Ever get something you didn’t expect?

Better, yet, ever give something you never expected to give?

That is exactly what I will do next Monday.

Wichitan Roger Lowe will receive the Hartsook Institutes Growing Philanthropy Award for Model Nonprofit CFO.  Roger is the Senior Vice President of Wichita State University.

Some of you know that periodically, Hartsook Institutes honors distinguished, model individuals and institutions that inspire expanded philanthropy with the international Growing Philanthropy Award.

Hartsook’s good friend, Wichita State University President Don Beggs nominated our long time mutual friend for the Growing Philanthropy Award for Model Nonprofit Chief Financial Officer.  In his nomination of Roger, President Beggs talked about selflessness, collaboration, and collegiality.  The Hartsook Institutes International Board of Visitors — with representatives from Sydney, Singapore, Cape Town, London and the US — agreed.  Thus, they bestowed the Growing Philanthropy Award on Roger Lowe.

Roger will be the tenth recipient of the GPA (no, GPA is not Grade Point Average in this case; it’s Growing Philanthropy Award . . . though I suspect he had a high GPA at Pittsburg State Unversity in Kansas where he graduated a many years ago).  Other recipients of the GPA include the Kresge Foundation of Troy Michigan; Gene Tempel, the founder of the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University; Gerald Franklin of Houston, the major benefactor of the Ohio-based Exchange Clubs Foundation for Child Abuse Prevention; Chicago-based Feeding America’s top Food Bank and others.  Obviously, Roger joins a prestigious and distinguished club.

While this award is obviously well-deserved, it is personal, too.  Roger was CFO of Wichita State when I was there, so I personally second Don’s comments.  I am sure I will write more on this, but as an example, during our time together we developed funding for over 30 buildings and renovations on the WSU campus in just five years.  Not a bad for a couple of Kansas boys.  I am currently writing an essay about the combined power of a CFO and a Fundraiser.  Working together to advance a mission, there is little they can’t accomplish.

Congratulations, Roger, along with a special thanks from me.  Take this in stride.

For me, the anticipation of giving Roger this long-deserved recognition at a special Hartsook Institutes event on National Philanthropy Day in Wichita on November 7 makes me feel like a kid waiting for Christmas morning.

Wow.  It truly is better to give than to receive.

No, the two favorite presidents I’m talking about here are not Washington and Lincoln, even though they were pretty good.

I am talking about Leo Morton and Ron Slepitza.

By coincidence, they are both off to Israel for 10 days on a special trip.  Their absence at the same time made me think how much I respected both of them.

As University of Missouri – Kansas City’s surprise chancellor a few years ago, Leo has led this important KC asset to heights few would have imagined at the time of his appointment.  He would be the first to tell you that he has not done it alone. Numerous members of the city’s business and political leadership have stepped up to support the idea that no great city exists without a great university.

During his tenure, there have been Nobel Prizes, increases in enrollment, expansion of the Bloch School, nationally ranked Management and Entrepreneurship programs, an exciting transformative idea of linking the Conservatory near the inspiring Performing Arts Center, an upcoming Capital Campaign and the list just keeps on going.

I have a sweet spot for urban universities, and UMKC is getting sweeter every day.

My friend, Ron is President of Avila University, a small Catholic school in south Kansas City.  You might know we have a special relationship with this school—our Hartsook Institutes for Fundraising’s first campus program is at Avila.  But before I go there, let me tell you what leadership means, Avila style.

In just five years, Avila has completed a $5 million mini-campaign, implemented a strategic plan for the future, has added not one, but two residence halls, renovated parts of four buildings, begun work on replacing infrastructure, improved student recreational facilities, and built one humongous six acres of green turf that can handle a football game, a soccer match, a softball and baseball game all at the same time (even though you probably wouldn’t want to do that)—construction alone is approaching $20 million.

At the same time, Avila is hosting the Hartsook Institute with one of only three masters in fundraising in the world and the only one outside of NYC.  He proves time and again how an undeterred entrepreneurial spirit can enhance the academic quality of a university.

Both of these men have displayed tremendous leadership.  Their campuses are filled with a variety of students eager to learn, advancing their role in our society.  Yeah, I know there are others that do this.  But when you see it up close like I get to, it is fun to pat them on the back.

Great leaders understand the importance of balance and perspective.  I hope they come back from their trip with renewed insight, energy and understanding.

Safe travels, Presidents Morton and Slepitza.

“You can write, kid,” was the note at the bottom of a first year English student over 50 years ago.  This note ignited a flame that started a distinguished writing and journalistic career of a new friend of mine, Don Reichardt from Roswell, Ga.  Don was honored along with my longtime, good friend Ron Loewen from Columbia, SC at the Emporia State University Distinguished Alumni Award ceremony Friday evening.

It would be easy for me to write today about Ron’s career and accomplishments that are impressive by any standards, the personal and professional support of me over the years, and to herald the role ESU played in setting him up for his success in life.

But I am not going to do that.

I am going to focus on recognition.  Not because I don’t think Ron deserves more accolades than those lavished upon him over the past few days, but because this is, after all, my blog about fundraising opportunities seized and lost.

I am constantly amazed at how nonprofits miss opportunities to advance a friendship, galvanize a connection or just bring glory to those who they love and those who love them back.
Now, I am not talking about recognizing people who are only tangentially related to you.  I am talking about people who could really help.

In the university environment, the conflict between celebrating a friend or alum and seeking their financial support is frequently pronounced.

It shouldn’t be.

Honoring someone doesn’t guarantee a gift and yet, you should not just honor those who give you money.

I believe an institution cannot have enough recognition opportunities.  Several years ago when Warren Armstrong at Wichita State and I was working under him, he asked me to put together a recognition program beyond the one the Alumni Association had.  He respected that the Alumni Association had a role to play in recognition, but not an exclusive one.

We set about to consider the audiences of the University that deserved recognition. Ultimately, we initially added the Honorary Doctorate, which was a few years later removed by the Kansas Board of Regents—but not before a few had been awarded.

But three others were the province of the University and the President.  First was the President’s Medal, awarded to an individual or couple who best exemplified support of the University’s growing mission.  At that time, it was bestowed at Commencement.  The Fairmount Founders Award recognized again that individual or couple who showed great respect for the heritage of Wichita State, founded as Fairmount College.  This award was given at a special dinner that honored the largest gift donors to the University, recognized as the Fairmount Society.  Finally, we offered WSU Board of Trustees Award. The Board was created during the transition of WSU from the University of Wichita in the 60’s.  This award was to be given for great appreciation and value of the city and county relationship.

That was over 25 years or more ago.  The introduction of these recognition awards was met with mixed reviews. Some in the Alumni Association thought the University should only have their awards.  In respect for the Alumni Association, none of these awards - at least as we started - occurred at Homecoming or Alumni Association events.

Some thought we would never find enough people who were worthy of the honor.  Well, it wasn’t that tough.

There was also a concern that only the donors were going to get these awards.  Certainly, one way to demonstrate support of the university is through gifting.  The history now shows a slight tilt to this, but it is balanced.

As you read the obituaries of many at WSU, you will repeatedly see the acknowledgement of receipt of one or more of these awards.

And what is wrong with that?  If you can help add meaning and appreciation to someone’s life, what are you waiting for?

Well, back to my friend, Ron, who received the Distinguished Alumni award this weekend.  To start, there was, a Presidential Luncheon, a special lecture, a social hour and dinner on Friday night.  Ron gave a very fitting speech that was sharp and paid tribute to ESU.  (When I received this award several years ago, my good friend Kala Stroup, who has been honored so many times, gave me good advice, which I passed on to Ron.  She said, “Bob, be funny.”)  And Ron was funny.

That was Friday . . .then Saturday began with a breakfast with alumni, a lunch at his fraternity, a parade, a football game and going out to the 50 yard line.  As you can imagine, it was a special day for him and his family (his sisters came to participate from Phoenix).

As the weekend wound down, Ron called me on his way to the airport.  I could tell he was exhausted.  But clearly, the day meant a great deal to him and the other awardees.

As fundraisers, we frequently have influence or even control these opportunities.  They should not be treated casually or without purpose.  Emporia State honored Ron, the man who made the internet profitable to the television industry, was President and CEO of Liberty Insurance preparing it for sale, was a senior executive of a media company that sold for a billion dollars to Raycom and is now consulting and has recently accepted the role of CEO of the South Carolina Business Incubator Center which oversees 46 emerging businesses.

Congrats to ESU for figuring this out.

Don Reichardt’s professor told him he could write.  Who knew the impact that simple acknowledgement would have on his life?

Look around.  Opportunities are right in front of you.  If you can’t see them, contact me and I’ll help get you started.

Few of us need a plaque or a trophy or public praise, but all of us like to be appreciated.

I’ll admit, I think about fundraising all the time.  It’s not easy being me, but no one seems to feel sorry for me.  All kinds of thoughts are swirling around my head today and I can’t seem to find the “glue” to meld them into one comprehensive message.  So today I’ll share three unrelated thoughts.

Impact of High Income Deduction Change

When it comes to research, where does common sense enter in?

Another well established research body has assessed that gifting will be reduced by $3 billion to $6 billion per year as a result of the President’s plan to reduce the charitable deduction.  You can read it for yourself.

Really?  We have already lost about $30 billion dollars because of this threat to gifting.

Remember, two thirds of all gifts come from high net worth individuals with $200k annual income and $1 million in assets.  You think these people who itemize haven’t been watching this debate and consistency of the President’s proposals?  Giving is already going down in terms of long term pledges as a result of this pounding on the deduction.

I am not in support of the President’s plan, but my clients are planning for the fall.

You are right, I am self-centered

This weekend a very good friend of mine attended an event in which they announced the completion of a $10 million project. Among the gifts was a $750k gift from a foundation that, from our experience, would have given $1.5 million to this project.  Unless this institution is doing strange things that I am not aware of, the Foundation would have given them $750k more.  We were not approached to be counsel, and I don’t know if anyone was.

If they did this campaign alone, I am sure some trustee said, “Yea, we did this and didn’t have to hire an outside consultant.  We saved $76,000.”

And they lost $624,000.

We aren’t perfect, but we know what we’re doing.  I’m sure fundraising consultants like us aren’t alone, thinking about lost opportunity.  I am sure doctors, lawyers, and financial planners look at stories like this in their venues and say the same thing.  It is sad.

Stop Reading the Gloom and Doom

I will tell you what the press is going to say and you can save yourself hours of reading.

“The economy is bad.”

“It’s going to get worse.”

“Fundraising is down.”

Then they are going to tell you all kinds of gimmicks to improve your online work, or your endowments, or give priority to this or that.

Hey, I’ll tell you the truth.  Like all good businesses that succeed when others slip away, it comes down to Persistence and Tenacity.

Got that?

You better.  Those who tell the fundraising success stories of this next year will.

For the first time in history, fundraisers and nonprofits can’t take for granted that the charitable deduction will be in place for its donors.

Let that sink in for a minute.

Now, let’s talk.  If you receive $60 gifts, your nonprofit will probably not feel it.  But if you get $1,000 gifts, you probably will.

For too long the fundraising profession has sat on the sidelines of public policy.  An unfortunate positive outcome of this attack on the deduction is that it is motivating nonprofits and those who believe in the nonprofit role in our society to mobilize.  I have said for years that regulation will ultimately unify America’s fundraising professionals.

Well, I know at the highest levels, AFP, CASE, AHP and many others are organizing to make sure Congress and the President understand the incredible damage this will cause our country at a time when more and more government is shifting to the private sector.

Our friends at the Center on Philanthropy issued a report a couple of years ago when the President first presented this idea (he has proposed it three more times and it is in his jobs bill).  Clearly, the nonprofit sector has not convinced him of the harm.

The Center on Philanthropy indicated in their study that eliminating the charitable deduction would diminish giving by over $6 billion.  The economy has already reduced giving over $20 billion, according to many other sources.

While Hartsook would argue that giving and major gift giving will continue, it is going to cause a pause by donors.  Once the deduction has been decreased in any way, it is a slippery slope.

This is a time for you to make sure you know where those groups of influence are on this challenge.

Where does your Board stand?  Where does your staff stand?  Do they understand the impact of this change on their lives?

Have you formed an opinion?

Better get one.