A global perspective series: Fundraising in France
Dear Diary,
I am back with a fantastic interview and addition to the Global Perspective series to learn about Fundraising in France. Emily Robin is the Senior Director of Development at INSEAD, notably known as the Business School for the World, based in France.
Q: What three words best capture fundraising in France, and why?
Emily: Non-profit organizations and philanthropy are rooted in French society. The importance of la vie associative – participating in non-profit organizations – is a deeply held value in France. The country counts more than 1.5 million associations, and anyone applying for citizenship even needs to be prepared to discuss the associations in which they participate!
At the same time, fundraising and giving is generally more understated in France. Here, the fundraising focus has been on corporate giving, planned giving, and direct mail. Individual giving at the major and principal gift level is much less common than in the U.S. and many well-established charities are only just starting to implement, or even think about implementing, individual giving/major gifts fundraising strategies.
In the seven years since that I have lived and worked in France, I’ve seen fundraising growing and professionalizing tremendously with a highly committed community of fundraising professionals working across charitable sectors. The outpouring of support following the devastating Notre Dame fire and the timely investment in the Pasteur Institute’s Covid-19 vaccine research are two high-profile examples reflecting not only the tremendous capacity of French donors, but also the inspiring targets for philanthropic support that exist within the Hexagone.
I am excited and optimistic for the future of fundraising in France!
Q: Data security in Europe has been an issue and topic in recent years due to GDPR, what would you say is your biggest advice for others around the world who have not yet surveyed their data policies?
Emily: The European Union, along with individual European countries, takes data protection very seriously, and it is important for institutions in the U.S. and elsewhere to be mindful of this. At the same time, it is worth remembering that GDPR and other regulations are not intended to prohibit the good work that universities and other charitable organizations do seek philanthropic support – and GDPR is not a “death sentence” for a non-profit’s outreach to European constituents.
My best advice, as it is related to GDPR, for institutions who have not yet surveyed their data policies: Take stock of where you are and where you’re going to determine how much you need to do, then seek out benchmarks and specialist partners to help you get there.
In practical terms, this means looking in your inventory on what you’re already doing in Europe (how many alumni and friends do you have there, how are you engaging with them, are you actively fundraising there, etc.) and articulating what it is you’d like to do there in the future (do you want to expand your outreach, send more fundraising appeals, etc. or no plans to do much outside of U.S. anytime soon). Once you’ve got a good sense of your current program and your future aspirations, then you can think about what you might need to do – if anything – to comply with GDPR and other data regulations.
If you find that you need to do something now, I suggest joining existing conversations around this subject – within CASE or APRA, for example – and learning from the great work that has been done by European and UK institutions over the past 4+ years since GDPR went into effect. The work that these institutions have done has been shared among, for example, CASE Europe communities, and accessing this can provide benchmarks that are specific to data policies in fundraising, alumni relations, and supporter engagement.
Finally, if you find that your institution needs a thorough response, it is worth seeking outside counsel with specialized knowledge and experience working with non-profit and charitable organizations for GDPR and data compliance. Seek referrals from your peer group.
Q: What makes fundraising in France unique? And, what are some characteristics of your donor pool? Do you think there are similarities and differences in how you have been able to prospect, in comparison to what peer institutions around the world have shared with you?
Emily: In many ways, France is a great environment for charitable giving: national pride for la vie associative, coupled with a robust array of available structures for foundations and endowments, along with favorable tax treatment for individual and corporate donations and for legacy gifts (bequests and gifts of insurance). The most recent analysis from France générosités reports that charitable giving exceeds €8.5 billion annually ($8.1 billion in U.S. dollars).
At the same time, compared to the American model of fundraising, the model in France has been more focused on corporate giving and on “legs” for the larger gifts. Among individual donors, direct mail is the major driver, and many organizations are only more recently thinking about how to secure more “grands dos individus” – major individual donors. This makes fundraising in France different from the model I experienced in the U.S.
However, it might be helpful to provide some context about INSEAD in general before reflecting on fundraising for this school, while being based in France. INSEAD is a top-ranked business school with campuses in France, Singapore, and Abu Dhabi, as well as a physical presence in North America with our San Francisco Hub for Business Innovation. Even though the school was founded and is still based in the historic French town of Fontainebleau, the school is somewhat of an anomaly in this country.
INSEAD is known as “The Business School for the World” and as this moniker implies, the school has an incredibly international community. In the intake of each new MBA class, no nationality represents more than 10% of the overall student body and there are typically more than 70 nationalities per cohort.
This international diversity is similarly reflected in our alumni and supporter community, and since the launch of the school’s Force for Good campaign in 2013, INSEAD has prioritized our development efforts on these individuals. With less than a year to go, we’ve raised €296 million, against a goal of €250M.
We’ve had strong support from donors in Europe, including record-breaking individual gifts of €40 million and €60 million from two alumni on the continent. Alumni and friends in North America and Asia have contributed roughly 10% and 8%, respectively, and donors from the Middle East, South America, and Africa have contributed the remaining funds raised.
INSEAD’s fundraising, therefore, is truly international fundraising. Even for those of us whose offices are just steps away from the Château de Fontainebleau, while we may be based in France, we are fundraising all over the world.
At INSEAD, our prospecting work is complicated by the global footprint of alumni and supporter community, including in parts of the world that are subject to greater data protection regulations that limit public disclosure of financial information or are simply more difficult for researchers to penetrate linguistically or culturally. Despite these challenges, we have developed a coherent approach to considering potential philanthropic capacity, and our frontline fundraisers can use this to inform their work with alumni and friends.
Q: What resources or professional development opportunities do you rely on to learn about new topics in the fundraising field? (Emily, this is in reference to clubs/organizations, articles, any resources that you are willing to share that you utilize)
Emily: There is so much fundraising creativity and innovation coming out of Europe! For me, both CASE Europe and the Association Française des Fundraisers have been key learning communities. This applies not only to fundraisers working in France and Europe, but also to advancement professionals looking to penetrate this part of the world.
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Many thanks to you, Emily, for your time and wealth of knowledge on Fundraising in France.
Until next time, November 15th!
