An Urgent Appeal
Published 12/6/2012
Author: Molly Soat
Author Biography
Molly Soat is a staff writer for Marketing News. She can be reached at msoat@ama.org.
Summary
Many nonprofits have faced a donation deficit, especially over the last few years. As Americans are focusing on their own financial security, charitable donations have taken a backseat to personal savings.
The Wheeler Mission, a nonprofit that provides housing for the homeless population in its home city of Indianapolis, knows this predicament well. Last December, it was below its projected donations for the year by more than $150,000. “In 2011 the economy was challenging, so we had a lot of folks in Indianapolis who were unemployed or underemployed,” says Steve Kerr, chief development officer at the Wheeler Mission. “That resulted in our donations being down significantly.” The mission makes between 60 to 65% of its income between October and December every year, according to Kerr, so the deficiency was immediately apparent. And since 80% of the mission’s funds come from individual donations, Wheeler had to raise funds quickly to keep its organization up and running.
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