Michael: I would say that the 2% you receive from business, relative to your total contributed income amount, is pretty good. Fact is, only about 4% of all the money usually donated annually to non-profits comes from business. U.S. charitable giving reached a new record in 2006, an estimated $295 billion, according to “Giving USA.”
Giving by individuals estimated $222.89 billion and accounts for 75.6 % of all estimated giving in 2006. Charitable bequests in 2006 were 7.8 % of the estimated total---all of course as well from individuals. Thus, Individuals accounted for about 83.4% of all money raised.
On the other hand, only about 12.4% came from foundations, and only about 4.2% came from corporations.
Those numbers have held for the most part over a number of years. The low corporate slice of the giving “pie” is a reality, and it does not suggest that there is a vast untapped source of corporate money waiting to more efficiently solicited---or that it is just there for the asking. It is a common fund-raising myth that many believe that corporations and foundations give most of the money.
But, you know all of this.
However, noting that you have been relying mostly on foundation support, that you feel your current support from business needs to change, and that you are planning a special business campaign effort, I just wanted to be certain that you are sure that’s where the money is that you need and that you have the prospects to come up with those funds.
Maybe 2% of all you now raise which comes from business is all that is possible. Maybe it can represent 5% or more. The point is, for you to know the potential as best you can determine before developing a campaign perhaps just because folks there think there should be such an effort and are doing it just because the business giving situation as it is needs to change.
You know that no fund-raising campaign should ever be started until you have identified the sources from which you will draw contributions. Sources here does not refer to specific potential donors, but to the six categories of donors who contribute money to non-profit organizations. They are:
1.Trustees
2.Individuals
3.Corporations
4.Private Foundations
5.Community Foundation
6.Government
I tell anyone who wants to listen that their plan for a fund-raising campaign should target each source appropriate for that campaign and set a goal for contributions to be achieved from that source. Those goals are determined by rating and evaluating the potential donors that comprise each source.
Their analysis of the best possible fund-raising sources is dependent on the cause for which they are seeking money, and the ways in which they are going after it. In some campaigns, all six source groups may be fair game. In others, it is conceivable that only one or two will be targeted. A long, hard look at their organization and its mission, their community and its philanthropic traditions, and the number of foundations, corporations, and governmental entities with a history of supporting their organization or the type of programs it offers will help them assess their chances with each category of funding sources.
Every fund-raising campaign requires us to examine the cause we are touting, the arguments we have marshaled in support of it, and the people and means available to present those arguments. We then determine which sources are likely to have the most money we can access.
You go where money you think you can get is to be found in the greatest quantities, and most of the time that means you look to the individual donor. But if you are certain that your service area has in it enough businesses which would be interested in giving you money in the amounts sure to balance your budget, then you go for it. However, my experience tells me that, for the most part, you should not unduly focus on a campaign to businesses while not working to the maximum to raise money from individuals.
Tony Poderis
http://www.raise-funds.com
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