A Look Back — and Forward

Grams: Integrated direct marketing has been all the buzz for most of the decade. And monthly giving (although HRC has had its monthly giving for nearly two decades). I think the telemarketing landscape is very different today than it was. Goodbye Myspace; hello Facebook.

Kirchoff: Focus on data has gotten much better. The notion that we are targeting the right audiences with the right message has proven critical in the tougher environment where you can no longer mail a paper bag and make money. Disappeared — mostly large-format and dimensional mail because of postal rate changes. And also fax machines.

Grow: One of the first books that I read was “Relationship Fundraising” by Ken Burnett. It made a huge impact on me, and I think that the whole concept of relationship fundraising — focusing on your donor and what they’re accomplishing through you — is vital to an organization’s overall health.

We’re seeing less of the traditional galas and golf outing fundraisers, more of a focus on the donor as an individual. With all that’s been written in the past few years, nonprofits are finally giving more thought to their back-end stewardship systems.

But what I’m really excited about is how nonprofits are beginning to embrace an organizationwide culture of
philanthropy.

Peters: More and more charities are getting fed up with “cost of fundraising,” particularly when measured not as the cost to raise money but rather as the ratio of fundraising costs vs. program costs, and are ignoring those who criticize them when they are investing in their own growth, particularly after the recession.

Is there anything going on in fundraising today that you never would have imagined 10 years ago?

Jeff Jowdy, president, Lighthouse Counsel
The discussion on effectiveness versus efficiency — a welcome dialogue!