Be intentionally personal with your non-profit donors

January 11, 2013 erik Donor-centered fundraising, Fundraising

Welcome to O.D. Fridays at DonorDreams blog. Every Friday for the foreseeable future we will be looking more closely at a recent post from John Greco’s blog called “johnponders ~ about life at work, mostly” and applying his organizational development messages to the non-profit community.

In a post titled “Just a Note; Just a Phone Call!” John talks about the power of a simple handwritten note or well-timed phone call.

After reading John’s post, I couldn’t stop obsessing about how many emails and texts I now get and how few phone calls and handwritten notes there now seem to be. For example, I went on a road trip on Wednesday of this week, which meant being in a car for six hours and away from my email inbox. I spent tons of time talking to clients on the phone, but when I arrived at my destination and looked at my email inbox . . . OMG!

Maybe it is just that I am getting older, but the world seems to be moving at an insane pace. I’m also not smart enough to know if our communications tools (e.g. text, email, etc) are fueling this speed or if it is just a necessity or symptom of this acceleration. However, I am smart enough to know that people who donate to non-profit organizations are special people who deserve a little more attention than a form letter generated from your donor database, a simple text or quick email.

In my experience, being intentional and personal gets you and your organization noticed.

I believe Penelope Burk, author of Donor Centered Fundraising and CEO of Cynus Applied Research, says it better than could:

“A handwritten letter is the ultimate in personal recognition because it proves that someone in your organization spent at least a few moments thinking specifically about that donor.”

As many of you know, Penelope does a ton of survey research and looks specifically at donor and organizational behaviors. According to the research in her book, the following reasons were cited by agencies as to when they compose a handwritten letter to a donor:

the donor is well-known to the writer;
the gift is of exceptional value;
the donor is a leadership volunteer;
the donor has been giving for a long time; or
the donor is prominent in the community.

A very dear friend of mine, who is the former executive director of one of my favorite local charities, used to employ handwritten note techniques with me all the time. Here is what I saw her doing:

I would receive a handwritten note on my donor database, computer generated gift acknowledgement letter;
On my birthday, I would receive a card with a handwritten note wishing me well and thanking me for my longtime support;
When a donor’s name shows up in the newspaper or someplace public, she would clip it or copy it, attach a nice handwritten note of congratulations and send it to them.

Phone calls are also super effective, but I believe you need to be very careful with who you put on the phone.

For example, one local charity likes to conduct “thank-a-thon” events during the Thanksgiving season. I cannot tell you how upset I get as one of their donor when I pick-up the phone and there is a client at the other end telling me how much they appreciate my donation.

What? Huh? You’re probably wondering “Where did THAT just come from?” or “What is wrong with THAT?”

For me, it goes back to Penelope Burk’s research and the number one reason why non-profit agencies get more personal in their acknowledgement and thanks:

“. . . the donor is well-known to the writer . . .”

Do I know the client making that thank-a-thon phone call? No.
Did I get solicited by the client? Nope.
Do I want to make the client feel uncomfortable? Definitely not.
Does a client, who is “obviously reading from a script,” come across to me as “personal” and “heartfelt”? Absolutely not!

Am I opposed to thanks-a-thons as a donor stewardship tactic? No . . . but speaking personally as a donor I can honestly say that an informal, unscripted, personal phone call from the person who had originally asked me for money would’ve been something special and memorable.

What is your organization’s policy, procedure or practice around handwritten notes or phone calls to donors? What has been your personal experience as a donor? Any thoughts on what appears to be a trend around using more and more forms of impersonal communication (e.g. text and email) and what can be done to guard against its overuse? Please use the comment box below to share your thoughts, opinions and experiences.

Erik Anderson
Founder & President, The Healthy Non-Profit LLC
www.thehealthynonprofit.com
erik@thehealthynonprofit.com
http://twitter.com/#!/eanderson847
http://www.facebook.com/eanderson847
http://www.linkedin.com/in/erikanderson847

Follow-up: Is ePhilanthropy the future of charitable giving?

January 10, 2013 erik Fundraising, technology

At the end of 2011, I predicted in a year-end blog post that we would see an “increased focus by non-profit organizations on pursuing and securing charitable contributions by using online strategies and tactics resources“. Last week, I thought it would be fun to look back and determine if my prognostications where off-the-mark and by how much.

Here is some of what I found:

online giving continues to climb . . . in fact, the growth numbers continue to be double digit;
more people are turning to online ways to donate at the end of the year; and
according to surveys more non-profit leaders are saying they believe online is the future.

In reality, I didn’t need to do much clicking around to find evidence that ePhilanthropy is a real long-term trend. All you need to do is open your eyes and look around. In just the last few days, this is some of what I saw:

A St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital billboard driving home last night, and it simply told me to go online and make a contribution.
An advertisement in a city bus vestibule for the Red Cross, and it simply told me to go online and give.
My email inbox continually gives me stuff from non-profit organizations, and everything I read simply says “click here and donate now”.

If you trust your eyes, you know that online giving is a trend and will go on to become a very important part of every fundraising professional’s toolbox.

However, you may want to take careful note of what I just said and how I said it.

I did not say that ePhilanthropy is the future. Nor did I say that ePhilanthropy is how we will fundraising in the future. I deliberately used the words “a very important part“.

Some of the data that I’ve seen indicates that online giving tools (e.g. email, website, social media, crowdfunding, etc) are simply an “acquisition strategy“. For example, Steve McLaughlin at Blackbaud, points out that one-third of donors who make a donation online actually go offline the next year to renew their support.

I believe we should all look at this data point and double-down on cross-channel communication and promotion of our fundraising efforts. Tell people online where to mail a check. Tell people in your direct mail letter how to go online and make a contribution. In both your emails and letters, tell donors who they can call to talk to a real person or set-up an appointment.

Are you interested in learning a lot more about online giving? The following are just a few links that I came across while clicking around online:

Blackbaud Index of Online Giving
5 Biggest Trends in Online Giving (Slide Share presentation by Steve McLaughlin at Blackbaud)
Online Fundraising Stats and Trends for Nonprofits (blog by Kivi Leroux Miller)

What do your eyes see around you in your community when it comes to online giving? Here is a fun game that you can play today. Keep your eyes open for evidence in the world around you for evidence of this ePhilanthropy trend. Make a mental note of it, and then circle back around to this blog post and share one or two examples of what you saw in the comment section below.

Here’s to your health!

Is your non-profit board of directors engaged?

January 9, 2013 erik Board development, organizational development, volunteers

Dani Robbins is the Founder & Principal Strategist at Non Profit Evolution located in Columbus, Ohio. I’ve invited my good friend and fellow non-profit consultant to the first Wednesday of each month about board development related topics. Dani also recently co-authored a book titled “Innovative Leadership Workbook for Nonprofit Executives” that you can find on Amazon.com.

It’s a new year, which is always a great time to take a look at processes and systems. I especially encourage you to look at the level of engagement of your Board. They are — or should be — your biggest donors and your best ambassadors. Are they?

One of the most obvious signs that a Board is disengaged is when you’re experiencing quorum issues. If you routinely have challenges with not having enough Board members in the room to make decisions, I recommend you take a look at how your board was built and how it is being developed.

Is your Board built intentionally?

Intentionally looks like this:

There is a Board Development (also called nominating or governance) Committee that assesses the strength of your current Board, looks at the gaps, and puts together a list of prospects that are later vetted and voted upon, to fill those gaps. The committee also plans for officer succession, Board education and evaluation.

Unintentionally looks like this:

A Board member invites someone to join the Board without a discussion with the Board Development Committee as to what the Board needs, or what the expectations for service are. The person is not vetted, or told of the commitment required. There is no formal process that is followed, no education and no evaluation. Yet, the person is voted upon and joins your Board.

Once the Board is in place, regardless of if it was intentional or not, the next question is:

Is your Board engaged and are members being developed?

Engagement looks like this:

The vast majority of Board members are in the room for most meetings; you have 100% Board giving; each member acts as an ambassador in the community; and your events and public meetings are well attended by members who bring friends and colleagues. The Board understands the organization’s mission, programs and impact; participates in robust discussions; and actively seeks ways to support the Executive Director and the organization.

Disengagement, on the other hand, looks like this:

People stop coming to meetings, which results in quorum issues. They stop coming to events. They stop volunteering for things. They stop giving or supporting the organization.

Once your Board becomes disengaged, quorum issues, which maybe the most obvious, are only the tip of the iceberg. The problems underneath the surface include a lack of understanding of some or all of the following:

their role,
the executive director’s role,
the finances,
the mission and strategic vision for the organization, and
how programs support that vision.

By now you may be wondering about the level of engagement on the Board you serve.

Some questions for your consideration:

Are Board and committee meetings productive, engaging and worth the time to attend?
Does the Executive Director meet individually, at least annually, with Board members?
Is there a plan that everyone is aware of and working toward?
Are there strategic and generative discussions happening in the boardroom?
Is there meaningful work for individual board members to do?

If the answer to any of these questions is “NO” or “I don’t know,” then I encourage you to put a plan in place to move your answers to “YES”. Talk to your Board members individually and ask about engagement. Ask about how they would like to be engaged, why they joined the Board and how you can make their experience more meaningful.

For the organizations with which I work I encourage:

a written plan detailing an intentional process to build and develop the board;
annual retreats to set or re-commit to strategic goals;
board training on everything from how to read the financials, to raise money, to the role and responsibilities of the Board; and
an annual evaluation process that assesses individual members as well as the entire board against the expectations and the organization’s aspirations.

Board engagement is critical to building an organization that moves the needle and impacts the community!

What’s been your experience? As always, I welcome your experience and insight.

Follow-up: Non-profit volunteerism trends pointed up?

January 8, 2013 erik volunteers

At the end of 2011, I predicted in a year-end blog post that we would see an “increased focus by non-profit organizations on pursuing and securing volunteer resources“. Last week, I thought it would be fun to look back and determine if my prognostications where off-the-mark and by how much.

Here is some of what I found:

Corporations are focused more than ever on creating volunteer opportunities for their employees. According to some sources, approximately 85% of companies had a formal employee volunteer program.
In the 2012 Study of High Net Worth Philanthropy, it was reported that high net worth donors are volunteering their time in greater amounts.
Data in the third annual Millennial Impact Report indicates that this young generation is into volunteer work.
Retiring Baby Boomers are investing their new found time into volunteer opportunities.

According to the Corporation for National & Community Service:

“In 2011, the number of volunteers reached its highest level in five years. 64.3 million Americans volunteered approximately 7.9 billion hours, valued at $171 billion. Two out of three citizens (65.1%, or 143.7 million citizens) served their communities by doing favors for and helping out their neighbors; more than half (56.7%) trusted all or most of the people in their neighborhood.”

If you haven’t visited this federal agency’s website yet, then you need to make a point to do so. It has lots and lots of data, statistics, reports and resources. Click here to visit that website.

So, is volunteerism a trend in the non-profit sector? Is this a larger trend? Was I right at the end of 2011?

I think so.

In the last year, I’ve seen more non-profit agencies utilize furloughs and layoffs to make their budgets work. At the same time, I’ve heard a number of board volunteers wonder out loud about what it will take to get more volunteers involved in their operations.

I also see government putting more money, time and resources into the idea of volunteerism. A few paragraphs ago I pointed you to a website being run by a federal agency that is focused on promoting volunteerism and community service. I also see my home state of Illinois putting resources into a program they are calling “Serve Illinois“. Additionally, my hometown of Elgin, Illinois got into the spirit of things and city hall created a volunteerism program and put it up on their website.

What do your eyes see? Are there more non-profits in your community putting together volunteer programs? Are you hearing large institutions like city government, United Way or others talking about investing in volunteerism? Please share your observations and thoughts in the comment box below.

Here’s to your health!

Follow-up: Non-profit sector contraction predictions?

January 7, 2013 erik Uncategorized

At the end of 2011, I predicted in a year-end blog post that the non-profit sector in the United States would see the continuing trend of “non-profit failures, mergers, acquisitions and strategic alliances“. Last week, I thought it would be fun to look back and determine if my prognostications where off-the-mark and by how much.

Here is some of what I found:

The Chronicle of Philanthropy reported in March 2012 that sector contraction was real. They pointed to the IRS revoking the tax status of 272,000 non-profit organizations. They also pointed to the economic slow down and its effect on wealthy people establishing fewer foundations.
The NonProfit Times also reported in March 2012 that the number of applications for tax-exempt status is down.

In reality, I found it very difficult to find a lot of data pointing to sector contraction. However, I did find lots of interesting little facts such as:

Non-profits account for more than 9% of all wages paid in the United States.
Non-profits also account for approximately 5.5% of the United States’ GDP.

Click here to see a snapshot of all sorts of other interesting little facts about your sector.

So, is the sector contracting? Is this a larger trend? Will we see more bankruptcies, mergers, etc? Was I right at the end of 2011?

I think so.

In fact, if I had to bet, I would totally double down on this 2011 year-end prediction.

Why? I simply point to the following passage that I read in “The Nonprofit Almanac 2012“:

“Another noteworthy trend is the gap between income and expenditures, which was negative for 8 of the 10 years covered, rising to −$65 billion by 2010. It appears that the growth of the sector is being financed by borrowing or drawing down of reserves, trends that are likely to weaken affected parts of the sector over the long haul.”

On a personal note, I trust my eyes and my ears. I cannot remember a time when I’ve seen so many non-profit organizations struggling to make ends meet.

Some of you may be wondering if I have any tips for non-profits who are experiencing financial crisis and facing down insolvency? Sure, go hire yourself an amazingly talented executive director. I’ve never seen any agency “turn it around” without a truly talented CEO.

What do your eyes see? Are there non-profits in your community struggling or going out of business?

Here’s to your health!

What your non-profit agency can learn from the congressional fiscal cliff debate?

January 2, 2013 erik organizational development

procrastination I hope your New Years celebration was fun, safe and full of family and friends. Welcome to 2013 and an exciting new opportunity for you and your non-profit organization.

Rather than host a party this year, John and I went over to our friend’s — Lynn & Maggie — house and spent the night rather than worrying about driving home on New Years Eve. When we woke up on New Years Day, we turned on CNN to see what (if anything) had happened with the congressional fiscal cliff negotiations and debate in Washington D.C.

While watching the coverage, Maggie innocently asked, “Why do these guys always wait to the last-minute to make such important decisions?”

As I chewed on her question, I realized this isn’t just a problem that haunts Congress. I see my for-profit friends struggle with the issue of procrastination. I also see many of my non-profit clients struggle with it.

While there are likely many reasons for procrastination (e.g. not having enough resources to adequately staff your agency or not being able to construct a reasonable annual performance plan), I discovered after some clicking around online that our friends at Psychology Today believe it goes much deeper than what you may think.

Rather than ruin the surprise, click here to read what Psychology Today. (Spoiler alert: Freud was wrong. It wasn’t because of your mother, but it may have something to do with your father. Uh-oh!)

After reading the online article about ‘WHY‘ I started clicking around for some answers about ‘WHAT‘ to do about this. Click here to read a post over at Lifehack blog titled “11 Practical Ways to Stop Procrastination”.

Honestly, I don’t think Congress played a game of chicken with the fiscal cliff and continues to risk a double dip recession because they are chronic procrastinators. I suspect this continues to happen because when you’re engaged in a negotiation, time plays a role when it comes to gaining leverage.

However, non-profit professionals such as yourself shouldn’t ignore the awesome question that Maggie asked on the morning of New Years Day. If you or your employees are procrastinations or if procrastination is embedded in your organizational culture, you might want to make a New Years resolution to tackle it in 2013. Why? Because this kind of behavior leads to dysfunction, drama and nothing good for your agency.

I hope you enjoyed the two links pertaining to the ‘WHY’ and ‘WHAT’. If you have other online resources to share, please do so in the comment box below because I’ve made this one of my New Years resolutions, too.

[Editors Note: By the way, please remember that we’re still on an irregular blog posting schedule this week and won’t resume “normal and routine” until next week — January 7-11.]

Happy New Year and . . . Here’s to your health!

Year-end non-profit predictions?

December 31, 2012 erik Fundraising

new year 2013 Happy New Years Eve! Are you ready for 2013?

As I wrote in one of my posts last week, my consulting practice has gotten really busy and the “holiday hop” is always tough. So, I decided to dial back my writing a little bit the last two weeks of the year and coast into the new year where I will start publishing Monday through Friday again. Besides, according to my blog analytics very few of you read blogs at this time of the year, and I’m guess that is because you’re running around just like me.

One of the things I was looking forward to doing this week with the DonorDreams blog was “Year-end Predictions for 2013” with regard to the non-profit sector. I did the same thing last year on the following topics:

I obviously missed my window of opportunity, but what I’ve decided to do instead is even more exciting. Starting next week (January 7-11), I will circle back around to last year’s predictions and recap what actually happened and what might still lie ahead.

There was one year-end post and prediction that I made last year that I believe applies every year. It is rooted in the wise words of Benjamin Franklin, who is the Father of American Philanthropy. So, my New Years gift to you is a re-post of the prediction that your non-profit organization will have a very prosperous 2013 if you simply start asking with reckless abandon.

I hope you enjoy this retread post, but I know you will see that it one of those timeless posts that are always applicable.

I look forward to seeing you in 2013!

===================================================================================================

The Final 2012 Non-Profit Prediction

This entire week we’ve been looking back upon 2011 for major trends, and then looking forward to 2012 with an eye towards making a few predictions. Today’s post speaks to a fundraising prediction that has been true every year since the birth of our country more than 235 years ago:

If you ask people to donate, then you will raise lots of money.

A few days after Christmas, a friend sent me an email with the following Benjamin Franklin quote from Benjamin Franklin: The Autobiography and Other Writings:

“It was about this time that another projector, the Rev Gilbert Tennent, came to me with a request that I would assist him in procuring a subscription for erecting a new meeting-house. It was to be for the use of a congregation he had gathered among the Presbyterians, who were originally disciples of Mr. Whitehead.

Unwilling to make myself disagreeable to my fellow-citizens by too frequently soliciting their contributions, I absolutely refus’d.

He then desired I would furnish him with a list of the names of persons I knew by experience to be generous and public-spirited. I thought it would be unbecoming in me, after their kind compliance to me solicitations, to mark them out to be worried by other beggars, and therefore refus’d also to give such a list.

He then desir’d I would at least give him my advice. “That I would readily do,” said I; “and in the first place, I advise you to apply to all those whom you know will give something; next, to those whom you are uncertain whether they will give anything or not, and show them the list of those who have given; and, lastly, do not neglect those who you are sure will give nothing, for in some of them you may be mistaken.”

He laugh’d and thanked me, and said he would take my advice. He did so, for he ask’d of everybody, and he obtained a much larger sum than he expected, with which he erected the capacious and very elegant meeting-house that stands on Arch-street.”

Ben Franklin is considered by most people to be the “Father of American Philanthropy”. His advice is timeless and perfect for those non-profit executive directors and fundraising professionals who are stewing over what their 2012 new years resolution should be:

Don’t say “NO” for anyone.

Ask everyone if they want to support your mission
and invest in the outcomes and impact your agency produces.

Ask! Ask! Ask!

If you do this, then my 2012 prediction for you is that regardless of the economy and any other external influences your non-profit organization will thrive and you’ll exceed all of your fundraising goals.

Speaking of non-profit new years resolutions, do you have any? If so, please use the comment box below and share your thoughts because we can inspire each other.

Here’s to your health!

And now the rest of the story . . .

December 28, 2012 erik organizational development

In a post titled “Crushed!” John conveys a really funny story about an older lady and her balding fat dentist who was a fellow classmate with her back in the day. John uses this story to make one really awesome point which is “There are always, without fail, two perspectives — ours, and the rest of the world’s.”

After reading John’s post three different times, a number of thoughts flooded into my mind:

I heard Paul Harvey’s voice echoing in my head saying: “. . . and now, the rest of the story.”
I conjured up the old expression: “You can’t see the forest through the trees.”
I thought back on a number of one-on-one interviews I did with donors throughout 2012 for a variety of clients.

When conducting those donor interviews, there were a number of times I caught myself thinking: “I wonder if the non-profit organization knows that this donor holds that particular opinion of them?”

As I’ve said throughout 2012, there are a number of ways for you to step back and gain a better perspective of how donors perceive your non-profit organization and the work they are funding (or may not be funding for very much longer):

Surveys (either online surveys or paper surveys)
Focus groups
Interviews
A casual stewardship visit over a cup of coffee or lunch

Circling back to the funny story that John shared in his post, I will end my very last blog post of the year with these questions: 1) Do donors think your agency is big, fat, balding, wrinkled and ugly? 2) Do you really know if they are thinking that? 3) What are you doing (or plan to do in 2013) to hear “the rest of the story”?

Happy New Year. The next DonorDreams blog post will be January 2nd.

Thanks for your readership and your dedication to your non-profit organization’s clients.

Here’s to your health!

Solving the age-old battle between fundraising vs grantwriting

December 26, 2012 erik Board development, Fundraising, Planning

It is the end of the year and for many non-profit organizations it means:

constructing an agency budget for 2013, and
putting together a comprehensive resource development plan to add meaning and depth to the revenue side of the agency budget.

In the last few weeks as I’ve talked with various agencies about their resource development planning efforts, I’m reminded of age-old battle:

Fundraising vs. Grantwriting

Donors see government grants as “wealth redistribution” and a substitute for their charitable contributions. Fundraising volunteers (and even fundraising staff) get squeamish about asking other people for money, and they prefer asking government and private sector foundations over soliciting family, friends, co-workers and neighbors.

crowding1 This phenomenon is called the “crowding out effect” and I wrote about it in the following blog posts in 2011:

While I would love for you to go back and read those posts, I also encourage you to read an awesome 2009 research paper written by James Andreoni and A. Abigail Payne titled “Is Crowding Out Due Entirely to Fundraising? Evidence from a Panel of Charities“. They do an awesome job of looking at this from a data perspective, and they conclude the following:

Using instrumental variable techniques, we estimate total crowding is around 73 percent, and that this crowding out is almost exclusively is the result of reduced fund-raising. A $10,000 grant, for instance, reduces fund-raising expenses by $1370, which in turn reduces donations by $7271. Adding this $1370 savings in fund-raising expenses reduces the estimate of crowding out to 59 percent. If charities had maintained their fund-raising efforts, our estimates show that donations would have risen by the full amount of the grant.

hell2 The crowding out effect is real, and it is something non-profit organizations need to understand and deal with. If not, then I advise putting the following age-old expression in a frame above the boardroom door: “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.”

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately about how to put the “crowding out effect” in check, and the following few paragraphs are just a few ideas. I think some are good thoughts and others are a little out there, but let’s work together on refining these ideas.

Planning – Planning – Planning

The planning process is not about the executive director putting stuff in writing and handing it over to volunteers for implementation. Planning is an engagement activity.

So, why not introduce volunteers who are involved in the resource development planning process to the research paper by James Andreoni and A. Abigail Payne and ask them: “What should we do about this? How should we accommodate for this in our plan?”

Simply stated . . . planning is the antidote for the crowding out effect.

Fundraising policies

I’ve always seen “policies” as a way of creating hard and fast rules for things that board volunteers and non-profit staff might otherwise find hard to implement if it weren’t “required“. Since so many people find grantwriting easier and preferable to fundraising, I started wondering if there weren’t some policies we could create that could put the “crowding out effect” in check. The following are just a few thoughts:

A written policy prohibiting government and private foundation grant revenue from exceeding a certain percentage of the agency’s overall revenue.
A written policy that commits board members to increasing their personal contributions by a certain percentage whenever grant revenue exceeds a certain level.
A written policy that commits board members to asking a certain number of new prospective donors whenever grant revenue exceeds a certain level.
A written policy that ties the agency’s annual campaign goal to the level of grant revenue. (e.g. every 1% increase in revenue goals from grant writing results in a 2% increase in qualified individual giving prospects and corresponding campaign infrastructure)

Truth be told . . . I’m not a huge fan of this approach, but I do think it is worth continued discussion and dialog.

Board development

I suspect that the best solution is the simplest solution — recruit the right board members.

Smart business people will understand a simple concept like the “crowding out effect”. Put this challenge in front of them and ask them to solve it.

I suspect they will simply conclude that more “fundraising-minded volunteers” need to be recruited to off-set the effects of grantwriting on the agency. After all, isn’t that what they’d probably conclude when it comes to their sales force staff and their business if confronted with the same challenge?

Are you in the middle of writing your 2013 resource development plan? Are you facing some of the same challenges with volunteers regarding the question of more fundraising versus more grantwriting? If so, how are you tackling this challenge? Do you have any suggestions on how to improve upon the recommendations I’m providing in this blog post? Please use the comment box below to weigh-in with your thoughts and suggestions.

Here’s to your health!

My holiday wish list for DonorDreams blog subscribers

December 24, 2012 erik Uncategorized

happy holidays I opened my eyes this morning just like I have done on the previous 41 Christmas Eves, and my mind started to race. My family does all of its getting-together and celebrating on December 24th, which of course means:

last-minute gift shopping
last-minute gift wrapping
last-minute cooking

However, in the last 18 months, my family has expanded, and it now include just short of 250 online subscribes to this wonderful blog platform that we call DonorDreams.

While inviting everyone over for dinner tonight is not possible, I thought I’d tell share with you a few things that I’m extremely grateful for this holiday season:

I am obviously very thankful for your readership.
I am grateful every time one of you comment on a blog post and engages in a conversation about one of our non-profit, technology, organizational development or fundraising topics.
I am appreciative of Marissa Garza, whose non-profit technology-inspired blog posts on Monday drive a lot of traffic to the DonorDreams platform. She is an aspiring social media consultant, and I have no doubts that she will get there some day.
I am appreciative of Dani Robbins, whose once-a-month non-profit blog posts about board development are always pitch perfect. I am proud to say that I have a published author blogging for our readers!
I am extremely lucky that one of my good friends, John Greco (who just so happens to be one of the best organizational development (OD) professionals in the Chicago area and also just so happens to also blog), allows me to piggyback every Friday on one of his O.D. topics

So, how does all of this well-wishing and seasons greetings work its way into a non-profit blog post? Well, I have three simple messages for you today that deal with the following:

Your donors, staff, board members and volunteers
A few housekeeping items
What gifts I want from YOU this holiday season

Your donors, staff, board members and volunteers

It is a busy time of the year, but those people in your extended family (aka your non-profit family) need some love and presents, too. Many fundraising professionals might call it stewardship, but today I call it a holiday gift.

As I have demonstrated above with my good tidings and appreciation of readers and contributors, you need to do the same thing with donors, staff, board members and volunteers.

In my humble opinion, it needs to be more than just a holiday card or year-end staff appreciation party. It needs to be personal and from the heart. Here are a few examples:

Tell a board member about something specific they helped with that you really appreciated.
Tell a staff member about something good and mission-focused you spontaneously caught them doing.
Drop a donor a little handwritten note telling them specifically about one thing that their contribution helped accomplish in 2012, and tell than that it wouldn’t have been possible without them.

Sure, it is time-consuming . . . but this is the season of giving.

A few housekeeping items

Over the next week, there will be a few days when you will not get something in your inbox from DonorDreams blog. It isn’t because we don’t love you, but the holiday hop is real and it is hard. In year’s past, I was able to blog ahead of time and use the WordPress blog functionality to schedule posts to launch on holidays.

I am thrilled to be able to report to you that my non-profit consulting practice has taken-off in ways I could only dream about at this time last year.

Work plus holiday hop equals a few missed blog posts during the holiday season.

I assume that everyone will be too busy to even notice, but I am one of the more transparent people you know. I just thought you should know.

What gifts I want from YOU this holiday season

Many of us only know each other digitally. We’re cyber-buddies. So, I realized that you don’t know me well enough to know what to get me for the holidays. From this realization, I decided that I would publish my “DonorDreams Holiday Wish List” for all of you to see and consider shopping from. Here it is:

DonorDreams Holiday Wish List

I am looking for a few more people who are really smart about non-profit related topics (e.g. marketing, volunteer management, fundraising, board development, programming/outcomes/impact, etc) AND good at writing to join the DonorDreams blog team in 2013. There is no pay involved, but it is a lot of fun. If you’re interested, please contact me and let’s talk! If you have always wanted to blog, then this is a great experience and could become a spin-off opportunity for you down the road.
I am looking for 18 new blog subscribers. I had a personal goal of hitting 250 subscribers by December 31st, and we’re very close. If YOU reached out to just one non-profit professional in your network and said “Hey, I subscribe to this awesome non-profit blog and I think you should subscribe, then we would annihilate this year-end goal. Please help?
I would love to see more conversation around some of our blog post topics in 2013. If each of you made a year-end resolution to comment once per month, we would have a vibrant non-profit blog community with tons of learning and fun discussion.

I was going to add a few other things to my Wish List (e.g. that iPad or tablet) that I’m hoping for, but I’ll stop here because 1) there is a big man in a red suit that I’m still counting on and 2) I don’t know you well enough to ask for that kind of gift. 😉

From the bottom of my heart at DonorDreams blog, I wish you and yours a very happy holiday season! And as always . . .

Here’s to your health!