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Money plays with money for philanthropy

A colleague of mine in the office relayed to me a conversation she had with a major fundraiser for donations. I’d like to highlight it here because if you are a business leader serving on a nonprofit board and expecting a significant donation request from a CEO or fundraiser to happen, you need to understand that it may not happen. and that does not happen. infinitely better to have board members and important gift partners involved.

In the story my colleague told me, I was talking to a professional fundraiser who had been in business for many years. The professional fundraiser asked for a million dollars from a billionaire she had known for many years. In fact, the fundraiser considered the billionaire, whom we’ll call Tom, a close friend and even spends vacations and weekends at Tom and his wife’s home in West Palm Beach, South Hampton, or Telluride.

As my team member relayed the story, so it was.

“To help expand the soup kitchen programs in the community, I would like to ask you to consider a $ 1 million donation.”

Tom replied, “No, I don’t think we can do that. Although I know the organization does a good job in the community, it is a religious group. Our children have become more involved in our charitable giving and they don’t want to support everything that is affiliated with the Church “.

So that was the end of it, right?

Well not really.

Two days later, it turns out that another billionaire, Steve, asked Tom for $ 2 million for a cause related to a religious organization.

Do you want to guess what happened?

If you guessed that Tom, who was asked for the $ 2 million (double the amount the professional fundraiser asked for and even for a religious group) was donated by his friend, you would be correct.

My question to you is, why?

What made Tom refuse to give it to the professional fundraiser, but give double the amount to his billionaire friend Steve?

As the professional fundraiser told my colleague, “Money plays with money.” The reason Steve got a $ 2 million donation was that he had given at least that amount to Tom’s charity. So by giving Steve $ 2 million, it was kind of a quid pro quo.

Money plays with money. If you think that is not true, it is wrong. But I guess if you are a capitalist and a business owner, you must be very aware that money likes to be with other cash.

So if you serve as a board member in the philanthropic industry, I wonder why so many boards rely solely on the CEO and professional fundraisers to raise money. If the story I related to you doesn’t tell you clearly the dynamics at play, especially in raising funds for major donations, I don’t know what does.

Money plays with money.

It didn’t matter that the professional fundraiser had been friends with Tom and his wife for decades and even invited her to their homes, vacations, and holidays. The reality is that the professional fundraiser didn’t have much more than her friendship to tap into, even for a great cause. And honestly, it wasn’t enough.

However, Steve (who, by the way, is not particularly close to the first billionaire) did have influence. The most notable benefit was the fact that Steve had donated $ 2 million to Tom’s pet charity.

If you are in a leadership position on a nonprofit or charitable board, it is essential that you realize that, as a board member, it is up to you and your colleagues to apply. CEOs and fundraisers can provide support, but money plays with money. Major donors would prefer that their peers ask for a donation of $ 5,000, $ 25,000 or more.

Think about it.

When you’re in another board training meeting and the team or governance consultant says there needs to be more support for fundraising from board members, the story I explained in this article should be one that you remember. .

Board members and donors have a little extra influence because they willingly give their time and money to causes, including those of their friends. That alone is an important reason to improve your game and help your organization raise money.