Sector Report: Fundraising 2009-2010

Richard Pordes, president, Richard M Pordes LLC
Perhaps I'm a hopeless optimist, but like home prices and GNP growth, we must never forget that the last five years before 2008 saw unprecedented growth in charitable giving. Let's stop talking about a recession and talk about a correction! Whatever goes up so quickly in just a few years must inevitably pause to take a breath. The charities that have seen dramatic growth since 2002 are seeing the biggest declines, and they are still way ahead of where they were in that very same year. 2010 will see a resumption of the upward trend we've seen since 2002, just starting at a slightly lower, "corrected" level!

Mikaela King, director of online marketing, CDR Fundraising Group
I think we're through the worst, and 2010 will continue the recovery trend. Most nonprofits that resisted the urge to dramatically cut acquisition have made it through 2009 not too worse for wear, and that was the biggest challenge this year — to not have a knee-jerk reaction to the bad economic news, but rather to strategically focus on your business and limit your exposure. It's not directly related to the economy, but I think the challenge for 2010 and beyond will be to find a way to monetize social networking.

Pamela Grow, president, GrowConsultingPA
My particular niche lies in smaller nonprofit organizations, and I can tell you that I have been truly astounded by the utter fear that I'm finding within these organizations. The fear has taken them to a point of paralysis!

In many organizations, the first area that they cut is development. And I tend to think that, yes, things will get worse — until nonprofit organizations learn that they need to have the same focus and passion for fundraising/development as they have for their missions.