Beijing or Boston? U.S. Nonprofits Increasingly Look for Dollars Abroad

Fundraisers at Beth Israel Deaconess hold their own in the hypercompetitive philanthropic marketplace of Boston, the hospital’s hometown. But a few years ago, feeling squeezed by that area’s scrum for major donors, it began to cast its net farther and farther. And farther.

Last year, the hospital’s CEO netted a multimillion-dollar gift on his first trip to China. Then a Chinese family foundation pledged almost $10 million for a program in regenerative medicine.

“We didn’t think initially we’d be going as far as China” to search for new donors, says Kris Laping, the hospital’s senior vice president for development. “But that has proven to be more productive than looking at New York or Los Angeles or some other marketplace where we’d probably have a lot more competition.”

Beth Israel is not the only charity that’s mining for gold outside the United States. American nonprofits are looking abroad for donors and dollars, and not simply with random forays to London and Hong Kong. They are dedicating staff to the task, building programs, and adding international business and civic leaders to their boards.

Fundraising powerhouses like Beth Israel and New York University are among the institutions building structure into what often had been ad hoc international efforts. Meanwhile, Johns Hopkins University, a veteran of global fundraising, is doubling to four the number of central-office development staffers working internationally. The Nature Conservancy opened a London office in 2014 to serve as a base for fundraising in Europe.

Institutions of all types are formalizing efforts to raise money abroad, says Beth Bandy, an international prospect-research consultant whose clients include hospitals, private schools, museums, and humanitarian and environmental groups.

“There were a lot of scattershot approaches” to global fundraising when she started her business, International Fundraising Intelligence, in 2011, Ms. Bandy says. “They just knew they had prospects in China and Japan and Brazil.”

A Half-Billion-Dollar Payoff

Experts say a relatively small percentage of organizations can pursue gifts abroad — chiefly those whose work or constituency is global.

John Glier, chief executive of GG+A, an international philanthropic consultancy, cautions that distance and cultural differences can make international fundraising difficult and expensive.

Investments in development may yield a higher return if directed domestically, Mr. Glier notes. When a CEO’s fundraising time is precious, he says, “I’m inclined to tell that chief executive, ‘Get on a plane and go to New York again instead of Hong Kong. There are still more billionaires in New York than there are any other place on earth.’ ”

But for nonprofits with the right issue area and donor profile, restructuring their development efforts to account for international donors appears to be paying off. Gifts from abroad accounted for 20 percent of the $73 million Beth Israel raised last year — up from 2 percent five years ago. American universities and colleges, meanwhile, netted close to $500 million in foreign donations in 2014, according a Chronicle of Philanthropy analysis of U.S. Department of Education data. Five years earlier, that number was only $338 million.

Organizations with an international digital footprint are seeing contributions climb, too. PayPal reports that the more than 45,000 U.S. charities using its platform received about $175 million from abroad in 2015, 23 percent more than in 2013.

The World’s New Wealth

The hunt for dollars abroad stems in part from the new wealth in emerging economies such as Brazil, India, and particularly China. High-net-worth individuals in the Asia-Pacific region now outnumber those in North America, according to research by the international consulting firm Capgemini.

American colleges and hospitals are also responding to increasing numbers of international students and patients, who in turn become substantial constituencies in alumni rolls and “grateful patient” programs. And technology and social media make it far easier for nonprofits to work with potential donors abroad, says Una Osili, director of research at Indiana University’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.

International giving is “definitely a new area in terms of growth opportunities,” Ms. Osili says. “This was not something that was even possible in the past; it was too costly, too prohibitive.”

At the same time, the boom in U.S. companies opening operations abroad means more opportunities to introduce international workers to philanthropy American-style. Demand for United Way campaigns and volunteer programs is growing overseas, says Brian Gallagher, president of the charity.

Beijing Over New York

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center came to international fundraising indirectly. A few years ago, the hospital decided to identify potential donors outside Boston who might support research programs. Its researchers, it turned out, were conducting work in 80 countries, notably in China, and had key connections.

The hospital will ramp up its international fundraising slowly and limit its work largely to Asia, Ms. Laping says. “We only have so much bandwidth, so we’re really trying to focus where we believe we’ll have the most opportunity. Honestly, with China, there’s a tremendous amount of opportunity.”

Avoiding Missteps

Despite historically strong ties to Central and South America, the University of Miami has begun to build a systematic international fundraising program only in recent years, as enrollment of foreign students has boomed. Students from other countries made up 14 percent of the 2017 freshmen class.

The university has ramped up engagement with its alumni abroad, often through new regional groups for graduates, says Donna Arbide, associate vice president for alumni relations and individual giving. In South America, it is advertising its regional events in newspapers and magazines, hoping to catch the eye of graduates whose information has not been captured in the development-office database.

To jump-start alumni groups in China, Ms. Arbide hired a young Miami graduate, Natalie Song, founder of one of the university’s first Chinese student organizations. In addition to traveling frequently to China to set up regional alumni groups, she is helping the development office navigate her homeland’s culture. One example: Though white is one of the university’s colors, Ms. Song cautioned against using it in gifts of school apparel; in China, white represents death and mourning. “You can make missteps very easily,” Ms. Arbide says.

Interestingly, for major donors, national origin may be losing significance. Veterans of international fundraising say high-net-worth individuals often see themselves as “global citizens” more than residents of a particular country. They maintain businesses, homes, and social circles in several centers of wealth and industry.

The Nature Conservancy opened a London office in part to establish itself in one of the cities that’s a key crossroads for the world’s wealthy. “We really think that wealth markets like London provide a huge opportunity for philanthropy with that group, regardless of where they’re from,” says Tom Neises, the environmental charity’s associate chief development officer.

Johns Hopkins has been raising money abroad for years, as several of its schools established a global footprint decades ago. The success of these longtime efforts persuaded the university to do more, says Emily Kessler, director of international development, speaking from New Delhi during a swing through Asia.

“It wasn’t as if we were taking a large gamble,” she says. “A lot of time, energy, blood, sweat, and tears had gone into making international philanthropy happen. That was evidence the program should grow.”