Lessons From Abroad
I ’ve had the privilege of working for international fundraisers for the past few years. And that’s given me the advantage of seeing great ideas
born and developed around the globe.
Until then, my view of new techniques was limited to thinking that fundraising, particularly direct-response fundraising, pretty much was an American institution.
Was I ever wrong! While learning about sophisticated techniques being used in Europe, Japan and elsewhere, I also learned that a spirit of philanthropy exists in every culture, although in different ways.
I thought it might be interesting to talk to several industry experts and share some observations about what’s happening around the world. First, the great news: The world’s being made a better place by donors in Europe, Japan and emerging nations, as they develop philanthropy and the systems to support it.
At the 25th International Fundraising Congress in the Netherlands last fall,
the discussion centered on philanthropy’s rapid growth in Brazil, Russia, India and China. While all have vastly different cultures, each has a rapidly growing middle class fueled by the principles of democracy and capitalism. It’s a widespread belief among fundraisers worldwide that this new middle class will assume the challenge of solving many 21st century, global human and environmental problems.
The differences
Professional fundraising is a mature business in some parts of the world, and a white-hot, emerging growth opportunity in others. International author and lecturer Ken Burnett sees a malaise among those in developed countries who’ve “done it all.”
“No [developed] country is much ahead of the other because they each spend so little on research and development and don’t take the time and trouble to create a culture of innovation,” he says. “It’s something that all fundraisers should take more time to study.”
Burnett cites a new trend in Europe to conduct extensive donor research, but he predicts only a few fundraisers actually will use the information effectively. He applauds the United States for leading the way in using the Internet and e-mail in creative ways, particularly in communicating a commitment to stewardship.
According to Fielding Yost, president of the Saturn Corp., with operations in the United States and Europe, Europeans have embraced alternative media more quickly than their U.S. counterparts.
“Telemarketing has a much calmer way of soliciting in Europe than the United States,” Yost says. “Appeals are more straightforward and without as much emotion or as frequent as those in the United States. Costs are higher in Europe, but so are response rates and income.”
Another alternative medium employed in Europe is face-to-face solicitations by paid solicitors. The cost to acquire a new donor is high, but like many campaigns in Europe, donors are brought on from the beginning with a commitment to automatic monthly giving. I’m not sure face-to-face solicitation ever is going to take off in the United States.
Where’s the innovation?
Richard Pordes, a leading international fundraiser for UNICEF, looks as close as Canada and sees success with direct-response television. In fact, he sees much innovation coming from our northern neighbors.
“It may be that the Canadian market’s less saturated,” says Pordes, who sees many Canadian charities working hard, while some U.S. fundraisers “have just given up trying to be innovative.”
“We freely copy each other in developed countries,” says Mal Warwick, founder and chairman of Mal Warwick and Associates. “While techniques
in the Western world are pretty much alike, the Global South (nations of Africa, Central and Latin America, and much of Asia) is another matter
entirely. In those countries where a few brave souls have begun venturing into fundraising waters, most of the time they’re on their own.”
Two Calgary educators, who just completed one-on-one interviews with
fundraisers worldwide, confirm Warwick’s observations. Guy Mallabone of SAIT Polytechnic and Tony Myers of the University of Calgary explored attitudes on wealth, cultural influences and perceptions of major-giving practices in Brazil, Germany, India, China and South Africa. In nearly all emerging countries, training, credibility and a professional fundraiser shortage were major issues.
In Brazil, Mallabone and Myers learned individual giving is so new some donors fear kidnapping if their names are published. In India, wealth is kept within a family and transferred from one generation to the next. In China, where growth and tremendous social needs exist side by side, one major donor described the country as undergoing an “age of enlightenment” ... with personal philanthropy as a natural outgrowth.
Warwick sees credibility and trust as major issues for emerging countries.
“The word ‘distrust’ doesn’t even begin to convey the jaundiced attitude so many in the Global South have for nonprofits,” he says.
Warwick is a U.S. delegate to the Resource Alliance, a British organization that supplies advice, training and support for fledgling programs. He and others believe trust will come from the fundraising professionalism that emerging countries desperately need.
Mallabone and Myers, who presented the plenary session at the International Fundraising Congress, summed up their view of the top
eight global events influencing the new world of philanthropy:
- Woldwide democracy;
- Capitalism in emerging countries and creation of a global middle class;
- An open-market economy free of barriers on trade and transportation;
- A shrinking communications world where voice and data can bring people anywhere together instantly;
- Environmental awareness;
- Growth of the nonprofit sector to help solve problems that business and government can’t or won’t;
- Global disasters, which affect attitudes and giving patterns; and
- Terrorism.
One place to get a global view is the Resource Alliance Web site at www.resource-alliance.org.
Tom Hurley is president of DMW Worldwide’s nonprofit division.
Contact: thurley@dmwdirect.com.
