posts – Page 79 – The Healthy Non-Profit

What can fundraising professionals learn from the Iowa Caucus?

January 4, 2012 DonorDreams Fundraising

Welcome to the 2012 Presidential campaign season! I watched hours of news coverage of the Iowa Caucus and my eyes are about to melt out of my head. However, I walked away from the coverage with what I think is a very clear lesson to be learned for fundraising professionals.

The Obama campaign has been chugging along and exceeding its fundraising for about a year now. They have done this in the middle of a soft economy, which has seemingly posed problems for many non-profit organizations. Many political observers believe that Obama will raise a record-setting $1 billion for his re-election bid.

While Team Obama has continued to raise money, the same can’t be said for the Republican field. If you add up all of the fundraising efforts from all of the current Republican candidates, it still doesn’t come close to Obama’s totals. Is this because Obama is that much better at fundraising? Or is it because Obama is the clear choice of the political donor base?

The current political thinking is that once Republicans settle on their general election candidate, donors will line-up and both candidates’ war chests will equalize. It might be possible that both the Democratic and Republican candidates will have in the neighborhood of $1 billion EACH to run their campaigns.

So, you’re probably asking yourself: “Where is the lesson for non-profit fundraising professionals?”

I think there is a valuable lesson to be learned about your non-profit organization’s case for support.

I believe many Republican donors are sitting on the sidelines because the case for support isn’t focused. There are too many different reasons to donate to too many candidates.

Mitt Romney’s case for support involves “electability” and business experience.
Ron Paul’s case for support focuses on libertarian principles and shrinking the size of government.
Rick Santorum’s case for support centers around traditional values and national security.

Eeeeeeek! If I were a Republican donor, I’d probably take a wait-and-see approach, too.

In these tough economic times, non-profit organizations would do themselves a favor if they spent the first few weeks of January 2012 re-focusing their case for support documents.

Donors like clarity. Donors like winners.

When is the last time your organization revisited its case for support documents? How do you ensure your case is aligned with your donor base? What have you found to be the most difficult part of developing your case? Have you ever considered that your written case for support might actually be costing you money? Please use the comment box below to weigh-in with your thoughts and opinions. 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
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http://www.linkedin.com/in/erikanderson847

Oooops! I forgot my annual campaign plan

January 3, 2012 DonorDreams Fundraising

The holidays are behind us and a new year is here. While this is obviously a time of renewal and fresh starts for some people, it is most likely annual campaign season for many non-profit organizations. I see Boys & Girls Clubs gearing up for their “It Just Takes One” campaign. The Boy Scouts are powering up their “Friends of Scouting” campaign. I also see many YMCAs hitting the streets with pledge cards in hand.

So, why would so many well established charities hit the streets with pledge cards in hand this close to the holiday season?

This seems to be a time (January through April) of the year when donors have a little more time to sit down and talk. Don’t believe me? Think about what your summer look like (e.g. vacations, etc). Now think about your fall (e.g. back to school, United Way blackout period, third quarter sales projects accompanied by planning for fourth quarter initiatives, etc) Now think about the holiday season that we just exited (e.g. shopping, holiday parties, etc).
Pledge drives are wonderful in the sense that non-profits aren’t asking for cash . . . they only want you to sign an IOU. This means that every month you wait to ask a donor to sign their pledge card there is that much less time for the donor to stretch out their pledge payments. Let’s do the math on a $500 pledge. Asking in January means the donor can make up to 12 payments of $41.66. Making the same ask mid-year translates into approximately six payments of $70 – $80. Waiting until September only gives the donor a few months to pay their pledge and results in payments in the neighborhood of $125.

The first bullet point is the bigger reason for planning a January through May campaign unless your annual campaign is direct mail driven. The second bullet point is more relevant to non-profits whose fiscal year ends on December 31st. While it is true that pledges can be dragged over into a new calendar (and fiscal) year, many non-profits like to keep their books clean as they prepare for their year-end audit.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen non-profit friends get into early January with first and second quarter revenue budgeted for an annual campaign, but no written plan in place on how to move forward. If you find yourself in this situation, you’re in good company. However, you may want to reach for your “To Do List” and add the following things to it for this week :

Develop your Range of Gifts chart. (Click here to read a really good article on this from Joanne Fritz at about.com)
Engage a few volunteers and start brainstorming names of prospective donors who fit into various gift ranges.
Build a prospect list of potential volunteer solicitors who you think possess the skill sets and experiences to do a nice job with a personal solicitation model (e.g. face-to-face asks)
Start recruiting from your volunteer solicitor prospect list.

If the end of 2011 was a blur and you find yourself at the beginning of 2012 without a written annual campaign plan, these simple four bullet points are a great place to start. However, you can’t afford to dilly dally. These four things are your tasks for this week. There is still a mountain to climb. If you want to get a preview of your impending journey, you might want to read this very thorough article by Henry Rosso and Robert Schwartzberg that I found online at The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University.

Are you one of those non-profits who find themselves without a plan? If so, what do you find on your “To Do List” this week and next week? If you are one of those well-planned agencies, what advice or suggestions do you have for those who aren’t as fortunate? Please use the comment box below to weigh-in with your thoughts because we can all learn from each other.

Here’s to your health!

Introducing Mondays with Marissa

January 2, 2012 DonorDreams Mondays with Marissa, technology

Happy New Year! I hope that your year-end celebrations were fun, and you are ready to tackle resolutions in the new year. Speaking of resolutions, I made a number of them, and a few of them had to do with the DonorDreams blog.

Specifically, it is easy to see how technology is dramatically changing the world around us, which is why I reached out to my friend and fellow blogger — Marissa Garza — and asked her to address technology issues every Monday. (A picture of Marissa is posted to the right on your screen . . . Hi Marissa! 🙂 )

Marissa graduated from the University of Illinois with a BA in Education. She has taught in the classroom, worked for Kaplan, and is one of the most curious self-taught students I’ve ever met when it comes to technology. In fact, every time we get together she is telling me about a some new technological piece of magic.

When I needed help customizing this blog, I turned to Marissa. When I needed feedback on the The Healthy Non-Profit’s website, I turned to Marissa. When I needed to test my webcam with regards to Skype, GoToMeeting, GoToWebinar, and Google+, I turned to Marissa. When a former co-worker asked me for tips on how to get her blog up and running, I sent her to Marissa.

If you haven’t figured out that Marissa is my “go to gal” when it comes to technology, then let me just say for the record . . . she is super smart and someone I think of very highly. I am thrilled to death that she has agreed to become part of the DonorDreams family, and I predict you will fall in love with her.

The inspiration behind “Mondays with Marissa” came from the following two places:

One of National Public Radio’s (NPR) popular shows is Talk of the Nation with Neal Conan, and on Fridays Neal turns his show over to Ira Flatow who hosts a show branded “Talk of the Nation: Science Friday“. This approach to specialized content inspired me to add a new voice to DonorDreams one day a week.
Perhaps, more central to my decision to ask Marissa to join the team is how often non-profit friends ask me about technology related issues and those questions have been very broad including: websites, social media, email marketing, blogs, ePhilanthropy, e-commerce, donor databases, CRM, etc.

I’ve asked Marissa to write about all of these topics and more. As she does, I will use the comment section of this blog to weigh-in with my thoughts on how these technology topics apply to non-profit management, marketing, board development, programming/operations, and resource development (including prospect cultivation, donor solicitation, donor stewardship, etc).

I don’t know about you, but I am very excited about 2012! I am very optimistic and excited to get started.

Please use the comment box below and weigh-in with a few technology topics that you’d like Marissa to write about over the next few Mondays. Your suggestions are very much appreciated. Please also help me welcome Marissa to our family.

Happy New Year and here’s to your health!

The Final 2012 Non-Profit Prediction

December 30, 2011 DonorDreams Fundraising

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

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

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

“It was about this time that another projector, the Rev Gilbert Tennent, came to me with a request that I would assist him in procuring a subscription for erecting a new meeting-house. It was to be for the use of a congregation he had gathered among the Presbyterians, who were originally disciples of Mr. Whitehead. Unwilling to make myself disagreeable to my fellow-citizens by too frequently soliciting their contributions, I absolutely refus’d. He then desired I would furnish him with a list of the names of persons I knew by experience to be generous and public-spirited. I thought it would be unbecoming in me, after their kind compliance to me solicitations, to mark them out to be worried by other beggars, and therefore refus’d also to give such a list. He then desir’d I would at least give him my advice. “That I would readily do,” said I; “and in the first place, I advise you to apply to all those whom you know will give something; next, to those whom you are uncertain whether they will give anything or not, and show them the list of those who have given; and, lastly, do not neglect those who you are sure will give nothing, for in some of them you may be mistaken.” He laugh’d and thanked me, and said he would take my advice. He did so, for he ask’d of everybody, and he obtained a much larger sum than he expected, with which he erected the capacious and very elegant meeting-house that stands on Arch-street.”

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

Don’t say “NO” for anyone.

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

Ask! Ask! Ask!

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

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

Here’s to your health!

2012 Non-Profit Trends and Predictions: Volunteerism

December 29, 2011 DonorDreams volunteers

This week I’m looking back upon 2011 for major trends, and then looking forward to 2012 with an eye towards making a few predictions. Today, we are looking at non-profit volunteer recruitment, retention and management.

Throughout the course of 2011, I had the opportunity to write about non-profit organizations and volunteerism. I’ve kept my eyes open for signs of what non-profits are doing with volunteers, and I see indicators everywhere pointing to:

2012 continuing non-profit agencies’ focus on volunteerism.

Here is what I’ve seen that leads me to this conclusion:

My fellow Generation Xers continue to increase the amount of time they spend volunteering. (I personally suspect this has less to do with their charitable outlook on life and a lot more to do with the fact that they’re in the heart of their child rearing years)
I see my parents’ Baby Boom Generation starting to retire, and they just don’t know what to do with themselves when they wake up in the morning. They are volunteering because they don’t see themselves as being old and they want to keep busy.
I see my Millennial generation friends standing in the unemployment line, and then turning around in search of volunteer opportunities that they hope might just turn into a job opportunity (or at the very least turn into a great reference or a referral).
I see my former employer — Boys & Girls Clubs of America — partnering with one of their major corporate supporters to fund a volunteer management pilot project in an effort to develop a program to teach their local affiliates to become better with volunteer recruitment, retention and management.
I see corporations demanding volunteer opportunities and projects from their philanthropic partners in an effort to drive down their employee turnover rates and grab onto what marketing professionals call “the halo effect”.
Let’s not forget about the research out there on the Millennial generation that shows this emerging generation is very much into volunteerism unlike any other recent generation.
According to a recent Guidestar survey, many non-profit agencies are trimming staff or putting a cap on hiring plans in 2012. Not surprisingly, the same survey showed that 65-percent of all non-profit respondents are looking for volunteers for program work and 54-percent are looking for volunteers for administrative work.

The reality is literally this simple . . . donors are saying they want to see non-profits do more with less . . . volunteer recruitment and management helps accomplish exactly this . . . and in the final analysis volunteers turn into new donors a lot easier than cultivating new prospects from scratch.

Investing in volunteerism could just turn out to be the non-profit sector’s version of an economic stimulus plan that pulls agencies out of their economic doldrums.

Volunteer recruitment, retention and management isn’t as easy as just putting out a call for volunteers. As with everything in life, it is science that requires planning and careful management.

Since the economic collapse four years ago, this trend has been taking form and the non-profits who are leading the way have been experimenting with such things as: volunteer databases, volunteer coordinators, various recruitment strategies, strategic alliances with agencies that specialize in volunteerism, recognition programs, orientation and training programs, placing value volunteer hours, and much much more.

As budgets get even tighter in 2012, the flood of non-profits who commit themselves to figuring all of this out will continue to propel this long-term trend.

Is your agency recruiting more volunteers? How has it gone about doing so? What challenges have you experienced along the way? How important is it to have a volunteer coordinator on your payroll to orchestrate recruitment, orientation, training, volunteer opportunity assignment, evaluation, retention, etc? How successful have you been at turning volunteers into new donors?

Please scroll down and use the comment box to weigh-in with your thoughts and experiences. We can all learn from each other.

Here’s to your health!

2012 Non-Profit Trends and Predictions: Contraction Continues

December 28, 2011 DonorDreams Uncategorized

This week I’m looking back upon 2011 for major trends, and then looking forward to 2012 with an eye towards making a few predictions. Today, we are looking at non-profit failures, mergers, acquisitions, and strategic alliances.

I have heard rumblings for years that the non-profit sector is about to experience a wave of mergers. This conversation always involves facts like:

There are approximately 1.5 million non-profit corporations in existence of which three-quarters are classified as “charitable”
Every year brings another 20,000 to 60,000 new non-profit agencies in existence (depending on what source you read)
Almost 25-percent of non-profits allegedly report $25,000 in annual revenue and are obviously very small (and the vast majority operate with annual budgets of less than $3 million . . . in fact most are smaller than $1 million)
Every year 30,000 to 60,000 non-profit organizations go out of business

In 2008, Paul Light predicted that the new economic challenges would result in more than 100,000 non-profit organizations failing over a two year period. Two years later Caroline Preston wrote a follow-up article in the Chronicle of Philanthropy and investigated whether or not this prediction actually came true. As you can imagine, the answer was difficult to ascertain, but in the end the conclusion seemed to be a resounding — “YES“.

With so many friends working in the non-profit sector, I’ve tried to stay on top of where they perceive their agencies to be with regard to financial solvency, and I must admit that I see too many indicators pointing to:

2012 continuing (and likely escalating) the trend
of non-profit failures, mergers, acquisitions and strategic alliances.

Guidestar recently published a great document titled: “Late Fall 2011: Nonprofit Fundraising Study“. If you have some time, you need to read this report! While I am usually very skeptical about the validity of survey research, I indulge in it every once in a while. After looking at this report, I am even more convinced now that the non-profit sector is still only at the beginning of a long-term trend involving bankruptcy, mergers, and alliances because:

small non-profits are experiencing more financial stress than before (and I suspect many are finally at their breaking point)
small agencies are experiencing more donor turnover (most likely resulting from poor stewardship efforts)
small organizations have less money in the bank and their reserves are marginal (a bad position to be in if there is another economic shock)
small non-profits report are preparing to downsize staff in 2012 (not a great situation to be in when donors want to see more impact for less money)

Combine some of these generalizations with the government funding contraction trends we’re seeing, and it becomes obvious to me that more failures and mergers awaits us as we travel down the 2012 road. If you want some good reading materials on this subject, you may want to check out the following resources:

Is your non-profit organization living on the edge? Have you ever looked at merger, acquisition, or strategic alliances? If so, what were your considerations in moving forward or not moving forward? If the best time to look at mergers and strategic alliances is BEFORE a crisis, are you starting to look more seriously at these opportunities?

Here’s to your health!

2012 Non-Profit Trends and Predictions: Rise of the Machines

December 27, 2011 DonorDreams Fundraising

This week I’m looking back upon 2011 for major trends, and then looking forward to 2012 with an eye towards making a few predictions. Today, we are looking at non-profit online giving and ePhilanthropy.

Back in late July and early August, I focused my blog posts on the various faces of ePhilanthropy including: Twitter, Facebook, online videos, website, and email. Ever since writing those post, I’ve kept my eyes open for evidence of this trend, and I must admit that I see indicators everywhere pointing to:

2012 will continue the long-term transition towards online giving.

Every year at this time, I read blogs predicting that the upcoming year will be “The Year of ePhilanthropy,” and every year I look back and fail to see the big transformation. Well, I am being a big ‘ol dummy because the transformation isn’t going to be dramatic and sudden. The change (as is the case with most trends) will take place over time, and in fact it has been taking place for years.

The proof can be found in the data and analytics provided by Blackbaud who publishes a monthly index of online giving that compares year-over-year online giving statistics. Take a look at the last 12-months and let me know if you see can see the proof in the pudding:

While the overall gross revenue from online giving is still relatively small (between $5 and $10 billion), the trend arrow is pointing up-up-up and has been for many years. Additionally, this trend is not just being fueled by large, multinational health and disaster relief organizations. I was surprised when I saw how much year-over-year growth in online giving came from small non-profit agencies and organizations in the non-profit human services sector. If you have some time, I encourage you to click here and dive into Blackbaud’s treasure trove of data.

Of course, what gives me the most confidence in predicting this trend is what I see going on with our “for-profit cousins” and e-commerce. Click here to check out some very cool e-commerce infographic at “Next Widgets” blog. If my eyes aren’t deceiving me, I see parallels between e-commerce and ePhilanthropy.

More and more people are spending time and money online, and this reality can mean only one thing for non-profit organizations. As a matter of fact, this trend isn’t just confined to non-profit and for-profit businesses. Just last night Rock Center with Brian Williams featured a news segment on individuals who are using crowdfunding sources like Kickstarter to secure financial resources for things ranging from start-up projects to catastrophic healthcare expenses. Click here to read and see more.

Unfortunately, this trend is not as simple as it seems. The online world is constantly changing . . . what seemed as easy as building a website with a “donate now” button is now more complicated with Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, YouTube, WordPress, and email marketing (e.g. Constant Contact). All of these things work together like little cogs in a complicated machine.

More distressing is how quickly the landscape changes. I can still remember when AOL was the future of all cyber-things (and it wasn’t just me who thought this to be true . . . go talk to our friends over at Time Warner . . . LOL), and today it is all about Google and Facebook. Well, just wait because in no time we might just find ourselves saying the same thing about these new digital overlords as we ohhhh and ahhhh over the next greatest thing.

It sounds like 2012 will be the year that Facebook finally takes itself public with an IPO designed to raise $10+ billion dollars. I suspect that 2012 will be the “Year of Facebook,” and non-profit organizations who haven’t figured out how to use Facebook to talk AND listen to their supporters, donors, and volunteers will be starting on that project very soon. Click here to read a few interesting statistics about online giving via social media vehicles.

You might want to re-think your online giving plan if your strategy is “wait-and-see”. If you want to “get the lay of the than land,” I suggest circling back and reading my posts from July 25 – August 2 about ePhilanthropy (see links at top of this post). I ended that blog series with a post titled “ePhilanthropy: Mission Possible” that provided a few small steps for getting started.

Let me end with these cautionary words: online giving and the internet will NOT overtake traditional fundraising strategies and tactics such as face-to-face solicitation, direct mail, special events, grantwriting, etc. ePhilanthropy and all of its tactics are just more tools that you need to add to your resource development toolbox if you want your non-profit agency to thrive in the 21st Century.

So, please don’t run out there and invest tons of money and hours in ePhilanthropy in 2012 and expect that you’ve solved all of your revenue issues. However, please stop procrastinating and get to work on engaging your existing and future donors online.

This trend is starting to look like an out-of-control freight train, and you want to make sure you are on board and not standing in its way.

Does your agency have a written ePhilanthropy plan? If so, what does it look like? If not, what are your plans for tackling this emerging trend?

Here’s to your health!

2012 Trends and Predictions: Executive Transition

December 26, 2011 DonorDreams Uncategorized

This week I’m looking back upon 2011 for major trends, and then looking forward to 2012 with an eye towards making a few predictions. Today, we are looking at non-profit executive leadership.

Back on July 22nd, my post at DonorDreams blog was titled “I Quit” and it started off with a look at the Philanthropy Journal’s article titled “Exodus of executive directors expected“. This article cited a study by the Meyer Foundation and CompassPoint Nonprofit Services that reported: 67-percent of non-profit executive directors surveyed said they plan to leave their jobs sometime in the next 5-years.

Ever since writing that blog post, I’ve kept my eyes open for evidence of this trend, and I must admit that I see indicators everywhere pointing to:

2012 will be a year of transition for many non-profit executive directors.

In the fall of 2007, our world changed when the stock market crashed, our banks failed, and our economy sputtered. Most non-profit organizations were operating with a fundraising model (e.g. an annual resource development plan) that worked well for them in their community and within the parameters of our economy. However, when the economy changed, many nonprofit executive directors and fundraising professionals didn’t change their revenue models, and instead they made the decision to “ride out the storm”.

Well, we’re 4-years into this storm and it is becoming clear that the economy isn’t going to snap back to it original shape. “The New Norm” is coming into focus. The Nonprofit Quarterly did a nice job reporting a few weeks ago when they published “Wisconsin Nonprofits in the Economy’s ‘New Normal’“.

So, what does this have anything to do with nonprofit transition and executive leadership? Quite simply this . . . I’ve been watching many of my nonprofit friends “hold their breath” for the last few years waiting for things to snap back to the way they once were. Here is what I’ve specifically seen:

adding another event to bridge revenue gaps
writing grants and promising deliverables they never would’ve done previously (e.g. resulting in mission creep and money chasing)
continuation of plans to rely on government funding streams
laying off program staff and trimming budgets to the bone

During the same period of time, I’ve seen boards of directors failing to evaluate their executive directors and sticking their collective heads in the sand hoping things return to normal before the doors need to be shut.

Let’s get real for just a moment . . . when most boards hired their current executive director years ago, they hired based on skill sets and experiences rooted in the old economy. Now that times have changed, new skill sets and experiences are needed if the organization is going to thrive once again. While it is possible some executive directors have been growing right along side of their non-profit organizations and now possess those skills, I’m quite frankly not seeing that.

It is this observation in addition to the fact that I’m hearing more boards grumble about their executive leadership and many more executive director friends of mine complain about their jobs that leads me to conclude that 2012 will likely bring with it an uptick in resignations and terminations.

The final thing I think will drive this trend is the massive amount of talent currently available in the marketplace. In the past, I can’t count the number of times I heard board members say that changing executive leadership was unthinkable because they didn’t believe they could find anyone better for what they were willing and able to pay. This is obviously no long the case. The job market is awash with tons of talent, and strategic thinking boards will use this unique opportunity to snag talent that they otherwise couldn’t find or afford.

It is this last factor that I believe will likely fuel this potential trend as boards try to realign their people resources and talent with “The New Normal” brought on by a new economic paradigm.

Are you getting tired of your job? Ready to quit? Are you feeling increasing tensions in your board room? How is your non-profit organization re-aligning its resource development model with The New Normal? What skill sets and experiences does a successful executive director and fundraising professional need to thrive and succeed in The New Normal?

Please weigh-in with your thoughts using the comment box below because we can all learn from each other.

Here’s to your health!

Happy holidays from DonorDreams blog!

December 23, 2011 DonorDreams nonprofit

It is the Friday before a HUGE holiday weekend for most DonorDreams blog subscribers. I’ve been beside myself for the last few weeks trying to figure out an appropriate gift idea for each of you. Ugh! What do you get for 129 of your closest social media blog friends?

I was stumped and getting worried until one of my Facebook friends posted the YouTube video titled “Christmas Food Court Flash MobHallelujah Chorus – Must See!” Then it hit me.

My gift to you is to simply share this YouTube link and wish you a ground breaking 2012 fundraising campaign.

Thanks for subscribing to the DonorDreams blog. As most of you know, 2011 was a “year of change” for me as I resigned my position at Boys & Girls Clubs of America to pursue my dream of opening a nonprofit consulting practice. In doing so, I started this blog in an attempt to “pay it forward” by providing free fundraising ideas, observations, and advice to the resource development universe. In this regard, you’ve all been a part of my transformational year.

All I can say is “Thank You” for such a tremendous gift! I look forward to our 2012 journey together.

I know many of you are probably taking some vacation time next week, but I thought it is worth mentioning that next week’s blog posts will focus on 2012 predictions and fundraising trends. You might want to keep on eye on your email inbox or find those posts when you return to work.

Here’s to your health!

The Twelve Days of Resource Development: Days 10, 11 and 12

December 22, 2011 DonorDreams Fundraising

We are literally just a few days away from the stockings being hung by the chimney with care in hopes that a big fat man breaks into your home in search of cookies and milk. In an effort to align this blog with the spirit of the season, I thought it might be fun to focus on the following holiday inspired question: “What would be the twelve days of resource development if such a song was written?”

On Monday, we kicked things off with Days 1, 2 and 3. On Tuesday, we looked at Days 4, 5, and 6 with two great reader suggestions from Barb Allen and Susan Rudd. Yesterday, we talked about Days 7, 8, and 9 and were blessed with a suggestion via Twitter from Ann Rosenfield, CFRE. So, I guess today is the grand finale.

I want to thank Dani Robbins (principal at Non Profit Evolution) and Barb Reynolds (Regional Chief Development Officers for the North Texas Region of the American Red Cross) for weighing in with their suggestions on what the tenth and twelfth days of resource development should be. However, before unveiling their suggestions, let’s recap the last few days:

On the first day of resource development, my favorite donor gave to me . . . a signed pledge with a large increase over last year’s gift level.
On the second day of resource development, my favorite group of fundraising volunteers gave to me . . . a commitment to work pledge cards and help put together our special events.
On the third day of resource development, my favorite resource development committee gave to me . . . three key written plans spelling out success in 2012 (e.g. resource development plan, prospect cultivation plan, and a donor stewardship plan.
On the fourth day of resource development, my most engaged and best donors gave to me . . . four fun cultivation parties that helped open the door to a warm group of new (and generous) prospects. (Barb Allen’s suggestion)
On the fifth day of resource development, the kids at the Boys & Girls Club gave to me . . . five truck-loads of holiday goodies and hand-decorated ornaments that will be given to some of the Club’s best donors. (Susan Rudd’s suggestion)
On the sixth day of resource development, my major gifts program gave to me . . . six program staff employees who helped the resource development staff and major gifts volunteers put together a “menu of opportunities” (thus signifying elimination of organizational silos and a healthy partnership between the resource development and program departments)
On the seventh day of resource development, my prospect researcher gave to me . . . 7 new donor prospects with 7 figure gift capacity. (Ann Rosenfield’s suggestion)
On the eighth day of resource development, the board development gave to me . . . eight new board volunteers who have an amazing understanding of resource development, lots of experience with fundraising, and ideas they are dying to share that will re-shape the organization’s RD Plan to reflect “The New Norm” of our economy.
On the ninth day of resource development, resource development thought leaders gave to me inspiration to practice . . . the 9-keys to inspiring and managing your board towards fundraising success (which are 1. Planning, 2. Setting Expectations, 3. Training, 4. Organization, 5. Well run and important meetings, 6. Accountability, 7. Urgency, 8. Celebration & Recognition, and 9. Mission-focus)

Here is what Dani suggested the tenth day of resource development should be:

On the tenth day of resource development my Board of Directors gave to me . . . 10-hours they’ve set aside for training, prospecting and planning.

Since no one weighed in with a suggestion for the eleventh day, here is my thought:

On the eleventh day of resource development my donor database gave to me . . . 11 donors who were willing to participate in a focus group on how my agency can improve its resource development efforts.

And finally, here is what Barb suggested the twelfth day of resource development should be:

On the twelfth day of resource development my annual campaign volunteers (also possible that it was the website’s “donate now button”) gave to me . . . twelve donors who opted for a monthly EFT gift for each of the 12 months of the year.

Great job everyone! I was reminded the other day in an e-newsletter from Marc Pitman — aka The Fundraising Coach — that “30% of all donations come in December.” With this thought in mind, my holiday wish for you is that your December is very active and profitable. Keep pushing all the way to December 31st at 11:59 pm.

Here’s to your health!