The Rich Get... Poorer?

"The rich get richer, the poor get poorer."

In the United States, this has become an axiom. Well, the poor are still getting poorer -- but so are the rich!

After 30 consecutive years of growing wealthier, the rich have become poorer in the last two years. What's more, they may not regain their previous levels of wealth any time soon according to economists.

The egalitarian in me smiles at this news. And then I wonder what it means for development researchers -- and fundraisers in general.

It is no accident that the huge growth in the field of prospect research has coincided with the huge growth in the population of millionaires. That and the rise of data and technology have been the primary trends underlying the proliferation of researchers.

If indeed we are headed for a financial sea change of this sort, we must re-imagine the business of fundraising. The recent New York Times article on this raised some interesting questions about the future. Here are a few more, specific to fundraising:

• How will a wealth shift affect major gift fundraising? Will major gift officers need to spend more time with fewer prospects? Or less time with more prospects? Which strategy is likely to yield the greatest number of dollars?
  
• What will take the place of the "90-10" rule of campaigns (90 percent of the money is given by 10 percent of the donors)? Will we return to "80-20" or are we looking at "70-30"?
• How can annual fundraisers innovate to raise revenue that might formerly have been raised by their major gift colleagues?
• With less appreciated assets to go around, how will planned giving officers change their strategies?
  
• How will development researchers remain relevant and vital without so many millionaires and billionaires to identify and qualify? Hint: the answers to the other questions on this list point the way.

Here's a few predictions for the future:

• Annual, major and planned giving will become much more integrated.
• Development researchers will spend more time on data mining and modeling and segmentation than on creating biographical profiles.
• Development shops will include both traditional major gift officers who work with small groups of very wealthy donors, and hybridized annual/"special" gift officers who will manage large portfolios of prospects and will use a combination of mass market/individualized cultivation and solicitation efforts to reach their assigned prospects.
• Smart development shops will create more opportunities for prospective donors to deepen their engagement and self-identify their interests via personalized, interactive technologies and events.
  

Two Embarrassing Event Mistakes

The front page of the Oregonian has recently highlighted two fundraising event mistakes, one much more consequential than the other.

On the lighter side, check out the above t-shirt for the Hood to Coast Relay. The event's organizers have been good sports about their spelling mishap, suggesting that perhaps the shirts will one day be collector's items.

Another race hit the news with a more serious error: Race for the Cure was scheduled for Rosh Hashana. This is a good reminder to event organizers to check for religious or cultural holidays when scheduling, though this event was knowingly scheduled in conflict with Rosh Hashana. Apparently the organizers were constrained by "city policies on the use of Waterfront Park, street closures and security."

However, I still count this in the category of "error." In the words of JewFAQ.org:

Most American Jews expect gentiles to be aware of Rosh Hashanah. It is, after all, listed on most calendars you buy in the store, but remember: the holiday starts at sunset the night before the day shown on your calendar! Many will be offended if you schedule important events, meetings or tests on Rosh Hashanah. Even those who do not go to synagogue and do not observe the holiday may be offended. Imagine how you would feel if someone scheduled such activities on Christmas or Easter, even if you didn't have anything special planned for the day, and you will understand how Jews feel about this holiday.

It's hard to imagine what the race organizers at Komen Oregon were thinking when they chose to proceed with scheduling the race for September 20. I believe it is better to disrupt the traditional scheduling of one's event than to alienate a swathe of your constituency and invite the appearance of disrespect toward a significant religious holiday. Would an early October weekend really have been out of the question?

Speaking of JewFAQ (aka Judaism 101), it's a great source for non-Jewish folks to learn more about Jewish holidays. Check out "A Gentile's Guide to the Jewish Holidays" to learn more about the significance and timing of Jewish holidays.

I Think It May Be Worse Than ME

I was finally forced to convert to Windows Vista when I purchased a new laptop, and learned that "reverting" to XP would cost $150. I should have spent the money.

What a turd!

This the worst garbage Microsoft has released since Windows ME, with which I was unfortunately stuck for an unreasonably lengthy period of time during my broke days of the early 00's.

Vista is a clunky system hog that is designed as if users are utter dimwits. I hope that Windows 7 will be vastly improved. If not, it looks like it's time for me to learn Linux.

$125,000!?!

One of my biggest disappointments this summer was taking an "incomplete" in my stats class. Now I'm just that much farther away from earning big bucks as a "sexy statistician," the millennial version of the sexy librarian.

Oh wait, I work in the non-profit sector. Never mind.

Check out this New York Times article on the new era of statistics. Thanks to hot tipper Debbie B. in Portland for this one.

Bad Databases Are Everywhere

If you've ever worked with a bad database, whether the problem is the structure, the integrity, or the completion of the records (or all three), you know what a drag it can be. Check out this morning's Oregonian article on data woes at the Oregon Health Plan.

I hope it doesn't remind you of your donor database! (If it does, at least you can take comfort in knowing you didn't pay $80 million for it.)