Donor Demographics

Fundraisers from all walks of life are encountering many challenges these days, but what do the C-level executives see as the most important issues facing the sector? At the Direct Marketing Association Nonprofit Federation’s 2010 New York Nonprofit Conference, three top nonprofit executives joined moderator Tom Harrison, president and CEO of Russ Reid, to discuss these issues in a two-part session, “Cracking the Shell: Open Dialogue & Discussion With America’s Top Nonprofit C-Level Executives on the Sector’s Most Pressing Issues."

A recent survey of donors by marketing firms Russ Reid and Grey Matter Re & Consulting resulted in numerous insights about how donors think and give. The survey asked about many aspects of the respondents' giving patterns, including donating in response to the appeal for funds in the wake of the Haiti earthquake earlier this year. For those of us who have been thinking hard about disaster giving recently, these data are helpful in answering the question of who might give in these situations, to what, and by what channels. Here are the points from the study about giving

Saying goodbye after a long fund-raising career has rarely been easy.

These days, however, a growing number of fund raisers don’t face that challenge, even when they reach retirement age.

Instead, many older fund raisers are taking part-time jobs or volunteering, often at the institution where they held senior positions. And others are continuing to work full-time in new roles that demand less travel and stress.

As a member of the grantmaking committee of the Future Fund at the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro, Dan Koenig, a lawyer at Connors Morgan Sinozich, learned a lot and made valuable contacts that have benefited his work as a member of the board of directors of Seven Homes, a local nonprofit that places children in foster homes and received a $1,000 grant from the Future Fund in 2009.

During the first-ever FundRaising Success Virtual Conference & Expo held on May 20 (and available on-demand until Aug. 24), FS columnist and creative director at TrueSense Marketing Jeff Brooks provided 25 good ideas and even one bad one for fundraisers. Here is a rundown of his ideas from his session, “Feel the Power!”

Historic philanthropy patterns of America’s affluent donors are giving way to a more complex and disparate population that represents our country’s patchwork communities. The systematic and predictable giving methods by the rich no longer dominate our donor bases. Diverse communities are emerging with new giving patterns and objectives.

What if there were no new donors? That was the first question nonprofit veteran Roger Craver asked in his presentation, “Where It’s At! A 12-Step Program to Get You to Tomorrow,” at the first ever FundRaising Success Virtual Conference & Expo held last Thursday (and available on-demand until Aug. 24). Craver, founder of DonorTrends and editor of TheAgitator.net, said that is the reality today — with declining acquisition rates, rising acquisition costs, declining retention rates and declining income playing factors.

That's right — even if you're in your 40s or 50s, you are a rare young donor. (Enjoy this last chance of being thought of as a young anything!) If you're under 40, well, statistically you don't quite exist. Charitable giving is almost entirely dominated by older people. It's their territory, the way pop music belongs to young people.

In the session The Generational Divide of American Giving at the Nonprofit Technology Conference held in Atlanta earlier this month, nonprofit consultants Andrew Magnuson and Matthew Mielcarek discussed recent research published by Convio, Edge Research and Sea Change Strategies on "The Next Generation of American Giving."

For too long, nonprofit marketers and fundraisers have decided how to communicate based on thinking grounded in direct marketing and economics. The problem with this approach is that it assumes people are coolly logical and make their decisions about supporting a cause based on a rational, linear thought process. We've laid out the cases for why our causes matter based on facts and numbers.