No risk, no reward |
Dec 18, 2009 |
Several trends presented in last week’s webinar – The Golden Age of Philanthropy Has Died. What Now? – were bouncing around in my head the following day as I read this article posted in The Chronicle of Philanthropy. The article’s title, ‘Two Very Different Groups, One Fundraising Event’, captured my attention as it suggested alignment with a key strategy presented in the webinar: partnerships and resource sharing.
The article highlights two NYC non-profits, an arts organization and a legal-aid organization, that joined up for the first time in November to hold a year end fundraising event for young professionals. My first thought: How did they make this work in light of two very different causes?
According to Marnie Berk, the director of pro-bono programs at the legal-aid organization, the agreement to co-host the event was easy because it targeted young professionals, ‘a demographic that typically doesn’t make large donations,’ and because the two organizations had very different missions.
‘It also helped that the groups focused on two very different missions. “You can afford not to be territorial when you’re not directly in competition for donors,” says Ms. Berk. “We see ourselves in overlapping terrain, but we have been speaking to very different audiences.”’
Oh, now I get it. The organizations were willing to experiment because of perceived mitigation of risks including an audience of ‘low-end donors’ and absence of overlap between donor bases. While this approach is still far from transformational giving, I commend them because they experimented with something new and scary and were rewarded with reduced expenses and greater net income than before.
I’d argue, however, that a transformational giving approach c ould reap more fruit for all organizations and champions involved. Ask yourself these questions:
- What are the pros and cons of co-hosting an event in your community with a peer organization with the same shared cause? Consider expenses, labor, guest recruitment, creativity, champion involvement, and passion for the cause.
- What might come from partnership vs. competition with a peer organization in your community? Do you believe God would favor or reject such efforts?
- If strength comes in numbers, what impact might result when the passion of two previously distinct bases of champions work together to support the same shared cause??
2010 is just around the corner. Start the adventures of transformational giving now by making a new year’s resolution to co-host an event in 2010. And if that sounds too daunting, just remember this: no risk, no reward.
