All Things Annual Giving

Six Great Posts from Other Sites

Relationships 2.0

Fundraising in 2008 proved it really is about who you know.

By Sarah Durham

http://www.fundraisingsuccessmag.com/article/relationships-20-403792_1.html

 

Online Giving vs. Online Fundraising

By Philip King

http://www.fundraisingsuccessmag.com/article/online-giving-vs-online-fundraising-404544_1.html

 

How Does Your (Fundraising) Garden Grow?

If it’s overrun with the weeds of fear and stale thinking, it’s time to sow some seeds of innovation.

By Bernard Ross and Paula Birnbaum Guillet

http://www.fundraisingsuccessmag.com/article/how-does-your-fundraising-garden-grow-403791_1.html

Top 100 Words Not to Use in Your Subject Line

http://brandnews.onletterhead.com/2009/03/top-100-words-to-not-use-in-your-subject-lines/

 Monday, Wednesday, Happy Days

http://brandnews.onletterhead.com/2009/03/monday-wednesday-happy-days/

 

Writing Effective Emails: Some Lifesaving Tips

http://brandnews.onletterhead.com/2009/03/writing-effective-emails-some-lifesaving-tips/

 

 

 

Email Content that Works

Regardless of your organization's mission, there are several key components to a good email:

1. Reporting on Current Newsworthy (reader-worthy) Activity;
2. Highlighting a Key Component of Programming;

3. Summarizing your Immediate Needs; and

4. Telling Your Readers How they can Help

These messages should be sent to an audience that has already opted in to your email program and is likley to wan to know what you have to say.  They are subscribers, and therefore at least part of what you have to share is already known to be of interest to them.  But it is not a newspaper or magazine.  Nor are you resubmitting or "pushing" blog posts to your constituency. 

The marketplace has voted on some communication formats and its vote on email is that it should be simple, direct and worthy of the readers time.  Because email is so easy and inexpensive to push into inboxes, everyone on your list is likely to receive several email messages each day s/he deems unworthy of ever opening. 

The same is not true of newsprint or blog posts.  If the reader spent the money on a magazine, s/he will read it.  if the reader sought out a blog, s/he will read what s/he searched for.  But if you send an email, it needs to be worthy of the reader opening it.

This point can mislead you into thinking the most important thing you can do in an email is to give it a catchy subject heading.  No.  What needs to hapeen is that the reader needs to open the email and find what s/he expects to find.  It is more like going to the mailbox and finding a newsletter - whatever the cover, you are likely to read it as long as the contents are worth your time, but the cover never makes the content.

Regarding the four points above - each of them can typically be addressed in one or two paragraphs.  It is compeltely appropriate, and often helpful, to make that paragraph an excerpt from a blog post or other online resoruce, and include a hyperlink to the full article.  You really shouldn't try to include complete articles in email.  Remember, you want email messages that are short and to the point, and so does your reader.

Also, since you are touching your readers regularly, picking unique segments of programming to highlight in each message is a wise idea.  That way, your donors can sample each area and think more carefully about how importnat it is to give to a diverse organization with broad impact.

Finally, in explaining your needs and letting your readers know how they can help, tie in the rest of the news with your needs, and make your call to action something that they can feel is merely a natural step.  Ideally you want your readers to feel the process flowing from reading to making a contribution, as seamlessly as they feel about paying a bill, but with the gladness of heart of responding to an invitation to a party they wouldn't want to miss.

For further help with email drafting and dissemination, please contact Brian Lacy & Associates or Elusen today!

Annual Giving and Email:

The Pros and Cons of Email Blasts

Blasting email to thousands of recipients has become very common in the marketplace today.  But here are some things to consider when deciding how much you want to pursue the strategy of reaching your constituency through email.

1. How up-to-date is your address list?  Do you have upwards of 25% of your past donors' email addresses?  If so, you have a good starting point.  If you're short on addresses in your database, you should consider an email append to bolster your records.  It's relatively inexpensive, and will provide with a significantly higher number of confirmed email addresses you can reach.
2. How large is your overall constituency?  Are you trying to reach a few thousand people or 100,000?  The larger the number, the more efficient it becomes to use email to reach them.
3. How effective are you at reaching your base through direct mail, by phone and in person?  Usually, these are only marginal considerations now that email has become the most commonplace method of keeping in touch, because it is rather non-invasive.  For the same reason, however, it is also becoming the easiest way to avoid more direct contact.  You can receive email any time, and never feel compelled to respond.  While other forms of communication may also be avoided, as a fundraiser you know where you stand when phone calls aren't returned, or visits can no longer be arranged.  The same is not so clear with email.

When you stop to think through these issues, the decisions about email communication change, but not entirely.  Email blasts are still helpful.  As a non-invasive communication vehicle, they function like news.  If the information is good, the reader will pay attention.  Granted, he has to open it first, but you have almost no control over that decision.  What you can offer is good quality content once the reader is drawn in.

In our next post, we'll discuss the components of a well conceived e-blast.  Until then, if we can be of greater assistance, please contact Brian Lacy & Associates today.

 

Direct Mail: Effective Letters and Communications

The process of asking your donors for support comes down to a few basics:

1. Telling them what you're doing and the needs you have;
2. Asking for their support;
3. Thanking them for giving.

Though the very best communications are made face to face, annual fund giving is done mostly in writing and a bit over the phone. 

The written components of the process include:

1. annual appeals via mass mailing;
2. other mailings throughout the year (perhaps a quarterly publication);
3. personal letters via mail;
4. email newsletters;
5. personal email;
6. website communications;
7. personal, handwritten notes;
8. other written communications.

This post addresses the first of these.  The annual appeal letter and its follow up (reminders and acknowledgements), is the most fundamental piece of the whole annual giving process. 

This is not to say that it is necessarily the most important piece of the process - all of the components are important, but an annual fund programs can hardly exist without incorporating an annual appeal through the mail.

Large institutions have the resources to continue a mailing campaign throughout the year.  There is data available to show this is cost effective, but there is data to show whatever you want to do.  The most organized, and particularly for smaller organizations, effective model, consists of one general appeal, followed by two reminder letters for those who have not yet responded, and an acknowledgement letter for everyone who gives.

The contents of the letter are very important.  One time a year at least, a one page letter will not suffice.  You are maintaining contact with donors who you do not see very often, if at all, who need to know what have done and will be doing, need to be reminded of the personal touch of your mission, and need to feel you reaching out to them individually because of the connection with your cause.

These are all fundamental and important items to include in the general appeal letter.  The reminders should come as an update and a simple reminder.  One page is great for these.  What is often lost in a remidner letter is the personal touch.  Make sure a reminder letter includes a short, personal vignette relaiting to your mission.

The contents of the letters themselves are very important.  Along with the content, it is also very important to plan the scheduling of all of your communications, and coordination fo the message that will go to donors when it is delivered.  The questions of when, what and who are all very important to your success. 

For further information relating to direct mail services, please contact Brian Lacy & Associates today.  For assistance with content in your mailings and other communciations, please visit Elusen.com.        

 

March Fundraising Updates

By Brian Lacy

Innovative Fundraising Campaign
Starship Hospital in New Zealand is running a unique fundraising campaign by collecting donated cell phones, selling them through a third party vendor and taking 60% of the profits from their sales. 
Brian Lacy Consulting

Philanthropy Journal Special Fundraising Report:

Broken economy holds fundraising promise

The worst of times for the economy may be the best of times for nonprofits to focus on their fundraising.

Communication key to recession fundraising
Competing successfully for charitable dollars in the economic recession will require nonprofits to step up their focus on the cultivation and stewardship of donors, a leading fundraising professional says.

Planned giving can ward off disaster
Planned gifts, typically larger than one-time cash gifts, provide funds to build endowments and can sustain nonprofits during economically trying times.

Searching for grants in the recession
As foundation endowments shrink, experts say securing and retaining grants dollars may hinge on relationships and results.

NY Times: Donors Hold Back in Uncertain Times
Charitably inclined people are anxious. Charities, like businesses and families, have suffered in the economic maelstrom, while their services are needed more than ever. But donors fear they can no longer afford to give as much as they once did.
Wealth Screening Tools

United Way Exceeds 2008 Campaign Goal
New participants and early “Pacesetter” fundraising helped The United Way of Central Illinois raise $3.05 million during its 2008 campaign. Although the total was just below the organization’s fundraising goal, it also marked an increase of 1 percent over what was raised in 2007.
Brian Lacy Surveys

News and Trends in Annual Giving

Check out the latest news and trends worthy of your attention as picked up in top rankings on Google searches relevant to annual giving over the last month:

Time and Technology Continue to March Ahead
Perhaps a tough economy will be just what it takes for the efficiencies of newer technology to truly move into the lead in fundraising methods.  As the NonProfit Times reports, mobile calling and email are beginning to supplant direct mail and traditional, land-based calling to reach out to donors.

The NonProfit Times

Cell Telefundraising
The NonProfit Times - Morris Plains,NJ,USA
... USNA's director of annual giving programs. Federal law prohibits telemarketers from calling cell phones without a prior relationship. ...
See all stories on this topic

What Makes a Strategic Partnership Work?
The Foundation Center contributes a good summary of a publication describing the benefits and pitfalls of strategic partnerships.  As nonprofit organizations learn they are highly dependent on their myriad partnerships with other organizations, it is vitally important to evaluate which partnerships truly benefit the mission of your organization.

Nonprofit Literature Blog: Risks and Rewards of Strategic Partnerships
By Jimmy Tom
Risks and Rewards of Strategic Partnerships · Case Studies in Annual Giving · The Nonprofit Paradigm Shift: Are You Ready to Think Differently? Foundation Center Research · Psychology and Fundraising · Nonprofit Collaboration ...
Nonprofit Literature Blog - http://literature.foundationcenter.org/

The Big Green Grab
While other nonprofits struggle, environmental groups have locked into a system that has quickly helped fund their work - the commitment of businesses to donate 1% of their revenues to their cause(s). 

The trend raises some interesting questions:

(1) can other nonprofits replicate these efforts;
(2) how successful are they - really; and
(3) what about prioritizing direct, individual giving in a similar way - is this more efficient?

Wall Street Journal Blogs

Coughing Up an ‘Earth Tax’
Wall Street Journal Blogs - New York,NY,USA
... income to charity than the uber-rich. What’s your income-percentage rule of thumb for annual giving, especially when money is tight and needs are greater?
See all stories on this topic


Another Perspective on Giving
While many businesses make gifts directly from sales, the Traget Company goes big in committing 5% of its profits to charity.  By giving from income, the company is able to use its discretion and think about where the money is going first.  In the end, this may produce greater giving overall and make for a better giving partner, but regardless, it's good to consider all of the options that are possible.

The Foundation Center contributes a good summary of a publication describing the benefits and pitfalls of strategic partnerships.  As nonprofit organizations learn they are highly dependent on their myriad partnerships with other organizations, it is vitally important to evaluate which partnerships truly benefit the mission of your organization.

Target to continue giving 5% of profits to charity
Minneapolis Star Tribune - Minneapolis,MN,USA
Between 2004 and 2008, Target's annual giving rose steadily, from $96.3 million to $169 million, while the McKnight Foundation's went from $75.4 million to ...
See all stories on this topic

As always if we can be of assistance with any of your fundraising needs, please contact either Brian Lacy or Andrew Thompson and let us know how we can help.

Major Gifts Programs Prosper with Solid Annual Giving Campaigns

What are the primary benefits of an annual giving campaign?

1. It helps you maintain contact with your donors on a regular, well timed basis.

2. It enables you to expand and update your database of current contacts for giving.

3. It helps you identify and cultivate major gift donors to provide the higher levels of support you need for your work.

The third of these is vitally important and yet easily neglected.   Of course, it requires staff devoted to the exercise of making the specialized contact with major gift donors that's necessary for the program to succeed.  This means personal contact with a solid base of information about the donor, his or her interests, personal concerns, personality, giving to other organizations, relationship to your own board, etc.  

Gathering this kind of information is, in part, an extension of annual giving.  Through productive phonathons, email responses and other communications that come from donors, you can construct a portion of the donor's "DNA" - donor needs assessment - in other words, what it is that makes specific donors want to support your mission. 

Beyond that, by overlaying wealth screening and donor segmentation through an effective donor research program, you can fill in the gaps that help pinpoint your best prospects.  With this information, your major gifts staff can then develop cultivation and solicitation strategies to get to prioritize the timing of engaging prospects and donors further, and moving ahead with your plans and programming.

In order to coordinate all of the pieces and bring it all together, you are likely to need assistance beyond the resources on your staff.  Brian Lacyhas many year of experience and works with nationally known institutions and providers of the tools you need.  Contact Brian Lacy today for more information and to get started.  

If you need assistance in developing your major gifts strategies for cultivation and solicitation, contact Andrew Thompson at Elusen for help with major gifts, planned giving and capital campaign strategies as your needs arise.

 

Data Cleansing

The Basics

Data management is primarily about three things: collecting it, maintaining it and protecting it.  Under these three categories all of the use of data available to you for raising money exist. 

Underlying all three areas and all of your success in fundraising is the matter of using the data effectively. But you must have effective organization in order for this to be possible.  This hub provides an overview of the organizational aspects of data management. Collecting Data

Think about this: there are more than 10,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes of new data created on the internet in a year.  How much of this do you have in your database?  More importantly, how much of it can you use? 

Collecting Data

Frankly, what matters to you is the data that comes into your circle of influence.  You received a business card, met someone at a networking event, another made an internet inquiry, yet another called with a question about services.  Your board has friends, so do you.  There are political, cultural, marketing and other business people who have an interest in your mission. 

Have you captured the data from all of these sources.  This is a very important point.  No mailing list, distribution list, or other contact list that you can buy is at all important to you until you have touched and marketed your business to everyone you can touch personally. 

Purchasing mailing lists is a short cut to good data capture.  Many organizations that could be very successful are struggling dreadfully because of poor data capture.  I know about this first hand.  

Data capture can be challenging and intricate.

One problem is that there are so many places to capture data.  Another is the time it takes to enter everything you have.  One of the most important  decisions you can make is with respect to where your data will be stored.  Smaller businesses often rely on Outlook because it is so pervasive and readily available. 

It's limits become obvious, however, as soon as you start trying to add large quantities of data.  But what is the next, better alternative?  This is the question of all questions.  ACT!, Gold MIne, and similar programs are very widely used sales tools for organizations that have many people selling, asking for support.  But they are limited in terms of their ability to meet the needs of large organizations and nonprofit organizations in general.

As a consultant, I have regularly advised organizations on database packages of many different companies.  The size, purpose, and needs for use of the information are all factors in deciding on the right platform to meet your needs. 

In the need, you will need to choose the right platform and execute its implementation wisely.  This is a challenging operation that requires careful attention to detail.  Likewise, it is vitally important to have a reliable staff person accountable for the accuracy of the information and overseeing its implementation.

Maintaining Data

Once you properly capture the data, you need to maintain it.  This is where the notion of "data cleansing" comes to life.  What is data cleansing?

It is the process of scrubbing data to eliminate errors, update for new and better information, and append existing data with new pieces of information.  In essence, this is what data maintenance is all about. 

Here are some basic examples of what you should think about in regard to data cleansing:

(1) Correcting Errors:  Let's say you hold a phonathon and call 5,000 donors.  You find that over 1,000 of those records are out of date or just, incorrect.  In calling the other 4,000 donors, you raised over $35,000.  By having invalid information, you may have lost another $10,000 or more by being unable to reach the other donors.  Is this acceptable?

(2) New and Better Information: During the course of that same phonathon, you learned that another 1,500 donors, who gave nearly $20,000 themselves, has new, better or different contact information - nearly all of whom prefer that you use the new rather than the old.  You spent an extra 25% time with each of these donors listening and collecting new information and explaining the "glitches" in your system. If your data had been up-to-date, you could spend this time calling at least 500 additional donors with the same resources involved.

(3) Data Appending: Let's say your overall database consists of 100,000 records.  You have 90,000 good mailing addresses, 75,000 phone numbers and 15,000 email addresses.  If these numbers were 95,000, over 100,000 (including alternate phone numbers), and 30,000, how much more money could you raise from the same database?  Past assessments suggest you can gain 20-25% within one year by properly upgrading your database with "data appends" for mailing addresses, phone numbers and email. 

Brian Lacy & Associates is a full service provider of data management services and specializes in cost effective data appending, updating and related services.

Protecting Data

Protecting your data can be every bit as important as collecting and maintaining data.  Because it so uniquely calls for its own solutions relative to the other issues, we will address this in separate, upcoming posts in our blog. 

Matching Gift Survey

The time has come for us to invite your participation in what is now the 4th annual survey on matching gifts hosted at SupportingAdvancement.com. The bulk of the survey is as it was last year and we'll be comparing and contrasting to prior surveys with the continued intent of providing ideas on how we can all make our matching gifts practices more effective. However, the survey is revised and upgraded to incorporate questions about any new ideas and strategies institutions might be exploring given recent economic challenges. Some new additions also are questions related to matching challenge grants - both from private and government sources - to assess what impact those programs have as additions or tandems to corporate matching fund revenue.

Many of you have previously participated in the matching gift surveys and we are hopeful that participation will expand once more this year.  

of As with past surveys, results will be shared first with participants, then posted on SupportingAdvancement.com and FundSvcs. Results have been presented at various conferences over the past 3 years and will also be presented at future conferences - as opportunities arise - including the 2009 CASE Summer Institute for Advancement Services (assembling again in this July at the University of Vermont in Burlington).

Everyone's budgets are tightening and matching gift revenue isn't something we can take for granted or just hope will come to us through ad hoc measures; even organizations with the most historically successful matching gift programs are undoubtedly taking steps to minimize economic impact on that revenue stream. Nor can we afford shots in the dark at what might bring in more matching gifts - we need to focus on the tactics that have proven most successful throughout the nonprofit world. Please do take part in the survey; it's a very good investment of 20-30 minutes of your time.    

Thanks in advance for your participation.
    
Take the survey now:  ONLINE VERSION

 If you want to complete the print version of the survey and send a PDF, click this link:  PRINT VERSION

 

Brian Lacy

Matching Gift Services

Exciting New Service

Another Exciting New Service

Getting the Most from Matching Gifts in Your Annual Giving Program

In matching gifts programs, companies match employees' gifts to nonprofit organizations like yours.

For example, the GE Foundation, founded the first matching gifts program in 1954 to encourage GE employees to support the needs of its employees former colleges and universities. Since then, companies and their foundations—including the GE Foundation—have broadened their guidelines to include many other types of community-serving nonprofit organizations, social services, the arts, or environmental organizations.

Matching gifts from corporations represented approximately 10 percent of the overall money companies donate to nonprofit organizations.

Statistics compiled by CASE indicate that the average higher educational institution receives $30,000 more in matching gifts today than it did in the mid-1990s.  Additionally, companies that at one time provided matching gifts solely to colleges and universities are now supporting a variety of causes. In 2003, 38 percent of the 965 companies surveyed by CASE matched gifts to "cultural organizations" as well as educational institutions. By comparison, in 1993, 23 percent of the companies in CASE's survey matched gifts to cultural organizations.

In order to establish or improve the fundraising potential of your annual fund and braoder development efforts, you should enhance your matching gifts program by:

• Make matching gifts a priority;
• Include matching gifts as a consideration in all development areas;
• Know match eligibility before making appeals;
• Use matching gift incentives;
• Invest in your database;
• Get started now!

For more information on matching gift programming, please visit BrianLacy.com Matching Gift Services and contact Brian Lacy with your needs today.