By Craig Shelley, CFRE, Chapter Treasurer & Managing Director, Orr Group

As we gather with friends and loved ones during this Holiday Season, in between eating too much and bickering with family, I know each of us will stop to give thanks for the very many things we have to be grateful in our lives.  As you do so, please stop and reflect on just how fortunate we each are to be able to devote our professional lives to causes that matter.  As fundraisers we get to help activate the good intentions of those with resources on behalf of those without.  On top of being a great deal of fun we’re fortunate we get to make a difference.

I’m thankful I get to do this work and even more thankful I get to do it with so many fantastic people.  Happy Holidays.

If you have ideas or suggestions for our AFP chapter please always feel free to contact me directly at cshelley@orrgroup.com.  If you’re interested in my thoughts on fundraising and news in the sector, sprinkled with the occasional picture of my kids, please follow me on Twitter @craigshelley.

Thank you for everything you do.

By Gary Laermer, AFP-NYC President

The Changing Role of Major Gift Officers 

After nearly 40 years of working for great nonprofit organizations, I’ve come to realize the most challenging title to live up to is Major Gift Officer (MGO). According to Glassdoor.com, the average salary for open MGO positions in the New York area is $87,324—and there were over 300 openings! With all of these available jobs and completive average salary, I wondered why everyone I spoke with has said it’s the hardest position to fill.  There seems to be a challenge filling the positions and once filled, the turnover rates are very high.  Have we been creating jobs and titles that are difficult to recruit and setting up expectations that are impossible to achieve?  How can an MGO find a path to greater success and longer tenure?

A few of my observations include most importantly, have a mentor, or better yet, have several mentors.  If you’re an MGO or aspire to be one, surround yourself with great mentors who can help you successfully perform the job.  MGOs need to manage up, with staff leaders who may have overreaching expectations, laterally with their peers, and their own team. It’s a skill that mentors, like those you’ll meet at AFP events, can help you with.  Second, don’t stop learning from others. Connect with other MGOs, learn about their successes and failures, share yours, and ask for feedback.  AFP Professional Advancement events are the perfect place to meet your next mentor. 

Lastly, don’t get confused by the title. While MGOs may feel their sole role is closing and counting gifts, the job is so much more. Closing the gift might be the easiest part of the job.  Everything leading up to and following a gift is the hard part.  Before a gift is closed and in between gifts, you’re more of a “chief connecting officer.” You connect a potential contributor with the mission of your organization. You must represent the mission in such a way that the donor comes to deeply value the change or impact you’re promising.  Personalizing the experience for each donor is the hard part. Mastering the skill of personalizing your work with each donor is the key to success. That’s why staying connected with your peers is so vital, because many of the skills needed to be a successful MGO are learned through actual experience and shared stories. So, stay connected and don’t miss an opportunity to seek out feedback and support when the job seems particularly challenging.

By Steve Jacobson

AFP-NYC Treasurer

It’s been two weeks since I attended the AFP Leadership Academy in Toronto and I’m still thinking about it.  I was joined there by fellow NYC chapter board members Veronica Bainbridge, Kerry Watterson and Sunil Oommen.  The four of us were proud to represent our chapter among the approximately 350 participants in this sold-out conference. 

So, why am I still thinking about the Leadership Academy? Well, I could say that the quintessential Canadian dish of poutine that I ate was incredibly memorable.  Or, I could say that the people of Toronto were so nice.  Both true.  But the real reason the Academy is till etched in my brain is that I was able to talk with so many other chapter leaders who understand the challenges we face and brainstorm with one another on ways to address those issues.

One of the themes of the Academy was Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access (IDEA) and how we, as chapter leaders, can better recognize, understand and correct the biases that exist in our world. Tujuanna Williams, the former Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer at Fannie Mae and who now heads up her own firm, engaged us in an enlightening and riveting session on the many forms that social injustice takes – and how we can overcome our “programmed” preconceptions to make IDEA a reality. As many of you know, our chapter is committed to IDEA and we are making huge strides in this area.

In addition to the more formal educational sessions, there was time set aside for leaders from like-size chapters to meet amongst themselves and discuss common topics and issues.  It was great to catch up with some of our friends from the DC and New Jersey chapters and get to meet others from San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, Dallas, Toronto and Houston.  Despite the geographic distance separating us, there was a lot of common ground.  Websites, databases, membership, professional advancement, National Philanthropy Day… We touched ‘em all – and we learned a lot.

Speaking of learning, don’t forget our next professional advancement session, Pulling Back the Curtain on Donor-Advised Funds, being held at Scandinavia House on Thursday, November 8^th at 8am.  Bring a guest for only $50!  And, please make sure that you mark your calendar for the NYC Fall Happy Hour on Wednesday, November 14^th at Circa Brewing Company.  Come network with colleagues over some really great food and drink.  I hope to see you there!

NEW YORK, New York – JCA (Jacobson Consulting Applications), an independent consulting firm dedicated to the technology and information management needs of nonprofits, celebrates its 30th year in business this month. Incorporated in 1988 by CEO Steve Jacobson, the company has grown from a staff of one in 1988 to a staff of 50 in 2018 and is considered one of the world’s foremost boutique consulting companies in nonprofit information management.

JCA creates value for its clients by providing services that help nonprofits create and foster relationships with their constituents. Since its incorporation, JCA has worked with more than 1,600 nonprofits on a variety of consulting projects, ranging from business process improvement and CRM implementations to advanced analytics and dashboards. The company works across all nonprofit verticals, including healthcare, higher education, membership, and arts and culture. JCA’s history also includes notable partnerships with large CRM companies in the nonprofit space such as Tessitura, Blackbaud, thankQ USA, Gateway, accesso, and Community Brands.

In addition to its vast consulting capabilities, JCA also has a robust product development arm. Products that the company develops generally pull data from CRM for enhanced business intelligence. JCA products include JCA AnswersTM, the Revenue Management ApplicationTM and the Segmentation EngineTM (both co-developed with UK-based partner Baker Richards), T-StatsTM, Tessitura DashboardsTM, and the Arts Engines Platform (currently in development). In partnership with Artifax UK, JCA is also the North American Distributor of ArtifaxEvent, a leading event management software primarily used by cultural nonprofits.

In 2014, JCA acquired The Pricing Institute, and rebranded the company “JCA Arts Marketing”. As a wholly owned subsidiary of JCA, JCA Arts Marketing adds to JCA’s offerings for organizations in the arts and culture space with its top-notch data analysis and strategy services to increase revenue, boost attendance, and grow patron value for its clients. JCA Arts Marketing has worked with over 100 of North America’s top cultural institutions.

The company’s first client when it launched in 1988 was NYU Medical Center (now NYU Langone Health), which included the NYU School of Medicine. Since then, JCA’s client roster has expanded to include such organizations as the American Museum of Natural History, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Art Institute of Chicago, Brown University, University of Arizona, Vassar College, Carnegie Hall, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Lyric Opera of Chicago, March of Dimes, Children’s National Health, and Texas Children’s Hospital.

The staff at JCA is proud to celebrate this landmark anniversary. Says CEO Steve Jacobson “The past 30 years have been an amazing ride, only made possible by our talented team and our nonprofit clients’ desire to maximize their potential.” --more--

About JCA: JCA (Jacobson Consulting Applications) is the first and largest independent consulting firm dedicated to addressing the technology and information management needs of nonprofits. Over the past three decades, the firm has helped more than 1,600 nonprofits in North America and around the world leverage their CRM technology, processes, and data. JCA’s team includes consultants, engineers, and data analysts who understand nonprofit operations. Its strategic consulting includes development of organizational metrics, process redesign, data cleanup, and project management. Its technical services span a variety of projects including data conversions, integrations, and business intelligence development.

JCA Arts Marketing, a fully owned subsidiary of JCA since 2014, provides strategic marketing consulting services to hundreds of cultural institutions across multiple genres. It helps clients increase revenue, boost attendance, and grow patron value through data-driven insights.

Website: www.jcainc.com

Blog: www.jcainc.com/blog

By Jill Scibilia

How is your fall so far?  If you are like me, it started with the post Labor Day rush and has not let up. I don’t expect the pace will let up until January—maybe. 

I don’t know about you, but I find the fall season leading into the holidays and year-end to be particularly exciting as a fundraiser. Nearly one-third of all giving happens in December with an estimated 12% happening the last few days of the year. Most year-end “asking” is done in November and December. It is also an important time of year for stewardship and to express gratitude to all of our donors—regardless of their preferred timing for making a gift. 

Here are a few suggestions as you head into year-end:

• Lead with Gratitude – Set aside time to express gratitude to your donors, to the members of your team and all who help you do your work all year-long.  Technology can help you do this to a wide group quite easily. I also suggest you take the time to do meetings, phone calls, and personal notes to a targeted group.  You know who should be on this list. I have always found this to be time well spent.
• Don’t miss National Philanthropy Day, a special day set aside to express gratitude by recognizing the great contributions of philanthropy—and those people active in the philanthropic community—to the enrichment of our world. National Philanthropy Day is on Monday, November 19th. 
• Remember to check out our professional advancement events and webinars where you can learn and exchange best practices. Here are our next two sessions:
  • November 8^th: Pulling Back the Curtain on Donor-Advised Funds
  • December 5^th: Webinar: Building Strong Development Teams

Visit our events calendar to register and learn more.  

Finally, I want to express gratitude to you for the work you do for our sector. Your voice and engagement in our fundraising community matters. Thank you for all you do to make the world a better place.

By Craig Shelley, CFRE, Chapter Treasurer & Managing Director, Orr Associates, Inc. (OAI)

I love fundraising.  I get up every morning (ok, most mornings) excited to go to work.  I meet interesting people, I know my work matters and makes the world a better place.  I have fun.  I never miss the opportunity to tell my kids how important those factors are when it comes time to choose their life’s work or, as is more often the case, their life’s work chooses them.

But sometimes, I worry.  Am I doing enough?  Are we doing enough?  On the aggregate the world is a better place than it was 20 years ago and philanthropy certainly is among the reasons why.  But daily I know we all see inequities, things that make us mad and things that make us wonder if on some level and in some important ways we’re slipping backwards.  And then, annually, I see the Giving Report and note that despite our best efforts giving in the United States hovers at about 2% of Gross Domestic Product.  Now reports are saying the numbers of actual donors are decreasing.  Shouldn’t we be doing more, growing philanthropy more aggressively, making the world even better?  Yes!  But how?

I don’t have the answers to those questions, but I do believe AFP has a role to play in our discussing them.  Learning from each other, pooling our mental resources and collective experiences seems to be our best way to do more.  Our chapter is the perfect conduit for us to do this.  Come to an event, join a committee, write an article for this newsletter, suggest a topic for a professional advancement seminar, volunteer for Fundraising Day in NY.  Join the discussion and help make our profession better and in doing so help make the world better.

If you have ideas or suggestions for our AFP chapter please always feel free to contact me directly at cshelley@oai-usa.com.  If you’re interested in my thoughts on fundraising and news in the sector, sprinkled with the occasional picture of my kids, please follow me on Twitter @craigshelley.

Thank you for everything you do.

By: Leigh Page, Director, Orr Associates, Inc.

Nonprofits launch fundraising campaigns for many different reasons: to build or expand facilities, grow the endowment, enhance programming, or execute on a new CEO’s grand vision. Or simply because they feel due for a campaign. Regardless of the reason, there are important campaign planning questions an organization should consider to improve its chances of reaching or exceeding its revenue goal.

1) Does your organization have a compelling campaign case for support?

The most successful campaigns have a case for support that clearly tells the story of urgent need and potential positive impact. Many organizations face stiff competition for fundraising dollars, therefore it is critical for your organization to differentiate your unique value.

When developing the case, consider: why should donors support this campaign and why now? Creating a sense of urgency can prompt your best prospects to act in a big way. To determine whether a case conveys a message that resonates, test it with stakeholders with varying degrees of buy-in. Feedback from trusted board members, mission experts or potential new donors will help you craft a case that truly resonates.   

2) Will your board and volunteer leaders enthusiastically support a campaign?

A successful campaign starts and ends with leadership support. It is imperative that an organization secures board campaign support from the onset. Not only will you need your board and volunteer leadership to provide financial support, they should also be willing to open doors, make connections, host events and publicly advocate for the campaign.

3) Does your organization have the staff to support a successful campaign?

Campaigns require accelerated effort from executive leadership and development staff. When planning for a campaign, be sure to think through the increased activities and time the campaign will demand to be successful. You will need to do additional prospect research, recruit new volunteers, and train and manage them.  You will need to develop new marketing collateral and effectively steward existing and new donors. Most campaigns take place over 3-5 years, with the greatest and most important effort happening up-front. Consider partnering with external fundraising counsel in the initial 1-2 years of the campaign to finalize the campaign plan, secure the largest gifts, and successfully launch the quiet phase.

4) Will your prospects and donor base give to a campaign?

This question requires honest reflection about your organization’s relationship with its donors.  One way to discover how your donors are feeling about the organization and a potential campaign is to ask. Conducting a series of interviews, often through a feasibility and planning study conducted by outside counsel, is a great way to understand how your donors feel. This process with help the organization understand stakeholders’ overall attitudes towards the organization and its mission, the proposed case elements, and their willingness to support the campaign financially and with their time.  

5) Do you have a realistic goal and timeline for your organization’s campaign?

Seek answers to this question by reviewing your donor prospect pipeline and developing a gift table with an estimate of the number of donors and gifts you will need to achieve your goal. To populate the gift table, use information like past giving data, research tools, and feedback from the feasibility and planning study (if available) to determine how many donors you have at each gift level. Next, determine a moves management plan for each major gift prospect and set a date range for requesting and securing each gift. Finally, think about how many staff and volunteers you will have during the campaign to visit donors and make requests.

If you answered “no” to any of the 5 questions, there is work to be done. Often, organizations need a campaign readiness period of 6-18 months to be fully ready to launch the silent phase of a campaign. Your due diligence and preparations now will pay off in the end, when you are celebrating campaign success!

By Gary Laermer, AFP-NYC President

I am often asked about the qualities I look for in hiring development professionals. In fact, as Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations at Pace University, I’m in a hiring phase right now. I have spent my whole career in this crazy and wonderful industry, starting back when there were few university programs to train fundraising professionals and donor databases were on index cards! Despite all the changes that have come to our profession since then, I still believe now what I believed then—that the most important quality for success in development is enthusiasm.

I look for those who come in every day excited about the work, the organization, and their co-workers.  Effective communication skills are also critical. Gifts are closed, donors are stewarded, and presentations are made by talking. Sure, we write and print a great deal, but at the end of the day this is still a face-to-face business—donors are motivated through conversations with gift officers. I look for staff that can communicate effectively one-on-one, in small groups, and in large groups. The first test might be how well they translate their education, experiences, and background (even those with no fundraising experience) into a value proposition for the organization.

Of equal importance is resilience. I ask how they celebrate the successes and overcome the disappointments. And how, after overcoming the disappointments, they can redirect the project and reverse the outcome.

Lastly, I strongly believe that whatever our educational or professional backgrounds and experiences are, a commitment to lifelong learning is a key indicator of someone who wants to grow and perform at a higher level. That’s the great benefit of AFP. The Professional Advancement programs at AFP offer an affordable and accessible platform for continuing education. It not only helps us learn and grow, but it also prepares us for what’s next in our careers. 

As Board President, I would like to express my sincerest thanks to all of the AFP volunteers who work diligently to put together a calendar of excellent professional advancement sessions. Truly, our volunteers are essential to the growth and success of AFP as an organization and to our collective success as development professionals. 

I look forward to seeing you all at our upcoming Professional Advancements and wish our members great success in their careers and future endeavors.

By Susan Fields, CFRE

As fundraisers we all know how important special events can be in building relationships for our organizations. Although notoriously labor intensive, properly strategized they are invaluable in building enthusiasm for your nonprofit’s mission. In addition, they can raise a great deal of money, upgrade existing donors, and forge a stronger bond with volunteers, board members, and the surrounding community. The most important step in launching a special event is gaining the support of your board and putting together a team of dedicated volunteers who will provide the work and contacts necessary to produce an event that is both a “friendraiser” and a fundraiser.

Following these SEVEN STRATEGIES FOR MOBILIZING YOUR VOLUNTEERS AND BOARD should go a long way in assisting your nonprofit in organizing events that are sustainable and increasingly successful.

1. Clearly define the role of your committee. - Unless your non-profit is run entirely by volunteers, it is most likely that the planning of your special events will be almost entirely staff driven with volunteers and board members primarily responsible for fundraising. Among a myriad of other tasks, it is the role of staff to make this expectation clear to potential volunteers and follow through by assisting them in soliciting both personal and staff-assigned prospects for support.

2. Determine the purpose, goals, and budget of your event prior to the first committee meeting.  Appointing event co-chairs and including them in planning alongside staff is a perfect way to set-up a team dynamic with volunteer leadership running the meetings and acting as advocates for the strategies set up in collaboration with staff. This will provide your committee with a predictable structure to work within as well as the confidence that they will receive professional support in succeeding in their role as fundraisers. 

3. Provide committee members with the tools they will need to fundraise.  Consider yourself as a patient and encouraging personal coach. Provide your volunteer team with “sales kits” including sample letters, emails, event invitations, brochures, a list of sponsorship opportunities, talking points, etc. Training sessions in how to solicit a gift along with role-playing sessions can be invaluable in overcoming the discomfort many volunteers have in asking for money. Staff may even consider writing personal letters tailored to the needs of specific volunteers in communicating with prospects.

4. Keep meetings interesting, informative, accessible in terms of time and location, and on track!  Because cross discussions peripheral to the purpose and goals of the event can boondoggle your meetings, prepare the agenda with the co-chairs prior to the meeting with the opportunity to discuss “other matters” as the last item on the list. Meetings should not exceed an hour and be at a time and location that is most user-friendly for your committee. Some organizations have replaced meetings with in-person conference calls; however, keep in mind the culture of your volunteers, as some groups actually look forward to face-to-face meetings as a form of socialization and active involvement.

5. Consider your committee and its co-chairs as a valued “sales force” that requires support and reinforcement. Send them regular emails updating the progress of ticket sales, sponsorships, journal advertisement sales, and anything new and interesting. Don’t hesitate to make a phone call to check in on how they are doing, congratulate them on a successful ask, or to give them support when they may be feeling discouraged. A volunteer stewardship event following the “big event” is an effective means of expressing appreciation and maximizes the chances of members remaining on the committee.

6. Consider your board as an extension of the event committee.  Encourage one or more members to join the team so they can advocate for the event at board meetings. In many organizations the Advancement Director reports  directly to the board and encourages members to purchase tables and provide contact lists for event gift solicitations.  Also consider holding a “kick off” evening hosted by the board inviting former sponsors, committee members, and other major players in your nonprofit and community. 

7. Utilize your volunteers and board on the evening of the event. Remember—it’s not over once you have filled the room, printed the journal, and exceeded your fundraising goals. Assign volunteers and board members to welcome guests at the door, “work the room” visiting tables, and network to learn who might be attracted to supporting your organization in the future. These tasks also instill a sense of pride and ownership on the part of the board and committee.

By President-Elect Steve G. Jacobson

AFP-NYC is the Smorgasburg of Fundraising!  What?  For the uninitiated, Smorgasburg is an outdoor food festival in Brooklyn that is open on Saturdays and Sundays from April through October.  But Smorgasburg is much more than a seasonal food fair.  It is billed as the largest weekly open-air food market in America, where you can try food from over 100 local vendors.  Want some Ethiopian wat?  Yes, you can find it there.  How about some Himalayan shabaley?  That’s there, too!  Donburi bowls from Japan? Canadian butter tarts?  You get the idea…

But, what on earth does exotic food have to do with fundraising and AFP?  Well, it dawned on me the other day that the NYC chapter of AFP is the fundraising equivalent of Smorgasburg.  We at AFP offer a little bit of everything related to fundraising.  We are, in a way, a one-stop shop for all your fundraising food needs.

Many of you might know us as the force behind Fundraising Day in New York, our annual June education and networking event that serves up content to about 1,800 fundraising professionals.  With 11 tracks of education, spanning from Advanced Fundraising to Web, Tech, and Social Media, Fundraising Day is truly a smorgasbord of fundraising education.  Some attendees come looking to gorge on best practices for legacy giving, but, in the end, decide to nibble on special events.  We offer it all.

But our wide-ranging options of fundraising entrees don’t end with Fundraising Day.  Our chapter has a deep and extensive menu of professional advancement opportunities. On Wednesday, September 5^th, we are hosting a Lunch & Learn Webinar, in which noted nonprofit management consultant, Robbe Healey, will focus on strategies you can digest to help your board fundraise with ease and confidence.  Join us for lively pre-and post-webinar discussions sandwiched around the webinar.

On October 11^th, we will be presenting a panel discussion, Diversity in Fundraising: Recruiting and Retaining Diverse Professionals.  Come to hear more about the value that a diverse team brings to an organization’s bottom-line.  You’ll also learn how specific Diversity/Equity/Inclusion strategies, when used in conjunction with acquisition and retention initiatives, can increase stability in your organization’s workforce.

And, did I mention the November 8^th event on Donor Advised Funds?  Of course, all of this should serve to whet your appetite for the National Philanthropy Day Breakfast, coming up on November 19^th.  On behalf of the AFP-NYC board, I hope to see you there!