Nonprofits cannot be paralyzed by crisis
Since the Op-Ed I wrote on March 29, I have been regularly asked my thoughts about the future of charitable giving. If only I had a crystal ball.
While we can’t predict the long-term impact of these events, I do believe we can gain insight by analyzing historic charitable giving trends and current circumstances, and more importantly, encourage a quick recovery by supporting our community.
The Past: A few weeks ago, “Giving USA 2020: The Annual Report on Philanthropy for the Year 2019” was released. For 65 years, Giving USA has provided comprehensive charitable giving data across the USA. This year’s report showed that Americans continue to be incredibly generous, contributing $449.64 billion to charity. This was a record-breaking number following a decade of unprecedented growth.
While the nation hasn’t faced a pandemic since Giving USA began, we have experienced a number of disasters and the Great Recession. Analyzing giving during these periods helps us understand giving today. For example, during the Great Recession, giving decreased but has since grown to the highest levels on record. Also, during crises, donors shift focus giving larger gifts to health and human service organizations more than arts and education. Over time, these same donors shift back to original personal preferences.
I see future hope in studying the past. Charitable giving is ingrained in our country’s culture. Even during economic downturns, giving has never plummeted or disappeared. Moreover, giving to certain sectors might ebb and flow, but again it does not disappear to any sector.
The Present: Imagine heading toward a hill. It is easier to make it up if you are running rather than standing at the bottom. And 2019’s growth in giving, coupled with 2020’s strong start, is the momentum we need to make it up the hill that is 2020. Since giving has historically reflected the economy, you can keep your pulse on the current state of giving by following the S&P 500 and
GDP.
Our Resilience: Yes, the last three months have been challenging for nonprofits and donors, but these months have also affirmed that nonprofits and donors are critical to our future.
How quickly and how well our community recovers depend on working together to adapt and plan. Having left the panic phase and entered what David Brooks in The New York Times is calling “The Endurance Phase,” we must not lose sight of our goals. Effort and dollars should be spent addressing current needs. But, if we envision a future with more equality, less poverty, live performances, open museum doors, and new initiatives and discoveries, we must also look beyond the current climate.
Nonprofits cannot be paralyzed by crisis. As donors think beyond the crisis, they want to invest in a well-run and sustainable organization. Are you raising support for the future? Have you planned how you would handle potential future challenging scenarios?
As community members and donors, we also must plan for the future by identifying ways to support nonprofits today. Could you make an additional gift this month? Could you tell a neighbor or friend about a nonprofit you support and encourage them to give?
Circling back to my example about running toward a hill, we will make it up the hill because of our momentum and because we are stronger together. When one loses footing, we must be there to help. In our firm’s 31 years of fundraising, we have experienced challenging and uncertain times. With confidence, I know that we will prevail because nonprofits are vital and our responsibility to support them is essential.
Together, we will all make it up the hill.
Keith Curtis