July 19, 2010 | Read Time: 1 minute
Trying to cope with the bad economy, many charities have taken potentially damaging or fruitless approaches to the search for new sources of money, said fund-raising consultants gathered in Park City, Utah, over the weekend.
Several of the consultants noted that many organizations have steered away from starting capital campaigns. William Durkin, a Milwaukee consultant, said he feared that would have a lasting impact on charities’ ability to raise money and form close relationships with key supporters—especially since such campaigns are usually a key way to attract volunteer leaders.
Other consultants worry that too many organizations put an inordinate amount of effort into seeking money from the federal economic stimulus plan. David King, a consultant at Grenzebach Glier & Associates, in Chicago, said “the overwhelming majority got nothing.”
Paul C. Light, a professor at New York University’s Wagner School of Public Service. told the consultants that they need to help nonprofit groups plan for an array of different possibilities given the shaky economy.
Nonprofit groups can expect four possibilities, he said:
* A “miraculous rescue” that would happen after an unusual gift or other infusion of money.
* “Hollowing out” that occurs when organizations lay off workers and cut services, thus reducing their ability to carry out their missions.
* A need to shut down because of financial woes caused by the bad economy.
* “Transformation” that results from trimming unnecessary expenses, improving fund-raising capabilities, and taking other steps to adjust to the economy’s downturn.
He urged organizations to focus on those possibilities by using a management tool called contingency planning. Read more about how to conduct such planning in this article from The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s archive.
