Praise for FUNDRAISING AND THE NEXT GENERATION
Tools for Engaging the Next Generation of Philanthropists

“Emily Davis is the expert on the next wave of donors. Fundraising and the Next Generation needs to be in the library of every fundraising professional. Emily Davis has written the definitive guide to fundraising across generations.”
Trista Harris, coauthor of How to Become a Nonprofit Rockstar Executive Director, Headwaters Foundation for Justice

“This book provides an excellent blueprint and practical suggestions on how nonprofits can cultivate the next generation of philanthropists.”
Beth Kanter, Beth’s Blog, and coauthor of The Networked Nonprofit

“Think you’ve got the next generation figured out? Think again. This book is packed with studies, stories, and stats to help you effectively engage Gen X and Y in meaningful giving. Read it and you’ll get more than a few new dollars today. You’ll build new levels of support that last for years to come.”
Deirdre Maloney, author of The Mission Myth and President of Momentum

“I’ve dog-eared nearly half of the pages in this treasure of a book. At once it is an insider’s guide to the motivations of the next generation of givers, a tool box for engaging them, and the best primer on social media and fundraising I have seen to date. While full of practical wisdom, it is also a collection of stories and interviews with a host of thoughtful young donors. A must-read for donors and fundraisers alike.”
Lisa Parker, President, Lawrence Welk Family Foundation Principal, Family Circle Advisors

“Emily Davis shows us that in philanthropy there can be no ‘kids table’ at Thanksgiving! Fundraising and the Next Generation gives us the road map for how to engage multiple generations of staff, donors, board members, and community leaders and achieve a much better philanthropic outcome for all. A must-read!”
Josie Heath, President, The Community Foundation Serving Boulder County

EMILY DAVIS has been working in the non-profit sector as an executive director, staff member, consultant, founder, board member, and volunteer for over fifteen years. She currently serves as the President of EDA Consulting in addition to many board and advisory roles in Colorado as well as nationally. She trains and consults on a number of different areas including board development, online communications, multigenerational philanthropy, and fundraising. Her passion for effective leadership has garnered numerous awards and nominations. Emily received her master’s in nonprofit management from Regis University.

Fundraising and the Next Generation, + Website

Tools for Engaging the Next Generation of PhilanthropistsBy Emily Davis

John Wiley & Sons

Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-1180-7702-3

Chapter One

Introduction

Fundraising and the Next Generation provides an introduction to fundraising from multiple generations, in particular the next generation— Generation X and Millennials (also known as Generation Y). As more research is available there will be more data to incorporate into the dialogue. And this truly is a process; it is only the start of the conversation and a jumping-off point for future conversations.

This book is particularly relevant for small- to midsize nonprofits, but nonprofit organizations and foundations of any size can benefit from its content. The most beneficial investment your organization can make is engaging your staff and volunteers in conversations about fundraising across the generations. Ask the hard questions, self-examine, and integrate tools and strategies that will better serve your organization’s mission for long-term sustainability. Give everyone in your organization a voice—not only the board and staff leadership. Ask your donors, your “junior” staff, and your volunteers for their feedback. This does not mean that everyone will get what he or she asks for, but at least he or she will have been included in an important conversation. Go on a listening tour to find out where your organizational strengths and weaknesses are.

Embracing New Approaches

Reading blogs and keeping up with research will inspire the creative drive for trying new approaches. There are resources, both print and online, listed at the end of every chapter to help inspire your commitment to fundraising from the next generation. Share your stories of both success and failure. If your organization tries a strategy and it does not work as well as anticipated do not give up. Evaluate what worked and what did not, then try it again. Incorporating new information and adapting to change is a struggle for all organizations, but be open to listening and learning as you go. Alter your approaches to engaging the next generation of philanthropists and be willing to draw outside the lines, knowing that philanthropy is ever evolving. The goal of this book is to help you learn not only how to recruit and retain Gen X and Y, but how to become open to the unexpected changes in the future with Generation Z and more.

In 2011, two surveys were conducted—one focused on multigenerational development offices and one focused on next generation philanthropy—to gather greater insights into fundraising from and with multiple generations. The surveys were conducted in an effort to gain qualitative and quantitative insights into the behaviors both of next gen philanthropists and the multiple generations working in nonprofit fundraising departments. These surveys are not scientific research and the topics require further scrutiny, but what was clear is that the vast majority (more than 85 percent) of development professionals are interested in learning how to recruit and retain the next generation of donors.

The survey on multigenerational development offices was sent out electronically across the United States as a way to gain insights into the internal dynamics among generations at nonprofit organizations. More than 170 individuals from four generations participated in this online survey including executive directors. Anyone involved in a staff capacity as a fundraising professional was encouraged to participate over a two-month period. The questions were designed based on previous multigenerational nonprofit research and simply asked questions that fundraisers often want to know about working in a multigenerational development department. Although there are more and more conversations about multigenerationalism within the nonprofit sector, little has been researched about development departments specifically. Quantitative and qualitative data was gathered and is shared in Appendix C of this book.

The second survey, Philanthropy’s Next Generation, was an electronic survey marketed across the country through online and personal networks. Nearly 250 individuals participated in the survey regardless of the amount of money they have donated in the past or current donate financially. This survey focused on donors from Generation X and Y (Millennials) and the intention was to challenge assumptions about giving from these generations. The survey strives to answer questions that fundraisers may have about recruiting funds from these groups of current and future philanthropists. The intention of this survey was to provide a voice and a face to the next generation of philanthropists—to tell a story in a way that would help inform this book further. For the complete survey, see Appendix C. Now more than ever with the financial constraints on the economy, on philanthropy, and on nonprofit organizations’ development staff and nonprofit leadership, both staff and volunteers need to open up the possibility of donations from every generation. In truth, there is nothing new here. The trend has been to focus on Boomers and Traditionalists as they age. Traditionalists and Boomers in their thirties were annual givers to begin with and eventually grew into planned giving prospects. The same is true with Gen X and Y. What is unique about the current landscape is that people are simply living longer. Tailoring communications for each of the four generations will help nonprofits to engage and raise funds for years to come. Every donor is influenced by unique experiences and passions—so is each generation. Fundraising and the Next Generation provides your organization with ways to engage Generation X and Y to maximize the philanthropic return for your organization.

How This Book Is Organized

Following the quick introduction in Chapter 1, Chapter 2 provides common language used throughout this book about who the generations are and their general characteristics. This does not mean that every donor will demonstrate the characteristics associated with his or her generation, but it does offer a starting point for developing relationships and adjusting communications. In addition, Chapter 2 is focused on a subsector of the conversation happening in nonprofit and philanthropic organizations about recruiting and retaining multigenerational staff members into the development function. There are a growing number of resources on the topic of recruiting and retaining the next generation of staff members. It is important to understand how to work in a multigenerational office setting in order to fundraise from multiple generations. Be willing to be flexible with each generation, but use Chapter 2 as a jumping-off point and a way to set the stage for the remainder of Fundraising and the Next Generation. Some comments will shock you and others might be familiar. No matter what your reaction, this is where the conversation begins—at home.

Chapter 3 is all about the next generation of philanthropists and is the heart of this book. It provides you with quotes, stories, and tips for working with and engaging the next generation of donors. Philanthropy and communications have evolved and so have the generations. This chapter begins to outline exactly how your organization can incorporate specific strategies into your existing work. There is no quick fix. Multigenerational prospecting, cultivation, and stewardship is a process; it does not come with the click of a button, conducting a happy hour, or inviting one young person onto your organization’s board of directors. As a supplement to the information in this chapter, you can use the worksheets and assessment provided in Appendix A to get an idea of where your organization is and where it can go in the future. Gain insight into the motivations and opinions of many next generation givers to help expand the focus of your fundraising efforts. Of particular interest is GenNext, United Way of Greater St. Louis’s outstanding program that has used the best practices to raise dollars and invest in a long-term strategy for relationship building with younger generations.

The next generation of donors sees philanthropy as more than writing a check and volunteerism is a huge part of their contribution to nonprofit organizations. Chapter 4 explores how organizations can better use the next generation of volunteers to support the mission of the organization and leverage future donations to further their cause. Nonprofits need to look beyond administrative work or a junior board to engage younger donors. Board service and committee participation needs to be authentic and rewarding in order to retain quality volunteers as well as spread positive word of mouth about your organization.

Chapter 5 provides an inside look into conversations and activities related to the next generation of grant making. Fundraisers need to know what’s happening inside strategic philanthropy in order to be prepared for working with grant makers of all generations. Family philanthropy and young grant-making staff are being significantly impacted on all the generations as well. Understanding family dynamics and multigenerational issues in grant-making organizations provide fundraisers with an inside glimpse into the struggles and changes that could affect how dollars are sought out and distributed. The next generation in grant making refers to not only the individuals involved, but also to the changing approaches in grant making. This book does not address youth philanthropy—philanthropists under the age of 18—although it is an important topic and warrants additional research and discussion.

It would be impossible to talk about fundraising from and with the next generation without incorporating social media. This book is not intended to be a step-by-step workbook on how to use each social media tool, but rather how to apply fundraising concepts to social media in an effective way. In Chapter 6, readers learn that social media is a tool, not the tool in fundraising. Social media can be used as an entry point to new donors and a way to steward anyone in your community. As mentioned, Appendix A has a number of useful tools and templates that your organization can use to begin to incorporate social media into your current efforts. This is not an exhaustive resource on social media, but it will help fundraisers understand many of the basic building blocks in using social media of any kind.

This book’s appendices are full of resources including templates, worksheets, and interviews with philanthropists of all kinds. Reading the appendices along with the chapters, or separately, helps illustrate concrete examples and inspires action.

Appendix A includes the following tools, worksheets, and samples:

• Fundraising and the Next Generation Worksheet

• Organizational Readiness Assessment

• Stewardship Plan Worksheet

• Sample Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)

• Sample Board Recruitment Plan

• Social Media Plan Worksheet

• Social Media Plan Outline

• Blog Post Template

Appendix B includes interview material from:

• Mike Gast, Resource Generation

• Jason Franklin, Bolder Giving

• Sharna Goldseker, 21/64

• Lisa Parker, Family Circle Advisors

• Mary Galeti, The Tecovas Foundation

• Alan Frosh, The Gordian Fund

• Jennie Arbogash, Social Venture Partners of Boulder County

• More interviews can be found on the Fundraising and the Next Generation blog (http://edaconsulting.org/category/nextgenfundraising/)

Appendix C includes the results from the two online surveys mentioned earlier in this chapter, conducted to help inform the content in Fundraising and the Next Generation:

• Multigenerational Development Office Survey Results

• Philanthropy’s Next Generation Survey Results

Getting Started

Fundraising is both an art and a science. This continues to be true in expanding fundraising professionals’ focus on Generation X and Millennials. The basic concepts of building relationships and listening to donors’ needs are still relevant, but the tools may have changed. Learn how to fully incorporate new strategies into your organization rather than tokenizing or avoiding. Ask everyone in your organization to get involved, engage in discussion, and get your board and staff leadership participating in changes, big or small, happening in your fundraising efforts.

It is certainly not the easiest path to delve into conversations about generational and cultural dynamics as well as change theory, but it can be worth it. Take calculated risks and embrace the entrepreneurial spirit under which so many nonprofits were founded.

Keep in mind that not every strategy will work for your organization and there are plenty of areas of growth in the topic. Customize the ideas, stories, and recommendations in this book to fit your mission—get creative!

(Continues…)

Excerpted from Fundraising and the Next Generation, + Websiteby Emily Davis Copyright © 2012 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Excerpted by permission of John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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