Laran O'Neill of
Children’s Medical Center Foundation (Dallas)
What’s surprised you over the last 5 months?
From a team perspective, I’ve seen tremendous resilience of spirit and even excitement for the shift in work during this really tough time. From a donor perspective, it’s been surprising how willing so many people are to think about and discuss planned giving during this time. The donor mindset has not so much been about not giving right now, but giving in a different way and we’ve been ready and willing to help.
What gives you hope/excites you for the coming 5 months?
What always gives me hope during uncertain times are the people I work with and on behalf of as our mission and the people engaged with that mission remain the focus of what we do. The team has doubled down on the commitment to that mission – making life better for children - by getting really intentional about maintaining and building relationships during these last few months. I have no doubt Children’s Health will reap the rewards of that commitment by year-end.
Angela Ely of
American Cancer Society, Inc.
What’s surprised you over the last 5 months?
I have been continuously surprised by the way our donors and supporters have stepped up to give what they can in the face of so much uncertainty in their personal and professional lives. While our in-person events have been dramatically impacted, our volunteers and donors are still reaching out and giving their time, talent and treasures to make sure cancer doesn’t gain ground in the face of this global pandemic.
What gives you hope/excites you for the coming 5 months?
Two things: technology and teams. Our access to technology to make us better marketers is unprecedented. Every day we are presented with new opportunities to think creatively using current and emerging technologies to exceed our donors and supporters’ expectations. It’s a big challenge, but I am proud to be part of that team tackling that challenge. We have a talented digital marketing team at ACS, and I am excited about discovering new ways to work efficiently and build relationships in this new fully virtual work environment.
Myrna Mulholland of
JDRF
What’s surprised you over the last 5 months?
Personally, A lot has surprised me these last 5 months. From the generosity of our donors and supporters, to the nimbleness of our organization during these very trying times. But I guess what stands out the most is our growing understanding of what it means to be relevant.
We have always known that we weren’t relevant in all of the ways that we needed to be in this digital world. Often times, as a fundraising team we would hunker down and just fight the winds of change even if the trends around us were telling us our ways weren’t resonating anymore. We just kept to the ways that we knew, never really making the investment to be relevant in the digital space. Or maybe just too afraid to rock the boat and make the leap. COVID was a wind we could not ignore and it forced us to change our ways. It forced us to be relevant!
What gives you hope/excites you for the coming 5 months?
What I find most exciting right now and what truly gives me hope is the relentless commitment and support of our T1D community. COVID has turned our lives upside down in so many ways, but their continued fight and generous giving during this time has been amazing and inspiring. They are a community that never stops! NEVER!!!! And as a staff member and leader at JDRF…it just makes me want to work even harder and faster to find a cure…even in these unprecedented times.
Tracy Thomas of
Biblica, The International Bible Society
What’s surprised you over the last 5 months?
The generosity of investors who despite the economy are stepping up in major ways. Willingness of smaller donors to ask us to pray for them and their situations- deep, personal prayers. Some might call them “unspoken”, but these strangers speak them out in hopes that we’ll pray. And we do!
What gives you hope/excites you for the coming 5 months?
Continued change. Everyone keeps adapting, everyone has grace. The fact that the whole world is in this together is amazing. What will this unprecedented unity bring for us as ministries in the near future? More reach, greater impact, less duplication of mission. That’s my prayer.
Sarah Waters of
Children's Miracle Network Hospitals
What’s surprised you over the last 5 months?
How quickly we can adapt when we need to or with the proper motivation. I think so many times we get comfortable in the “way it always is or has been” and the last five months has really disrupted that and forced us look at the things we do and how we do them, or what our priorities are from a new perspective. We’ve had to quickly re-imagine our work and how we maintain our partnerships and keep fundraising going. Out of that has come some amazing ideas that have gone from idea to execution in a rapid timeline. That’s been exciting to be a part of at CMN Hospitals and to watch others in the industry do the same thing.
What gives you hope/excites you for the coming 5 months?
Because our partners are also having to look at their business differently, it has created opportunities for us to have conversations about campaigns and fundraising programs that we haven’t been able to in the past. We’re all working together to make our respective businesses successful during these challenging times. It’s exciting to see the innovation that is happening right now and the willingness and appetite to evolve from of “old” into “new” ways of working. My hope is that this continues.
John Scott of
National Multiple Sclerosis Society
What’s surprised you over the last 5 months?
We’ve known that crisis is a catalyst for change. But priorities, people and process coming together in the right way can accelerate the pace of that change. Now, I’ve been thinking about how we increase that capability for the future.
What gives you hope/excites you for the coming 5 months?
Though not new, I’ve seen important behaviors continue to be the underpinning of our work. Relationships matter. Genuine, empathetic conversations connect us. “I need your help” and “How can I help?” are powerful and move us forward together.
Cynthia Ware, MS
The Pepperdine Fund
What’s surprised you over the last 5 months?
Biggest surprise #1: amount of vocal polarizing opinions from both leadership and constituents about whether or not fundraising should be going on. RE: COVID: Side 1: Do not fundraise. It's inappropriate, tone deaf, insensitive to the suffering we are all experiencing, fails to understand how grave the impact is on small businesses, etc. Side 2: I cannot believe you are not appealing more. All the organizations I donate to are appealing, why aren't you at the table. You should be putting out far more communication with asks since the need is there. RE: racial inequality: This issue is a bit more balanced along the lines of you "should" be fundraising to focus on this issue at hand but there is still a Side 1 and Side 2. Side 1 says: Do not fundraise. It's inappropriate to cater to the BLM movement. It's rooted in and run by people with other agendas. Side 2 says: I will never give money to the University until you address racial inequality (the way I want it addressed).
Biggest surprise #2: how well remote working conditions have caused team cohesiveness. (Actually this was not a huge surprise to me, but definitely a surprise to all those who said it would not ever work.)
Biggest surprise #3: how suddenly everything we have always based the annual fund calendar and rhythm upon became irrelevant—watching the program that took 1o years to build deconstruct before our very eyes.
What gives you hope/excites you for the coming 5 months?
Hope springs eternal. Surely we will know far more 5 months from now than we currently do and one of the most distressing and impactful components of the situation has been the lack of predictability so in that regard, as the future stabilizes, we can be hopeful the lack of predictability will subside. There is always opportunity at hand in both crisis and transition so I'm confident there are new solutions that will present themselves during this time of the emerging new normal. For example, we have not had IRL events, however, we added a donation button to all our virtual events, and it's gotten excellent traction. Another example is that our University was the very first to work with Ruffalo Noel Levitz to install remote calling capabilities, which we used for wellness checks rather than fundraising calls. The contact rate on our phones is up over 80% since many people are working from home. The calls have been very, very well received. This means our population has been sensitized and perceives our outreach as a welcome connection rather than in the past when contact may have just added to the day's noise.
Caitlin Sturgis of
Denver Dumb Friends League
What’s surprised you over the last 5 months?
I've been surprised recently by the resounding response from the community to support our mission as they are able. We have offered multiple ways to "give" to the organization and have seen amazing results in every case. Our summer direct mail piece included three returns for donors to send back in June, July and August. Many did give what they could and responded to the single appeal each month, helping us to identify strong candidates for monthly donors. Our urgent appeal in response to COVID went out early spring and received over $76,000 from over 1,300 generous donors invested in our mission. A digital campaign around our recent rescue of dozens of abused and neglected pets broke records for online engagement and brought a flood compassionate community members to our site looking to adopt. Our ask for foster care families during the pandemic was resoundingly successful with hundreds of people offering their home and compassion to our homeless pets. And our pet photo contest far surpassed funds raised in previous years as contestants garnered support from their family and friends to win a top spot in our annual calendar. I've been incredibly surprised by how willing our community is to give of their time, their homes, their social media presence and even their financial resources during this uncertain time. It truly feels like we're all creatively coming together, doing what we can, to end pet homelessness and animal suffering.
What gives you hope/excites you for the coming 5 months?
Our team and our community partners have come together to plan multiple virtual events and fundraising campaigns between now and the end of 2020. I'm really looking forward to seeing how our community will engage with our mission in response, and ultimately, I'm excited to share the incredible impact their response will have for the vulnerable pets in our care and in our community.
Jo Sullivan, LMSW of
Houston SPCA
What’s surprised you over the last 5 months?
As the Pandemic has unfolded, it has been like watching a building fall in slow motion. We all ran for the cover of our homes and quickly jumped into establishing a new “working normal” to fulfill our missions, all the while wondering if one of our loved ones would become ill, or ourselves. But that didn’t stop us. In this heightened state of anxiety that continues in many parts of the US, I am constantly surprised by nonprofit team members and their dedication to helping. I’m surprised by how the public has responded and shown up with donations, well wishes and continued support. In the case of Houston SPCA, and many in animal welfare, we were overwhelmed with responses to our call for foster families and for food donations. It’s been an honor to watch nonprofits and communities come together and stay connected as the months of social distancing and infections continue.
What gives you hope/excites you for the coming 5 months?
Nonprofits exist to make a difference in social or societal issues, so for many of us, it will be business as usual. Possibly new home office curtains or more investments in Zoom lighting, but otherwise, fulfilling our personal missions through our careers. What give me excitement is we, as nonprofit professionals, have the opportunity to reshape how we are building relationships with our donors, our communities and our missions. Our industry will thrive because we are needed and we are good at what we do. But, the expectation of galas, “a-thons”, normal and sometimes laborious processes to engage volunteers, give tours etc. all gets a fresh look and we get to work to reshape that conversation.
Leena Patel of
PAN Foundation
What’s surprised you over the last 5 months?
It’s been surprising to see how motivated our donors have been since the onset of COVID-19. We’ve heard from a number of donors who are ready and willing to advocate and push our mission. The last 5 months have exposed how fragmented the U.S. healthcare system is and it is causing people to advocate for change.
What gives you hope/excites you for the coming 5 months?
PAN is always looking for new and innovative ways to support patients, especially now since the start of the pandemic. We will be rolling out a new program for travel assistance in the fall to help people who need help in covering transportation costs necessary for medical treatment. This will be huge. When we surveyed our recipients last summer, we found that 61% relied on others for travel assistance to their doctor’s office. Without having to rely on another person’s schedule and availability, these people in need will be able to receive timely treatment independently and avoid unnecessary stress.