posts – Page 76 – The Healthy Non-Profit

Should the new non-profit mantra be: Sell! Sell! Sell!

February 15, 2012 DonorDreams Fundraising

Yesterday, I introduced the idea of non-profit organizations looking in some non-traditional places to generate revenue such as “selling things” through unrelated business income efforts. Of course, I see non-profits also looking at “related” business income opportunities. Regardless, we’ll be talking about this topic for the remainder of this week. Today, we’re doing a deeper dive on what I think is driving this way of thinking and providing a few tips to those looking at this opportunity.

In the majority of my blog posts, I’ve talked about charitable giving and the $300 billion dollars every year that Americans contribute to charities. The reality is that the non-profit sector reports approximately $1.5 trillion in revenues and $2.5 trillion in assets (source: Philanthropy Journal). In round numbers, the Paul Clarke Nonprofit Resource Center reported a number of years ago that nonprofit revenue shakes out in the following way:

20 percent private contributions (e.g. fundraising)
45 percent fees and services (e.g. tuition and health related fees for service)
32 percent government grants and purchase of service agreements (e.g. Medicare, Medicaid, etc)

However, the 45 percent slice of the pie can be really deceiving as it was pointed out by Amy Blackwood, Kennard T. Wing and Thomas H. Pollak in their white paper titled “The Nonprofit Sector in Brief“. When looking at fees and services, they reported:

“These distributions, however, are largely driven by hospitals and higher education institutions. If we exclude these organizations, the distribution of sources of revenue changes substantially. In contrast, the remaining organizations are less dependent on fees for services and goods and more dependent on private contributions and government grants.”

So, I relayed a conversation in yesterday’s post — “What’s the next new thing in non-profit fundraising” — that I had with a very dear non-profit friend over a cup of coffee. In that discussion, she hypothesized that the next new thing might involve non-profits “selling more things”. I’ve concluded that she may indeed be right for the following reasons:

As you can see from the aforementioned source of funds data, non-profit organizations have been selling services and charging fees for years. While this as primarily been healthcare and education related charities, I suspect that during tough economic times agencies start “looking around” at their fellow non-profits for ideas to “borrow”.
My blogger friend, Joanne Fritz at about.com, also captured some of what I’m seeing in her post titled “Recession Provides Bump to Thrift Shopping and Social Responsibility“.

For those entrepreneurial minded non-profit professionals out there who are intrigued by this possible trend, I have a few suggestions:

First things first . . . sit down and figure out upon which revenue model you’re building your non-profit agency. This is one of those foundational decisions that shouldn’t be taken lightly. The Stanford Social Innovation Review did a very nice job distilling this question into 10 different revenue models. Click here to read that article.
If you want to open a store and sell stuff, then you need to start thinking and acting like a for-profit business person. Being a non-profit in a for-profit environment might not work very well. While this single thought could (and probably should become a blog post unto itself), I will share the following few tips: take a few business courses; develop a written business plan; remember that it is all about location-location-location; figure out the “pricing points” thing quickly; and be prepared to do marketing in a very different way from what you’ve done for your non-profit services.
Be extra careful with the “unrelated business income” thing. You don’t want the IRS to take away your non-profit status.
Tie your income-oriented “business venture” into your mission. If done correctly, you might be able to generate income from sales AND cultivate a new base of donors who are ALSO willing to make charitable contributions to your private sector fundraising efforts. This could be done in a variety of ways including: employing clients to operate the store, selling items made by your clients, decorating the store with mission-focused messages, etc
Involve your donors. If you look throughout your donor database, you’ll find a diversity of people from many different walks of life that possess a variety of skill sets and experiences. You’re not in this thing alone . . . you have passionate supporters who love you. If you engage those donors the right way, you might just see their involvement impact how they see your mission and their support of it.

Lots and lots and lots of questions, and the answers can get very complicated. So, before leaping, make sure you take a very hard look at whether or not this is something that fits with your organizational culture.

Does your agency operate a store or business venture? Please share your successes and challenges. Maybe its not a store, but you’re starting to eye product sale opportunities (e.g. cookies, candy bars, popcorn, etc). If so, what are the considerations racing through your mind. Please scroll down and share some of your lessons and considerations 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

What’s the next “new thing” in non-profit fundraising?

February 14, 2012 DonorDreams Fundraising

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to share a cup of coffee with a dear friend of mine who runs a local non-profit organization in Elgin, Illinois. During the course of that conversation, she openly wondered what the “next new thing” in non-profit fundraising will be. It was a great conversation . . . so, I’ve decided to share and engage all of you in the discussion.

Our conversation started off innocent enough. She was reflecting on the state of the local non-profit community, and I was scribbling notes frantically in hopes of possibly finding a business lead or two or three. 😉

I think she hit upon something very interesting when she said, “I’ve never seen a time when ALL of the different sources of funding were down at the same time and under so much pressure.” For example, when her agency’s United Way funding seemed to start trending downward, she found alternative revenue streams from federal, state, and local government agencies. When foundation and corporate sources would dry up, she was able to rely on individual giving and special events.

In her experience, non-profit fundraising was like a lava lamp with funding streams going up and down and coming back again. The world she described felt sustainable to her because as a strategic thinker she always seemed to be able to identify THE “next new thing” and position her agency to take advantage of it. However, today’s “New Normal” feels very different from any other time she’s experienced, and she wondered out loud what the next new thing will be.

As my coffee cup was near empty, she appeared thunderstruck and then said, “I just wonder if non-profits need to start looking at selling things like our for-profit friends do, but doing so in a way that it can be wrapped around our non-profit mission.”

Of course, she is speaking to the issue of “unrelated business income“. However, it might not have to be “unrelated”.

The example she gave involved operating a thrift store. However, she wondered if the store couldn’t also be linked to her non-profit’s client base with job training and childcare opportunities infused throughout. This idea would involve donors donating items to the store. It would involve clients working at the shop, thus earning money, learning transferable skills, and becoming more self-reliant in life. It would involve subsidized childcare, which is a huge barrier to many single and working women trying to make ends meet. In the end, all of this would result in a revenue stream for the non-profit, and just possible THE “next new thing”.

I am intrigued by this idea and will spend the next few days blogging about unrelated business income and outside-the-box revenue ideas with which non-profits seem to be experimenting. I find this idea so interesting because many non-profit agencies haven’t had to think about business-related issues such as the marketplace, supply and demand, customers, pricing, etc etc etc.

So, please join me on this strangely curious trip and discussion.

Has your agency started examining the idea of “selling things” in an attempt to generate new revenue? If so, what have you tried and what was the result? What were some of the interesting disconnects you may have experienced when traveling down this road. Please share examples of other organizations in your community or nationally that have gotten into the unrelated business income game.

If you scroll down, you will see the comment box. You know what to do. 😉

Here’s to your health!

Can your non-profit raise $1,000,000 in 24 hours using a crowd funding site?

February 13, 2012 DonorDreams Fundraising, Mondays with Marissa

What a difference a day makes. This week, video game developer, Double Fine Productions, raised over $1,000,000 within 24 hours of posting their next project on the popular crowd funding site, kickstarter. That’s a lot of money in a short amount of time, and it got me thinking — if it can happen for video games, why can’t it non-profits do the same thing? Today we’ll take a look at two kickstarter-like options for you and your agency.

Helpers Unite

When you combine the entrepreneurial spirit of kickstarter with charitable giving, you get Helpers Unite. Helpers Unite creates opportunities to help businesses fund projects while registered 501c3 organizations collect donations. According to an article from The Next Web, the process for nonprofits goes like this:

“HelpersUnite has Projects and Causes on the site. Registered 501c3′s can create a Cause profile, including their logo, and then send the link to their Cause on HelpersUnite to their donor list as part of any fundraising campaign. Causes can keep their profile on the site forever, at no cost to them. They do not have to align with a charity and donate part of their funds raised on the site to another 501c3′s. All the money raised, less admin fees to HelpersUnite and credit card processing fees from PayPal, go to the non-profit. HelpersUnite features Causes on its site and social media channels regularly to help further promote users’ work.”

Additionally, Helpers Unite will send the donor a receipt for tax deduction purposes, so you won’t have to.

FirstGiving

FirstGiving is crowd funding through your current network of supporters. Supporters can create their own pages and raise funds through their social networks. According to Crunchbase:

“FirstGiving partner’s with nonprofit organizations to allow them to plan, execute, and measure successful online fundraising campaigns. For individual fundraisers, FirstGiving aims to make the process simple, effective, and even fun.”

This approach allows supporters to tell stories and bring awareness to their cause. FirstGiving seems best suited when supporters are fundraising for a project that is connected to a nonprofit, such as running in a marathon.

A few things to keep in mind:

Just like every other social media site, it is important to cultivate the community on each site. Make sure you have someone monitoring the interactions, engaging in those virtual conversations, and updating your profile often.
Spread the news. Not only announce that you have set up a profile on a crowd funding site, but announce the successes. People like to be a part of success.
Learn from others. Take a look around and see what other organizations like yours are up to. How are they using the site? Remember, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
Be specific. We all know that donors like to know where their money is going. On these kickstarter-esque sites, details about how the funds will be used is more important than general fundraising.
As of the writing of this post, Double Fine Productions has raised $1,662,430 with 47,231 backers making an average donation of $35. The company only asked for a $1 minimum donation. 25,730 supporters donated between $15 to $30. You can check the current figures, here. It only goes to show that, every penny counts.

Non-profits always seem to be trying to diversify their revenue streams. Do you see crowd funding as another possible fundraising strategy for your agency? Have you used a crowd funding source before? What worked? What didn’t? Please join the conversation by using the comment section below!

What do your donors value?

February 10, 2012 DonorDreams Donor-centered fundraising, Fundraising

A few months ago, I had the privilege of facilitating a values exercise for an organization. I blogged about it weeks afterward in a post titled “Does your non-profit have a soul?” Yesterday, I had a similar privilege to facilitate a focus group with a different agency, and one of the questions I asked clients was “what values do you see the organization living?

Wow! If you ever want to know if you live your values, pull together a group of clients and ask them what they see. It can be an incredibly affirming exercise. I suspect it can also be eye-opening.

After yesterday’s focus group, I decided to spend a moment reflecting on the power of that exercise. I found my mind wandering back to the same question:

“I wonder how many non-profits know what values their donors hold close to their hearts and how that impacts their willingness to invest in their mission?”

For some dumb reason, I’ve never considered how a donor perceives an agency’s values, reconciles it with their own personal values, and factors it into their decision to donate or not. After thinking about it for a moment, it is as obvious as the nose on my face. However, I must admit that this never has consciously crossed my mind. <<Embarassing>> Additionally, this revelation has now trigger more questions:

Could fundraising ineffectiveness in part be caused by an organization that doesn’t have a well-defined set of organizational values?
Could an agency that only has values “on paper” and fails to live by them, negatively impact their fundraising program?
What can non-profits learn if they ask their donors what values they see the agency living?
How can a non-profit organization best ascertain what values their donors cherish?

Regardless of how you answer these questions, I suspect you will conclude as I have that it is important to figure out how to best communicate what your organizational values are throughout the cultivation, solicitation and stewardship processes.

However, first things first . . . what does your non-profit value? I will leave you with the following incomplete list of values and principles that I’ve seen some agencies embrace (e.g. the YMCA’s core values are in the graphic to the right of this paragraph):

Excellence
Honesty
Fun
Creativity
Respect for Others
Quality
Diversity
Innovation
Winning
Care for Others
Cooperation

Lots and lots of questions for a Friday. If you find yourself with some answers, please scroll down and share those thoughts in the comment box. We can all learn from each other.

Here’s to your health!

Choo! Choo! All aboard the philanthropy train

February 9, 2012 DonorDreams Donor-centered fundraising, Fundraising

On Tuesday of this week, I climbed aboard a train and made my way to downtown Chicago for a meeting with a former co-worker and current marketing consultant. It was on that train trip that I was thunderstruck by a revelation . . . trains are an amazing metaphor for non-profit organizations when it comes to resource development.

It starts at the train station. If you look around at those waiting for the train, you’ll observe people from all walks of life. There is a lot of diversity standing on that train platform, which also holds true for the average non-profit agency’s pool of prospective donors. Those who are interested in supporting your agency are young and old, white-collar and blue-collar, and rich and poor.

Non-profits who are successful at resource development recognize their mission is something everyone wants to climb aboard, and those agencies are very good at offering seats to everyone on that train.

Once the train pulls up to the platform, the doors open and the conductors come down out of the train onto the platform. They greet commuters, provide valuable information, and assist those who need help getting up into the train. After everyone is seemingly aboard, they look around and make sure there are no stragglers.

Successful fundraising organizations use fundraising professionals and fundraising volunteers to identify, cultivate, educate, inform and help prospective donors.

On the train, conductors are punching pre-purchased tickets as well as selling tickets to those who need them. Everyone pays to ride and no one goes without a solicitation. This all occur while the train is chugging along to its destination. After the solicitation period is over, the conductor stops and chats with passengers. They answer questions and talk about the “expected outcome,” which of course is arriving safely at your destination. The focus isn’t on the solicitation, it is on the outcomes (e.g. talk about the journey, reminders about safety, and the final announcement at the end of the trip that the ultimate outcome has been achieved).

Non-profits who make fundraising look effortless understand that fundraising isn’t the focus. They work hard to keep their donors and supporters focused on the journey, the outcomes and the impact. The message is never “we need your money” . . . it is always “we’re making a difference because of everything you do to support us.”

As the train pulls into Union Station, the conductor makes the following announcements:

We’ve arrived on time (e.g. we delivered on our promise)
Thank you for riding Metra (e.g. appreciation and acknowledgement)
Have a great day, watch your step getting off the train, and be safe
Remember to buy your ticket at the station for your return trip because you’ll save money

Stewardship is more than just thanking donors for their money. In addition to thanks and appreciation, the effective non-profits share return on investment information with their donors and take a genuine interest in their lives.

If you’re reading today’s blog post and think I’m exaggerating to make a point, then I think you need to take a train trip. For me, the proof is in the pudding when I see how many commuters appear to personally know their conductors and look happy to see them.

Non-profit organizations who want to improve their resource development programs and make them more donor-centered should climb aboard the philanthropy train and enjoy the ride. None of us are ever too old to learn a thing or two. 😉

Who are the “conductors” for your resource development program? No everyone is cut out for that job . . . how do you identify and recruit those individuals? Are you strategic in your efforts or is it more organic? What does your agency do to keep the focus off of fundraising and on the outcomes and impact (while ensuring donors are still contributing)? Does your fundraising program feel like a fun journey or is it just a series of unconnected stops?

Please use the comment box below to weigh-in. I promise that it is a warm and nurturing place. It will not bite you. 😉

Here’s to your health!

Non-profit workers of the world unite?!?!

February 8, 2012 DonorDreams Fundraising

Let me start by apologizing to all of the non-profit CEOs in Elgin, Illinois. When I was among their ranks many years ago, I remember countless meetings that turned into “bitch sessions”. My fellow CEOs would channel Rodney Dangerfield’s mantra of “no respect” and gripe about how the non-profit sector deserves more attention, more government funding, and more respect from community leaders.

My guilty admission today is that I used to roll my eyes at those meetings. However, my blogger friend Joanne Fritz at about.com wrote the most amazing post the other day titled “Nonprofit Workforce Grew During Recession” and it echoes much of what my non-profit friends were saying years ago, including:

The non-profit sector is a large part of the economy; third largest only behind the retail and manufacturing sectors.
The non-profit sector accounts for 10 percent of employment in our country.
Non-profit employment is concentrated in services that healthy communities demand and need (e.g. healthcare, childcare, education, etc), which can be a great foundation for any case for support.

OK, OK, OK . . . you were right and I was wrong. I sincerely apologize from the bottom of my heart. With age comes wisdom and knowledge, and I was a young executive director who thought I knew more at the time than I probably did. However, I am older now, and I have a few observations of my own that I think you need to hear.

I don’t see many of you treating your employees very well.
I don’t see salaries and hourly pay being particularly good. How many of you are paying a “living wage”? Because I see too many paychecks closer to minimum wage.
I don’t see very good benefits packages for employees who work on the frontline. Sure senior staff traditionally received great health insurance and retirement benefits. However, I see major gaps once you get outside of the executive suites and into middle management and program staff ranks.
I see lots and lots and lots of employee turnover. While finding replacements seems to be an easy task during tough economic times, I remember a day not so long ago when it was difficult.
I see cash strapped non-profit organizations who aren’t even budgeting cost of living adjustment wage increases for their staff.
Sadly, I see non-profit employees accessing other non-profit social services (e.g. food pantries, utilities assistance, subsidized childcare, etc).

I could go on and on, but it I know that many of you know exactly what I’m talking about.

When I see situations like this, my gut always tells me that it isn’t sustainable and a market correction is sure to follow. Again, Joanne Fritz did a great job in her blog post talking about how for-profit companies are starting to step-in to fill the gap. Based upon history, I would guess that for-profit companies will bring more business acumen and more competitive compensation packages with them to this fight. I also suspect that the fight for workers hearts and minds won’t be a fair one and non-profits will likely be at a disadvantage.

However, there is also a second possible development to which non-profit leader should pay attention. History tells us that when employees don’t believe their voice is being heard and their pocketbooks are being squeezed, this provides an opening for unions to step-in and organize the workplace. With union membership dwindling across the country, you know that union organizers are looking everywhere for opportunities.

I come from a union family. I am a union supporter down to my socks. If I were writing a different kind of blog post, I might even argue that non-profits could benefit from a partnership with public employee unions if it was done right. After all, who else in America has a strong enough voice inside the government bureaucracies and legislatures to advocate for on-time payment and processing of government funding and grants?

However, I won’t go there today.

Instead, I encourage all non-profit CEOs to listen to the old ancient Greek expression (and Spiderman’s father, Ben Parker) when they said, “With great power comes great responsibility”. Congratulations . . . you were right about your strength in numbers and economic impact. It is now time that you live up to that promise and do the right thing. If you want to maintain your labor market strength and avoid unionization, then I have the following advice for you:

Diversify your funding streams and stop relying on government funding as heavily as you currently do. We’re likely heading into an age of government austerity because we have a lot of debt to pay back over the next generation.
Invest in resource development systems and personnel. Focus hard on raising money the old fashion way.
Work feverishly at making new donor friends, and work even harder to maintain existing donor relationships.
As you raise more private sector fundraising dollars, don’t continue to expand programming and grow your mission until you’re really ready to do so. Instead, invest in your current programs, systems and employees because you’re likely under-resourced right now.
Invest in collaboration! Strategic alliances around back office operations could be a start. Sharing resources including staff might help. Partnering with for-profits on those things they do better than non-profits could yield interesting results.

Most non-profits are living day-to-day. The pressure that comes with that lifestyle will kill you. Build capacity and invest in people. It is the only way to guarantee your survival.

Do you find yourself in a different employee situation than what I describe in this post? Do you have a different point of view on public employee unions and their possible value as collaborators? How are you positioning yourself from a resource development perspective in this new economic environment? How are you investing in your employees and treating them well? Please scroll down and share your stories, examples and answers to these questions in the comment box below. We can all learn from each other.

Here’s to your health!

Are non-profit organizations destroying our communities?

February 7, 2012 DonorDreams Fundraising

A friend of mine works at city hall in my hometown of Elgin, Illinois. A few months ago, I found myself in her office explaining a series of blog posts calling the city’s Nightmare on Chicago Street event into question for its use of non-profit organizations to sell tickets and staff the event with non-profit volunteers. After a great meeting where I explained myself (and I think we found ourselves on the same page), this friend decided to play Oprah and loaned me a book titled “The Abundant Community: Awakening the Power of Families and Neighborhoods” by John McKnight and Peter Block. After reading the book, I find myself asking:

Do non-profit organizations do more to hurt our communities than help?

Well, ain’t that a kick in the pants? LOL I was all excited to read this book because it is an urban planning textbook about neighborhood planning and engagement, and I have two degrees in urban planning. I really thought this book would be a fun walk down memory lane. Instead, it called my entire career path in non-profit management into question.

In a nutshell, the thesis of the book is that we’ve moved from a citizen and neighborhood based society to a consumer-based one. In the citizen-based society, people lived and thrived within their neighborhoods. Everything they needed (e.g. safety, jobs, food, family, care, etc) could be found in their neighborhood. Today, our consumer-based world has us looking for all of these things outside of our neighborhoods, which in effect results in us surrendering to others “… the power to provide what is essential for a full and satisfied life”.

While this is something that is very theoretical, I find the implication of these ideas to be revolutionary in nature. After all, how many times do you hear things like:

citizenship, empowerment and engagement can be undermined by corporations, government and professional & academic institutions,
the social cost of “consumerism” is that it contributes to families losing their function, and
the marketplace cannot solve our problems.

The book calls out the non-profit sector as part of the consumer-based world and one of the institutions that undermines our sense of neighborhoods and citizenship. Check out this passage from the book:

“In the consumer ecology, the word care has been co-opted by systems: business, agencies, and governments … Our charities ask us to give money to pay for the care of people. … In each case, they are actually providing a paid service — not care. This is a key distinction, the difference between care and service. Systems offer services for pay; they offer actuarial, medical, and administrative services. We know it is not care, because genuine care cannot be paid for. It is given, free of charge.”

That last passage got me thinking. Do non-profit organizations really try to “replace” families and neighborhoods. Or do they just try to patch the holes in a safety net for people who don’t have strong families and neighborhoods on which to rely? And then I read this passage in the book:

“In the system world of philanthropy, generosity is sometimes called “charity,” which is really an unstable and false generosity because it is oriented around the needs and deficiencies of just one party in the transaction. Charity is demeaning in this way. As if you need me, and you have nothing but gratitude to offer in return. Charity says, “You have not earned this; I am giving it to you because you have so few gifts.”

Whoa! This last passage from the book really upset me, but then I stopped and thought about it for two seconds. There is truth in those words, especially for many non-profits who practice a form of “tin cup” fundraising.

At this point, I think I was beside myself and wondering if my career path choices have contributed to the erosion of our sense of community and citizenship. So, rather than find a tall building to jump from, I decided to focus on the few positives that non-profits should take from this book:

Focus your fundraising and philanthropic efforts on building something (e.g. return on investment) rather than “charity” and “tin cup” appeals.
Invest in relationship building and using your agency as a vehicle for connecting people and building a sense of neighborhood and community.
Offer programming that teaches people to “do for themselves” and stop doing it for them.
Create philanthropic opportunities that go beyond just donating money and allows people to donate things/stuff, time and talents.

I appreciate that today’s post was very theoretical, but it certainly does give any free thinking non-profit person cause for pause. Right?

What are your thoughts on the book that my friend from city hall loaned me? Did you find any truth in it? How does your agency build relationships between people and institutions? How do you guard against practicing tin cup philanthropy? Do you know how your fundraising volunteers are framing your case for support with donors, and are you sure it isn’t tin cup philanthropy?

OK . . . I need someone to talk me down off the ledge.

Here’s to your health!

Lessons Learned from The Susan G. Komen Foundation’s Use of Social Media

February 6, 2012 DonorDreams Fundraising, Mondays with Marissa, technology

How important is social media to non-profits? Ask the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation.

Last week, the popular breast cancer awareness group announced that it would no longer provide grants to Planned Parenthood. In the past, the Susan G Komen Foundation provided funding to Planned Parenthood to provide mammogram screenings for those in need. Due to a change in policy, based on an investigation into where donor dollars were making the largest impact, these grants would no longer be funded. With in hours of this announcement, Facebook and Twitter were alive with posts from people voicing their opinion on the matter. Within 72 hours the decision was reversed.

Let’s not focus on the politics at hand, but moreover, what can we learn from this situation?

1. Never underestimate the power of the web. We are living in an age that has seen governments overthrown due to the organization efforts of people on Twitter. These days, information travels faster than the speed of sound. How are you using this to your advantage? Does your organization have an active presence on social media networks or is it more haphazard? People use social media every single day. Facebook, alone has over 800 million users and is projected to hit over a billion in August of this year. These are all people who can hear about the mission of your agency, but they can’t hear about it if you aren’t talking. Make sure that the message that is being published on social media sites on behalf of your organization is being controlled and constantly monitored to ensure that the message is clear and fosters a sense of community.

2. We are all connected. Do employees and volunteers understand how their activities on the web impact the mission of your agency? For example, what if an employee, let’s call him Sam, has your organization listed as their place of work and he comes home from a hard day and vents his frustration on Facebook. The next day, a donor, Jane, is looking for a new organization to donate her hard-earned dollars to, does a google search and finds your organization. On the side of your website there is a Facebook link. Jane clicks it only to find that her friend — Sam — works and your organization and is connected. Upon clicking on Sam’s profile, Jane sees what he has to say and thinks twice about making that donation. If your organization does not have a clear social media policy for employees, this situation could very likely happen.

3. The most important lesson for non-profits that can be taken away from last week’s news, is that transparency is the best policy. I know that Erik has stressed this before on the DonorDreams blog, and I can’t help but echo it again. The Susan G. Komen Foundation made a very difficult decision that they knew would probably anger some supporters. Where they made a mistake was in the messaging. They allowed people to make the issue a political one because they didn’t share all of the details behind why that action was necessary. Susan G. Komen Foundation had a number of resources at their disposal to share information and defuse the situation after the announcement was made. If they had reacted to their critics in real-time through social media as opposed to reacting through a produced video a day or so later, they might have controlled the situation a little better. How do you use social media to announce changes to your agency?

This hiccup in the timeline of The Susan G. Komen Foundation will sure come to the minds of future donors. However, what I find most interesting is to see how if they will embrace social media to help control the conversation and move the public forward.

In my upcoming “Mondays with Marissa” posts, I plan to focus on one social media site a month and how you can cultivate a community of supporters through it. To best serve our readers, I have created a quick survey to see what sites are being used and how. Please take a few moments to share your thoughts, by clicking on this link. Thank you!!

What fences exist in your fundraising program?

February 3, 2012 DonorDreams Fundraising

This week we’re looking for non-profit and fundraising advice from one of my favorite books — “It’s Not Easy Being Green: And Other Things to Consider” — written by Jim Henson, The Muppets, and Friends. In yesterday’s post, we examined a movie quote from Kermit the Frog and talked about donor recapture initiatives. Today, we look at a quote from Jon Stone who was one of the creators of “Sesame Street” and the person who brought Jim Henson into that television family.

The following short three sentence description of Jim Henson by Jon Stone encapsulates a very important idea that all non-profit and fundraising professionals need to understand and take to heart:

“Jim didn’t think in terms of boundaries at all, the way the rest of us do. There are always these fences we build around ourselves and our ideas. Jim seemed to have no fences.”

A few days ago I was sharing a cup of coffee with an long-time non-profit friend. She was talking about how things used to be before the Great Recession and how things need to change as we enter “The New Normal”. She talked a lot about the need for non-profit professionals to focus on “unrelated earned income” and entrepreneurial ventures that augment the more traditional charitable giving revenue model upon which most non-profits operate.

While I’m not certain, I suspect my friend might be a Jim Henson type of person. She definitely doesn’t have any fences in her life.

A week ago Jamie Morris, the development director from the Boys & Girls Club in Evansville, Indiana, sent me a YouTube link to a video titled “Trickwinkle” that they produced with former New York Yankee Don Mattingly. They sold some sponsorships and raised some money. According to Jamie, they are trying to get their video to “GO VIRAL” . . . I ‘m still not positive that I understand all of the resource development aspects to this project (I think might even be a possible product sale angle around the T-shirts you see being worn in the video), but I am certain that those guys in Evansville don’t have any fences in their lives.

Please click the link to Boys & Girls Club of Evansville’s “Trickwinkle” YouTube video and do them a favor by posting it on your Facebook page and sharing it on Twitter. They’d consider it a personal favor and so would I. 😉

There are very few of us who can claim to have Jim Henson’s ability to operate in a boundary-free world. However, we can do the next best thing which is invest in evaluation and assessment efforts and ask this simple question: “What fences exist in our non-profit organizations and fundraising programs?”

Please scroll down and share with us what some of your fences may be? Have you ever used fundraising volunteers to help with evaluating your resource development efforts? If so, did you ever discover things that you might not have otherwise seen? What did you do about it?

Here’s to your health!

Wise words from a frog on donor recapture initiatives

February 2, 2012 DonorDreams Fundraising

This week we’re looking for non-profit and fundraising advice from one of my favorite books — “It’s Not Easy Being Green: And Other Things to Consider” — written by Jim Henson, The Muppets, and Friends. In yesterday’s post, we examined song lyrics from Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem band and the importance of training your annual campaign volunteer solicitors. Today, we look at a quote from Kermit the Frog and the concept of re-engaging lapsed donors.

The following passage is something Kermit said in one of the muppet movies. I think these words are inspirational for non-profit and fundraising professionals who are looking at a long list of lapsed donors and contemplating how to re-engage them.

“Look at all those people out there. Lots of people. But my friends . . . my friends are all gone. Well, I’m, I’m going to get ’em back. I’m gonna get ’em back! ‘Cause the show’s not dead as long as I believe in it. And I’m gonna sell that show. And we’re all gonna be on Broadway. You hear me, New York? We’re gonna be on Broadway! Because, because I’m not giving up! I’m still here and I’m stayin’! You hear that, New York? I’m stayin’ right here. The frog is stayin’.”

While every non-profit organization’s donor recapture initiative will likely look a little different due to circumstances and available resources, they are all rooted in the following foundational approaches:

Identifying which lapsed donors are the best candidates for your recapture activities,
Assessment to determine if there were systemic reasons for the donor disengaging,
Developing a case for support specifically focused on why a donor should come back, and
Creating a plan that involves varied cultivation, solicitation, stewardship and testing strategies that uniquely speak to a family member who has been away from home for a while.

Doing all of this falls into the category of “good strategy,” but what Kermit speaks to is something entirely different — good attitude.

I cannot tell you how many times I’ve opened a letter, taken a phone call or visited with a fundraising professional who wants to engage me in a conversation about renewing my lapsed financial support. For me, it is all about tone and energy. I can tell if you really care about me or if you just care about my dollars. I can tell if you believe in your heart that I’m a member of your non-profit family.

You can put together the most strategically sound donor recapture initiative and still fall short if you don’t take Kermit’s words to heart about:

Being perseverant and demonstrating sticktoitiveness,
Believing in a cause, and
Understanding the concept of salesmanship.

Jerry Juhl was a good friend of Jim Henson and a puppeteer associated with the muppets. He said, “Kermit is the eye in the middle of the hurricane. And, you know, he’s always in control. And the interesting thing about it, of course, is that he created the hurricane.”

Every fundraising professional should take these words to heart because: 1) you are at the center of your agency’s fundraising program, 2) you need to always exude a sense ofbeing calm, cool and collected, and 3) you likely created the situation that you’re currently dealing with.

Has your agency every created or invested in a donor recapture initiative? If so, please share what it looked like? If you created a special case for support, what were some of the messages and themes you hit upon? How did you infuse emotion into your efforts? Please scroll down and share your thoughts using the comment box below. We can all learn from each other.

Here’s to your health!