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A FIELD GUIDE TO PHILANTHROPY

The Sector is Big and Diverse 80,000 Foundations + Individual Donors, Trusts and Funds HNWI/Fs Trusts Donor Advised Funds $126 billion/year Organized Philanthropy 3600 Foundations > $1 million or $100,000 per year 36% have > 1 staff 4% have > 20 staff $43 billion/year

Different Foundation Types Have Different Drivers 2007 Giving $44 billion Sources: Foundation Center, Council on Foundations

What Grant Dollars Support Vulnerable older youth? As a named category – invisible Embedded in large categories – significant

Where Grant Dollars Go % of grant dollars Site Level – 76% National Level – 19%

Not Evenly Distributed

Funders Bring Resources of Many Kinds Around Your Work Knowledge Connections Access and Influence Credibility and Cover Convening and Bridge Building Dollars And more In Their Other Work Complementary grantmaking Collaborating organizations Capacity building And more

Raising Money for Our Work Making Our Work a Compelling Giving Opportunity

Compelling This is an important problem! This is the right opportunity to get involved to make the biggest difference! This is the right time! This will make more difference than competing giving opportunities!

Considerations for Most Donors My “head” and “heart” need to be engaged. I want to be involved in important issues; but I want to know that tough problems can be solved. I want to know what I’m getting into and how I’m getting out. I need credible reasons for confidence that this will work. I need to see how this advances my work.

Custom Fitting the Opportunity I make a consequential contribution … as I define it, whatever role. As much information and engagement as I want. Impact at the level I’m interested in. Impact on the issues I’m passionate about. Find a fit with donor’s interests Find a fit with donor’s style

Tough problem and solvable Transformative Consequential, make a big difference Social Costs Invoke personal experience, everybody is an expert Use Data and Stories Amplifies each donor’s contributions Leverage and Partnership What works in your site? Positioning the Work

Having the Right Stuff is not Enough

Converting Friends into Donors Specific General AwareInterestedWilling to explorePrepared for an “ask”First investment

Finding Friends

Connector Influencer Knowledge broker Financial Resources Credibility

Ways to Do Your Homework Key informants, “mavens” Foundation Center – Foundation Directory Online Regional Associations of Grantmakers Community Foundations

It Takes Time and Continuous Work to Move Along the Pathway

Engaging Local Funders in Nebraska Playing it Out in the Real World

IDA Match

Should be Easy Straightforward, easy to understand Direct impact Tangible, measurable Incentives and self-help appeals to a wide range of donors Has Challenges Recurring cost Unknown amount No obvious exit Risk of being the final funder, left holding the bag

What Appeals to Donors? Opportunity to invest to directly change lives, and for a modest investment. An easy investment to make. The “match” principle – donors’ donations are earned by recipients’ work and savings. Leverage – the value of a donors investment is doubled by the match and expanded because of the other supports and strategies.

Provision of financial education and asset- specific training assure donors the benefits to youth are lasting, transformative. Ability to “know” the youth – directly or indirectly through stories. The policy dimension – I’m valued for my voice as well as my money. Data, data, data – Accountability and ability to know the actual savings, asset purchases.

Recipe for the Long Term? Plan A: Policy – e.g. Langevin Stark bill. AFIA reauthorization Plan B: Widen the Pool – A few seed funders? – Larger number of relatively smaller investments? Plan C: Innovation – Sustainable, self-financing structures? – Endowment? – Dedicated interest or other revenue stream?

Maine has been thinking about this … The Good News For All of Us

In Closing Your issue is compelling. You are making a difference. You have data. You have stories and storytellers. You have friends. Your friends have friends. Use all your assets. Good luck!