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Question:  One of our board members wants to write a letter to a group to ask for money. Please give me stats on why we should meet face to face with individuals instead.

Answer:  In Bee's experience, you will have a much higher success rate (both in response rate and gift amount) if you conduct personal solicitations (face to face) vs. mail, telephone, etc.  Face to face solicitations may result in success rates of close to 90% assuming these are cultivated prospects you are soliciting who already have a connection to your organization.  On the other hand... To read more or to ask your own question, click here.

Top Gifts of the Week

• $34.2 million from the estate of Donald B. Stabler to Lehigh University in Pennsylvania to provide scholarships through the Donald B. and Dorothy L. Stabler Scholarship Fund. (The Brown and White, September 2, 2008)

• $17 million from an anonymous donor to Spelman College in Atlanta to establish the Gordon-Zeto Endowed Fund for International Initiatives. (Chronicle of Philanthropy, August 27, 2008)

• $15 million from Bob L. Herd to Texas Tech University to endow its Department of Petroleum Engineering. (Press release, August 28, 2008)

• $13.5 million from the Lincy Foundation to the Clark County School District in Nevada to restore funding to the district’s empowerment school program. (Lvrj.com, August 28, 2008)

• $8.2 million from the Daniels Fund in Colorado to more than 20 organizations to aid the youth, elderly, and homeless populations. (Philanthropy Journal, September 2, 2008)

• Growth in giving to education is set to slow in the US, according to the predictions of a new education philanthropy forecasting tool.  While for the past 20 years education fundraisers have enjoyed an average seven percent growth each year, this figure is expected to drop to 5.3 percent for the year beginning July 1, 2008. The predictions have come out of the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), which launched its new forecasting tool, the CASE Fundraising Index (CFI) in New York recently.  “The CFI results suggest that the weak U.S economy will slow the rate of growth in educational fundraising in the coming year, but the results also suggest that giving will continue to grow,” said CASE president John Lippincott. It remains unclear as to whether the rest of the world will see a commensurate slow down, given that educational philanthropy tends to be higher in the US and it is also where current hysteria about economic slow down is greatest.  (Professional Fundraising, August 27, 2008)

• Two key lawmakers — Sen. Charles E. Grassley and Rep. Peter Welch — announced this week that they will assemble university administrators, education officials, and financial analysts to discuss the relationship between endowments and college costs.  This meeting marks the latest step taken to support measures that would require that colleges spend more of their endowments to help needy students. To compel institutions to spend more of their money and to give more needy students access to financial aid, Mr. Grassley has suggested that universities distribute at least 5 percent of their endowments annually, the same rule that now governs private foundations. Congress has asked the speakers to meet on September 8 to discuss issues such as what an endowment is and whether mandatory payouts make sense. (Financial Times, August 29, 2008)

• In the wake of compensation scandals that have beset the Smithsonian Institution, the organization has decided to lower the pay of at least 17 executives five years from now. After news reports spotlighted the fact that Lawrence M. Small, the Smithsonian’s former secretary, earned $916,000 in 2007 and charged the organization for housekeeping, repairs to his swimming pool, and a number of other expenses, the Smithsonian has undertaken efforts to reform its structure and ethics. The projected cuts may range from $6,000 to $80,000 each in base salaries. The chief financial officer position may have a pay cut of as much as $120,000, or 41 percent less than the current salary earned by Alice Maroni, chief financial officer. The Smithsonian is waiting five years to make salary changes because, officials say, it wants to prevent current leaders from leaving. The institution decided to reduce pay, said officials, to bring them more in line with similar positions elsewhere in the federal government. Some believe that the Smithsonian has not done enough to overhaul its pay scales. Wayne Clough, the current secretary of the Smithsonian, earns more than $500,000 per year. (Associated Press, September 2, 2008)

• The Kresge Foundation’s investment approach has been highly successful, outpacing most large foundations and endowments, according to The Wall Street Journal. The foundation embraces investments in small funds, shuns consultants, and seeks overlooked specialty investments. The grant maker earned a return of 9.3 percent for its fiscal year ending in June. On average, foundations and endowments with assets totaling at least $1 billion earned returns of 4.7 percent. Kresge’s assets total $3.8 billion. Edward Hunia, Kresge’s chief investment officer, took his current position in 1992, when the philanthropy had $1.2 billion in assets. Under his tenure, those assets have more than tripled. The foundation has earned a 16.3 percent return over the past five fiscal years. Mr. Hunia plans to retire from the foundation at the end of the year but would like to help smaller foundations boost their own investments. (Wall Street Journal, August 30, 2008)

• Olympian Michael Phelps announced this week that he will put part of his $1 million bonus for tying Mark Spitz's seven gold medals into a foundation to encourage the growth of swimming. Mr. Phelps earned the bonus from Speedo after he tied Spitz's 36-year record of seven gold medals in a single Olympics. He then beat the mark, winning eight gold medals in Beijing last month. (Baltimoresun.com, September 2, 2008)