Individual Giving and Its Decline
While most of us didn't want to be correct, the recent release of the annual giving report on philanthropy from the Giving Institute and IUPUI’s Lily School of Philanthropy indicates a scary fact--- fewer people are being philanthropic. Individual donations are down. And whether or not you add in planned giving and or donor-advised funds, it's a scary situation as to where we're at in philanthropy.
Overall, according to the most recent data, individual giving has dropped by a very noticeable amount of the general public…the individuals making decisions to help a charity or nonprofit. A friend of mine estimated that it could be as much as 200 million gifts that weren't made by individuals in 2022. Bottom line, as has been articulated here and in many other places, more and more individuals are just choosing not to be philanthropically engaged.
This brings us to the critical aspect of major gifts. Unfortunately, most organizations and gift officers are looking at major gift philanthropy as very transactional. Go get the money, and then don't worry about it anymore. We incentivize that behavior through the wrong kind of metrics. At the end of the day, there is a realization that there's less transformational giving. Asking questions about what moves people. What their passion is. And then tying that back to our needs.
Some are going to argue that we need to do less major giving and more annual giving activities. Getting those people who used to make the $20 donations back into general giving opportunities. I wouldn't disagree with that but I don't think it has to be at the expense of major gifts. The alignment that we have with our boards, with the C-Suite/Leadership, and with other influencers is quintessential for attracting those higher-level donors who really move the needle in either a campaign or an annual financial philanthropic statement. There's a need for both, not “either-or.”
For a more detailed discussion about securing larger gifts, check out a good post at DonorSearch at https://www.donorsearch.net/resources/major-gifts-guide/
At the same time, I would argue that more conversations around planned giving or deferred giving are appropriate. If people are feeling the financial crunch of inflation and overall economic uncertainty, leveraging their passion for your nonprofit through a gift vehicle that is available when they don't physically need the money (after death/passing) makes good sense to me. But that delayed gratification, both in terms of metrics and financial support, has to be better understood.
It's a complicated subject. No easy answers. But one thing is for certain. If we keep doing the same thing the trend will not change.
