Philanthropy in America: Rural, empowering, collaborative

Posted on September 27, 2019 by Abby Rolland

In our final post about philanthropy in America, Dr. Matthew Ehlman shows that philanthropy is not only found in urban environments, but it also plays an important role in rural America.

Dr. Matthew Ehlman

Where government and business have left, philanthropy has stepped in. According to The Bridgespan Group, rural areas between 1994 and 2001 received between $401 and $648 less per capita for community and human resources, and national functions.

Scarcity of funding from the government, as well as private foundations and corporate giving, shows that nonprofit organizations in these communities must work harder to obtain the money they need to serve rural communities, and are less able to help the disadvantaged in their communities.

Matthew Ehlman, Ph.D.’18, recognizes these issues, and is determined to promote rural philanthropy through his work as a founder and consultant at The Numad Group, and through the creation of the Rural Philanthropy Institute. (more…)

Philanthropy in America: Diverse, historic, generous

Posted on September 26, 2019 by Abby Rolland

In our third post about philanthropy in America and in Myth #4 of Stanford Social Innovation Review’s article “Eight Myths of U.S. Philanthropy,” Dr. Tyrone Freeman, assistant professor of philanthropic studies and director of undergraduate programs at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, illustrates that African Americans are not new or emerging donors.

Instead, he shows that these donors have given since the first enslaved Africans disembarked in Virginia in 1619.

Four hundred years of formal and informal giving and volunteering woven throughout American history. Dr. Freeman provides multiple examples of generous gifts by African Americans over time. James Forten, an African American philanthropist from colonial times, created wealth from sail-making and became a leader in the movement to end slavery by aiding runaways and financing abolitionist newspapers.

Thomy LaFon was born into a free family in 1810 in New Orleans. He grew up in poverty but became an entrepreneur, and helped finance the American Anti-Slavery Society and the Underground Railroad.

Colonel John McKeee provided housing for black migrants who traveled north after the Civil War, while A.G. Gaston donated time, talent, and treasure to the civil rights movement. The Birmingham, Alabama Boys and Girls Club is named after Gaston.

Traditions of giving and volunteering extend to African American women as well. Annie Malone, Madam C.J. Walker, and Oprah Winfrey also gave and have given generously throughout and during their lifetimes, and Dr. Freeman points out that “countless other black women, from all walks of life, give of their time, talent and money generously through their churches, clubs, sororities, and giving circles.”

Other modern-day black philanthropists such as LeBron James, Kenneth and Kathryn Chenault, Franklin D. Raines and Denise Grant, and Robert F. Smith have given large, noteworthy gifts, but Dr. Freeman notes that these well-known philanthropists only contribute “a small share” of the at least $11 billion African Americans give to charities every year. While the term “philanthropy” does not consistently resonate within the African American community, giving occurs across all socioeconomic levels and is not viewed as only the responsibility of the wealthy elite.

Painting African Americans as “new and emerging” not only ignores hundreds of years of giving, it also distorts nonprofits’ ideas of how and in what ways African Americans can give, and inhibits those nonprofits from properly reaching out and soliciting gifts.

“The ‘one-size-fits-all’ approaches to fundraising and philanthropy overlooks motivations, interests, and needs of donors of color. The unfortunate result is misalignment in our identification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship strategies, which fail to effectively engage this important community,” Dr. Freeman explains.

Instead, nonprofits must dedicate time, resources, and attention to identify, solicit, and steward black donors on their own terms.

“It is essential to relate to these donors as individuals within the broader historical and cultural contexts that have and continue to shape their giving,” he says.

Learn more about Dr. Freeman’s research in this article in the Conversation. He is also co-author of Race, Gender and Leadership in Nonprofit Organizations.

Want to learn more about African American giving and volunteering? Read about high net worth and ultra-high net worth donors of color from George Suttles, M.A. ’13, and the impact of diversity and how nonprofit board diversity affects philanthropy, leadership, and board engagement.

Philanthropy in America: Resilience, accountability, transformative

Posted on September 25, 2019 by Abby Rolland

In our second post about philanthropy in America, online master’s degree student Amanda Weitman had the opportunity to learn that incarcerated individuals can be philanthropists, giving their time, talent, treasure and testimony to writing a newspaper that informs its readership about life in prison and the good that happens behind bars.

A wealth advisor for Wells Fargo Private Bank, Weitman has her bachelor’s degree in business administration and economics, her Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy® designation and an MBA. Her parents modeled philanthropy and generosity as she grew up, which created a foundation for her to build on after she graduated from college and was on her own.

When the 2008 Great Recession hit, she made a concerted effort to talk with clients about philanthropy. This ultimately led to a peer-led book club within Wells Fargo Private Bank. The first year focused on how to prepare the next generation to receive wealth well, which transitioned into a focus on philanthropy in the second year since almost every book on preparing the next generation to receive wealth well mentioned that philanthropy is one of the greatest tools to do so.

The philanthropy book club ultimately led Weitman to an interest in restorative justice. She was introduced to this topic by an organization named Project Avary, which provides a 10-year mentorship program and summer camp for kids whose parent(s) are incarcerated. Participating in a walk-a-thon at the local state penitentiary to raise money for Project Avary, Weitman was introduced to other nonprofits that also focused on restorative justice. One of those organizations was Friends of San Quentin News.

San Quentin News is a newspaper written and edited by a group of incarcerated men and published and distributed to all of the prisons in California. The staff invited Weitman to conduct a workshop for them on philanthropy and fundraising, which included discussing the social benefits of the newspaper that business and government were not providing, studying the newspapers’ mission statement, understanding the paper and staff’s core values, and understanding fundraising as relationship building.

“The news staff are philanthropic. They give of their time, talent and treasure. When they realized that their contributions made them philanthropists, you should have seen the looks on their faces,” Weitman explained. “They had been redefined in that moment, even though they truly had been philanthropists all along.”

The staff discussed the social benefits that the paper provides for them personally, for their inside readership and for subscribers on the outside. By the end of that exercise, the staff realized how important the newspaper is and that they deserve to ask for funding to continue their good work.

Weitman worked with the staff to brainstorm ideas of how to build and retain relationships with the newspaper’s donors.

“Fundraising in prison does have constraints since it is difficult to effectively have two-way communication freely with the outside donor population,” she said. “The staff shared that once someone comes in and sees the good happening at San Quentin, the donor’s preconceived notions of what it means to be in prison are erased.”

Since visits to San Quentin are limited, the staff uses the newspaper as a key tool for their communication with donors.

Weitman sees the transformation that occurs in the men she has met in prison who participate in the different programs offered. She also sees how interactions with the men have also been transformative for her: “I’ve learned as much from the men as they have learned from me. They inspire me with their resilience, their willingness to be accountable for their crimes and develop themselves emotionally, socially, educationally, and spiritually to be ready to be productive members of society within prison and once they are released. Knowing that I can be a small piece of their transformation is satisfying and heartwarming.”

She plans to continue her work with the San Quentin News. Her internship project through the master’s degree program will be helping the staff throw a fundraising event on the outside to raise money so that they can expand their distribution reach beyond the California prison system.

Philanthropy in America: Power, impact, hope

Posted on September 24, 2019 by Abby Rolland

This week, we’re diving into a four-part series on philanthropy in the U.S. Discover insights into philanthropy in prisons, long-held traditions of philanthropy from African Americans, and philanthropy in rural America.

Each day for the rest of this week, we’ll post a new blog in the series.

Throughout the past two years, I’ve seen philanthropy in many different places.

I saw it in Germany and the Netherlands, as the study abroad program learned about formal and informal philanthropy through our interactions with German and Dutch thought leaders and nonprofit practitioners, and from volunteering in various capacities.

I found it throughout my vacation in England and Scotland, where philanthropy ranged from small donation jars at store counters to museum wings to women during World War I raising money for ambulances.

I’ve had conversations with people from China, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Austria, Iran, Mexico, Hungary, Palestine, Romania, Pakistan, and more working in philanthropy and the nonprofit sector – philanthropy is alive in these places and there are practitioners and community members dedicated to improving it and engaging people in those countries with it.

Photo courtesy of Stanford University Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society.

Philanthropy has stood out to me in those places. But I’m reminded every day that philanthropy thrives at home, in the United States as well.

I’ve seen it, from Facebook fundraisers to volunteering in the community. I’ve seen large gifts create waves, and small gifts make a difference. I’ve seen informal philanthropy, through giving time or testimony. I even had a friend who took part of her wedding reception to have everyone sing “Happy Birthday” and give a piece of cake each to my husband and me, a very generous act of giving time and treasure on one’s special day.

I’ve talked to numbers of students and alumni, passionately engaged with issues far and wide and dedicated to improving lives and the world.

The school’s research team and faculty research aims to shed light on philanthropy inside and outside of the U.S., helping us better understand the environment for giving, why people give and volunteer, and how we encourage more of it.

I see generosity everywhere, and that gives me hope.

I hope that this small series shines a light on philanthropy and generosity in places we may not know, but places where it’s vital for us to see how actions can create and foster change.

Philanthropy is not perfect, and it never will be, but we hope that this short series shows its power, its impact, and its hope.

Complexity revealed in congregational giving: Landscape study on congregations’ economic practices released

Posted on September 20, 2019 by Abby Rolland

Recently, the National Study of Congregations’ Economic Practices (NSCEP) was released by Lake Institute on Faith & Giving. This landscape study surveyed just over 1,200 congregations across the country to determine their economic practices, asking about congregation donors (includes Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, and Hindu congregations), how congregations teach about money and finances, and how congregations spend their financial resources.

Postdoctoral researcher Dr. Christopher Munn worked extensively on the study and shares some of the report’s key findings and implications.

What were some of the key findings that congregations and religious leaders should know?

CM: In a national sample over half of surveyed congregations (approximately 58 percent) reported growth in congregation size and/or revenue. Congregations of all sizes reported growth. This story about religiosity declining in the U.S. is not necessarily true for congregations.

However, it’s a complex and not completely positive story. Not every type of congregation reported increase in size and/or revenue, but many did.

For example, we found that black Protestant churches, which typically are smaller and leaner in that they spend less money, experienced the most growth in revenue and size compared to other groups.

Large megachurches with a great deal of resources also did well. They’re able to spend or save those resources for times they suspect won’t go well.

Are religious leaders discussing money with their congregations?

CM: Only about nine percent reported explicitly talking about or discussing money or finances weekly. However, 90 percent of those congregations who did reported growth in income.

It’s not a measured correlation yet, but the descriptive statistics seem to imply that when religious leaders ask, congregants give.

Congregations are also becoming more creative in asking for money. They use examples of people who have benefited from gifts, or illustrate outreach or mission work in order to encourage people to give.

How are these congregations teaching about money and finances?

CM: Roughly half of the congregations teach that money is a gift from God. In other words, their money is God’s money, and it belongs to God.

We also see about 10 percent of congregations teaching the Prosperity Gospel. Meaning, if you give to God, God will give back to you in health and wealth, and make your life more prosperous. What is surprising here is that these congregations spend fewer resources on compensation than those who do not.

Are they using technology to teach about finances and to solicit gifts?

CM: About one quarter of them use some form of technology. However, the vast majority are still passing a physical plate every Sunday to give. Some use tokens to put in that plate as a symbol, but they’re using that plate to demonstrate giving.

How are congregations spending the money that they have?

CM: On average, about half of all money spent is on salaries and personnel expenses. Around 23 percent is spent on buildings and utilities, 11 percent goes towards mission activity outside the congregation, and an additional 10 percent is spent on specific program expenses, which includes worship activities during services.

These percentages, though, vary depending on the type of congregation. For example, black Protestants spent less than half of their resources on personnel and facilities, while mainline Protestants spent 54 percent on personnel and 24 percent on facilities on average.

What other findings surprised you?

CM: A congregation could increase in size or revenue without increasing in both. About 22 percent of congregations experienced an increase in the number of people that attended and participated, but income didn’t increase.

Another 10 percent of congregations had an increase in revenue, but their size stayed static or declined.

We’ll continue to study these numbers and their implications moving forward as we conduct interviews and organize case studies of congregations.

Moving forward, what’s important for congregations to know or recognize?

CM: It’s important for leaders and staff members to know specifically who gives. We found that about 58 percent of congregations had access to giving records, and half of that 58 percent looked at and analyzed that data.

Almost 60 percent of congregations who studied these numbers and knew who gave reported increases in revenue. There seems to be a tie between the best practice of knowing your finances and identifying your givers, and a reported growth in revenue.

Overall too, it’s vital to note that individuals and congregations are not the same. While there have been concerns about declining religiosity, congregations and individuals act differently. Congregations are complex: there’s often more to the story than one might think otherwise.

In upcoming stages, the NSCEP will conduct interviews with 100 congregations and compile case studies of 12 of those organizations, with reports scheduled for release in fall 2019 and spring 2020.