Tiffany Reed is the chief development officer for United Way of Rhode Island Inc., joining the organization’s senior leadership team this past September. She has more than 20 years of experience working in and around nonprofits, and has designed, advised and directed development initiatives and capital campaigns that have collectively raised more than $400 million. Prior to United Way, Reed was the chief development officer for Tufts Medicine.
PBN: Rhode Island, unfortunately, has been at or near the bottom of national rankings for giving to nonprofits. How will you help turn that tide around for the community to benefit?
REED: None of these rankings capture the full picture of how generous Rhode Islanders are. I think it’s important to first look at how the data is evaluated. Giving USA, a hallmark philanthropy publication, calculates its rankings through estimations based on tax data, economic indicators and demographics, and ranks states by giving as a percentage of an individual’s income. If donors do not itemize their tax returns, it greatly affects this data set. According to Giving USA, we’re 48th, while Forbes has us closer to the middle of the pack at 31, based on a different set of data.
Still, we can’t ignore that across America, fewer people give or volunteer today than did in 2004, or that working- and middle-class households have fewer discretionary dollars to give as living costs have skyrocketed. Ultimately, fundraising is about engagement and building an emotional connection to our work. Donors want to see and feel the impact of their giving, and United Way has so many of those stories to share.
PBN: Where specifically in Rhode Island’s nonprofit sector do you see a lack of philanthropic support? And how will you help bolster that?
REED: Rhode Island is disproportionately dependent on the philanthropy of its corporate community and partners. We need their support to remain strong, of course, but we also need to work with individuals across the state to help them understand the significance of our nonprofit sector.
On top of the workforce impact and the fact 1 in 6 Rhode Islanders is employed by a nonprofit, the sector’s influence literally touches the lives of each and every one of us in one shape or form. And that’s a good thing – nonprofits are vital to making our state the best it can be.
Nationwide, we’re beginning to see a wealth transfer and that’s where you need to build relationships with the younger generation of philanthropists and understand what drives their potential giving. We also need to find ways to grow as a state. If our businesses perceive a lack of opportunity, so will our nonprofits and that hinders operations and how philanthropy can impact mission-driven work.
PBN: Explain the transformation you led at Tufts that helped double its fundraising revenue to more than $20 million in one year.
REED: Three main things powered the transformation: a strong team, the infrastructure necessary to make data-driven decisions, and the implementation of best practices. I’m incredibly proud of the development team we built and the strong culture we established.
Leaders often don’t focus enough on change management, and I knew that as we scaled and changed how we did things, we had to bring people along. We worked across the institution to build relationships in order to strengthen the culture of philanthropy. At one point, over a three-month span, we met with more than 400 stakeholders – relationships matter in this work. A major challenge nonprofits face is building relationships with new donors.
We worked to improve infrastructure so we could better leverage data to identify and connect with potential donors. We brought rigor to implementing fundraising best practices. Employing the right strategy, and the right tactic, at the right time with the right resources and partner – combined with the story Tufts has to tell about its impact – is where you find the magic.
PBN: What other capital campaigns have you spearheaded to help raise money for organizations?
REED: I’ve had the opportunity of working with more than 50 organizations in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Ohio and Maine. Their work spans the nonprofit sector, and their campaign goals ranged from $3 million to $300 million.
My focus has always been to work with organizations to increase transformational giving from individuals. I believe that successful campaigns are always spearheaded by strong executive and volunteer leaders, not just development professionals – it’s truly a team effort.
Locally, I have been privileged to support efforts at St. Mary Academy – Bay View, Crossroads Rhode Island, and First Unitarian Church of Providence.
PBN: Will you also work in any way with the Alliance for Nonprofit Impact to help mentor local organizations on how to fundraise for their causes?
REED: I hope so! I spent nearly a decade working for CCS Fundraising, the oldest and largest fundraising consulting firm in the country. I loved my work there, especially with organizations just getting started with fundraising, or were looking to really scale up their operations.
The work the Alliance for Nonprofit Impact is doing is critical to Rhode Island, where nearly 1 in 6 members of our workforce are employed by a nonprofit, and where nonprofits contribute so much to our social fabric. Fundraising is part art and part science – for smaller nonprofits, there are key levers they can pull that will make a difference in engaging donors and raising more money.
I’m hoping as the Alliance grows, membership will look to United Way as a top-of-class fundraising operation for best practices, tools and resources, and 1-to-1 or small-group mentoring.
I’d love the opportunity to partner with local nonprofit leaders who are members of the Alliance to increase their fundraising, which supports a stronger nonprofit sector and a stronger state.
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on X at @James_Bessette.
