FundSvcs Community

I have an additional, related, observation: I am an avid listener to public radio and when circumstances prohibit me from listening to Morning Edition on my local station, I will stream it later in the morning from a sister station for one of my California University clients. That was the case this morning. During a news break, the station promoted their sustainer program - as well they should! But this time with a twist. Their focus was on existing sustainers who were paying monthly by credit card. And they were talking about the high credit card fees they must pay. So they were encouraging those donors to call the station and switch to a monthly bank draft program (as well as new donors to do the same)!!!!! Now, I have advocated for nonprofit organizations to push EFT since the 1980s if, for no other reason, I implemented the first automated system for handling those at the FIrst National Bank of Atlanta in 1983. I then went to Duke and "sold" the idea to Advancement Management and we had over 1,000 EFT donors. Anyway, EFT payments also have a fee, but it is a per item fee, not based on payment size. So I totally get why public radio might be pushing folk in that direction! John John H. Taylor Principal, John H. Taylor Consulting 2604 Sevier St. Durham, NC 27705 johntaylorconsulting@gmail.com 919.816.5903 (cell/text) Serving the Advancement Community Since 1987 On Wed, Jan 23, 2019 at 5:49 PM John Taylor <johntaylorconsulting@gmail.com> wrote: > I am enjoying this discussion and have nothing earth-shattering to share. > However, this seems to be in-line with two national transaction volume > studies I reviewed earlier in 2018 and another from 2017. I conducted the > research simply to assuage the proposal made by a VP at an institution > suggesting that they did not need as many gift processors going forward > because people were moving away from checks and moving to online and that > was going to mean less data entry. Okay - that's so wrong on so many > levels. But I digress. > > The studies (one I believe was published by Experian - I cannot recall the > earlier one) simply confirmed what you are seeing. Cash may not be king - > but it still remains a very strong force. > > What I distinctly remember was the suggestion (statistically) that > cash/check transactions are routinely one quarter the dollar size of > credit card (or noncash) payments. That would make sense to your payment > analysis - perhaps more people are paying by installment with checks/drafts > than single annual payments by credit cards. > > The other interesting, and a bit unexpected, tidbit I learned from my > research was that cash overall is used more than cards in the US. > > John > > John H. Taylor > Principal, John H. Taylor Consulting > 2604 Sevier St. > Durham, NC 27705 > johntaylorconsulting@gmail.com > 919.816.5903 (cell/text) > > Serving the Advancement Community Since 1987 > > > On Wed, Jan 23, 2019 at 5:11 PM Greenbaum, Josh S <JGREE2@emory.edu> > wrote: > >> We just finished posting everything from December, so I’m starting to dig >> into volume analysis. I can say that overall we’re down a bit (~5% outside >> of a large event) YOY in total. Waiting on data for tender type. I’ll share >> when I have it. >> >> >> >> -jsg >> >> *_____________________* >> >> *Joshua S. Greenbaum 09B, Executive Director* >> >> *Advancement Information Services* >> >> Emory University, Advancement & Alumni Engagement >> >> 1762 Clifton Road, Office 1456, Atlanta, GA 30322 >> >> Office: (404) 712-2020, Fax: (404) 727-4876 >> >> josh.greenbaum@emory.edu >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> *From:* Advancement Services Discussion List < >> FUNDSVCS@LISTSERV.FUNDSVCS.ORG> *On Behalf Of *Forrest, Aaron >> *Sent:* Wednesday, January 23, 2019 4:38 PM >> *To:* FUNDSVCS@LISTSERV.FUNDSVCS.ORG >> *Subject:* [FUNDSVCS] Odd Volume Activity >> >> >> >> Is anyone else seeing a reversal of long historical trends (a decade!) >> whereby credit card volumes are declining and cash/checks are rising after >> a former long slow decline? I thought it was a blip last year. But December >> end volumes are confirming a distinct shift. *Very odd!* I’d be curious >> to know what my peers are seeing. *Not dollars but receipt volumes.* I >> let other people in the building worry about the dollars. Let me know what >> you see at your shop. >> >> >> >> Aaron >> >> >> >> Aaron Forrest CPA >> >> Senior Director Gift and Donor Services >> >> University of Rochester Office of Advancement >> >> Larry and Cindy Bloch Alumni and Advancement Center >> >> 300 East River Road >> >> Rochester NY 14627 >> >> Office 585.275.2799 / Fax 585-273-4558 >> >> Email aaron.forrest@rochester.edu >> >> >> >> [image: Description: Description: Description: >> cid:image001.gif@01C92E92.3629C5E0] <http://www.rochester.edu/> >> >> P Please consider the environment before printing this email. >> >> Confidentiality Notice: This message, including attachments may contain >> confidential information. Any unauthorized use, disclosure or distribution >> is prohibited. >> >> >> >> ------------------------------ >> >> This e-mail message (including any attachments) is for the sole use of >> the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged >> information. 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