The Giving USA Foundation has released its 2010 giving figures, and there’s not a lot of good news.
Giving bumped up by two percent. But after historic drops in 2008 and 2009, a little increase was expected. The results are certainly in line with what we found with the Nonprofit Research Collaborative 2010 report earlier this year.
But it’s not the short-term results of 2010 that I’m focused on so much as what lies ahead. We’re not seeing any signs of exceptional growth in 2011. And as Giving USA noted, it will be five or six years until we get back to pre-recession levels of giving if philanthropy continues to grow at two percent annually.
Is that likely? No one knows with any certainly what sort of economic growth will have over the next several years, but if you listen to economists, the outlook is pessimistic. Flat growth, or slight increases at best. There’s no reason to think, at this point, the next economic boom is anywhere close.
We’ve been saying this for a year or so now but it bears repeating: we’re in a new world. The start-and-stop growth of the last decade is going to look pretty good compared to what we’ll likely face over the next several years.
But this is why we get all the training, isn’t it? Times like this are precisely why you join AFP and engage in continuing education, network with colleagues and stay updated on latest trends and innovations. I believe these challenges are going to bring out the best of us. It’s easy (relatively) to raise funds in a strong economy. Times like these are when we prove our worth as a profession.
About Me
- Andrew Watt, FInstF
- I’m Andrew Watt, president and CEO of the Association of Fundraising Professionals. We're calling this the AFP Blog, because although I’m posting, it’s really your thoughts, your views that we'll be posting, as much as mine —it's about the AFP community and the fundraising profession. I want to keep you up to date with what’s happening at AFP, but I really want to hear from you. So e-mail me and post here with your comments, questions, concerns, feedback, and items you think I should be covering.
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- The Economist
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- Stanford Social Innovation Review
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3 comments:
Fundraising professionals tend to be the optimists in any organization -- and also the agents of change; however, the Giving USA report is sobering, to say the least.
While the challenges of the next decade and beyond are significant, we should take this opportunity to set realistic expectations with our CEOs and Boards, retain or gain our "seat at the table" for strategic planning, engage with our current constituents to feel the pulse of our respective communities, and keep up to date on the latest industry trends as they emerge.
We remain the true agents of change in an organization -- and there is much change to be navigated. Now is the time that the exceptional fundraising professionals can shine as leaders.
Not happy numbers, but they should energize professionals and serious laypeople about the need for hard work and creative approaches. The silver lining in our disaster of an economy is the fact that while the rich have certainly gotten richer right along, those same people have lots of money available for giving. Finding them, connecting with them and "closing" them is the challenge, but they're out there.
This is a good wake up call for fundraisers to realize this is going to be around for awhile. Yes, some increase is good regardless of what happened the years before, but now they know this is what they have to work with for the next few years. I think orgs are going to start getting more creative, interactive, and even stronger because of it. We just have to keep the light at the end of the tunnel in our sight.
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