Hi, I’ve been on vacation last week on the lovely west coast. My friend Jane Heimerdinger from the `Iolani School in Honolulu, Hawaii invited me to speak at the CASE VII Conference in San Francisco. And I stayed out on the west coast visiting the Napa Valley a few days. Life is good!
The Chronicle of Philanthropy columnist Holly Hall just posted an article on the Chronicle’s Prospecting blog: “Most Americans Intend to Make Holiday Donations This Year.” You know I have been preaching optimism about year-end giving right now – from my perspective, things are looking up.
I am seeing a turning tide of not only hopefullness, but clear indications that donors are starting to loosen the strings on their wallets.
The Chronicle cited a study by the American Red Cross of over 1000 adults in November that showed the same results.
If you can imagine, almost 25% of those polled said that their income had decreased during the recession! But even including those people, 80% of all those surveyed said that their year-end gifts would stay the same (62%) or increase (7%).
And only 20% said their giving would cut back. I think it is so very encouraging that the people in this poll said they would economize in other areas in order to keep up their giving. This agrees with other studies earlier in the year that cited the same opinions.
We need to remember – Amerians are a generous people. And we are accustomed to giving in the fall and particularly during the holiday season.
May your end of year campaign be the best ever! Onward!
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