Alexander V. Laskin - Investor Relations and Financial Communication

Investor relations is limited to the corporate sector of the economy – only corporations have investors. There are no investors in government or not-for-profit organizations. It is impossible to become a shareholder in the Department of Education, for example, or own stock in the Red Cross. It does not mean, however, that there is no financial communication and no financial communicators in the governmental and not-for-profit organizations. In fact, some of these government or not-for-profit organizations produce significant amounts of financial information.

For example, most countries around the world have some type of central bank authority, a governmental agency with supervisory and regulatory powers responsible for the country’s banking system and monetary policy. Many of the communications coming from the central banks focus on financial information. In the United States, since 1913, the Federal Reserve System , or simply the Fed, has served as the central bank authority. A year after Congress created the Fed, the Federal Reserve delivered its first annual report and has been providing these reports ever since. In addition to annual reports, the communicators at the Federal Reserve produce a large volume of publications, including publications of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, publications of District Federal Reserve Banks, statements and speeches of the Federal Reserve, economic data publications, and various statistical releases. The Fed is responsible for collecting, analyzing, and communicating such important data as the federal debt, gross domestic product, consumer price index, industrial production, and many more (Figure 2.1). Similar to investor relations professionals, financial communicators at the Fed must go beyond just putting the information out there into the void: they need to ensure their audiences understand the information, what the information means, and frame it in the appropriate economic, political, and social contexts. In other words, they have the function of explaining the information and educating their audiences. Former chairman of the Federal Reserve System, Ben Bernanke said, “Perhaps most important, as public servants whose decisions affect the lives of every citizen, central bankers have a responsibility to provide the public as much explanation of those decisions as possible, as long as doing so does not compromise the decision-making process itself.”

Figure 2.1 Monetary policy report. Source : Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. February 19, 2021.

Of course, many other departments in the federal government are also responsible for communicating financial information – the Department of Treasury, Internal Revenue Services, Securities and Exchange Commission, and many more. The same is also true at the state and local levels. For example, in the State of Florida, the Florida Department of Revenue communicates large volumes of financial information about money collected as taxes and distribution of tax money. Similarly, the Florida Department of Lottery provides information about money collection and spending from the lotteries. Since money is the lifeblood of the modern economy, even the agencies that do not necessarily focus their work on financial matters communicate financial information from time to time. For example, law enforcement agencies may talk about money laundering or counterfeit bills, while various health departments may talk about costs of vaccinations. And almost every government agency talks about their budget needs and priorities when it is time to ask for money from the legislature. It is also beneficial for government agencies to have a high-quality financial communication strategy targeted at the general public in order to show the importance of the work the agency is doing and to pressure the lawmakers to expand the budget of the agency or at least to avoid potential budget cuts. As a result, expert financial communicators are needed in every part of the government.

Not-for-profit organizations also communicate a great deal of financial information, especially as it relates to their need for, receipt, and expenditure of money. And these are no small amounts – Americans gave US$410 billion to charitable organizations in 2017 alone. Almost one-third of this money went to religious organizations – this is more than all combined donations to education, health, and culture and humanities charities. Financial communicators responsible for generating these donations are fundraising professionals. Animal shelters, food pantries, college and universities, and even United Nations engage in fundraising activities to support their operations and advance their causes. For example, the United Nations Refugee Agency developed a campaign in partnership with Kickstarter to raise money for a refugee humanitarian crisis.

These fundraising jobs have similar requirements and expectations to investor relations jobs. It is vital for fundraising professionals to be exceptionally knowledgeable about the organizations they work for. Donors may have different preferences and different capabilities – it is essential for fundraisers to align what the donors can and want to support with the needs of their nonprofit. Donors often want to stay engaged with the organizations they support – so, building and maintaining these relationships also becomes an important job of the fundraising professional. And, of course, it is important to report to the donors on how their money is spent and what the progress is of the initiatives these donors supported – not that different from updating the investors of a corporation on the progress the corporation made in the annual reports.

A recent job advertisement from Yale University, looking for a fundraising officer, describes the responsibilities of a future hire:

1 Identifies, cultivates and solicits Yale alumni/alumnae and friends who are capable of making gifts to the University.

2 Devises and implements cultivation and solicitation strategies. Evaluates various gift opportunities and giving vehicles; recommends the most suitable for a particular donor. Develops, writes and presents proposals in keeping with university needs and in line with donor’s interest and financial situation.

3 Initiates and maintains contact with current, past, and prospective donors, promoting positive donor relations. Engages volunteers proactively as needed. Determines and executes events and programs in support of development activities, assessing the success of such events/programs and recommending changes. Identifies disaffected or disinterested donors and devises strategies to encourage/redirect their interests as appropriate.

4 Interacts with internal contacts such as deans, directors, faculty, officers and other Development staff to consult on University needs, cultivation, solicitation and stewardship strategies, and potential donors. Keeps abreast of University events and disseminates University information to donors, prospective donors, volunteers and team members as appropriate.

The professional association for fundraising, the AFP has about 30,000 members. AFP is significantly larger than NIRI – this reflects the fact that there are more not-for-profit organizations that need fundraising than there are publicly traded corporations that need investor relations. The average salary of the fundraising professional is US$85,060. A typical title for the person leading the fundraising function at an organization is the chief development officer (CDO). CDO is the highest fundraising title. It is usually reserved for somebody who manages a large fundraising department or program. However, many fundraising professionals work for smaller organizations and typically are the only person in the department – in this case, they would have the title of fundraising officer or fundraising manager . Other titles in fundraising are vice president for development and advancement, director of philanthropy, or gifts officer.