The Philanthropic Trends Digest

Dear Friend,

Why do people give? That is a question this fundraiser has been trying to answer for over forty years.
 
Bernard Ross and Clay Segal, two nonprofit consultants from Great Britain, have attempted to answer this question in their book, The Influential Fundraiser. The two have been engaged in training and coaching nonprofit leaders for many decades.
 
Ross and Segal contend that fundraisers are more apt to succeed if they understand what influences donors to make big decisions. This involves psychology, neurology and antropology and what people respond to and how they make decisions. All of this can be summarized in one simple observation - the way the donor and fundraiser communicate with each other makes all the difference.
 
The fundraiser must watch for all the ways the donor likes to absorb information and get on that wavelength as quickly as possible. In addition, the fundraiser must gently find out the donor's inaccurate perceptions about the charity and quickly rectify them. And the fundraiser must be prepared to use various approaches to the donor as the donor reveals his or her style of decision making.
 
How does the fundraiser do all this - he or she listens to the donor rather than talking to him. One reader of the book summarizes how the book has changed her as a fundraiser: "Now, I go in and ask them why they care about the work, and I really listen. Fundraising has become a complicated science, but it's really about one person connecting with another." This observation by Jane Robinson is one in which I fully concur.

Sincerely,
Douglas M. Lawson, Ph.D.

The Chronicle of Philanthropy, February 25, 2010, p. 1.

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Did you know?


DALLAS UNITED WAY BEATS GOAL 
When the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas began its 85th annual fund drive in September of 2009, the goal of $54 million seemed to some to be beyond reach. But reach it they did and exceeded it with a final total of $56 million. This says a lot about the people of Dallas as well as much about the state of philanthropy in America. Campaign Chair, Clint McDonnough, puts it this way: "This community has demonstrated time and time again, even in tough economic times, they will come together and do what's best for the community, and they've done it again."
The Dallas Morning News, February 26, 2010, p. 3B.
 
HEALTH CARE CRISIS AS EMERGENCY DOCTORS LEAVE HAITI
The United States is pulling its personnel out of the field hospital setup by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to aid victims of the January 12th earthquake in Haiti. The U.S. Navy's Comfort, a medical ship, is also phasing out patients. This is causing a new crisis brought about by the new lack of physicians needed to perform second operations on patients and the need for physicians to attend the patients hit with new cases of diarrhea, malaria, tuberculosis and other diseases. One nonprofit, Gheskio, an HIV/AIDS clinic next door to the U.S. field hospital is trying to take up the slack. Gheskio will take over the field hospital with financial help from the Caris Foundation in Texas and Weill Cornell in New York. This is a ever growing new crisis in Haiti that must not be ignored.
The Wall Street Journal, February 24, 2010, p. A11.
 
PEPSI CHARITY CONTEST POSES QUESTIONS
An internet charity contest called Pepsi Refresh is planning to give more than $20 million to charities. Its submission rules, however, are being called into question. The Joyful Heart Foundation, which currently sits atop the rankings in one category of the contest, seems to have gotten some help from Pepsi itself, which is against the rules. Specifically, it appears that the Joyful Heart Foundation, started by Mariska Hargitay, a star of "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit" had its submission materials updated by the staff of Pepsi after the submission deadline. Pepsi denies this. In any case, the contest is a clever new idea and we hope this incident will not harm the good for nonprofits that Pepsi set out to accomplish. 
The New York Times, February 26, 2010, p. A16.
 
FAIR-TRADE, FASHION AND PHILANTHROPY
One year ago, Kristen Dickerson, a Baylor University graduate founded with graphic designer and friend, Sophia Hirokawa Lin, a fair-trade and fashion nonprofit, Raven and Lily. The web-based organization has a motto: "to create well-designed accessories that return 100% of the proceeds to the maker's community." Working with women's group in Africa and India the basic idea is to empower women's micro-enterprise business in these parts of the world. Raven and Lily, through a volunteer staff, create blueprints for a variety of goods, which then go to impoverished women in Africa and India who craft the designs by hand. What a great idea!
The Dallas Morning News, February 26, 2010, p. 12E.
 
NO MORE BROWNIES AT SCHOOL FUNDRAISERS
The city of New York has banned any homemade or unpackaged items for use in school fundraisers by either students or Parent-Teacher Associations. Instead, packaged goods which have 200 or fewer calories are being approved. Fifty percent of the profits from the approved packaged goods go to the companies that make them, whereas 100% of the profits went to the schools' needs when bake sales were the norm. The old bake sales worked, let's see how the fundraisers fare with the new rules.
The New York Times, February 24, 2010, p. A17.
 
IVY LEAGUE PRESIDENT AND GOLDMAN SACHS
For ten years, Ruth Simmons, president of Brown University has been on the Board of Goldman Sachs.  Last year, she was paid $323,539 by Goldman Sachs, which was on top of her $576,000 salary at Brown. She was one of ten board members who decided how big these Goldman Sachs bonuses would be, including the $9 million paid as a bonus to Lloyd C. Blankfein, Goldman's Chairman and CEO. There has been quite a bit of controversy at Brown over her Goldman role and she has decided to resign from the Goldman Board. She has also left the Board of Pfizer, but remains on the Board of Texas Instruments. Dr. Simmons says she is stepping down from these Boards because they take too much of her time. We will leave it at that and give her and Brown the benefit of the doubt.
The New York Times, March 2, 2010, p. B1.
 
HUMANITARIAN AGENCIES RESPOND TO CHILE
American nonprofit humanitarian aid groups such as Save the Children, Doctors Without Borders and The American Red Cross are responding to the earthquake crisis in Chile as quickly as possible. The American Red Cross immediately sent $50,000 to the Chilean Red Cross and other Red Cross groups in other countries have pledged $300,000. The Red Cross is prepared for simultaneously occurring crisis in various parts of the world because of well stocked storage facilities strategically located in Panama, Dubai and Malaysia. This allows swift deliveries of supplies and equipment to disparate regions including Chile.
The Wall Street Journal, March 1, 2010, p. A16.
 
MEDICAL SITUATION IN HAITI GETTING WORSE
Dr. Scott Plantz, a clinical associate professor of emergency medicine at Chicago Medical School, was in Haiti February 19-23. He is the author of more than 20 medical textbooks and co-founder of the American Academy of Emergency Medicine. In Port-au-Prince, he worked at Project Medishave and the University of Miami Global Institute Hospital which is located just 200 yards from the runway at the main airport. Even though, this is one of Haiti's best hospitals, he described working there as being in "chaotic hell." He says that medical conditions in Haiti are a hundred times worse than when the earthquake first hit. We must listen to people like Dr. Plantz and know that the Haiti crisis is not only not over, it is getting worse.
USA Today, March 1, 2010, p. 13A.
 
HSBC CHIEF EXECUTIVE SET TO DONATE BONUS
Michael Geoghegan, CEO of HSBC Holdings, PLC in London is going to be awarded a bonus of $6.1 million shortly. According to individuals who know Geoghegan, he is planning to donate part or all of it to charity. The issue of bonuses has been very controversial at Britain's largest bank as well as at banks in the U.S. We will await Mr. Geoghegan's final decision and hope that he will become a major donor to charity as a philanthropist this year.
The Wall Street Journal, March 1, 2010, p. C1.
 
PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA MUSICIANS FORGO RAISES
Nonprofit orchestras throughout America have been facing financial crisis for the past several years. A big part of the crisis has been the cost of the orchestras. Orchestra musicians around the country are being asked for concessions. In the case of the Philadelphia Orchestra, they have responded favorably with a vote to forgo raises. Other musicians with other orchestras are also making concessions and this is keeping orchestras alive in these tough economic times. This is good, but the better solution will be for the orchestras to raise more money. That is the true economic challenge orchestra boards face today.
The New York Times, February 27, 2010, p. C2.
 
STATES BEGINNING TO REVOKE CHARITIES' TAX EXEMPTIONS
Faced with budget shortfalls, some states are contemplating revoking tax exemptions for charities in order to raise more revenue. The state leading the way is Hawaii - other states include Kansas and Pennsylvania. States like Massachusetts are asking charities to voluntarily pay taxes by making voluntary payments in lieu of taxes. This is not a good idea for states to be considering. Charities for one dollar can do  successfully what the states will fail to do for ten dollars. But it is a big temptation for legislatures who do not have better ideas.
The New York Times, February 28, 2010, p. 21.
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New Webinar Series

The Center for Nonprofit Success has just released its first webinar on how to build a successful and effective board of directors. Audley (Buddy) Wolfe Jr., Senior Associate of Lawson Associates, is one of three professionals conducting the webinar.  
 
The webinar consists of two components: 
1. An online video that you can download at any time.
2. A follow-up live teleconference with the speakers for registered webinar viewers in which questions emerging from the video will be answered by the speakers. 
 
You can watch a preview and order the webinar by going to: http://www.cfnps.org/national09.aspx

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Speaking Engagements
 
Wednesday, May 5th, 2010 - Audley (Buddy) Wolfe, Jr.
Capstone Conferences - DC Fundraising Conference
Board Development and Managing Capital Campaigns
Holiday  Inn Gaithersburg
2  Montgomery Village Avenue
Gaithersburg,  MD 20879
 
First Session: Board Development - Engaging your lay leaders  
TIME: 1:00pm-2:30pm - Audley (Buddy) Wolfe, Jr.
 
Second Session: Managing Capital Campaigns 
TIME: 2:45 pm-4:15 pm - Audley (Buddy) Wolfe, Jr.
Click here for more information. 
 

Wednesday, May 19, 2010 - Audley (Buddy) Wolfe, Jr.
Center for Nonproft Success - DC Fundraising Conference
Catholic University of America (CUA)
Edward J. Pryzbyla Center, Room 322
620 Michigan Ave NE
Washington, DC 20064
 
Session:  Capital Campaign
TIME: 1:30 pm-2:45 pm - Audley (Buddy) Wolfe, Jr.
Click here for more information.