At this year's Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) economists said that fund raisers should begin to prepare to take advantage of the economy's slow recovery. (Source: Economist Susan Raymond, Changing Our World).
As you know I enjoy researching and learning about different trends and ways that I can keep up with fund raising ideas for my charities like Children of the City.
They urged fund raisers to pay more attention to economic trends, including the high unemployment rate because the unemployment rate has a big influence on individual giving. The Department of Commerce doesn't anticipate the unemployment rate to drop to 5 to 6 percent, where it was in 2007, until the year 2013.
Also, America's recovery will depend on export products, forcing it to rely on the strength of foreign economies - so watch Europe.
In December 2009, 39 states were expecting new budget deficits in 2010 which is disasterous for philanthropic organizations that rely heavily on government support. The economists urged foundations to help educate local lawmakers about their roles.
However the good news is that overall, the nonprofit sector has huge opportunities including innovation towards strategies to diversify their revenue. Some ideas might include: marketing to female donors who are more financially conservative and philanthropic; exploring cause-related marketing; figuring out ways to take steps to access their situation and decide out how to overcome the psychological impact of the downturn on donors; then embrace change and plan to difersify revenue.
Other ways to do this include seeking funds from program-related investments, and social enterprises. Overall, the days are gone when nonprofit groups can rely on donations alone.
-- Rocco Basile
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment