/philanthropy-race.html. NONPROFIT ADVOCACY 12. Anastasia Reesa Tomkin, “How White People Conquered the Nonprofit LEADERSHIP IN A NEW WORLD: Industry,” Nonprofit Quarterly, May 26, 2020, nonprofitquarterly.org/how-white REIMAGINING EDUCATION -people-conquered-the-nonprofit-industry/. FOR NONPROFIT LEADERS 13. Lori Villarosa, “COVID-19: Using a Racial Justice Lens Now to Transform Nonprofit leaders are being called upon to solve complex challenges Our Future,” March 30, 2020, Nonprofit with adaptability and resilience. Let our live virtual programs give Quarterly, nonprofitquarterly.org/covid-19 you the knowledge, insights and confidence needed to lead today. -using-a-racial-justice-lens-now-to-transform The Kellogg School Center for Nonprofit Management supports -our-future/. nonprofit leaders with live virtual learning built to deliver on our 14. What Does Philanthropy Need to world-class educational experience. Know to Prioritize Racial Justice? (Wash- ington, DC: Philanthropic Initiative for COMING IN 2021: Racial Equity in partnership with Race Forward and Foundation Center, 2017), Step Into Impact January 13-14 & 20-21 racialequity.org/wp-content/uploads/2018 Leading Change in Nonprofits January 26-27 & February 2-3 /12/PRE-Infographic.pdf. Leading Innovation in Nonprofits February 10-11 & 16-17 Nonprofit Finance: Toolkit for Leaders February 18-19 & 23-24 Jennifer Njuguna, Esq., is an equity- and Nonprofit Data Analytics & Impact February 22, 24 & 25 *New Program in 2021! inclusion-focused attorney who is passion- Fundraising & Marketing: Building Nonprofit Capacity March 2-3, 5, 8-9, 11 ate about empowering communities and The Impact of Equity: Leaders Activating Change March 15, 18-19, 23-24 & 26 supporting mission-driven organizations. Advanced Fundraising: Accelerating your Development Strategy April 13-14 & 20-21 Njuguna is COO at Common Future, and Strategic Leadership: Leading the Self April 27-28 & May 4-5 consults with nonprofits and small busi- Strategies for Nonprofit Human Capital Design May 12-13 nesses through her practice, JSN Strategies, Leadership, Management and Fiscal Strategies for Clinical Investigators May 17-20 LLC. Previously, she served as the chief Major Gift Solicitation Strategies May 18-19 & 25-26 strategy officer at Brooklyn Community Services (BCS). Heather Hiscox is founder To learn more and register, and CEO of Pause for Change, where she visit kell.gg/kxnonprofit or email seeks to provide simple skills to help non- [email protected] profits and foundations navigate uncer- tainty. Hiscox also cohosts the online “talk show” Possibility Project, and regularly speaks at national and local conferences about social impact disruption and innovation. To comment on this article, write to us at [email protected]. Order reprints from http://store.nonprofitquarterly.org. W I N T E R 2 02 0 • W W W. N P Q M A G. O R G T H E N O N P R O F I T Q U A R T E R LY 49
CATALYST PARTNERSHIPS Scaling Up: The Power of Catalyst Partnerships by Tom Kamber As social entrepreneur, educator, and activist Tom Kamber explains, catalyst partnerships facilitate “the acceleration of social outcomes through connections with existing high- capacity organizations,” by enabling “smaller organizations to contribute unique knowledge, content, or support to a larger organization that can translate their role to a more extensive footprint with larger impact.” Over the last year, thousands of One tool OATS has employed to rec- 1. Establish a shared goal. Catalyst nonprofits have had to adapt oncile these impact approaches is the partnerships are not corporate phi- traditional services to meet catalyst partnership—an arrangement lanthropy but rather mutually ben- changing demands emerging whereby OATS helps another, larger orga- eficial collaborations between two from COVID-19 in an unprecedented nization create or improve a program or organizations, in which one may have socially distanced landscape. For some service, so that their clients are more con- more expansive resources but both organizations, the effects of lockdown nected, empowered, or successful. sides bring complementary assets on capacity and sustainability have been to the table. It is essential that the devastating, pointing to the need for Catalyst partnerships are important, ultimate goal for the partnership is new, more resilient systems. For others, because they enable what we call “lever- authentically aligned with both orga- the challenge has been quickly scaling aged impact”—the acceleration of social nizations’ core values. to meet increased demand for services. outcomes through connections with existing high-capacity organizations. 2. Identify each organization’s Older Adults Technology Services Rather than building a client base and unique strengths. Large organiza- (OATS), the nonprofit I founded in 2004 distributing services directly, catalyst tions take many years to develop to help seniors learn technology to trans- partnerships enable smaller organiza- wide-ranging networks of operations, form themselves and their communities, tions to contribute unique knowledge, properties, and customers, but they is no stranger to either of these issues. content, or support to a larger organi- may still benefit from the specialized Scalability and systems change have been zation that can translate their role to support of smaller, innovative social two core goals, as we’ve sought to grow a more extensive footprint with larger change organizations. For example, our impact in response to COVID-19. But impact. Capital One wanted to encourage as Ryan Glasgo and Sandhya Nakhasi older customers to make use of their note, these ideas can appear to be at odds: A successful catalyst partnership will online banking tools, but learned that “Scale requires a competitive approach leverage the strengths of each entity to many seniors were uncomfortable to growth, for example, while systems generate transformative change at scale. with online financial management. change requires collaboration, transpar- We have found that the following three OATS tapped into its experience and ency, sharing, and collective adaptation.”1 guidelines are particularly helpful when knowledge in developing technology considering a partnership like this: 50 T H E N O N P R O F I T Q U A R T E R LY WWW.NPQMAG.ORG • WINTER 2020
It is essential that organizations with the infrastructure, CATALYST PARTNERSHIPS reach, and reputation of more estab- the ultimate goal for lished entities, smaller nonprofits can Make a multiply outcomes without having to world of the partnership is devote years of effort to building mass difference. delivery systems in-house. Over the last authentically aligned eight months, catalyst partnerships have • Earn your Northwestern played a significant role in putting OATS University master’s in Global with both organizations’ on track to double the amount of partici- Health part time and entirely pation in its Senior Planet programming online. core values. by the end of the year. And as the long- term effects of COVID-19 on the social • Build skills essential for programming for seniors, and impact space continue to unfold, OATS success in areas such as designed forty-four online instruc- is betting the catalyst partnership model global health policy and tional videos. will prove to be a game changer for many systems, regulation, evaluation 3. Determine what needs expan- others, as well. and measurement, business sion. Some catalyst partnerships strategy, grant writing, and operate by bringing a smaller organi- Notes leadership. zation’s program directly to a larger 1. Ryan Glasgo and Sandhya Nakhasi, organization’s audience. Others “Asking Questions About Sustainability, • Develop the expertise might achieve a stronger impact by Scale, and Systems Change,” Stanford Social needed to drive change and supporting a larger organization’s Innovation Review, December 9, 2019, ssir make positive impacts in capacity with niche expertise. In .org/articles/entry/asking_questions_about resource-limited communities 2017, when the Israeli nonprofit JDC _sustainability_scale_and_systems_change. worldwide. Eshel was tasked with finding a way 2. In conversation between the author and to include more seniors in a national Didi Ben Shalom, director of the National • Learn from industry experts campaign to close the digital divide, Initiative for the Promotion of Digital and distinguished faculty OATS worked with them to provide Literacy Among Older Adults, at JDC from Northwestern University a series of capacity-building train- Eshel. Feinberg School of Medicine’s ings, along with a partner guide with Center for Global Health. resources for trainers and world- Tom Kamber is an award-winning social class content, to help shape their entrepreneur, educator, and activist who has Learn more — applications are practice at scale—resourcing them created new initiatives in aging, technology, accepted quarterly. to work more effectively with other affordable housing, and the arts. As founder organizations, and helping them and executive director of Older Adults sps.northwestern.edu/global to better serve approximately fifty Technology Services (OATS), he has helped 312-503-2579 thousand older adults in Israel.2 over thirty thousand seniors get online, and created the country’s first technology- • • • themed community center, Senior Planet, for older adults. Kamber has taught social entre- The social impact space provides a preneurship and philanthropy at Columbia great opportunity for organizations like University, and has published widely in aca- OATS to use these types of leveraged- demic journals on topics including public impact partnerships to achieve strategic policy, business strategy, and technology. objectives, support sustainability, and overcome the challenges of scale. By To comment on this article, write to us at combining the deep customer knowl- [email protected]. Order reprints from edge and program expertise of nimble http://store.nonprofitquarterly.org. W I N T E R 2 02 0 • W W W. N P Q M A G . O R G T H E N O N P R O F I T Q U A R T E R LY 51
FUNDRAISING Asking the Right Person for the Right Amount by Kim Klein “In the end,” writes Kim Klein, “you don’t know how much someone can give—and even if you knew everything about their financial situation, you still wouldn’t know how much they might give, because that number will depend on their mood, on how generous they feel, on what other experiences with money they have had that day. Your job is to be as accurate and as respectful as you can. Their job is to say yes, no, or maybe.” Editors’ note: The Grassroots Fundraising Journal (GFJ), in publication from 1984 through 2020, is now being archived on the Nonprofit Quarterly’s website. The 600+ articles that comprise The Grassroots Fundraising Journal are used widely by fundraising professionals and volunteers, professors in university courses on nonprofit management, seasoned practitioners, and people brand new to the ideas and concepts presented there. This article, first published in print in December 2000, was published online by the Nonprofit Quarterly on May 5, 2020, with some updates. It is republished here with minor edits. Three True stories Told to Me of prisoners held an open house, at The dentist is on the board of a strug- by Recent Clients which the development director met gling repertory theater, and decides a woman who said she would like to ask his patient for $10,000 for the 1. Last year, the board member of a to make a “significant donation” to theater. He assumes the patient gives large social services agency serving the work of this group. This woman to the land conservancy because he teens decided to ask all her neighbors had not contributed before, and said is community minded, and that he for a donation. She wrote a letter in she had only recently learned of this would therefore also be interested in which she made an eloquent case for group and was very impressed with the theater. the agency, already well known in the their work. The development director community, and asked each family arranged to meet her for coffee the Good Idea, Wrong Request to give $10. She hand delivered two following week. In the meantime, the hundred of these letters, with a return development director found out that All three stories describe good fundrais- envelope. The letter raised $1,200 this woman gives thousands of dollars ers. They are thinking about their group from eighteen households. Two neigh- to a variety of social justice groups and and who might give. They are willing to bors gave $250 each, and two others is the “biggest donor” to a large public do the work required to get the gift. Many gave $100. Only one person gave $10. interest law firm. The development organizations would rightly be thrilled The rest gave $35 or $50. Five people director decides to ask her for $500. to have any of these people as board replied that they were not giving 3. A dentist learned that one of his members. because they gave elsewhere or were patients had donated $10,000 to a unable to give right now. This board land conservation effort in his state. However, without seeming unduly member plans to do exactly the same Although the patient has been using harsh, I would say that in each of these thing this year—hand deliver two this dentist for a long time, the two cases, the decision made by the solici- hundred letters asking for $10. know very little about each other. tor was wrong, wrong, wrong. Their problems are not unusual; determining 2. A program advocating for the rights exactly who is a prospect and how much 52 T H E N O N P R O F I T Q U A R T E R LY WWW.NPQMAG.ORG • WINTER 2020
to ask them for has waylaid many a solici- follow up with phone calls or visits, business. To his knowledge, this prospect FUNDRAISING tation. Fortunately, there are some simple depending on her relationships with these has never come to his theater. “You can’t guidelines that can make the process a people. She will again take a letter around start by asking him for a gift that is the lot easier. By discussing what approach to the rest of the neighborhood, this time same size as his biggest gift to his favorite each solicitor in the stories should have requesting $15 to $35. She is prepared charity,” I explain. “You have no evidence taken, we can illustrate these guidelines. for a much lower response this time, that he believes in supporting the arts or but wants to keep the organization in has interest in theater.” In the first story, the board member’s her neighbors’ minds. All eighteen of her first effort—hand delivering two hundred donors renew. One person who had given I suggest starting with a conversation letters to her neighbors—is a great idea, $100 gives $200, and the rest give what about theater and the dentist’s role in the and one that almost anyone could do. It they had given previously. Ten neighbors theater. If the patient shows interest, the is especially a good idea when the orga- who had not given last year give a total of dentist should offer him two free tickets nization being solicited for is not very $300, including gifts from two who had to a play. If the patient takes them, the controversial and is fairly well known not been able to give the year before. dentist should try to find out if he actually in the community. The board member’s goes to the show. Only after a few more decision to ask for $10 the first time is In the second story, a donor who gives indications of interest will it be appropri- fine, although the response shows that gifts in the $1,000 to $10,000 range says ate to ask for a gift, and even then, start- if she uses this method again, she can she wishes to make a “significant gift” to ing with a small request by mail may be start with a higher amount, such as an organization. The development direc- more appropriate. $25, without losing anyone. She gets an tor does not want to alienate this person almost 10 percent response from her by asking for too much. I explain that When the dentist next sees this letter—which is excellent, compared to having said “significant gift,” the prospect patient, he skips having a conversation direct mail, for example, where we would cannot really be shocked by being asked about the theater and just offers him two expect a 1 percent response, and almost for a large amount, even an amount that free tickets. The prospect seems touched as good as a door-to-door canvass, from may be more than she had in mind. The and thanks him, but says, “Don’t waste which we would expect a 12 to 15 percent development director knows that this these on me. I am not a theater person. response. The neighbors who respond prospect is comfortable with giving large I never even go to the movies or watch demonstrate that they like her, and they gifts. Of course, we don’t know what she TV.” The dentist reports to me that he was seem to like this organization—particu- means by “significant,” but she probably relieved that he pursued his patient less larly those who give $100 and $250. means more than $500. The development directly than he had originally planned. director decides to show her the orga- The board member tells me that her nization’s gift range chart, which calls Who Is a Prospect? decision to go back to the same group for a lead gift of $15,000, three gifts at Three Guidelines with the same request is predicated on $10,000, four gifts at $5,000, and so on. not wanting to make people feel like The purpose of sharing this information Although each of these stories is differ- they have to give a big gift again, and to will be to establish a giving range for this ent, they raise many of the same issues. see if some of the neighbors who didn’t donor to this group. I suggest asking the To begin with, it is important to be clear give might change their minds and give prospect if she can give in the “$2,500 to on who is and who is not a prospect. This this year. I explain to her that the people $5,000 range.” Skeptical but willing, the is the first guideline to follow. who gave larger gifts will be surprised to development director does just that, and receive such a letter again, and some may receives a pledge of $5,000. A prospect is someone who we know even be hurt if she does not acknowl- gives money—and have an idea of how edge their previous gift and ask them to The third story is about an enthu- much money they give and what kinds repeat it. If she asks for $10 from a $250 siastic but not terribly sensible board of causes they support. We know these donor, without meaning to she is telling member. I ask him if he knows anything things because we know the individual that person, “I want $10, try to get that about this patient besides his dental personally. Certainly, we can approach straight this year.” history and his gift to the land conser- someone without having all this informa- vancy. He knows he has two children tion, but our chances of getting a gift are After speaking with me, she decides and is a partner in a small business, diminished, and we can sometimes do to write personal letters to her eighteen but he does not know the nature of the damage to a relationship by not paying donors, asking for renewals. She will attention to what we don’t know. If you hand deliver a letter to all your WINTER 2020 • WWW.NPQMAG.ORG T H E N O N P R O F I T Q U A R T E R LY 53
neighbors asking for money, you need to for example. They know which clients theater, so our dentist wasn’t wrong to FUNDRAISING know that some of them won’t respond, give away money, how much, and often think of his patient as a potential donor, because they don’t give away money to what. But they learned that in a setting but he needed more direct evidence that at all (about 30 percent of adults don’t that the client has reason to believe is this person was also interested in the make any charitable contributions). confidential. If a client asks for advice arts. The patient made it clear that he Another group won’t give because they about what kind of charities to support, is not interested in theater, at least as a already have a set list of organizations certainly an accountant could then talk member of the audience. It is true that they support, and aren’t going to add about his or her favorite group. Lawyers, some people support community organi- more. Another cross-section won’t give therapists, financial planners, and the zations without ever using them, such as because they don’t believe in or care like are in similar positions with their parks, libraries, museums, and theaters, about the cause. Finally, some people clients. Medical professionals are in a to say nothing of service projects such as won’t give because they don’t respond more fuzzy area here, but the relationship shelters or food banks, but the dentist has to mail appeals, no matter how person- is often one in which the patient feels no information that his patient falls into ally they arrive. vulnerable or exposed in some way, and that category either. He does not even medical professionals should be careful. know why this person supports the land In our first story, the board member Again, unless you are also a friend of your conservancy. Besides the patient’s dental probably got a 50 percent response from clients, you will want to think carefully history, the dentist doesn’t know much the people in her neighborhood who before soliciting your client list. more about him than he might find in the were truly prospects. Out of her two newspaper. He does not have a relation- hundred neighbors, sixty (30 percent) are I have, however, seen instances in ship with this person that will allow him not givers. Upward of 30 percent more which people solicited clients very suc- to pursue any kind of gift at this time. either don’t give by mail or have already cessfully. For example, the owner of a decided which groups they support, garden store that specializes in native How Much to Ask For and won’t add more. Even though the plants, organic fertilizer, alternatives to group she represents is popular and pesticides, and so on, is on the board of Once we have established that the people well respected, at least 10 percent of her a local environmental organization. In a we want to approach are, in fact, pros- neighbors either don’t care about it or letter to his mailing list he wrote that he pects—they have the ability to make a think that because it is popular it doesn’t knew his customers shared his values gift, they believe in the cause, and we need their money. This leaves about sixty and would want to know about this know them, like them, and they like us— households that may be prospects; after group if they didn’t already. He is on a then we have to ask, “What size gift shall two appeals, she has gifts—some of level playing field with the customers that we request?” them large—from twenty-eight of them. have signed up to be on his mailing list: he As readers of the Journal will recall, a knows little or nothing about them from Here we examine where the prospect 50 percent rate of “yes” is what we expect his professional dealings, except that is in relation to our group. A long-time from a personal solicitation. they shop at his store. His letter was very donor is asked for a different amount successful, raising almost $3,000 from than a first-time donor. If the person has A second guideline in approach- seventy people from a mailing list of five a long history of giving to organizations ing prospects is one that we don’t talk hundred, and many customers thanked similar to yours, you will probably start about nearly enough: the solicitor needs him for introducing them to the organiza- with a different amount than for someone to be on a level playing field with the tion. He is, of course, as in the previous who has only recently become interested prospect. For example, it is not good example, writing to some people who are in your issue. And, of course, we take a to solicit people who work for you. No not givers and to some who have already clue from the prospect: if she says, “I matter how friendly everybody is, there is established commitments. want to make a significant gift,” we feel an unequal relationship between supervi- freer to ask for a large amount than if we sor and worker, and a good employer will Third, once we know that a person are the ones initiating the conversation. never want an employee to feel coerced supports certain kinds of causes, we Finally, we look at our fundraising goals into giving. The same is true for using have to ask ourselves how close our and our gift range chart, so that we can confidential information as a background organization is to the cause the person justify the amount we are asking for as for soliciting people. This makes it dif- supports. Certainly, many people who being one of the many gifts we need. ficult for accountants to solicit clients, support conservation also go to the Donors should not be asked for a WINTER 2020 • WWW.NPQMAG.ORG T H E N O N P R O F I T Q U A R T E R LY 55
FUNDRAISING CHECKLIST FOR DETERMINING WHO IS A PROSPECT AND FOR HOW MUCH Give one point for each item you know for sure, unless noted otherwise. THE PERSON IN QUESTION: gives to the following nonprofits: (one point for each one that you know) __________________________________________________________________________________________________ gives the following amounts: (three points for knowing exactly; two points for knowing within a range, such as “He’s a silver donor to that group, so gives between $500 and $1,000”; zero points for not knowing anything about size of gift) $ ______________ $ ______________ knows the following about our nonprofit: (one point each for as many as apply) __ it exists __ it has a good reputation and/or: (one point each for as many as apply) __ has friends or colleagues who work or volunteer there __ has been personally helped by our group __ has talked about our group with others has given money to our group in the past two years: (check as many as apply) __ by mail __ less than $100 __ by phone __ $100 to $500 __ at an event __ more than $500 __ in response to a personal request is friends with [prospect’s name], who describes their friendship as: (check as many as apply) __ long time and very close (five points) __ very close (four points) __ good (three points) __ friend of friends (one point) __ sees at social events, house of worship, with other friends (two points) __ cordial, neighborly, or keeps in touch (one point) TOTAL NEEDED FOR A TRUE PROSPECT: 10 or more points Now, take the information you have about amounts this person gives to groups, and combine it with what they think about groups like yours, then match that with your gift range chart to find an amount to solicit them for. certain size gift just because that is the you knew everything about their finan- publisher for twenty-five years. She is the same size gift they gave somewhere else cial situation, you still wouldn’t know author of five books, including Fundrais- or because we heard that they “have how much they might give, because that ing for Social Change (Wiley, 2016), now money.” Once a person has made a gift number will depend on their mood, on in its seventh edition. Klein has provided of any size, we have a place from which how generous they feel, on what other training and consultation in all fifty states to start negotiating for another gift. “Can experiences with money they have had and in twenty-one other countries. She lives you give again?,” “Can you double this that day. Your job is to be as accurate and in Point Reyes, California, with her wife, gift?,” “Would you consider giving this as respectful as you can. Their job is to Stephanie Roth. much every month?,” and so on, depend- say yes, no, or maybe. ing on our relationship with the donor. To comment on this article, write to us at Kim Klein cofounded the Grassroots [email protected]. Order reprints from In the end, you don’t know how Fundraising Journal in 1981, and was its http://store.nonprofitquarterly.org. much someone can give—and even if 56 T H E N O N P R O F I T Q U A R T E R LY WWW.NPQMAG.ORG • WINTER 2020
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