By Lauren Kotkin, ASF
Two recent ASF programs surfaced some great takeaways. See our Educational Programs calendar for upcoming in-person programs, conference calls, and webinars that may interest you.
End-of-Year Giving Starts Now
January is the perfect time to start thinking about end-of-year giving. This was a key and seemingly paradoxical takeaway from our December 10 webinar with The Center for High Impact Philanthropy.
Although 50% of giving occurs between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, funders should take time during the rest of the year to look deeper and behind the scenes to inform those giving decisions. Two salient questions: How can I do the most good? For every dollar spent, what is the return, the impact?
As the Center sees it, according to its Director of Partnerships and Strategic Initiatives Carra Cote-Ackah, high-impact giving should be a year-round practice in which you seek to make a meaningful difference in the lives of others. A great way to check and refine your course: invest in what works (even innovation can be grounded in high-quality practice) and measure what matters (think beyond compliance and toward impact).
Check out the Center’s resources on high-impact giving and plan for the year ahead.
Chronicle Editor Stacy Palmer on Philanthropic Trends
All nonprofits are working harder to bring in money as the slow economy continues to influence philanthropy and the nonprofit sector—and will for a long time—said Chronicle of Philanthropy Editor Stacy Palmer on our December 17 conference call. Diverse revenue streams have helped many nonprofits to recover, but, even in the best circumstances, it will likely take several years for the field to recover from the 2008 economic crash.
For funders, this means the demand for dollars is still high and increasing, especially among those serving the very poor. The demand for human services is particularly high—even higher than before the recession, because of high poverty rates and low wages. In 2014, the Chronicle will take a look at poverty, 50 years after President Johnson’s “War on Poverty” speech.
Additional trends Stacy sees: collaboration among funders and philanthropists urging nonprofits to collaborate, and an increased interest in data collection and the use of data to make smart decisions.
ASF Senior Program Director Lauren Kotkin plans a range of educational programs for the ASF community, including conferences, webinars, and conference calls. She also dedicates a portion of her time to managing ASF’s resources on investments. Previously, she worked at the Council on Foundations in the Family Foundation Services department. Lauren holds an undergraduate degree from Duke University and an M.Ed. from Lesley University, with a focus on using arts in education.
