Kim Klein, an internationally renowned fundraising trainer and consultant, considers the recent economic meltdown the ‘new normal.’ The California-based author of four books, among them the classic Fundraising for Social Change, will publish Reliable Fundraising in Unreliable Times in September 2009.

Klein’s work is rooted in an ethos of social justice. She typically works with small organizations and is passionate about fair and just taxation and the importance of the common good.

Veena Gokhale interviewed Klein in June 2009, while she was giving a workshop in Montreal.

Q: You’ve been in the business for 32 years. What are your observations about the nonprofit sector in North America and what trends have you seen in the last decade?

A: To speak about Canada, it has the second largest nonprofit sector in the world. Twelve per cent of Canadians work in this sector and 8 out of 10 Canadians give away money. In the U.S.A., the figure is 7 out of 10. So more people donate than vote.

People in Quebec have a greater sense of the common good and more people volunteer here. Churches used to receive about half of all the money given away in North America. Now it is more like one-third. 

The sector has really grown in recent years. Organizations with a budget of $30,000 a year are the most common – a a tennis club, for example. There are some troubling things. Because the sector has professionalized, the volunteers are sometimes pushed aside. The goal of institution building and staying alive can also detract from the actual work that needs doing. I am not against professionalization, but these are some of the drawbacks.

There are positive trends. Organizations engage their constituents more than they used to. The charity model, which tends to make the receivers resentful, is being deconstructed. 

Individual donors keep sector going

Q: Getting down to the economic crisis, what is your strategy for these unreliable times?

A: I have a strategy which I believe is good for all times. Organizations should build a broad base of individual donors. When you study who gives how much, you find that 85 per cent of all funding comes from individuals. Middle-class and poor people donate. And about 15 per cent comes from foundations and corporations. 

I tell organizations that their job is to ask everyone. Don’t make decisions for your donors. Ask young people, ask minorities. Start small. Ask for, say, $25 to $50. Build trust and relationships. Then increase the amount. Be very personal. People buy with their heart first and then their head. Show your emotions. Explain everything on your website – what exactly you do, your philosophy. Be transparent. Show your financial statements. And send thank-you notes. 

And another strategy is to share resources and work with other organizations. Form partnerships. And ask the government to do its job. There’s a quote I really like. It says “Our job is to create a society in which it is easier to be good.”

Q: How long would it take a new organization to build a successful individual donor program?

A: If they use a focused approach, about two years.

Q: Don’t individuals give less in tough economic times and won’t job loss affect giving?

A: Not really. Most people will still have jobs. As I said before, start by asking people for small donations. Foundation and corporate giving will be the most affected by the economic downturn.  

Understanding the generations

Q: One of the workshops you offer is about promoting intergenerational relationships. Tell us about that.

A: We are currently dealing with four generations in the nonprofit sector. There are 70- and 80-year-olds; then there are the baby boomers, about 78 million in the U.S.A. The generation X-ers are about 50 million and then the millenials, born between 1980 and 2000, are about 75 million.

The baby boomers, who sort of built the nonprofit sector, will start retiring soon and the generation after them needs to come up. But say that there is a 40-year-old in an organization, and his boss is 55. The boss may keep working till 65. This is frustrating for the 40-year-old. So there’s this succession and leadership problem.

We have done a lot of research on this issue. In our workshops we look at alternative forms of leadership that involve giving younger people more responsibility, and at increasing intergenerational understanding. Also the baby boomers in nonprofits tend to be white women. Now there are many young people of colour coming in. So there’s the race issue that needs to be sorted out as well.

Justice begins at home – and in the office too

Q: What’s the Building Movement Project that you are involved with?

A: The idea of this project is that organizations should put social justice values at the front end of their work; that everything they do be driven by these values – the staff salaries, internal organization, how they raise money, and so on. We raise questions about the nonprofit sector in order to help organizations become more social change oriented and tackle the root causes of social problems. It involves tackling racism and sexism within the sector and also working on larger policy issues, like taxation.