Most gifts to educational institutions are made in the spirit of generosity by committed donors aligned with the college, university, school, or nonprofit’s mission.

But plenty of fundraisers have a story or two to tell about times when the giving process is a bit tricky. Maybe there’s an alumnus who wants to donate an art collection… but the cost of housing it is immense. Or there’s a local leader keen on funding a new building… but eager to exert control over construction details. Or there’s a longtime donor who is now embroiled in scandal.

Today, these scenarios unfold in an increasingly complex philanthropic landscape. Donors have become savvier and are holding institutions more accountable. But high-profile missteps with donors or controversial gifts play out with heightened scrutiny in the media and online.

Here, four veteran development leaders and CASE volunteers explore why fundraising has gotten more complex today—and how to navigate five tricky fundraising scenarios, including proving your case to donors, grappling with donor control, negotiating to reach a “yes,” and walking away from gifts with too many strings.

Why is today’s giving environment more complex?

Public scrutiny and social media

“Missteps around acceptance of gifts (like almost everything else) are amplified today due to near instantaneous reactions and the breadth of opinions (both informed and uniformed) that surface via social media. Our institutions are under significantly more public scrutiny today. Today’s considerations are more complex than ever, and complexity does not fit neatly into a Twitter or Reddit post.” 

— Lisa Grider, Director of Advancement and Strategic Initiatives at Trinity Valley School, Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.

Savvier donors and a crowded philanthropic space

“Donors are savvier and holding the recipients of their philanthropy more accountable than ever before. Twenty years ago, our competition was other universities. Today, there’s been tremendous growth in the number of nonprofits and they’ve gotten more sophisticated in how they approach donors. Donors are being solicited from so many different angles. That’s caused some donors to go a bit more underground—they say: I don’t want my name on things because I’ll get bombarded.” 

— Brian Sischo, Vice Chancellor for University Advancement and President of NC State University Foundation, North Carolina State University, U.S.

Declining trust in higher education

“There’s been a well-charted decline in trust in public and educational institutions. I prefer to focus on the facts that universities and development officers can control, though. There’s not much we can do about deepening distrust of organizations, but we can encourage people to feel our organizations are trustworthy and that they can have a positive experience in giving to us.” 

— Chris Cox, Vice Principal at The University of Edinburgh, Scotland

Reputation and risk

“We’ve always valued how a donor’s positive reputation helped build the credibility of our cause. But the opposite is also true, right? When they behave poorly or their businesses have a negative impact on society, that can tarnish our reputations. So, we have to look at these relationships maybe a bit more holistically than we did in the past. We’ve always been focused on matching a donor’s passions to the university’s mission, values, and needs. But we need to be careful that the donor’s values and reputation align with the university’s.”

 — Lori Redfearn, Associate Vice Chancellor of Systemwide Advancement, California State University System, U.S