What was to be a Day of Service designed to help nonprofits with their funding needs turned into four days.  As a part of the first National Growing Philanthropy Conference, Hartsook Companies, the Avila University Hartsook Institute for Fundraising, along with The Greater Kansas City Community Foundation, sponsored this event.  We expected 12 nonprofits to take advantage of our highly skilled and talented Hartsook teams.  Instead, over 50 signed up.

This wasn’t just a “drop by and get some advice” event.  This was a hands-on commitment to growing philanthropy.  Each nonprofit agreed to participate in a pre-consultation interview, bring at least three people including at least one board member, agree to three action steps as a result of the two-hour session, and be available for a follow-up in 60 days.

In mid-December we distributed the announcement that nonprofits with funding challenges were invited to participate.  On the first day of the announcement, 23 nonprofits responded.  The second day, there were 31, then 36, and so on.  We decided, to the extent possible, we would turn no one away.  By mid-January, over 50 had signed up.  Our Institute at Avila University in Kansas City found a bigger room and we recruited more consultants.  The program was held on January 20 and 21, and will finish on February 11 and 12, with 16 Hartsook consultants working with nearly 200 board members and staff of Kansas City area nonprofits.

The morning of January 21, there were six groups engaged at one time with two or three consultants working with each nonprofit.  Each of our consultants has wonderful, inspiring stories to tell but since this is my blog, I will tell mine.

I worked with four very eclectic groups: a community symphony, a health education center, a children’s home, and the felony-to-work organization, Beyond the Conviction.

So I began my day with three men who represented convicted felons.  I am so thankful to them and to the scheduler that they were my first visit.  They expanded my horizons.  If you think you have trouble raising money, try doing it for felons!

Mike Jackson, Ruben Paiz, and Patrick Danley were articulate, thoughtful and, frankly, successful.  I asked what their goal was and they said, without hesitation, “safety first—for the public and the felon—and developing the best-qualified job seeker.”

Like every nonprofit, they have a mission and a need.   Through a long conversation, we developed a three-point plan.  They have placed staff at some of the largest corporations in the city.  I told them those were their prospects, along with their board members.

The Hartsook team and partners knew going in we wouldn’t change the world in just two hours.  But we also knew the power of a plan, no matter how small, when combined with goal-oriented, committed individuals.

Well, two days later Mike proved our point.  Already, he had contacted the community foundation to establish his Donor Edge file and was on a schedule to get in front of two of his major supporters.  Each of these groups has moved dramatically as a result of their efforts and our work.

I couldn’t be more proud of the men and women of Hartsook who made this day happen.  Beyond helping these nonprofits, the payback was how good our team felt by giving of their talent, which just happens to be fundraising.  Ask any nonprofit where their needs lie.

As fundraisers we spend a lot of time celebrating philanthropy and little time highlighting what we do: fundraise.

You may get tired of hearing that Hartsook Companies and Hartsook Institutes are committed to GROWING PHILANTHROPY.  It’s not just talk.  Ask Mike, or any of the other 149 people we worked with.  It is real, and it is happening right before our eyes.

As I was listening to ESPN the other morning . . .  Wait, Bob Hartsook listens to ESPN?

Sometimes.  Okay—rarely, but that’s beside the point.

Back to my comment . . .

A national anchor was interviewing a bookie who runs the largest gambling facility in the world.  I don’t have any idea what a gambling facility is, but this person owns it.

According to this guy, Americans will spend $560 billion on sports gambling in the USA this year.  Just so you know I was listening, Las Vegas is a small part of that betting world.  Learning is my passion.

Did you read that? $560 Billion?

According to the IU Philanthropy Center’s Giving Report, about $300 billion is given away in philanthropy each year.  Because you’re reading this, I’m guessing you already know I am a critic of the amount of philanthropy we give.  We take pride in this amount, but so many needs go unmet while the growth of philanthropy is hardly a growth.

But the growth in gambling is real.

Gambling doesn’t have a Gambling Center at a prestigious university, but as I have been able to assemble the data, in 2008 $500 billion was gambled; 2007, $430 billion; 2006, $360 billion . . . then the data begins to drift.  (Maybe I should start a Center on Gambling Data for America . . . right after I start my Center on Alcohol Consumption, my Center on Vice Predictions, and my … well you get it).

I know I am preaching to the choir.

Speaking of the choir, do you realize that of the charity dollars we provide, only $100 billion goes to religion?  While $560 billion goes to gambling!  I am not into guilt, but seriously?!?

Our problem with philanthropy isn’t wealth.  We all know there is plenty of that to go around.  The problem is how we as fundraisers access wealth.  (You knew I would get to the fundraiser eventually, didn’t you)?

We access wealth through the quality of fundraisers.  I am the first to take responsibility!  I am at fault that the separation between philanthropy and gambling is $260 billion.  While I may have had my successes, it wasn’t enough.  I haven’t done my job.  But that is ending.

Maybe we should set a philanthropy goal that equates philanthropy to gambling spent.  After all, in good times and bad, the bookies keep after the gambler to find hope.  But in bad times, fundraisers back off of hope.  We make excuses about why people don’t give.

Yet in this time of financial difficulty, our company counsels with food banks that are knocking home runs in fundraising; think tanks that are raising the highest goals ever; museums that are setting limits to the amount donors can give; hospitals that are setting records; and universities that are paying bonuses to fundraisers and faculty because fundraising goals are being exceeded.

It isn’t the economy, stupid.  It is the fundraiser.

Let’s all challenge the status quo, because it’s clearly not good enough.  Let’s stand up for improvement in fundraising education and preparation.

Am I bold enough to think we can actually affect the amount of philanthropy that takes place annually?

You bet.

Three years ago, I endowed the only Chair in Fundraising in the world at Indiana University.  I did this because then Executive Director of the Philanthropy Center, Gene Tempel, wanted to bring attention to fundraising.

Well, he got my attention!

The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s Holly Hall wrote an article about the announcement of the newly-endowed Chair and the first chair-holder, Adrian Sargeant.   In it, she quoted me as saying that I did it because “50% of fundraisers in America weren’t worth crap.”  Shortly after that, a senior executive of the Kellogg Foundation announced at a national American Humanics meeting in Kansas City that I had grossly overestimated their competency.

Since making that gift, you cannot believe the how many philanthropists, corporate staff and foundation leadership have agreed with me. That, in and of itself, is not a reason to change fundraising education.

However, the fact that philanthropy barely increases year after year is not because there are few good nonprofits or generous philanthropists.  It is because the persons who serve as the middle men and women for philanthropy are, many time, ill-equipped to do a good job for either.

The Bank of America studies on high net worth giving reveal how important the fundraiser is in the solicitation of the 70% of ALL FUNDS that come from 3% of Americans.  In every study, fundraisers always rank in the top levels of influence.

The questionable preparation of fundraisers isn’t their fault.  Fundraising education is not generally valued by the philanthropy and nonprofit management programs in the country.  Many of the most recognized programs do not even require a fundraising course for the completion of degrees.  To the extent they do, some programs evaluate their graduates based on whether their “butt is in the seat” at the time of graduation.  Assuming the curriculum is strong, there is frequently little evaluation of acquisition of content by the graduates. Some of the most prestigious fundraising certificates given by major universities require no demonstration of competency.

That approach went unchallenged until the creation of the Hartsook Institutes for Fundraising. The Institute’s leadership is developing competency-based curriculum.  The first Masters Degree in Fundraising based on the curriculum of IU’s Hartsook Chair in Fundraising was accredited to Avila University in Kansas City and announced a couple of weeks ago.  It is a competency-based, knowledge and research-supported academic degree.

Thank you to all the researchers and investigators, the Hartsook Chair in Fundraising Adrian Sargeant and Jen Shang  who are creating a body of knowledge for this profession.  Thank you to the faculty of programs like the Hartsook Institute Master’s Degree for moving this process forward.

Increasing philanthropy is not a hollow tagline.  It is the very real promise of a program like this.

Thank you to the Board of Avila University and its entrepreneurial President, Ron Slepitza, for leading the charge on this new program.

Is this the perfect and only answer?  Will it fully address and change fundraising education?

No.  But it is raising the right questions!

Issued from Avila University on December 4, 2009 by Chief Marketing & Communication Officer, Linda Shaffer

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Avila University today announced that it has formed a partnership with Hartsook Institutes for Fundraising to provide the region’s first master’s degree in management with an emphasis in fundraising. Avila’s Board of Trustees accepted a $1.2 million gift from Bob Hartsook and the Hartsook Companies, Inc., to fund the initial Hartsook Institute for Fundraising at Avila University.

“Avila is positioned well to implement this kind of entrepreneurial opportunity,” said Avila president Ron Slepitza, Ph.D. “We have made the commitment that we want to be the center for fundraising education for our area. When Bob approached us, we jumped on board immediately. Once we started moving forward, our academic leadership achieved accreditation for the program in record time. It speaks volumes for the respect the Higher Learning Commission has for our faculty, staff and university.”

Hartsook Companies, which recently moved its world headquarters to Kansas City, is one of the most prominent names in fundraising consulting and has created a worldwide network for fundraising education. The goal of the Institutes is to grow philanthropy through research and knowledge-based, innovative fundraising education.

Avila University has been selected as the initial site for this new venture. As a result, Avila has presented to its trustees the successful accreditation of a master’s degree in management with an emphasis in fundraising. Only two other similar degrees exist in the country–one at Columbia University and the other at New York University (NYU). What makes Avila’s degree unique is that it is the only master’s degree developed as a result of the work of Adrian Sargeant, Ph.D., the Robert F. Hartsook Chair in Fundraising at the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana university. Sargeant’s work, along with the research application proven by the Hartsook Companies, will result in the first research knowledge, competency-based master’s degree in the world.

Dr. Sargeant, the author of several texts and recognized by international publications as one of the ten most influential people in the nonprofit world, is the visiting professor for the Institute and a member of the curriculum development committee. “At the Center, we all recognize that Bob is obsessed about developing a higher quality fundraising professional. I am fortunate to hold his Chair and join him in this venture,” said Sargeant.

When Bob Hartsook, president of the Hartsook Institutes and chairman of Hartsook Companies, gave Indiana University $1.5 million to endow the Chair, his intention was to draw attention to the fundraising profession. “While we would all like to think that philanthropy happens purely because a good nonprofit and a philanthropist collide, the reality is that a fundraiser is usually at the intersection of that exchange,” said Hartsook. “Unfortunately, as I stated when I endowed the Chair at Indiana, I believed the current fundraising educational models were flawed and the evidence of that is that philanthropy has grown very little each year.” The endowed Chair was the first step in changing the model, and the creation of the Avila Hartsook Institute is the next step. Ultimately, Hartsook’s goal is to change the model of fundraising education in America and the world.

“Kansas City is proud to be the initial site for this groundbreaking academic venture into fundraising education, said Laura McKnight, president and CEO of the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation.  “While KC is a very philanthropic community, our needs outstrip the community’s resources. I agree that improving the quality of the fundraising professional could have a profound impact on dollars available. We are excited for this partnership with a long-time KC friend, Hartsook Companies, and a long-time KC educational leader, Avila University.”

“I have known Bob Hartsook for 30 years, and there is no one more committed to improving the quality of fundraisers in our country,” commented Murray Blackwelder, president of the U.M.K.C. Foundation and former senior vice president of Purdue University. “His obsession about increasing philanthropy has driven him for years. To see him take this step after he endowed the Hartsook Chair at Indiana University is the next natural step for his dream of growing fundraising skills.”

Establishing a research-based graduate program with a fundraising emphasis is a bold step in the quest to increase philanthropy. Avila and Hartsook are to be commended for this investment in the future,” said Lou Gehring, executive director of the Shawnee Mission Medical Center Foundation and the 2009 Association of Fundraising Professionals Fundraiser of the Year.

According to Hartsook, Bank of America has periodically surveyed the high net worth donor on a number of issues and reported that the fundraiser is a critical part of the donor’s decision. The Indiana study on giving by the top 3 percent of donors, funded by Bank of America, has placed the fundraiser at or near the top of important counsel in making a gift. This group represents nearly 70 percent of all philanthropy in America.

“We welcome this investment in Kansas City to improve fundraising education in our community,” added Bob Regnier, president and CEO of Bank of Blue Valley and a member of the Hartsook Kansas City Advisory Board. “This is an unprecedented opportunity for the fundraising community to have a champion in the Hartsook Institutes to encourage the development of a body of knowledge for the profession.”

You would think that in this period of economic difficulty now would be a time of extraordinary gratitude.  After all, while donors are making difficult decisions about what they support, nonprofits are undergoing unprecedented challenges.  To my surprise (and it’s hard to surprise me), I have been particularly struck by an attitude of ingratitude recently.  Following are just three examples of what I’ve personally encountered in the past month.  Multiply this by the thousands upon thousands of donors worldwide, and you’ll begin to get a sense of the magnitude of the problem. 

A year ago I gave $5,000 to a university for the president’s discretionary use so he could respond immediately to last minute needs such as the swim team meet or a faculty member who just got invited to a present a paper.  When I was a development vice president at three universities, this is what the president always needed.  I explained to the president and the vice president for “advancement” (we can’t seem to use the word “fundraising”) that I had been rethinking my own support of small college endowments. My view (and this is only my view) is that too many of these institutions make the mistake of measuring their presidents’ success by the size of the endowment at the peril of the day-to-day needs of the university.  Right or wrong, this was my view as the donor.  So a week ago I got a letter from the vice president telling me that the president hadn’t needed the cash for discretionary use and she took the liberty of moving my gift to something I specifically instructed I did not want—an endowment fund.  That university is going through severe state budget cuts and is asking for support to overcome that loss.  Is this the time to build an endowment?  Regardless, where is the adherence to donor intent?  My only consolation is that at least she told me.
 
I have heard way too many stories in my career about the abuses of donor intent.

Another example: I and four friends and leaders of a national organization gave a total of $1 million to fight a major problem in our society. The challenge requires the organization to raise $2 million in the next two years. In the first 100 days they have raised $242,000.  Rather than receiving a standing ovation at a recent national meeting, these caring individuals who are each giving very large sums of money were met with criticism in public meetings.  The national officer, current president, incoming president, nor treasurer said “thanks” to any of these men.  Instead, these donors were reprimanded for not having their pledges completed; shamed publicly because one of them had already been giving and “all he was doing now” was pledging five more years; and many demanded to know why these men didn’t give the money now rather than pledge it.

I have been raising money for nearly 40 years and I have seen my share of ugly treatment by not-for-profit leadership with an entitlement mentality.

Finally, as a company we support many professional fundraising functions in various cities.  Most are handled with appreciation and respect.  But one local officer—I am sure harried by a deadline—emailed to ask for a $1,000 sponsorship.  We agreed. A month later we received a call: did we have a logo we could send? Could we do it today and approve copy for a sponsorship brochure?  He said a number of things, but “thank you” was not one of them.  I’m sure I don’t need to point out that whether this was considered a “sponsorship” or a gift—whether a donor or a customer—gratitude was in order.

Where did the common courtesy we are taught as children go?

We wonder why some people don’t give.  We wonder why other people don’t give at their potential.  We wonder why people look upon the nonprofit world as unaccountable.