Boys and Girls Homes of North Carolina, Inc.

How a Bad Economy Can Mean Good News

For Boys & Girls Homes

by Paul Laird, Director of Resource Development

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Non-Profit organizations are hurting. Their funding streams have slowed to a trickle. Those reliant solely on public (government) funds and foundation grants are facing a life and death crisis. Why is this the case? Governmental units at every level, national, state and local, are being forced to prioritize their allocations to non-profits from a standpoint of funding only the most essential services with reduced tax revenues.  And while many non-profits rely in some measure on private, public and corporate foundations the reality of a poorly performing economy has been particularly cruel to the large manufacturing and technology firms that dot North Carolina’s landscape and typically have had the most philanthropic dollars to spend. Logically, foundation assets and, consequently, endowments have contracted due to poor market conditions and necessarily grant-making to non-profits is severely impacted. The same is true for corporate foundations that are usually pass through organizations for corporations which in good times move roughly 1.5%-3% pre-tax income to their corporate foundations to grant, most of the time in their areas of plant operations. 

Consequently, programs and services are being curtailed or eliminated… not to mention staff and benefit reductions. Yes, times are certainly challenging and sadly, many non-profits without well-established donor roots and strong leadership are not going to survive. Remember Darwin’s theory of survival of the fittest? 

Despite that unsettling analysis, let me assure you, however, that no such specter haunts Boys & Girls Homes.  Indeed, these are painful yet worthwhile lessons that allow us to step back and evaluate how we currently do business and where improvement is required to compete. In looking at our donors we have come to the conclusion that in the present economic reality now is the perfect time to retool our donor relations program, particularly with respect to corporate donors of all size.  While we rethink the wisdom of mass appeals and more sharply focus our mailings and advertising we have begun the critical process of simply re-connecting with our existing corporate donors. That sounds so simple that you probably wonder why it’s worth writing about at all. The answer is equally simple. Something attracted our donors to “invest” their resources with Boys & Girls Homes. Many have been supporters for ten, twenty and thirty or more years. Their loyalty is remarkable and they ask no recognition in return. They simply know that Boys & Girls Homes changes the lives of children and they are a big part of making that possible.  We must meet and listen to our donors, one by one and face to face. It’s not enough for them to get our newsletters, annual reports or mass mail appeals and expect them to stay committed. There are too many others non-profits who would do anything to have the business donor base we have built over the years.  Yet, we must work to build and improve our relations with these business supporters and that means making the relationship truly a personal one in which they are stakeholders in the successes of the children in our care. We value their opinions and ideas and take them to heart. 

I’ve already begun testing this principle by meeting with business supporters in various communities around the state. These are private meetings where I listen while they talk about what attracted them to Boys & Girls Homes of NC and why they continue, or in a few cases ceased, to support us. The stories are personal and heart-warming but by the time the meeting is completed we both part energized and re-committed to helping the children. And that’s what it’s all about and the slower economy can be credited with giving us the opportunity to reconnect with our base of business supporters and to tell them how important they are to the success of the children. We also tell them that we understand the tough economic climate in which they, and we, find ourselves. We do not ask for donations and know that the economy will improve. Believing in that philosophy, the children will be remembered by our business friends in the days to come. They will also remember that we care about their ideas and concerns and respond to them as members of our extended family. In the meantime, Boys & Girls Homes continues to provide the love, support and structure that these most vulnerable members of our society deserve.

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