Leadership – Kathleen Provost
By Kathleen Provost
As a professional fundraiser I always wonder how I can keep “things exciting”. Is it possible, after having fundraised for so many years in the charitable sector, to still engage donors in new ways, motivate staff members, and find creative ways to reach philanthropic goals? Well, I say yes!
A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending some workshops in Ottawa, hosted by Private Foundations Canada (PFC). I remember when PFC was created 25 years ago; however, it was at this 25th PFC annual conference that I realized how invigorating our sector can be. PFC’s membership includes private and public foundations, charities, non-profits, and corporate giving programs. They were coming together to discuss innovative ways to have a bigger impact in our communities – the communities we serve and the communities who may be left behind. Whether these members were in their first or 25th year, conference speakers and attendees all took part in these fundamental workshops that will shape today’s philanthropy. Some topics included discussions on non-qualified donees, participatory grantmaking, youth-led organizations and much more.
This very well mirrors what Canadian freelance writer, Sherlyn Assam highlighted in her September article entitled: What are the fundamentals of philanthropy today? She states that the 400-plus PFC conference attendees were willing to further discuss key sectorial subjects such as: governance, grantmaking, investing, government relations, and many more topics essential to the philanthropic sector.
I believe that as a sector, if we are willing and able to come together, question the status quo and explore new boundaries, it is healthy and promising. Complaisance is the biggest obstruction to innovation and over the years, these kinds of gathering have been keeping our sector invigorated. I applaud such opportunities to come together, as will be happening in Toronto, in November, thanks to the collaboration of Foundation Magazine and The Hilborn Group, including the Civil Sector Press and Charity eNews.
Factors to consider
To keep “things exciting”, in my opinion, there are a few key factors to consider. First, we must not lose sight of the most important person: the Fundraiser. For any successful innovation or creativity to occur and to revitalize any of our philanthropic efforts, we must start by taking care of ourselves, the Fundraiser. Secondly, we must then work with the next key person in our fundraising efforts: the Donor. And last, but not least, we have the opportunity to listen and learn from new members of our community at different times. “Louder” voices are rising and helping to shape and inform how innovative we can be and how much we need to adapt to respond to the new needs of our communities.
The first person – The fundraiser
Last month, in Hilborn Charity eNews, Ed Sluga, CFRE authored “Managing Stress in Fundraising”, in which he states that increasing demands to raise more funds paired to the decreasing supports and resources available have resulted in a heavy burden that fundraisers are carrying on their own. To address this burden, Sluga suggested a partnership between PGgrowth and Talk, Listen, Connect (TLC) to pilot community support circles. These pilot groups are tailor-made for workers in the fundraising sector to provide professional support in an effort to decrease the levels of stress workers from this sector are experiencing. To date, this pilot is showing remarkable initial results.
According to PGgrowth, community circles are showing some hope, optimism and solace by connecting professionals experiencing similar stressful situations to come together and to share their challenges. This clearly illustrates how much work is needed in the fundraising sector to support the wellbeing of our professionals. To prevent the loss of creativity, it is essential to care for “the Fundraiser” by finding ways to eliminate the stress we experience in our day-to-day work.
The second person – The donor
In my article “The Segments Within Our Sector – The Next Genus Of Donors” (March 2024), I cautioned us to pay attention to the various “ways philanthropists work”. Generational eccentricities can complicate how we do fundraise; however, it may also provide further opportunities to innovate and explore together how to have the intended impact we aspire to have in our work, in our communities, in our sector. Identifying and understanding how Gen X or Gen Z prefers to donate gives us an opportunity to re-brand an event or develop a different online fundraising campaign.
In their second edition of “Generational Giving Report”, Bloomerang revealed crucial insights into giving behaviors and donor involvement. Dennis Fois, CEO of Bloomerang claims “Fundraising Effectiveness Project (FEP) data is crucial for nonprofits to understand and engage with their donor and to align with generational preferences.” So, having data on our donors’ preferences on digital wallets, or fundraising events not only provide essential information to tailor our actions, but fundraisers, can use key data to inspire the next iteration of initiatives with our donors in mind.
The phenomenon of “wealth transfer”, which fundraisers are currently experiencing is inevitably having an impact in our sector. As Eyre Purkin Bien, CFRE presented in her recent Hilborn article on “Family Philanthropy”, philanthropy discussions need to be tuned into multi-generational fundraising because at times we work with more than one generation. The pressures of these new demands may then provide room to innovate in some areas as we try to align our mission with each donor. Perkin Bien is also correct when she claims the next generation of philanthropists are willing to get ahead of root causes—more so than their parents and grandparents. Thus, providing us with a multitude of opportunities to explore news ways, new ideas, new methods of philanthropy. Trends and priorities can be re-defined as we learn to work together and to co-create fundraising initiatives.
The third person – The community
I must conclude by mentioning the community in which we “practice our philanthropy”. By community, I mean a group of people, a body of persons with common interests in a particular area. They also shape and influence the way we can be creative or innovative. And more recently, there is further attention being brought to light about the communities “left behind”. At times, these communities are underserved, or its members “do not fit” in our current models. Those communities are now influencing our philanthropy and helping us to “think outside the box”. To adapt and respond to these “new” needs, is very much a way to embrace change, learn and listen how to create and march on new trajectories that will reenergize the entire sector- its fundraisers, donors, the donees, and other social agents.
My final thoughts
I agree with Perkin Bien who said, “getting into the mind-set of relationships and understanding how people work together to make decisions is very interesting.” For a fundraiser, this symbiotic relationship and understanding is essential to help inform how imaginative and inspired we can be.
I refer to this experience as “active listening”. If we listen very carefully, we can always remain inspired and enthused. As Fundraisers, we must first take care of ourselves; then actively listen to the opportunity provided for us to remain inspired and ecstatic, and to keep things exciting!
Kathleen A. Provost is currently the Vice President, Philanthropy and Communications at United for Literacy (previously Frontier College), a national organization with 125 years of community partnerships in Canada, offering free tutoring and mentoring to adult, youth, and children who need literacy and numeracy support. Kathleen has over 30 years of experience in the charitable sector. She has been a Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE) since 2007 and a long-time member and volunteer for the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP). Kathleen holds a Masters degree in Adult Education from St. Francis Xavier University as well as a Baccalaureate Arts in Political Science and a certificate in Public Relations from McGill University.
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