BusinessReport.com

For its first signature fundraiser, Big Buddy Program Executive Director Gaylynne Mack knew her organization needed something new. Something different.

One of her board members thought it would be fun to stage a local version of Dancing With the Stars, a popular reality TV show that pairs celebrities with professional dancers in a live competition.

Another board member suggested some local celebrities who might participate. Mack made one of her first phone calls to Mayor Kip Holden.

“When he said yes, we knew we might have something,” she says. “That was all she wrote.”

The mayor was joined by such prominent locals as WBRZ meteorologist Pat Shingleton, 2une In anchor Whitney Vann, Cox Communications CEO Jacqui Vines, former LSU basketball Glen Davis and restaurateur Brandon Landry—many of whom took at least six weeks of dance lessons offered in partnership with local studios in preparation for the event.

More than 1,500 people—some of them paying as much as $200 for a seat on the floor of LSU’s Pete Maravich Assembly Center—turned out for the April 21 gala to benefit Big Buddy Program, a local nonprofit agency that provides role models and quality learning experiences for more than 3,000 disadvantage youths.

“We’ve operated off grants and donations,” Mack says. “We’ve never had a signature fundraiser. We knew we had to do something that caught the community’s eye in order to start to build our donor base.”

Mack says the event raised $100,000 before receipts, which was used to pay off some debt, hold a summer enrichment program and increase the organization’s rainy-day fund.

Plus, the extra money enabled Mack to sleep better, knowing she didn’t have to worry as much about operational costs.

“I feel much, much, much better,” she says. “I’d never been involved in a major fundraising event like that.”

But Mack says times are changing, and nonprofit organizations are looking for new ways to raise money. She attributes this trend to an increase in nonprofits and a decrease in grants and donations.

Big Buddy Program is one of the lucky agencies. In addition to being one of 53 nonprofit groups to fall under the financial umbrella of the Capital Area United Way, it also received an $89,924 grant last year from the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, which distributed grants totaling $33 million in 2006.

“We used to get checks for $1,000 here, $1,000 there,” Mack says. “For smaller agencies that haven’t grown with the changes, it’s really been detrimental. We don’t get national help, and we receive a lot of guidance from United Way. If we hadn’t, we would not have survived this long.

“Grants are not as plentiful. It’s harder now, because there are so many nonprofits and there seems to be less money. We had to come up with a creative way to raise money if we wanted to continue our programs. We’d been operating month-to-month. The landscape is definitely changing.”

Janet Ketcham, the director of McMains Children’s Developmental Center, agrees.

McMains, a pediatric rehabilitation center, sponsors two major fundraisers each year, Red Nose Day (for $5, employees purchase a red-foam nose and a day of free-dress) and Developing Dreams Breakfast (a public education event featuring a guest speaker and video highlighting the center’s work).

Ketcham says the center raised $100,000 from the Developing Dreams in 2006 and $30,000 for Red Nose Day. In addition, McMains received an $11,656 grant from BRAF to go along with grants from Albemarle and Wilson Foundation and funding from CAUW.

“Awhile back, United Way discouraged agencies from doing their own fundraising,” she says. “That’s been a major shift, because now United Way understands that we need to do our own fundraising because they can’t always provide 100% of our funds.”

CAUW President Howard Taylor says his agency is working harder to make Baton Rouge aware that it can’t continue without the support of the community.

“To have a healthy community, you not only need financial help but social help,” Taylor says. “A true healthy community is not only one that is financially strong but spiritually and mentally strong.”

Nonprofit organizations were seen as miracle-workers in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. Taylor says donations increased immediately after the storms before dropping off last year.

Taylor says CAUW raised more than $11.5 million in 2004 and almost $11.6 million plus $3 million in hurricane relief in 2005. Donations fell to $11.2 million in 2006.

“People thought it would come and go, but this community changed forever and the need continues to increase,” he says.

This message resonates with major corporate players such as Dow, The Shaw Group and ExxonMobil, which are beginning to see their biggest employee donors retire and welcoming younger employees who may not be as prone to giving. Those three companies combined made up approximately 22% of United Way’s total campaign in 2006. In fact, ExxonMobil saw 91% employee participation.

“Over the next five years, they’re going to lose 10% of their senior staff on an annual basis,” Taylor says. “The senior individuals are more of the $100 to $500 givers, and they are being replaced by younger people who are just trying to establish themselves, giving between $25 to $75. It’s a drastic difference. Giving is representative of the agencies. To organizations that really rely upon the everyday donor, it’s a changing work force.”

CAUW has begun making efforts to soften the impact of the change by starting a “retiree giving” sector in which retired persons have a way to donate. They have the option to continue their contribution to CAUW through a one-time donation, bank draft, stocks, direct bill and its Web site. Their contribution can also be counted towards their former company’s campaign total.

United Way’s 2007 campaign chairman, Van Mayhall Jr., has made it a point when visiting with CEOs to ask their companies to include United Way in retiree newsletters. “When I met with that group, they motivated me,” Taylor says. “Of all things, I’ve been most impressed with them [retirees].”

One factor that has changed in the nonprofit community is the element of choice. The givers now have more freedom to choose where their money goes. One example is Burger King’s recent Campaign for Your Cause, in which people voted online for their favorite local nonprofit organizations. The winner, Capital Area Animal Welfare Society, received $50,000, with another $50,000 distributed to the nine runners-up.

“With the money control more with the giver, I’m interested in seeing what the results are,” Taylor says. “I personally feel that people should have a choice whenever they want it. But at the same time, there are many reasons why I choose a mutual fund. They know much more than I where the money should be donated.”

Among agencies specified for donations, Cancer Services of Baton Rouge has consistently ranked No. 1. Connie Caldwell, who is the director of development and marketing for Cancer Services, says her organization is realizing the power of marketing.

“We just hired a marketing associate, and we are definitely getting more clients,” she says. “There are probably a lot of people who would like to support the program. We just never asked. And so now, we’re going to.”

In doing so, Caldwell’s organization joins a growing list of nonprofits looking at other avenues for help. Just ask Big Buddy Program’s Mack and the agency’s success with its first Dancing With the Stars gala.

“A lot of smaller nonprofits call us for help,” she says. “We’ve set the bar for fundraising, and that says a lot. I feel that next year can be bigger and better. I’m just scared next year because I don’t know how we’re going to duplicate it. But this will be our fundraiser for as long as it works.”