News/Blog

By Steve Jacobson, AFP-NYC President 
CEO, JCA, Inc.

A new study released just this past week by the Urban Institute revealed that charitable giving in 2020 declined significantly for small nonprofits while larger organizations tended to fare better.  Until now, we’ve seen a number of studies, surveys and anecdotal references that have pointed to the level of giving varying widely based on nonprofit sectors.  In 2020, as in other years, giving was impacted by current events.  The murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and others spurred giving to social justice organizations.  The pandemic prompted increased levels of giving to hospitals and health care foundations.  But, on the flip side, according to Giving USA, 2020 giving was down by 8.6% to arts and culture institutions.  Overall, 2020 could be summed up as the “year of unequal giving.”

By Craig Shelley, CFRE, AFP-NYC Treasurer 
Managing Director, Orr Group

I’ve got a job that I love.  Work that feels meaningful and that I’m proud of.  My kids look at me with some modicum of respect.  I’ll often tell myself I’ve worked hard, and I “deserve” it (whatever “it” is).  There’s probably some truth to that but if I’m being honest, what I have achieved I’ve achieved because I’ve benefitted from the leadership, tutelage, and camaraderie of some great mentors.

By Michele Hall-Duncan, AFP-NYC Secretary
CEO and President of enCourage Kids Foundation

Fall events will be starting soon. Galas, tastings, festivals, and other events are planned for the end of the year. But as the Delta variant brings us all back into a cautionary space – what do we do? Some organizations have decided to revert to virtual or hybrid events after planning fall in-person events. Zoom is even trying to cash in on that trend by finally adding a donate button for nonprofits.

By Jill Scibilia, CFRE, AFP-NYC President-Elect
Vice President, Development, Phelps Hospital, Northwell Health

There is one more week before Labor Day—the traditional end of summer in New York. 

Do you remember the last day of summer vacation before going back to school in the fall?  I do.  It always seemed to be the very best day of summer.  At least that is how I remember it.  It never rained.  The weather was just hot enough, but not too hot.  Our friends and all of us who hung out in the neighborhood where I grew up were on the best of terms.  Arguments were forgotten.  We were all suddenly the best of friends—at least for the day.  We played all day with abandon knowing it was the final day of vacation.  We stayed out as late into the evening as our parents allowed.  Every year I had the same thought, if only summer could last forever…

By Steve Jacobson, AFP-NYC President 
CEO, JCA, Inc.

No, I don’t have one for you. But chances are that there may be one out there for you. In one of the bright spots for fundraisers, the job market is picking up steam.  This is welcome news to the many fundraisers out there who were let go, took reduced pay or were furloughed due to the pandemic. According to the Association of Fundraising Professionals’ (our parent organization) annual compensation and benefits survey, the pandemic resulted in fundraisers’ salaries dropping 3% since the pandemic began in March 2020.  The survey also found that layoffs or furloughs occurred at 20% of the more than 3,200 organizations who responded to the survey.

By Craig Shelley, CFRE, AFP-NYC Treasurer 
Managing Director, Orr Group

Does anyone ever listen to the Hamilton song, “Non-Stop” and think he could very easily be describing the life of a fundraiser?  The need for our work is always there, we often do what we do at the hours most convenient to our donors and least convenient to our families and social lives, we’re perennially working on under resourced teams, and every new fiscal year the clock goes back to $0 and the goals get larger.  Non-Stop has been the only pace I think I’ve ever experienced in my 20+ years fundraising, leading, and advising nonprofit organizations.

By Michele Hall-Duncan, AFP-NYC Secretary
CEO and President of enCourage Kids Foundation

As I write this leadership brief, we are in the throes of putting the final touches on our 18^th annual golf tournament. If you’d asked me three months ago, my team, my board and even the golf committee themselves were managing expectations. No one knew what to expect between the moving target of vaccinations, venue limitations, and most importantly personal comfort level. I am so excited to share that we are nearly sold out and may even match our 2019 revenue. You know what I call that? A comeback! Was it tough? For sure. Exercising those old fundraising muscles, after months of being reactive instead of proactive required a shift, and for some, that shift was difficult.

By Steve Jacobson, AFP-NYC President 
CEO, JCA, Inc.

Yesterday, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) ruled in a 6-3 decision that California cannot legally compel nonprofit organizations to provide donor information to the state.  The case stems from a challenge by two conservative nonprofit groups based in California, the Americans for Prosperity Foundation and the Thomas More Law Center. These organizations claimed that California’s donor disclosure laws negatively impacted nonprofit groups’ abilities to fundraise and needlessly subjected donors to possible harassment.

By Jill Scibilia, CFRE, AFP-NYC President-Elect
Vice President, Development, Phelps Hospital, Northwell Health

June 19^th is a new national holiday: Juneteenth National Independence Day.  President Joe Biden signed this into law on June 17, 2021 after it passed the Senate and the House earlier this week.  It is the first new federal holiday since President Ronald Reagan signed Martin Luther King Jr. Day into law in 1983.

By Craig Shelley, CFRE, Chapter Treasurer & Managing Director, Orr Group

I have this weird feeling I have not had in a long time.  I think it is optimism.  We seem to (finally? maybe?) have the pandemic under control as at least in the US vaccine rates rise and infection and death rates drop.  Things are reopening.  I have been able to spend time with colleagues, friends, and clients I have not seen in 15+ months.  Despite all our worst predictions’ philanthropy has rallied in the past year.  I gathered with this community at PhilanthroCon and was able to feel the energy of and learn from my peers.  I am looking forward beyond tomorrow and I like what I see for our world and for our profession.