Learning Opportunity – This Friday

Anyone who’s going to be in the Western PA area this Friday, April 27, should seriously consider attending Grant Writing 201: Winning Grants in Southwestern PA with Eric Davis, Owner Procopio Fundraising and Managing Partner, Elliott & Davis, PC. 

Grant seeking in Southwestern Pennsylvania has never been more competitive than today. With information on grant opportunities so broadly available, most grant making foundations and agencies receive hundreds more worthy grant proposals for each funding cycle than they could ever fund. It is critically important that nonprofit organizations to learn how to set themselves apart by preparing winning grant applications.  Give your proposals the competitive edge of a serious grant seeker. If you’re ready to get serious about grant writing, invest a day honing your skills with proven techniques for generating support.

Here are the details on the event.

How to Cope with the Struggling Economy by Embracing Trends within the Nonprofit Sector

Despite some recent positive signs, it’s no secret that the economy is still in bad shape.  It’s also no secret that the current economic recession has taken its toll on charitable foundations and nonprofit organizations.  The purpose of this post is to share with you some recent trends in the nonprofit sector that may represent valuable opportunities which could help your organization avoid feeling the effects of the recession.

Social Networking

Everyone is talking about it—but how can nonprofits make use of social networking in carrying out their charitable purpose?  Here’s one example.  A new video sharing site launched this month, called World Flix, is using the power of online video to bring personal messages from places like Uganda and Haiti directly to the laptops of prospective donors.   Donors can browse video messages, viewing messages and making donations in just a few clicks.  World Flix’s founder, Laika Grant Mann , is excited about the prospect of using online video sharing as a fundraising tool.  As Mann told the San Jose Mercury News, “[…]by bringing together video clips, grassroots organizations and online donor pools, World Flix can be the means to changing the world through micro grants one video clip at a time.”

So which social networking tools should you use?   The answer depends largely on your organization’s mission.  If your message contains strong visual components, online video sharing sites such as YouTube would make be a good fit.  If you are concerned with expanding your range of contacts, consider using Facebook or LinkedIn.  If your organization wants to provide regular updates to others, a blog or a Twitter account would help you achieve this.

Which tools are members of the nonprofit community currently using?  The nonprofit resource group, idealist.org, recently published results from its survey of idealist.org users’ social media habits.  The survey found that 27% of respondents were on Twitter, and 21% were on MySpace.  55% of respondents actively post to these networks, compared with 44% who were passive observers.  Between 51% and 48% of respondents indicated that they read blogs.

Cause Related Marketing

Chances are, if you don’t own a Livestrong® bracelet or a (RED)™ branded product, you know someone who does.  Cause related marketing continues to grow in popularity and is showing no signs of slowing down.  According to a report from IEG, a company specializing in sponsorships, North American companies are expected to spend a total of $1.55 billion on cause-related partnerships in 2009.  This amount represents a 2.2 percent increase from 2008.

In the current recession, cause related marketing could be especially beneficial to basic need charities.  According to a recent article in the Philanthropy Journal, basic need charities such as Share our Strength, an anti-hunger group, have had particular success with cause marketing.  Share our Strength has seen its cause-related revenue jump 15 percent through partnerships with companies such as AT&T and Hickory Farms.

Cause related marketing is a great way to boost your organization’s revenue by reaching out to charitable consumers in a way that resonates with them.  How can your organization take advantage of cause related marketing?  You can start by taking a look at the Foundation Center’s introduction to cause related marketing, which is full of valuable information and resources.

Micro Giving

When it comes to fundraising, many nonprofits tend to “think big,” pursuing large grants from private foundations and governments.  Recently, however, there’s been a trend toward “thinking small.”  This small-scale “micro giving” takes a couple of forms.

First, many nonprofits are forging strategic partnerships with retailers that allow the retailer’s customers to make very small donations to the nonprofit in a convenient manner.  For example, Petco, the large pet supply chain, created a program that encouraged customers are able to “round up” their purchase to the nearest whole dollar.   All proceeds from the program went to local spay/neuter focused animal welfare organizations.

Other nonprofits are partnering with social networks such as Facebook that enable users of the social networks to make small donations online to a charity of their choice.  Facebook allows users to give online “gifts” to one another, with the majority of the nominal fee, often around $1.00, going to the selected charity.

Although a July 14 info graphic in the Economist observed the good news that charitable giving among wealthy individuals has not been hurt by the recession, if your organization is like most organizations, not all of your donors are wealthy.  Micro giving provides an extraordinary tool for reaching out to these donors where giving is convenient and affordable to them.

Conclusion

Despite the tough economic times, it is clear that there are still a variety of opportunities for your organization to generate more revenue and expand your capacity.  Which of these trends holds the most opportunity for your organization?  The answer depends on many factors, including your organization’s needs, goals, and expertise.  As always, we are happy to consult with you about any questions you might have.

Always Say “Please” and “Thank You”: How Your Organization Can Use Donor Recognition Strategies to Maximize Fundraising Opportunities

With so much to focus on during a fundraising campaign, donor recognition can easily be overlooked.   However, a sound donor recognition strategy can create valuable fundraising opportunities in both the short-term and the long-term.

Recognition Pays Off

Everyone likes to be recognized.  Some recent anecdotes and research from the nonprofit sector help underscore just how valuable donor recognition can be.   Here are just a few examples.

A September 15 article in the Nonprofit Times highlights how personalized donor recognition can provide a much-needed boost a fundraising campaign.  The article cites the example of KCSM, a community jazz radio station in the San Francisco Bay Area.  As part of a fundraising campaign, KCSM targeted lapsed members, offering them a chance to renew their membership in exchange for a personalized gift.  For their donation of $80 (twice the amount of an ordinary donation), donors were given a KCSM T-shirt with their name on the back, along with the names of jazz legends like Miles Davis, Charlie Parker and Duke Ellington.

According to the Nonprofit Times article, “[t]he Legends of Jazz campaign raised $42,400 from 577 donors, with 200 donors giving at least $80, for a response rate of almost 6.5 percent. The average gift was more than $100 and the campaign’s overall Return On Investment (ROI) was 204 percent.”

The article also cites a study by M+R Strategic Services in Washington, D.C., which tested the effects of gifts or premiums to prospective donors.  The survey focused on donors to the following organizations: Easter Seals, Human Rights Campaign, Save Darfur Coalition and The Wilderness Society.  The premiums that were given out included scarves, calendars, T-shirts and blankets.

The M+R study found that donor recognition in the form of gifts and premiums had a strong correlation with overall giving.  When a premium was offered, response rates increased by 95 percent and the average gift increased by 37 percent.  Even when the cost of the gift or premium was taken into account, the nonprofit was still better off.  Three of the four nonprofits in the survey netted more when premiums were offered, and overall net dollars per recipient were 51 percent greater when a premium was offered.

Possible Recognition Strategies

So what are some donor recognition strategies your organization can use?  Other than the sort of gift and premium ideas discussed earlier, the following are some good, general strategies that will help you ensure that your donors get the recognition they deserve:

1.       Tell your story. Your donors want to know exactly where their money is going.  Put yourself in a donor’s shoes for a minute.  Whether you’re a public radio supporter giving $50 in a telethon or a large foundation offering a sizable grant, you want to make sure that your contribution is being used for its intended purpose.  When it comes to donor recognition, job number one is to tell your donors about all of the good things you are doing thanks to them.   In addition to the traditional thank you letter, you might want to consider phone calls, email updates, sending pictures of your projects and programs, and even using social media such as a blog to reach out to donors in a relevant, timely manner.

2.       Keep track of the details and be transparent. In today’s post-Enron, post-Bernard Madoff business culture, trust and credibility are more important than ever.  The best way to build trust with donors is to be meticulous about budgets, statistics, and other details and then to share this information with your donors and, where relevant, with the public.  It’s a great way not only to quantify and highlight the impact you are making but also to set yourself apart as an efficient and trustworthy organization.

3.       Recognize loyalty. If your organization conducts ongoing fundraising campaigns, take a look at the number of years each donor has been making contributions.  You should consider developing a recognition program based on the number of years a donor has contributed to your organization.  A loyal donor who makes small contributions now may one day be in position where they can make a much larger donation.  The only way to ensure that their largesse benefits your organization is to recognize their loyalty at the present moment.

4.       Stay in touch. It should go without saying that regular contact is one of the most important aspects of donor recognition.  You shouldn’t wait until the next fundraising cycle to contact your donors.  Invite past donors and potential donors alike to tour your facilities or attend your programs and events.  Your board members and staff should recognize the importance of networking, and that it’s just as important in the nonprofit sector as it is in the for-profit sector.

Your Contribution –Satisfaction Guaranteed?

If you buy a blender and it doesn’t work, you expect to be able to take it to the store where you bought it and get your money back.  But what if you’re a donor and are unhappy with a contribution you made?

Donor recognition and satisfaction are so important that one organization, Global Giving, has taken their donor satisfaction strategy  a step further and is actually offering a “money back” guarantee similar to one you would find at a retail store.  According to the “Global Giving Guaranteed” page on the organization’s website:

“Any donor who makes an online contribution at GlobalGiving.com and is not satisfied with their giving experience may invoke the guarantee by phone or email. Subsequently GlobalGiving will refund the donation in the form of a gift certificate equal to the value of the original donation, which the donor can contribute to a different project on the site. The Guarantee can be activated at any time within a year after the original donation has been made, up to $10,000 per year, per donor.”

(Interestingly, Global Giving cannot return gifts in cash but must instead use gift certificates because IRS Rules prevent 501(c)(3)organizations from giving charitable donations back in cash.)

We recognize that Global Giving’s strategy is a radical one and probably doesn’t make sense for most nonprofit organizations.  We only mention it because we think it’s a great example of just how important donor recognition and satisfaction really are—especially in today’s economy.

Conclusion

In a highly-competitive fundraising environment, you need to do everything to make sure your donors are satisfied with their contributions and feel that they have been adequately honored and recognized.  If you take the time and apply some of the basic principles discussed in this post, you will hopefully start to see the positive impact that successful donor recognition strategies can have on a fundraising campaign.