Dear Board of Visitors:First, let me thank each of you for accepting this new role as Hartsook Institutes is reintroduced to the Philanthropic community as an independent organization dedicated to Growing Philanthropy through Fundraising Education and Applied Research. Hope each of you are having a good holiday.

FUNDRAISER OF THE YEAR

Particularly in HARTSOOK’s hometown of Kansas City the company has been the lead sponsor of the Philanthropy Day celebration. Additionally, we have been dedicated to assuring outstanding professional fundraisers in KC gets the recognition they deserve. This year, KCAFP recognized Robin Rowland, graduate of Hartsook MA in Fundraising, Eugene Tempel Fellow, and long time VP for Development at Wayside Waifs, the leading animal rescue center in KC. She joins twelve other HARTSOOK related clients, employees and students out of the 19 years the award has been given. Coincidentally, North Carolina honored Bob Hartsook their AFP award, while Bob has been nominated over the years for this award, he has intentionally withdrawn so others could be recognized. This year he accepted.

GROWING PHILANTHROPY IS OUR CALLING

Since our founding in 2009, Hartsook Institutes for Fundraising has had a dedication to vastly surpassing the traditional growth of 1% or 2% tracked by Giving USA each year. Look for a white paper on the use and growth in the for profit world in attracting the “discretionary dollar” to their enterprise. While nonprofits appear to just trade from one nonprofit to another, for profit business have extensively reevaluated and repackaged their product for delivery to the market place. We will expose while nonprofits grow in numbers and tax deductibility without direct service, direct service philanthropy has actually decreased since the creation of the GUSA study in 1954.

We have invested some have estimated as much as $30 million to the academic and other vehicle growth plans with only limited success. While studies conflict, primarily because of method of data collection, many fundraisers dislike their work, their supervisors are disappointed in their accomplishment and according to a recent Master’s Thesis, non human contact jobs are the most sought in philanthropy. Let’s be honest growth in philanthropy occurs as a result of major large gift given on a regular basis.

FUNDRAISING COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS 

 For the past year particularly after the virus crisis, Hartsook Institute has been an active follower of an AFP (largest collection of fundraising professionals) online question and answer daily email presentation. Hundreds of questions, many dealing with virus related activities or events, but in our interest of growing philanthropy we have engaged in 14 conversations concerning Legacy Giving, Gift Counting, Use of Donor Advised Funds, Overhead v. Program, and a variety of questions on ethics. We have stimulated much debate among members with our comments. Growing Philanthropy will not happen with the same stale answers of the past. We have intentionally sought to be aggressive, provocative while maintaining a civility in our responses. Twice individuals withdrew their opinions because our response presents reasonable exceptions and opportunities.

BOARD OF VISITORS

Our Board of Visitors selection has not been completed. Ultimately our goal is to gather men and women some of long standing leadership in the philanthropic movement, Gail Freeman, Murray Blackwelder, and the like. Bring in business and professional experiences as philanthropist and involved citizens such Michael C. Manning (Top 50 Lawyers in America), Roger Werholtz (former Secretary of Corrections),  Leo Morton (former businessman and University Chancellor). Finally, but most important are young leaders in philanthropy names you may not recognize, we have identified to be the leaders of philanthropy for decades to come such as John Fogarty, Nick Reid, Jeffrey Trimbath, Sara Auld, and others. The Board not burdened by meetings, financial gifts, or have to participation commit only their availability to review new, interesting, outside the lines thinking, about dramatic change in the philanthropic model. Thanks to each of you. Find them at HartsookInstitutes.com/Boardofvisitors

UPDATE ON HARTSOOK INSTITUTES PROGRAMS

Initially our work was focused on University engagement. This will report on those relationships, lessons learned from our successes and maybe more lessons learned from our disappointment. Clear the expansion of fundraising education and research is vast and, frankly, with an application element interesting, notinto action primarily while researchers affirm their results as measurable, few have field tested, onsite experience, or real personal affirmation of the test results. To know for instance that the “Bag Lady Syndrome Doesn’t Exist” is good to know that older women in general and widows in particular do not change their spending habits as they near the end of life, having more “discretionary dollars” for philanthropy. Know that and not knowing how to use it limits its impact. 

As documented by the Wall Street Journal in 2006, Hartsook philanthropy began with Bob Hartsook being selected as person to create the Robert F Hartsook Chair in Fundraising at Indiana University. Coinciding with the Chair was the appointment of Adrian Sargeant as the first Chair. While Sargeant has moved on accepting Chairs at Avila University, Plymouth University and others worldwide. He and Bob Hartsook had in common a desire to challenge tradition substituting truly growth methods for nonprofit institutions.

Additionally over the years Hartsook has worked with and continues to work with the Lilly School in the following ways:
1. Arthur Franztreb Fundraising Lectureship: This lecture is to introduce to philanthropy those new ideas for advancement of philanthropy. Franztreb was after the acquisition of his firm Chair Emeritus of HARTSOOK.
2. FRANZTREB/HARTSOOK MILLION DOLLAR GIFT LIST is a program of the Lilly School for more than two dedicates. Beyond its purpose of list those million dollar gifts that are publicly announced, advances Arthur and Bob’s belief in illustrating many ways million dollar gifts can be made by many who are unaware the practices of certain foundations and nonprofits of equal payments on pledges, limit on years of pledge payments, integration of estate combined with cash gifts are all beneficiaries of Million Dollar Gift List. Recently, the list was given a $500k grant from the Gates Foundation to update its data basis.
3. Over the years Hartsook has underwritten Hartsook Fellow, contributed to the Eugene Tempel Deanship Fund and the Hartsook Applied Fundraising Research Center( on hold at present time).
Clearly the selection Amir Pasic as the successor of the beloved long Director and named Dean Eugene Tempel was important for the School’s maturity and outreach. Hartsook Institute has been appreciate of his openness to comment, criticism and respect. Coming from CASE, he has an appreciation for vast higher education models.

Dean Pasic was brilliant as he became Dean, there was a long time opening for the Hartsook Chair in Fundraising. Knowing of the Institutes interest in Applied Fundraising Research, sought out one of the few recognized academics who does “field experiments” in the social science of the economics of charity at the University of Chicago. With the cooperation of Indiana and Chicago created a Visiting Hartsook Chair in Fundraising with John List. Dr. List was on President Bush’s Council of Economic Advisors. 
As a result, List as the leader in this work allowing researcher to infer casual effects of different market environments, policies and interventions. Hopefully, this engagement has influenced the researchers at Indiana to look for more application aspects of their research.Indiana and Hartsook Institutes are active in the Science of Philanthropy Initiative Conference held in the fall of each year.

For several years Hartsook Institute and HARTSOOK supported the Hartsook Centre for Sustainable Philanthropy at Plymouth University. It was an exciting time as a Charity Lab for Psychological Philanthropic impact was created by Jen Shang, first graduate of the Lilly School PhD program. With Adrian Sargeant as the Hartsook Chair of the Department created in the Business School, opportunities for initially 9 students to pursue a Hartsook PhD. HARTSOOK founder and Chair Emeritus was recognized in 2017 with an Honorary Doctorate in Business from the University. 

Over time Co-Directors Sargeant and Shang found the University environment difficult for their imaginative ideas leaving Plymouth to create the free standing UK recognized Institute for Sustainable Philanthropy in which HARTSOOK Chair/CEO serves as its first Board Chair. 

Avila University of Kansas City was an exciting adventure and decade long journey with Hartsook Institutes. The first MA in Fundraising was established and began classes in 2009 moving to a comprehensive online presence in 2014 through 2019. Over 49 students graduated with the Masters and estimated over 150 students took classes in the field. The On Line MA in Fundraising was ranked top fundraising Graduate program in the country. Avila award Bob Hartsook, its Avila Medal of Philanthropy in 2016; recognized his fundraising leadership as one of the 100 significant men and women in Avila’s History. Both Bob Hartsook and Matt Beem served on the Avila Board. HARTSOOK as the fundraising consultancy raised over $100 million working with three Avila Presidents. After 15 years of association Hartsook Institute terminated its relationship with Avila in 2019.

GROWING PHILANTHROPY AWARD

Hartsook Institute GROWING PHILANTHROPY AWARD was initiated in 2009. Above Professor and Hartsook Visiting Chair at Indiana/Chicago, John List, accepts the 2017 award given by HARTSOOK CHAIR/CEO Matt Beem and HARTSOOK PRESIDENT Karin Cox at the Science of Philanthropy Symposium. The award is only given at least once a year to those individuals and institutions who demonstrate extraordinary interest in growing philanthropy. Others have included The Kresge Foundation, 2009; Murray Blackwelder, UMKC Foundation, 2010; Roger Lowe, CFO 2014; Feeding America/Harvesters Food Bank, 2010. In 2019, the Institute gave a Special GP Award to Bob Hartsook as Founder of the GP Movement. The 2020 Award has been determined but a delay in presentation because of the virus protections. See all Here

BOOKS, PERIODICALS, PRESENTATIONS

ASR Media has distinguished itself as one of the leading micro press trade publisher of philanthropic material. As the exclusive publisher of HARTSOOK books number over a dozen with more than 150 monographs available on Amazon. Most books and monographs are available on Kindle or Amazon. It also serves as the host for books from Hartsook Chairs, John List and Adrian Sargeant as well as Jen Shang. Sargeant and Shang’s book on the essentials of FUNDRAISING, serves as the only Masters level main text with professorial support. Beem, Cox and Hartsook contribute chapters to both the first and second edition of his well adopted teaching tool. In 2020, a special edition of the 2017 $231 Billion Raised and Counting… appeared to commemorate the history of the founding of HARTSOOK and its story of growth over more than 30 years. HartsookInstitutes.com/literary-works
BobHartsook.com

A new program of Hartsook Institutes is BobHartsook.com which is a mentoring, coaching, leadership initiative to support promising young fundraising professionals who have the interest in advancing dramatically the fundraising profession. Specifically it hopes to attract no more than 10 young professionals for this work. Currently we have three that have qualified for acceptance. Our younger members of the Board of Visitors has taken advantage of this for its original purpose and career development. Find it at bobhartsook.com

Prevention of Non Profit Malfeasance Review

To be available in 2022 is Prevention of Non Profit Malfeasance Review. With estimates that as much as 25% of all philanthropy is tainted, with the “ugly underbelly” of the nonprofit world seen widely through my consulting years. Indiana University reached out to me to develop and review standards. Rather than being a whistle blower on nonprofits. Hartsook Institutes decided to develop a proactive program. That is why you see one of America’s top 50 trial lawyer, a former Secretary of Corrections, a leading Fundraising Personnel recruiter all on our Board. Important for our leadership to know this is a new product and direction for Hartsook Institutes.

GO TO WHERE YOU GET YOUR PODCASTS

The GROWING PHILANTHROPY PODCAST will come on line this summer or early fall. While there are many of different sorts available. The need for Hartsook Institutes as a leader in fundraising education, research, visionary, etc. to have a communication tool is on the horizon. Important to have high quality guests, reliable availability, and provocative, creative and sometimes controversial guests. Watch for it.

Of course all of this would not happen if it were not for the approaching 34 year old HARTSOOK, fundraising consultancy worldwide under the leadership of Dr. Matt Beem, Chair/CEO. Matt himself is an illustration of HARTSOOK’s commitment to one of the founder’s guiding principles, “there is no security, only opportunity.” Leading HARTSOOK during the pandemic he has follow our success of being the most aggressive and accessible fundraising consultancy during a crisis. As he would say, we were there in “87 Real Estate Recession, End of the Dot Com Boom in late 90’s, 9/11 2001; the Great Recession of 2008 and now the Pandemic. One fortune 400 CEO once said, “HARTSOOK raises money when nobody else does. It is not a business, but an enterprise.” Hartsook Institutes does not do consultation with nonprofits in major gift, campaigns, endowments, all those element of day to day leadership that changes a nonprofit. In fact Hartsook Institutes, this year has referred nearly a dozen prospects who have come to it back to HARTSOOK, our founding father. Congratulations to Matt, Karin Cox, Janell Johnson, Ross Pfannenstiel and Danny Kohrs with their support led by Tammy Weinman on a great 2020.Could not be more proud.

NEW HOME KANSAS CITY

As the need for redirection for Hartsook Institutes, it only made sense to return to HARTSOOK’s home town of Kansas City. Since 1987 the company has raised $18 Billion with over 1000 clients building over 6000 nonprofit facilities. Highlighted by Union Station, WW1 Museum, Nelson Atkins Art Museum, UMKC, Park University, Avila University, Mid America Nazarene University, Children’s Mercy, Truman Med, St Luke’s, Shawnee Mission Medical, Kansas City University for Medical & Biological Science, KC Art Institute; Salvation Army, Rose Brooks, Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, Village Church, Merillac, St Paul’s School, Pembroke School, Barstow School, Boys and Girls Clubs, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Vision Research Center, and hundreds more nonprofits who have use the company more than once and for several facilities. So Hartsook Institute.com is in KC.We are located on the top of Two Lights with the view above.   

Best for 2021,

Bob