Convince Your Boss to Invest in Philanthropic Research

Preston's research (2010) confirms that the nonprofit sector is now teeming with organizations active in philanthropic activity. This includes public schools and other organizations that traditionally never before entered the private fundraising arena. In an era of reduced state funding, public institutions are joining their private counterparts in the quest to secure private financial support (CASE, 2012). Yet not everyone is convinced. Even with additional investments into fundraising efforts, some people still believe that the philanthropic activity remains happenstance. For example, research at the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University points to a direct link between changes in giving and changes in the overall economy. Charitable giving tends to grow in general as the economy rises, even when the economy grows at a moderate or slow rate (Giving USA, 2010). But giving tends to decline during recessions, after adjusting for inflation. The Giving USA 2010 Study of High Net Worth Philanthropy asks high-net-worth households about their charitable giving (2010). The economic recovery was still uncertain in 2009, with a high unemployment rate and a slow increase toward the end of the year in gross domestic product. The National Bureau of Economic Research, which monitors the economic cycle, announced in September 2010 that the recession that began in December 2007 ended in June 2009 (Pew, 2011). But even in this era of a severely depressed economy donors indicated that the down economic conditions were not a major variable in their decision to support (Giving USA, 2011). No matter what economic conditions exist, and with a very crowded field of nonprofit organizations seeking donations, the successful organizations will no doubt be invested in state-of-the-art donor research focused on improving their fundraising methods. The pressure is growing on all nonprofit and educational fundraising professionals to be effective in their jobs and help sustain the mission of their institutions.