Retiring boomers offer nonprofits a great opportunity

They can help fuel your volunteer and fundraising efforts

Government-reform initiatives, particularly in Medicaid, Medicare, and other federal and state grants, have been placing increasing pressure on the fiscal viability and stability of many tax-exempt health and human-service providers. The message from government has been clear for many years. That is, the continued existence of autonomous tax-exempt service providers will, in part, be increasingly dependent on the work of volunteers and the philanthropic support from the organization’s constituency. Accordingly, let’s talk about how the future viability of your organization can be enhanced through coordinated volunteer efforts and aggressive fundraising and development activities. 

The U.S. Census Bureau recently indicated that there are 74.1 million baby boomers, born between 1946 and 1964, living in the U.S. The baby boom population, of which I am a proud member, is retiring at an average rate of 10,000 individuals every day for the next 15 years. 

The people who are retiring each day create an enormous opportunity for tax-exempt organizations. Just look at the American Red Cross and its responsiveness to the recent hurricanes — Harvey in Texas and Irma in Florida. The abundance of people resources, experience, and talent that enters the retirement ranks each day must be tapped by the tax-exempt sector in amounts never seen before. I personally feel that the success of Uber and Lyft can largely be attributed to the baby boom generation’s desire for meaningful activities. 

The opportunity and availability of volunteer people resources is clearly at what many consider to be a historic high in the U.S. Accordingly, every organization’s strategic plan should have a goal of how best to capitalize on the availability of free and experienced labor. Technology advancement only adds to this potential, since people can volunteer from the comfort of their own home. 

In addition to volunteerism, virtually every tax-exempt organization’s strategic plan must also include goals and action steps that will secure the long-term fiscal viability and stability of the organization through more aggressive and successful fundraising efforts. The tax-exempt service sector is in the midst of a seminal change from the past 60 years beginning with LBJ’s “Great Society,” which gave birth to both the Medicare and Medicaid programs in 1965. 

As all levels of government are now publicizing increasing stress on their ability to fund safety-net health and human-service providers, this transformation and the resulting revenue gap must be replaced. If you are looking for evidence, please refer to recent Congressional proposals calling for a $1 trillion reduction in Medicaid spending growth over the next 10 years. And, I might add that the next 10 years will see the 74 million baby boomers continue to age and create increased demands for each and every type of medical and social-service support.

Accordingly, I offer the following 10 recommendations for your consideration as an individual volunteer, board member, or management of a tax-exempt organization. While certain of these suggestions may seem obvious, you would be amazed at how many tax-exempt organizations do not place appropriate emphasis on volunteerism and philanthropic support.

1. No substantial progress can be accomplished by charitable organizations or government if we do not make progress on the overwhelming challenges faced by our urban core. To that end, the public-education sector in Central New York, particularly in our city schools, continues to be a source of extraordinary frustration and lack of educational success for urban youth. Societal issues of poverty, violence, substance abuse, and lack of nutrition, coupled with the decline of the nuclear family, has placed extraordinary pressure for better results. There are numerous volunteer opportunities in urban education, as well as at those tax-exempt organizations that provide support to the education of our youth.

2. To be more specific, follow the example of our local Rotary and Kiwanis Clubs, as well as many other fraternal organizations, which offer tremendous value in terms of both volunteer support and financial contributions to support urban educational excellence that is not available within the budgetary constraints of our city school district. 

3. Identify families, including empty-nesters and the ever-growing early retiree constituency, who have the time and energy to adopt a student for character development, job opportunities, and developing social skills.

4. Through social-service referrals, find volunteers willing to adopt an at-risk family with children to provide monthly financial support and volunteer mentoring for our at-risk youth. 

5. The media has extensively covered the continued racial divides in our country. Each of us has something to offer, either overtly or anonymously, through random acts of kindness and generosity. Support at the core of these issues is being addressed by Greater Syracuse HOPE (Healing, Opportunity, Prosperity, and Empowerment) as well as dozens of tax-exempt and faith-based organizations devoting their entire mission to addressing and improving the core issues facing the city of Syracuse. This initiative is an excellent example of the benefits derived from a coalition of collaborative tax-exempt organizations.

6. Businesses in the community can offer regular and frequent job-shadowing opportunities for secondary school students to provide exposure, awareness, and the reality of a job experience to our at-risk youth.

7. Using the existing infrastructure of Central New York Community Foundation and the United Way, together with our city school district-sponsored charitable foundation, encourage and promote the concept of charitable donations from alumni, businesses, and friends who want to see Syracuse succeed.

8. Health-care systems and colleges and universities have an extraordinary track record in both volunteerism and philanthropic initiatives. There is no need to re-create the wheel. Learn from those who have been consistently successful in capitalizing on the value of volunteer time and financial support. 

9. Publicize your accomplishments in both volunteer services and fundraising initiatives, making maximum use of social-media platforms. There is a long history of the importance of communicating effectively with your targeted audience in each of these areas. The ALS “Ice Bucket Challenge” and the texting of $10 to hurricane-relief efforts are two relatively recent examples of benefits derived from social media. 

10. Figure out a way to connect with those baby-boomer retirees. It’s clear that strong philanthropic support for tax-exempt organizations frequently follows the volunteer connection and related effort. 

Each of the foregoing suggestions may require further discussion and tailoring for your particular organization’s facts and circumstances. I do believe that the resurgence of downtown development and the related focus of many organizations on addressing the core issues of urban decay and our social-service infrastructure will be a key component in assessing the success of these various initiatives for your organization.                           

Gerald J. Archibald, CPA, is a partner in charge of the management advisory services at The Bonadio Group. Contact him at garchibald@bonadio.com