posts – Page 77 – The Healthy Non-Profit

Fundraising advice from Dr. Teeth

February 1, 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. Yesterday, we looked at the idea of being “mission-focused” in a quote from Jim Henson. Today, we’re taking some fundraising advise from the keyboard player and leader of Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem band.

Here are some lyrics from one of the band’s hit songs that I think contains great advice for volunteer solicitors who are out there making the ask during tough economic times:

“Whenever there’s a dream worth a-dreamin’
And you want to see that dream come true
There’ll be plenty people talkin’,
Say forget all about it
Say it isn’t worth all the trouble.
All the trouble that you’re goin’ through
Well, what can you do?

You can’t take no for an answer
You can’t take no for an answer
You can’t take no for an answer.

No, no, no!

Whatcha gonna do when the times get tough,
And the world’s treatin’ you unkind?
You’ve got to hang on to your optimistic outlook,
And keep possession of your positive state of mind.”

Where was the Emmy nomination for THAT song? Well, I’m just glad that the recent muppet movie song “Man or Muppet” got an Academy Award nomination for Best Song at this year’s Oscar celebration. Congratulations to all of my muppet friends. 🙂

So, back to fundraising . . . I believe Dr. Teeth has some very important advice for fundraising volunteers when it comes to:

Preparing yourself mentally for “The Ask” because 1-out-of-4 solicitations will end in a “NO”.
Preparing yourself to be politely test the question: “What does NO really mean?”

As for mental preparation, I am always amazed at how few non-profit organizations put together a well-run annual campaign kickoff event. Too often, I’ve attended a kickoff meeting that feel 75 percent social, 20 percent administrative (e.g. prospect assignment) and five percent training focused. My advice to fundraising professionals is to turn this approach on its head and use the kickoff meeting to engage, train and prepare volunteer solicitors for the following:

how to make a technically proficient face-to-face solicitation,
how to prepare for the solicitation meeting both mentally and physically, and
how to deal with all possibilities including YES, NO, and MAYBE.

I’ve seen nothing more damaging that ill-prepared volunteers running out the door with pledge cards in hand only to run into a buzz saw of NOs. Believe me when I tell you that the first report meeting is ugly and demoralized volunteers are hard to re-motivate. So, using the training portion of the kickoff meeting to prepare volunteers on how to handle NO and maintain a mission-focused positive mental attitude is critical.

As for Dr. Teeth’s idea of “not taking NO for an answer,” I believe this also goes back to your campaign kickoff meeting. I think it is important to train to volunteer solicitors to underestand that NO simply means “not now”. Once this is understood, let’s teach volunteers to not tuck their tails and run once a prospective donors says NO. With a little training, volunteers will be able to casually engage prospects in a conversation that will net valuable information such as:

Is this just a bad time to be asking for a contribution? Is there a better time?
Is the NO a result of something the agency did (or didn’t do)? If so, what is it and what can be done to fix the situation?
If there is a willingness to donate but simply no money to give, then is the prospect open to supporting the agency with other gifts of time or talent?

What does your annual campaign kickoff meeting look like? What types of trainings do you provide fundraising volunteers so they feel comfortable using some of Dr. Teeth’s sound advice? How do you capture this information in your donor database? Do you use contact reports? If so, what do they look like and how do you inspire your volunteers to fill them out?

Please use the comment box below and weigh-in with your experiences and ideas. We can call 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

Is mission-focus difficult? Try being green!

January 31, 2012 DonorDreams Fundraising

Those of you who know me know that I look for philanthropy and inspirational non-profit and fundraising messages and lessons under every little rock on the path of life. I recently re-read one of my favorite books — “It’s Not Easy Being Green: And Other Things to Consider” — written by Jim Henson, The Muppets, and Friends. While many of the short stories and quotes in this book can probably be applied to many of life’s little lessons, I will use excerpts this week and apply them to non-profit work, fundraising and philanthropy. I encourage you to get a copy of this inspirational little book and keep it close by at all times because I guarantee it will be a source of inspiration for years to come.

Let’s start the week off by looking at the idea of “mission-focus” through the eyes of the puppet master himself, Jim Henson:

“I cannot say why I am good at what I do, but I can say that I work very hard at it. Nor am I aware of any conscious career decisions. I’ve always found that one thing leads to another, and that I’ve moved from project to project in a natural progression.

Perhaps one thing that has helped me in achieving my goals is that I sincerely believe in what I do, and get great pleasure from it. I feel very fortunate because I can do what I love to do.”

I decided to start this week’s series of posts with this Jim Henson quote because it reminded me of a very good friend and non-profit executive director with whom I recently shared a cup of coffee. During that meeting, she waxed poetic about her decades of experience running her non-profit agency. She never looked at what she does as a job or career. She barely sleeps and spends most of her waking hours thinking about her agency. She doesn’t view any of it as work . . . it is just something she does out of a sense of love and passion.

There are nine keys to inspiring and engaging your board and volunteers in fundraising success (or really anything else associated with your agency). One of those nine keys is “mission-focus”. This essentially means that board members and volunteers will be more successful at whatever they’re being asked to do if they can see how it effects and advances the mission of the organization.

In other words, when volunteers are just focused on “raising money,” then it can become an arduous and fearful type of activity. However, when board members see the annual campaign or special event fundraiser as something that will help countless people get [insert your mission here e.g. gain access to healthcare], then they will find passion and energy for fundraising.

If you take Jim Henson’s inspirational words to heart, then they beg the question about hiring practices for non-profit professionals and recruitment practices for board members and volunteers.

After all, wouldn’t it be a heck of a lot easier to maintain an intense mission-focus on everything from fundraising to finance to revising the agency’s policy manual if those sitting around the table believed as Jim Henson did: “…I sincerely believe in what I do, and get great pleasure from it”?

How does your agency find people like this when conducting an employment search? What practices do you put in place to attract those who don’t see the job they are applying for as a “job”? What questions do you ask during the interview to get at this sense of mission-focus? Likewise, how do you identify potential board members and volunteers like this? What questions to do ask volunteers to determine if they’re interested in serving based on a burning passion for your mission? For those board members who slip through the cracks and join your ranks for other reasons (perhaps business or professional reasons), how do you instill a sense of mission-focus?

Lots of questions! Please scroll down and use the comment box to provide some answers. Remember, we can collectively answer all of these questions and learn from each other.

Here’s to your health!

How Google’s Recent Changes Affect You and Your Non-Profit Organization

January 30, 2012 DonorDreams Fundraising, Mondays with Marissa, technology

Google. The little search engine that could – has changed search, yet again.

This month, Google made significant changes to how they deliver search results and the Terms of Service attached to each of their products. Today we’re going to take a look at what you need to know about these changes and how they affect your agency’s presence on the web.

Search + Your World
Google became popular because it was able to develop an algorithm that would deliver relevant search results to the user. Over the years, Google has improved on its formula and has become the most recognizable search engine in the world. The cyber-world has changed a bit during this time as it has become social. Today, people are using Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites to access information on topics before heading to Google. Why? They trust their already established social network. Recognizing that curated search results are popular, Google adapted it’s algorithm and introduced Search + Your World.

This new system has 3 features:

Provides Personal Results – Now when you search for “fundraising ideas” on Google, the first set of results that you see will be anything that may have been shared with you from your social network. This includes photos, blog posts, videos, ect.
Profiles in Search Results – Google+ is Google’s social network. With the new changes, if you search for a topic such as “photography,” the Google+ profiles of photographers may show up at the top of your search.
People and Pages – Again, directing the user to Google+, search results will now offer up profiles of people or pages related to your search topic.

A few things to keep in mind:

Facebook and twitter results are not included in search results.
If you have a Google account, your own media (photos, blog posts, videos, etc) will show up in your results. Also, they will show up in the results of anyone Google thinks you might know.
You can opt-out. On the Google search results page, in the upper right hand corner, there are two new icons: a person and a globe. If you click on the globe, you will see search results without the new “+ Your World” filter.

What does this mean for your non-profit organization?

Seeing as this change has happened only recently, it is hard to see how it is affecting organizations when it comes to where they show up in search results. However, as we all know, social media is becoming increasingly important to having new donors find you on the internet. One scenario came to mind. Say a donor, volunteer or staff member talks about their experience with your agency on their personal blog. That post could show up in a friend of the writer’s search results before your official site.

The curation of search results will continue with both Twitter and Facebook trying to step into the ring. Now more than ever, it is important for your agency to have a controlled and active online presence to ensure that the information you want to show up first, does. Test it out. Google your organization and see if this new way of search has made an impact.

Google’s New Terms of Service (or One Google To Rule Them All)
If you’re anything like me, I live my life in Google. I use Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs, Google+, YouTube, Zaggat, Google Maps and Android, pretty much everyday. Currently, each of these services has it’s own Terms of Service (TOS) outlining how Google will use my personal information. That will change on March 1, 2012 when all Google products will operate under one TOS. Google claims this will enhance results across their products and improve how products work together.

However . . .

People concerned with privacy are worried about how their information is going to be shared on the internet. For example, say a person uses Gmail for personal correspondence and is trying out stand-up comedy on YouTube under an alias. After March 1st, the person’s real name will be associated with the YouTube account – easy for anyone to find. It should be noted however, that Yahoo! and Microsoft already have similar practices.

Again, what does this mean for your non-profit agency?

If you are currently using any Google service on behalf of your agency, it is important that you are aware of how your information will be combined. I suggest creating separate personal and professional accounts before March 1, 2012 to make sure that the separation is clear to Google.

Also, if your organization already uses Google products, I would review what services are being used with your account. This can be done by logging into Google Dashboard.

Finally, if you decide that Google products are not the best fit for your organization, you can always export your data and delete your Google account.

What do you think about the changes Google has made? Do you see them as a help or hinderance to your organization? I’d love to discuss this with you, but you need to start the conversation using the comment box below! 😉

A parade of fundraising leaders and role models

January 27, 2012 DonorDreams Fundraising, leadership

This week at DonorDreams we are talking about what it looks like to be a fundraising “LEADER”. Today, we cap the week off by looking at one smart teenager and a few organizations that provide “thought leadership” in the area of charitable giving. I hope this week’s series of blog posts on fundraising thought leadership inspired you to become a teacher in your little corner of the world when it comes to philanthropy.

I’ve spent most of my life working in the youth development field. If there is one thing I know, it is that kids know everything. Just ask them! LOL So, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that at 14-years-old Freddi Zeiler wrote a book that “teaches us” how to: give time and money, donate goods, and organize charity events.

The book is titled “A Kids Guide to Giving“. I highly recommend that every fundraising professional secure a copy because we can all learn a lot as fundraising leaders from Freddi’s TPOV.

In Wednesday’s post titled “What is your teachable point of view around fundraising?” I talked about the importance of leaders developing their TPOV. Apparently, no one had to teach Freddi the importance of this idea because her TPOV came through loud and clear. To give you just a little taste, here are a few of the “ideas” she puts forth on fundraising:

Look into your heart.
Support a cause you love.
There are lots of ways to help!
You can make a difference.

It takes some non-profit professionals and volunteers a very long time to learn these inspirational and fundamental fundraising lessons.

As we talked about in Tuesday’s post titled “Are you and your non-profit agency fundraising leaders?” Noel Tichy believes that leaders are teachers. This aligns with what I think and how I end most of the posts here at the DonorDreams blog when I say: “we can all learn from each other”. It is for this reason I highlighted Freddi this morning as a fundraising leader. However, leaders don’t necessary have to be individuals . . . they can be organizations that embody and bring to life inspirational ideas, values and emotional energy and edge on the topic of philanthropy and fundraising.

Two such organizations in my mind are The Robin Hood Foundation and United Way of America.

The Robin Hood Foundation has been in operation since 1988 and focused on eliminating poverty in New York City. What I love about this foundation is their TPOV:

The foundation focuses on attacking the “roots” of poverty and not throwing money at alleviating the symptoms;
The foundation doesn’t just write a check and walk away from the project. They roll up their sleeves and partner with their grant recipients by providing and securing technical assistance to help maximize the potential of the program they just funded.
The foundation is results-oriented and helps their partners set goals, measure progress, collect data, and benchmark success. After working with their grantees on these parts of the project, they then hold them accountable to achieving all of it.

United Way of America is the grand-daddy of all philanthropic thought leaders in America. For the last 125 years, they have helped donors collectively find their philanthropic muscles and tackle difficult social problems in communities all across America.

I could spend hours talking about United Way’s workplace campaign. I could also spend days talking about their community impact model that focuses on big goals like improving education, helping people find financial stability during tough economic times, or promoting healthy lifestyles and communities. While all of this is inspirational, the thing that most inspires me as a fundraising professional is how United Way empowers many individuals with its message around giving, advocating and volunteering.

In my non-profit work throughout the years, I’ve bumped into too many people who are not wealthy and see themselves as tiny actors on the very large stage of life. These people have a hard time seeing themselves as philanthropists because they don’t think their ability to make a small charitable contribution will change anything. United Way works tirelessly as a “fundraising teacher” every year to empower donors.

The message that “even a few dollars per paycheck, when combined with everyone else’s few dollars, can change the world” is an empowering message and something we should all take to heart and learn to teach. We all need to dedicate ourselves to teaching donors how to make their money and time turn into something impactful. If every fundraising professional in America took this to heart, can you even imagine what those charitable giving pie charts published every year by Giving USA would look like? OH MY!

So, are you ready to embrace your professional calling as a non-profit fundraising professional or volunteer differently? What is your teachable point of view? What individuals (e.g. Bill Clinton or Freddi Zeiler) or organizations (e.g. Robin Hood Foundation or United Way) do you look to for inspiration to develop and inspire your TPOV?

Please scroll down and use the comment box to share your thoughts on these questions because we can all learn from each other”. 🙂

Here’s to your health!

Leader and philanthropist: Bill Clinton

January 26, 2012 DonorDreams Fundraising, leadership

This week at DonorDreams we are talking about what it looks like to be a fundraising “LEADER”. Today, we will continue our work by examining Bill Clinton’s teachable point of view around philanthropy, which he details in his 240 page book titled “Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World“. Tomorrow, we will cap the week off by looking at a variety of organizations that provide t”hought leadership” in the area of charitable giving.

Earlier this week I wrote blog posts titled “Are you and your non-profit agency a fundraising leader?” and “What is your teachable point of view around fundraising?“. If I had to capture these posts in a few words, it would be . . . leaders are teachers and they always have a teachable point of view (TPOV). After reading Bill Clinton’s book on “Giving,” regardless of whether you’re a Democrat or Republican, it would be impossible to argue that Clinton doesn’t has a TPOV on philanthropy and that he uses his book as a vehicle to teach us how to be more charitable.

Clinton shares a wealth of “Ideas” (remember this is one of the three elements of a TPOV) through his book including: much still needs to be done in our communities; everyone can giving; charitable giving doesn’t have to just be money but can also include time or things or skills; and we have an obligation to each other (which kind sounds like Hillary’s “it takes a village” mantra).

Identifying Clinton’s “Values” (remember this is the second of the three elements of a TPOV) and principles throughout his book isn’t difficult. A few of those values were: duty, service over self, compassion, life, and self-sufficiency.

Finally, his “emotional energy and edge” (remember this is the final piece of the three TPOV elements) is loud and clear in every chapter of the book. I think this quote from Clinton captures it best:

“I wrote this book to encourage you to give whatever you can, because everyone can give something. And there’s so much to be done, down the street and around the world. It’s never too late or too early to start.”

This call to action echoes Dr. Martin Luther King’s inspirational words: “Everyone can be great because everyone can serve.” Clinton’s book reads like a manual for the average person in America on how a private citizen doesn’t have to have an extraordinary Presidential life story in order to make a difference.

Bill Clinton as a philanthropic leader and teacher? ABSOLUTELY!!!! And he is someone we can all learn a lot from.

Perhaps, my favorite part of this book is where Clinton reminds us of why donors give of themselves.

“Why do some people give so much while others give the bare minimum or not at all? I’ve thought about this a lot, and it seems to me we all give for a combination of reasons, rooted in what we think about the world in which we live and what we think about ourselves. We give because we think it will help people today or give our children a better future; because we feel morally obligated to do so out of religious or ethical convictions; because someone we know and respect asked us; or because we find it more rewarding and more enjoyable than spending more money on material possessions or more time on recreation or work.

When people don’t give, I think the reasons are simply the reverse. They don’t believe what they could do would make a difference, either because their resources are limited or they’re convinced efforts to change other people’s lives and conditions are futile. They don’t feel morally obligated to give. No one has ever asked them to do so. And they believe they’ll enjoy life more if they keep their money and time for themselves and their families.”

Sorry for including such a long quote from Clinton, but I find these words to be truly inspiring. I also believe that EVERY non-profit organization can use this passage to evaluate their comprehensive resource development program by asking:

What are you doing to demonstrate to donors and the community at-large that your agency’s programs “make a difference”?
What are you doing to show both large and small donors that regardless of how small the contribution might be that it is important, valued, appreciated, and transformational?
How does your agency and your staff, board members, volunteers and donors model the morality-values-principles associated with philanthropy? And how do you do this in a way that inspires others to jump on the bandwagon?
How are you asking others to join you? Is it all about the impersonal email, newsletter, social media post, telephone call or snail-mail letter? Or are you and your volunteers getting out into the community and “pressing the flesh”?
Studies demonstrate that people who make philanthropic contributions (e.g. time, talent or treasure) are “happier” people. Do you and your volunteers look happy or are you making charitable giving and service look dreary and hard?

I encourage you to read Bill Clinton’s book because it reads like a love letter to the non-profit community and an instructional manual for donors as well as non-profit organizations!

Have you read the book? What were your impressions or lessons learned? If not a high-profile leader like Bill Clinton, who have you looked to as a philanthropic leader? What life lesson did you learn from that person?

Here’s to your health!

What is your teachable point of view around fundraising?

January 25, 2012 DonorDreams Fundraising

This week at DonorDreams we are talking about what it looks like to be a fundraising “LEADER”. Today, we will continue our work from Tuesday and frame the issue using Noel Tichy’s ideas around creating a “teachable point of view”. The rest of the week we will examine other points of view on the subject as well as examples of good leaders.

According to Tichy, every effective leader operates with what he describes as a “teachable point of view” (TPOV), which breaks down into the following components:

Ideas — these are your thoughts on whatever it takes to win at whatever you are trying to accomplish
Values — these guiding principles anchor your pursuit
Emotional Energy — this is the inner strength you draw upon to fuel your pursuit
Edge — this is courage to advocate with the strength of your convictions . . . it can also be a mantra that describes tough decision-making

It doesn’t matter if you are the CEO of a major multi-national corporation or a fundraising professional in a small one person shop. If you want to be a leader, you need to construct your personal TPOV for your agency’s unique situation in this universe.

If this sounds complicated, it really doesn’t have to be. For example, a long time ago I met someone who had just been named the executive director of a small non-profit organization. They were young, charismatic and willing to run through a wall for their agency’s mission. In spite of all their program experience, they had never really fundraised. Now, this person found themselves in a situation where board volunteers, who already were very reluctant about this “fundraising thing,” were looking to them for leadership to get the agency’s fundraising program on track.

After trying all sorts of things in their first few months, we came to the conclusion that they knew lots of textbook stuff about fundraising, but they didn’t have a TPOV around resource development. So, one afternoon over a cup of Starbucks coffee and a series of simple questions, we developed their TPOV around fundraising. Here are just a few of the questions I asked:

What do you believe in your heart and soul when it comes to resource development (RD) and fundraising?
What principles/values guide your interactions with donors and how you handle their charitable contributions?
What are some emotional statements that you want to become a “mantra” for your board members when it comes to fundraising?

Sure, there were follow-up questions and lots of fine tuning, but I think you get the idea. In the end, we integrated their answers into a TPOV diagram that looked like this:

In the end, this simple exercise provided that new executive director with something invaluable — a compass. A tool that would guide every resource development decision that they’d ever make and inform every fundraising conversation they’d ever have with a board member.

What is your teachable point of view around fundraising? Do you have one? If not, then please share some of your core ideas or values that you associate with resource development. Use the comment box below and take a minute out your day to response because you never know who your feedback will inspire.

Here’s to your health!

Are you and your non-profit agency a fundraising leader?

January 24, 2012 DonorDreams Fundraising, resource development

This week at DonorDreams we are talking about what it looks like to be a fundraising “LEADER”. Today, we will frame the issue using a few of Noel Tichy’s ideas around leadership. The rest of the week we will examine other points of view on the subject as well as examples of good leaders.

Noel Tichy is an iconic figure in the field of leadership. He has authored and co-authored the following books on this very popular subject: Control Your Destiny or Someone Else Will, The Leadership Engine, and Judgment: How Winning Leaders Make Great Calls. While it would be impossible to summarize all of what Tichy believes about leadership into this very small blog post, I believe the following key principles from chapter three of The Leadership Engine captures some of it nicely:

Leaders accomplish their goals through the people they teach
Leaders teach others to be leaders, not followers
Leaders consider teaching on their primary roles
Leaders use every opportunity to learn and to teach
Leaders have clear ideas and values, based on knowledge and experience
Leaders articulate those lessons to others

In that same chapter of the book, Tichy quotes former Honeywell CEO, Larry Bossidy, as saying:

“How am I doing as a leader? The answer is how are the people you lead doing?”

Hmmmm . . . all of this got me thinking! If leaders teach and if leaders can be evaluated by those they lead, then would Tichy advocate that a non-profit and fundraising leader be evaluated through a “donor lens”?

After some careful consideration, I think Tichy would probably agree and I think the following questions can shed lots of light on whether you are leading or just raising money:

Do your donors know what the goals of your agency are?
Do you know what your key donors’ personal goals are with regards to their philanthropy?
In your efforts to cultivate new prospective donors, do you teach them what to expect as a donor to your agency and how to engage your organization in being accountable to them and their fellow donors?
Do your donors know what your agency’s values are? Do they see and echo your edge and emotional energy around your mission?
Do your donors enthusiastically go out into the community and teach others about your mission and enlist the support of new prospective donors?

If you can answer ‘YES’ to many of these questions, then congratulations . . . “You very well might be a fundraising leader.” If you fall a little short, then there might be a little bit of work for you to do.

And what does this work look like? Well, I’m happy to say it is probably something you should fold into your existing donor stewardship efforts (e.g. focus groups, donor surveys, stewardship receptions with a mission-focus, engaging donors in prospect cultivation efforts, etc).

How do you propose we take measure of whether or not you and your agency are non-profit and fundraising leaders? Does it even matter to you or do you think it is more important to just focus on fundraising outputs (e.g. cash raised, goals attained, etc)? Are you trying to create what Tichy refers to as a “virtuous teaching cycle” with your donors? If so, what does that look like?

Please scroll down and share your thoughts on some of these questions in the comment box because we can all learn from each other.

Here’s to your health!

It’s Hip to Be Square: Accepting Donations From Your Phone

January 23, 2012 DonorDreams Fundraising, Mondays with Marissa, resource development, technology

The other day, I received an email from the non-profit where my mom works about the auction items that would be available at their annual special event. Having worked behind the scenes at similar events in the past, one thing came to mind — payment processing. In my experience, the task requires a lot of attention to detail in order to make sure things run smoothly.

This reminded me about a podcast I listened to that mentioned how stores are now able to process payments right from their smart phones using a service called Square. Square provides a free card reader that can be attached to any IOS or Android device (through the headphone jack) to process payments from anywhere. Think about how this flexibility could revolutionize a special event or even the everyday business of a non-profit. Let’s take a look and if it’s the right fit for your organization.

The Pros:

Free Card Reader – I mean, free is good for anyone, even better if you work for a non-profit. Not only is the adapter free, but the app associated with it is free as well.
Familiar Format – Most people have a smart device of some sort and are used to using apps everyday. This prior knowledge can come in handy when it comes to training people to use Square. Furthermore, this familiarity can expand the pool of people who could use a Square card reader to accept donations.
Next Day Direct Deposit – It won’t take long to see those donations show up in the linked bank account. Money is only good, when it’s available, right? Most times after an event, it can take a few days of coordination to get credit card payments, checks and cash in order to take it to the bank. Using Square at least cuts out some of that process.
Secure – Square constantly monitors what is happening across it’s network to look for signs of fraud. Also, Square makes sure that all information in encrypted.
All Major Cards are Accepted – No need to limit payments only to Visa and Master Card. Amex and Discover are welcome here, too.
Data can be Exported – Accurate financial documents are important to the running of any business. Square allows you to have access to that data and you can run your own reports.
Allows for Multiple Users – Each device can be linked to one account so that there can be multiple people at an event. Also, if staff or volunteers have a Square reader and their phone with them out in the community while talking about your mission, a donation by a newly inspired donor can be taken right away without any waiting.
Receipts – can be emailed to donors or printed on site when using an iPad.
No signature needed for payments under $25 – In a day an age where people are donating (albeit in smaller amounts), this feature speeds up the donation process.

The Cons:

Not everyone has a smart device – sad, but true. Even in 2012.
2.75% Transaction Fee – if a $100 donation is collected, your organization will only receive $97.25 after Square collects it’s fee. Granted, you are still receiving most of the money. The fee is collected per transaction and is the same no matter which card is used to process the transaction.
Customer/Donor information is not saved – while this is for the privacy of the customer, most non-profits see this information as essential for their donor database records. One suggestion to overcome this is to give each person a unique number that is attached to their name and contact information. Each transaction made with Square can be edited before it is processed so that this number can be attached.
No Offline Payments – If your event is somewhere with no cell phone data coverage or wifi available, you will have move to your Plan B option because payments cannot be collected and uploaded later.
One Time Payments Only – if you had a donor that wanted to donate $10 a month, this could not be accomplished with Square.

I must admit . . . I am in favor of using Square for the collection of donations (besides, it’s hip to be square) . . . but in the interest of full disclosure, I should admit that I have never used the system myself nor do I have any affiliation with Square. Truth be told, I just wanted to share the system with you because I’ve seen other non-profits struggle with credit card processing (which is never a pretty sight especially at an event with donors rushing to checkout and get home) and I thought this might work for you.

Incorporating technology can make the donation experience easier and more streamlined for the donor. After all, if the donation process is easy and enjoyable, I suspect donors will be more likely will donate again! Right?

Is Square a solution you might be interested in? What has your organization done to streamline its onsite payment procedures? Please share your thoughts using the comment section below!

Seriously?!? Why not just mug prospective donors?

January 20, 2012 DonorDreams Donor-centered fundraising, Fundraising

I have been simmering over an email I received a few weeks ago from a dear friend. In that email, she shared with me an invitation that had been sent to her by a non-profit organization to whom she had never contributed a penny.

For all of you “relationship-based” fundraising professionals, I encourage you to take a deep breath and have a seat. (Note: I’ve changed the names to protect the innocent and avoid embarrassment). Here is the gist of what the invitation said:

Please join us for a cocktail reception
to kick-off our annual campaign
<<Date>> & <<Time>>
Hosted By Mr. & Mrs. Smith
<<home address>>
A minimum donation of $500 is requested

If you wish to learn more about the agency,
please call the Executive Director.

After reading this email invitation at least 10 times, I was speechless; however, I think this YouTube video best captures how I feel.

Seriously?!?

Here is someone who is NOT a donor. The invitation was an email blast and not personal. There was no prospect cultivation done in advance. When you take these facts together with the “minimum contribution” request, I am left speechless. AND . . . just when you think it couldn’t get any worse, the invitee is told to call the executive director if they have programmatic or mission-based questions. WOW!

I apologize for my tone this morning, but things like this offend me because prospects and donors deserve better. Philanthropy is not about the “grab-and-run” fundraising approach . . . it is about connecting with people, discovering their dreams, and helping them put their charitable giving to work in a way that will help their dreams become reality.

I am left wondering if the volunteers who emailed this invitation were “taught” to ask in this manner. I know that it sounds crazy, but don’t human being typically do what they observe? If this is the case, then the non-profit agency who initially solicited these fundraising volunteers must be guilty of not possessing a “culture of philanthropy”.

This, of course, begs the question: “How can you change an organizations culture and instill a sense of philanthropy into it?” Thankfully, the fundraising sector has an awesome organization in The Association of Fundraising Professionals. I came across this awesome 2011 article titled “Building a Culture of Philanthropy” that speaks to this issue.

So many non-profit organizations are talking about “donor-centered fundraising” nowadays, but what is your agency actually doing to put these principles in place? Please use the comment box below to comment on this organization’s fundraising approach or how you ensure your fundraising volunteers don’t do things like this. We can all learn from each other.

Seriously . . . Here’s to your health!

What if a fundraising professional could start from scratch?

January 19, 2012 DonorDreams Fundraising

I recently met with a fundraising professional who has been given the opportunity to build a resource development program starting from scratch. On the drive home, I was mulling over the possibilities in my mind, and I must admit that the opportunity appears to be exciting. My thoughts quickly turned to all my fundraising friends who walked into existing situations.

When you walk into a non-profit with a resource development program in place, there is typically a staffing structure already there. A donor database decision has likely already been made. A resource development plan and strategy are laid out, and board volunteers already have expectations.

So, I started off my return trip home with the belief that any fundraising professional would give their left arm for the opportunity to start from scratch. However, as the miles passed, I kept coming up with daunting issues. I decided to pose just a few of those questions to the readers of this blog and see what you think:

How do you instill a sense of “philanthropy” into an organizational culture where it might not already exist?
If your resource development plan contained nothing but blank pages, where would you start if you need to start bringing in dollars immediately? Would you focus hard on grant writing? Or do you take a longer view and focus on cultivating relationship with individuals?
Do you acquire a donor database or a CRM?
What should the development department look like?
How do you engage volunteers who weren’t recruited with resource development roles in mind? Do you take a pass on trying to engage these people and work hard at identifying and recruiting different volunteers with fundraising skills?
When you don’t have any donors and no existing database, who do you start talking to? Who do you engage in planning?

As I thought through some of these questions, my mind seized on well worn expressions like:

“The grass is always greener on the other side.”

and

“Be careful what you wish for, lest it come true.”

So, I toss the question open to you. Would you desire the opportunity to start over from scratch? Where would you begin? How would you tackle some the questions that I laid out above?

Please use the comment box found below to weigh-in with your thoughts. Who knows . . . that person I visited with might actually be a subscriber to this blog, and your feedback could be very insightful and valuable to them.

Here’s to your health!