Episode 50: Elizabeth Abel
Join Lori and her guest, Elizabeth Abel as they discuss how it’s like to work with nonprofit leaders and their teams in raising the money they need. In what ways does she support these organizations in making a greater impact on the communities they serve? Stay tuned!
Here are the things to expect in this episode:
What are the causes very close to her heart?
The types of campaigns she runs to help nonprofits.
The importance of having the right leaders and a strong campaign vision.
Incorporating legacy as part of the campaign process.
Philanthropy is an expression of one’s values.
And much more!
Connect with Elizabeth!
Website: https://www.ccsfundraising.com/people/elizabeth-abel
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethabel
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elizabethberniabel/
Free resources:
Philanthropic Landscape Report. This report, published each summer and grounded in the annual Giving USA data, offers an overview of the philanthropic landscape and key trends in giving. This year's edition also includes actionable insights on the impact of the pandemic and racial and social injustice on fundraising. It’s one of my favorite data sets!
Philanthropy Pulse Survey. CCS launched the Philanthropy Pulse Survey in late 2021 to understand how nonprofits are approaching and reimagining their development efforts. Released last month, the report summarizes responses from over 870 participating organizations and offers valuable data and insights to navigate the year ahead
Connect with Lori Kranczer!
Episode Transcript
00:06
You're listening to the positive impact philanthropy podcast where we share the journeys of everyday philanthropists as they incorporate philanthropy into their lives. Philanthropy is a personal journey and through the stories we will share here we hope that sparks something in you and how you can make your own philanthropic impact in the world. I'm your host, Lori Kranczer attorney, philanthropic advisor and legacy giving strategist. Together we're going to explore what it looks like to be an everyday philanthropist and make a positive impact in the world. Before we get started, make sure to subscribe to the podcast so you never miss a new episode. And today I'm really excited we have Elizabeth Abel. She is a senior vice president at CCS fundraising. Welcome Elizabeth.
00:47
Thank you so much Lori really excited for our conversation.
00:51
Same here. Now I know a bit about you because we've chatted before but the audience may not know. So why don't you start us off and share who you are and what you do.
01:02
Great. So I am a Senior Vice President at CCS fundraising which is a global fundraising consulting firm that works with nonprofit organizations. And so in this role, I lead development initiatives and capital campaigns that focus on scaling an organization's revenue so that they can have the greatest impact on the communities that they serve.
01:24
And I know a lot about CCS and they do wonderful work and just absolutely amazing consulting firm. When did you get started there?
01:35
Well, I've been at the firm now for nearly a decade, and it feels like the time has gone by so quickly. But during that time, I've worked with nearly 20 organizations across sectors so focusing on the education space, both K through 12 and higher ed arts and culture health care and advocacy and Human Services. And I've managed annual campaigns as small as a million dollars and planned for capital campaigns as large as over a billion dollars. So it's been an exciting journey and one that has a breadth of experience in sectors and missions, many of which I personally care deeply about.
02:12
Okay, so there's some magic words in there. So we're going to go through that a little bit more but I'm the ones that you feel connected with because like you I work with lots of different organizations and very worthy causes. But you know, as individuals, we have our own philanthropic intent and the causes that are near and dear to us. So what type of issue areas or causes are very close to your heart.
02:42
So there's two The first is Holocaust and genocide education. And then the second is International Women's Rights and in many ways the two are intimately connected. When we think about genocide and some of the countries where that has taken place and I've had the opportunity to travel to Rwanda and Cambodia and live in India and really focused on generational women's empowerment in some of these places, post-civil war and genocide. So it's their deeply personal issue areas, especially now that I am a mother to my own daughter. That adds another layer of intention intentionality about how I approached my work with these organizations when I have the privilege of working with them, and then how I am personally an advocate for women around the world to really amplify their voices in their local communities.
03:32
So Elizabeth, how did you get started in this and tell us more about your travels? This is very intriguing.
03:40
So my, my first start, if you will, into the philanthropic community happened in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. I live in New York and I grew up right outside of Manhattan and a group of families from my local community that were associated with our synagogue went down to New Orleans to provide support and that support was emotional support and basic things like toilet paper and paper towels and we visited the Jewish community in and around New Orleans. And we visited the FEMA trailers and met with families and heard their stories and that was really my first experience in what I call tikkun olam in action. And so for those of you who are not familiar with tikkun olam, it's a value in Judaism that means to repair the world and it's grounded in a philosophy of educating and through charity and social action, doing what you can to make the world a better place than when you came into this world. And so, being together with my family and members of my faith and giving back ironically, this trip coincided with my own birthday. And so kind of this paradox of giving back on a day when one is used to giving felt really energizing to me, and very joyful in a way that I was not expecting, despite the fact that you know, we were meeting with families and children and others who were showing strength and resilience and joy in their own way, after such a horrific tragedy. And so that really inspired that was kind of my activation moment, if you will in my own journey in philanthropy. And then I went on to study international relations and Peace and Justice Studies. And so that really built on my commitment to social justice. And that's what took me through Rwanda and Cambodia and India, and really provided me with the academic focus to think critically about some of these very pressing issues affecting society. And then when I needed to decide what I was going to do professionally, the opportunity to be a consultant for nonprofits and to drive social change through philanthropy was it felt like it was a job that was made for me and so I've again then been in this role for nearly a decade and I absolutely love the opportunity to work with nonprofit leaders and their teams and help them raise the money that they need to do the incredible work that they're doing each day.
06:18
So all right, so very well rounded experience in all different areas, all social justice. So let's go back even further because I always love to find out from individuals, what first inspired them to give back or think back like at your youngest earliest memories of being involved in philanthropy.
06:42
So it really stems from my family and specifically my mother. So we have very strong women in our family and I'm very grateful to be among them and we have a very strong connection to our Jewish identity. And growing up we would always get together my grandmother and her three siblings and all of their children and myself and my cousins. And so I would say we're an average and pre COVID time of 40 to 60 people or both Hanukkah and Passover. And we always made a point, very intentionally of remembering our family members who are no longer with us from current and past generations, and many of those family members were killed in the Holocaust. And so this idea of Holocaust and genocide education and remembrance is something that's been deeply ingrained in me from a very, very young age, and was ultimately kind of my emotional start to this professional journey.
07:37
And I wonder, I mean, you share your mother and other women in your family. Are there others that have been along for this journey with you?
07:47
I would say my grandmother and my late grandfather have been some of the most precious people in my life and now that I'm a mother, to my own daughter, I feel like everything I do I do with an additional layer of kind of awareness and intentionality around how she's perceiving although she's only 18 months at some point, she'll be 18 And, and I am sure I will be both her greatest embarrassment and then one day her greatest source of strength.
08:19
Oh yeah, I can tell you guys really quickly. You know, I have my own 11, almost 12 year old and it is, yes, it's quite its own journey. So, but I think it's great because I also feel very strongly about raising strong women. So we're definitely aligned with that. So let's talk about some of the organizations that you work with, and I know that you do you run different types of campaigns with them, and it's certainly from the smaller scale to the very large scale. Can you tell us like a typical project that you work with, that you tend to see and so the impact that they're able to make after working with you
08:59
I would be happy to. So the two most common projects that we focus on at CCS fundraising The first is a campaign planning study and then the second follows right after the study, which is campaign implementation, and what I appreciate about a campaign planning study is that it's an opportunity to really crystallize an organization's vision for the future and articulate the role that philanthropy can play in helping to get there. And so during a campaign planning study, we speak with anywhere from 40 to 85 stakeholders these could be board members individual and institutional donors, community leaders, friends, and we asked them about the perceptions of an organization's strengths challenges. We share a preliminary version of this case for support and ask for their feedback on it. What's funding priorities resonate with you, we talk a little bit about the goal we get a sense of their personal appetite to participate in this campaign as a leader or a donor. And then from this data and these personal conversations that we have, we're able to prepare a strategic campaign plan for the organization that determines okay, what's an ambitious and attainable goal? What is the case for support that we want to make that will inspire people to really stretch for this organization? What's the optimal leadership structure in terms of our camping cabinet? Do we have co chairs? Do we have a committee what does that look like? And then, most importantly, and this is actually my favorite part of the work that we do. What does our prospect pool look like? Who are the top 25 People that are essential to this campaign? And how can we cultivate and solicit and steward them in a way that makes them feel really excited about this project? And then oftentimes, we'll transition into what we call campaign management, which is where we work really hand in hand with the nonprofit executive team, whether it's your executive director, your development director, your president and CEO, your head of school, to build this foundation and then partner with the organizations on the donor engagement strategies on the case development on the leadership engagement and really work hand in hand to bring home those super exciting gifts that we read about in the Chronicle of Philanthropy.
11:20
Okay, so here's a question. So where do you see most organizations get stuck because what you laid out is, that's the ideal, right? And but there's a lot of organizations that kind of get stuck in different spots in there. Where do you see that most?
11:37
There's two spots. The first I think is the campaign vision and then the second is on the leadership. So if you have a strong campaign vision, but you don't necessarily have the right leaders who can serve as fundraising ambassadors, then you're going to get stuck. Similarly, if you have wonderful leadership, super inspiring, but you don't necessarily have a vision, we'll be able to get a little further along, but donors are going to ask the questions, you know, what are we raising money for? What's the impact of my philanthropy? And so having a strong case for support and a clear rationale for why we need fundraising, and then having the leaders who can serve as fundraising ambassadors both in their communities, industries, families, networks, those two things are really important to move a campaign and any fundraising initiative along.
12:26
I absolutely agree. And especially not skipping over the whole planning process. In the beginning. I've seen organizations want to skip the feasibility study, because I didn't think that it was potentially worthwhile to invest in that. And you absolutely need that in order to execute an effective campaign because that you're skipping a major step you're also warming up donors to the vision and to be part of that campaign. When you go through that process. What do you think? I could
12:57
not agree more and I'm so happy you made that point. It's in my opinion, it is the most important part of any campaign capital campaign endowment comprehensive campaign planning effort, because you are laying the groundwork to be successful. And it doesn't take that long. It could take three to four months on average to conduct a really robust planning study. And then you go into your campaign organization phase, with so much insight into your donor base that you're already so much further along than you probably even realize. And then you're able to just move forward from a place of strength. Could not agree more with you, Lori.
13:35
Yeah, yeah. And yeah, it's all about setting up organizations for success. We want them to succeed. So and the feasibility study in that planning stage is absolutely important for that part of the process. I'm curious when you're working with organizations, do you also incorporate, because we love talking about legacy here, do you talk about or incorporate legacy as part of the campaign process?
13:58
More often than not, we do, and we're also really building a CCS a robust gift planning team to serve as a resource given that there are organizations now who are starting to see an ageing donor base, but who don't necessarily have the knowledge or tools to build a strong Planned Giving Program. And I would imagine that you can probably speak to this much more eloquently than I can but one of the things that I've done recently with an organization that I'm really pleased with its success with a legacy challenge and so identifying and engaging a lead donor to make a challenge gift that would inspire others to disclose a request intent or make a new plant gift to the organization that would count towards a major capital campaign. And it was a great opportunity for many of the more seasoned community members who have participated with a cash gift and the first two campaigns of this organization had and who wanted to participate again, but preferred to make a legacy contribution. And so it was a great way to honor their leadership and longtime service to the organization through a planned gift and then how that gifts build campaign momentum. So there's lots of creative ways to integrate planned giving into the conversation and I'm a huge advocate of doing so.
15:17
Well I couldn't agree with you more. So you're looking at the scope of what you're you're doing, which has been so much and your your philanthropic journey so far. What philanthropic plans you have for the future? Are there any other things that you hope to do that you're setting out to do now?
15:45
Beyond my work at CCS, I teach a fundraising and philanthropy course at the University of Pennsylvania. It's something I've been doing now for four years, and it has become one of my favorite, what I call extracurriculars, if you will, it's such a great opportunity to take what I'm doing on the frontlines of CCS and then translate it to the classroom and the students that I work with our graduate students in Penn's Nonprofit Leadership Program. And so they all have a personal commitment to nonprofit leadership, social impact social justice, and it's wonderful to talk to them about you know, why they're pursuing this career. What can I do in my role as a senior vice president, you know, having nearly a decade of experience on the ground to educate and empower this incoming cohort with the knowledge and tools for them to be successful in their roles. And so really, my goal is to be a multiplier to take what I'm learning to give it to others and to empower them to be successful and ultimately be successful as nonprofit leaders serving their communities.
16:50
So this is a great segue into my next question. I'm wondering for those that are listening, if they have an inclination to be more philanthropic, whether it's their career, or as a volunteer or in investing what what sort of suggestions or advice can you give them to take action?
17:12
So the beauty of philanthropy in my opinion, is that it's an expression of one's values and the causes that you care about and so you can donate, you can volunteer, you can march, you can show compassion, and each of these actions in my mind perspective contribute to our vision for a better world. And so whatever someone chooses to do, I encourage you to consider how your philanthropy will also bring you energy will meet the moment that we're in and inspire positive change,
17:42
create and a typical or I should say any, any sources or resources that people should look for or that you could recommend.
17:53
Well, of course, I'm going to point you in the direction of CCS fundraising’s Insights page on our website. So we do have two publications that I'm really proud of. The first is our annual philanthropic landscape report, which comes out every summer following the release of the Giving USA data. And it's a compilation of the past year of philanthropy and then year over year trends in giving, focusing on individuals, foundations, corporations, and plan giving, which I imagine you're excited about. And then it also unpacks some of the key trends we've experienced over the past couple of years, both in terms of the impact of the pandemic on philanthropy as well as our nation's reckoning with social and racial injustice. And then the second resource is hot off the press just a few weeks old. It's our philanthropy pulse publication. And this is a survey that CCS offered and nearly 900 organizations are represented in it, focusing on reimagining and redefining philanthropy for the 2022 year based on insights from how nonprofit organizations and their teams found fundraising in 2021. So both of those are free on their on our website.
19:08
Great and we are going to post to all and all the links on in our shownotes everyone will have the information to get that get those resources. So thank you, Elizabeth. Okay, so we are at the time that of course we asked our last question which is Elizabeth, what do you see your legacy being?
19:31
This is a big question. There's a lot of a lot of pressure. But it really goes back to this idea that I have is a multiplier. And so my legacy that I hope is really my mission, which I pursue each day and that is to educate and empower nonprofit leaders in their teams with both the knowledge and the tools to grow their fundraising programs and have the greatest benefit to the communities that they serve. And so that is what I strive to do each and every day and that is what I hope that my legacy will be so in 10 2050 years from now, people will be better prepared to support the communities that they care deeply about.
20:14
wonderful and with that our closing question will be, where can people find out more about you?
20:21
Sure. So if you enjoyed this conversation, and if you're alerting interested in learning more about me and about the work that I do at CCS or a pan you can find me in three places. So first is on the CCS fundraising website. Feel free to email me directly you can connect with me on LinkedIn. And then I also have a professional Instagram page where I share nonprofit industry insights and fundraising tips. And that's Elizabeth, Bernie able and happy to link all three of these to the show notes. And any follow up but really do invite you to connect I love meeting with nonprofit leaders and talking about philanthropy and I'm always happy to be a resource to you and your organization.
21:02
Wonderful. So thank you again for joining us, Elizabeth. And thank you for everyone for listening. I hope we provided some insight and inspiration that you can use for your own philanthropic
21:11
journey.
21:13
Take care. Thank you for joining us. I hope we provided some insights and inspiration that you can use for your own philanthropic journey. You can tune in every week on Wednesdays when new episodes are dropped. We'd love to hear your feedback. So leave comment and a rating about what you liked and what you'd like to hear more about. And if you liked the episode today, make sure to share it to raise awareness about the story to inspire other women to take action. I'm Lori Kranczer And until next time, you can make a positive impact through philanthropy every day. Thanks for listening
