As fundraisers and charitable organizations we have a calling. To help the world's most vulnerable populations. Although the world has changed, that has not. Now is the time to be bold leaders, to be fearless opportunity seekers and to be unflinching in the search for new and better ways to do our work. Although the coronavirus has left destruction in its path, it has also cleared the way to change the nonprofit narrative and to do things differently and better. Stay safe and stay healthy. 

WHY FUNDRAISING IS THE BEST OPTION RIGHT NOW

Understanding donor responses during a crisis

Andrea McManus, ViTreo Group Inc
June 23rd 2020

On Friday, June 12 ViTreo hosted its 7th Fundraising Ask Anything Session (FAA) — with over 90 people participating! It’s heartening to see so many dedicated and skilled fundraisers come together to solve the myriad of problems our sector now faces, with not one but two global crises in less than six months.

We were fortunate to have a thought-provoking presentation by our wonderful friend, Dree Thomson-Diamond, ACFRE, CFRE, a Capacity Building Consultant who creates charitable sector solutions. Dree’s presentation raised some critical questions and made several significant points which fundraisers and nonprofits should consider, so I am going to summarize the presentation here.

First, Dree asked the group some hard-hitting questions about “crisis in fundraising”:

• What constitutes a crisis?

• How do we define it?

• How does it impact us as individuals?

• How does it impact our organizations?

She went on to ask us these questions about past and ongoing crises and whether they had an impact on each individually and as an organizational basis. Using examples of severe and widespread crises — the Syrian refugee problem, Afghanistan, the burning of Notre Dame, Fort McMurray, the COVID pandemic, #BlackLivesMatters and others.

As Dree led us to realize, the difference between those crises and the two we now face — the COVID-19 pandemic and #BlackLivesMatter — is that the latter two have impacted all of us. The pandemic has changed organizational operations. #BlackLivesMatter is changing our perspective.

The purpose behind these questions was to help the audience develop a better understanding of the implications of a crisis on fund development. Dree then went on to discuss the following:

• What is the lifecycle of a crisis?

• How long do we pay attention to a crisis?

• What is the impact of a crisis on fund development?

If we look at the lifecycle of a crisis, we move from early warning signs to cultural shifts — this is what we have experienced globally as the result of the Coronavirus. When a crisis ends, there is a cultural shift. What is the impact of that on fund development?

If we then look at what transpires with donors when there is a crisis:

The first response is “How can I help?”

Then as the crisis normalizes and the donor realizes this isn’t going away, donors ask themselves “Can I continue to help?” As the crisis abates, donors realize we will survive. The question then becomes, “Do I continue to help?” When a new crisis emerges, the cycle begins again “How can I help?”

What this tells us is that donors have an attention span and we have finite time to engage them. When normalization occurs, the conversation changes and “Do I continue to help?” is what is on the donor’s mind. Continuing to engage donors beyond the crisis is critical; building and sustaining relationships matters.

Dree’s final thoughts were that as fundraisers, our messages to donors need to address the stages donors move through in a crisis:

1. Through us you can help

2. With your support we will continue

3. Your legacy means together we can continue to do great work

Michèle Stanners, MBA/LLB, MTS Fellow, Arts and Leadership Initiative, Cultural Agents at Harvard University commented that the most valuable piece of Dree’s presentation was that after every crisis, there is a culture shift. She went on to say that we are going through two culture shifts —

“The COVID-19 pandemic and the death of George Floyd and how each is impacting the world. Many of us have begun to ask ourselves about our privilege and what we are doing with that. What are organizations going to do? This is a massive opportunity for anyone who is doing cross cultural work. Most of us are working in areas that impact the less fortunate and that impact people of colour.”

WHAT SHIFTS HAVE YOU SEEN IN YOUR ORGANIZATION AS THE RESULT OF THESE CRISES?

What are the conversations that have been activated?

Darcie Acton, Northern Lakes College and Milestone Consulting, also joined in by saying that our inaction today, our lack of response can leave an unintended legacy of corruption. What we do today has such a big impact on the future. She also commented that she does not think we have begun to feel the economic impacts that are about to happen – Covid-19 + Government largesse + oil and gas sector.

NEW POWER TO SPEAK ABOUT RESERVES

As part of the conversation, ViTreo partner, Scott Decksheimer said that social services agencies have shifted to become crisis organizations right now. This creates an opportunity and new power to speak about reserves, an always contentious topic in the nonprofit world.

Scott also talked about the fact that the #BlackLivesMatter crisis has removed the Coronavirus pandemic from the front page, which three weeks earlier he wouldn’t have believed is possible.

STORIES MATTER

“We are only getting snippets about the Coronavirus now. What’s happened is that the public has lost the span of what the pandemic means — it’s 1,000 cases, 2,000 cases and it continues to grow. Empathy works at the individual level. We have all connected so strongly with the George Floyd tragedy because it is one individual which is representative of an entire issue. As fundraisers we need to remember that.”

That’s a critical message for fundraisers and nonprofit organizations. When we attempt to engage donors, we need to remember it’s not the numbers and the facts which will inspire them to action. It’s the stories, the stories of individual lives that will be impacted by the help they give — this is a line of sight to why they should give and perhaps, why they want to give.

Understanding what donors need and want to hear makes for excellence in fundraising.

Join us as we begin a series on Higher Education next week. Stay safe and stay healthy!

Have you listened to the latest BrainTrust Philanthropy podcast? Episode 40 discusses digital fundraising now that the Coronavirus has pushed us over the digital divide. Our experts include Jay Love, CRO and Co-founder of Bloomerang; Brady Josephson, Managing Director at NextAfter; and Kelly Morris, Senior Associate for ViTreo Group Inc. Listen to it here.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Andrea McManus, Chair, Board of Directors, Partner
ViTreo Group Inc

Andrea McManus is a Partner with ViTreo with over 30 years’ experience in fund development, marketing, sponsorship and nonprofit management. A highly strategic thinker and change maker, Andrea has worked with organizations that span the nonprofit sector with particular focus on building long-term and sustainable capacity.