Giving to donor-advised funds jumps
The National Philanthropic Trust (NPT), the largest U.S. donor-advised fund (DAF) sponsor, has some good news about grants to nonprofits from DAFs. It reports a 39% increase in the dollar amount of such grants made from its sponsored funds in fiscal year 2019, for a total of $1.39 billion. That represents a 28% increase in the number of grants made over the previous year. The jump aligns with reports from other DAF sponsors. Fidelity, for example, reported a 48% increase in grantmaking from DAFs in the first half of 2019. And Schwab said it experienced a 33% increase in the dollars granted from DAFs in fiscal 2018.
NPT donors recommended grants to organizations in arts and education to the environment and human services. An NPT spokesperson says the figures were especially notable considering concerns about the effects of tax reform and the global economic climate.
Is your fundraising professional heading out the door?
More than half of nonprofit fundraisers plan to leave their current jobs in the next two years, according to a new surveycommissioned by the Chronicle of Philanthropy and the Association of Fundraising Professionals. The survey questioned more than 1,000 fundraisers in the United States and Canada. It digs into the reasons behind the impending exodus, which can threaten organizations’ financial stability.
Many respondents cited pressure to meet unrealistic fundraising goals, low pay and frustrating organizational cultures as reasons to leave. And 30% indicate they have recently left or plan to leave the development field entirely in the next two years; 5% of the survey respondents had already left fundraising. Some of this attrition might seem tied to the retiring Baby Boomers who work in fundraising. But only 12% say they plan to retire or have other personal reasons for leaving.
Community foundation asset growth stagnant in 2018
With the investment market showing signs of increasing volatility in the past two years, community foundation assets grew less than 1% in 2018. That’s according to a new report from CF Insights, a service of Candid, the organization that resulted from the merger of the Foundation Center and GuideStar. These findings, based on research conducted annually for more than 30 years, include more than 250 community foundations, which collectively hold more than 90% of the field’s assets.
Assets of foundations with fiscal years ending in June or earlier grew 9%, but foundations operating on a calendar-year basis saw a median 3% drop in asset values from the previous year. It’s worth noting, though, that the market slowed during the second half of the year.