There are some interesting dynamics occurring in the philanthropy world today.  Many have deemed the past several years the ‘golden age’ for philanthropy – and that may quickly be coming to an end.  An article written by Kathryn Masterson of The Chronicle of Philanthropy quoted several well respected professionals, and the consensus was that while philanthropy will not be going away, the way in which we fundraise is going to look completely different as we continue into the recession.

Bruce R. McClintock, Vice President for Resource Development at Rice University did an analysis on where campaign dollars are currently coming from and where they will be coming from in the near future.  The charts below indicate those changes, and as we can see, there will be more reliance on the middle and lower end donors to compensate for a larger portion of the overall fundraising dollars.  What does this shift mean for you as a fundraiser?  It means that more cultivation is being required for existing ‘high potential donors’, current non-donors and new alumni or prospects.

All of this is happening in a time when budgets are being cut and staff is being eliminated.  The phrase ‘do more with less’ seems to be floating around offices all throughout the country.  Think about ways in which your staff can redirect funds to focus on these segments and what would happen if you fail to do so.

Source: Kathryn Masterson. “Colleges Will See a Decline in Megagifts, Experts Predict”. The Chronicle
of Philanthropy 13 July 2009.