The NEDRA board held its monthly operations call on Wednesday, August 20th. Among the subjects discussed were the exciting programming coming up this fall, the 2015 annual conference, and scholarships. Read on for more information, including an article by the sister of Heather Reisz, in whose memory the Heather Reisz Memorial Scholarship is offered.

The NEDRA Programming Committee and community have been busy this summer building a Fall 2014 program schedule. Starting in September, Melissa Bank Stepno will be presenting her Residential Real Estate Review program in Boston. If you weren't able to see Melissa's presentation at the APRA conference this year, don't miss out on this insightful and powerful presentation. For more details and to register, go to the Upcoming Programs page.

New to research or need a refresher course on some research basics? Keep your eyes and calendar open for two Research Bootcamps coming in late October and mid-November to Boston and Western Massachusetts. We will also be offering multiple programs and RINGS throughout Connecticut on a variety of subjects.

Spoiler Alert: The programming committee is also extremely excited to introduce on-line programming this fall! Based on member feedback and needs, we are pleased to open another avenue of programming that will be convenient and engaging for the entire research community. Stay tuned to learn more about NEDRA's inaugural on-line programs! Have we piqued your interest yet? We hope that you are looking forward to these wonderful opportunities as much as we are.

Now that the place and the dates for next year's conference have been chosen (Portsmouth, NH on April 16th and 17th), things are really getting rolling! This year's Conference Committee co-chairs, Anne Brownlee and Amy Begg, are working on forming their committee as we speak. Before you know it, they'll be requesting proposals for conference sessions. So, if you've ever thought you might like to speak at a NEDRA conference (or even if you've never thought it before), start giving some thought to what sort of session you'd like to present. We'd love to hear from you when the time comes--we know NEDRA members have a lot of interesting and educational things to share!

Katherine Reisz-Hanson is Heather Reisz's sister, a member of the Heather Reisz Memorial Scholarship Committee, and a marketing communications consultant. In this piece, she interviews the recipients of the inaugural scholarship in her sister's name.

Recipients' Perspective: Impact of The Inaugural Heather Reisz Memorial Scholarship

“The conference felt very family-like. I got the sense that people really care for each other; this is not just work to people.” That is how Monique Bourgeois Miller describes the feeling at the 2014 NEDRA Annual Conference in Boston in March. Monique was one of two inaugural winners of the Heather Reisz Memorial Scholarship, which covered her costs for attending the conference.

Scholarship Honors Mentoring

The scholarship honors the mentoring spirit of Heather Reisz, an active and devoted NEDRA volunteer and former board member who passed away in May 2013. “Heather had a particular fondness for newcomers to the profession….Thanks to Heather’s free sharing of knowledge, support, and advice, there are numerous people in the field who have her to thank for their success,” noted former NEDRA President and board member Rick Snyder when the scholarship was launched.

The Heather Reisz Memorial Scholarship enables newcomers to the field of prospect research to benefit from the knowledge of more experienced NEDRA members. The award provides for lodging and registration and defrays travel costs for the awardee to attend the NEDRA Annual Conference and pre-conference Research Basics Bootcamp, as well as a one-year NEDRA membership.

Inaugural Recipients

During a luncheon at the 2014 NEDRA Conference the first annual Heather Reisz Memorial Scholarships were awarded to Monique Bourgeois Miller, Prospect Researcher at Hampshire College in Amherst, MA, and Laura Koo, Assistant Director of Research at The Art Institute of Chicago.

 

For Laura, receiving the scholarship was particularly personal and meaningful having been hired by Heather in November 2012. Heather had moved from Boston (and the position of Director of Research and Prospect Development at the Museum of Fine Arts) to Chicago a year earlier when she accepted the role of Director of Research at the Art Institute with the mission to initiate a research group within the development department.

In her scholarship application Laura recalled that “Heather took a chance on how green my research skills were, as I was 100% self-taught. At the time I received the job offer, I was feeling incredibly stuck with my career and struggling to find my focus and move away from being a generalist within a fundraising department. Heather’s faith in me helped me gain faith in myself.

Part of being a ‘green’ researcher meant that, using Heather’s terminology, she was going to ‘train me up.’ I was incredibly excited to have her as my mentor. Up until that point I had never done a true capacity rating, my real estate valuation skills were rudimentary, and I had zero expertise in interpreting a prospect’s stockholdings. And while Heather and I thought we had all of the time in the world for her to train me, after I had been on the job for only 6 months Heather very sadly and unexpectedly passed away.”

“While I know that Heather loved her time in Chicago and the researchers she met here, her heart was always back in Boston and she spoke so highly of NEDRA and her involvement with the organization,” said Laura. “It was great to meet so many of Heather’s friends and colleagues at the conference.”

A Wealth of Information

After attending the Annual Conference, Laura noted that many of the presenters were from larger institutions than the Art Institute and had larger research staff. She commented, “it was a good opportunity to see the big picture and then think how to apply the same tactics to our smaller museum staff.” She particularly appreciated the session Partnering on Prospects: The Role of Prospect Research in Strategy Development presented by Amy Gingle and Sarah Guarino, both from Massachusetts General Hospital.

Monique, who applied for the scholarship a year into her first job as a prospect researcher, recalled that “All the sessions were very helpful, but I learned new things and was able to ask better questions after Jeffrey Ouellette's session on copyright [Intellectual Property: Rights, Reason, and Research!]. I also enjoyed Christopher Haight's session on venture capital and private equity. The session that discussed the art and science of rating [with Susan Das from Rutgers University Foundation] was also really informative and enjoyable.”

Monique continued, “I also just really appreciated the casual conversations with everyone and talking about different strategies and systems people have in place at their institutions.”

Since attending the conference, Monique said “When a new challenge arises in my day-to-day job, I have a wealth of information to draw from…This has been immensely helpful for me. I also sometimes reach out to more experienced NEDRA members when I have a question that I'm having a hard time answering.”

Supporting New Researchers

Traveling from Chicago, Laura noted that she met several other people at the Annual Conference that were not from New England. “A lot of people don’t have a chapter like NEDRA or a lot of resources, so [being able to attend the conference] is a nice opportunity,” said Laura.

“I think the fact that my scholarship application was successful also helped me establish myself as a prospect researcher,” added Monique. “It's always good to have one's work recognized by an outside organization! The conference and the award have given me more confidence in my work.”

Laura and Monique were selected from a group of very qualified applicants. NEDRA is continuing to raise  funds for the Heather Reisz Memorial Scholarship so as to be able to continue offering multiple scholarships to the Annual Conference and the pre-conference Research Basics Bootcamp for a number of years to come. Donations can be made at any time on the NEDRA website.

If you have been in prospect research (or related fields) for less than two years and would like to attend the 2015 NEDRA Annual Conference (April 16 & 17 at the Sheraton Portsmouth, Portsmouth NH), keep an eye out for the call for Heather Reisz Memorial Scholarship applications later in the year. Inquiries can be made to office@nedra.org.

The NEDRA board would like to thank the three new volunteers who will be assisting the Conference Scholarship Committee this year. Thanks to Beth Moyer at Nantucket Cottage Hospital (herself a former scholarship recipient), Rebecca Francis at Bates College, and Kyoko Ingalls at Maine Coast Heritage Trust, for helping out!

Kat Banakis, Director of Strategic Implementation at GG+A Analytics, explores the giving behavior of five generations of donors, to better understand the way giving is changing and what we can expect in the future.

Giving Trends by Generation

GG+A analyzed the alumni giving at 11 higher education research institutions with mature fundraising programs in order to see what trends, if any, could be found in giving by generation (Greatest, Silent, Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennial).  In particular, we wanted to look at how the giving behavior of people of a set age – say 30 or 40 years old – compared over time in hopes of being able to shed some light onto planning considerations for development going forward. The results showed a likely increase in the need for major gift prospecting.

Methodology: We created standard definitions of gifts across the cohorts and adjusted the dollar values for inflation.

 --Analyzed the median 95% of gifts

 --Limited the population analyzed to living alumni donors where age was available.

 --Included annualized commitments (outright gifts and pledges).

 --Adjusted all gifts for inflation (CPI)

Findings: In short, we found that the participation rate of alumni giving seems to drop with each generation, but that those proportionally fewer individuals are giving more dollars.

Participation rates in alumni giving appear to decrease from one generation to the next. (Click on the image to see larger size)

The average size of gifts in inflation-adjusted dollars is increasing with each generation.

Cumulative is giving also increasing.

Implications: In some ways the data confirms what could have been hypothesized from broader economic and demographic trends. More people are attending college now than ever before. In 1940, 6% of 25-29 year olds had completed a bachelor’s degree; in 2010, 32% had completed a bachelor’s degree[1]. It is reasonable that the sense of affinity and participation have gone down as both numbers and diversity (age, gender, class, religion, and race) of alumni have increased. As is widely discussed, the debt burden of alumni has increased, which likewise may contribute to proportionally fewer alumni to participate philanthropically in his/her alma mater. According to the College Board, the average debt per bachelor degree graduate increased by 12%, (from $10,600 to $11,900 in 2012 dollars) between 2001-02 and 2006-07, and by 20% (from $11,900 to $14,300) over the next five years[2]. As of the first quarter of 2012, the average student loan balance for all age groups and all degrees was $24,301[3].

In terms of approaches to development in higher education, this raises some important issues about the even larger role that major and principal gifts may play in the future if the trend of a smaller percentage of the alumni population contributing ever larger gifts continues. In the area of prospect research, this may mean an even greater emphasis on pro-active prospect research to identify promising alumni prospects for a continual major gifts pipeline. The pool of alumni likely will continue to increase, while the donors within that pool proportionally decrease, making keen prospect research all the most important.

[1] http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d13/tables/dt13_104.20.asp

[2] https://trends.collegeboard.org/student-aid/figures-tables/average-debt-levels-public-sector-bachelors-degree-recipients-over-time

[3] http://libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org/2012/03/grading-student-loans.html#.U9qkCvldViA  

Although the numbers involved may have changed significantly from when the NEDRA News published this article in the winter of 1993-1994, the process it describes is one that can be useful at any time.

Using Statistical Models to Estimate Compensation.pdf

The NEDRA Board of Directors had its monthly operations call on July 16th. Among the subjects discussed were the 2015 annual conference, upcoming programs and online access to past programming, and the upcoming APRA International conference. Read on for more information.

Click on the image below for more exciting information!

Amber W. Countis is Director of Prospect Research at Norwich University. She is past president of NEDRA, and a member of the board of directors.

Why I Volunteer

Why do I volunteer? This is a question I probably should ask myself more and one that my husband and friends and colleagues sometimes wonder about as I go to another meeting or participate in another conference call. Why would I voluntarily agree to do extra work for no pay? Well, if only it were that simple! I think it is part of my DNA at this point. NEDRA is not the only organization that I actively volunteer for currently. Each volunteer opportunity has taught me something (or introduced me to people) that has improved my work as a volunteer, board member, and employee for other organizations. I think my desire to give back is partly related to the industry we work in. I see the great work and impact that our nonprofits have on the community and the world and want to help.  However, I also volunteer because of what I get out of it! My motives are not entirely altruistic. A quick online search for “benefits of volunteering” revealed 14.8 million results, so I must not be too far off or the only one who feels this way. I have always credited my community service and volunteering in college with helping me land my first job in development after graduating. The experiences and exposures I had as a volunteer were seen as transferrable skills to working in the nonprofit world. My involvement with NEDRA specifically, similar to other organizations I support, has continued this trend and been a great benefit for me personally and professionally.

In the fall of 2005 when I relocated from New Orleans to the Boston area, I saw NEDRA as a way for me to meet and expand my professional network in my new community. I was also excited to join a local development research organization that was active and well-respected; eager to learn more about the organizations and people that made up this NEDRA community; and motivated to build my own research and management skills and expertise. Finally, my boss was a NEDRA board member at the time so she was supportive of my interest and involvement. So in the spring of 2006, I attended my first NEDRA Conference in Providence, Rhode Island, and eventually got involved with the then offered Mentor Program. Even though I was fairly new to NEDRA, I had enough research and development experience under my belt that I was able to offer guidance and tips to a newcomer to our field (down the road I would hire that mentee and see her later join the NEDRA board!). I also became a regular attendee at programs and conferences and by 2007 I was volunteering as a conference room monitor and writing for the NEDRA News. In 2008, I was promoted at work and now responsible for more direct reports. I then started working with the NEDRA Programming Committee helping to organize RINGs and other educational programs. My organization hosted a few programs which were easy for me to coordinate and also offered an opportunity for more of my colleagues (even some outside of research) to attend due to the short commute. For the 2009 conference, I was a room monitor chair and elected to join the NEDRA board of directors as secretary.

Fast forward five years and I am now starting my last year on the board. I look back at all we accomplished together and feel fortunate to have been a part of this time in NEDRA’s history. I was able to co-chair the conference twice (including during our 25th anniversary year), serve as vice president, help launch the Heather Reisz Memorial Scholarship, and serve as president for the last two years. Each of these experiences taught me something about collaboration, managing time and people, budgeting, delegating, accountability, public speaking, relationship building, and more (not bad souvenirs to bring back to my office). Each of these experiences also made me so thankful for the amazing volunteers, staff, and members who believe in our mission and are very willing to work without pay to help further our organization for the next 25 years and beyond. I honestly have left every board meeting excited about the ideas and energy of our board members and where we were driving the organization. I am thankful to each and every person that I volunteered and have served with on the board over the last five years. Thank you for all that you do!

I encourage you to consider volunteer opportunities with NEDRA (and other organizations you care about). I am certain that you will benefit from it just as much as the organization does!

Check out http://www.nedra.org/about-nedra/volunteers to learn more about volunteer opportunities.