Key messages to encourage charitable giving
The news about charitable giving’s decline in 2022 is everywhere. Your donors are no doubt seeing it, too! Many of you have reached out to the community foundation for recommended strategies to increase giving–and even to avoid further declines.
To help you navigate these challenging times, we are offering a few suggestions for key messages you can deploy in your communications this fall. You’ll note that these messages are designed to encourage charitable giving in general, and then you can follow up with your own messages about your programs and the worthiness of your mission. Indeed, if people are not interested in giving in the first place, it won’t matter what you say about the opportunities to support your organization.
Consider the following message points:
–Philanthropy means “love of humanity”—and, according to at least one dictionary, “philanthropy” refers to “acts that benefit both the giver and the receiver.” This is surprising to some people who have been taught “it’s better to give than to receive.”
–Somehow we have popularized the idea that giving should “hurt.” But that is not what the research says. Consider just a few examples:
–Research on the connection between volunteering and hypertension revealed that four hours of volunteering a week reduced the risk of high blood pressure–by 40%--in adults over 50.
–Another study indicates that giving reduces cortisol levels.
–Yet another study found a link between unselfishness and a lower risk of early death because “helping others” reduces stress-related mortality.
–Research has linked doing something good for someone else to an increase in endorphins.
–An altruistic attitude in the workplace makes you more productive and less likely to quit.
–Doing good and being grateful helps you sleep better at night.
–People who do just one good thing a week for someone else actually become happier over time.
–And this actually does matter. The gifts Americans give to charity every year provide critical support for more than a million organizations that are helping sustain the quality of life in our communities. Philanthropy equates to 2% of GDP–that’s about the same as the home improvement industry.
–Still, only about half of Americans give to charity in a given year. And charitable giving was down in 2022 for only the fourth time in 40 years.
–Trends like these are concerning given that the United States has historically been at or near the top of the most charitable countries. Additionally, many community needs are increasing, whether due to inflation that makes food less affordable or a hot summer that has strained the health of so many.
–Some people are simply not aware of philanthropy’s role as a catalyst for improving quality of life. They are not aware that anyone with a willingness to give can be a philanthropist. Whether you’re giving $25, $2500, or $25,000, you’re making a difference, teaching your children charitable values, and improving your own well-being, too. Celebrate the good you are doing. However much, however little. It all counts. Your gifts count.
–In so many ways, philanthropy creates the margin of excellence that helps communities, families, and individuals thrive.
–Peter Drucker wrote, “Virtually every important improvement in the quality of American life has roots in the nonprofit sector, from abolition of slavery, child labor and racial discrimination to advances in medicine, education and technology.”
The community foundation is here to help. We want your organization to thrive! Please reach out as you field questions from donors about making gifts of complex assets such as real estate or large blocks of stock, setting up charitable trusts, or establishing planned giving vehicles to support your mission for the long term. The community foundation can serve as your back office to help you secure large or complicated gifts to your endowment or reserve fund at the community foundation.
How planned giving helps you plan for your organization’s future
You and your team are well aware that bequests to your organization can make a huge difference to your bottom line. With the average size of a bequest reported to total more than $78,000, it’s easy to see how the numbers can add up quickly.
Still, focusing on planned giving is hard. You and your team are busy with annual campaigns, fundraising events, and major gifts. Fitting in a conversation about planned gifts sometimes seems impossible!
The key is to break it down and make it easy. Here are three tips to help streamline your planned giving efforts.
–First, start by taking a look at all of your marketing materials to be sure you have at least mentioned the opportunity for planned giving somewhere on each marketing asset. Make sure your website mentions your endowment fund at the community foundation. The same goes for printed materials and one-pagers. Similarly, every email newsletter to your donor base should include at least a very small section at the bottom to remind donors that they can leave a meaningful legacy to your organization through an endowment gift in their will or trust. Another key marketing piece is the annual appeal letter. Even though you are asking for a current gift, don’t forget to mention that you’re always open to a discussion about endowment gifts through a bequest or charitable remainder trust.
–Second, talk with your major gift donors about the importance of your endowment operating reserves to the organization’s ability to weather the ups and downs of the market and community needs. Sometimes donors don’t think about the “business” side of nonprofits.
–Third, share stories with donors about other people (with their permission, of course) who have given endowment gifts and how those gifts have made a significant difference in your organization’s ability to serve its constituents. Keep an eye out for eye-catching mainstream news articles about charitable giving that you can post on your social media channels or mention to donors in a meeting.
We look forward to working with you to help you grow your endowment! The community foundation is committed to your success and to philanthropy’s ability to improve the quality of life in our region through the outstanding nonprofit organizations delivering services to people who need it most. Thank you for all you do.
Understanding the personality types of your donors
As you talk with your donors about the possibility of making a gift to your endowment fund at the community foundation, it’s helpful to take a step back and consider your approach. Each donor’s reasons for giving to your endowment fund will be a little different, but in general, it is helpful to categorize donor “personalities” into major groups.
There are many tools and techniques on the market today to help you segment your donors according to motivation and behavior. The net-net is that there does seem to be commonality among most segmentation methods that boils down to three types of charitable givers. Consider these major categories as you plan for your one-on-one meetings with potential major gift or planned giving donors:
–“Investors” prefer to engage in charitable activities that are independent and don’t necessarily require scheduling dedicated time or working directly with others. Investors sometimes feel they have more money than time and would prefer to write a check or purchase a product that supports a cause.
–“Connectors” love to engage in charitable activities that involve the opportunity to get together with other people. These are people who enjoy going to community events or even promoting their favorite causes on social media and getting their friends and family to join them in putting dollars behind a cause.
–“Activators” are passionate about participating in the one or two causes they care most about, and tend to focus on “changing the world” and solving a very specific issue. Activators like to be able to see the difference they are making, and many will roll up their sleeves to get involved alongside their financial contributions.
Whatever your donors’ charitable giving personality types, the community foundation is here to help. Reach out to strategize with our team about that next big gift to your endowment fund. We’d love to talk about how you can land it!
This newsletter is provided for informational purposes only. It is not intended as legal, accounting, or financial planning advice.