You are the future of philanthropy ... 
is an egalitarian view being spread by Katherine Fulton, President of Monitor Institute.

Fulton says that philanthropy across the board is in the midst of intense, potentially revolutionary transition. There's new money, new leaders, new rules, new technology, and new needs. Where great wealth used to come mainly from inheritance and oil, now it comes from success in high technology and finance -- and ideas and expectations from those business experiences inform (and sometimes over-simplify) the new philanthropy.

"Philanthropy is how we make the long now personal," is another Fulton take. The trait most often missing in philanthropy, including the new philanthropy, is stamina, patience. Instead of rewarding success with continued funding, the givers get bored and look for something new. Really effective giving requires deep contextual understanding and tolerance for ambiguity. Her advice to new donors is -- Pick at least one difficult and complex issue and stick with it, and join with others to work on it."Philanthropy is how we make the long now personal," is another Fulton take. The trait most often missing in philanthropy, including the new philanthropy, is stamina, patience. Instead of rewarding success with continued funding, the givers get bored and look for something new. Really effective giving requires deep contextual understanding and tolerance for ambiguity. Her advice to new donors is -- Pick at least one difficult and complex issue and stick with it, and join with others to work on it.

2010 Will Be Better     
Released during the Association of Fundraising Professionals 47th International Conference, the State of Fundraising Survey found that the tough economy had a dramatic effect on fundraising last year, with 46% of survey respondents raising less year over year and only 11% saying they had raised about the same. What's more, for organizations that experienced fundraising growth, the increases were modest, with 68% of respondents reporting increases of 20% or less. By way of comparison, three years ago almost a quarter of respondents reported increases of 50% or more.
 
Despite the disappointing results, more than 60% of respondents said they expect to raise more money in 2010 than in 2009, a significant increase from last year, when just 28% predicted a year-over-year increase. Given the challenging climate, many fundraisers will focus on activities that are less expensive, such as online solicitations, major gift and planned giving appeals, and more outreach to current donors with especially strong ties to the organization. Only a third of respondents indicated that they would focus on special events, which are more expensive to stage but tend to be effective in attracting new donors.

Foundation Dip
The recent economic crisis caused the nation's more than 75,000 grantmaking foundations to cut their 2009 giving by an estimated 8.4% -- by far the largest decline ever tracked by the Foundation Center. Grant dollars fell from $46.8 billion to $42.9 billion. 

Yet this cutback totaled less than half the 17% loss in foundation assets recorded in the prior year. Several factors helped to moderate the overall decline in 2009 foundation giving. Principal among them were the decision of a significant number of funders to reduce their operating expenses and/or draw upon their endowments to shore up their giving during the crisis; increased giving by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other grantmakers; continuing gifts and bequests from donors into new and existing foundations; and the practice of asset-averaging by some foundations, which reduces the impact on giving of year-to-year fluctuations in asset values.

The Obamas reported giving a total of $329,100 to 40 charitable organizations. Their largest gifts were $50,000 contributions to CARE and to the United Negro College Fund. The President donated his $1.4-million Nobel Peace Prize award to 10 charities.

How To Keep Fund Raisers    
Penelope Burk, President of Cygnus Applied Research, projects a growing number of charities will soon be competing for a scarce number of qualified fund raisers.
 
Ms. Burk points out that 37% of fund raisers said they left their last job for a higher salary and 48% said they would leave their current job for higher pay. The fund raisers surveyed don't appear unhappy with how much they are currently paid; they leave simply because they can get more money elsewhere.
 
Organizations have good reason to prevent churning. It costs 65% to 83% of a fund raiser's annual salary to replace that person.
 
Among the other suggestions that stem from her research: Find ways to give fund raisers more management responsibilities. Twenty-nine percent of fund raisers said they left their last job because they were offered a more senior position, while more than a third of fund raisers said they would leave their current job for that reason.

Philanthropy In China   
The 2010 Hurun Philanthropy List shows the top 100 philanthropists in China donated an average of 229 million yuan each over the last five years, or six percent of their wealth. The 50 most generous last year donated 8.2 billion yuan, eight times the average of the first philanthropy list in 2004. Large donations have also been on the rise with three philanthropists donating more than $100 million last year and 13 donated more than $10 million.

Education, disaster relief and health care are the main beneficiaries. China's first generation of entrepreneurs has been building schools in rural areas and donating to disaster relief, most recently to the Qinghai earthquake.

Corporate Reputation  
After hitting rock bottom during the height of greed, bailouts, and the economic crisis in 2008, the public's perceptions of the reputation of corporate America seem to be bouncing back. The Harris Interactive RQ Study, which measures the reputations of the 60 Most Visible Companies in the U.S., indicates that the percentage of Americans who see the state of reputation as "not good" or "terrible" decreased from 88% in 2008 to 81% in 2009. Perhaps even more telling, there was a 50% increase in the number of Americans who said that the state of reputation is "good", moving from 12% to 18%. This is the first positive improvement in four years. 

Six companies received an RQ score over 80, which is considered to be an "Excellent" reputation, with Berkshire Hathaway taking the top spot from frequent top scorer Johnson & Johnson by less than 0.5 points. Rounding out the list of companies with excellent reputations are Google, 3M Company, SC Johnson, and Intel Corporation. SC Johnson appears on the list of the 60 most visible companies for the first time, with the 5th highest RQ score this year and is the first company since Google in 2005 to debut in the top five.

Generation Y   
Millennial Generation donors want to be engaged in a different way than Baby Boomers or Generation X donors; however, contrary to what general perceptions might suggest, that doesn't mean connecting with them most successfully through social media appeals.
 
Johnson Grossnickle Associates surveyed more than 2,200 people between the ages of 20 and 40 across the U.S. about their giving habits and engagement preferences. Approximately 75% represented Generation Y or Millennial donors. The results show a generation definitely connected by technology and social media, but more inspired to give and volunteer by personal engagement and human connections. 
 
These results would suggest that nonprofit organizations seeking to tap into this new generation of donors will need to redesign their solicitation and engagement processes, treating these new givers more like their older peers in an effort that will not deliver a quick return on investment but will reward the organization over time.

Corporate Trends        
The Conference Board reports that corporate planning for community involvement has moved out of crisis mode and into a recovery mindset.

More than three-quarters of 114 respondents said that they would make no recession-driven changes to their 2010 corporate giving programs. Strategic priorities such as aligning more closely with business needs, rather than economic concerns, are driving priority-setting in contributions.

Twenty percent of companies said they would reduce their giving budgets in 2010, compared with 53% in 2009. In addition, only four percent of companies plan to reduce the size of their giving staff, compared with 18% in 2009. In terms of focus areas, international development, STEM education (science, technology, engineering and math) and environment/sustainability will see the greatest resource increases. Capital campaigns and arts/culture will lose the most.

Redefining Transportation        
Zipcar is the world's leading car-sharing service with 360,000 members in urban areas and college campuses throughout 28 North American states and provinces and Europe. As a leader in urban transportation, Zipcar offers more than 30 makes and models of self-service vehicles by the hour or day to savvy city residents and businesses looking for an alternative to the high costs and hassles of owning a car in the city. Based in Cambridge, Mass., the company could go public as soon as this year.

Online Giving Surge     
Online giving continues to be a bright spot for charities during the recession, according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy's annual survey of online fund raising.

During a year when overall donations fell by a median of 9% for the nonprofit groups in the survey, online gifts grew by 5%. Yet many groups had to work harder to achieve gains.
 
The increase is far smaller however than the 28% median growth rate in 2008 and the 42% median growth in 2007.

It's Not The Economy, Stupid  
Voters now rate government ethics and corruption as the most important issue regularly tracked by Rasmussen Reports. This is the second time in two years this issue has edged the economy and also marks the highest percentage of voters who have ever rated it most important.
 
The latest national telephone survey finds that 84% of U.S. voters now see government ethics and corruption as a very important issue. The only other time this issue was rated number one was in September 2009 when 83% felt that way.

Prizes Get Bigger         
McKinsey & Company reports that the dollar amount for prizes over $100,000 has tripled in the last decade to $375 million a year. There has also been a shift from prizes that recognized past accomplishments to what McKinsey calls "inducement-style prizes that focus on achieving a specific, future goal." 
 
The growth in prizes has been driven by the desire to effect change and bring attention to a social issue or a practical problem. The McKinsey study indicates that 10 years ago a third of all prizes went to the arts, but today only a 10th do that. The focus now is on the environment, science, engineering and aviation, where the dollar amounts of prizes have increased seven-fold.

Coming May 2nd         
You might be familiar with a lot of not-so-familiar observances, but how  about "Lemonade Day?"
 
It's a nationwide event that teaches kids the skills they need to be successful. Kids learn to set goals, develop a business plan, establish a budget, seek investors, provide customer service, and give back to the community. Activities are planned for 14 cities, from East Hartford, Conn. to San Francisco.
 
Makes good sense to me. A lot of fund raisers first cut their teeth in the profession in a lemonade stand.

Quiz: Volunteer Value  
Independent Sector has announced that the estimated value of a volunteer hour reached $20.85 in 2009, up 60 cents from 2008.

The estimate is based on the average hourly wage (plus 12%, to allow for fringe benefits) of all non-management, non-agricultural workers, as determined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Can you match the value of a volunteer hour with the corresponding state? Anwers are shown at the bottom of the left-hand column. Until next month ...

a. $14.66