Small Boston Nonprofits May Lose Out in Wealth Transfer
Small Boston Nonprofits May Lose Out in Wealth Transfer
Many of the small nonprofits in the Boston area that stand to gain the most by tapping into the generational transfer of trillions of dollars of wealth over the coming decades are the least likely to cash in, the Boston Business Journal reports.
That's because many donors and their foundations do not accept unsolicited requests for funding, making it difficult for nonprofits with modest fundraising operations to take full advantage of the expected wealth transfer. According to projections by the Center on Wealth and Philanthropy at Boston College, approximately $41 trillion dollars will pass from one generation to the next by 2055. In the Boston area that translates to a potential $359 billion windfall for charity, notes the center.
Many nonprofits are responding creatively to the opportunity — and the challenge — by focusing on the growing number of donors who plan to give away most of their fortunes while still alive. Organizations such as the Boston Children's Chorus, REACH, and the Wellness Community—Greater Boston are cultivating relationships with individuals they hope will one day become big donors. David Shapiro, president and CEO of Mass Mentoring, a nonprofit with a $1.6 million budget and a staff of fourteen, said he is making an extra effort to find out who the new players in philanthropy are and is hiring a "manager of field resources" to focus on large individual gifts.
Despite such efforts, however, many small nonprofits in the area simply cannot compete with large tax-exempt institutions like the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, which has already raised $813 million toward a $1 billion capital campaign goal and has more than tripled its fundraising staff over the past decade. "It's a huge nut to crack," said Patrice Keegan, executive director of Boston Cares, a volunteer-based nonprofit with a $750,000 operating budget and twelve-member staff. "How do we become proactive in developing new and aggressive fundraising strategies in the absence of dedicated staff and resources?"
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