DECEMBER 2004: SPECIAL FEATURE

Fundraising for Refugee-Serving Agencies

In the tense times following the tragedies of September 11, 2001, the nation’s economy was floundering, and foundation awards dropped dramatically during the following year. Very few fundraisers were optimistic about future of charitable giving.

In the U.S. refugee resettlement program, for the first time, arrivals came to a complete standstill. Agencies and organizations devoted to helping the resettlement effort and the refugees who were, for several months, not coming, struggled to find ways to maintain their capacity, hoping to resume work when the program revived. Every organization and agency was affected.

The world looks very different, three years later. Refugee arrivals in 2004 again reached levels at or near those seen before 2001. Children, always a large percentage of refugee populations, became an even greater focus, and new populations with different needs prompted more reorganization to address the new circumstances.

Funding opportunities have recovered as well, if more slowly. Over the last year, philanthropic giving increased more than 25 percent, according to a recent survey by the Center for Philanthropy at Indiana University. Major gifts and direct mail have proved the most successful solicitation techniques, followed by foundation grants, with responses varying by the specific sector and the size of the organization involved.

Current trends for increased giving bode particularly well for organizations seeking grant funding, particularly in education, health, and human services, where the share of foundation grant dollars ranks highest compared to other sectors. The outlook for many of the organizations engaged in services to refugees looks positive for the first time in years.

Taking these trends into consideration, the following definitions, planning hints, and list of resources may prove useful in taking stock of your own organization’s fundraising potential, and in formulating your development plan.

Fundraising is raising assets and resources from various sources for the support of an organization or a specific project. Many nonprofits who raise funds do so via a fundraising committee, which plans and implements the organization's fundraising program, often using professional staff. The committee guides the organization and its Board in its approach to resource development and cultivating fundraising skills among its Board members.

As part of efforts to develop their resource base, all nonprofit organizations should have a Development (or Fundraising) Plan, including a varied and balanced mix of funding sources. Potential sources of funding include:

• Government entities: government offices and agencies at local, regional and federal levels

• Foundations: smaller family and community foundations as well as larger private, company-sponsored, national foundations and grantmaking public charities

• Businesses and corporations: local neighborhood and chain stores, bank and utility companies, restaurants, companies and corporations of all sizes

• Religious institutions: churches, temples, synagogues, and other faith-based communities, as well as national religious bodies and ecumenical organizations

• Individual donors: individual contributions range from a few pennies to a few million dollars, with techniques for solicitation including direct-mail appeals, membership programs, and special events, among a variety of other options

• Earned income: approaches could include a fee structure for goods and services previously supplied free of charge, renting out unused office or meeting space, leasing computer services or equipment, offering consulting or information services to businesses and clients who can afford to pay, or a variety of other creative ideas, e.g. gift shops, publications, travel services, etc.
  

Some Additional Resources

The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University (2004) Philanthropic Giving Index: Summer 2004. www.philanthropy.iupui.edu/PGI-Summer2004.pdf. “The Philanthropic Giving Index is a semiannual study of the climate for philanthropic giving and fundraising in the United States. It is similar to a Consumer Confidence Index for charitable giving. The expert panel on which this survey is based was chosen to represent a cross-section of the nonprofit sector in terms of subsectors (e.g., health, education, or arts organizations), revenue size, and donor base (p.2).”

The Foundation Center (2004) Foundation Giving Trends, 2004. Based on a sample of 1,005 larger foundations. http://fdncenter.org/research/trends_analysis/pdf/04fgthiltes.pdf

Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP, formerly NSFRE; 1996) AFP Fundraising Dictionary. www.afpnet.org/content_documents/AFP_Dictionary_A-Z_final_6-9-03.pdf

Johnson Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership (2002) Nonprofit Good Practice Guide: Complete Glossary. Johnson Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership, Grand Valley State University.
www.nonprofitbasics.org/CompleteGlossary.aspx?curLetter=Q&ID=-1#TermID517

Seltzer, Michael (2001) Securing Your Organization's Future: A Complete Guide of Funding Strategies. New York: The Foundation Center. Chapter 22 http://fdncenter.org/getstarted/onlinebooks/seltzer/text.html (government funding, foundations, business and corporations, religious institutions)

Schladweiler, Kief (Ed.). (2004) Foundation Fundamentals: A Guide for Grantseekers, 7th Edition. New York: The Foundation Center. http://foundationcenter.org/getstarted/onlinebooks/ff/summary.html (individuals and earned income)

This featured search provides additional resources about fundraising.

Read more in the second part of BRYCS special feature on fundraising. The complete BRYCS series on fundraising is also available as a PDF.