Giving USA 2021, CCS Fundraising, Elizabeth Abel, We Are For Good Podcast

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Overview

Meet Elizabeth. She's answering the questions we've all been wondering the past year: what happened to philanthropy in 2020? This seasoned fundraising pro is breaking down the 2021 Giving USA Report on Philanthropy, which dropped last week. Beyond the headlines and major takeaways, she's giving us some actionable steps to provide focus - no matter the size of your fundraising shop. Tune in and hear where the sector is moving and how you can level up your preparedness.

Today’s Guest

Elizabeth Abel, Corporate Vice President, CCS Fundraising

“We saw donors, individual donors specifically, responding urgently and generously to the pandemic, and issues of racial and social inequality, because these challenges impacted them, their families, their communities in the country.”

— Elizabeth Abel, Corporate Vice President, CCS Fundraising

Episode Transcript

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Episode Highlights

Elizabeth’s story and journey to where she is today (2:45)
Today’s philanthropic landscape and the 2021 Giving USA Report (6:00)
Individual donors and their role in driving philanthropy (10:00)
The donor journey and building authentic relationships (15:00)
CCS 2021 Philanthropic Landscape Report (16:15)
3 actionable insights: after hearing the data, learn what to do today! (17:20)
- The importance of refining your case for support and your messaging to reflect the current environment
- The importance of engaging and activating your volunteer leaders and board members as fundraising ambassadors
- Cultivating an organizational culture that's focused on community, empathy, and inclusion
A powerful moment of philanthropy in Elizabeth’s life (27:20)
Elizabeth’s One Good Thing: Be hyper-organized, and discover your strike method. (34:00)

Giving USA 2021 Infographic
5 Most Impactful Takeaways by We Are For Good

Powerful quotes

“Really the role of fundraising as the fuel in the nonprofits engine to allow us to build the tools and hire the talent and create the infrastructure that will position nonprofit organizations to achieve their mission and make the world a more just and equitable place.” -Elizabeth

“The headline is that the philanthropic landscape is on the rise between 2019 and 2020, we experienced a 5.1% growth in giving to reach a record breaking $471.44 billion invested into the marketplace. Not only is it a truly extraordinary figure, but it's actually the highest year of giving on record since giving us a began tracking this data more than 60 years ago.” -Elizabeth

“Overnight, nonprofit leaders and development teams had to pivot from these visionary plans for their futures to laser like focus on their daily operations, responding to the pandemic and really recalibrating their fundraising activity to meet the needs of their communities in what was a rapidly evolving and quite frankly, a scary environment.” -Elizabeth

“We saw donors, individual donors, specifically responding urgently and generously to the pandemic, and issues of racial and social inequality, because these challenges impacted them, their families, their communities in the country.” -Elizabeth

“I also don't want to lose sight of the millions of people, people like you and need people like our community members, or colleagues, who are donating to organizations and are doing so at a level that's meaningful for them for causes that they care about.” -Elizabeth

“In light of the current environment, it's important that we reevaluate our case messaging and our narrative to ensure that what we're saying is timely.

“As nonprofit leaders, I believe that we are role models, and that we should be leading our teams by examples, really any leader for that matter, not limited to nonprofits. I think it's especially true in a sector, like the nonprofit sector, where so much of our work is reacting to current events and the climate because we are seeking to address some systemic issues that need need to evolve.” -Elizabeth

“I think that reemergence should be anchored in a sense of community and authentic relationships that we build with one another.” -Elizabeth

“It's making the world a place where everyone feels valued and appreciated, and not only loved but where they can, where everyone can experience joy.” -Elizabeth

“Philanthropy is that vehicle to drive the change that we all want to see in the world.” -Elizabeth

Actionable Insights: Questions to Ask Yourself Today

How is your mission meeting this moment?
How has the pandemic impacted your ability to carry out your work?
How has the nation's reckoning with racial and social injustice change the way that you're doing your work and communicating your work with the community?

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