Category: Fundraising

What is your non-profit agency's sustainability plan?

Fundraising

Sustainability by Descending Order of Love

By Dani Robbins
Re-published with permission from nonprofitevolution blog
sustain1The new normal has forced a lot of nonprofit leaders to rethink the way they do business. Crises, as unpleasant as they are to experience, allow for growth. I love Rahm Emanuel’s quote “Never let a good crisis go to waste.”
The old normal, otherwise known as normal, to which we all ascribed went something like this: Have a diverse funding base. That way, if ever you lost a government grant, major donor, or foundation award, you could continue to provide services.
Then, as we all remember, the economic crisis of 2008/2009 came, with the compromise of every funding source we had and the end of life as we knew it.
It forced all of us to reassess.
So….what’s a good Executive Director and talented Board to do?
Change!
Think about every process and every assumption, put it on the table, look at it, talk about it and figure out if it still works for your organization. If it does, keep it. If it doesn’t, create a plan to evolve that process into one that better serves the organization and its need for revenue sustainability.
How do you work towards revenue sustainability? Some organizations do it with a consultant, some with a board member, some with a staff member or a donor.
Where do I start? I start with explaining the history of giving in the US and the fact that 80% of all financial gifts, grants and awards, including corporate and foundation giving, come from individuals. I then move on to explain that 80% of most non-profits’ income does not come from individuals.
What, then, do we have? Enormous Opportunity!
I then introduce the idea of descending order of love. Individual giving starts with the people who love you the most.
sustain2Let’s get those people together and brain storm: Where are we today? Where do we want to go? How can we get there?
Big gifts require big dreams and the capacity to engage people to help reach those dreams.
Get together and figure out your dreams, turn them into goals and then create a plan to meet those goals. Then, put together a list of current donors and a robust list of potential donors, also called prospects. Take a look at your current gift acceptance policies. (Revise or adopt as necessary) Once we have a goal, a plan, lists, and the requisite policies to increase the revenue for your organization, I move to descending order of love.
Your board, staff and major donors will be the foundation of any fundraising plan. Those who love you the most will support you the most. If sustainability were a board game, there would be a Start Here button.
Each board and staff member should make a significant gift. I can hear you thinking  “Dani, significant is a fluid term.” Yes it is and that is intentional; my goal is always 100% Board and staff giving. It is critical that those closest to an organization financially support that organization. If they don’t, how can they ask someone else to?
Each board member should be asked in person for a specific gift, not the same gift as every other board member, but a specific gift o that board member which should be determined based what the staff and committee know about their capacity and level of engagement. If someone has enormous capacity but is not that engaged, a significant gift may be less than someone who has less capacity but is more engaged.
Who should do the asking? The person who is most likely to get a YES. Usually that’s another board member, but sometimes, it’s the Executive Director, or a volunteer.
Staff should also be asked to financially support the organization. Care should be taken to who should make that ask as well. I recommend a volunteer, because with fundraising and everything else, we want to avoid even the perception of impropriety.
Once we have 100% giving of staff and board, we move to our major donors and our prospect list and again, make specific in person asks. Prospects should be appropriately cultivated before they are asked for financial support. The definition of appropriate will change based on the individual and the need.
I consider major donors to be the top 10% of givers to your organization. It may be $250, it may be $25,000. It may be more and it may be less. If we continued to play our sustainability board game, there would be a This Way arrow here.
After major donor solicitation are completed, if you have the time and the volunteers, consider asking your larger mid level donors and prospects in person. Then move into your actual mid level donors and prospects. Those with the potential to become major donors should also be asked in person as should anyone who is committed to your organization. While we follow the path of descending order of love in planning, we love all of our donors equally. If someone would like to see you in person, even if it will be a small gift, go. It is fun to thank someone in person and is worth keeping a committed donor engaged. When that is not practical, the next best thing is a phone banks or phone calls.
Our Board game and our plan for income sustainability ends with an appeal letter to those who have not yet been asked or have been asked but have not given and also haven’t said no.
I invite you follow the descending order of love of path to sustainability. Please let me know how it goes. As always, I welcome your feedback.
dani sig

Simply ways that even small non-profits can thank their donors

Fundraising

thankyou1As many of you know, I’m on a temporary assignment for the next few months working with a group of 20 non-profit organizations throughout New Mexico and West Texas. Last night was my first site visit, and the executive director did something that inspired this morning’s post about personal (yet simple) ways to thank your donors.
So, the first meeting went like most first meetings go.
There was a lot of energy and excitement. There was sharing of journey lines and stories. There was show-n-tell (e.g. sharing reports, documents, examples of how things are done, etc).
During one part of the meeting, I started talking about the importance of donor stewardship and making it as personal as possible. The executive director pulled off of her desk a simple thank you card and handed it to me to demonstrate they knew what they were doing.
thankyou2This is what I saw:

  • It was a simple card that could be run through a printer
  • The front side of the card had a picture of one of their clients (as I recall the picture composition expressed a sense of mission-focus and gratitude)
  • There was a written note on the inside of the card thanking the donor for their contribution. There was a promise that they’d put the gift to good use. It was signed by the executive director.

The executive director said they change the picture on the outside of the card every few months to keep things fresh.
Nice job! Simple — personal — effective! Any size non-profit organization can do something like this. Scalable!
As I drove to my hotel, I started thinking about a few other expressions of thanks and gratitude that I’ve personally received in the last few weeks from non-profits I donate to back home in Illinois.
I already shared with you one experience I had a few weeks ago when I wrote a post titled “Handwritten letters … Simple yet powerful“.
Here are a few things I’ve received in recent weeks that you might consider as we head into the Thanksgiving holiday . . .
Phone-a-thon
thankyou3In recent weeks, I’ve started receiving phone calls from board volunteers thanking me for my support of their agency.
Penelope Burk explains in her book — Donor Centered Fundraising — that donor retention is as simple as one-two-three:

  1. Express sincerely gratitude for every gift regardless of its size
  2. Circle back around and show/tell the donor that their contribution has been used in the way the agency had promised it would be during the solicitation call
  3. Circle back around and show/tell the donor that their gift had an impact and produced the intended effect (e.g. outcomes)

It is clear to me the phone script from which  board members were reading was written in a way to assure me that my contribution was used appropriately and achieved the desired effect that had been promised to me. Yay . . . bravo!
As a donor, I love getting periodic updates where the person on the other end of the line (preferably someone I know) shares good news.
Phone-a-thons are easy. Your agency has board volunteers and both you and the volunteers own phones. Spend a little time writing a thoughtful script and you too can employ a very effective stewardship strategy during this Thanksgiving season.
Simple — personal — effective — scalable! Perfect!
Text message video
OK, this last example gets an A+ for creativity.  🙂
One day last week I received a text message from a local executive director and personal friend. When I opened it, there was a link to a video. Since I know this person, I clicked it and trusted there wasn’t a virus at the other end.
The video was no longer than 7 to 10 second long.
It was a child sitting at a desk. They had a very big smile on their face. They simply said, “Thank you for your support of the Boys & Girls Club. Your contribution is helping keep me out of trouble after-school. And I can get into a lot of trouble.”
OMG!
Cute — adorable — heart-felt — to the point. They really did have me at hello. LOL
When I followed up with the executive director later in the week, I asked how difficult it had been to produce that video and text. Her response surprised me.
She said it was simple because almost every cell phone now has a camera and text capabilities. The hardest thing about the entire project was identifying the kids and preparing them with the right message.
Simple — personal — effective — scalable! Perfect!
What is your agency doing to thank its donors this Thanksgiving and holiday season? Please scroll down and share your ideas in the comment box below.
Here’s to your health!
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

Does your organization have a culture of philanthropy or fundraising?

Fundraising

Culture of Philanthropy or Fund Raising?

By Dani Robbins
Re-posted with permission
There is $300 billion dollars, on average, given to charities each year in this country. The vast majority of that money is given by individuals. Not corporations. Not foundations. Individuals. Individual gifts and bequests, on average, equal slightly more than 80% of the charitable donations given in this country each year. Just less than 20% is given by corporations and foundations.
Do organizations take advantage of that knowledge? Some do better than others.
I serve on a committee that just this week was discussing the difference between having a culture of philanthropy and a culture of fund raising. The two are pretty different, even as most people use the words synonymously.
Fund raising is about raising money. Philanthropy, or what I usually refer to as resource development, is about ensuring resources. They’ll both raise money and require time but the latter will raise more money in less time.
Cultures of fund raising raise money through membership fees, grants or sponsorships, direct mail, and multiple small events that generally raise less than $30,000 (often less than $5,000), all of which is usually viewed as “begging for money.” You often hear board members and volunteers say “I give my time” or “I’ll serve on the committee but I don’t want to ask my friends for money.” That philosophy is pervasive: staff don’t generally support the agency financially and a portion of the board doesn’t either. There is not usually a fund raising plan or an expectation of board giving; donors are not usually asked for specific dollar amounts and everyone is a little ashamed of having to raise money at all, even as they fiercely belie in their organization and the work it does in the community.
According to “Fund-Raising: Evaluating and Managing the Fund Development Process” (1999) special events, on average, cost 50% of the amount they raise. That is way too much! I recommend my clients do not run any event that cost more than 25% of what it nets, and that organizations include staff time in the count. As you might imagine, multiple small events cost much more than 25% to run and they take an enormous amount of time. That time could be better spent.
Grant writing generally costs 20% of what is awarded. You should never pay a grant writer a percentage of the amount requested; it is unethical and against the fund raising principles as advocated by the Association of Fundraising Professionals, but that’s not why it costs 20%. Organizations only get a percentage of the grants they write. That means they spend a lot of time writing grants they are never awarded. We all do. I recommend you do not write foundation or corporate grants without checking the published funding priorities and – if there is a match – speaking to a program officer about your project and getting the go-ahead to submit. You’re never going to get all the grants you write, but you can at least avoid totally wasting your time.
There are, for any organization, a finite number of grants that can be written. There are an infinitive number of individuals to be cultivated.
Individual giving offers the highest rate on return for the lowest cost (5-10%) to the organization. Individual giving is about one on one relationships that are cultivated – and later stewarded – and require intentional asks for specific dollar amounts.
Cultures of philanthropy raise money through individual giving, one (maybe two) signature event that raises upwards of 10% of the organization budget, and also write grants, and may have membership fees as well. You often hear board members and volunteers talk about returns on investment, impact and sustaining their organization. There is usually a resource development plan, a board process that includes the expectation that board members will significantly (to their circumstances) financially support the organization and also assist in raising additional resources. They operate on the premise that their organization fills a critical need in the community and are proud to introduce their circle of influence to the organizations’ mission.
As mentioned in The Role of the Nonprofit CEO “Resource development functions most effectively in a culture of servant leadership and philanthropy among the board and leadership team, as well as an agency-wide commitment.  A community cannot and will not invest in an agency without the investment of the board and staff.  Development staff cannot raise money without the support of the CEO. CEOs cannot raise money without the support of the board. Resource development is a group effort, with everyone giving, and everyone moving toward the goal of a sustainable organization.”
Cultures of Philanthropy have a Director of Development who coordinate the asks, manage the information and the event, writes the grants and works with the board and senior staff to ensure the resource development plan is implemented, the money is raised and the organization is sustained.
Cultures of fund raising have a Director of Development who is expected to do it all alone in an environment where fund raising is a dirty word. It’s why they end up with so many special events and grants and so few individual donors. Those are the pieces they can impact and they try to do just that.
It’s up to the Board and leadership to change the equation, expand the reach and change the culture. How?
Start with the board and create expectations – to which everyone commits – to financially give and also to ask, as appropriate. Move to the staff. Do the same. Take a look at your events and see what they really cost your organization to run, including staff time, and decide if it’s worth it. Take a look at your infrastructure and see if it can take you forward. Are there things you need to add or delete? Can you current staff accomplish your goals or do you need to make some changes?
Get your best fund raisers and your most engaged board members and volunteers in a room and start putting the pieces down to create a resource development plan.
80% of all giving in this country is from individuals. Unless your income reflects that percentage, you have opportunity knocking. Get the door!
As always, I welcome your experience and insight.
dani sig

Finding the right non-profit board prospects might be harder than you think

Board development, Board governance, Fundraising, volunteers

strategic thinking2Sometimes I hear something that hits me just right, and it takes days to get it out of my head. This happened on Tuesday during the Fox West Philanthropic Network’s Philanthropy Day luncheon. The keynote speaker, Dani Robbins, was talking about the different modes of board governance and the importance of facilitating more strategic and generative discussions in the boardroom. Doing so will result in a more engaged board.
Easy as that! Right?
Well, that little voice inside my head started screaming at me. It was saying, “Whoaaaaa! Can strategic and generative discussions be done with any old board members? Or does it take a certain type of board volunteer?”
So, I raised my hand and interrupted Dani’s keynote address. (Sorry, Dani!)
I was half expecting her to say that everyone is capable of engaging in these higher order discussions. I was also expecting her to put the responsibility back on the person(s) who facilitate those boardroom discussions to get the most out of the diversity of people sitting around the table.
However, I got an unexpected answer.
strategic thinking3Dani suggested that board volunteers who are “strategic thinkers” will have an easier time making the transition from traditional fiduciary modes of governance to more strategic and generative modes.
I suspect this means for many non-profit organizations, who want to make this adjustment to governance, that some thought needs to be put into adding more strategic thinkers to their board recruitment prospects lists.
Once I arrived at this conclusion, I got a mental picture of a committee meeting with board governance volunteers going through their prospect identification and evaluation exercises focused on finding strategic thinkers. As this mental picture became clearer, lots of questions flooded into my head including:

  • What does a strategic thinker look and sound like?
  • Where do strategic thinkers live, work and play?
  • How easy will it be for board governance committees to do this work, especially when most committees (in my experience) shortcut the cultivation and evaluation process and go straight from identification to recruitment?

As I normally do when issues like this start bothering me, I open up my internet browser and go to Google.  😉
I quickly found myself reading a post on CEB Blogs titled “5 Characteristics of Strategic Thinkers“. Here are those characteristics:

  1. Open yourself to perspectives from multiple sources
  2. Incorporate both logic and emotion into your thinking
  3. Seek options beyond today’s reality
  4. Question both the familiar and the to-be-determined
  5. Accept open issues

strategic thinking1If you’re scratching your head while reading this list and asking “what does THAT mean,” then click the link and read the CEB Blog post. It really is quite good. If you want to learn more, then I suggest you start Googling around.  😉  You also might want to click here and start with this interesting Wikipedia page on strategic thinking.
Let me bottom line what I’m thinking for you this morning.

  • This isn’t as simple as changing some of the criteria in your gap assessment tool
  • These characteristics are more subtle than questions of age, gender, ethnicity, occupation, fundraising experience, etc
  • Only people who know or work closely with board prospects know whether or not they are strategic thinkers, which puts a spotlight on who is serving on your board governance committee
  • Identifying strategic thinkers for your board recruitment process will require more time spent cultivating and evaluating prospects and less jumping straight from identification to recruitment

What is standing in your agency’s way of transforming its boardroom discussions from fiduciary to more strategic and generative modes of governance? What are you doing to over come those obstacles? Is your board governance committee approaching its job differently when it considers this question? If so, how?
Please use the comment box below to share your thought and experiences. We can all learn from each other.
Here’s to your health!
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

Hip Hip Hooray for Philanthropy Day

Fundraising

philanthropy day 2013Sorry about not being able to post yesterday, but it was a crazy busy day because I was one of the co-chairs for Fox West Philanthropic Network’s first ever Philanthropy Day celebration. There was lots to do and I was up early and running around.
Huh? What? You’re not sure what Philanthropy Day is all about? Well, let me tell you . . .
History of Philanthropy Day
In 1986, President Ronald Reagan proclaimed November 15th to be National Philanthropy Day. The Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) has championed this annual celebration and countless local AFP chapters do a variety of things to celebrate this holiday. Here is how AFP describes National Philanthropy Day on their website:

In 2013, more than 100 communities and 50,000 people around the world will participate in NPD events and celebrations. These events include award ceremonies, galas, luncheons, seminars and other special events. Outstanding donors, volunteers, corporations, foundations, small businesses, youth in philanthropy and others will be honored on NPD in recognition of their work in improving their communities and their world every day.

If you want a more comprehensive history of National Philathropy Day, you definitely want to check out a 2010 online video interview of Lynn Schrader, who is a CFRE and owner of The Schrader Group LLC. The interview was produced by our friends at 501Videos.com and creators of Monday Movies for Fundraising Professionals.
It really is a great little five-minute video that I hope you find time to watch.
inspired boardPositioning Your Board for More Effective Fundraising
Dani Robbins, who is the strategist, founder and principal of Non Profit Evolution in Columbus, Ohio and the non-profit expert at answers.com, was the trainer and lunch keynote speaker for Fox West Philanthropic Network’s (FWPN) first ever Philanthropy Day celebration.
The morning training was titled “Positioning Your Board for More Effective Fundraising“.
Dani’s teachable point of view can best be summed up as:

  • It all starts with your board
  • Board volunteers are some of your best donors
  • How you identify and recruit board members is the key to your success

The following are steps that every good board development process should include:

  1. Identify
  2. Cultivate
  3. Recruit
  4. Orient
  5. Involve
  6. Educate
  7. Evaluate
  8. Rotate

Later in her presentation, Dani talked about the importance of engagement. She shared the following nine volunteer engagement principles:

  1. Mission Focus
  2. Planning
  3. Setting Expectations
  4. Training & Education
  5. Organization
  6. Well run & important meetings
  7. Accountability
  8. Urgency
  9. Celebration & recognition

James-Biggins-208x300Lunch: Celebrating 100 years of philanthropy
FWPN honored the Biggins family and American City Bureau for their work in the non-profit sector over the last 100 years. In addition to their work, John and his sister Leslie have volunteered for countless charities, and John was and still is instrumental in the success of FWPN.
Just this last summer Michael Chatman, social media and radio host of #WHYiGIVE, released a list of “America’s Top 40 Most Effective Fundraising Consultants” and ranked Leslie Biggins-Mollsen as number three on that list.
Philanthropy in America has been and is being shaped by the Biggins Family. There can be no question about it.
If you want to read more about John and Leslie’s father — James Biggins — then click here and read about a man who wove philanthropy into his family’s DNA and built our country’s oldest fundraising consulting firm.
Keynote: Not Fundraising? Not Engaged!
Dani Robbins, who is also the co-author of Innovative Leadership Workbook for Nonprofit Executives, delivered FWPN’s lunch keynote titled “Not Fundraising? Not Engaged!”
Dani’s teachable point of view can best be summed up as:

  • If your board isn’t fundraising, then you likely have a board development or engagement problem
  • Non-profits spend too much time in board meetings talking about finances, fundraising, and day-to-day challenges
  • If you want a more engaged board, then facilitate more strategic and generative discussions in the boardroom

chait modes of governanceDani is a big fan of Richard Chait and talked a lot about his three modes of governance — fiduciary, strategic and generative. She shared examples of each style of governance. She also shared the following eight techniques that can be used to get a board into the generative mode:

  1. Silent starts
  2. One minute memos
  3. Future perfect history
  4. Counter points
  5. Role play
  6. Breakouts
  7. Simulations
  8. Surveys

Click here to learn a little more about these techniques or invest a few bucks on Amazon.com and buy one of  Chait’s books.  😉
Not speed dating . . . speed training
After lunch, the following five trainers facilitated short roundtable discussions and participants were allowed to rotate between table topics every 20-minutes:

Your National Philanthropy Day celebration?
So, I’ve just highlighted how FWPN celebrated National Philanthropy Day in 2013. It was a mixture of:

  • networking
  • training / professional development
  • recognition

However, you don’t need to do it that way.
There are countless ways for you to celebrate this special day. Click here to check out the AFP website which has lots of resources and ideas. Click here to visit the official National Philanthropy Day website.
Our country is one of the most philanthropic nations on the planet. How will your agency, service club, or professional development network celebrate this phenomenon this year? Or how are you planning to get your first ever Philanthropy Day celebration off the ground next year? Please use the comment box below to share your thoughts, experiences, plans and ideas. We can inspire each other to greatness!
Here’s to your health! (And Happy Philanthropy Day)
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

Is your non-profit ready for the homestretch of 2013?

Fundraising

yearend5Don’t look now, but we are seven weeks away from drinking champagne and celebrating the end of 2013 and the start of a Happy New Year 2014. It is this time of the year when non-profit organizations are super busy. Many of you are closing out your fiscal year, and almost every non-profit with a pulse is executing its year-end giving strategy.
According to a survey by Charity Navigator, respondents reported that they expect to raise 40% of their annual revenue budget between Thanksgiving and New Years.
Holy Cow! Year-end giving is a big deal for many non-profit organizations, which is why I’m dedicating today’s post to just a few giving strategies I see being employed or talked about by my friends.
Traditional year-end appeals letter
There are many different “schools of thought” on how to craft the perfect year-end appeals letter. I’ve seen all of my favorite bloggers weigh-in on this subject. The funny thing is that each and every one of them have a slightly different take on the same subject.

  • Long letter vs. short letter
  • The importance of cross-channel promotion or not
  • Send the letter early or closer to Thanksgiving

mailboxesI just finished helping a client with their year-end mail appeal. The executive director called on Friday to report the letters were delivered to the post office and we both did a little happy dance. The next thing on his year-end fundraising task list is preparing for the phone-a-thon follow-up the week of Thanksgiving.
If you are like most non-profit organizations, you are doing something traditional like sending a letter. Hopefully, you’ve already sent it or are very close to doing so, but here are just a few thoughts of my own on this very popular subject:

  • The letter must be emotional and pull at heart-strings
  • The letter must tell a story about impact and not focus on your agency’s needs
  • A matching gift is a tremendous incentive that sets you apart from lots and lots of other appeals
  • Go light on the stats and data . . . let the story be the feature and sprinkle outcomes data into your story sparingly
  • Don’t be overly fixated on restricting your letter to one page . . . tell your story
  • Use lots of white space, pictures and graphics
  • Keep in mind how readers read . . . write your letter accordingly (e.g. personalized salutation, ask for a specific contribution in the first paragraph, influential signature, catchy post script)
  • You need to design a great outer envelope . . . entice people to open the envelope and read your request or your awesome letter is worthless (e.g. handwritten names and addresses on the outside envelope)
  • Follow-up . . . organize your board members in a phone-a-thon and send a follow-up postcard or another appeal before New Years Eve

If you don’t like my suggestions or are looking for more advice, here are a few additional links to bloggers who are amazing:

Amazon-Smile-300x300Holiday shopping appeals
Perhaps you didn’t notice, but there are lots and lots of people spending lots and lots of money on gifts for family and friends. Something about “’tis the season“.
With this is mind, there is a big year-end giving trend that has materialized over the last decade or so where non-profit organizations try to tie their year-end appeal to those shopping habits. It is typically rooted in cause-related marketing efforts as retails try to differentiate themselves from their competitors, seize the halo effect and drive foot traffic through their doors using charitable goodwill.
I can almost hear those cashiers asking, “Would you like to donate a dollar to . . .”
A good friend of mind and fellow blogger — Dani Robbins — just informed me via Google+ that Amazon.com has a new charitable giving program called AmazonSmile. In a nutshell, Amazon shoppers will be able to donate 0.5% of their purchase to a charity of their choosing (as long as that charity can be found on Guidestar AND is registered with Amazon).
Is your agency participating in AmazonSmile? Click here is you want to learn more.
giving tuesday#GivingTuesday
What?!? You haven’t heard of #GivingTuesday?
I guess you get a pass because last year was the first time the non-profit sector attempted to get this “national day of giving” off of the ground.
In a nutshell, there were 2,500 giving partners located in all 50 states. More than 50 million people worldwide helped promote this day by posting, tweeting and generally talking about it on social media. Both Blackbaud and DonorPerfect reported an increase in giving resulting from these efforts.
Will your non-profit organization participate in the second annual #GivingTuesday this year? If so, then . . .

  • Mark your calendars for Tuesday, December 3, 2013
  • Start developing your online giving strategies to promote this opportunity to your donors
  • Get registered as an official partner

For more info, click here to read the #GivingTuesday FAQ page.
You might also want to do a little research on #GivingTuesday best practices. Hubspot published a great post titled “12 Ways to Amplify Your Giving Tuesday Campaign” that you may want to check out.
What does the homestretch look like for your non-profit organization’s fundraising efforts? Please use the comment box below to share. Why? Because we can all learn from each other, and it is the season of giving, of course!  😉
Here’s to your health!
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

Handwritten letters … Simple yet powerful

Fundraising

thank you noteI am a member of Gen-X, and I behave like a typical person of that generation especially when it comes to my mailbox. I hate going to the mailbox. I hate opening mail because 99.9% of it is junk. Anything important comes to me via email, and all of my bills and charitable giving is set-up using automatic bill pay. So, imagine my surprise the other day when I was opening a three-week stack of mail, and I came across a handwritten envelope from one of my favorite local charities.
Inside of the hand addressed envelope was a simple thank you card with a handwritten message that said (and yes I am changing some of the wording to protect the innocent):

Erik-
Thank you for your support of XYZ Agency in recent years. With your help, we continue to expand our reach and now serve more than 350 kids on a typical school day.
Sincerely,
Jane Doe
Board Member

Two simple sentences, but they pack a powerful punch. This simple handwritten note was not in response to a recent contribution. It was out of the blue and unexpected. The reason this simple acknowledgement is so powerful is because:

  • it acknowledged my lifetime giving
  • it sent a clear message this agency appreciates my consistent and loyal support (because this was about my overall giving and not a specific gift)
  • they tied my giving to their success
  • they shared a data point that implies they are doing good things

Handwritten notes from non-profit organizations are rare.
According to Penelope Burk, who is the President at Cynus Applied Research and author of Donor Centered Fundraising, non-profit organizations use handwritten notes when they want to “maintain close ties with a donor“. On page 47 of her book, Penelope shares with her readers that her research indicates non-profits use handwritten than you letters when:

  • the donor is well-known to the writer (70% of respondents)
  • the gift is of exceptional value (68%)
  • the donor is also a leadership volunteer (42%)
  • the donor has been giving for a long time (39%)
  • the donor is prominent in the community (30%)

It is a funny thing because I recently started thinking that I should re-evaluate my charitable giving to this organization. The reason is because:

  1. I like to see and hear about what my charitable giving is doing.
  2. I like to see and hear about the outcomes and impact my charitable giving is helping accomplish.

The truth of the matter is that these needs haven’t been met recently (by this I mean in the last 12 to 18 months), but I have to admit a simple handwritten note has put all of that on hold.
Why?
Simply put, a note like this communicates a special relationship. When I look at my charitable giving portfolio, this letter reminds me that this agency is one of my top three “charities of choice“. A decision to change my giving pattern, especially when it comes to them, isn’t a decision that can be or should be made rashly or overnight.
Wow! Who knew that a handwritten note — two simple sentences — could be so impactful and do so much good?
How does your non-profit organization use handwritten notes? Is it a strategy that is part of a bigger stewardship plan? Do you have any success stories that you’d like to share that involve the power of a handwritten note? By the way, Penelope Burk has a whale of a success story that she shares on page 47 of her book. If you don’t have a copy of this book yet, you really need to go to Amazon.com and purchase one.
Please use the comment box below to share your thoughts and experiences. We can all learn from each other.
Here’s to your health!
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

Meet Ernie Gamino: The best fundraising pro who isn't a fundraising pro

Donor-centered fundraising, Fundraising, Planning

ernie gaminoIt happens every year. My partner and I get a phone call from Cindy, who is Ernie Gamino’s assistant, and she asks us to please schedule a year-end sit down meeting. Ernie is our Edward Jones financial advisor, and getting time in both of our calendars is a challenge. However, we found some time this past Saturday. I’m glad we did because I discovered that Ernie is a really good fundraising professional, who has never been trained as one or worked at a non-profit organization. We can all learn a lot from Ernie and his colleagues.
Let me set the stage for you. It was Saturday morning. I was cranky after spending too much money on a Friday night. I really just wanted to hang around the house. The last thing I wanted to be doing was talking to my investment advisor about retirement, which seems like a far away fantasy world to this 43-year-old.
The meeting
ernie2I started the meeting off by growling at poor Ernie. I wanted to know why this annual meeting is necessary? Can’t he just go about doing his job and call me when he needs to get permission to do something with my investment portfolio.
Since the customer is always right, Ernie responded perfectly and with a smile. He simply said that he can do anything I ask of him, but he didn’t stop there. He continued quickly to share the following:

  • He has it set in his calendar to call me every two months.
  • His bi-monthly calls prompt him to review my portfolio and look critically at whether or not anything really needs to be done.
  • His annual year-end sit down meeting is a best practice. It allows him to educate me on where the market has been and where it is going. It also allows him to tell me what I should be doing differently.

Sigh! He made his point. He is right. I am wrong. So, I shut up and let him continue with the meeting. Here is what we talked about over the course of approximately 60 minutes:

  • ernie3We talked about his Northern Illinois University (NIU) football team and the state of the BCS football system.
  • We re-visited the reasons my partner and I chose Edward Jones over the countless other financial management firms out there. We like the old fashion Edward Jones approach to business development and asset management. It was nice to talk for a few minutes about that decision. It was re-affirming and rewarding.
  • We talked about our personal information. We reviewed email addresses, phone numbers, accounts, etc. While I  thought this was mundane, it turns out that we did have some information change in the last 12 months. It was a good thing he asked so our records could be updated.
  • We talked about a recent seminar Ernie facilitated for his clients about the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare). While we didn’t attend, it was a subtle reminder that he offers those free services and we should be participating. Hmmm? Maybe some day. Besides, what a nice value added service.
  • We looked at our investments as well as the market. It was a good thing we did because my partner’s portfolio was unbalanced because of how the market has evolved recently.
  • Ernie showed us projections of how our assets might grow or shrink based upon decisions we are making today. He made a few suggestions about increasing our savings, reducing our expenses, and doing some estate planning. He even got us talking about whether it was smarter for me to close my consulting practice and go back to work for a non-profit agency who could match my retirement account contributions. I dunno . . . but these were good things to be thinking and talking about.

The truth of the matter is that I like to see how my money is invested. I like to feel involved in the decision-making process even though at the end of the day I always tell Ernie to do whatever he thinks makes the most sense. He is after all the expert.
Regardless, it is nice to feel informed and involved.
At the end of our meeting, Ernie walked us next door in the strip mall and introduced him to a fellow merchant, who just so happens to be a client. He made a connection.
Lessons learned
As I walked away from this encounter with Ernie Gamino, I realized how wise this young man is and how much fundraising professionals could learn from him.
Here are just a few of the takeaways:

  • Communicate regularly with your donors. They want to feel involved.
  • When a donor pushes back, listen to them. Offer to adjust your communications plan with them, but educate them about why you’re doing what you’re doing. You may be surprised at how they respond.
  • Personal information changes regularly. You need to review it and change it or your donor database will become garbage. Routine phone calls and sit down meetings are the perfect opportunity to do this kind of work.
  • Talk about things (e.g. football, tattoos, etc) with donors. While it might not have anything to do with your mission, you’re deepening a relationship, which is the most valuable thing you can ever do when it comes to donor communications.
  • Share information with the donor about what their contribution is helping support and the results coming from those programs. People like to feel involved. When this happens, then you get a deeper sense of engagement and donors don’t walk away from your mission.
  • Share other opportunities with donors about how they can do more. You never know where that conversation goes, and it can be done in a donor-centered way that doesn’t feel like you’re pushing.

Ernie doesn’t sit down and call all of his clients. He said that some people are really passive with their investments. So, he just periodically checks in on them to see if their circumstances have changed and to update their records. In other words, you should segment your donor database and decide who needs to hear from you and how often.
Does your agency have a formal donor communications plan and strategy. If so, what is it? What does it look like? If not, then why not and what are you planning to do about it? Please use the comment box below to share your thoughts and experiences. We can all learn from each other.
Here’s to your health!
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

BOO: Halloween is a non-profit holiday

Fundraising, resource development

Happy Halloween everyone! In the spirit of today, I decided to reach back into the DonorDreams archives and re-post an article from two years ago. Are your children collecting donations for UNICEF? is your non-profit agency using Halloween to steward donors? We’re re-hashing these issues today. Enjoy!

BOO: Halloween is a non-profit holiday

By Erik Anderson
reposted from October 31, 2011
unicefI just love this time of the year. The temperature outside is lovely. Trees are turning colors and putting on a show. Charity is coming into focus for millions of Americans. Last year approximately 174 million Americans donated approximately $50 billion to charities during the holiday season. While most resource development people will tell you this all starts with Thanksgiving, I contend that Halloween is when the starters gun goes off in my head.
I was reminded this past Saturday afternoon when two kids came to my door holding a small orange box and asked if I’d consider donating some pocket change to UNICEF. Not only do I have fond memories of doing the same thing as a child, but I realized that it might have been the very first time I ever solicited anyone for anything on behalf of a child.
My passion for charity and professional career path might have started all because of a UNICEF box more than 35 years ago.
This realization got me thinking . . . perhaps the year-end charitable giving season starts with Halloween and not Thanksgiving.
Let’s put solicitation to the side. Halloween can be a stewardship opportunity. In fact, non-profit organizations can turn most holidays into stewardship opportunities for their donors as I wrote in my post titled “Stewardship opportunity on Labor Day” which is one of my better read posts of all time. Go figure!
Here are just a few thoughts I have for how your agency can use Halloween to frame your case for support heading into the holiday season:

  • Host a Halloween costume party for your top 100 donors. Don’t solicit them. Just invite them to come to a free event, have some fun, and hear a few short testimonials about how your agency is using their investment from earlier this year to do good things. End everything by saying you hope they will consider reinvesting with a contribution to your year-end holiday mail appeal that is sure to appear in their mailbox in a few weeks.
  • Organize a phone-a-thon where volunteers call donors to whom you plan on mailing your holiday mail appeal. Use a “trick-or-treat” script that talks about how your non-profit doesn’t believe in “tricks” which is why you are calling with a Halloween “treat,” and then read a small snippet of outcomes measurement data that you’ve recently been collected. Thank the donor for helping your agency achieve that specific accomplishment and then end by saying you hope they will consider re-investing when your year-end holiday mail appeal arrives in their mailbox in a few weeks.
  • Simply organize a Halloween theme inspired stewardship mailing (e.g. a ghoulish looking impact report). Don’t ask for any money. Just communicate some return on investment information and thank them for their previous charitable contribution. This can softly frame your case for support in donors minds just a few weeks before you send a solicitation mailing.

As I said in my Labor Day blog post . . .

Many non-profit organizations struggle with stewarding their donors and instead become solicitation machines (which ironically burns out donors and creates a cycle of turnover). When I’ve talked to my non-profit friends and asked WHY, the most common answer I’ve heard is that time is a limited resource.

So, take a look at your stewardship calendar and ask yourself how you can do a better job of aligning these activities with holidays.
Does your non-profit organization have any fun and effective stewardship activities and best practices wrapped around holidays? If so, please use the comment box to share because we can all learn from each other.
Here is to your health! And oh yeah . . . BOO . . . Happy Halloween!!!
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

Does your non-profit organization have a culture of philanthropy?

Fundraising

org cultureI love Monday mornings! I wake up, feed the dog and cat, grab a cup of coffee, sit down at my computer and open my email, and most Monday mornings involves watching “Movie Mondays for Fundraising Professionals“. This morning’s video was an interview with Andrea McManus who is the President of The Development Group, a Canadian resource development consulting firm. Within the first 15 seconds of the interview Andrea poses a great question about whether your organization has a “philanthropic culture” or “fundraising culture“.

When I’m conducting a resource development assessment for a client who doesn’t have a strong fundraising program in place, it isn’t uncommon for me to make an observation about the agency lacking a “culture of philanthropy“. When I watched Andrea’s interview this morning, it dawned on me that some of those clients might not have understood what I was driving at.

I love the distinction that Andrea draws in the video. I love even more that she takes the time to share with viewers the nine signs of a strong philanthropic culture.

Do you know what those nine signs are? Does your organization exhibit those nine signs?

OK, I have a confession to make. When I look for philanthropic culture, I use the less formal “smell test,” which is akin to sniffing what is in a Tupperware container in the refrigerator to determine whether or not it is still safe to eat leftovers. Essentially, I knew it when I saw it and experienced it. So, when Andrea said she was going to share her nine signs of a philanthropic culture with viewers this morning, I settled in and prepared to watch the entire 15 minute video.

I highly recommend that you take a moment to watch “9 Signs of a Strong Philanthropic Culture“.

To help whet your appetite, here are three of Andrea’s nine signs:

  1. Your board and agency leadership know how to spell “philanthropy” (While her tongue is planted firmly in her cheek, she makes a great point when talking about this sign.)
  2. Organizational leadership (both board and staff) understand the difference between philanthropy, development, and fundraising.
  3. When a donor calls the main phone line, the person answering the phone knows exactly what to do with that call. They know where to send those calls. They also recognize the importance of that person and treats them as such.

There are six other even more amazing signs. Aren’t you even a little curious? Click here to check-out Andrea’s interview and discover those six other signs.

I’m going to end today’s blog with the same question Andrea poses at the end of her video. What other things (aka signs) do you look for when assessing whether or not a non-profit agency possesses a philanthropic culture? Even more important, how are you trying to instill these things into your organizational culture? Please share one or two of those things in the comment box below.

Here’s to your health!

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