Friends,
I'm in Honolulu visiting our client Hawaii Public Radio. It's a whirlwind trip--Sunday-Tuesday, and an all-day journey back on Wednesday. At best I had part of a rainy day to see a little bit of the place (my first visit to the state). The balance of the time is all work.
More rain! I'm touched by the concern everyone here has for me. People take it personally that it has been raining since I arrived. I have assured them that I'm fine with it. After all, as a major giving consultant, I'm something of a rainmaker.
Last night I spoke to the Hawaii Public Radio board about capital campaigns. Interestingly, as my brother Rick said in his comment on my last post, it's not unusual for board members to raise the question of percentage-based compensation. This was the case last night. After explaining the AFP line to the group, I also asked, "how would you feel about HPR if your gift of $100,000 was 'discounted' thirty or forty percent and your gift ended up being $60,000? What would that say to you the donor? What would that say to HPR's donor constituency?" There was a brief pause, and another board member said, "I never thought about it that way, but it makes perfect sense."
HPR, is a well-managed organization that strives for transparency. Donors today have increasing resources available to them (like Guidestar and Charity Navigator) to investigate the charities they support. Any nonprofit seeking major gifts or foundation funding needs to understand that donors are more savvy than ever in assessing an institution's efficiency and performance, and a big red flag is an excessively high percentage of the budget dedicated to fundraising expenses.
Talk to you soon!
Bob
I'm in Honolulu visiting our client Hawaii Public Radio. It's a whirlwind trip--Sunday-Tuesday, and an all-day journey back on Wednesday. At best I had part of a rainy day to see a little bit of the place (my first visit to the state). The balance of the time is all work.
More rain! I'm touched by the concern everyone here has for me. People take it personally that it has been raining since I arrived. I have assured them that I'm fine with it. After all, as a major giving consultant, I'm something of a rainmaker.
Last night I spoke to the Hawaii Public Radio board about capital campaigns. Interestingly, as my brother Rick said in his comment on my last post, it's not unusual for board members to raise the question of percentage-based compensation. This was the case last night. After explaining the AFP line to the group, I also asked, "how would you feel about HPR if your gift of $100,000 was 'discounted' thirty or forty percent and your gift ended up being $60,000? What would that say to you the donor? What would that say to HPR's donor constituency?" There was a brief pause, and another board member said, "I never thought about it that way, but it makes perfect sense."
HPR, is a well-managed organization that strives for transparency. Donors today have increasing resources available to them (like Guidestar and Charity Navigator) to investigate the charities they support. Any nonprofit seeking major gifts or foundation funding needs to understand that donors are more savvy than ever in assessing an institution's efficiency and performance, and a big red flag is an excessively high percentage of the budget dedicated to fundraising expenses.
Talk to you soon!
Bob
