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October 10, 2024

Carl G. Hamm web

From the Desk of

Carl G. Hamm ¦ Partner

The Business of Philanthropy


Every time I open my inbox, I am reminded what a big industry the business of philanthropy has become. On any given day, I could participate in half-a-dozen webinars and learn from the experts on everything from how to maximize my year-end giving strategies, amplify my Giving Tuesday results so they don’t fall flat, or learn how to avoid the most common pitfalls in fundraising. And those are just a few of the opportunities I’ve been given this week.

With Giving USA reporting that the number of 501(c)(3) organizations has grown by 3.2% per year over the past ten years to nearly 1.5 million nonprofits, it is only natural there would be a significant increase in the number of companies marketing to the nonprofit community.

I am often overwhelmed and disappointed by the volume of unsolicited email I receive from vendors attempting to sell me something to improve my approach to practically every aspect of the development profession. Quick fix, too-good-to-be-true advice on how to win at fundraising confronts us at every turn.

It sometimes feels disingenuous and insulting to me when the depth and wonderful nuance to the effective practice of our noble profession is reduced to a clever AI-generated subject line. The outcome of our work should be so much more than filling an arbitrary number in a budget spreadsheet, and there is no shortcut or silver bullet to replace the hard work of building authentic, lasting relationships with those inclined to support our organization’s mission and programs.

Professional development is essential for all of us to stay on top of best practices and learn new approaches. But alongside the unfiltered barrage of sales-focused marketing information about the tools of our trade infused into our lives, we should remember that the essence of an effective development program is more than just a loose collection of freestanding tactics to be improved. The business of philanthropy is still rooted in advancing work that benefits humankind, not the philanthropic industry itself.

Disaster Help for Museums


The American Association of Museums (AAM) and the Southeastern Museums Conference (SEMC) have created resource links for arts organizations in Helene disaster areas.  If your organization or organizations you know have been impacted, helpful disaster assistance information for museums is available.

Arts Disaster Relief Resources

Consider giving to the NC Arts Disaster Relief Fund that is being run through the North Carolina Arts Foundation  to provide funding and assistance to artists and arts organizations affected by Hurricane Helene. When you donate, enter the word “RELIEF” in the description for your gift.

The National Heritage Responders, a team of trained conservators and collections care professionals administered by the Foundation for Advancement in Conservation, are available 24/7 to provide advice and guidance.  Cultural institutions, arts organizations, and artists and performing groups can call the National Heritage Responders hotline: (202) 661-8068.
Members of the public and individual artists who have questions about saving family heirlooms and personal collections can email the National Heritage Responders at NHRpublichelpline@culturalheritage.org.

The Craft Artists Emergency Relief Grant program offers $3,000 Emergency Relief Grants to craft artists who experienced a recent and substantially disruptive emergency or disaster.
To qualify for an Emergency Relief Grant, applicants need to be craft artists who are 18 years of age or older. They must have been living and working in the U.S. or U.S. Territories for the past two years. Additionally, they should not have received an Emergency Relief Grant in the previous year or exceeded the maximum lifetime limit of 4 grants.  To apply, visit our website and complete the online application with supporting documentation. Incomplete applications will not be considered. For questions, contact  programs@cerfplus.org or (802) 229-2306.

Recent changes to FEMA and the Heritage Emergency National Task Force (HENTF) have made it easier to deliver aid to communities and individuals and may make aid more accessible to artists, entrepreneurs, self-employed individuals, as well as cultural institutions and arts organizations.

HENTF’s Save Your Family Treasures guidance is available at fema.gov/assistance/save-family-treasures . Here you can find the downloadable FEMA fact sheets “After the Flood: Advice for Salvaging Damaged Family Treasures” and “Salvaging Water-Damaged Family Valuables and Heirlooms,” available in multiple languages.

If you were impacted or know artists and cultural institutions impacted for a disaster, please fill out one of the following rapid damage assessment forms.
· Cultural Institutions: Rapid Damage Assessment Form
· Arts Organizations: Rapid Damage Assessment Form
· Individual Artists and Performing Groups: Rapid Damage Assessment Form

With support from the Heritage Emergency National Task Force (HENTF) and in collaboration with the Foundation for Advancement in Conservation (FAIC), these new online assessment forms will help identify where assistance is sought, provide assistance where needed, understand critical needs, and inform recovery efforts moving forward.

More information can be found here.

Alumni Client Gifts News

The University of West Florida, which received a $5 million legacy gift from the Bear Family Foundation to name the College of Business. Contingent on approval, the college is slated to be renamed the Lewis Bear Jr. College of Business. The gift will also provide scholarship support for undergraduate and graduate students and operational support. PND, 3-22

Indiana University, received $20 million from Julie Wood to develop new methods for the prevention, detection, and treatment of lung cancer and establish the Tom and Julie Wood Center for Lung Cancer Research within the Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center. WDRB.com, 3-19

The University of South Florida received a $2.7 million gift to fund student scholarships in engineering, nursing, and physical therapy. The bequest from Tom Tiedmann, a retired NASA engineer, will establish scholarship funds at USF’s College of Engineering, College of Nursing, and School of Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Sciences. PND, 3-22

Berry College received a $2 million grant from The Atrium Health Floyd-Polk Foundation to fund the construction of a health sciences building. The grant will enable the college and foundation to collaborate on ways to address disparities in health and access to healthcare providers. PND, 3-19

Dos and Don’ts to Show How Your Nonprofit Is Making a Difference

Impact has long been a buzzword in the nonprofit world, but many groups are still wrestling with how best to capture data that proves they’re making a difference — and share those results with donors in ways that are informative and interesting. More than 70 percent of nonprofit leaders think measuring impact is important, but only 20 percent say they’re very good at it, one survey finds.

Here are tips that can help you get started.

Define what impact means to your organization.
Nonprofits often make decisions about evaluation based on what their funders want, not what they’re trying to achieve. Before deciding what to measure, get really clear on that strategy. You also need to understand that impact is not the same thing as activities, like the number of people you reached or the amount of money you raised.

Impact reports require advance planning; allow time to lay the groundwork.
If you want to create an impact report, start planning early. Don’t worry if you don’t have every metric you want at first. You can add more later, but it’s important to start somewhere.

Don’t let the potential costs of data-tracking hold you back.
The key thing is consistency. Even if your nonprofit has never gathered data before, the sooner you can start, the better prepared you’ll be to show results in a year or two. Collect more than you think you need at first, and narrow down your metrics as you go.

Blend quantitative and qualitative data.
Numbers are crucial — but shouldn’t be the only way you communicate your nonprofit’s impact. Not everyone who reads your report will want to see just a bunch of stats and charts without qualitative context. Try to bring your data to life in a variety of ways, including quotes or testimonials that illustrate your outcomes.

Be selective and strategic about what you share.
Don’t try to share all your results. Instead, focus on the strongest ones.

Put your data in context.
When sharing a stat, think about the broader story you can tell about that number to make it more meaningful. It can help to share stats in the context of progress over time.

Don’t start over every year.
Create a report that you can update each year. Creating a storytelling foundation like this that you can build on saves a lot of time and money over the long term.

Don’t share only the good news.
More and more funders want to know about what didn’t work. If something happened that wasn’t your fault, such as Covid-19 or a well-known event in your community that affected your work, don’t ignore it and pretend everything was normal. Talk about the negative effects and how you handled them.

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Things to Do When You Get an Anonymous DAF Gift

When funds are simply transferred electronically to a charity’s bank account, groups may not think to ask the bank whether there’s accompanying information about the donor and could be hard to find. It is important that data-entry and gift-processing staff look for donor data.

Ask DAF sponsors to check whether donors intended to withhold their names.
Don’t assume donors want to keep their identity from you. As DAF account holders make gifts online through their accounts, the digital interface often asks if the donation should be anonymous and think that when they click ‘anonymous,’ the charity will still get their name and address, but the charity just won’t publicize it.

Ask the DAF sponsor to forward your thank-you note to the donor.
Not all sponsors will serve as messengers, but many community foundations and smaller sponsors will.

Consider using a DAF payment processor.
One example: DAFpay can be embedded on the donation pages of organizations. Donors can make gifts directly on the page without visiting their DAF account, and nonprofits can customize the donation form to collect any data.

Safeguard the identity of anonymous donors within your organization.
Secure your donor database and take care with anonymous donors to create a more secure record internally so that your organization reduces the risk of that donor’s name getting known by staff as well.

Assume anonymous donors are watching your organization.
It’s typically difficult to know whether an anonymous donor is making a gift in response to a particular message or communications channel. As a result, you have to double your efforts to hit the mark on all your communications.

COP, 10-

We Know Museums
For more than 35 years, Alexander Haas has been a fixture in the nonprofit community. We are honored to have worked with leading museums and cultural organizations across the country that help communities be a better place to live. Just ask our clients.

Face It: Museums are Different
Our services aren’t cookie cutter. We don’t operate with a boilerplate, merely changing names and locations. We craft each and every service we provide to match your museum’s unique needs, wants and abilities. We work hard and expect you to do the same. Together we can help you transform your museum, your fundraising, and the community you serve.

Whether your need is in Capital Campaign, Annual Fund Campaign, Major Gifts, Leadership Annual Giving, Planned Giving or all of the above, we take a fresh approach to nonprofit fundraising.