure and show return on investment.

I don’t know whether this is good or bad. It is unavoidable: our nonprofit community it turning into capitalist nonprofit competition.

“The Motley Fool” is a trademark of The Motley Fool, Alexandria, VA.

Nonprofit Radio for August 26, 2011: Goods on Google+ and Breaking Down Barriers

Big Nonprofit Ideas for the Other 95%

You can subscribe on iTunes and listen anytime, anyplace on the device of your choice.

Tony’s Guests:

Scott Koegler
Scott Koegler: The Goods on Google+

Our tech contributor and the editor of Nonprofit Technology News, Scott Koegler, shares insights into whether Google+ is different than what we’ve already got, to help you decide, “Should we jump in when organization pages become available?””

We’ll do a live G+ Hangout! Add Scott and Tony to your G+ circles and join us!”

Please take a moment to answer a short survey about G+ here. Thanks!

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world’s leading questionnaire tool.

 

Interviewing Megan Galbraith at Fund Raising Day NY 2011
Megan Galbraith: Breaking Down Barriers

Megan Galbraith, managing director at Changing Our World, has strategies to get PR, communications and fundraising working together for greater efficiency.

 

 

Here is a link to the podcast: 056: The Goods on Google+ & Breaking Down Barriers


Top Trends. Sound Advice. Lively Conversation.

You’re on the air and on target as I delve into the big issues facing your nonprofit—and your career.

If you have big dreams but an average budget, tune in to Tony Martignetti Nonprofit Radio.

I interview the best in the business on every topic from board relations, fundraising, social media and compliance, to technology, accounting, volunteer management, finance, marketing and beyond. Always with you in mind.

When and where: Talking Alternative Radio, Fridays, 1-2PM Eastern

Sign-up for show alerts!
View Full Transcript

Are You Asking For More When They’ve Given Enough?

Last weekend’s meal at a folksy chain restaurant got me thinking about asking for more gifts when your donors may feel they’ve given enough.

As I handed over my credit card to pay for our southern meal served in central New Jersey, the woman at the register offered, “Scooter Pies are on sale today. They make great snacks.” My first thought was her faulty premise. Fresh fruit, dried fruit and nuts make great snacks. Scooter Pies make make awful snacks. My next thought was more relevant to my purposes here.

Isn’t it enough that I just bought thirty-five bucks worth of lunch? But, they’re in business and I respect–and have come to expect–a dose of cross promotion. Hell, I do it myself. I spared her my diatribe on healthful food choices, said, “No thanks” and signed my receipt.

She had a rejoinder. “We have a sale on summer clothing.”

That’s over the line. Two entreaties to spend more money when I feel I parted with enough mere moments ago.

"Spare Change for Change", courtesy of dcjohn on Flickr.

I beseech you. Don’t cross the line into hounding when your donors have recently made a gift. Evaluate your policies about what goes into gift acknowledgement letters, for instance. It’s fine to suggest they buy a ticket to an event, or urge consideration of a planned gift, but if the plea is for an outright gift of cash when that’s what you’ve just received, it may be inappropriate. If not in the acknowledgement, you still need to be sensitive to asking too soon after a gift. Let your gratitude linger, so you don’t come off as ungrateful.

This is all fact sensitive so there are no bright line rules about timing and number of asks. I’m encouraging you to heighten your scrutiny so you don’t turn off your donors.

If you’re not conscious of your donors’ sensitivities, you might get yourself a diatribe. And it won’t be on the virtues of dried, unsulphured apricots.