OF THE DMA NONPROFIT FEDERATIONOF THE DMA NONPROFIT FEDERATION

VOLUME 21 • ISSUE 2 • APRIL 2018

Cover story 4

A note from the editor 3

Tips for building your mid-level program 11

Giving in the Trump era 13

Senny’s policy scorecard 16

Networking at the D.C. Conference! 18

The Journal of the DMA Nonprofit Federation 2 Volume 21 / Issue 2 / April 2018

MEMBERS

Mr. John Bell MMI Direct

Mr. Lane BrooksFood & Water Watch

Ms. Stephanie CeruoloInfogroup

Ms. Rita ElbenFreshAddress, Inc.

Mr. Nick EllingerDonorVoice

Mr. John ErnstWiland

Mr. Craig FinstadAmerican Lung Association

Mr. Steve FroehlichALSAC — St. Jude

Mr. Tom GaffnyTom Gaffny Consulting

Mr. Kevin GaschlerDucks Unlimited

Ms. Jacqui Groseth

Mr. Steve HarrisonOne & All

Ms. Jennifer HonadelEpsilon

Mr. Eric JohnsonTHD, Inc.

Mr. Tim KerstenRKD Group

Ms. Gretchen LittlefieldInfogroup Ex Officio

Mr. Scott Douglas MeltonNational Aquarium

Ms. Alicia MeulensteenASPCA

Mr. Jeff NickelTrueSense Marketing

Ms. Kim PostulartAlzheimer’s Association

Ms. Jann SchultzMerkle Response Management Group (RMG)

Mr. David StraussThe Nature Conservancy

Ms. Angela StruebingCDR Fundraising Group

Ms. Adrian White Slagle

Mr. Craig ZeltsarNNE Marketing

2018 DMA Nonprofit Federation Advisory Council

CHAIR

Ms. Tracey BurgoonDAV

VICE CHAIR

Mr. Nate DrushellInfoCision Management Corp.

DMANF Staff

Jocelyn Argarin, CMPDirector of Conferences & Education

Xenia “Senny” Boone, Esq. General Counsel & Executive Director

Alicia OsgoodDirector of Membership & Communications

DMA Nonprofit Federation

@DMANF & @AliOzDC

Members Only

The DMA Nonprofit Federation of the Data & Marketing Association protects & defends nonprofit fundraising across marketing channels to advance responsible data-driven fundraising & marketing.

225 Reinekers Lane, Suite 325 Alexandria, VA 22314 nonprofitfederation.org

The Journal is published online three times per year — January, April, and September.

Alicia Osgood Managing Editor AOsgood@thedma.org

Leslie Oakey Publication & Website Designleslie.oakey@gmail.com

News UpdateAn every-other Thursday round-up of nonprofit-specific news delivered to your inbox

Nonprofit CareersThe latest jobs, delivered to your inbox weekly

Sign up for either newsletter (or both!) by emailing AOsgood@thedma.org.

The Journal of the DMA Nonprofit Federation 3 Volume 21 / Issue 2 / April 2018

Dear Readers:

The top minds in fundraising convene for the 2018 DMANF Nonprofit Leadership Summit in picturesque Savannah, GA, May 7-8. Draped in Spanish moss, the city’s manicured streets and elegant public squares transport you to anoth-er place in time — an ideal locale for contem-plation and thoughtful discussions. The event is open to Director-level and above profession-als only and for-profit entities are limited to one attendee each. Also mark your calendar now for our Chicago Conference in August and our Washington Conference in February.

In this edition, major gifts; mid-level; the after-math of the “Trump Bump” and review Senny’s Policy Scorecard.

As always, thanks to all of you for your support of the DMANF.

Best,

Managing Editor AOsgood@thedma.org

A note from the Editor

DMANF Leadership Summit

May 7 & 8, 2018Hyatt Regency Savannah

Savannah, GA

2018 Chicago Nonprofit Conference

Pre-Conference Workshop: Monday, August 27

Conference: Tuesday, August 28 &

Wednesday, August 29

Renaissance Chicago Downtown Hotel Chicago, IL

Stay tuned for the 2019 Washington Nonprofit Conference!

Pre-Conference Workshop: Wednesday, February 13

Conference: Thursday, February 14 &

Friday, February 15

Renaissance Washington, DC Downtown Hotel Washington, DC

The Journal of the DMA Nonprofit Federation 4 Volume 21 / Issue 2 / April 2018

Individual major donors represent the single most impactful giving segment, but many organizations, especially small to mid-sized nonprofits, do not have a program in place for pursuing major gifts. From defining major gift levels to launching the essential elements of a major gifts program, the author offers strategies to help organizations of any size tap into the potential individual major donors while realizing a significant return on investment.

Simple steps to starting aMAJOR GIFT PROGRAM

INTRODUCTIONIndividual major donors produce the greatest impact of any group of givers. For perspective, consider this: According to the 2016 U.S. Trust Study of High Net Worth Philanthropy, high net worth households give 10 times more to charity on average than households from the general population, as the following figure demonstrates.

SHIRLEY TRAUGER SENIOR ASSOCIATE, SCHULTZ & WILLIAMS

The Journal of the DMA Nonprofit Federation 5 Volume 21 / Issue 2 / April 2018

But there are still many fundraising programs that don’t include any focus on cultivating major gifts, let alone maintain a dedicated major gifts officer on staff.

How can organizations incorporate a major gifts approach into their fundraising programs, even when their staff lacks a major gifts officer? What concrete steps can organizations take — given their size and resources — that will ensure a successful effort? What will their investment have to be and what returns can they expect?

Although the answers to these questions will be different for every organization, almost any nonprofit can begin to tap into the enormous pool of major gift potential that exists. In this paper, I suggest how to introduce a focus on larger individual gifts using approaches that can be grown incrementally over time — as long as your effort is consistent and systematic. It’s a plan designed to help you get started.

THE IMPACT OF MAJOR GIFTS WITHIN PHILANTHROPYThere are still many small and mid-sized organizations that — despite expressing a desire to do major gifts work — have never been able to “get around” to launching any type of major gifts initiative because they’re so focused on annual giving, events, corporate friends and grant writing.

Prioritizing the development of major gifts reflects a long-term view of your organization and acknowledges its need for sustainable sources of revenue. Annual giving and events should be viewed as the entry points for donor support; a major gifts initiative “cashes in” on the investment you make in these programs to maximize the lifetime value of your supporters.

From a revenue-generating perspective, if you properly foster the relationships with your organization’s annual supporters, they can be tapped later for major gifts and estate gifts. If you ever plan to do a campaign to improve your theater or build an endowment, they will be your lead campaign prospects. It’s only when fundraising pro-grams consider the continuity of giving throughout the lifetime of a donor that they realize their potential for a return on investment.

But are there really individuals among your current supporters with the capacity to make larger gifts? Is it even possible to get high net worth (HNW) individuals interested in a smaller organization like yours? According to the 2016 U.S. Trust Study of High Net Worth Philanthropy, high net worth donors are giving to all sectors of the nonprof-it world, with giving to meet basic human needs among their strongest interests, as shown in the following figure.

The Journal of the DMA Nonprofit Federation 6 Volume 21 / Issue 2 / April 2018

MAJOR GIFT PROSPECTS SHOULD BE CAPABLE OF GIVING FIVE-, SIX- & SEVEN-FIGURE GIFTS.

The same study shows that more than 90% of high net worth donors want their gift to make a difference, often a more easily proven proposition in a smaller organization. If your organization’s mission and programs are having an impact in your community, there is a reason for you to tell your story to larger prospective donors — and to look for them among your existing supporters.

As development and nonprofit leaders, it is our responsibility to have programs that tap into this kind of giving. We must prioritize our time to consistently spend some of it with major prospects. We can do this by defining a systematic process for building relationships with major prospects and by making it part of our annual fundraising plans and goals.

WHAT IS A MAJOR GIFT?So what is a major gift, anyway? There is no one answer to this question because major gifts are defined relative to an organization’s current giving program. Your major gift level should raise the sights of your donors. When defining what a major gift means for your program, you should take into consideration the gift size these capable supporters are accustomed to making to your organization—and push beyond it. Major gifts should be “stop and think” gifts.

For example, if your annual giving program is topped by a $1,000 donor category, a major gift could be $5,000. If your program is larger, major gifts starting at $10,000 or more may be the right amount. Defining your major gift level is important, because this definition guides you to your prospects for the program.

Major gift prospects should be capable of giving five-, six – and seven-figure gifts. This potential within your pool of prospects is what makes investing staff and leadership time in a major gifts program worthwhile. We do not recommend using the personalized major giving program described here to increase the number of $1,000 donors; that work is more appropriate for an upper-level annual giving approach.

BUILDING YOUR CASE FOR SUPPORTWhen building your case to solicit the support of potential major donors, it’s important to identify how your or-ganization and the people you serve will benefit from these new gifts. What needs are you addressing in your community? How are you meeting these needs? How will the funds allow you to reach more people and add or-ganizational capacity for new programs? Start with the impact your donors’ gifts will have in the community—not with what you need as an organization.

It’s also critical to articulate the values that make your work important. According to the 2016 U.S. Trust Study

of High Net Worth Philanthropy, donors draw upon their personal values more than any other factor when

The Journal of the DMA Nonprofit Federation 7 Volume 21 / Issue 2 / April 2018

determining which nonprofits to support. To make an effective case, you need to link the values that your organi-zation’s work represents with the values of your prospective donors.

Most major gifts focus on achieving some specific objective rather than providing unrestricted funds. This is particularly true for the first few major gifts a donor might make. On the other hand, if there is sincere commitment to your mission and confidence in organizational leadership, a larger request for unrestricted support may be ac-cepted. The Chronicle of Philanthropy reported 15 unrestricted major gifts of $1 million or more in 2017.

In preparation for your major gifts program, you should define fundable needs and projects where a major gift can make a difference. Identify three to five elements of your budget that can be packaged into proposals for a major gift. For instance, you may want funding for a quarter of your faculty to get advanced training in a new edu-cational technique each year. Or you may have developed an arts program that has been particularly successful in improving reading readiness, and you want to continue to fund and expand the program. If you are writing grants for foundation or government funding, you can use these requests for major individual prospects as well.

Look to the future and ask potential major donors to look at it with you. Your strategic plan should identify op-portunities or challenges on the horizon. Remember, major gifts are developed over a longer timeline, just as your organization is.

The Journal of the DMA Nonprofit Federation 8 Volume 21 / Issue 2 / April 2018

FINDING PROSPECTSData and data analysis are more important tools for fundraising than ever before. You can use your own data to find prospects for beginning your major gifts program.

Annual giving is the most reliable source of unrestricted gifts to an organization. But it has another important function: It’s the pipeline of donors and supporters who can become valuable long-term stakeholders in the orga-nization.

It’s likely that a subset of your annual givers has the capacity and interest to become future major donors. Our next task is to find them. To do this, run your database asking for: 1) total giving; 2) first and last gifts; 3) largest gift; and 4) total number of gifts.

If you haven’t done a philanthropic capacity screening (previously called a wealth screening) of your donors, this is the time to consider one. Philanthropic capacity screening uses public information to link your donors with indicators of their net worth, including property values, ownership of luxury items, and connections with founda-tions or corporate leadership. In addition to evaluating your donors’ assets, the screening will also weigh their philanthropic inclination. The report that you get at the end of this process will give each individual a score relating their potential for major giving based on their wealth as well as to their giving to other organizations.

Overlaying philanthropic capacity screening onto your data report will allow you to prioritize individuals who could be making larger gifts to your organization. Winnowing this group down to a list of 100-200 would be ap-propriate at this point.

You can confirm and enrich this data with other research. Since a history of philanthropy is key, research larger local givers or donors to similar causes. Identify family foundations, which in many cases are the instruments used by individuals for their philanthropy.

Engage your Board — who do they know on your list and who else do they know who are larger donors with an interest in your cause?

Look carefully at this list with an eye to finding a manageable number of people with the financial capacity to make larger gifts to your organization. What’s manageable? The rule of thumb for a full-time major gifts officer is 100-200 prospects that they are actively engaging at some stage of the qualification, cultivation, stewardship and solicitation process. But if you’re instituting a major gifts program without a dedicated major gifts officer, a manageable number might be more along the lines of 20, 50 or 100, depending upon how much time your orga-nization can commit to consistent outreach to this group.

Developing a system for identifying your major gift prospects is a worthwhile investment. The 2017 Major Gifts

Fundraising Benchmark Study demonstrates that organizations with a streamlined process for identifying major gift prospects actually raise more money and meet their major gift fundraising goals.

Majority of the respondents who use a consistent process to identify prospects also meet their major gift fundraising goals.

The Journal of the DMA Nonprofit Federation 9 Volume 21 / Issue 2 / April 2018

HOW TO WORK WITH HIGH NET WORTH INDIVIDUALSIn many cases, high net worth individuals will already be among your supporters. They are your acquaintances, if not already friends, who know you at some level.

Many high net worth individuals already have well-established philanthropic interests and priorities. The average high net worth donor in the 2016 U.S. Trust Study of High Net Worth Philanthropy is supporting eight organizations.

On average, wealthy donors gave to eight different nonprofit organizations last year. However, this number varied notably based on a donor’s age. Donors older than Baby Boomers (i.e., over the age of 70) gave to an average of 11 organizations, Baby Boomers (i.e. , between 51-70 years) gave to 7, whereas younger donors (age 50 and younger) have to five.

I gave to ___ organizations in 2015:

The goal of your major gifts work is to give these individuals reasons to make your organization a larger priority in their giving than it has been in the past.

Major gift cultivation needs to be face-to-face personalized work. That is the kind of attention these donors al-ready receive from their universities, the hospitals where they sit on the Board and other nonprofits they support.

This is where the head of your organization comes in. Besides making the establishment of a major gifts pro-gram an organizational priority, your CEO, executive director or head should be a central figure in the outreach to your most important prospects. Supported by a development staff member, she or he should be developing solid relationships with your top prospects.

The Journal of the DMA Nonprofit Federation 10 Volume 21 / Issue 2 / April 2018

Major donors also want to hear from their peers about an organization. A prospect’s respect for someone he or she knows transfers to the organizations that those people support—at least in terms of opening a door for conversation. It is critical to have peer influencers–that is, your Board members –working with you who are willing to speak on your behalf.

PUT IT ALL IN MOTION: A SAMPLE MAJOR GIFTS WORK PLANInstituting a major gifts program is within reach of every nonprofit, regardless of size or resources. The following steps will help you get started building a program with the potential to grow incrementally over time.

1. Get the commitment of your CEO and one to three volunteers to work with you on the process.

2. Run your database and do a philanthropic capacity screening to identify your top 50 prospects. Review the list with the Board and executive leadership to prioritize your top 20 based on their capacity to give and their affinity or closeness to your organization.

3. Incorporate major gifts into your annual development plan. Aim for growth over three years in the num-ber of prospects identified, screening visits, cultivation activity (such as communications), solicitations, gifts closed and stewardship activities.

4. Set financial goals. For example, you might set a target of 10 major gifts totaling $30,000, one at $10,000, two at $5,000, two at $2,500 and five at $1,000.

5. Identify giving opportunities and the case for major giving to your organization.

6. Set aside one afternoon a week for outreach to your top prospects to help them get to know your orga-nization better — and to help you get to know your prospects and their interests better.

7. Develop a regular schedule of six personalized communication points from your organization throughout the year.

8. Design and implement a tracking report on major gift activity by name.

9. Incorporate a report on major gift activity into reports to your Board, CEO and executive leadership.

10. Evaluate and adjust after six months and again at the end of the fiscal year. Update your plan accordingly.

CONCLUSIONBy pursuing a major gifts program, your organization can tap into the high-impact potential of major donors and high net worth individuals. Such an endeavor brings your fundraising program full circle as you invite your al-ready-loyal supporters with the capacity for larger gifts to deepen their commitment, realizing a return on your investment in events, the annual fund, and other fundraising programs. With a strategic investment of time and resources, you can launch a program that will reap immediate benefits while offering the potential to grow. It’s a forward-thinking approach to ensure the future health of your organization. n

WORKS CITED

Lilly Family School of Philanthropy and the U.S. Trust. “The 2016 U.S. Trust Study of High Net Worth Philanthropy.” file-pdf Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. October 2016.

MarketSmart. “2017 Major Gifts Fundraising Benchmark Study.” file-pdf MarketSmart. 2017.

The Journal of the DMA Nonprofit Federation 11 Volume 21 / Issue 2 / April 2018

Over the past decade, we have seen an emer- gence of mid-level

giving programs within the industry. There is increased competition in the marketplace, and many organizations have been forced to identify ad-ditional opportunities for revenue pipelines. Simulta-neously, we are seeing demographic shifts with the typical direct mail donors aging and dying, and being replaced with a younger population with somewhat different giving capacities.

With greater attention on charity watchdogs, we have seen a change in donor expectations. The ac-cess to information is greater than ever before, and donors have the resources to do significant research before making their gift.

The economy is on the rebound, and donors have more discretionary income then in year’s past. And while there is significant uncertainty regarding how the new tax laws will influence donor giving, we are hope-ful that giving is habitual and ingrained in a donor’s psyche, with an altruistic desire to better the world by making financial contributions to organizations.

And finally, as a result of the Trump-bump, many organizations saw record-breaking revenue growth in

UPENDING THE PYRAMID:

5 tips for building your base mid-level program

ERICA O’BRIEN MANAGING PARTNER & CO-OWNER, MINDset direct

2016 and have access to a larger pool of donors than in years past.

All of these factors provide the impetus for look-ing across the donor continuum, to optimize overall giving from inception all the way through to the ul-timate gift. The landscape may be changing, but the core tenets of donor stewardship are tried, true and proven, and can make a significant difference to your organization’s bottom line.

With focused development and execution, mid-lev-el donor programs may be a bridge between a low-er dollar powerhouse program and an exclusive ma-jor or planned giving program. With careful targeting, mid-level donor programs may help identify donors with the propensity and capacity to move up and ul-timately provide major and planned gifts to the orga-nizations. There are some donors who have the pro-pensity, but are not ready to upgrade. With specific creative and careful attention, those donors may be identified, and cultivated so that when they are ready, your charity is their choice. This approach utilizes a combination of techniques from direct response and major gifts, to provide a seamless transition up the do-nor giving ladder.

The Journal of the DMA Nonprofit Federation 12 Volume 21 / Issue 2 / April 2018

even higher level donors with potential for the ultimate gift. Creating strategic opportunities to thank and ap-preciate donors throughout the year does not go un-noticed and is a wise use of funds.

5 | Outcome measuresOften the most forgotten part of the process, under-standing how to effectively evaluate the success of these endeavors cannot be understated. Investments in these efforts typically aren’t fully realized for several years however, small increases may have a big impact. Consider non-revenue metrics (in addition to tradition-al KPIs) to understand how these donors are engaging and interacting with your organization. These are often initial signals of how efforts are paying off.

Helping your donors move up and through mid-lev-el giving is part of a deeper relationship… similar to that of courtship. We all remember what it felt like in the ‘dating phase’ of a relationship… every interac-tion seems to matter. When organizations treat their donors in this manner, like every interaction… every communication… truly matters, donors feel valued and feelings of goodwill are strengthened.

Final tip: Remember, little things may be big things. Keep in mind strategies that may be more transaction-al, like donor acknowledgements. Are they timely? Are they personal? Do they reinforce a relationship or do they feel cold and impersonal? When you treat each communication like it’s a relationship builder or break-er, you will begin to change how donors feel, and in turn how they support your organization. n

Erica O’Brien is a Managing Partner and co-owner at MINDset direct. Erica has been in the industry for over 20 years and enjoys working with organizations of all sizes to help them realize their goals and objectives.

Ready, Set, Go! There are five critical steps to building your base mid-level giving program:

1 | Create a plan

Before you begin, think about the ‘nuts and bolts’ of your mid-level giving program. Things to consider include:

� Giving levels

� The use of branded giving clubs

� Benefits

� Upgrade/downgrade triggers

� Communication strategy

� Donor experience

� Relationship builders & stewardship opportunities

� Leadership buy-in

2 | Selecting your audienceOnce you create your plan, put significant thought in to who the donors in this group will be. Some additional questions to ask yourself may be:

� One time vs. cumulative qualification

� Donor behavior under/over $1000

� Monthly donor status

� Channel preference

3 | Relationship strengthening communicationEach communication with a donor, especially a high value donor, is an opportunity to strengthen and culti-vate donor commitment. Choose strategies and asks wisely in order to create the feeling of exclusivity and authenticity.

4 | Steward, cultivate, repeatMid-level donors are a group of high value donors who chose to take an important step. The resources (time and expense) that your organization chooses to invest into these donors may often be the difference between short-term transactional relationships vs. lon-ger-term bonds that may help convert these donors to

The Journal of the DMA Nonprofit Federation 13 Volume 21 / Issue 2 / April 2018

We recently hosted our third and final webinar of the Charitable Giving in the Trump Era series that

looked at a range of giving intent and advocacy behavior data at the one-year mark of President Trump’s

term. The research, powered by NRG, told a story of how the initial, large

bursts of rage giving that occurred during the time when President

Trump came into office, have ultimately proven unsustainable

as we look beyond the first year of the administration.

During the webinar, we heard strategic nonprofit insight

and research implications from our VP of Nonprofit

Strategy, Bethany Maki, and our VP of Research, Glenn

Lalich. Different from our second webinar in the series

— when threatened causes and policy changes evoked

widespread giving — our third installment shows similar

levels of passion and concern around causes, however

the actual intent to give has somewhat subsided.

Read on for the Top 5 �

Top 5 Webinar Learningsfrom the PMX Agency Nonprofit Team

Access the full webinar and report

HERE !

The Journal of the DMA Nonprofit Federation 14 Volume 21 / Issue 2 / April 2018

1 Advocacy and activism are beginning to return to levels seen just prior to the inauguration — providing a more accurate representation of what charitable giving will look like in 2018.

Despite the continuing levels of passion and concern around threatened causes, the velocity of rage philanthropy has begun to taper off, as donors adjust to the ‘new normal’. Overall, expected giving is down 33%, and donors are experiencing a sense of over information-paralysis, resulting in uncertainty about how best to support the causes they care about most. This trend is more relevant to the Democratic donor population, who still seek advocacy outlets – but because of diversification of so many issues and causes, there are not always direct lines for action or activism.

Strategy tip • Traditional donor profiles are returning, and as such, will have implications on your retention strategy. If your organization experienced a shift in incoming donors, ensure that you’re aligning your over-all strategy to suit, and that you’re translating concern into a value proposition that encourages donors to engage, and give.

2 Perceptions of financial stability among Democrats and Republicans is seeing its widest gap.

Particularly in the case of Democratic donors, financial concerns have a direct impact on intent to give to charitable organizations in 2018. Democrats across all income levels indicate a stronger decline in expect-ed giving than Republicans, which can likely be attributed to recent policy changes, such as the GOP Tax Bill. 77% of Democrats expressed concern about the bill’s impact on charitable giving, in comparison to the 22% of Republicans. Conversely, Republicans continue to express more confidence in their personal financial status under the Trump administration.

Strategy tip • Traditional messaging isn’t breaking through nearly as much as it once was. Now is the time to evaluate your “story of solution” — i.e. how through your organization, the donor can contribute real, tan-gible change to society. Take this time to consider how your organization portrays that message, without becoming overly polarizing to different groups within your constituency. Additionally, using political party overlays when analyzing your data is more important than ever, in order to fully understand your target de-mographic, what their catalyst for giving is, and ultimately, their sense of financial stability that contributes to giving intent.

3 Small donors represent an important opportunity for organizations, as they showed the lowest decline in projected giving for 2018.

In keeping with our previous research, small donors appear to be the most consistent, with those making less than $60,000 per year seeing the smallest decline (-7%) in what they intend to donate throughout the upcoming year. Although mid to large donors still have an intent to give, those amounts have decreased significantly by 32% and 51% respectively. For many small donors, giving is an emotionally-driven, activ-ism-focused type of give. When we first began to see this trend, we called it rage philanthropy. But with people past the initial phases of rage, the behavior can be classified as a new kind of activism.

Strategy tip • Continue to tap into your smaller donors’ passions. If you maintain a relationship with them that is both appreciative and inclusive, there is increased potential to turn them into lifelong supporters who could evolve into major contributors in the future. It also increases the chances of those donors shar-ing your organizations’ stories across their own passionate communities.

The Journal of the DMA Nonprofit Federation 15 Volume 21 / Issue 2 / April 2018

4 Younger Americans are continuing to show greater concern, and remain highly engaged with causes they care about.

Millennials (aged 18-34) remain more passionate about charitable causes than donors aged 35 and over. 34% of Millennial donors still plan to donate more under the Trump administration. This projected increase is a counter-trend to the broader 35 and over population.

Strategy tip • Millennials are more connected than previous generations, and as such, consume news and current events at a very fast pace. To stay relevant, be aware of the news cycle and move away from single-campaign based thinking by focusing on real-time solutions that address their ongoing, growing concerns. Use social media to your advantage when engaging with Millennials, who get most of their news and information from charitable organizations on social platforms.

5 Social media continues to grow as a hub for both donations and advocacy.

Despite growing privacy concerns, social media remains a major source of awareness for charitable orga-nizations, and has become an important part of charitable giving. 48% of overall donors have donated via social platforms, with that number increasing to 60% amongst the millennial base.

Strategy tip • Although the landscape is changing and there is apprehension around the way data is being utilized, that concern does not de-emphasize the importance of leveraging data to create hyper-personal experiences. To improve your approach, take the opportunity to test and learn, to see what resonates, and listen to your audience. The donor voice connecting with you via social is incredibly valuable when it comes to your organization’s strategic planning. n

Movers & shakers meet at DMANF events!Get all the latest info @nonprofitfederation.org/events .

The Journal of the DMA Nonprofit Federation 16 Volume 21 / Issue 2 / April 2018

POLICY SCORECARDCurrent issues: April 2018

XENIA “SENNY” BOONE, ESQ.DMANF GENERAL COUNSEL & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

The DMA Nonprofit Federation protects & defends nonprofit fundraising across marketing channels to advance

responsible data-driven fundraising and marketing. We preserve charitable giving tax incentives; support postal reform

to maintain a stable United States Postal Service; sustain marketing channels for fundraising; and review and challenge

unreasonable fundraising solicitation regulations impacting nonprofit organizations at the state level. We work with DMA

Advocacy on data and privacy legislation that could impede overall fundraising through new data restrictions.

If you have questions or comments, please contact Senny Boone, DMANF Executive Director & General Counsel at

SBoone@thedma.org.

Reduction of charitable tax deduction

We successfully defend the charitable tax deduction for individuals, but big changes loom…

The wide-ranging “tax reform” proposal by the Trump Administration and passed into law by Congress pre-serves the charitable tax deduction, BUT it increases the level at which individuals ($12,000) and couples ($24,000) take a standard deduction instead of item-izing their deductions. As a result, more donors will no longer itemize, and that means they will not count their charitable tax deductions to lessen their tax bills. This will have a major impact on donations. We sought amendments throughout the process to allow a univer-sal charitable tax deduction “above the line” that could

be used regardless of choosing the standard deduc-tion, but the amendments did not make it through the final process due to the $200 billion estimated cost. As part of a large coalition, DMANF seeks legislation to allow such a universal charitable tax deduction, but this may be difficult in the next few months since tax reform will be completed after the 2018 elections.

Stay tuned for further updates.

The Journal of the DMA Nonprofit Federation 17 Volume 21 / Issue 2 / April 2018

First, there is threat of postal legislation that includes an “exigency” rate as part of the rate base that would raise nonprofit rates. Postal reform is not at the top of the list on the Hill yet…

Second, there is a process to change postal rates across all mail classes conducted by the Postal Reg-ulatory Commission (PRC) that will result in a change to rate-setting that could increase rates by giving the USPS more pricing flexibility. This is the required ten-year review of the rate-setting process and the PRC has issued its findings that the current system did not result in a good outcome for the USPS and needs to be revised. Comments have been submitted by mailers.

And, as we reported earlier, in addition to an annual Consumer Price Index price change in January, the USPS filed a new regulatory request with the Post-al Regulatory Commission that would have impact-ed rates from 3.3% to 6.9%. This new tactic was an attempt by the USPS to ensure the nonprofit mail-ers are paying 60% of the marketing mail rate at the

“subclass” level. The USPS claimed the mail mix has changed at the subclass level and that therefore the nonprofit mailers must pay more in order to cover their costs, for example, in the Enhanced Carrier Route rate category. The DMANF filed comments asking the PRC to reject this proposal together with other mailing or-ganizations — the PRC agreed and this proposal will not move forward.

The DMANF continues to advocate supporting the cur-rent CPI cap which has allowed for a more predictable rate each year and stabilized pricing. Changes to the current structure will lead to higher rates for its mem-bers, including nonprofit organizations. The DMANF is also actively reviewing postal legislation since that could lead to major changes in nonprofit rates-setting.Costly postal rates will lead to a death spiral for the USPS as its customers move to less costly channels such as email and online donation platforms. The DMANF seeks preservation of the current CPI rate structure as it offers predictable, stable postal rates.

Postal legislation and nonprofit mailing rates

The nonprofit postal rate discount is essential to help eligible nonprofit mailers mail affordably, and the current rate-setting system should remain in place to stave off unpredictable rates. Attempts to raise nonprofit mail rates are as follows:

INTERNATIONAL

GDPR in effect May 25, 2018If you are active internationally, you must pay atten-tion to the changes in data rules in the EU as quickly as possible. After several years of debating the new EU data protection framework, the General Data Pro-tection Regulation (“GDPR”) was adopted on April 8, 2016. This replaces the current Directive and will be directly applicable in all EU states without further ac-tion — effective May 25, 2018.

GDPR does NOT exempt nonprofit organizations using EU data and has very specific new opt-in consent re-quirements and major financial penalties for non-com-pliance.

To review the GDPR requirements and steps to take, go here. n

Here’s to a successful 2018 Washington Nonprofit Conference!

facebook See all the photos here .

The Journal of the DMA Nonprofit Federation ••• ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT ••• Volume 21 / Issue 2 / April 2018

Your donors are heroes who change the worldTalk to TrueSense about your fundraising goals. And don’t forget to request your FREE copy of The Donor Promise. Simply go here: TrueSense.com/Promise

TrueSense.com 877.TRU.MKTG (877.878.6584)

Direct-Response Fundraising in Mail, Digital, Broadcast, Print, Phone, and Social

We deliver integrated fundraising & membership solutions you can count on.

CONNECT WITH US TODAY! schultzwilliams.com • 215.625.9955

Powering Missions That Matter.

Facebook “f ” Logo CMYK / .eps Facebook “f ” Logo CMYK / .eps Subscribe now!nonprofitfederation.org/jobs

The Journal of the DMA Nonprofit Federation ••• ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT ••• Volume 21 / Issue 2 / April 2018

Listen.

Collaborate.

Deliver.

Meet the team and explore more at

www.theharringtonagency.com

In the world of direct response, pennies count. Every cent you save in production, postage and staff time increases your ROI – exponentially. We use our systems, supplier relationships and years of experience to manage your production, enhance your results, minimize your staff time and reduce your expenses, allowing you to put every penny saved into your mission.

A PENNY SAVED IS A PENNY EARNED

The Production Management Group, Ltd. family provides direct marketing services

including direct mail production, data hygiene/processing, postal logistics and

online fundraising strategies.

Call 410.290.0667 and let’s chat about how we can help you save pennies & add dollars to your cause.

PMGDIRECT.NET MAILSMARTLOGISTICS.COM

Your cause. Our effect.SM

MMIDIRECT.COM ENGAGEYOURCAUSE.COM

PRODUCTION COST SAVINGS

POSTAL SAVINGS

STAFF TIME SAVINGS