CCS Fundraising

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The first two installments of CCS Fundraising’s Philanthropic Climate Survey series in May and June 2020 documented the immediate effects of a crisis in nonprofit fundraising. Our third-edition survey conducted from September 9 to September 16, 2020 provides a window into a nonprofit sector that—at this point, half a year into the global pandemic—has moved past the initial onset of crisis and into adapting to a “new normal.”

Click here to download the full report.

The Pandemic’s Changing Impact on Nonprofit Fundraising

Our September survey results, comprised of responses from nearly 1,400 individuals representing nonprofits of all major subsectors, show that although the pandemic has brought widespread fundraising challenges, its negative impact on fundraising has lessened over time.

In our most recent survey, 53% of respondents reported that the pandemic has led to a decline in fundraising at their organization. As illustrated in the graph below, the proportion of respondents saying that they experienced a decline has decreased markedly from a height of 63% in May. Moreover, the proportion of respondents reporting a fundraising increase amid the pandemic has doubled since May, rising from 14% to 28%.

Though fundraising outcomes are growing more positive in the aggregate, improvements are felt unevenly across subsectors. Nonprofits hard hit by lockdowns and social distancing measures, like performing arts organizations and cultural institutions, are unsurprisingly more likely to report negative effects, with 73% and 67% of respondents respectively reporting a decline so far. On the other end of the spectrum, 45% of respondents from human and social service organizations reported a fundraising increase amid the pandemic—the highest rate of all major subsectors represented in our survey.

Our survey results show that the vast majority (74%) of respondents have not laid off fundraising staff as of September. There was a slight uptick in hiring since June, with 7% of respondents saying that they added fundraising staff. Overall reports of layoffs and furloughs increased in September, though the size of individual layoff and furlough events may be growing smaller on average: a greater proportion of these staff reductions were deemed “modest” rather than “significant” in comparison to May and June numbers. Moreover, our data suggest that nonprofits may be less likely to conduct future layoffs and furloughs now than in previous months, with only 3% of respondents reporting that staff reductions are “under consideration” in September compared to 8% in June and 10% in May.

 

The Evolving Response of Nonprofit Professionals

As the pandemic continues, our data suggest that virtual donor engagement methods are becoming more and more prominent in nonprofit fundraising operations. In September, a combined 44% of respondents reported that they held some sort of online fundraising event to date, up from 31% in June. As demonstrated in the chart below, this 13-percentage-point increase was almost exclusively driven by survey respondents converting previously planned galas, dinners, and other fundraisers to a new virtual format, as opposed to creating new virtual events.

As a positive indicator for the future of fundraising in an increasingly virtual world, our latest survey results suggested relatively widespread comfort with virtual solicitations at the major gift level. So far, 43% of survey respondents have conducted a virtual major gift solicitation. Phone and video methods are about equally popular for conducting these requests, as shown in the chart below. Moreover, another 29% of respondents are considering a virtual major gift ask, contributing to a combined total of more than 70% of respondents who have either already solicited a major gift virtually or are considering doing so.

To see more results from our Philanthropic Climate Survey series, check out our newly released third-edition report Fundraising Impact of COVID-19. If you have any questions about the report or CCS Fundraising, please contact us today.

To access our full suite of perspectives, publications, and reports, visit our insights page. To learn more about CCS Fundraising’s suite of services, click here.

Your fundraising campaign’s success is not only about funds raised, but also about the ongoing accomplishments that keep your team feeling positive and motivated. Celebrating small wins in fundraising is important for building momentum, instilling confidence, and establishing a successful path forward to reaching your big goals.

Achieving this kind of incremental success cannot be overlooked. Especially now, when so many organisations are facing adversity, there are things you can do right away to ensure your campaign keeps moving forward.

Three Ways to Achieve Small Wins

  1. Rallying your internal support

Building a sense of ownership, trust, and empowerment among organisational leaders is an important accomplishment to celebrate at the outset of and throughout a campaign. Knowing that your people support fundraising efforts inspires greater confidence among campaign leaders and volunteers who are driving activity forward.

Instilling confidence amongst your key insiders can be accomplished in the following ways.

  • Be transparent and communicate often. Host monthly update meetings with staff, send newsletters or other forms of consistent communication about campaign progress and success, and create opportunities to discuss challenges and frustrations so lines of communication are always open. This will establish trust and confidence and open the door to internal advocates for your campaign that will build greater momentum for the campaign.
  • Look inward and create structure on your team. Creating and clearly communicating roles for each person will create a sense of collective ownership, which becomes a much larger win for the organisation as whole.
  • Highlight accomplishments at the next staff meeting. Publicly acknowledging the good work of staff, volunteers and leaders to advance fundraising efforts. Celebrating small successes is key to creating a winning culture and can help create an energised and excited team even during the hardest times.
  1. Updating your prospect pipeline

Campaigns are also about building and maintaining relationships with donors. While organisations often focus on a specific targeted list of prospects, a campaign is also an opportunity to identify new individuals who share a commitment to an organisation’s mission.

By reviewing and updating your prospect pipeline, you give your team confidence in knowing that they are spending time on the right donors. During challenging times, any update to the pipeline is a great way to get the ball rolling again and each new prospect is a new opportunity to increase donations, set both staff and donor sights higher, and engage a broader community that may include future leaders.

Once a prospect is in the pipeline, celebrate every move throughout the donor engagement process as a small win toward greater success.

  1. Setting yourself up for a big win

Organisations often celebrate a completed request visit because it means they are one step closer to a gift. While this is an exciting moment, the hard work that goes into the preparation for these visits often goes unacknowledged.

As you plan for a transformational request, acknowledge each task as a small win and share your progress with your team. Over time, you will notice your leaders become more prepared for and confident when conducting requests, which often yields higher returns on requests. This is an example of how incremental success can lead to overall success.

Getting Started Today

Ask yourself: What do I have to look forward to tomorrow? What will we accomplish next week? How can we build on next week’s win?

When answering these questions, keep in mind that small wins illuminate progress and demonstrates success. This helps to motivate everyone involved and sets your people up to produce results.

The racial equity movement has occasioned meaningful and unparalleled reflection, discourse, and action within the nonprofit and philanthropic sector.

According to CCS Fundraising’s internal analysis of domestic trends, over $3.67 billion was publicly donated to racial equity and related causes in the weeks following the killing of George Floyd. This sum rivals the $3.7 billion in publicly reported U.S. donations to COVID-19. Philanthropy of this scale will create enduring changes in communities from coast to coast.

To understand more about the local perspective and mark the release of Giving USA 2020: The Annual Report on Philanthropy, CCS Fundraising hosted conversations across the nation with regional leaders and experts in the field. Throughout our panel discussions in the Northeast, we heard three emerging trends:

  • Donors and nonprofit professionals have a renewed commitment to the systems-change impact model
  • Corporations are supporting local communities in unprecedented ways
  • Individuals continue to be a large source of support for critical funding needs

Philanthropy is Focusing on Systems Change

Philanthropists have always had to decide whether their funding should support short-term activity-based projects or long-term systems-change projects. Historically, funding has predominantly supported the former; in a report released by McKinsey earlier this year, more than 70% of funders were found to actively discourage systems-change approaches through methods like restrictive funding and program requirements.

However, recent events have shed a light on the systemic and long-term implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on marginalized communities. Dr. Myechia Minter-Jordan, Board Member of the Boston Foundation and President and CEO of DentaQuest Partnership for Oral Health Advancement and Catalyst Institute, encouraged panel attendees to embrace this shift towards a systems-change mindset. “It focuses less on serving the immediate issue at hand, but rather why the issue might exist in the first place and what systems created them,” Dr. Minter-Jordan said. “We need to understand the processes that inform the systems through educating ourselves. In terms of the bigger picture, we can further our understanding by looking at the local level and paying attention to grassroots organizations. It is important we engage people along the way, too, with realistic expectations. If we can make change at the core, we will see the most progress.”

Corporations are Stepping Up

Some of America’s largest corporations are stepping up to help overcome the economic and healthcare disadvantages faced by marginalized communities.

2019 was a record year for corporate philanthropy, which experienced a 13% growth rate. More recently, corporations have made unprecedented gifts toward the racial justice movement. Bank of America is among the most notable corporate donors, pledging $1 billion over four years to support economic and racial inequities accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bill Hatfield, Rhode Island Market President of Bank of America, spoke about the future of corporate giving during our panel. “There remains a very significant opportunity for businesses to collaborate at the local level and ensure that they are aligned to key community needs,” said Hatfield.  “Business has to play a bigger role. It has to be more influential and needs to be at the table with greater level of contribution to support the change that is needed.”

Individuals Continue to Drive Giving

During times of crisis, major corporate and foundation gifts are prominently announced and featured. That generosity is to be celebrated, but the data shows us that, historically, individual giving drives philanthropy and is an important way that many people express their values. A recent survey from Gallup noted that 73% of Americans reported giving to charity last year, which is more engagement than in almost any other civic activity – including voting.

This moment is no different, as we see individuals educating themselves and donating to causes related to race and marginalization, including economic opportunity, housing, healthcare (including mental health programs), food security, education, and many others.

There has been over $157 million in crowd-sourced grassroots funding from tens of millions of individuals via the internet, as well as single, large-sum contributions such as the $120 million gift made by Reed Hastings, Netflix CEO, to support the United Negro College Fund, Spelman College, and Morehouse College.

Dan Crewe, philanthropist and President of The Bob Crewe Foundation, has led the way for philanthropists in Maine looking to learn and lead. “I’m fortunate to sit on the boards of Maine College of Art, USM Foundation, Portland Symphony Orchestra, and the ACLU of Maine. A few years ago, some of my acquaintances and I entered into discussions that opened my eyes to my own life of privilege. When I read Ibram X. Kendi’s book, How to be an Anti-Racist, I realized how much I had never known,” said Crewe. “White society is in an awakening. How does this affect what we’re doing? We have supported communities of color in an indirect way through the arts, but now we are taking a closer look at how to be open to new ways to participate in this societal change.”

Looking Ahead

For those of us who work in the non-profit sector, the events of recent months have highlighted that our missions are more important and more urgent than ever. In past moments of crisis, uncertainty, and societal change, we’ve seen that philanthropy is both resilient and responsive.

CCS interviews thousands of donors around the world each year on behalf of our clients. The number one reason – consistently – that people say they give is to make an impact. This reason consistently ranks above tax benefits, moral/religious obligation, or a sense of duty to their community. During this time of physical distancing, now is the moment to stay connected with your donors, welcome them into the challenging conversations, and invite them to make an impact through and with your organization.

To access our full suite of perspectives, publications, and reports, visit our insights page. To learn more about CCS Fundraising’s suite of services, click here.

Endowments have long been an important tool for arts and culture organizations to promote financial stability and growth in their community. As nonprofits continue to shift programming and strategy in light of COVID-19,  CCS finds that 36% of cultural organizations and 56% of performing arts organizations are anticipating a significant decline in their fundraising in the short and medium term. Endowments are not the only component that promotes organizational stability during or following a crisis; however, they provide an important income stream when other earned revenues may have ceased. To illustrate how important endowments are, the Chicago Tribune spoke with leadership of local arts organizations to learn what the pandemic means for their endowments.

Endowment Growth

As organizations navigate the “Great Reset,” arts and culture leaders should consider implementing a five to ten-year endowment growth strategy, aiming for endowment totals that are eight to ten times their annual expenses. This type of transformational support will allow arts and culture organizations to move forward from a survival-mode mindset into the world of measurable sustainability. Because of this, leaders can and should initiate the process today.

You may be thinking – how could we possibly focus on building our endowment when we are trying to keep our donors contributing to the annual fund? The necessity to engage with your donors to secure immediate support should be the priority of the organization as you navigate moments of crisis. However, the elements of these conversations with your donors will be important first steps for future conversations as organizations embrace the new normal. In this post, we offer thoughts on how to engage and educate your board, lead donors, and artistic personnel on the importance of endowments as you explore this strategy.

Begin Conversations with Board Leadership First

For arts and culture organizations that have smaller endowments, having the “endowment talk” with board members may prove difficult. Some individuals believe endowment strategy shuts out funds that could be used immediately to solve budget short-falls or enhance upcoming programs. These early objections from board members provide an opportunity to educate them on the long-term benefits of endowment growth, such as:

  1. A well invested endowment will allow an organization to draw about five percent annually from the fund to offset operational expenses in perpetuity, barring any specified fund restrictions. For example, an organization with an endowment of $5,000,000 may be able to draw $250,000 a year to support its annual programs.
  2. Endowments provide the flexibility for organizations to explore expanded programming and artistic risks. With the presence of a well-funded endowment, arts organizations can be more thoughtful about ticketing strategies, artistic commissions, acquisitions, community partnerships, and the like.
  3. While allowing for artistic flexibility during stable periods, endowments also allow for stability during uncertain times. This uncertainty can be seen internally during times of leadership change, or externally during crises such as COVID-19.
  4. Endowment growth will demonstrate an organization’s commitment to sustainable financial practices, opening the door to a stronger philanthropic environment promoting legacy and transformational giving within your organization.

Build Awareness Across Key Constituencies

In addition to educating your board about the importance of endowment growth for the future of the organization, building support with your lead donors is equally important. Consider a virtual lunch-and-learn on the topic of endowments as an effective first step in engaging your donors in these early conversations. The conversation can be framed in this spirit:

“We are cognizant of and are working diligently to address the current issues we are facing. Ever more important, we want to be forward looking in how we emerge and grow in this new normal. As such, we are thinking deeply about the role our endowment plays in our organization today, and how the endowment can support this growth 5-10 years in the future. “

We recommend outlining the same concepts above with your administrative staff as well as your artistic personnel – creating a unified vision across your nonprofit. Musicians and artists want to hear more about what the organization is doing in both the short- and long-term to stabilize, strengthen, and support its work. Beginning these conversations now will build their knowledge and support surrounding the endowment. Many vocal advocates will be crucial if your organization considers a formal endowment campaign in the future. Musicians, artists, and performers are the face of your organization. When they can say, “We believe in the future of our symphony and we know that our leadership is thinking long-term,” the community will follow.

Prepare to Build Your Endowment with Four Key Action Steps

It is worth noting again, we believe that immediate engagement with your donors is imperative to the short-term challenges due to COVID-19. CCS Fundraising has many client partners today who are taking a multifaceted approach in addressing current challenges while positioning for a sustainable future. While the above recommendations will be ongoing efforts, here are four steps you can take today:

  1. Peer Benchmarking – Explore the endowment landscape that exists in your own community and in your specific sector nationally. Are you a symphony orchestra in a mid-size city with an arts museum up the street? How does the size of its fund compare to the size of your orchestra’s? Similarly, if you are a mid-size orchestra, what trends and similarities can be seen at similarly sized organizations? This landscaping information is going to provide you with valuable insight to support your conversations with board members, staff, and artistic leadership.
  2. Review Gift Acceptance Policies – CCS recommends that organizations revisit gift acceptance policies to better understand how they are supporting growth in the endowment. Specifically, we have found that arts and culture organizations who designate all bequests to the Endowment Fund see a quicker rise in fund totals. Additionally, this encourages organizations to reduce reliance on bequests to cover annual budget short falls.
  3. Consider Special Endowment Requests – In addition to your normal annual gift or campaign gift request, you may consider adding 10% above the annual request amount towards the endowment. This can be used as a guidepost and will begin shaping the giving environment in preparation of an endowment campaign. For example, if you have an annual request of an individual at the $10,000 level, invite them to consider an additional gift of $1,000 – $1,500 to the endowment.
  4. Explore Named Gifts – A practice that has been embraced by higher education institutions and larger arts organizations is the employment of “endowed chairs.” Specifically in the arts and culture sector, this is a unique “naming opportunity” for the highest visible artistic positions in the organization. Consider endowing the Music Director Role, or your chief curator’s position. An important note: it has long been accepted to name these positions in perpetuity. This practice limits the organization’s ability to expand donor naming abilities in the future. CCS recommends considering naming agreements of 20-30 years.

CCS Fundraising is a strategic fundraising consulting firm that partners with nonprofits for transformational change. Members of the CCS team are highly experienced and knowledgeable across sectors, disciplines, and regions. With offices throughout the United States and the world, our unique, customized approach provides each client with an embedded team member for the duration of the engagement. To access our full suite of perspectives, publications, and reports, visit our insights page. To learn more about CCS Fundraising’s suite of services, click here.

Relationships play an essential role in the success of any organization. Whether it is relationships within your organization, external partners, donors, clients, or volunteers, success is dependent on the support from others. Nonprofit organizations rely heavily on the engagement of teams and constituencies to ensure successful delivery of mission and sustainability for the future.

Strong relationships can take on many forms and we identify three characteristics commonly found in all: trust, respect, and authenticity. There are several strategies which help accelerate those relationships with your organizational staff, board, volunteers, and donors.

Three Pillars of Strong Relationships

Trust

Trust is an integral element to any successful relationship. Lack of trust equates to an imbalance in predictability which creates a culture where one or both parties feel a lack of control and foster an unwillingness to move forward and overcome challenges. Building trust can be implemented through some immediate best practices:

  • Prioritize learning and listening. Equal relationships are a two-way street, requiring both listening and understanding.
  • Be reliable and accountable. Following up and delivering items you have promised demonstrates you are committed to, and value, the time and ideas of your counterpart.
  • Perform tasks diligently and intentionally, show you can not only complete tasks but also go above and beyond to make that task meaningful and impactful. This is essential to building a strong sense of trust and loyalty.

When building trust with your constituencies, ensure that you are communicating transparently and providing consistent updates. Two successful trust building activities include: personal meetings/information sharing sessions and consistent stewardship publications highlighting organization success. These actions promote trust, which leads to a strong relationship between your organization and its partners.

Respect

As one of the most powerful elements of a strong relationship, respect is essential, especially when tasked with overcoming challenges.  Knowing that you have entered a cooperative partnership leads to successful collaboration.

Lack of respect reduces the opportunity to work collaboratively. If one or more party feels they are not heard, understood, or valued, the opportunity to overcome challenges is drastically more difficult.

Many well-respected organizations can be characterized by the level of engaged volunteers. These organizations find that managing volunteer engagement through orientations, trainings, and laser-focused activity charts fosters an elevated level of respect. Feeling fulfilled in their volunteer work only heightens the engagement of volunteers, ultimately raising the sites of the organization.

Authenticity

Those who bring their authentic selves into a relationship lead with courage, ask questions to strengthen a genuine connection, and create intentional environments of trust and respect. Entering a relationship authentically allows you to freely communicate your perspective while providing others with the same courtesy. Authentic relationships eliminate barriers created by feelings of unreliability and fear.

When our actions and thoughts are incongruent to our true beliefs, our outcome can come across as disingenuous. Easily identified by others, an insincere person will quickly fall out of favor.

Authentic leadership focuses on fulfilling the mission and vision of their organization. By articulating a strong Case for Support, leadership develops an action-oriented plan for their internal teams and a heightened sense of impact awareness among their external constituencies.

Developing Strong Organizational Relationships

Many chose a nonprofit career because of a deep connection to the organization’s mission. Respecting that passion is essential to building this relationship. Beginning with a foundation of mutual respect strengthens the relationship between manager and staff while valuing teams for the hard work and many sacrifices they make.

A staff culture built on respect and trust allows for leaders to effectively assess situations, garner support and input and forge paths forward. An authentic leader works to ensure that their staff is confident that everyone’s best interest is kept in the forefront of decision making. As you navigate the changing landscape of nonprofit leadership, keep in mind the pillars that make up a successful relationship and implement them in your daily team communication.

Three Effective Strategies to Strengthen Team Relationships

  1. Implement weekly all-team check-in call to increase transparency throughout team functions.
  2. Institute bi-weekly one-on-one phone calls or email notes to strengthen individual relationships.
  3. Discuss high-level department strategy on a quarterly, if not monthly, basis. Your team wants to understand leadership decision making and it is important that you encourage feedback to foster a collaborative environment.

Growing Board and Volunteer Relationships

Board and volunteer leadership are an organization’s greatest assets. Nonprofits rely on their leadership, their guidance, and their unwavering commitment to help further the day-to-day work. Focusing on the motivation of their involvement is the first step in deepening your personal relationship with these partners. When managing your board and volunteers, ensure that you are following through with promises to build trust in your work.

Conveying to volunteers and board members their importance and the impact of their time helps grow a new or challenging relationship. Elevating their level of engagement is possible through deepening their relationship with the organization and core staff members.

Three Effective Strategies to Strengthen Board and Volunteer Relationships

  1. Manage their time effectively: respect agenda items and manage activity tracking charts and expectations.
  2. Allow for proactive two-way communication: listen, implement suggested ideas, and follow up.
  3. Provide follow up reminders for tasks and expectations: volunteers give freely of their time and gentle follow up provides a roadmap of guidance.

Fostering Strong Donor Relationships

Nonprofit leaders focus much of their energy on the identification, discovery, and cultivation of our donor relationships. These relationships, the lifeline of the organization, are invaluable and should always be both a short- and long-term strategic focus. Being the bridge between the donor and the organization’s mission is the first step in developing deep engagement. It is best practice to employ all three pillars of a successful relationship as you become the financial steward of a donor’s charitable investment. Building an authentic, trustworthy relationship built on respect provides you the credibility to engage with donors in a meaningful way.

We know that individuals give because they are asked, and in relationship to who asks them. With this as a foundational principle, we understand the essential role relationship building has to our organization’s success.

Three Effective Strategies to Strengthen Donor Relationships

  1. Schedule listening sessions to understand what motivates each donor and how they see themselves as part of your organization.
  2. Develop detailed communication plans for donors to ensure they are aware of organizational updates and activities consistently and not only when asked for financial commitments.
  3. Provide comprehensive, personalized, and thoughtful gift acknowledgements and stewardship reports to demonstrate impact to the organization and appreciation.

Relationship development is a deeply personal activity and can manifest in several ways. When assessing your relationship dynamics are you thinking about respect, trust and authenticity? As you continue to deepen the engagement of your constituencies, keep these tools in mind to create strong and meaningful relationships.

CCS Fundraising is a strategic fundraising consulting firm that partners with nonprofits for transformational change. As leading consulting experts in campaign and development strategy, we plan and implement fundraising initiatives to help nonprofit organizations make a bigger impact—locally, nationally, and globally. For over 70 years, CCS has empowered many of the world’s greatest organizations to advance some of the most important causes in history. While the results of our work are immediate, the impact of the strategies, tools, and tactics we develop with our clients are enduring.

To access our full suite of perspectives, publications, and reports, visit our insights page. To learn more about CCS Fundraising’s suite of services, click here.

The Autumn months are typically a heightened activity period for charitable organisations. While elements of this year’s plan will change, it is still important to ensure that September-December remains a period of focused action which will yield financial results.

Here are five tips to help you get ready for September:

Tip 1: Develop a Calendar and Set Goals for the Period

  • Develop a one-page fundraising calendar that takes you to the end of the year.
  • Include any important dates or events (even if the format will be different this year) and consider how you can use these to progress fundraising conversations.
  • Include financial and activity benchmarks so you can continually assess progress and amend your plans as necessary:
    • How many meetings do you hope to hold each week/month?
    • How will you divide the financial goal across September – December?

Tip 2: Revisit Your Prospect List

  • Identify the top 25 most important relationships for your organisation in the coming months. For each develop a personalised plan which addresses:
    • The objective for each e.g. build affiliation, brief them on your plans, ask for their support, steward their gift.
    • What activities need to happen over the next few months to reach this outcome?
  • Make sure your pipeline is up to date. This may include adding new names to your database (e.g. new parents, recent graduates, new community members).

Tip 3: Prepare Your Materials

  • Spend time reviewing your fundraising materials and identify any that may benefit from updating.
  • Share information regarding how your organisation has responded during the Covid-19 pandemic and how this has impacted the support that you require to ensure that your priorities remain highly relevant.
  • Refresh your documents by incorporating updated images, statistics, infographics and testimonials to tell the story and encourage giving.

Tip 4: Plan Events for the Autumn

  • Consider your events calendar, although the format of some events may change it is important to create opportunities throughout the year to engage with your community.
  • Spend time now on the core elements such as defining the guest list, confirming the format and making key stakeholders aware of significant dates.

Tip 5: Celebrate Recent Wins

  • The last few months have been challenging for all organisations, spend some time reflecting on the ways in which you adapted and the progress that was made.
  • By documenting your successes, you may even find that you have new content to share with your community about the ways in which your organisation responded to the crisis and continued to drive activity in line with your mission.

COVID-19 has forced organizations of all sizes and sectors to adapt to a digital model, with impacts that will likely last beyond the pandemic. Churches are no exception. As the pandemic spread in March, parishes and dioceses across the United States closed their doors and suspended all in-person gatherings and events. While doing so was the right decision to help limit the spread and flatten the curve, it had two immediate impacts:

  1. Millions of people lost an essential part of their lives in the suspension of weekly Mass/service
  2. Parishes faced a financial crisis without the weekly collections

Many parishes across the country – primarily larger congregations – already had virtual footprints embedded in their communities, utilizing online and mobile giving, regularly updated websites, and social media platforms such as Facebook or YouTube. However, countless others were not so fortunate at the outbreak of the pandemic and had to make decisions and investments very quickly to adapt their parishes to the new normal for worship. Through an analysis conducted by CCS Fundraising of over 2,400 Catholic and Episcopal parishes across 29 dioceses in the Mid-Atlantic and the Southeast United States, it is clear to see these investments and adaptations are paying off both financially and spiritually. Parishes that are using this opportunity to expand their digital footprints and utilize a variety of communications strategies are realizing financial benefits that will last far beyond this pandemic crisis.

Given the uncertainty of how long the pandemic would keep churches closed to in-person worship, one of the first actions parishes took was to learn how to stream Masses/services. Our research has found that 66% of parishes are streaming their Masses/services via Facebook Live, YouTube, or Zoom. Beyond that, many are also virtually hosting weekly coffee hours, daily prayers, and ministry meetings. Doing so has allowed these parishes to continue gathering for the church. While worshippers still may not be physically going to church, the use of streaming technologies has allowed the sense of faith, hope, and community that comes from in-person weekly worship to continue.

Church closures and the absence of in-person gatherings also have complicated manners of communicating valuable information to parishioners. What once was an announcement at Masses/services or disseminated in print bulletins also had to be adapted to the new remote lifestyle. Questions then arise: What methods of communication will be most useful or accessible for our community? How do we maintain contact with as many parishioners as possible? How do we communicate with older parishioners who may not have the same technical capabilities for virtual methods?

While simple phone calls to check-in with families are often the most personal and successful, the above questions (among many others) show the need for a variety of methods. Our research finds that 89% of parishes use websites for communication, and 80% use Facebook or other social media platforms, yet only 46% are continuing to publish bulletins/newsletters in digital formats. It is important to note these data do not overlap, as parishes may only be utilizing one or two of the mentioned methods. Using multiple communication methods makes it easier to reach all parishioners and maintain the sense of community vital to parish life.

COVID-19 presented a significant financial crisis for most parishes, removing their primary method of collecting revenue (in-pew collections) indefinitely. Many did not have existing online or mobile giving platforms, leaving them to rely on families dropping off or mailing their donations to the office. The opportunity arose for most parishes to adapt and implement new systems into their communities. We have found that 54% of parishes have an online or mobile giving platform, allowing their families to donate from the comfort – and safety – of their home.

Communicating the importance of offertory is crucial, yet only 45% are doing so on their websites, 15% on Facebook, and 22% in their bulletins/newsletters. Parishioners need to know the importance of continuing their contributions to their churches, and this proves to be an area of opportunity based on our findings.

While the ideal scenario for a parish would be to include all methods listed above – and more – as part of their pandemic strategies, it is not necessary. However, what is necessary is that every parish adapts its digital environment and frequently communicates through a variety of methods. The chart below shows one diocese in the southeastern United States that followed these recommendations through CCS’s SECURE program beginning on April 2nd. While parish finances lagged behind pre-pandemic levels, the immediate digital adaptations and communication strategies led to remarkable financial gains.

Figure 1: How rapid digital adaptations benefited one southeastern diocese financially

The COVID-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented need for change at parishes of all denominations and sizes across the country. Those who embrace this opportunity and adapt accordingly will benefit both their parish community in providing effective occasions for gathering remotely and the economic well-being of their parish to withstand the hardships caused by this pandemic. Those who put in these efforts now will see lasting benefits even beyond the pandemic crisis.

Proven Tips for Effective Adaptation:

  • Embrace change and try new ideas. These are uncertain times for all, and churches are feeling an impact. Some churches already had digital communities before the pandemic, while others did not. Use this time to learn new technologies and integrate them into your parish communities.
  • Use a variety of platforms and strategies for communication (e. websites, social media posts, video messages).
  • Regularly update the information provided on these platforms daily or weekly.
  • Be transparent about finances. Parishioners will not understand the economic hardships presented to churches by COVID-19 unless they are explicitly told via church websites/social media pages, newsletters, or even phone calls.
  • Know your parishioners and be creative. Every method discussed above has proven to be beneficial for parishes of both Catholic and Episcopal faiths in these regions. However, each parish has its own unique community, and some ideas may work better than others.

CCS Fundraising is a strategic fundraising consulting firm that partners with nonprofits for transformational change. Members of the CCS team are highly experienced and knowledgeable across sectors, disciplines, and regions. With offices throughout the United States and the world, our unique, customized approach provides each client with an embedded team member for the duration of the engagement. To access our full suite of perspectives, publications, and reports, visit our insights page. To learn more about CCS Fundraising’s suite of services, click here.

In recent months, our global community has faced extraordinary circumstances that have forced long-standing institutional and systemic inequities to the forefront of our collective consciousness. The COVID-19 pandemic shined a spotlight on the disproportionate impact of health crises on our most vulnerable populations, and the Black Lives Matter movement galvanized global attention and action around systemic racism. These events may seem unrelated, but the root of both is simply injustice. While these issues are not new, the attention, momentum, and urgency to address these problems are. CCS Fundraising’s Inequity in a Global Crisis webinar series was originally conceived to discuss inequities amplified by COVID-19, but because of the intersectionality of this work, we hope our research will serve as a catalyst for critical thinking and innovative solutions to create a more just and equitable society.

The ramifications of the current global health pandemic and corresponding economic crisis are not universal. Due to inequities that existed long before the coronavirus, their disproportionate effects on certain populations have been heightened and compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic. Women; black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC); LGBTQ+ communities; people with disabilities; and those experiencing homelessness or economic insecurity are among populations facing challenges that far exceed others. Individuals who form these constituencies are experiencing a significantly greater degree of:

  • Institutionalized economic insecurity and the concurrent lack of a financial safety net.
  • High unemployment rates and high risk of exposure through “essential” jobs.
  • Limited access to routine healthcare and historically higher incidences of underlying health conditions.
  • Discrimination by implicit or explicit bias, isolation and a vulnerability to hostile or violent behavior.
  • Limited access to necessary and life-sustaining services.
This image shows six panels: 1. Prior to the coronavirus, 25% of domestic workers lived below the poverty line. Currently 72% of Latinx domestic workers report unemployment in the US. 2. Globally, women comprise 76% of the healthcare workforce in nursing homes, doctors' offices, outpatient clinics, and health delivery centers other than hospitals. They also make up more than 80% of workers in other direct care professions including day care for children and seniors, occupational speech and physical therapies, home health and living assistance, and other service industry support roles. 3. Black Americans have historically higher incidences of underlying health conditions most likely to increase the chance of death with COVID-19. Homeless populations have a high circumstantial risk of developing COVID-19 and subsequent barrier to care. 4. Diasporic Asians are experiencing xenophobia and discriminatory threats by misguided association and false information. 5. LGBTQ+ dedicated violence prevention hotlines have seen a 30% increase in calls during the pandemic as a result of stay-at-home confinement living arrangements. 6. Life-sustaining medical treatments are at risk for the 61 million Americans who live with a disability and the 350 million individuals worldwide who are affected by a rare disease diagnosis.

While the risk of contracting COVID-19 is universally threatening, the lasting impact of inequity will burden these communities long after the pandemic has ended.

Many of these effects can be minimized with robust support from the broader philanthropic community. However, doing so successfully will require more than a “one-size-fits-all” fundraising effort to alleviate the unique suffering experienced by these underserved populations. Fundraising to alleviate the long-term effects of the pandemic and concurrent economic crisis requires empathy, agility, innovation, and a dynamic perspective in order to meet the diversity of needs these communities face.

This effort begins with a commitment to reduce stigma and build community resilience by:

This image shows 10 suggestions: 1. Sharing the need for social and financial support for marginalized groups 2. Maintaining privacy and confidentiality of those seeking healthcare 3. Quickly communicating the risk or lack of risk associated with products, people, and places 4. Raising awareness about COVID-19 without increasing fear 5. Sharing accurate and accessible information about how the virus spreads 6. Speaking out against negative behaviors and the exclusion of marginalized groups 7. Being cautious about the images that are shared to avoid reinforcing stereotypes 8. Engaging with marginalized groups in person and through social media 9. Thanking healthcare workers, responders, and those providing essential services 10. Nonprofit leaders: having discussions with your board about the relationship between justice/equity and your mission.

The question then becomes: how do we contextualize this information when building a responsive funding strategy? Philanthropists and nonprofit organizations can transform the future and help rebuild the fabric of society by viewing their mission through a lens that acknowledges these inequities. This will help align their existing work with the needs that have been brought into global focus.

Consider:

  • Acknowledging the complex challenges that emerge from the intersection of this virus and the inequities that have long existed in our society.
  • Demonstrating a direct link between the challenges faced by these constituencies and your mission, vision, and goals, advocating for these constituencies, and strengthening your organization’s connection.
  • Seeking proportionate and adaptable solutions for the underlying causality to competently address systemic inequities.
  • Planning in a strategic, thoughtful, and measured way and setting inspirational goals and clear benchmarks for success in all aspects of your mission.
  • Supporting local organizations who serve, and businesses owned by, these populations
  • Partnering with and centering the voices, experiences, and perspectives of the populations you serve.

Although increased access to resources is the common theme, we should examine the structures in place that have created these inequities. Philanthropists and nonprofit organizations can begin to address these issues in some of the following ways:

  • Cisgender Women – Seek opportunities to collaborate and build partnerships with women who are already serving in various community leadership roles and strengthen these relationships with empathy and engagement.
  • BIPOC – Ensure the stability of businesses owned by people of color by investing assets, funding equitable growth, and empowering equitable skills training.
  • LGBTQ+ – Alleviate historical stigma and discrimination by facilitating education, conversation, and the spread of accurate information tailored to specific identities.
  • People with Disabilities – Enhance the lives of the disabled by addressing the shortage of life-saving medical equipment and services.
  • Homeless & Economically Insecure – Help fill the gap between need and government funding for the critical shortage of housing and wrap-around services.

For more information on these topics and fundraising strategies to address inequities amplified by the current pandemic, we hope you will view our webinar presented on June 3, 2020. We also encourage you to access these Inequality in a Global Crisis documents that provide resources and references for each of these constituencies.

For most nonprofit organizations, the future of fundraising remains uncertain. This is especially true of educational institutions that must also prepare for a new school year which may feature distanced learning or an adapted model. However, these institutions also have a summer break that can allow them some time to plan ahead for any contingency. In particular, the summer months allow time to assess and plan a fundraising strategy for the short and long term.

A great example of this is the Berwick Academy in South Berwick, ME, an independent school that is dedicating its summer to planning ahead. In a new video, Bob Weston, a Senior Consultant with CCS Fundraising, speaks with Jim Hamilton, Head of School at Berwick Academy, to learn about how the school is adapting to the COVID-19 crisis.

As Jim says, the summer is a chance to spend the time “building the type of program that is going to allow for us to be successful in the future.”

Berwick Academy is a Pre-K-12 private school and the oldest educational institution in Maine. Jim became Head of School at Berwick Academy in 2018, and is emphasizing the importance of the summer to find new ways to engage parents, reach out to alumni, and create new relationships in a robust and targeted way.

“If we don’t emerge from COVID-19 a stronger, wiser institution, then we will have missed an opportunity,” says Jim.

For more up-to-date information, visit ccsfundraising.com

To access our full suite of perspectives, publications, and reports, visit our insights page. To learn more about CCS Fundraising’s suite of services, click here.

This month we spoke to Andrew Harston, Director of Development and Alumni Relations at Durham University, about the ways in which he and his team are engaging with prospects and donors virtually to advance the University’s priorities.

For Durham, 2019 had been the most successful fundraising year in the history of the University (…maybe with the exception of 1832 when we were gifted a Castle!). We had finished the end of a two-year programme of engaging face-to-face with record numbers of principal and major gift prospects, receipted record donations in UK and US markets, and were above target for our stretching ‘Durham Inspired’ campaign goals. We had a huge on-campus event in February celebrating all of this momentum, all of these milestones…and then our world changed almost overnight…

Coronavirus had unleashed itself with indiscriminate vigour across the world, affecting the health and wellbeing of our families and communities. Global markets tumbled, singeing the wealth of our donors and supporters; and all of our fixtures for the rest of the academic year had to be mercilessly scratched. As with many of our peers we were now running a global advancement operation from our kitchens, bedrooms, and – occasionally – from our gardens…held as we are by the Edenic climate here in the North East of England.

In the initial lockdown phase, we worked with our communications and colleges’ colleagues to respond to our community’s desire for information on how the University was handling the crisis – particularly, how we were supporting our students. With this in mind, we complemented our broader communications with direct contact between our staff and key stakeholders/supporters by conducting ‘care calls’ which enabled us to maintain important relationships. At this point, each call really had four components: 1) to establish an initial contact; 2) to ask how friends, family and businesses were doing; 3) to update on new information, priorities and needs here; and 4) to set expectations for any next steps.

These calls were critical but were not designed or held to make specific asks – it was too early. As time has moved on, however, we have slowly started to re-surface our advancement objectives. To make progress towards our goals, we needed to think more creatively about ways not just to communicate but to connect and involve stakeholders too. This led us to undertake several actions:

  • Hosting online forums with major donors and supporters:
    We have continued to both steward existing partnerships and develop new relationships virtually, such as our Campaign Board and our senior global volunteers. Whilst this format offers some challenges, we have found that without travel people have more time to accommodate virtual meetings – we have sought to keep these short and succinct in order to avoid fatigue.
  • Deploying leaders, broadening our audiences:
    Within our wider, global community we identified a number of individuals with relevant perspectives on the current situation across a broad spectrum of topics. From this we launched the ‘Durham Inspired – Live in Lockdown’ series (www.dunelm.org.uk/online) which included content from the fundamental to the frivolous: from high-level academic and industry talks with graduates through to a ‘BIG Durham Quiz LIVE’ which was played by c.2,000 alumni – we asked 50+ notable alumni to submit pre-recorded video questions and co-hosted the night with one of our scholarship students.
  • Framing our work within the bigger organisational picture:
    By working with inspirational Durham leaders, we have been able to expand our interaction and involve new segments of our community in assisting ‘the recovery’ of the University from the Covid crisis. We have directed our supporter engagement efforts more closely towards student recruitment and graduate careers outcomes, tending our financial responsibilities to ensure a successful business and the moral obligation owed to the graduating Class of 2020 who enter a sophisticatedly-turbulent job marketplace. This doesn’t just tell donors where we need help, it shows them.

Overall, we have tried – and continue to try – to keep people entertained, educated, and engaged in whatever way we think will be appreciated by our audiences.

In closing, my five top (unsolicited!) tips to other organisational leaders, regardless of sector, would be:

  1. Make time for short calls! Have a plan for these but do not overthink the engagement – just checking-in will be appreciated and often instructive. Share feedback from these calls with your executive colleagues, maybe have a joint call where that’s appropriate? Just stay on each other’s radar;
  2. Reach out to prospects to continue pre-existing giving conversations. For those with current relationships, there is no need to wait until you can meet in person; you can still move ‘live’ giving discussions forward in lockdown;
  3. Remember your wider community, including them now will help your future pipeline – for donors, leaders, student mentors, and recruitment ambassadors;
  4. Look at your data and particularly budgets for next year, now! Budgets in our space will likely be tighter the world over for the next 1-3 years: we need to plan and prioritise. Engage decision-makers and advocates in the need to provide resources which help you to sustain or enhance returns; and be prepared to compromise, but demonstrate clearly – with data – the difference between operable compromise and self-authored development oblivion!; and
  5. Most important, look out for your own health and wellbeing and that of your colleagues. It will be of no use to our respective causes when the world unlocks and we find ourselves emotionally and physically whittled to a splinter by stress, anxiety and fatigue. Ask someone how they’re doing, tell someone how you’re doing – please, just keep talking.

Stay safe,
Andy

If you’d like to contact Andrew with any questions or comments, please reach out to him at: andrew.harston@durham.ac.uk