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Nonprofits can reap big returns
from volunteers
Jan. 5, 2009
Todd Cohen
While they need to work even harder during
the recession to ask for contributed dollars, nonprofits also
should focus on recruiting more volunteers.
The troubled economy clearly is chilling the fundraising
climate.
According to the latest Philanthropic Giving Index from the
Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, nonprofit
professionals are reporting the lowest overall level of
confidence in the fundraising climate in the U.S. in over a
decade.
That confidence index now is 64.8, down 21.7 percent from just
six moths ago and down 27 percent from December 2007.
The center’s research for Giving USA Foundation also shows an
annual falloff of roughly 2.7 percent in total giving during
longer recessions.
A separate survey by the Association of Fundraising
Professionals finds that over half the charities in North
America were raising less money during the last three months of
2008 than in the same period in 2007.
Among charities surveyed, 53.3 percent were raising less money
than they did a year earlier, and only 22.7 percent were raising
more money, while 23.9 percent were raising about the same
amount.
In stark contrast, the survey a year ago found 48.3 percent of
charities were raising more money in the final three months of
2007 than in the same period in 2006, and only 26.3 percent were
raising less.
Experts on fundraising and giving say nonprofits should not
panic but instead should focus on sharpening the case they make
to givers and continuing to ask for support.
And new research from the Stanford Graduate School of Business
suggests that encouraging volunteerism can generate healthy
financial contributions for nonprofits.
Because volunteers make an emotional connection to an
organization and its mission, asking supporters for their time
rather than their money is a better way to increase donations of
money, says the study, which was published in the Journal of
Consumer Research.
In fact, it says, initially asking givers for money can alienate
them and make them less likely to get involved and less likely
to actually give, the study says.
Increasing volunteerism, by young people in particular, also is
the focus of a new initiative by Youth Service America.
With support from the Bank of America Charitable Foundation, the
new “Semester of Service” campaign aims to engage millions of
young people by providing “service-learning” opportunities that
give students the chance to connect community service with
curriculum either in or out of school.
Youth Service America says a report from RMC Research Corp.
concludes service-learning has a great impact on students and
the community when projects last the length of a semester.
Times are indeed tough for the giving sector, but that simply
means nonprofits need to be smarter and more focused than ever
on connecting with givers and asking for their time, their
expertise and their money. |
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