Covid-19

Covid-19: 7 Fundraisers in 7 Places – Update

Covid-19: 7 Fundraisers in 7 Places – Update Covid-19 has created an intensely challenging moment in our lives, our history, and our economy. I was curious to know how my colleagues, who generously shared their insights at the beginning of the pandemic, are adapting to the changing situations in their parts of the world. Are they struggling? What can we learn? How are donors responding to the situation? The two common themes emerging from this mosaic of perspectives are 1) that successful fundraisers continue to fundraise, while being mindful and intentional with a focus on engagement and stewardship and 2) donors continue to support the causes they care about. Seven Fundraising Professionals in Seven Places:   Robert Dixon, Director of Development at Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada Melody Song, Fundraising Consultant, Founder & Solution Designer Dogoodhere.org, Berlin, Germany reporting on China (based on interviews with family, friends in the charity sector, and Ying Ye, General Secretary for the Fundraising Innovation Centre, Shanghai, China) Rodney M. Grabowski, Vice President for University Advancement University at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York, USA Anup Tiwari, Board Member, South Asian Fundraising Group, New Dehli, India Deborah Berra, CEO, Stiftung Kindernothilfe Schweiz, Aarau, Switzerland Daryl Upsall, Chief Executive, Daryl Upsall & Associates and Daryl Upsall Consulting International, Madrid, Spain Bill Littlejohn, CEO and Senior VP, Sharp HealthCare Foundation, San Diego, California, USA Are you seeing any particular changes or trends in giving? Robert Dixon in Toronto, Canada: I said last time that the crisis could prompt a surge in giving to the community – and everything I’ve seen since then supports that theory. At Ryerson, we’ve been humbled by the number of alumni and staff giving generously to help our students who are facing reduced income and higher costs. Companies and grant-makers across Canada and further afield are coming together to maximize their impact among frontline workers and vulnerable communities. And our major donors remain passionately committed to the causes they support. Of course, economically the future is uncertain, and no-one can predict how philanthropy will ultimately be affected. Financial activity has been significantly reduced, many are facing job losses or lay-offs, and governments are acting on an unprecedented scale. We’ve refocused much of our fundraising activity on engagement rather than solicitation, with a change in our short-term revenue expectations as a result. But the crisis so far has demonstrated the resilience of the human spirit and our innate capacity for extraordinary generosity, which should give fundraisers everywhere hope for the future. Melody Song in Berlin, Germany: In China the crisis gave birth to a new type of nonprofit organization: Open Source Social Project. An example is Wuhan2020 which is a community of 4000 volunteers that contribute in real-time to “establish a synchronous data service for hospitals, factories,  procurement and other information, and to convene all those who want to contribute to the anti-virus campaign so that everyone with relevant skills can participate in the development of related topics, and complete it in a self-organized and collaborative way with open source community culture.”  This type of project is what China’s nonprofit sector is looking for in the future on an agile approach to further a cause rather than building NGOs.    Rodney Grabowski in Buffalo, New York, USA: Like most other institutions of higher education, we established student emergency funds and a health care support fund that people could contribute to. Our method of solicitation was through email with the ability to give online. Over the course of the past 4 weeks, we have had 500+ donors contribute over $145,000 with an average gift of $290. It is interesting to note, of the $145,000; $53,000 was contributed from 3 individual donors therefore, the average donation less the big gifts is $185. Our typical average gift for phone is $97 and direct mail $166. We are seeing a higher average gift as a result of this significant cause-based giving approach. That said, we have regularly been reaching out to our donors that have made 6+ figure gifts in the past and there is very little interesting by this group in contributing to these funds. Honestly, this is not surprising to me as I reflect on the maturity of the program at the University at Buffalo versus other institutions of higher education that I have worked at. While the University at Buffalo is almost 175 years old, in many ways we are a young institution. In the 1960’s we transitioned from a private university to a public university that is part of the State University of New York System. UB is one of 4 university centers within the SUNY System of higher education (64 institutions of higher education). The public version of the University at Buffalo did not invest in pursuing philanthropy until the late 1980’s and the program did not start maturing until the early 2000’s. While we have seen some good results for the emergency funds and have received a few 6 and 7-figure gifts, most gifts of this size have been put on pause by the donor until they can see the other side of the pandemic. Anup Tiwari in New Dehli, India: The scale of giving has expanded. More people are giving. Because a large number of daily wage labourers are stuck without earnings due to the lockdown, citizens and NGOs are donating dry rations and cooked meals every day. There have been two TV telethons to raise funds for Oxfam and Save the Children India. All small and big NGOs have launched their campaigns. However, most of the money is going to PM Cares Fund, a newly instituted non-profit fund backed by the government. Contributing to it is considered ‘prudent’ by corporations and big donors. The fund is being extensively promoted across all TV channels and social media.   Deborah Berra in Aarau, Switzerland: Ich vermute, dass mehr Gelder NGOs zufliessen, die lokal tätig sind. Dazu können Organisationen, die in der Schweiz tätig sind, besser Auskunft geben als ich. Ich warte die kommenden Monate ab

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Covid-19: 7 fundraisers in 7 places

As the tide of the Covid-19 pandemic rolls on across the globe and into North America, it is threatening to crush some nonprofits, while others may find themselves riding on a relatively smooth wave of financial support. Most will find themselves somewhere in between. There are many unknowns and uncertainties as we navigate the stormy seas of fundraising and donor relations in the coming months. Relationship fundraising pioneer, Ken Burnett, suggests the crisis could be fundraising’s finest hour, when we turn to our donors with what he calls a ‘Let’s give before we get, sharing with our friends’ approach’. At the core is the “supporter’s experience that matters most.” Having thoughtful conversations with donors that allow us to genuinely connect and discuss what is happening. Listening carefully what they have to say. How they have been affected. For those who feel forgotten this can be a lifeline. The way we handle the crisis will impact our donor relationships in the future. In this difficult time, I asked more than half a dozen fundraisers, some working on the frontline, others managing staff, and a few involved in consulting, in different regions and countries around the globe, what they are doing differently. Seven fundraising professionals in seven places: Robert Dixon, Director of Development at Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada Melody Song, Fundraising Consultant, Founder & Solution Designer Dogoodhere.org, Berlin, Germany reporting on China (based on interviews with family, friends in the charity sector, and Ying Ye, General Secretary for the Fundraising Innovation Centre, Shanghai, China) Rodney M. Grabowski, Vice President for University Advancement University at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York, USA Anup Tiwari, Board Member, South Asian Fundraising Group, New Dehli, India Deborah Berra, CEO, Stiftung Kindernothilfe Schweiz, Aarau, Switzerland Daryl Upsall, Chief Executive, Daryl Upsall & Associates and Daryl Upsall Consulting International, Madrid, Spain Bill Littlejohn, CEO and Senior VP, Sharp HealthCare Foundation, San Diego, California, USA How did you experience the past few days of the Covid-19 crisis? Robert Dixon in Toronto, Canada: After the initial shock and disruption, the past few days have actually been rather fun. The remote working technology is operating well, food supplies have returned to normal, and it’s been good to have extra time for cooking, reading, and catching up with friends and family. I’m concerned of course about the wider situation, and particularly for elderly relatives living back home in the UK, but clarity from various governments in recent days has been helpful. Melody Song in Berlin, Germany: For me, and many people who have families in China but live in North America or Europe, this crisis has been a non-stop challenge since January! China is getting back to normal after two months of lockdown. Kids are still out of school but there are plans for schools to open on May 1, 2020. There are still tight controls by volunteers in each community about who comes and goes, and residents are still using hand-written passes to ensure strangers don’t enter communities without registration. Overall in the past few days, the situation in China has been uplifting.   Rodney Grabowski in Buffalo, New York, USA: As a leader in advancement, it feels like every day is a week in time given our current dynamic environment. The past few days of the current pandemic has had a dramatic impact on my focus. My first priority is the health and welfare of my team (approximately 130 individuals) and secondly, to our constituency. We have been simultaneously redefining how we work, what is important and then prioritizing in ways that allows us to be sincere and productive during this crisis. Engagement, solicitation and stewardship practices have been upended and revisited based on our current reality and are often changing on an almost daily basis. Anup Tiwari in New Dehli, India: The past few days have been full of anxiety for family, friends, and generally the underprivileged in India and around the world. Personal anxieties have been addressed by social distancing; however, the large daily wage-earning population in India is not able to stay hungry in their temporary shelters and are rushing to reach their native villages or towns. This puts them and the rest in huge danger. Personally, working from home during crisis means longer working hours as you can’t be in the field and have to manage all from a lockdown confinement.  Deborah Berra in Aarau, Switzerland: I followed the development of the corona crisis early on in Italy and Ticino (Italian part of Switzerland) and decided on Wednesday, March 11th 2020 that we would start with homeoffice. As an employer, I have a duty of care towards my employees. We are basically set up in a way that work from home is possible. We all live in Zurich, but work in Aarau. In addition, all of my employees are mothers. So it’s good when one has the opportunity to do things from home. Nevertheless, we still had to organize one or two things before we were fully functional. Daryl Upsall in Madrid, Spain: The past days have been kind of surreal. On March 11, after a lot of traveling for work, my partner and I headed for a long-planned break at the beach and then couldn’t travel back to Madrid. Currently, we are on complete lockdown with mandated self-isolation, and people here are abiding by it very strictly. It’s like a post-Franco legacy. When orders are given, they are abided: empty streets, no cars driving on the streets, shops closed. Very different, for example, in the UK, where people were still gathering in sunny weather and having parties. Yesterday, I went to the grocery store and everything was super organized there, fully stocked shelves, staff sanitizing the cart for you before you touch it, and cheerful staff. While the clapping from balconies started here, there is no spring to volunteering out of solidarity happening as is the case in other countries. Bill Littlejohn in San Diego, California, USA: Beginning March 16, we converted our monthly e-newsletter (Philanthropy Notes)

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