"Adapt, Change or Die"

For the last 4 to 5 years, I have been saying in my fundraising workshops and trainings that by the end of the century we would all look pretty much alike. I read that in a paper on the blending of America and was totally intrigued by it.

The 2000 U.S. Census was the first one to give Americans the option to select more than one race; and 7 million people took advantage of that opportunity. Today multiracial Americans are among the fastest growing demographic groups. And as that statistic is rising, so is the acceptance of multiracialism.

We could quote statistics all day long; it seems that today everyone is studying this trend. But the real change, the one that is going to make the lasting difference, is how we view each other. 

Today, we might look at people to see, first, what they are. By the end of this century, we will instead have the benefit of looking at people to see who they are. I’m trying to figure out a way to hang around long enough to be part of that. Cryogenics, maybe?

When I talk about this in my workshops, the emphasis is on nonprofits preparing now to be part of this extraordinary occurrence, and in a larger context, all the change that is going on. Coincidentally, The Chronicle of Philanthropy recently published an article, Raising Money In a Changing World, about how we are facing a demographic transition “that has the potential to transform the philanthropic landscape.”

The author, Nicole Lewis, points out the need for nonprofits to focus on burgeoning minority and multi-racial groups of donors. But she doesn’t stop there:

·      Women are becoming more economically powerful in their own right
·      LGBTQ donors are becoming more visible
·      Secularism “is on the rise,” particularly as the younger generations grow as donors and philanthropists
·      And more.

If your nonprofit organization isn’t considering how to reach out to a broader – and more diverse – audience of donors, you need to begin now. We as a sector are behind in adapting to these trends. As Emmett Carson, Silicon Valley Community Foundation president, stated in the Chronicle article: “This is adapt, change or die” for nonprofits going forward.

Busting a Myth: Black Folks Don’t Give

In my last post, I commented that I could not get out of my head something I had heard in a meeting: “Black folks don’t give.” I was speechless; that rarely happens to me.

Would you be surprised to learn that August is Black Philanthropy Month? BPM is an initiative of the African Women’s Development Fund. Launched in 2011, BPM is beginning to build momentum with, among other things, the findings from a 2012 report by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation with major contributions from Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors:

·      Black people in the United States give away more of their disposable income than whites and many other racial/ethnic groups.
·      Nearly two-thirds of all black households make charitable donations, worth about $11 billion a year.
·      Black charitable funds — at community foundations or other trusts — have grown rapidly. One example of this is the growth of Black Giving Circles around the country, primarily in the South.

The author of a recent Chronicle of Philanthropy article pointed out, it’s not that blacks don’t give, it’s that they do it differently, and often they don’t see themselves as philanthropists; also, as one interviewee for the article pointed out, their giving is often undocumented.

So, if you have hesitated to include people of color in our community as potential donors, you might want to re-think that. A few tips:

·      Think strategically about how to include minority donors in your cause and get them involved.
·      Cultivate your donor. . .learn what is important to him or her.
·      Build a case for giving that addresses the donor’s needs and desires and steward the donor following the gift.


If you would like a copy of the Kellogg report executive summary, please send me an e-mail and I will be glad to forward it, along with a cool info graphic from Blackbaud on the next generation of American giving.

How It All Started:

I needed a job. There may be a few people out there who can relate to that. My good friend and cohort Deborah Peeples said to me, “Let’s go be consultants to nonprofits.” Sounded good to me; I’d always enjoyed telling people what to do. So we created Funding Resources. Two years and 10 clients later, Deborah moved back to Washington, D.C., leaving me to carry on the Funding Resources tradition-in-progress. I think she knew I would do that; I was hooked from day one.

That was over 20 years ago. Today Funding Resources, now PartnersWithNonprofits.Org, has helped clients across the country raise more than a little money, create strategic plans, build and maintain good boards, hire some good people and more. Along the way I have learned as much (or more) as my clients and with this blog I want to share some of that with you.

(Hopefully) once a week I will write a column sharing experiences and what they have taught me, passing along tips and timely information from organizations that help nonprofits, busting philanthropy myths that hold us back as organizations, and attempting to put into perspective what it means to be a nonprofit today.

Next week: Busting a Myth: “Black Folks Don't Give.” This has been floating around in my head for several months; someone used it as a reason not to contact a potential donor to a client organization. It’s time to dispel this myth. Stay tuned.