11 Promising Fund-Raising Tactics to Help Charities Thrive in 2011
By Holly Hall
Contributor
February 6, 2011 | Read Time: 2 minutes
The struggling economy continues to challenge fund raisers, but a growing number of charities see encouraging signs that the worst of the downturn is behind them.
In a Chronicle poll of 245 charities conducted in January, for example, more than 60 percent said that contributions had increased in November and December, compared with the same months in 2009.
Fund raisers say their success is the result of new approaches that were crafted to meet the needs of donors facing tighter circumstances and charities with constrained solicitation budgets.
Few fund raisers expect huge increases in 2011, but some are forecasting a steady uptick.
“We are in a modest recovery,” says Bill Sturtevant, senior principal gifts consultant at the University of Illinois Foundation, in Urbana-Champagne.
He expects an increase of about 5 percent in contributions this year, an impressive gain given how bad the economy has been. But, he notes, it is still below the 6 to 7 percent average increase that colleges and universities typically achieve, according to surveys by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.
And no matter how savvy a fund-raising effort his organization makes, Mr. Sturtevant knows he still has to deal with lots of donors continuing to suffer economic pain. He says his institution last year lost a $15-million gift it had been counting on from a real-estate developer who had so many financial setbacks in the downturn that he couldn’t fulfill his charitable commitments.
“Things like that strike at a fund raiser’s heart in terms of provoking anguish,” he says. “Many of us in major gifts can tell these horror stories of gifts postponed or lost, possibly forever.”
Nonetheless, plenty of charities have found ways to overcome even the biggest challenges. Here are 11 promising tactics that charities around the country say have helped them thrive in tough times.
Ask Corporations for Money and More
Pitch Sponsorships to Family Funds
Support Grass-Roots Fund Raising
