Have you noticed that the new Republican-backed tax law, which took effect in 2018, has made charitable giving less appealing to individuals? There are rumblings of a possible 2020 recession? Have you heard? Isn’t that alienating even more households? As the trade war is likely to expand to our longtime Europeans allies later this month and new sectors of the U.S. economy, what are nonprofits supposed to do? Keep reading to find out the new avenues development directors (DDs) should pursue now to reach 2020 giving targets.
Welcome to new and returning readers to the Branding24Seven community! As the brainchild of JMStrategy LLC (JMS), a boutique consulting firm that offers strategic solutions to strengthen your organizational brand, this blog is the place to find the answers to your most burning branding questions. Now, let’s go over two areas worth focusing that will increase your 2020 giving prospects.
As the end of the year is peeking on the horizon, many nonprofits are hard at work cultivating new fundraising avenues. Before the most consequential change in the U.S. tax code (since the Reagan years) took in effect in 2018, the holiday season was the most rewarding opportunity to usher in the inevitable yet well-orchestrated year-end appeal campaign.
But now that the tax incentive has disappeared, how can nonprofits secure individual donations? Especially since a corporate strategy is not a shoo-in given the buoyancy of the trade war President Trump has been raging for the last two years, how are already overworked DDs supposed to address a likely shortfall in 2020 charitable giving?
It’s Time To Forge A New In-house Alliance With Program Officers (POs).
The golden rule in nonprofit is that people give to people and not to organizations. Consequently, DDs must investigate how they can elevate stewardship to new levels. Sadly, ramping up direct mail appeals or annual ones are no longer enough to meet your fundraising targets. While it is true that some lower-level annual appeal donors give because of your mission, the tax write-off was quite irresistible to many!
If this was not true, how else can the fall in charitable giving in 2018 be explained? According to Giving USA, individual giving fell by 1.1 % to $292 billion in 2018 compared with 2017. So, Dear DDs, you need to be strategic in regaining a slice of that share! For that reason, this blog invites you to look for additional support inhouse and partner with POs to bring the impact of your good works to new heights.
The key is to witness the influence that POs have on program recipients say by shadowing them for about a month and find a way to invest further in their communities. Yes, it is possible to hook into the network of program recipients and broaden the appeal of your nonprofit Dear
All you need to do is to shift your perspective and consider program recipients as connectors to potential donors who are looking to make society better. Of course, this is no easy task! But if you brainstorm with POs, you will be able to identify a whole new set of potential donors. If you need help to devise a strategic plan that supports you in identifying the most fitted potential donors, Dear DDs, do not hesitate to contact us at jms@branding24seven.com.
Refresh Your Branding Message Now!
Dear DDs, the time has come to rethink how to market the incredible impact your nonprofit has in the world. It is always so shocking for the JMS team to notice just how squeamish nonprofits when the issue of branding comes up in brainstorming sessions.
The truth is that everyone is a brand. At a time when brands of all sorts continuously assail our social media feeds, don’t you want yours to stand out Dear DDs? This blog certainly hopes that you do! Otherwise, pack your bags, closes the doors of your nonprofit, and retire now!!!
No, but seriously Dear DDs, the solution is to find a way to market the work that your nonprofits accomplish as organically and authentically as possible. If you do not, how else do you expect to raise the profile of your organization and attract a whole new set of potential donors that you are desperately seeking Dear DDs?
Therefore, the best way to avoid any shortfall in 2020 giving is to have your marketing campaigns reflect the audience you are trying to reach. Concretely Dear DDs, it means that you must find new ways to make your mission statement resonate with a much larger community. To that point, the JMS team invites you to effectively refresh your brand messaging by translating more accurately the correlation between the day-to-day microscopic work of your nonprofit that shapes a better tomorrow we can all enjoy on a global scale.
For example, Dear DDs, say your nonprofit provides afterschool scholastic reinforcement. Rather than continue to limit the scope of your amazing tutoring activities, consider refreshing the brand messaging by framing your impact as shaping tomorrow’s promising inventors. This way, you can attract a vast array of donors that include foundations. When attending the next function, you ought to consider pitching the work as paramount to the world far beyond the community that your nonprofit is currently serving.
If you can successfully paint the picture that you are doing revolutionary work, you are more to appeal to donors with deeper pockets avoiding thus the seemingly inevitable dependency on a seemingly shrinking number of wealthy super donors that most nonprofits are subjected to now more than ever.
By the way, it is worth noting that broader-based supporters are ramping up charitable giving to make up for the shortfall in individual giving. Since foundations giving have increased by 7.3% to $76 billion while that of corporations by 5% to $20 billion, according to Giving USA, reaching your 2020 giving targets is not impossible Dear DDs!
So, polish your pitch so that your branding message clearly makes the case that your organizational needs can fit within the mission of any broader-based supporters today and for years to come.
Dear Readers, thank you for taking the time to read today’s publication. This blog invites you to come back every week for fresh thought-provoking content that will inspire you to change the framework you use to evaluate untapped channels to bolster your brand messaging.
So, what changes do you plan on making to make up for the potential shortfall in charitable giving this year? We’d love to hear from you in the comment section below, by email jms@branding24seven.com or by mail at JMStrategy LLC,
21 S. 11th Street, 2nd Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19107
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