Golden Age of Philanthropy Over Say Fundraisers

The Chronicle of Philanthropy reported on the "aha" moment at the recent annual meeting of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. Fundraisers for higher education were told that the "golden age of philanthropy" is over, and they will need to shift their attention from mega-gifts by the ultra wealthy to donations from the middle and lower end of the gift pyramid.

Experts, according to the Chronicle, told attendees that:

"...recent campaigns have depended on the top 1 percent of donors (those giving gifts of $1-million or more) for 70 percent of dollars raised. That top section now could shrink to represent 50 percent of money raised. At the same time, the middle of the pyramid (donors who give between $100,000 and $999,999) could expand. Instead of representing 4 percent of donors giving 25 percent of the money raised, that group could grow to 9 percent of donors who contribute 40 percent of a campaign total.

The bottom part of the pyramid, which represents 5 percent of dollars, contributed by 95 percent of donors, could shift to 10 percent of dollars given by 90 percent of donors."

The fundraisers learned that they would need to pay a lot more attention to the middle range of donors, meaning more gift officers to work with that group and more time getting to know those prospects.

Maybe this will be a sea change for institutions that have benefited from the largess of "philanthrocapitalists" during the go-go years of the economy, but won't come as much of a surprise for most nonprofits, who have labored in these particular fields for a long time.

In any case, if you are a mid-size donor (and we're not referring to your waist size here), expect to get a lot more attention from your alma mater.

Colleges Will See a Decline in Megagifts, Experts Predict