While I have seen a great many articles on the decline in charitable giving, it is striking how rarely the work of fundraising itself is mentioned as part of the problem. Amazing right? Imagine talking about a decline in agriculture but not talking about farmers. But while most discussions of the problem focus on the donor, there are two parts of the process of giving, and the fundraiser is no less crucial. And after 37 years in nonprofit fundraising, I can say that the field of nonprofit fundraising has some chronic problems that impact giving, which are, for this reason, commonly overlooked.

Fundraising has some chronic and historic problems that need to be addressed, but there are also pressing new problems, as veteran, experienced fundraisers are leaving the profession after Covid 19. Many got their nonprofits through the pandemic only to receive little thanks and increasingly unrealistic demands for higher goals. They are fed up and the nonprofits that lose them never seem to understand their role or how their actions made them leave.

So … what can be done? Funders and foundations can be powerful catalysts:

  1. Fund and support professional development in fundraising, especially in organizations focused on people of color. Start counting fundraising as “infrastructure,” and look for culturally relevant training and support. There are plenty of expensive fundraising consulting firms that want to “serve BIPOC communities,” but each community is different, and what works for one community won’t be the same for another. So be cautious. There is no one size fits all.
  2. Require the boards of directors of your grantees to go through real fundraising training, where they learn the cycle of fundraising. I assess board training on fundraising by looking for the tough messages. That it takes time, that it’s the board’s responsibility, where they train around major giving. Quick overviews don’t work.
  3. Ask grantees or potential grantees for a complex and diverse fundraising plan, one that builds self-reliance and decreases dependency on grants. Look at the budget and staff investments in fundraising: Is there a fundraising team? Or just one development director with three jobs in their description?
  4. Support nonprofits with diverse, token-free boards of directors that look like the communities they serve. Building a diverse, giving, and influential board is a matter of doing good research and outreach, and once you diversify a board it changes the organization. It’s a great indicator of who is good at posting DEI statements and who actually does it.
  5. Underwrite and endow development positions at small and medium nonprofits. I have seen this done a few times in my career. Development positions are fragile, they are quick to cut, quick to be downgraded. Underwriting one is a powerful investment for long-term financial growth for any nonprofit.

Read the full article about improving the state of charitable giving by Armando Zumaya at Stanford Social Innovation Review.