A fundraiser awakes from hibernation

The weirdest thing happened to me this morning... I woke up and got out of bed and my back felt kinda stiff... like I'd slept on my shoulder funny or something... and then I noticed that my breath smelled like my teeth hadn't been brushed in five months...

I checked my cell phone only to see 128 voicemails and over 2,700 emails. Weird, I didn't remember being that popular when I fell asleep...

Is it possible I've been sleeping for 5 months? I tried to figure out why my stupid alarm clock hadn't awoken me from my slumber, I noticed that I must have set it on "hibernation" mode before I fell asleep.

Can somebody fill me in if I missed anything in the world during the last 5 months that I was sleeping?

The Great Gorilla Run

We ask our donors to do (and put up with) a lot... but have you ever asked them to dress up as a gorilla and run 4.3 miles?

According to The Sunday Telegraph, this past Saturday's sixth annual 7K Great Gorilla Run in London featured 750 runners raising money for the Gorilla Organization. Some say the race had over 1,000.

Participants in London had to pay 75 pounds and promise to raise another 400 pounds in sponsorships.

Race spokeswoman Jillian Miller, estimated the race would raise nearly $400,000 in London... but the event has quickly spread to a worldwide phenomenon. In San Francisco last year, the event drew an equally crazy crowd.



Here is a cute video from the San Francisco event in 2006.

Not your father's economic crisis

Even grizzled fundraising veterans who have been through many recessions in the past are beginning to realize this is not your father's economic crisis... someonew who has been doing this job for three decades sent me this quote from the DMA Digest:

NONPROFITS BRACE FOR SLOWDOWN IN CHARITABLE GIVING.

The turmoil on Wall Street could further curb a giving environment that was already slowing down. The failure of Lehman Brothers and pain at other big firms threaten to cut into the corporate and individual donations that more than a million nonprofit organizations rely on for basic operations and charitable programs. Worse for charities, the height of the financial crisis is hitting just before the end of the year, when nonprofits typically bring in the largest amount of revenue as Americans open their wallets around the holidays. Officials at charities are trying to devise creative ways to stand out. They are making urgent appeals through direct-mail and email campaigns and taking to the airwaves. Charities also are gearing up to tap their wealthy board members and other well-off supporters for extra cash. If they fail, charities may have to cut staff or seek loans. The collapse of corporate balance sheets, along with strained household budgets, could start cutting into the more-than-$300 billion national charitable-giving pie. US charitable donations only grew by 1% adjusted for inflation in 2007, according to the Giving USA Foundation. That was before the worst of the housing correction and the current Wall Street crisis. In a recent Chronicle of Philanthropy survey of 77 businesses, 50 said they expected giving to remain flat in 2008. US companies donated an average of 0.8% of their pretax profits in 2007, down from 1.4% in 2004, according to Mark Shamley, president of the Association of Corporate Contribution Professionals. "Companies are looking to cut expenditures across" the board "and corporate giving is going to be part of that," he said.

I still think the biggest threat is that more banks are going to fail and I think too many nonprofits don't understand how FDIC rules apply to charities.

Told you so?

I'm too busy this week to remind readers that I told you so... instead, I'll simply point out a link to an oldie, but goodie from early July of 2008. Enjoy.

And in case you aren't panicked enough... here is a link to an article about what happens to charities when the bank they use goes bust. Don't think this isn't happening already.

If you haven't reviewed FDIC rules on your nonprofit's (and affiliate's) bank account you are gmabling with your donor's money. Next week might be too late.

This is a good Q&A from a treasurer for a local Habitat for Humanity group on FDIC rules regarding their affiliate accounts.

Sprinkle my ashes or else Planned Parenthood gets $50k

It's been six weeks since Bruce E. Ivins, the alledged anthrax suspect, killed himself. However, his cremated remains are still stored at a funeral home in Maryland awaiting bizarre probate proceedings.

According to The New York Times:

In a will he wrote last year, a few months before the Federal Bureau of Investigation focused the anthrax letters investigation on him, Dr. Ivins wrote of his wish to be cremated and have his ashes scattered. But fearing that his wife, Diane, and their two children might not honor the request, he came up with a novel way to enforce his demand: threatening to make a bequest to an organization he knew his wife opposed, Planned Parenthood.

“If my remains are not cremated and my ashes are not scattered or spread on the ground, I give to Planned Parenthood of Maryland” $50,000, Dr. Ivins wrote in the will. Court records value the estate at $143,000.

Ms. Ivins is a former president of Frederick County Right to Life, according to F.B.I. records. Bruce Ivins played keyboards at a Catholic church in Frederick and described himself in e-mail messages as “pro-life,” but he was not an anti-abortion activist, said his lawyer, Paul F. Kemp. Ms. Ivins declined to comment, Mr. Kemp said.

I'm not sure if I've ever heard of a donor who uses his/her will to encourage action by threatening to make a donation to a group that the surviving heirs hated.

I think I'm going to add an addendum to my Last Will and Testament today that my heirs need to continue this blog once I die or else...

Story of Cindy McCain's disgraced charity gains attention

I'm not so arrogant to think that my story from last week finally prompted the mainstream media to pay attention to a huge story they have been ignoring... but I am just righteous enough to remind politicians that if they are going to brag about their philanthropic efforts starting a charity... they should be compelled to tell the rest of the story if it involves you getting your drugs from a charity that you put at risk:

A doctor with McCain's medical charity who supplied her with prescriptions for the drugs lost his license and never practiced again. The charity, the American Voluntary Medical Team, eventually had to be closed in the wake of the controversy. Her husband was forced to admit publicly that he was absent much of the time she was having problems and was not aware of them.

"So many lives were damaged by this," said Jeanette Johnson, whose husband, John Max Johnson, surrendered his medical license. "A lot of good people. Doctors who volunteered their time. My husband. I cannot begin to tell you how painful it was. We moved far away to start over."

McCain's addiction also embroiled her with one of her charity's former employees, Tom Gosinski, who reported her drug use to the DEA and provided prosecutors with a contemporaneous journal that detailed the effects of her drug problems.

But if you still think my outrage is over the line.. please... keep emailing me.

Podcast on new IRS Form 990s

If you don't know how the new Schedule G from the newly revised IRS Form 990 will effect your organization's fundraising reporting, you can now listen to a podcast with Geoffrey Peters, president of Creative Direct Response, who recently provided very useful information on how to get your organization ready to fill out the schedule.

Geoffrey Peters, a fundraiser and lawyer, is a noted legal expert on the regulation of nonprofits and their fundraisers. Download his complete bio.

Go to the Foundation Center to listen to the podcast.

Why the collapse of Freddie and Fannie scares fundraisers

A lot of people are being hurt by the collapse of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. As a fundraiser, I can't help but focus on the philanthropic implications. During a press conference describing the takeover, the government said it "will review the charitable activities."

That doesn't sound like good news...

Cuts in giving to the groups Freddie and Fannie supported will have major ripple effects. Let's consider this description from the Washington Post:

By its account, Freddie Mac, along with its foundation, has invested more than $348 million in the community to date. Last year its annual Hoops for the Homeless campaign, a celebrity-studded basketball tournament to fight family homelessness, raised $900,000 for six local nonprofits that included Hannah House and So Others Might Eat.

Last year Fannie Mae dissolved its foundation -- an organization that has put more than $1 billion into education, affordable housing, education and economic development programs since 1979. The company said its philanthropic activities would be handled in-house, and it continued to give to local organization and initiatives. Among its 2007 programs, the company pledged $10 million to improve infrastructure in D.C. schools and $1 million in grants to help revitalize D.C. neighborhoods. Its annual Help the Homeless walkathon raised more than $7 million last year to support 175 local homeless service providers, such as Reston Interfaith, last year."

Some of you may remember that the embattled mortgage giants came under fire this past summer for making sizeable contributions to Jesse Jackson's Rainbow/PUSH Coalition and Citizenship Education Fund Annual Conference.

According to the conference program, obtained by an NLPC staff member who attended the event, Freddie Mac, as a “Platinum Sponsor,” paid $150,000. Fannie Mae paid $100,000 to be listed as a “Diamond Sponsor.”

Combined these guys also gave almost $2 million in contributions to politicians during the 2006 election cycle.

I mean... Freddie Mac was recognized by the Washington Business Journal and Greater D.C. Cares as the top corporate philanthropist in the Washington region.

Do you understand how big this is?

A fellow fundraiser once told me that the only news worse than hearing that a major donor has been indicted is that a major donor has declared bankruptcy. Trust me. I have experience with this one... it's not always easy making a bankrupt corporate donor make good on a charitable pledge.

30 fundraisers in 60 days

According to the Wall Street Journal:

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will appear at around 30 fund-raising events in the next two months leading up to Election Day – about one every two days on average, officials with Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaign said today.

Yet, no announcements on whether or not she ever plans to answers questions during a press conference.

Did she really steal drugs from her own charity?

Cindy McCain looked so nice in her speech at the GOP convention tonight.

It's hard to believe they featured the story of how she started her own nonprofit called the American Voluntary Medical Team, but they left out the part of the story where she was investigated by the DEA for stealing drugs to feed her addiction to prescription painkillers.

I believe she wore red that day. She granted semi-exclusive interviews to one TV station and three daily newspaper reporters in Arizona, tearfully recalling her addiction, which came about after painful back and knee problems and was exacerbated by the stress of the Keating Five banking scandal that had ensnared her husband. To make matters worse, McCain admitted, she had stolen the drugs from the American Voluntary Medical Team, her own charity, and had been investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The local press cooed over her hard-luck story. One of the four journalists spoon-fed the story -- Doug McEachern, then a reporter for Tribune Newspapers, now a columnist with the Arizona Republic (and, it must be added, normally much more acerbic) -- wrote this rather typical lead:

"She was blonde and beautiful. A rich man's daughter who became a politically powerful man's wife. She had it all, including an insidious addiction to drugs that sapped the beauty from her life like a spider on a butterfly."

Hmmm. But that's old news, right?

Jerry Lewis telethon tops $65 million for MDA

You gotta hand it to Jerry Lewis.

The "freewheeling 82-year-old showman" co-hosted the 22-hour telethon yesterday that raised a record $65 million for the Muscular Dystrophy Association's annual Labor Day event.

Despite the sluggish economy, the 43rd annual fundraising blitz was $1.2 million more than last year's total. Even more impressive... the host also urged viewers to contribute to the Salvation Army's emergency disaster services because of the threats from Hurricane Gustav.

McCain's major donor tips off VP pick early

As the political world waits to hear who McCain will pick for his VP... it appeared that much discussed front-runners like Pawlenty and Romney were out. After initial reports showed that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was still in Alaska, some reporters thought she wouldn't be at the big high noon rally in Dayton, Ohio.

But then... reports surfaced of a second plane from Alaska to Dayton... and who owns that second plane? None other than Clay Lacy.

Major donors always ruin everything...

UPDATE: Political junkies may enjoy this article I found from earlier this year "Sparks Fly Over Palin Fundraising Role,"

What happens to charities deposits when their banks fail?

When a bank fails and the FDIC seizes possession, most people know that individuals are insured by the government up to $100,000. There are exceptions for joint accounts and retirement accounts... but the people who usually get screwed by businesses that have large sums of money on deposit.

The Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) in the UK is worried that charities would that have their funds in a bank that fails would be ruined.

The Charities Aid Foundation has written to Chancellor Alistair Darling and the Financial Services Authority requesting full compensation for charities if they lose money in bank failures.

CAF has asked for the proposal of full compensation for charities to be included in an FSA consultation on compensation limits, which will take place in the autumn.

Yikes. That's scary. I have to admit, I don't know what the rules are in the United States... nor do I know who would be lobbying the FDIC to look out for charities?

Cow pie bingo and the poop pool

When I was growing up, a local group used to raise money during my town's annual summer fair with an event called the "Daisy Drop."

It's known by different names in different parts of the country... some people call it "cow pie bingo" and others call it "cow chip fundraisers" or even a "poop pool."

The rules were pretty simple... donors could buy a square of land in a big field... then a poor cow (named Daisy) would be released and everyone would wait to see where she dropped her first pile of crap... and if it landed in your sqaure - you won a 50/50 raffle of cash.

It's gross and it's somewhat cruel to the animal involved to have hundreds of locals yelling at it with begging pleas to dump on their square... but I credit this as one of the turning points in my life that made me want to learn more about fundraising.

For some reason, when I read this morning that "five out of the seven winners of the Dar es Salaam Goat races held in Dar es Salaam on Saturday, donated their cash prizes to a charity fund pool," it brough back childhood memories of Daisy.

Foundations and endowments hit by market slide

It seems like only yesterday when foundations and non-profit endowment managers were talking with lustful jealousy about their desire to get involved with hedge funds that could return double digit gains.

Well, it's hard to believe we won't be hearing from some of the bigger losers who chased out sized market performance and lost bundles. According to Investment News:

Endowments have posted double-digit returns since 2004, according to a survey of 785 institutions by the National Association of College and University Business Officers, a Washington-based professional organization. It found a one-year average return of 17.2% for fiscal-year 2007, 10.7% for 2006, 9.3% for 2005 and 15.1% for 2004.

But that reign is over.

A recent report from Chicago-based Northern Trust Corp. found that year-to-date returns through June 30 were negative for the third consecutive quarter for its database of 291 funds, which include 90 foundations and endowments with $91 billion in assets.

While I'm sure that there will be some big blow-ups... much are expecting flat to moderately negative returns:

On an anecdotal basis, foundations and endowments are experiencing flat to negative returns, said John Griswold, executive director of the Commonfund Institute of Wilton, Conn., which researches nearly 800 endowments of colleges and private independent schools, and about 300 foundations.

And finally, some people believe that the big dogs like Harvard and Yale will escape without serious injury this year:

Some larger endowments may have positive returns, such as Harvard University of Cambridge, Mass., which is expected to have returns that range from 7% to 9%, according to published reports not confirmed by the university. The university reported this year that 33% of its endowment's holdings were in real assets.

"I think you can expect Yale [University of New Haven, Conn.] to be positive again and many of the large universities, which have a heavy allocation to private-capital investments and commodities," Mr. Griswold said. "But for those who came into commodities only recently, they may have found it disappointing."

You can read more here.

Critic sneers at public television's bland fundraising

Apparently Richard Levey at Direct Magazine wasn't impressed with WNYC's recent fundraising appeal. His new column offered this scathing review:

When a fundraising appeal goes into its 11th consecutive minute, and each minute seems like an hour, this is a problem.

The most interesting part of Lehrer’s appeal came when a WNYC associate flumfurred his way through an explanation of the 2-for-1 donation match deal offered by station trustee Lex Kaplan. Lehrer and his cohort puzzled through the math of the offer: Was it a 200% match or a 300% match, they wondered. Not the most riveting content, at least it was an attempt to liven up the proceedings with something unscripted.

Unscripted is apparently a no-no. When the appeal was rebroadcast during the wee hours of the night, this particular portion was cut out. Which was a shame, as it was easily the most human part of the pitch. Ah, well, everyone’s allowed a mulligan now and then, especially when it’s part of a good cause.

His parting shot contained this back-handed compliment:

When WNYC is at its best, it’s smart and engaging. Why its fundraising drives have the pizzazz and verve of last week’s pot roast is a mystery not even A Prairie Home Companion’s Guy Noir could untangle.

I think it's an important (although ignored) detail whether or not Mr. Levey is (or ever has been) a donor to WNYC...

Fundraising goal finally met for Democrats convention

The Denver committee responsible for raising $40.6 million in funding for the upcoming Democratic National Convention received a lot of negative press earlier this summer when it feared they would miss the goal.

Well... it looks like they really turned on the juice this past month. This week it was announced that the group met its goal.

Political consultant Eric Sondermann said Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper should be credited with helping the committee garner the funds deemed necessary to adequately support next week's convention in the Colorado city, The Denver Post said Wednesday.

"I think you have to give credit where credit is due," Sondermann said. "(Denver Mayor John) Hickenlooper has been tenacious about this and never gave up, even when a lot of people figured we would have to make this a success even if it has to be scaled down."

The group's successful efforts come more than a month after it reported it was $11 million short of meeting its June deadline for DNC funding, the Post reported.

The mayor said that the rate of fundraising increased 2 to 3 times in the last four weeks.

Salesforce.com offers disappointing outlook

Shareholders reacted negatively today to news from Salesforce.com, Inc.'s disappointing outlook. Shares were down more than $10 at $55.15 (about 16%) in early trading on worries about the software-as-a-service company's future sales growth amid macro economic concerns.

A lot of nonprofits use Salesforce.com - so, here's the part that should serve as a warning to fundraisers:

Analyst Charles Di Bona of Bernstein Research said the shaky economic environment may be hurting Salesforce.com's business as some of its key customers, small and medium-sized companies, reel from the slowdown.

"We are concerned that SMBs, which make up 2/3 of Salesforce's customer base, may suffer more markedly than their larger counterparts amid any ongoing economic weakness, and that this may in turn impact Salesforce's bookings, new and renewal, and ultimately Salesforce's top line," Di Bona wrote. "Indeed, Salesforce appears to have had some softness in its deferred revenues and bookings in the quarter, perhaps giving fuel to this concern."

This is what I would call a leading economic indicator. That's right folks... we've been saying it at Don't Tell the Donor since late 2007. Smaller and medium sized nonprofits are going to feel this pain a lot sooner than the big dogs.

Oh yeah, and by the way... Goldman Sachs said today that half of the world's economies are in or will be in a recession within the next year. So much for our "second half recovery," huh?

These are the two most dangerous people

From Fundraising Success Magazine:

"[The] 57-year-old direct-marketing manager who works for a health charity [who] has been doing direct-mail fundraising for most of her career … and right now, she’s sitting in her chair asking herself, ‘Do I really have to figure out all of this Internet stuff before I retire?’ [The] 26-year-old account executive at a New York-based online agency [who] created his first Web site at 17 … and he’s sitting there saying, ‘Oh my God, this guy is going to talk about direct mail and I couldn’t care less.’ Together, these are the two most dangerous people in direct marketing today."

— OMP President Frank O’Brien in his keynote speech, "The Six Dynamics Shaping the Future of Fundraising," at last week’s 2008 New York Nonprofit Conference.

Arriving in mailboxes on the same day

I tell you what... if I worked at a large national environmental group and saw that my annual calendar fundraising mailing arrived in mailboxes within days of my two biggest competitors mailing their calendars... I'd be pissed.

These things aren't just bad luck. They are evidence of some poor planning.

Who would you be most angry with? Your list broker who cleared the mail plan (especially if they represented one of the other groups)? Or the creative agencies for not getting better competitive intelligence? Or do you just blame the direct mail gods for your terrible misfortune.

Either way, it makes all three groups look bad. Not to mention... why do I even need my 2009 calendar before September even gets here?