Our Foundationsearch support teams speak with over 10,000 non-profits and foundations each month.
What we know is that 2020 has been a good year to date for foundation giving by all reports we have received from a considerable number of clients and other non-profits.
Importantly, over 7,500 US foundations have announced funding initiatives directly focusing on Covid relief.
Over the course of these conversations, we have learned that many of the tried and true strategies charities have relied on to guide their fundraising efforts in 2020 have proven inadequate.
Worst hit has been events based fundraising, which, by some estimates, has shrunk in terms of proceeds by over 70% since March, 2020.
Individual giving has also declined in 2020 as part of the fallout of double-digit unemployment and uncertain job futures.
Corporate giving is flat in the financial and tech sectors, and down significantly in most other sectors, notably energy, resources, retail, travel and hospitality.
Despite the late summer optimism as Covid cases fell and lockdowns eased, many forecasters are now saying it will very likely be a “2020 repeat” given the fall spike in cases, combined with dimming prospects for an effective vaccine on the immediate horizon.
Those reasons are:
Stable Giving
– Foundations must make charitable grants – in good times and bad – of at least 5% of their assets, averaged over five years. Importantly, foundations frequently increase their donations in challenging times to compensate for the financial difficulties charities face. 2020 has been no exception – over 7,500 US foundations have explicitly launched Covid relief initiatives, and we believe this number will increase significantly in 2021.
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