Presenter Q&A
"Rethinking Sustainability: Creating a New Future for California Nonprofits" with Florence L. Green
Q: Can you give a brief overview of what you will be discussing in your keynote address “Rethinking Sustainability: Creating a New Future for California Nonprofits?”
Green: I am going to talk about the sustainability challenge the nonprofit sector will face over the next ten to 20 years. Those challenges include conflicting generational needs and expectations, senior staff deficit, ME-Branding, Work-Life balance, the big financial squeeze and financial stress nonprofits face every day, the real non-growth of charitable giving, demand for nonprofit accountability, loss of public confidence, technology acceleration, diversity of population, redefining of the family, environmental changes and the health care crisis in California.
Q: How have nonprofits evolved in recent years and what do you think the trends will be in the future?
Green: Certainly the most critical trend is what is being called the “leadership deficit”. I am not sure it is really a leadership deficit. It is really a shift in how the older generation views leadership and management compared to the new generation that is coming in. The Baby Boomers who were/are the key developers of the nonprofit sector over the past 40 years are retiring. As they retire they will also become the major consumers of nonprofit health services. They are a big population - 78 million. The Gen X group that will replace them is only 38 million so we will also need to reach into the Millennial age group (1982-2002). Both the Gen X and Millennial generations are very different than the Baby Boomers. All three groups are alike in that they are attracted to the social sector, they are civic minded, they enjoy the challenge of leadership and are willing to tackle large social issues.
Q: What are some new ways in which nonprofits can change how they sustain their work? Is it through creating new funding opportunities?
Green: Funding in the nonprofit community has already changed more than we recognize. If we put the sector in a large basket and measured everyone together, over 60 percent of our income is earned. There is very little discussion in our sector about how to earn income. There is lots of discussion and workshops on how to raise money through contributions and grants which together makes up less that 10 percent of our total income for the sector. Perhaps we are putting our fundraising energies into the wrong basket.
There are also lots of myths about what our income should look like. Most of the books and paper tell us we should diversify our income, yet recent studies of successful organizations (meaning they have budgets over $10 million a year) reveal that 80 to 90 percent comes from a single source. They may have multiple grants but if will mostly be from government or donors. So there is much we don't understand about what a sustainable nonprofit actually looks like. If we are to be here 20 years now - and not operating hand to mouth - we will want to better understand what kinds of income best serve our type of organization.
Q: Will you talk about one way in which nonprofits can restructure?
Green: Sustainability has a variety of meanings: perhaps the most important is to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs and then to be able to maintain that state of being indefinitely. We tend to be a very fragmented sector, inclined to protect our turf rather than collaborate. Significant areas of restructuring would include collaboration rather than competing for funding, reducing the overwhelming workload we put on executive directors while at the same time maximizing their capacity, being more innovative in our work and providing more opportunities for learning in our workplace, and using thought leaders to move us forward rather than depending on a hierarchy of one leader.
Q: Will nonprofits have to harness different resources in the future than they have in the past?
Green: Perhaps the way to think about the future is not so much about harnessing different resources, but how we might use those resources in differently than we have in the past. A question commonly posed about the nonprofit sector is whether or not we have too many nonprofits. Since I don't hear the communities and families being served by nonprofit organizations saying we have too many services to choose from, I don't think we have too many. The right question may actually be, "How many small, unstable, poorly funded nonprofits can a community support?" Sustainability in the future will require that nonprofits consolidate their mass in some way either through merger or some kind of strategic alliance. There is a tremendous growth of multi-tenant buildings in the U.S. with nonprofits coming together to share rent, workshop space, meeting space, copy machines and even staff positions like reception, fundraising, and accounting. Certainly the future will be about how we can share resources and how we can leverage the resources we have to generate additional resources.
"Let us resolve to be the masters, not the victims, of our destiny."
John Kennedy
"The Unfolding Century: Promise or Peril?" with Kay Sprinkel Grace
CAN: Why do you feel the topic of nonprofit effectiveness is important to present at Building Strong Nonprofits?
KSG: Effectiveness is one of the key measures for nonprofits -- and it has many facets: effective management, leadership, programs, results, presence in the community -- and on it goes. Our sector was such a mystery to so many for so long, but now the new "activist philanthropists" who are making large gifts and want to be involved, have very different expectations. I think it is the best thing that ever happened to the sector -- we were very complacent and very set in our ways. We have some catching up to do if we are going to get ahead of these donors (otherwise, they will start their own organizations, like Bill and Melinda Gates, and do it themselves rather than working through us).
CAN: What major issues will you touch on in your address?
KSG: That every peril we perceive in these new donors (and those in leadership roles in organizations that fund us) has a positive side if we will just listen and learn and then educate them about the responsibilities we face as organizations and the intractable issues that many organizations deal with (homelessness, inequality, etc.) that are not solvable: they can only be served. I'll look at the difference between "serving" and "solving" and how we can get that message across to tame the critics who do not understand what we are dealing with. I will also deal with why all this money (10 gifts of $100 million+ in the past few months -- one just announced 7/31 to UC Davis to start a Nursing School) is going to higher ed and medical programs, and not to social and human service organizations.
CAN: What are examples of ways in which nonprofits have not been effective in the past and present?
KSG: Whether it is the national problem of the Red Cross and its management and/or handling of the 9/11 money or whether it is the United Way under Arimony, or other organizations that paint the whole sector as one deserving criticism rather than appreciation; or whether it is the local organization that has to lock its doors because it does not deliver impact nor marshal its slim resources -- the story has many dimensions. There are also far too many 501(c)3 organizations in the US (more than 1 million) and many serve the same mission (mission is not what you do, it is the human or societal need you meet) -- organizations must get their heads together and stop wasting resources.
CAN: How has technology changed the way nonprofits look to fundraising and get their messages out?
KSG: Technology is fantastic. When used in conjunction with highly personalized programs of donor cultivation and stewardship, and balanced with personal asking programs, it allows us to tailor communications, get them out more frequently at lower cost, and extend stewardship to all levels of the donor base. I am bullish on the future of technology as a stewardship tool.
CAN: What future trends do you see for the sector?
KSG: Consolidation of organizations with similar missions. Shifts in board structure and function including some hard looks at size, nature of meetings, models of governance. Greater involvement of boards in resource development once we get over the idea that not everyone is going to be a "fund raiser" -- that some will be involved in other ways that contribute to resource development -- but rather than being a "second best" thing to do, they will be viewed as vital players in the development process. People from other disciplines and sectors moving into the nonprofit sector in staff leadership roles -- in spite of the profusion of academic and certificate programs in nonprofit management, there simply are not enough emergent leaders out there -- it is getting harder and harder to fill positions -- we need to get more creative and we need to make our sector a more attractive place to work.
Successful Fund Development: Relevant Practices for Best Results with Rob Kusel
CAN: Can you give me an overview of your workshop? Who is it targeted at?
Rob Kusel: The workshop is a four hour attempt to cover the essential elements of a comprehensive fund development program. It is aimed at executive directors, directors of development and board members.
CAN: You are going to be discussing several different areas in fund raising development strategy. Can you elaborate on some of these?
Rob Kusel: I am going to start with a review of strategic responsibilities set forth by the board and staff. These responsibilities will be emphasized throughout the presentation. I will go into annual and membership giving, “the big event” and capital campaigns. Then I will discuss vehicles for planned giving and when and why a nonprofit should consider building a planned giving program. There will be a discussion on individual fund raising plans by board members and the importance of a nominating committee and a board matrix.
CAN: What issues will you touch on when discussing marketing and communication in the context of a fund raising campaign?
Rob Kusel: I will discuss a tactical plan with several meaningful objectives that will be translated into an annual business plan broken out by month. This plan will be turned into a working tool that will be used by the development committee and reviewed every month.
CAN: What are the key points in developing a successful fund raising campaign?
Rob Kusel: There are four elements to it. One is a real need such as a building or programmatic endowment. Two is strong leadership to drive the campaign across all subcommittees. Three is proof of prospects that are ready to support the campaign and its associated goals. Finally, a solid structure is needed for the campaign plan. If any of these elements are not in place an organization should reconsider launching the campaign.
