nonprofit – Page 72 – The Healthy Non-Profit

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!

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

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!

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!

The Twelve Days of Resource Development: Days 7, 8 and 9

December 21, 2011 DonorDreams Fundraising

The countdown is on and people are on the look-out for an older gentleman fitting the description of “a jolly older individual dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot . . . his clothes all tarnished with ashes and soot“. 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 . . . and as I did on Monday I asked readers to weigh-in with what they thought Days 7, 8 and 9 should be.

I want to thank Ann Rosenfield, CFRE, who is a Twitter follower who goes by @GratiaCaritas for weighing in with her suggestion on what the seventh day of resource development should be. However, before unveiling Ann’s suggestion, 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)

Here is what Ann (aka @GratiaCaritas) tweeted about the seventh day of resource development:

@eanderson847 On the 7th day of resource development, my prospect researcher gave to me – 7 new donor prospects with 7 figure gift capacity.

Again . . . thanks Ann! I love that suggestion.

Since no one else jumped in with their thoughts, I am once again left to be creative with days 8 and 9 . . . so here goes nothing:

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)

OK . . . there are only three days left in this exercise. Let’s try to “finish strong” . . . I would like to see at least three more people weigh-in with ideas on what the tenth, eleventh, and twelve days of resource development should be. Please use the comment box below to share your suggestion. You can also drop me a note on Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook.

Here’s to your health!

The Twelve Days of Resource Development: Days 4, 5 and 6

December 20, 2011 DonorDreams Fundraising

The holiday spirit is in the air and Santa is loading his sleigh. Holiday music is on everywhere you go, and people are drunk on egg nog and fighting back sugar induced commas brought on by eating too many cookies. For all of these reasons, 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 . . . and I asked readers to weigh-in with what they thought Days 4, 5 and 6 ahould be.

I want to thank Barb Allen from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta and Susan Rudd from Boys & Girls Club of Bloomington (Bloomington, Indiana, of course which is the driving influence behind The Center on Philanthropy) for jumping in with two great suggestions.

So, let’s take a moment to recap:

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 putting 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.

Here is what Barb and Susan suggested yesterday:

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.
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. (personally, I love this idea soooo much more than “five golden rings” LOL)

Since only two subscribers weighed in with suggestions yesterday, “the sixth day” was left up to me to determine.

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)

Phew . . . it is getting more and more difficult to come up with ideas, which is why I sincerely appreciate both Barb and Susan for jumping in with great ideas yesterday.

There are more than 125 of you out there who subscribe to the DonorDreams blog and we need your help to finish this project. We have six more days of resource development to go and the hill is getting steeper. Please use the comment box below and weigh-in with an idea.

Remember, there is no such thing as a stupid idea. Additionally, please don’t forget that we can all learn from each other. I bet there is someone out there today who will read the comments from Barb or Susan and have a “EUREKA . . . AHA MOMENT”. This has happened to all of us at some point in time. So, why not give a gift to the resource development community and “pay it forward” this holiday season with the small gift of inspiration for a fellow fundraising professional?

Here’s to your health!

The Twelve Days of Resource Development

December 19, 2011 DonorDreams Fundraising

The holidays are upon us, and like many people out there I’ve been stuffing my face with cookies, egg nog and a number of other bad-for-you-sorts of things. I’ve also been indulging in things like visiting old friends and listening to holiday music. While singing along to “The Twelve Days of Christmas” in my car, I started wondering:

“What would be the twelve days of resource development if such a song was written?”

OK . . . I fully admit that I’m a dork and obviously have too much time on my hands. However, I haven’t been able to get this proposition out of my head and it is starting to fester. So, like I tend to always do, I’m going to write about it and ask you to please join in by using the comment section of this blog. I’ll tackle three days of resource development per day starting today and running through Thursday.

Come on . . . join in. This can be fun!

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.

Well, the ball is now rolling. What do you think the fourth, fifth and sixth days of resource development are all about? Honestly, I don’t know and I’m hope for some good ideas from a great group of blog subscribers. I bet you don’t need to look too far from your desk and year-end efforts to come up with some great ideas.

Please weigh-in because we can all learn from each other. It is the perfect holiday gift to your fellow resource development profession.

Here’s to your health!

Donors are friends and NOT food!

December 15, 2011 DonorDreams Fundraising

Welcome to Thursday of individual giving week where we’re looking at different individual giving strategies as a way to replace dwindling pools of government funding. We’re using characters from the movie “Finding Nemo” to look at various individual giving strategies.

“Crush the Turtle” helped us look at special event fundraising on Monday. Tuesday’s post focused on “Marlin” and direct mail. Yesterday, Dory helped us peek at some of the considerations around ePhilanthropy. Today, we’re looking at the granddaddy of all individual giving strategies — an annual campaign driven by personal solicitation approaches.

Let’s turn to the shark characters from “Finding Nemo” to look at this classic individual giving strategy. Why the sharks? Here is the “Fish Friendly Shark Pledge” that Bruce the Shark took when we first met him on the silver screen:

“I am a nice shark. Not a mindless eatin’ machine. If I am to change this image, I must first change myself. Fish are friends. Not food.”

When I read this movie quote, I was transported back in time to a Boys & Girls Clubs of America leadership training in which I participated with my friends Paula, Teri and Tom. The “Fish Friendly Shark Pledge” reminded me of our team’s motto: “Donors are not ATMs.”

Let’s back up and start at the beginning. I’ll circle back to the sharks in just a moment.

Annual campaigns that are powered by personal, face-to-face solicitations are one of the most classic individual giving strategies employed by many of our most successful non-profit organizations:

United Way’s annual campaign utilizes face-to-face group solicitations in the workplace.
Boy Scouts’ “Friends of Scouting” (FOS) campaign utilizes face-to-face solicitations. Some of these approaches are in group settings (e.g. Pack meetings) and others are one-on-one with local business leaders and scouting alumni.
Boys & Girls Clubs’ “It Just Takes One” (IJTO) campaign utilizes one-on-one, face-to-face solicitations with existing donors and qualified prospects from the community-at-large.

These kinds of campaigns are “classic” and ultra succesful because face-to-face solicitations are proven to be the most successful way to raise funds. National statistics demonstrate that 75-percent of prospects/donors who are asked in-person end up making a contribution of at least 50-percent of what the volunteer solicitor asked them to contribute.

Whoa! Compare this 75-percent success rate with direct mail’s response rate of 0.5-percent to 3-percent. Then consider that the response rate for an email campaign can vary wildly — lower than 0.5-percent or upwards of 10-percent from what I’ve seen — depending on how warm the list is.

Of course, nothing comes close to touching 75-percent!

However, there is always a “catch,” and in the case of annual campaigning and personal solicitation strategies “the catch” is that most fundraising volunteers are scared to death of it. Nevertheless, utilization of best practices can lower fear levels to something manageable. Here are just a few things your agency will want to use if it decided to use this classic individual giving strategy:

Develop a great case statement
Provide volunteers with good solicitation materials
Make sure volunteer solicitors have personally made a contribution before asking them to solicit their friends
Don’t overload volunteer solicitors with many more than 5 prospects
Be diligent with your prospect assignment process and only ask volunteer solicitors to visit prospect they know. NO COLD CALL!
Bring in an experienced training professional to teach volunteer solicitors about the 12-step process on how to make an effective face-to-face solicitation.
Develop and use “accountability tools” to help volunteer solicitors stay focused.
Find ways to inject a “sense of positive urgency” into the campaign. (I don’t mean using crisis messages. I am referring to deadlines, challenge gifts, campaign goals, etc)

Thoughtful use of the annual campaign and personal solicitation technique as a tool in your individual giving toolkit can net your agency amazing results in a very short period of time compared to the years-and-years it might take to develop a successful direct mail or ePhilanthropy program.

So, here is where “Bruce the Shark” from Finding Nemo comes into play . . .

Soliciting someone using an annual campaign personal solicitation technique is . . . well . . . very personal. It is relationship-based, which means the relationship needs to be fed in a very different way than you might interact with mail donors or online donors. Donors with whom you visit and ask for a contribution in-person expect updates on how their contribution is being used. They usually want to hear from you . . . newsletters, phone calls, personal follow-up visits, invitations to receptions, etc.

“Know Thy Donor” . . . and figure out how they like to be kept informed
because you’ll pay the price if you use a “cookie cutter approach” for this group of donors!

When an agency doesn’t follow-up and build upon the relationship, that donor feels used. They feel like an ATM, and you look like a shark who is just out there preying upon people’s good nature.

So, my final words today are this . . . 1) add an annual campaign with face-to-face solicitation at the heart of your approach to your agency’s individual giving toolbox and 2) develop a really good stewardship plan that grows the relationship between your agency and the donor. You may want to even develop your own version of the “Fish Friendly Shark Pledge“.

Does your agency run an annual campaign and visit with donors in-person? How is that working for you? What is your success rate? What does your stewardship plan look like? How do you communicate ROI, program outcomes, and community impact information to your donors? If you developed your own version of a “Donor Friendly Pledge,” what would it sound like?

Please use the comment box below to share your thoughts because we can all learn from each other.

Here’s to your health!

Online giving: Evolve or else?!?

December 14, 2011 DonorDreams Fundraising

Welcome to Wednesday of individual giving week where we’re looking at different individual giving strategies as a way to replace dwindling pools of government funding. We’re using characters from the movie “Finding Nemo” to look at various individual giving strategies. Monday’s post was all about “Crush the Turtle” and the thrill seeking mentality of special event fundraising. Yesterday’s post focused on direct mail. Today, we’re looking at ePhilanthropy through the eyes of “Dory” (the regal tang fish whose voice you recognize as Ellen DeGeneres):

“Give it up old man, you can’t fight evolution, I was built for speed!”

There is currently a debate raging in fundraising circles between traditionalists and futurists.

Futurists argue that giving trends all point to donors giving via your website, email, social media, text messaging, and e-video campaigns.

Traditionalists sound more like Jeff Brooks who said in his recent blog post titled “The case against innovation“:

“When you get bored with letters and change everything so it’s cool and innovative, you force people to spend energy and time figuring out your new conventions. That’s energy and time they don’t have, or don’t care to spend on such a stupid task. No matter how cool you’ve made it, you’ve put a wall around whatever you’re trying to communicate. You might think it’s a very low, easy-to-climb wall — but it’s still a wall, and that means fewer people are going to get your message.”

I personally find middle ground between these two camps:

Online giving increased by more than 30-percent in 2010 compared to 2009.
It is estimated that approximately 7-percent of all charitable giving was secured online in 2010.
Average size gift statistics for online giving is starting to look remarkably similar to direct mail data.
The trend arrow over the last decade is unmistakable.

(Note: A special thanks to Blackbaud and their analytics division for keeping an eye on these trends. You can find a Blackbaud widget that links to similar kinds of information at the bottom of my website.)

The reality is that it can be somewhat expensive for many non-profits to get into individual giving strategies involving technology. However, the good news is that they don’t need to live on the “bleeding edge of technology”. Agency can and should start to take small steps towards the future. For example, even small organizations can add a “donate now” button to their webpage, set-up a Facebook and Twitter account, and start experimenting with both listening to donors and nudging them toward online giving opportunities.

The truth is probably somewhere in the middle. I recently read somewhere (I honestly can’t remember where or I would cite the source), that there is likely lots and lots of “cross pollution” between different individual giving strategies. Here are a few examples to illustrate this point:

A donor gets a letter in the mail and they are inclined to make a contribution. However, they see your agency’s website address embedded in the letter and go online to make that donation out of convenience.
A donor is solicited using a face-to-face solicitation strategy. They sign the pledge card. When the pledge reminder arrives, they go online to pay their pledge because it might be more convenient.
A donor receives an email (doesn’t matter if it is for solicitation or stewardship purposes). They then receive a visit by a fundraising volunteer who asks them to make a pledge. They sign the pledge card because it is convenient rather than dig through their cluttered email inbox for that donation link.

Everything is getting more and more interconnected. For this reason, I am all for investing a little time and money in ePhilanthropy because the decision isn’t about which tool to use with individuals. The decision involves which tools to use in concert with each other.

Don’t go crazy by focusing exclusively on lots and lots of new technology. Start small. And by all means, don’t use technology to replace your existing solicitation tools (e.g. mail, pledge cards, fundraising volunteers, etc).

Remember, the more tools you have in your toolbox to connect with individuals the more likely it will be that you are able to engage what is clearly the largest slice of the charitable giving pie chart — INDIVIDUAL DONORS.

What is your organization doing right now in the arena of ePhilanthropy? Website? Email? Text? Electronic video? Social media? Do you have a written ePhilanthropy plan in place that delineates which online tools you’re using and which tools are used for cultivation vs solicitation vs stewardship? Please take one minute to share using the comment box below a nugget about where you’re at because we can all learn from each other.

Here’s to your health!

I like you so much that I don’t want to see you!

December 13, 2011 DonorDreams Fundraising

Welcome to Tuesday of individual giving week where we’re looking at different individual giving strategies as a way to replace dwindling pools of government funding. We’re using characters from the movie “Finding Nemo” to look at various individual giving strategies. Monday’s post was all about “Crush the Turtle” and the thrill seeking mentality of special event fundraising. Today, we’re looking at direct mail through the eyes of “Marlin” (the clown fish who was Nemo’s father), who said to “Dory” (the regal tang fish whose voice you recognize as Ellen DeGeneres):

“No, of course I like you. It’s because I like you, I don’t want to be with you. It’s a complicated… emotion.”

When I read this quote it made me think of those direct mail donors who love your organization’s mission so much that they can’t stand the thought of sitting down with you. I’m really not trying to be snarky here . . . there are countless numbers of people who appreciate what you do, want to make a contribution, but don’t want to sit down and chat over a pledge card. It is this reality that has made direct mail and targeted mail so successful for so very long.

Mal Warwick is one of the masters of direct mail. I encourage you to read his article where he does a great job of distilling everything down into 10 of the most important things that you need to know about a successful direct mail program:

It is a “process”
It is all about the long-term
It is about cost-effectiveness and not so much the cost
The list is super important
Making “the offer”
One of the keys is list segmenting
It is focused on an annual giving approach
Test it or you will feel your patience tested
Repeating yourself isn’t a sign of old age, it is the sign of intelligence and discipline
Record-keeping makes all the difference

Ugh! He is a genius. Click here to read more about what he is really saying.

After you’re dazzled by Mal Warwick’s intellect, you need to read what Tom Ahern has to say a week ago about anyone who likes to “dabble” in direct mail:

“Untrained staff and board cannot accurately judge professionally crafted direct mail. It’s impossible. Mailed appeals are a counter-intuitive enterprise, based on neuroscience, decades of testing, empiricism, and acquired skill sets of surprising depth and complexity.”

While Tom isn’t likely making many friends with this statement, he is right in the sense that direct mail is a science. It is sometimes a bizarro universe where up is down and down is up. I suggest you click here and read what else Tom has to say about non-experts who roll up their sleeves and try to run a direct mail program without expert help.

Look . . . here is the bottom line:

Direct mail donors account for something in the neighborhood of one-fifth of charitable contributions,
Direct mail is not cheap,
Direct mail requires expertise,
Direct mail is a great way to “acquire” new donors,
Direct mail is constantly evolving,
Direct mail requires time, and
Direct mail needs someone with an eye for details.

Not having direct mail and targeted mail in your annual fundraising plan is like a handyman going to work without a screwdriver in his toolbox.

So, what is your agency doing with the U.S. Postal Service? How often are your soliciting? How are you using mail to cultivate new prospects or steward existing donors? What metrics are you measuring to gauge success in the short-, mid-, and long-term? How do you move direct mail donors up your staircase of engagement? Many of you are using mailhouse services, but is anyone using technical writing consultants? If so, how has that worked for you?

Please use the comment box below because we can all learn from each other.

Here’s to your health!

Whoa! Special events and individual giving

December 12, 2011 DonorDreams Fundraising, Planning

We ended the last week with a close-up look at what many non-profit organizations are doing to adjust to a restriction in government funding. Click here to read the post titled “Sir Isaac Newton was right about nonprofit organizations“. I ended Friday’s post with a promise that we would look at individual giving strategies from different angles this week. Today, we will look at special events as an individual giving strategy.

I thought it might be fun to look at individual giving through the eyes of those Disney characters from the movie “Finding Nemo”. Why this movie? Because this movie was all about a father who in his search for his lost son learned how to take risks and also discovered his son is capable of taking care of himself. In some ways, I think that individual giving for non-profit agencies kind of follows the same storyline.

Let’s take that scene in the movie where Marlin (the father clown fish) is talking to Crush (the turtle) about Marlin’s experience with jellyfish:

Crush: “Oh, I saw the whole thing, dude! First, you were like, whoa! And then we were like, WHOA! And then you were like, whoa.”

Marlin: “What are you talking about?”

Crush: “You, Mini-Man! Takin’ on the jellies. You got serious thrill issues, dude.”

LOL . . . I think special events are a little bit like this scene from “Finding Nemo”. They are fun. They are not for the faint-of-heart. Too many might actually be dangerous for your organization. However, they are something you probably need to do if you want to “find” donors.

As we talked about on Friday, there are many fundraising volunteers who are fearful about asking friends to make a direct charitable contribution. However, special events feel different from asking for direct contributions because there is a trade involved — you give me $50.00 and I giving you a ticket to a dinner. Quid pro quo.

Unfortunately, there are too many non-profit organizations who just kept adding more and more events to their resource development plan every time there was a shortfall in revenue. Now, they have an unbalanced resource development program, and much like a car with unbalanced tires this can be a recipe for danger.

I won’t go into a long diatribe about how special events aren’t a very efficient way to raise money from individuals. This is a well-worn path, and you can find countless blog posts from me on the subject. However, you may want to click here to read Charity Navigator’s study on special events and how they cost (direct + indirect costs) the average non-profit agency $1.33 to raise $1.00.

All that being said, every non-profit organization needs to have one or two well-run special events built into their annual resource development plan because:

They will bring in some money for your agency (if you factor out indirect costs like staff time),
They are a soft way for new prospective donors to learn more about your agency,
They are a fun way for your agency to engage new volunteers, and
They have a cultivation and stewardship effect for many prospects and donors especially if the event has a “mission-focus”.

However, please keep in mind that too much of a fun thing is never good for anyone. I recent had an opportunity to interview more than 40 donors. I asked the donor if they prefer to make a charitable contribution using an event vehicle or a direct solicitation from a friend armed with a pledge card. In EVERY interview, the donor came back and said without hesitation that they would prefer the friend and the pledge card.

Remember . . . events have their place. Keep them to a minimum, but do those few events very well. Keep the event mission-focused with an eye to introducing new prospects to your agency and demonstrating to existing donors that their contributions are making a difference. Most importantly, keep in mind that special events are only one of many solicitation strategies you will employ in your efforts to secure more individual giving to compensate for the receding tides of government funding.

How does your agency ensure its special event program doesn’t get out of hand? Do you evaluate every event? If so, what metrics do you use?

Here’s to your health!