School spirit is a powerful thing.   Just look around you.  You see it everywhere.  Whether it’s through apparel, office chatter, media coverage, license plates, flags, or office/home décor, it’s apparent that we humans are pretty darn proud of our colleges and universities.  Putting the popularity of collegiate athletics aside, I personally believe that school spirit generally stems from the positive activities, friendships made and personal growth that individuals experience while attending a particular institution of higher education. 

School spirit is also expressed through giving.  Colleges and universities raise billions of dollars each year from donors, and they generally account for a large percentage of the Philanthropy 400 list.  The Philanthropy 400 is The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s annual ranking of charities that receive the most private support.  In 2011 alone, 114 colleges and universities were in the top 400 list and 34 were among the survey’s top 100. Simply put, colleges and universities are very good at fundraising. 

Having said this, the state of the economy has had a negative effect on fundraising for colleges and universities just like it has for other fundraising entities.  State institutions are receiving less funding from states and major gifts, well, aren’t quite as major.  When resources are tight and major gifts become that much more important, the cultivation of young donors many times gets placed to the side. In the long-term, a gap of unengaged alumni can appear, making it more difficult to raise larger gifts from these same individuals later in life. 

So the question becomes, how does a college or university continue to cultivate its young people during these times?

Personal Development Meets Fundraising Development

Follow my logic – Students invest in colleges to get a great education that can lead to a successful career.  Colleges invest in their students while in school to help them develop and find this path. Upon graduation, colleges then ask these young alumni to reinvest in their school without many times continuing to develop these young individuals.  Many of these young alumni are cash-strapped and are not able to give at a level that colleges many times want.  Regardless, they still remain prideful of their collegiate institution but many say to themselves, “I’ll give when I can.”

A grassroots fundraising approach coupled with a personal challenge proves to these young alumni that their school is continuing to develop them while allowing them to give back by raising funds through their personal networks.  Such  program must give these young alumni the opportunity to achieve a goal that is important to them while raising dollars for things within the institution’s structure that mean something to them. 

While all alumni generally feel pride towards the general institution, each individual can pinpoint activities or areas of campus that made a lasting impact on them.  For example, an engineering student may want to raise funds for the engineering college that gave him/her a great education.  On the other hand,  a collegiate athlete may want to raise funds to enhance the college’s athletic department.  In fundraising-speak, the donor-centric approach is crucial to successfully raising funds from young alumni. 

Having said this, if structured correctly, a grassroots fundraising program can bring in both unrestricted funds and funds that can be applied to a donor’s desired area.

A  Look at a Grassroots Fundraising Program Focused on Young Alumni

(Click on the image to enlarge it)

As the program develops, an online portal could fuel participation and fundraising.  Upon registration for the program, participants could be asked to make an initial gift, dollars that could be applied to the annual fund. They would then be asked two questions:

1.  What personal goal are you trying to achieve? (run a marathon, lose weight, continue their schooling at the graduate level, etc.)
2.  What area of campus would you like 50% of your funds to be applied to (the business college, athletics department, student activities, etc.)

The other 50% of funds raised could be unrestricted to the institution’s annual fund giving the fundraising staff the flexibility to use these funds on prioritized initiatives. Both incentives and education could be built into fundraising milestones, motivating participants while educating them on the importance of giving back to advance the institution.

Benefits of Such Program:

• Cultivates young donors
• Extends the college/university’s fundraising staff
• Creates a new pool of donors – the support networks of participants
• Drives engagement, development, and goodwill by providing young alumni with an opportunity to do something positive for themselves and their school
• Increases the participation percentage for the annual fund
• Encourages collaboration with the alumni association or alumni engagement activities

Young alumni are a passionate group of individuals that should be an integral part of a college or university’s fundraising strategy.  If done right, these same individuals will be more likely to give larger gifts in the future.

Could it work?  I’d love to help.

I have an idea.  Those who know me are used to me saying this, but seriously, I have a grassroots fundraising concept that I think could work at the non-profit organization that normally finds itself at #1 on the Philanthropy 400 list each year for raising the most money – The United Way.  

To many people, the United Way is the sign with the thermometer on the side of the road.   What many people don’t know is that the story behind the thermometers is a powerful one.

(From their website and Wikipedia page)

 United Way Worldwide is the leadership and support organization for the network of nearly 1,800 community-based United Ways in 45 countries and territories.  The focus of United Way is identifying and resolving pressing community issues, as well as making measurable changes in the communities through partnerships with schools, government agencies, businesses, organized labor, financial institutions, community development corporations, voluntary and neighborhood associations, the faith community, and others. The issues United Way offices focus on are determined locally because of the diversity of the communities served. However, the main focus areas include education, income and health.

Simply put, the United Way helps build strong communities.  Each community-based United Way does this through grants to community partners (other non-profits in town) for specific programs that they administer.  Along with dollars granted, the United Way encourages volunteerism to help these partners succeed.  

Currently, the United Way gathers an individual’s support through:

1.  The donation on one’s time through volunteerism
2.  The donation of one’s money – Many are familiar with the United Way’s workplace giving programs or donation forms that are received in the mail.
3. The donation of one’s voice through advocating changes in public policy

So back to the idea.  The United Way has an unbelievable opportunity to further the impact it has in communities worldwide through the creation of a grassroots fundraising program; a program that allows individuals to fundraise for the United Way and the organizational programs it supports.

Let’s call the idea the Live United Challenge.

Here’s How It Works

To complete the challenge an individual would have to do three things:

1. Raise a predetermined amount of money through an online fundraising website for one of the local United Way’s community impact categories (hunger, financial stability, mental health, etc.) or a specific organization that the local United Way supports in that community.
2. Complete a certain number of volunteer hours at organizations that the local United Way supports.
3. Complete a personal goal determined by the individual participant.  Examples could include completing an athletic event, achieving a health goal or kicking a bad habit.

An individual would complete the challenge once all three things are completed and receive predetermined incentives from the United Way.  The participant could also receive educational information about the United Way throughout the journey as they reach fundraising milestones.

(A visual look at the concept - Click for a larger view)

A few benefits of such program:

1. A fourth category of support for the United Way is created – Donate, volunteer, advocate and FUNDRAISE.
   
   
2. The supply of United Way volunteer hours increases.
   
   
3. A new pool of donors is created – the support networks of the participants.
   
   
4. Participants are able to raise dollars that are used WITHIN their community. 
   
   Many people raise money for a cause, but often, these people never see the direct impact from their dollars in their own communities.  Being able to point to results from community programs supported by a monies raised by a participant capitalizes on the power of transparency.
   
   
5. Each non-profit organization that is supported by the United Way in a given community is essentially given a grassroots fundraising tool to utilize. 
   
   Say a specific United Way supports 30 organizations in its community.  A grassroots fundraising program like the “Live United Challenge” concept could mobilize community members, including the supporters of each of 30 organizations, to raise funds that could ultimately be granted back to these 30 organizations.  The dollars raised for a specific organization could be set aside for grant requests by that organization, given that these grant requests are accepted by the United Way and can prove positive results.   If no grant requests are accepted for that organization over a period of time, those dollars could be freed up for other grants within that impact category (hunger, financial stability, mental health, etc.) The everyday participant could select one of the 30 organizations to fundraise for or select from the collection of impact categories.
   
   
6. Millennial donors would be attracted to the program allowing the United Way to cultivate young donors and volunteers.
   
   Millennials love challenging experiences. They are philanthropic, tech savvy and want to “do good.”  Give them the opportunity to express their passions and you’ll have supporters for life.

I’m confident that the Live United Challenge would enhance the activities and impact that the United Ways has in communities all over the world.

What do you think?  Would it work?  I’d love to help.

People who volunteer for selfless reasons, such as helping others, live longer than those who don’t lend a helping hand, a new study shows. However, those who volunteer for more self-centered reasons do not reap the same life-extending benefits.

“This could mean that people who volunteer with other people as their main motivation may be buffered from potential stressors associated with volunteering, such as time constraints and lack of pay,” study researcher Sara Konrath of the University of Michigan said in a statement.

(Past research suggested another benefit for selfless volunteers — a date. Apparently women rate such altruism high on their list of desirable traits in a mate.)

Konrath and colleagues looked at results from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study, which has followed a random sample of 10,317 Wisconsin residents from their high school graduation in 1957 until the present. In 2008, the average age of the participants was about 69, and about half of the participants are female.

In 2004, the participants reported how often they had volunteered within the past 10 years. They also explained their reasons for volunteering, or, in the cases of those who had not volunteered  but were planning to, the reasons they would.

Some of the participants’ motives were more oriented toward others, such as “I feel it is important to help others” or “Volunteering is an important activity to the people I know best.” Other respondents, however, had more self-oriented reasons for volunteering, such as “Volunteering is a good escape from my own troubles,” or “Volunteering makes me feel better about myself.”

Researchers then compared the participants’ responses with physical health information that had mostly been collected in 1992. The researchers also considered the respondents’ socioeconomic status, mental health, social support, marital status and health risk factors, including smoking, body mass index and alcohol use.

The findings showed that those who volunteered for more altruistic reasons had lower mortality rates as of 2008 than people who did not volunteer. Of the 2,384 non-volunteers, 4.3 percent were deceased four years later, compared with 1.6 percent of altruistic volunteers who had died.

However, people who said they volunteered for their own personal satisfaction had nearly the same mortality rate (4 percent) as people who did not volunteer at all.

“It is reasonable for people to volunteer in part because of benefits to the self; however, our research implies that, ironically, should these benefits to the self become the main motive for volunteering, they may not see those benefits,” said study researcher Andrea Fuhrel-Forbis, also of the University of Michigan.

The study was published in August in the journal Health Psychology

1 Pitch in.

Charitable giving begins with a family sharing a vision for how they can better their community. Teach your children about nonprofit organizations and find a cause that has meaning to your family; then, volunteer together.

2 Model the way with money.

Show kids that money isn’t just for spending. Use a four-bank system for saving, spending, investing and giving. Or you can simply start a “charity jar” and let kids donate a portion of their weekly allowance. Make delivering the donation an enjoyable family outing.

3 Turn special events into charitable opportunities.

Use birthdays, anniversaries and other holidays as opportunities to give back. Create food baskets for the homeless on Thanksgiving, or purchase toys for children in need during the holiday season. Soon, your children will value giving more than receiving.

4 Select a charity to support financially.

Explain how your family will budget to support a charity financially, and share the importance of monetary giving as well as volunteering time and talent.

5 Create a family giving plan.

Involve your children in discussions about giving. The Giving Guide, a resource offered by my organization, the Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines, helps families identify their values and interests and create a “giving mission statement.” You can find it at www.desmoinesfoundation.org, along with a list of children’s books about charitable giving.

The idea behind strategic philanthropy is to take it to the next level. It doesn’t mean that it has to be a large donation but instead it focuses on solving problems at their root. Strategic philanthropy works to identify opportunities for leveraging change much greater than the size of the investment — small amounts of money that start making large impacts. These investments tend to be long-term in nature, upstream focused and come with a higher risk for a higher potential return. These are often focused on changing systems and regularly have an influence or public policy connection.

Fantastic article by Tim Huebsch

How to thrive in turbulent times, improve organizational sustainability, and generate significant social impact are crucial questions currently confronting many nonprofit leaders and boards. There appears to be an answer within reach, and its formula is as simple as it is powerful: you and your agency need to become more entrepreneurial.

“Corporations are looking for ways to bring giving into their business because it works. A 2008 Cone Corporate Citizenship study claimed 85% of Americans had a more positive image of a product or company when it supports a cause they care about. Nearly 90% of Americans said it is important that business, government and non-profits collaborate to solve pressing social issues. And 79% of Americans said they would likely switch from one brand to another if the other brand is associated with a good cause.”

“For a small business, creating a wellness program can seem like a daunting (and expensive) task. But with a wellness program, the American Journal of Health Promotion ”showed an average 27 percent reduction in sick leave absenteeism, 26 percent reduction in health care costs, and 32 percent reduction in workers’ compensation and disability management cost claims” while the University of Michigan Health Management Research Center estimates that an organization saves $350 annually when a low-risk employee remains low risk and $153 when a high-risk employee’s health risks are reduced.”

Grassroots fundraising programs that involve athletics can add to a company’s wellness program and benefit philanthropic partners at the same time.

Intriguing article about charity walks and races.  Lesson learned from all of this - Don’t spend time and money planning events, equip your people with a tool to raise money and allow them to participate in already established events.  By taking away the costs associated with planning events, a larger percentage of your fundraising dollars can be given to your true purpose, your causes and their missions.