THE HODGE GROUP

Bringing Hyper-Philanthropy™️ to Rural America

THG has practiced regularly in rural America. Although when we think about philanthropy, we may not imagine this part of the country, having grown up in a town in western Nebraska, I’ve observed the unique role philanthropy plays to support this lifestyle. The United States Department of Agriculture defines a rural community as being open countryside with only a few thousand residents. As with other parts of the country, rural America has been hit hard by inflation and the price of fuel, however the migration trend to these parts of our country indicate cost-of-living being the highest consideration toward relocation. The Association of Equipment Manufacturers, who has its finger on the pulse of workforce development around the country, recently cited this trend in their January 2022 article, stating, “Americans are moving to rural areas in ever-increasing numbers, reflecting their increased desire to seek out more space, embrace entrepreneurial opportunities, and take advantage of a lower cost of living”.

As we continue to observe more individuals moving to and contributing to these communities, here are some tips we’ve found help when applying our Hyper-Philanthropy methodology:

• Communication: In rural philanthropy, to be honest, there is still less dependency, even post-COVID, on virtual platforms like Zoom. To be successful, these platforms have to be supported by in-person, face-to-face contact in managing your campaign. That can be inconvenient sometimes, but it is necessary because of a tradition of gathering for community. Likewise, information is still disseminated in rural communities through word of mouth as much as the Internet, so you have to be very precise when it comes to volunteer messaging.

• Behavioral Economics: Growing up in a rural community and working in communities where the hospital serves a radius of over 70 miles, it is rare for anyone in the community to demonstrate wealth or speak of wealth. It simply doesn’t seem to go with the rural value set. There is a common refrain that “nobody’s wealthy.” That said, you would be making a poor assumption if you assumed no one in small towns had money. Agriculture is one of the largest industries in America, contributing 5% of our GDP, and often – although they don’t speak of it – people in the industry are very generous. The other thing to consider is ways of giving. We have multiple clients who’ve included gifts of grain, ranch land, or livestock. Although complex in managing these types of gifts, they can be very significant. You just have to be creative and appreciate the behavioral economics that govern rural philanthropy. THG’s feasibility interview process naturally allows us to uncover these behavioral nuances.

• Culture: There are numerous foundations and governmental entities that specialize in investing in rural communities. There is a culture among these outside funders that respects the rural way of life and wants to seek ways to enhance it; you just have to find them. That’s where THG can help.

Ultimately, one must realize that philanthropy is primarily driven by individuals, as evidenced in the 2021 Giving USA report referenced below, and individuals come from all walks of life.

Contact us today to see how we can help you get hyper about philanthropy.

Re-imagining the Development Team

Recently, The Hodge Group had the opportunity to recruit an entire development team for an organization and observed how the team organized itself into a cohort. The goal of any cohort is to build an environment emphasizing collaboration to achieve a specific and common goal. 

Recruiting an entire team at one time to form a cohort is not a common opportunity, but building a cohort model for team development is possible with any team size and structure.

The Hodge Group assists organizations with team development several times a year and we have found when onboarding a new team member, establishing a cohort model accomplishes the following:

1. Leveling the hierarchy. 
2. Inviting full team input into every point of development and execution.
3. Fostering an environment for mutual accountability.

We don’t prescribe a particular team structure, but ask yourself if you think resetting the resources you have into a cohort model is worth considering. We can help you assess your current goals, the resources you have to achieve those goals, and recommend building toward those goals by hiring, repurposing, recasting, or in any combination that makes the most sense. The goal will be to create a development team cohort that unites individuals with different skill sets and experiences and provides the opportunity for them to learn from one another, grow together and offer one another constructive feedback. This will not only improve their performance on an individual level but can serve as a strong foundation on which to build your organization’s success. 

Blocking and Tackling in Hyper-Philanthropic™️ Communities

Hyper-Philanthropy is all about the acceleration of giving through joy. For over 30 years, The Hodge Group has had the privilege of serving communities across America which embody that spirit. These communities are primed to develop sustainable income through philanthropy thanks to a developed appreciation for the role of nonprofits toward enhancing the common good. You can read more about the components of Hyper-Philanthropy here.

While serving these Hyper-Philanthropic communities, we have also recognized unique challenges that should be acknowledged and appreciated. We work with organizations to develop strategies for “tackling” the “blockers” in a Hyper-Philanthropic environment. Some of the blockers we’ve observed include:

• Multiple Community Campaigns: Especially in a Hyper-Philanthropic environment, it can be expected that your nonprofit is not the only one gearing up toward a major fundraising campaign. It is in these environments that we find a Feasibility Study to be particularly helpful. During our study process we include research methodology that allows us to organically detect other projects in the community and conduct risk-mitigation strategies in real time.
• Political Foresight: When conducting our feasibility interviews, we take an expanded view of what a “stakeholder” is by making sure we include those who may not personally give to the campaign, but whose positive perception of the project is crucial. These political considerations must be taken seriously in Hyper-Philanthropic communities where the major donors and political leadership have mutual expectations of one another toward the outcome of the common good.
• Strong Leadership: There is no replacement for influential board and campaign leadership. One person who is well-respected in the community and is passionate about your organization and/or project can ensure the most effective path forward toward success. These are leaders who exist by and for the Hyper-Philanthropic community.

Contact us today to see how we can help you get hyper about philanthropy.

Library Foundations have the power to make your community Hyper-Philanthropic™

Libraries are often public-private partnerships, combining tax dollars with private philanthropy to generate a Hyper-Philanthropic™ response that benefits the entire community. Hyper-Philanthropy is all about the acceleration of giving through joy, and there are four pillars to creating that type of environment in your own community. 

In over thirty years of practice and working with dozens of libraries, we have found that those communities that have cultivated powerful libraries through the establishment of a Foundation tend to be Hyper-Philanthropic™ ones that can then benefit the entire community’s non-profit ecosystem.

Libraries serve as a critical resource for cities, towns, and neighborhoods across the country, often called the “living room” of a community. They are one of the only facilities that are 100% free to a public that can rely on the library to provide educational resources, meeting space, internet access, and more. Beyond assisting patrons with finding a good book, librarians provide computer and internet training, assist with job applications and resume writing, and help patrons fill out government forms, including tax and health insurance paperwork. Additionally, the Institute of Museum and Library Services found that almost one-fifth of libraries bring in healthcare providers to offer free limited screening services, and approximately one-fourth of libraries provide free fitness classes to patrons. But this kind of support is only possible when a library is able to build sustainable income through Hyper-Philanthropy™.

While many libraries have “Friends” organizations that conduct book sales and other meaningful community initiatives, fewer can depend on the philanthropic infrastructure that a foundation brings with it. Notably, one of the most important roles of a Library Foundation is to set up a way to accept gifts in multiple formats (bequests, stocks, property, etc.). This allows the library to establish an endowment for ongoing sustainability, creates financial flexibility to pursue program enhancements and, importantly, capital improvements. Other benefits of establishing a Library Foundation include: increased visibility for the library through foundation-financed programs and events; eligibility for grants that are only open to qualified nonprofits; and an expanded base of potential donors.

The Hodge Group has worked with over thirty libraries, helping multiple organizations establish foundations. We’ve learned how impactful developing one can be to creating a Hyper-Philanthropic™ environment to transform an entire community, and we’d love to talk to you about how to bring Hyper-Philanthropy™ to your neighborhood next. 

Contact us today to see how we can help you get hyper about philanthropy.

We Are a Values-Driven Organization

Thank you for all you are doing to accelerate philanthropy!

We at The Hodge Group are committed to serving our clients from our platform of Hyper-Philanthropy™. This platform blends an organization’s strategy, culture, behaviors, and communications to invite the most streamlined, enthusiastic, philanthropic response possible.

It has been our pleasure to watch our clients grow from this platform over the last 30 years.

Today, we are just as excited to share with you the news of our own growth!

We are happy to introduce our newest team member, Jenn MacCartney as our Administrative and Marketing Coordinator. Jenn joins us from Youngstown, Ohio and brings with her almost two decades of experience in the non-profit sector.  Jenn will be a primary point of contact as we continue to enhance our excellent client service model.

As always, it is our pleasure to serve. We lead with our values, which start with Servant Leadership. At THG this means, “We agree to be of service to our clients and to lead humbly by offering our own skills as an extension and enhancement of their current structure."

The addition of Jenn’s skills will assist us to live fully into this value. Please extend to her a warm welcome!

Winning the Gold in a Community Campaign

Do you have a favorite Olympic event? Swimming and gymnastics are just two of the many sports The Hodge Group has enjoyed watching ahead of Sunday’s Closing Ceremonies.

Many of these athletes trained from the age of four or five, devoting dozens of hours a week to make sure they were well prepared to win a gold medal. It’s inspiring and humbling, and it made us think about how much time a non-profit organization (NPO) must devote to “training” before embarking upon a community campaign if it is to be successful.

The five rings of the Olympics logo represent an unbreakable bond between the participating regions of the world (Oceania/Africa/Europe/Asia/Americas). Together, this contest is the ultimate feat of physical endurance because those rings are linked together. In order to create the best possible philanthropic response, The Hodge Group encourages NPOs to review the below five “rings” as a way to track their “training” and maximize their chances of success before embarking on any campaign:

1. Strategic Plan: As a first step before conducting a campaign, it is important to understand what your community expects of you, whether or not you’re meeting those expectations, and how additional value can be gained so that your organization and the community can grow in tandem. The Hodge Group offers a proprietary assessment model to learn those things for the sake of building the strongest philanthropic response possible to your strategic plan.
2. CRM (Customer Relationship Management): A good CRM tracks three kinds of metrics for your organization: engagement (has this individual donated in the past), relationship (how do you know this individual or company?), and administrative (contact information). If you do not have a database to track potential and existing donors, the administrative component of facilitating a community campaign will overwhelm you.
3. Board Participation: We have had clients lose out on six-figure grants before because they did not have 100% Board participation toward their community campaign. Major donors will also want to know why they should fund a project that the Board is not fully invested in. Before going out into the community to ask for money, it is vital that the Board has “bought in.”
4. Case for Support: Your campaign needs to develop a physical document that evokes an emotional response from all that good work. That is where a strong case for support comes in handy. This document is used to socialize the project within the community, and is an essential component of the next and final “ring.”
5. Feasibility Study: A feasibility study is a tool organizations use to assess the philanthropic capacity within their community for a specified purpose. Interviews are conducted with stakeholders to test a community’s appetite for the proposed purpose, and the study provides data that answers the questions, “Is this campaign feasible?” and “How do I best go about having a campaign?” That data can then be used to enhance your organization’s ability to obtain funding.

These five “rings” are all addressed in a white paper available on our website, “The Definitive Self-Assessment List to Review Before Starting a Campaign.” Our website is filled with other helpful white papers as you seek to grow your NPO. Check it out, and if you’d like The Hodge Group to stand with you as your fundraising partner please contact us at info@hodge-group.com.

Middlegame Philanthropy:

Lessons from Queen’s Gambit

Like much of America, The Hodge Group’s team binged Queen’s Gambit when it came out on Netflix in October 2020. In fact, many of our teammates finished it in one weekend. We also identified one application to philanthropy: the under-appreciated value of having a solid middlegame strategy.

The middlegame of chess begins after players develop most of their major pieces and move their king to safety. At that time, a player needs to recalibrate their strategy so checkmate is inevitable. The more control they have of the board, particularly its center, the better positioned they are for success because they have more room to move. Philanthropically, we align this with a major giving campaign. The “opening” is securing the first 40 - 60% of funding. The king (lead gift) is secured, and the knights and castles (leadership donors) are engaged. Now, it’s time to keep up (or even step up) the momentum and get to a place where checkmate (100% gift goal) is guaranteed.

When THG counsels our clients through major gifts campaigns, we do so the same way as a chess game with a strong middlegame strategy. Often, just like in chess, the middlegame of a campaign is overlooked in favor of establishing a strong opening or holding back in the hopes of trying to guarantee an impressive closing. Recently, we counseled two of our clients through their respective middlegames while each are conducting eight-figure campaigns. Each client moved through their “opening” game effortlessly. So quickly, in fact, that if we hadn’t been watching the “full playing board” for them, the completion of a successful finish would have been threatened. Just like in chess, success with philanthropy can mean planning five steps ahead and understanding the potential response to each of those steps. So, while these campaigns each slowed a bit, by recalibrating their “playing boards” with strong middlegame strategies, they are both now reinvigorated and well on their way to inevitable success stories.

Whoever starts the middlegame with an advance in development and with the command of the center (of the board), has every reason to hope for ultimate success….Eugene A. Znosko-Borovsky.

In anticipation of planning five steps ahead, and understanding the potential response to each of those steps, when we are implementing a campaign for our clients (setting up the playing board), we counsel closely toward the following so we can make sure we have a command of the “center (of the board)” at the start of the middle game:

• What is the relationship of the private, philanthropic response to the overall capital stack? In other words, over the course of the campaign, what are the other sources of revenue that may influence philanthropy?
• How are the lead donors being stewarded? If possible, based upon their interest, engaging them in the continued momentum of giving and including them in subsequent cultivation and even solicitation is impactful (we have observed this twice in the past six months with the impact including the lead donor giving another gift).
• Are the feasibility study participants involved in the campaign? Include all of them if possible. Even if they indicated they would not be available as a volunteer and/or donor, often we find once the momentum of a campaign reaches them, there is a shift.
• Are the benchmarks of the campaign directly linked to strategic benchmarks of the organization or project? Being able to demonstrate immediate and continuous impact throughout the entire campaign is a significant way to maintain momentum.
• How can commemoration and recognition continue to hold high status? Often, the commemorative opportunities are identified only at the beginning of a campaign and it’s difficult to hold high esteem as the campaign unfolds. By thinking outside the box and identifying creative ways to reestablish new opportunities, new interests arise.

Through our continued experience with clients and major giving campaigns, we continue to hone these into a stronger “middlegame” strategy. If you would like assistance as you plan yours, please contact us at info@hodge-group.com.

Personifying Your Organization as the Hero/Heroine in a Story of Recovery

Vice President Kim Horton, as part of Donor Search's "Masterminds" series, recently presented about how a non-profit can position itself toward successful, response messaging in our current environment. The presentation is built upon data our firm collected in 2020, when we spoke to almost 1,000 individuals about philanthropy and how it's been impacted by COVID-19, and is supplemented by information gathered from our national partners.

Watch Here

A Discussion about Hyper Philanthropy

EOY Guidance on Philanthropy

Thirty-five years of experience in philanthropy has taught me that the last ten weeks of the year is the most consequential time for the non-profit sector, as donors respond to increased needs for funding in their communities. Given our current environment, we want to make sure that this generosity continues regardless of whatever else is happening in the world this December.

Positive Trends in Philanthropy

I hope this finds you safe and healthy as we move into the second half of 2020. As you likely know, Giving USA recently released its numbers which showed that in 2019, Americans donated almost $450 billion to charity. Furthermore, in comparison to 2018, individual giving increased by 2.8%. As good as this news is, most in our industry are deeply curious and even concerned about the outlook for 2020. I am optimistic about this year, and am reaching out to share with you some data The Hodge Group has been tracking, as well as some anecdotal information from our clients.

American Philanthropy Continues to Excel

Americans donated almost $450 billion to charities in 2019. Giving from individuals was up 2.8% compared to 2018. Through the data and our own experiences as practitioners with philanthropists, we are seeing that the American spirit of philanthropy is continuing to soar and thrive.

Guidance on COVID-19

As we continue to monitor information regarding the not-for-profit sector, the most recent data from a Fidelity Charitable Survey backs multiple data points coming from Indiana’s School of Philanthropy and real-time information we’ve gathered from our clients and webinars across the not-for-profit sector over the last several weeks. Below are six key takeaways from this survey, but we encourage you to go directly to the report here.

Hyper-Philanthropy: Library Edition

The Hodge Group is a national leader in facilitating public-private partnerships. Through our work with dozens of libraries, we’ve seen how private philanthropy can unlock government funding and vice versa. In our experience, the most exciting library projects are successful with a good mix of both public and private support. It was heartening, then, to see this week’s election results in Ohio.

Sophia’s Hyper about Philanthropy

As we all continue to work from home amidst this new normal, we at The Hodge Group feel it's important to celebrate the great successes we're seeing around the country, and there are many. Despite all the bad news on TV, people are proving they are more hyper about philanthropy than ever before. We trademarked that term, Hyper-Philanthropy, because we believe the American spirit of generosity endures and thrives during even the darkest times, and we want to share some of our observations from the last month with you now.

Tips for Engaging Donors amid Social Distancing

As we settle into a new normal, The Hodge Group recognizes that nonprofits are facing enormous challenges in the current environment. Our team is monitoring best practices in the field, listening to webinars and reading blog posts. We’re also advising clients about a number of new opportunities presented in the current environment, including virtual tours and opportunities for “viral” video creation. Donor communications is no longer about reading the room, you have to be able to read the Zoom.

Further Guidance on Philanthropy and COVID-19

I was on NBC4 Day Time Columbus to discuss how the nonprofit sector is responding to the threat of COVID-19.

Click here to watch the interview, and read on to learn how your nonprofit can emerge from this situation stronger than ever.

Guidance on Philanthropy and COVID-19

The Hodge Group recognizes the need to rely on best practice and steady leadership during tumultuous times. That is why we wish to share with you some lessons learned from our experience practicing philanthropic fundraising during two prior significant economic events (9/11 and the Great Recession).

What is a Capital Campaign

A Capital Campaign is a dedicated effort by a nonprofit organization to raise money for a large capital expenditure (like buildings, property, or something physical that is going to last a long time). A capital campaign will have a specific dollar goal to be raised within a specific amount of time.

Hyper-Philanthropy begins with a good strategic plan

The Hodge Group leads organizations towards the strongest philanthropic response possible by tying that response directly to an organization’s strategic plan. Furthermore, we coordinate that plan with the strategic alignment of resources, messaging, and outreach, in order to customize our trademarked methodology of Hyper-Philanthropy™ for our clients.

Driving hyper-philanthropy through new technologies

Experts tell us that the face of philanthropy is changing rapidly. The Giving Institute’s data reveals that individual giving makes up less than 70% of our $400 billion industry for the first time ever, and online/mobile giving rates are up almost three times the rate of overall giving. Despite these changes, though, it’s crucial to remember that the fundamentals of this field remain constant.

Recession-proofing your nonprofit

Though the economy expanded at a rate of 2% in Q2 2019, there is emerging evidence that economic growth is slowing, causing many to brace for another recession. Considering that our non-profit industry makes up 2% of U.S. Gross Domestic Product, we need to pay attention.