The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines philanthropy as “an active effort to promote human welfare” and “an act or gift done or made for humanitarian purposes.”
Philanthropy isn’t good only for the person being helped, it’s also good for the philanthropist. A 2019 articlein Psychology Today states that giving “is positively related to life satisfaction.” A study by researchers at the University of Buffalo found that helping others can lead to reductions in mortality rates.
But, overall, giving is down. That begs the question: What is the future of philanthropy?
Brian Fogle, president and CEO of the Community Foundation of the Ozarks, points to an annual study, Giving USA, done by the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University. Fogle said, while households are still the biggest givers, just under half of them now give charitably. That’s compared to the 1960s, he said, when 70% of households gave.
Part of the reason for that, he thinks, is a decline in trust in institutions. Because of that, he said, messaging will be more important than ever for nonprofits going forward.
“We work with 1,000 nonprofits across the region, and what I see them do each and every day with limited resources is unbelievable," he said. "I mean, their passion, their commitment, their ability to do things, but, again, I think it's keeping that front of mind to say 'the needs are there, and nonprofits can do it better than anybody else...they’re more effective than government.”
Jaimie Trussell is president and CEO of Council of Churches of the Ozarks, a nonprofit that oversees several programs that help the needy, including Crosslines, Ambassadors for Children, Diaper Bank of the Ozarks and Safe to Sleep just to name a few. She believes what will never change is the need for nonprofits to care for the community’s most vulnerable citizens.
"Unfortunately, we’ve outsourced it to the government in many capacities, and it doesn't work. It's just not as effective on a very personal basis," she said. "Research shows time and time again it has to be a personal connection to really serve people well and help move them from scarcity to security. That is what the nonprofit community does really well.”
The importance of messaging
Making sure potential donors understand all that Council of Churches does is more important than ever before, according to Trussell. In the past, she said, they’ve done that poorly, but the nonprofit is doing better getting that message out.
"We’ve changed our efforts to communicate that wholistic, collaborative impact that all of our agencies working together — now under one roof — can have," she said, "and that's really a shift in just our marketing and messaging. We've done a lot more intentional campaigns with media to tell the story of all the things we do because the number one thing I hear when I talk to people about the Council of Churches is 'I had no idea.' And that's something I've got to work on because we're probably the best kept secret being around five decades here in southwest Missouri, but, being humble, not telling our story as well as we're going to need to if we're going to be relevant."
Gaining donors' trust
Trussell said she's noticed a shift in donor behavior – backing up what Fogle said about a lack of trust in institutions, including nonprofits. Understandably, donors increasingly want to evaluate the causes they are thinking about supporting.
“They really do their research. They really want to see a demonstrated impact," she said. "I think it used to be more of a handshake, 'trust us. We'll do the right thing with your investment.' Today they want to see proof of how that investment is used, and I think that creates more competition in the philanthropic space. That's not anything that any nonprofit should be afraid of . We want to invest in programs that work, and we don't want to keep in investing in things that don't, so I think it's going to be a lot more directed and maybe more intentional in the future, but I think just as relevant as it’s ever been.”
Greg Burris, president and CEO of United Way of the Ozarks, said they are also seeing a lower level of trust by potential donors.
"And that lower level of trust results in people saying, 'I want to see what you're doing with this money. I want to see it. I want to be a part of it. I want to come in and get my hands dirty a little bit,' which is fine, and that is the prerogative of the donor," he said. "But I think that's a little bit different dynamic rather than 'I'll just write a check, and I'm going to hand you a check and just assume you're going to go do things.”
Getting involved
On a recent weekday, a few volunteers gathered around tables, helping box food in the warehouse at Ozarks Food Harvest.
Bart Brown is president and CEO of the food bank, which has 270 partner agencies in 28 counties – helping to make sure no one goes hungry. He said donors — especially younger donors — increasingly want to be involved in the work a charity is doing.
"One of the things that younger donors and donors of capacity want is direct involvement with the charity that they're passionate about," he said. "So volunteerism actually drives philanthropy in that way because you get hands-on experience with something that you're passionate about, and that drives more gifts of funds to the organization."
How nonprofits are reaching potential donors
Ozarks Food Harvest is trying different strategies to reach potential supporters. In the past, the nonprofit has relied heavily on direct mail and paper solicitations to acquire new donors.
"And that has transitioned to an increased reliance on e-blasts, electronic asks, avenues through all our social media streams," said Brown.
Recently, he said, they sent out an e-blast for a fundraiser to purchase holiday meals for families, "and that generated about $15,000 in 24 hours."
Community Ownership
Over at the United Way of the Ozarks, Greg Burris said one thing they’ve pivoted to recently in an effort to make sure philanthropy remains alive and well in the area is community ownership.
According to Burris, the more people feel ownership for their community, the more likely they are to support it – through giving or volunteering.
"And, consequently, we’ve created a lot of programs that help introduce people to their community. Even though they live in the community," he said, "a lot of people live on the community, but they don't really live in the community. And if you live in the community and you learn about these things, it changes the way you see community. And, once you see the community through that lens, it changes your level of empathy, but it also changes your level of ownership.”
One program they’ve created is called Community Field Trip – a one-day professional development program that combines classroom training with community tours. It allows employers to give their employees an in-depth look at important social issues in the community and the nonprofit organizations that are addressing them. That not only benefits the community, Burris said, but it also benefits businesses.
"There’s all kinds of research that shows that that increases retention," he said, "because their pride in their employer goes up, their pride in their community goes up, their pride in themselves goes up, their loyalty to their employer goes up, so there's all these positive indicators that happen when employers allow their employees to really get into the community, do a little bit of volunteerism and get embedded and find something that touches their heart.”
Planned Giving
And nonprofits are increasingly making sure people know about another option for supporting their favorite causes – planned giving or legacy giving. A planned gift is “any major gift, made in lifetime or at death as part of a donor’s overall financial and/or estate planning,” according to the website plannedgiving.com. It can include gifts of life insurance, equity, real estate, personal property or cash.
While that can be a difficult topic for nonprofits to approach donors about, Bart Brown, head of Ozarks Food Harvest, said it’s important, "and we found that people are very, very receptive if they're passionate about an organization like Ozarks Food Harvest,” he said.
And nonprofits are making it easier for busy people to give – and get help. For example, Jaimie Trussell, with CCO, said they’ve gone back to the QR code.
If nonprofits stay on top of changes in philanthropy, Brian Fogle, the head of CFO, said, they’ll be able to continue their mission of helping people.
“I’m really excited about what we learned from the under 40 research [currently underway] in preparing our nonprofit community, getting ready for that with the technology, the skills, the platforms and the messaging around that," he said, "but also taking advantage of this historical transfer of wealth right here, right now, and, with those two things, I’m very hopeful about the future.”
