GiftsBy Richard Read
The Oregonian, December 30, 2008
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Portland-based Mercy Corps and Medical Teams International cope with less.
On a fixed income at 89, Karolyn Christy gets more calls from charities than she can support. So the Southeast Portland woman was pleasantly surprised recently when Mercy Corps called just to thank her -- not to ask for another donation.
"Some charities call and tell you how much they'd like you to send, which I find almost insulting," said Christy, a retired teacher and travel agent who gives modestly to Mercy Corps each year. "But this time, they were calling to thank me for participating. I thought that was good PR."
Portland-based Mercy Corps, and other international humanitarian organizations such as Medical Teams International in Tigard, face particular challenges appealing for contributions during the recession. The business of philanthropy is becoming more difficult for organizations that work abroad.
Strapped donors are tempted to give closer to home, even as the global economic crisis also increases needs overseas. The head of a Washington, D.C., coalition representing international organizations says private donations, which total almost $6 billion a year to such agencies, could drop 5 to 15 percent annually during the downturn.
Mercy Corps managers could not have predicted two years ago, when they launched their first-ever capital campaign -- a five-year, $37.5 million project -- that global stock markets would tank. Now the organization must climb a steeper hill. It has raised $8.85 million of the $25 million portion sought from private donors. Mercy Corps' campaign also depends on public institutions -- governments and international organizations.
The capital campaign will support a global headquarters under construction in Portland's Old Town and interactive-display centers there and in New York, as well as worldwide emergency response.
"It's certainly a big endeavor at a tough time," said Joy Portella, communications director for Mercy Corps, which operates relief and development programs in three dozen countries. "We're hoping that donors come through."
Aside from the campaign, Mercy Corps managers are concerned by a decrease in private donations for regular operations.
Last summer, the organization exceeded fundraising goals and won an unusual amount of grants that will extend for as many as five years. Conservatively invested reserves escaped hedge-fund-style losses.
Yet Mercy Corps' private donations fell from $2.4 million in September to less than $2 million in both October and November. That's also down from November 2007, when more than $2 million came in.
"The downward trend in the past couple of months is definitely a cause for concern," Portella said. "December will be a very important month for us, as we normally see strong end-of-year fundraising."
Medical Teams International, which sends volunteer teams of medical workers abroad, also counts heavily on December giving. Contributions since July 1 have slipped about 3 percent, to $3.9 million or so, compared with the same period last year.
"The sizes of the gifts are down," said Bas Vanderzalm, Medical Teams president. "But we're getting the same number of gifts as we have in the past."
New approaches
Vanderzalm's organization is trying new approaches, raising almost $60,000 from Seahawks fans at a recent game to support relief efforts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
An anonymous couple donated $200,000 to match contributions made through Medical Teams' "Gifts of Hope Catalog." Donations are 30 percent ahead of last year through the catalog, which enables contributors to give items such as child-survival kits in honor of relatives and friends.
Medical Teams also raised more than $1 million in November at its annual auction, about 20 percent more than last year. But some larger donors have told Vanderzalm they have lost investment money.
"They say if things don't improve, they may need to reconsider what they're able to give," Vanderzalm said. "I do think there will be increasing pressure on organizations like ours."
$1 billion loss
Samuel Worthington, president of InterAction, a coalition of relief organizations including Mercy Corps, predicted this month that charities providing aid abroad could lose as much as $1 billion in donations a year because of the economic collapse.
But President-elect Barack Obama's focus on international causes could give humanitarian groups more prominence, managers said, even if his administration can't honor his campaign pledge to double U.S. foreign aid. Today, Worthington said, just 3 percent of private U.S. giving supports work overseas.
Demands on international organizations don't let up.
Medical Teams International is overriding its budget to dispatch teams to Congo and to send cholera medications to Zimbabwe. Mercy Corps is working in Zimbabwe as well, and supplying water to more than 100,000 people displaced by fighting in eastern Congo. Both organizations also run aid programs in Oregon.
For its phone campaign to thank donors, Mercy Corps is drafting workers who normally manage relief-and-development programs. The staff member who called Karolyn Christy was Colleen Regalbuto, a material-aid officer who gathers emergency materials such as tools, tents and food.
Mercy Corps is well on its way to making 3,000 thank-you calls, said Jennifer Schmidt, senior development officer.
"There's generally a pause when you call, a little bit of a stunned silence when they're waiting for you to say, 'By the way, we'd like you to make a donation,' " Schmidt said. "After that pause, the calls have been really nice."
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