The Coming of Age of Collaborative Fundraising

June 18, 2014

The Rise of Collaborative Fundraising

“…a joint effort of two or more groups to raise more money than either group could alone.”

Kim Klein, publisher & editor, Grassroots Fundraising Journal

Current USA Giving Trend 2013- $337 Billion

Giving increased by 4.4% over last year

72%- Individuals15% - Foundations8% -Bequests5% - CorporationsGiving USA

Education grew the most 8.9%

Health, environmental, animal- related and arts 6-8.5% o Giving to Religion and by

Companies continues to slow

o The wealthy are becoming more confident to give

Giving USA

Who is benefitting?

"When stock values are high, it makes a huge difference in the amount of money going into education, but it has little or no impact on religious donations, which rely on lots of small gifts from individuals.“

Info provided by The Atlas of Giving

More N.C. Non-Profits

Total as of Feb. 2007: over 86,000

Total as of Nov. 2008: 91,971

Total as of Dec. 2011: 105,150

Total as of Dec. 2013: 108,301

26% increase in 6 years!

Info provided by North Carolina Secretary of State's Office

Robust Growth for Non-Profits

2010 – North Carolina10% of workforce is non-profits400,000 paid employees

o 2013- USA44% of NFPs plan to create new positions20% plan to freeze, reduce or eliminate positions

North Carolina Philanthropy JournalNon-Profit HR Solutions

Challenging Conditions More Non-profits vying Non-profits ok with operational

fundraising…struggling with capital fundraising

Harder to get donor attention In spite of stock market, still

cautious mood among many major donors

Non-profits very careful about over-reaching in setting fundraising goals

The Rise of Collaborative Fundraising

“…a joint effort of two or more groups to raise more money than either group could alone.”

Kim Klein, publisher & editor, Grassroots Fundraising Journal

The Rise of Collaborative Fundraising

United Way Approved

Campaigns

“Open Season”

“Great Recession”

Cautions Consideration & Possible Collaboratio

n

1960 – 1990 1995 – 2006 2007 – 2010 2011 – Present

What Collaborative Fundraising is NOT

Teaming to support a worthy project where there is no direct benefit back to the organization

Fundraising by budget allocation rather than actual fundraising

Example #1

Sea Pines Montessori and Hilton Head Prep- late 1990s

Collaborated in a capital campaign To fund a common facility and

entrance Successful due to:

Big common goal Strong leadership Rules of engagement

How fundraising looked

Sea Pines Montessori

Hilton Head Prep

School

“Joint fundraising is probably the most difficult form of non-profit collaborations. And the results are far from certain. I think the risk/reward perception is still not where it would need to be to make it attractive for most.”

Jonathan Howard, co-founder, Cause & Effect consulting services

Major Donor confided…

“We once did a collaborative gift to well-known project and that was the beginning of the end of the place as the agencies fought over control of the funds.  Kind of like throwing a steak over the fence at the dog pound.”

Collaborative Fundraising works well when groups:

Share a similar BIG vision Share a similar culture and often size Commitment to joint planning to work

through issues in advance Trust each other (Board chairs often insure

good feelings permeate) Develop a written agreement about

money & labor Are perceived to be equally invested Agreement on how funds raised are

allocated to achieve campaign objectives

Example #2

A North Carolina Community College wants to fund a Manufacturing Training Center

Invited Collaborative Partners (Schools, Chamber of Commerce, Industry, County, plus the College as lead)

Feasibility Study encouraging: A paradigm change for county Unifying Attracting major leaders

A BIG Vision

“A Big vision is probably the most critical factor. A Big vision compels everyone (organizations & donors) to look beyond their own capabilities.“

Jeffrey Ouellette, director of development, Central Square Theatre, Cambridge M.A.

When it works Well…continued

The reward must be greater than if each group had attempted on its own.

Marketing benefit: elevates the project well beyond what a single organization could achieve.

Collaborative fundraising allows groups to access a larger audience and donor pool.

A joint funding arm (committee) generally works to identify, cultivate and solicit joint prospects.

Each group solicits their own prospects, but certain donors are solicited ‘jointly.’

Able to access bigger donors and avoid ‘nickeling and diming.’

Example #3

Midlands Gives- a wonderful collaborative effort Unifying BIG IDEA Strong leadership and credibility of CCCF Clear objectives Low risk – avoids donor confusion

When Collaborative Fundraising does NOT work well, groups:

Do not have the resources to meet the campaign readiness steps

Fear losing their donors Can not find the right groups to work with Lack of commitment of time to

collaborate Boards and staff do not trust each other Can not agree on who to solicit jointly,

and how to allocate funds raised

In Summary: What Makes the Difference A BIG Vision Strong volunteer leadership that is

confident, and insists on ‘trust’ When the groups know that their

major donor prospects like ‘Collaborative Fundraising.’

Keeping the collaboration clear (and simple)

Advance written ‘rules of engagement.’

Example #4

Buncombe County Five Greenways, plus City, County, and Friends of Connect Buncombe Goal: Raise a nucleus fund of possibly

several million for matching grants for specific greenways

By joining together can raise and leverage more support from funders (DOT, Tiger Grants, CDBG, LWCF, etc.)

What to Collaborate on Joint campaign planning team Advance project and community assessment Advance PR and marketing Case development Consulting Feasibility study Campaign coordinator Office and back-office Cultivation event(s) Lead gift solicitations Grant writing PR & Marketing Campaign events & Celebration Project Management

Sample: Collaborative Fundraising Organizational Chart

Org. B

Campaign Steering Committee

BoardStaffFormer Bd. LeadHigh MajorMajorFoundationGift-in-kindPublic

Joint Funding Committee

• Prospect Evaluation• Lead & Challenge Gift• Other identified

prospects to be solicited jointly:

LeadOrg. A

Org. C

BoardStaffFormer Bd. LeadHigh MajorMajorFoundationGift-in-kindPublic

BoardStaffFormer Bd. LeadHigh MajorMajorFoundationGift-in-kindPublic

Campaign Director & Coordinator

Phases

High Quality Results

On Schedule, Over Goal, and Within

Budget