Issue 31
November 10, 2004

NEWSNOTES is a monthly email newsletter published by Nonprofit Enterprise at Work. It includes items of interest to the nonprofit community in Washtenaw County and the surrounding areas, as well as resources available at NEW. Encourage your friends and colleagues to join nearly 340 other NEWSNOTES subscribers!

NEW would like to recognize the generous support of its Community Partners:

IN THIS ISSUE

LEAD STORY

The Importance of Individual Giving: Individual Contributions Totaled Over $181 Billion in 2003

By Robert Zimmerman*

Private gifts to nonprofits (from foundations, corporations, religious grantors and individuals) totaled over $240 billion in 2003, according to the recently released study Giving USA 2004. The bulk of this giving—83.5% or $200.96 billion—was by individuals (alive and deceased—as through bequests). Foundations and corporations combined gave only 16.5% or $39.76 billion (see the accompanying chart for details). Zimmerman Lehman vehemently believes that INDIVIDUAL SOLICITATIONS ARE CRITICAL to every nonprofit organization intent on doing effective fundraising.

Although it is certainly important to pursue grants from institutional sources (foundations, businesses, religious philanthropies, and government agencies), you must understand that, in the world of philanthropy, grants are considered "soft money." That is, grants are almost always time-limited and are subject to political winds and the idiosyncrasies of grantor board members.

On the other hand, an individual donor who believes in your cause and who has been properly cultivated will see your organization through thick and thin. Year after year, the American Association of Fundraising Counsel's statistics (again, see chart below) on private giving to charities in the United States reveal that between 80 and 90 percent of these gifts—amounting to hundreds of billions of dollars annually—come from individuals. Any organization that thinks it can float on grants is tragically mistaken; the huge majority of private philanthropic contributions come from individuals.

WHY IS THIS SO CRITICAL? If your organization conducts a mail campaign, asks for gifts by phone, or sells tickets to a special event, the income derived from these efforts can be used in any fashion you deem appropriate (as opposed, say, to a grant from a foundation, which is usually given for a specific project). The nicest money to raise, obviously, is unrestricted money. Nonprofits often, for example, have difficulty finding funds to hire development staff. A sufficient pool of unrestricted funds enables an organization to hire competent fundraisers.

If an individual gives your organization a contribution, and if you cultivate that person with intelligence, respect, and imagination, there is every reason to expect more and larger gifts from that person in the future. This potential rarely exists with grants, and foundations often want to know where you will get your funding from when the grant runs out.

Many organizations put off starting individual solicitation programs because they do not offer a "quick fix" of big money. You may very well lose money on your first efforts to solicit individuals. The organization, however, that understands fundraising realizes that effective individual solicitation depends upon creating a system for the long haul. Successful solicitation of a contribution via a mail campaign opens the way for inviting the donor to a special event, and his or her enjoyment of the special event opens the way for a major or planned gift in the future. If you haven't already started a successful individual campaign there is no better time than right now! Couldn't your organization use some of those billions given away each year?

The following chart may be found at the American Association of Fundraising Counsel Web site.

2003 CONTRIBUTIONS:
$240.72 BILLION BY SOURCE OF CONTRIBUTIONS:
Individuals: $179.36 billion; 74.5%
Bequests: $21.60 billion; 9.0%
Foundations: 26.30 billion; 10.9%
Corporations: $13.46 billion; 5.6%

More information on philanthropic giving in 2003 is detailed by the American Association of Fundraising Counsel.

Copyright 2004 Zimmerman Lehman
*This is a reprint of an article first published in Zimnotes August 2004. Sign up for your own subscription to receive a monthly refresher on fundraising news and information.

Additional Resources:

• See Robert Zimmerman’s new book Boards That Love Fundraising: A How-To Guide For Your Board, available to borrow from the Nonprofit Resource Library.
  
  
• NEW’s online bookstore recommends additional titles on fundraising and grantwriting.
  

FEATURED ITEMS

Education: Brush up on Your Fundraising Skills

NEW’s Managing for Nonprofit Excellence workshop series still has opportunities for you to brush up on your fundraising skills this fall.

• “Choosing and Using your Donor Management System” will give you an overview of different database packages and teach you how to evaluate “build-vs.-buy” alternatives.
  Thursday, November 18, 9 a.m. – 11 a.m.
  
• “Finding Funders: FC Search to the Rescue” offers training on how to get the most from FC Search, the Foundation Center’s searchable database of over 78,000 foundations and corporate giving programs. Choose this free session at either of these two time slots: Wednesday, November 17, 4 p.m. – 5:30 p.m., or
  Tuesday, December 7, 9 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.

Register online.

Leadership²Go The Fundraising Machine

NEW’s Leadership²Go Series for executive directors presents a two-part series on fundraising management. Part 1: Building the Engine will be offered on Friday, December 3, 2004.

Like any engine, raising funds for your organization requires the coordination of many moving parts. Connect with your peers and learn to build and maximize your resources in order to operate a highly functional and effective development program. Building the Engine will focus on utilizing your board and staff, allocating your time, incorporating technology, and more.

All executive directors are invited to join us for Round Table Discussions at a special location:

Washtenaw United Way
2305 Platt Rd, Ann Arbor

Friday, December 3, 2004, 8:30am – 10:30am
$10 - Continental breakfast provided

Executive directors register today.
Look for Part 2 coming in February.

NEW gratefully acknowledges Dykema Gossett, PLLC for their generous support of the 2004-2005 Leadership2Go Executive Director Series.

Participate in Database Survey and Receive a Chance to Win

NEW, in collaboration with researchers at the University of Michigan, is conducting a study to assess the data management needs of nonprofit organizations in Washtenaw County. Your organization should have received a postcard with a unique ID code to allow access to the survey. You can request an ID code and participate in any case. All participants will be entered in a drawing to receive a gift certificate for two free NEW workshops.

The survey results will help shape NEW’s development of services to assist nonprofits with data management. Please participate by visiting the survey Web page. We look forward to sharing the results of the study with you in the coming months.

Nonprofit Resource Library: Recent Acquisitions

See a listing of new titles in the library’s collection. Do you need to strengthen your board, file your 990, add zing to your fundraising strategy? Visit the library to borrow resources to help, or follow the links to Amazon.com to order your own copies.

Preparing for Successful Grant Proposals

Learn how to tackle the grant proposal process in this 2-day class from the Fundraising School at Indiana University’s Center on Philanthropy. Michigan Nonprofit Association (MNA) is sponsoring the class to be held December 1 and 2 at Madonna University in Livonia.

Class will be held 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. each day. Cost is $475 for MNA members, $525 for non-members. Continental breakfast, lunch, and all training materials are included.

This course provides in-depth discussion and hands on work on the proposal development process, including researching potential funders; budget development; gearing proposals to foundations, corporations and government; and writing “between the lines.”

Full course description and information regarding the certificate program offered through Indiana University can be found at the Fundraising School’s Web site.

Register online through MNA. If you have questions, contact Mike Corbin (517-492-2400).

November is Celebrating Philanthropy Month

The Foundation Center is currently hosting its fourth annual Celebrating Philanthropy Month. Visit their Web site to get insight from experts in the field, learn about giving by minority groups and youth, and find other resources. The center’s current issue of Philanthropy News Digest features recommended Web sites from a group of distinguished practitioners in the field, as well as a review of philanthropy-related headlines from the past year.

The Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) is sponsoring National Philanthropy Day throughout the country. Detroit’s AFP chapter will host a dinner and volunteer recognition ceremony on Thursday, November 18.

Virus Vaccination Day for Detroit Nonprofits

NPower Michigan is again offering Virus Vaccination Day services to nonprofits in the metro Detroit area on Monday, November 15. All 501(c)(3) nonprofits (except schools and places of worship) in the metro Detroit area are eligible to take advantage of this free opportunity to protect their computers.

Volunteers will attend a training at NPower in the early afternoon, then fan out to the registered agencies, and be done with their work by 5 p.m. This opportunity is intended for nonprofit agencies that are unsure whether they have anti-virus software, do not have enough licenses for their current computers, have licenses ready to expire, or need help installing the software.

Register now for Virus Vaccination Day in Detroit. Volunteers may sign up at the same Web site.

NonprofitCenters Network

The NonprofitCenters Network is the new name for an organization dedicated to supporting the development and operations of Multi-tenant Nonprofit Centers (MTNC) and other quality nonprofit workspace. If you currently manage a building that houses more than one nonprofit or are thinking of opening one, be sure to bookmark this Web site and subscribe to their newsletter, recently renamed Blueprint for Success. Find answers to such questions as “What are the key issues to consider when developing or operating MTNCs?”

Reminders

Searching for federal grants is easy thanks to Grants Locator, a service available free of charge to Washtenaw County nonprofits. One more free training session will be held November 18. More information can be found in the September issue of NEWSNOTES.

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