Ever hear the saying make hay while the sun is shining?
For Catholic educational organizations, missions, and other ministries the time is now. It is clear from a demographic analysis that the optimum time for a sustained, long term (8-10 years) endowment campaign is now. This is true because of the demographics of the American population and the anticipated spiritual maturity that the “baby boomers” will experience over the next 15 or so years.
First, consider the raw demographics. There were actually 76 million births in the United States from 1946 to 1964, inclusive, the 19 years usually called the baby boom. By contrast, there were only 66 million births, in a larger U.S. population, during the 19 years following the baby boom, which included the baby bust of the 1970s. Of the 76 million born, about 4 million had died by April 1, 2000 (when Census 2000 was taken), leaving some 72 million survivors.
One can use these figures to approximate the number of Catholic baby boomers — the millions of US Catholics who grew up wearing Davy Crockett-style faux-raccoon hats, or the millions that participated in Catholic sports and other programming – that will transfer an enormous amount of wealth onto future generations (WICHE, 2011). The vast majority of these students were educated in US Catholic schools and participated in the life of their home parish.
In Prime Time: How Baby Boomers Will Revolutionize Retirement and Transform America, author Marc Freedman puts forth the thesis that “a new kind of aging” is before us, as baby boomers continue to be actively involved in civic life after they retire (Freedman, 2009). With the wisdom of a full life, new time on their hands and the wealth to finance their lifestyle, baby boomers will have an unprecedented chance to reengage with the Catholic Church.
As the aging Catholic boomers reconnect with their Church and faith life, the time is now to ask them to structure their estates to fulfill acts of philanthropy that will support the Church.
When you consider the appropriate market share of the billions in wealth that will transfer between parties over the next 15 years, the amount that should go to Catholic organizations is staggering.
Your local Catholic organization should take time to locally analyze and quantitative research on your potential market share, but clearly the opportunity is there to substantially increase your endowment and resources. Still not convinced?
During the stock market boom of the 80’s and 90’s, boomers were in their peak saving years. Retirement accounts became a feature of many Americans’ financial lives. This came about from a combination of increased wealth, technological innovation and creative individuals. These same trends are affecting philanthropy today as Catholic boomers move from saving for retirement to post-retirement lifestyles. How long might it be before donor advised funds and other Catholic philanthropic vehicles become as common as a 401k? Gifts from donor advised funds already eclipse the giving of Warren Buffett and Bill Gates combined. With a steady stream of retiring baby boomers entering their “giving years”, the philanthropic landscape is on the verge of massive change.
There is no better time than now to launch a longer term, planned giving fundraising initiative, no matter what the exact final monetary target turns out to be. This is also true in terms of the length in years of the campaign.
Action Steps Catholic Leaders Should Consider:
-Initiate a demographic research analysis to determine total market potential from US Catholics for both major gifts and bequests.
-Quantify fundraising targets in terms of potential number dollars, potential number of donors and forecast yield rates necessary to achieve your longer term fundraising targets.
-Create an adhoc Advancement Committee within your organization to collaborate in creating a 5 year strategic action plan to market and position the your Catholic organization with key constituents identified in the demographic scan.
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