Focus on Major Gifts: The 21st Century Approach to Fundraising

Catholic nonprofit organizations find themselves at a pivotal time in their history. With a weakened and forever-changed national economy, changing demographics, fluctuating endowments, and reduced government support, the entire nonprofit industry is challenged like few other times in our country's history. This is especially true for Catholic ministries. This is the view of the Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies, a leading source of ground-breaking research and knowledge about the nonprofit sector, social investing, and the tools of government (JohnsHopkins, 2013). Even what was once considered sacrosanct, the IRS philanthropic tax benefit for wealthy donors, is now up for discussion as part of the federal budget debate (Chronicle of Philanthropy, 2013). All of this means that the philanthropic landscape in the 21st century is dramatically different than the previous century. More specifically, higher education, an important subset of the nonprofit industry, is a good example of this challenge (Barone, 2010). Everyone agrees that almost all of the more than 3,500 colleges and universities in the United States must become more financially resourceful and entrepreneurial. Why? Traditional state and federal government funding resources are drying up, even as the cost to remain a technologically sophisticated educational organization is rapidly increasing (Altbach, Berdahl, Gumport, 2005). Thus, the reliance on fundraising to produce necessary resources for institutions of higher education is greater than ever (2005). Analysis by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University confirms that this scenario is true not only for higher education, but also applicable for the majority of nonprofit organizations (Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University). For charitable organizations this means committing financial resources, research and, of course, professional staff constantly prospecting for financial gifts to support seemingly endless capital campaigns (DiMento, 2011). Finding these philanthropic dollars is essential if the organization is to meet the financial challenges inherent in sustaining the many honorable missions carried out by our country's nonprofit organizations. As a result of this need for increased philanthropic support, the field of fundraising and development has grown exponentially over the past thirty years. Caroline Preston, a respected philanthropy blogger, reports these findings from her research on the hiring of fundraising staff and investment into development offices made by educational institutions. Preston reports that almost all of the United States’ 3,500 colleges and universities now have active fundraising or advancement efforts on their campuses. Ten years ago, it was less than half of that number (Preston, 2010). But, specifically, why do nonprofit organizations and educational institutions concentrate so much on major gifts as an integral within a comprehensive fundraising program? Why not government or foundations? Or even corporations? The answer is clear. Stay tuned for my next blog post. Until then, check your organization’s fundraising efforts. Are you focused enough on major gifts?