Baltimore

Fund raising is "a noble profession," Archbishop Desmond Tutu said in a keynote address here to the annual meeting of the Association of Fundraisng Professionals. But, he said, upholding that role for the profession means that  fund raisers must do more to fight poverty and injustice rather than reinforcing the status quo.

In South Africa, the Archbishop said, "much of philanthropy is regarded with some kind of ambivalence."

Often the missionary was the advance person for expansionism and imperialism, he recalled. "When the missionaries came, they had the Bible, we had the land," he said. Later on, "they had the land, and we had the Bible."

Most charitable organizations fight against unjust conditions, he said, but plenty of groups also try to make the needy more comfortable with their plight rather than helping them out of it.

"Our world is pockmarked with the disease of ...

High turnover among fund raisers has slowed in the financial downturn, but will undoubtedly resume when the economy improves, Penelope Burk, a fund-raising consultant, told the annual meeting of the Association of Fundraising Professionals here

Ms. Burk, head of Cygnus Applied Research, in Chicago said a growing number of charities will soon be competing for a scarce number of qualified fund raisers. But she said, charities can avoid some of the problem if they take steps to reduce fund-raiser turnover at their organizations.

Ms. Burk based her remarks on preliminary findings from her forthcoming research with more 8,000 nonprofit officials and board members-including 1,200 fund raisers-to measure tenure in different types of fund-raising positions; whether and how turnover in the development office affects an organization's bottom line; and whether charities can reduce turnover among fund...

Susan C. Martz, assistant vice president of development at Rice University, and Kelly Quin, head of donor research at the Houston institution, described how they have worked together to upgrade the skills and performance of the university's fund raisers and the researchers who find information on potential big donors.

In a session at the annual meeting of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, they said they joined forces when Ms. Martz was hired two years ago to help oversee the university's $1-billion capital campaign. One of her first priorities, Ms. Martz says, was  to assess the skills and capabilities of the 21 fund raisers at the university who specialize in winning big gifts.

To accomplish that, Ms. Martz came up with a written profile of an imaginary donor, identical to the ones the university's prospect researchers create. But the imaginary donor, she says, was modeled...

Charities make numerous mistakes when creating "case statements," which tell donors why they should give, and other solicitations, said Tom Ahern, a Foster, R.I., consultant who advises nonprofit groups on communications.

Chief among the mistakes, he said, is that charities' solicitations fail to answer three key questions in the minds of donors: why the organization deserves a contribution, why that support is critical now, and why the donor should care.

To show donors why they should care, he offered an example of a simple but highly effective appeal to get people to attend a fund-raising event to benefit a firehouse: "Come to our breakfast," the appeal read. "We'll come to your fire."

One way to get a supporter to care, Mr. Ahern said, is to "treat the donor as a superhero. The more you flatter your donors, the more money you will make. You cannot overflatter donors."

Some fund...

Baltimore

Fifty-seven percent of charities raised less money last year than in 2008—or had flat returns—according to a study released today by the Association of Fundraising Professionals at its annual meeting here.

Forty-three percent of charities said they had raised more in 2009 than in 2008, the smallest share in the history of the nine-year survey, which drew responses from 345 American fund raisers and 350 Canadian fund raisers.

In 2008, 46 percent raised more money than in 2007, another record low. In a typical year, 60 percent of respondents report raising more money in the previous year.

Among fund raisers who raised more money last year, 68 percent said contributions rose by 20 percent or less. Before the recession started, in the 2006 survey, almost a quarter of fund raisers said contributions had grown by 50 percent or more in the previous year.

In 2009, fewer fund...

Baltimore

Affluent donors, and those with more years of education, are more likely to be motivated to give to causes that allow them to "make the world a better place," rather than to groups that meet basic needs, according to a new study whose results were presented here today at the annual meeting of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

That was a key finding of a study of 10,000 Americans whose results were summarized in a speech here by Una Osili, director of research at the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University. The study was sponsored by CCS, a fund-raising consulting firm.

The study examined motivations to give among people in different regions of the country as well as examining those who had similar ages, education levels, and incomes.

When all the donors in the study were examined together, nearly 18 percent said they made charitable gifts to meet basic...

Baltimore

At the Association of Fundraising Professionals' 47th annual conference, which opened here today, organizers noted that 2010 marks the 50th anniversary of the organization's founding in 1960. It was not until 1963 that the organization held its first annual conference in Suffern, N.Y., drawing just 80 people. This year, 3,000 people are gathering for the meeting.

The National Society of Fundraisers, as it was originally known, was founded to increase the body of knowledge about effective fund raising, promote ethical fund raising, and enhance the public's understanding of the fund-raising profession.

Those contributions were sorely needed, as more than one speaker noted, because the organization was founded at a time when some fund raisers were involved in scandals, and many people thought that being a fund raiser was about as prestigious as being a used-car salesman.

Since...

As the Association of Fundraising Professionals annual meeting wraps up today in New Orleans, the conference has made clear that the organization’s work is now spreading around the world.

The association has been increasing educational offerings outside the United States and Canada and extending membership opportunities to fund raisers overseas. In addition, the association has advised charity regulators in countries including Brazil, China, New Zealand, and Poland. It is planning a symposium on developing new charity regulations to be held in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in November.

The association now has chapters in several locations in Mexico, as well as chapters in Hong Kong, Jakarta, and Singapore. And working with 23 other fund-raising associations or related organizations from other countries, the association has produced the International Statement of Ethical Principles in...

With the recession making it harder to raise money, 51 percent of nonprofit organizations now in capital or endowment campaigns have extended the length of their drives, and another 11 percent have reduced the amount they are trying to raise.

That is the conclusion of a survey conducted in January and February by two Chicago companies, Campbell & Company, a fund-raising consulting firm, and Slover Linett Strategies, a research company.

The goal of the survey of more than 300 nonprofit organizations — which either were in a current campaign or had completed one in the past decade — was to assess how charities handle budgeting for large fund-raising drives.

Campaign goals of the respondents ranged from less than $1-million to $1-billion or more, with a median goal of $13-million. Colleges and universities had the highest goals, a median of $40-million, followed by arts groups, with...

American fund raisers have much to learn from overseas charities, say Andrew Watt and Jon Duschinsky, who travel extensively to advise charities outside the United States.

In an audio interview with The Chronicle, Mr. Watt, chief programs officer at the Association of Fundraising Professionals, described his activities over the past three years to organize chapters overseas and to provide resources to fund raisers in many countries.

Both Mr. Watt and Mr. Duschinsky, a consultant, said donors are increasingly interested in solving problems rather than donating money to causes. Fund raisers, the two men said, must seek ways to help donors do that rather than just ask for money. Fund raisers, they said, too often think only about the amount of money raised, not about creating movements for change that inspire donors to join in hands-on involvement.

“We need to move away from...