A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats

It may be because I'm a professional fund raiser, but it seems that nearly everyone I come in contact with anymore is keenly aware of the fact that the largest transfer of wealth from one generation to the next is occurring in the USA right now. Estimates vary, but tens of billions of dollars is the ballpark where they play. Since fraternity men and women are a major source, and beneficiary, of this wealth, their chapters, general fraternities, and schools stand to be a major beneficiary as well.
A fraternity individual's loyalty can be to all, none, or some combination of these three entities, in varying degrees. It has been our experience that the loyalty to one's chapter is frequently the strongest of the three. This is backed by innumerable conversations with alumni that included the very real sentiment that the chapter was where ties to other individuals were, and are, the strongest; and their statements that "the chapter comes first."

This observation is also based on comparing penetration of chapter alumni groups by each entity. Our experience has shown that chapters in campaigns will see 10-20% of their alumni volunteer with 25-50% donating. The school might see 5-10% of that same group volunteer with 7-20% donating. The general fraternity and its foundation is likely to see 1-5% volunteer, with 3-10% donating.

Loyalty is only one reason these numbers are this way, though the important one we believe. The other is cultivation and solicitation effort. Chapters who do neither, often see NO support. General fraternities and their foundations rarely have the staff to make concerted individual cultivation and solicitation effort; their numbers are primarily from mail and phone campaigns. Schools run the gamut, but are generally better at ongoing contact efforts than general fraternity foundations or chapters that are not engaged in a major campaign. The useful fact from all of this, though, is that a chapter in a major campaign will do more on an individual basis to cultivate and solicit in a short period of time than any other entity can match over almost any period of time.

Here are some related observations:
- Cultivation and solicitation by a chapter benefits the other two; donors, once involved, tend to reconsider their entire experience and spread their support accordingly. We could call this cross-cultivation.
- 80% of a campaign's proceeds come from 20% of the donors, typically. Major donors are therefore the top priority in any fund raising effort, and they are always in limited supply.
- While chapters may rate the highest levels of loyalty, rarely do they have the highest levels of need. They typically don't need HEAVY money from anyone. A $500,000 gift is rare, as are $250k's. Those that give at those levels are often capable of much more, but a larger gift would not fit the campaign. Bottom line: there's a lot more water in those wells that the other entities should be digging for.

Given the above observations, how can a school or general fraternity benefit from the work of a chapter, beyond the existing cross-cultivation? The simple answer is that each must add value in order to become a beneficiary of a donor's good will.

If we think in terms of 'value added' we see that most foundations for general fraternities have not created any value for an individual prospect. Those that were a scholarship recipient when they were in school are very much in the minority. Schools create value, but in such a widely varying amount that each one has its own unique loyalty/giving culture. Those students who received support from the school are many times more likely to have perceived value, and to be loyal because of it.

In order to create value for a prospect now, you must meet their needs. One of the first needs that you can identify is that they care about their chapter. If a general foundation, or school foundation, wants to cultivate and eventually solicit a major donor to a chapter campaign, they should explore the opportunity to create value for the chapter, and specifically the alumni of that chapter, right now.

A very specific example is the Alpha Sigma Phi Educational Foundation. Alpha Sigma Phi has some 60 active chapters and a very strong and well-endowed Foundation. A new program they are piloting, among many others that they offer, is quite unique. In support of the efforts of local housing corporations, they are willing to loan operating capital for a house board to complete a development audit and feasibility study. Following that, and provided the results of the study are acceptable, there is potential for further seed money to finance the start of a large-scale campaign to renovate the chapter house.

Partnering such as this is a win/win. The chapter gets to move forward with their vision, the general foundation gets the opportunity to add widely perceived value to the chapter and its alumni, and both entities benefits from the cultivation and solicitation effort. There is no doubt that they will reap great rewards. Of course information will be shared freely between the two.

Loaning or fronting the money for a development audit and feasibility study, and even underwriting the early stages of a chapter's campaign, is a natural winner for a general fraternity's foundation. Rather than be in the housing business, or banking business, they become more like venture capitalists, finding seeds of opportunity and helping them thrive. There is the easily perceived value to the chapter, and more importantly, to the loyal chapter alumni who will support the chapter. When everything is said and done, donors, and particularly the major donors, will remember what a key player the Foundation was in helping the chapter.

There is nothing at all to prevent a school foundation from pursuing the same kinds of partnerships.