Donor Power Blog

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It's unfortunate that nonprofits exist under a vague cloud of suspicion. It only takes a few charity scandals and publicized rip-offs to give a lot of people the sense that you just can't trust someone who asks for money. Building trust is one of your most important tasks.

That's what Trust me, I'm a fundraiser at Professional Fundraising (a UK blog) is about.

Among a number of useful tips for fostering trust among donors is this:
Develop tangible programmes for people to give to. You don't become an ActionAid donor. You sponsor-a-child. This is tangible and donors love it. Their worst fear is that their money will get lost in the pot. Give them something tangible (and honest!) and they'll be much happier to support you.

That's such an important point: They aren't giving because of who you are. They're giving because of what you do (and because of who they are).

If you're choosing to raise only undesignated funds unconnected to specific programs, you're forcing your donors to accept you on blind trust. That has worked for a long time. I don't think it's a sustainable strategy for much longer.

Technorati Tag: trust

One tough thing about raising funds is getting people to open your message. You're in the inbox next to dozens, even hundreds, of other messages, many of them brazen spam. And all you have to get opened is a few words. No color, no images, no typography -- just pure text. And very little of that. (If you've played your cards right, your name in the "from" line also helps.)

Here are some good principles for subject lines from Constant Contact: How to Get More Opens and Clicks.

1. Opposites Attract!
Put your advertising dollars to work for you!
Becomes:
Advertising NEVER Works. (If you disagree, click here)

2. The Cliffhanger
Put your advertising dollars to work for you!
Becomes:
Advertising NEVER works, unless...

3. Interest by Association
Jane Smith book signing, Wednesday at noon
Becomes:
From Oprah to our store: Jane Smith book signing, Wed. at 12

Technorati Tags: fundraising, email, nptech

One tough thing about raising funds is getting people to open your message. You're in the inbox next to dozens, even hundreds, of other messages, many of them brazen spam. And all you have to get opened is a few... Jeff Brooks

Many nonprofits are freaking out about the economy. (See Nonprofits Uneasy About Turmoil's Effect on Endowments in the Washington Post for some recent hand-wringing.)

Maybe they shouldn't. Maybe this tough situation is going to be the best time ever. If you want it to be.

That's what Seth Godin notes at Looking for a reason to hide:
... uncertain times, frozen liquidity, political change and poor astrological forecasts (not to mention chicken entrails) all lead to less competition, more available talent and a do-or-die attitude that causes real change to happen.

Make sure you aren't using the current crisis as an excuse not be go for greatness.

Some nonprofits are going to take it on the chin in the coming months. A few will probably fail.

But the smart ones, the good ones, the daring ones -- they'll look back on this time as the moment they found their stride. When they become tougher and more focused. When the competitive landscape opened up (because of the fear-mongers pointlessly abandoned the field).

When breakthrough growth happened. It's up to you which way you go. Success isn't guaranteed if you take risks. But failure is guaranteed if you don't.

Technorati Tags: recession, Seth Godin

Many nonprofits are freaking out about the economy. (See Nonprofits Uneasy About Turmoil's Effect on Endowments in the Washington Post for some recent hand-wringing.) Maybe they shouldn't. Maybe this tough situation is going to be the best time ever. If... Jeff Brooks

This is pretty cool: the Donation Dashboard, a site created by the Berkeley Center for New Media. It's meant to help you decide where you should direct your charitable giving.

It works like this: You are offered a series of descriptions of nonprofit organizations. You rate them on a sliding scale of your interest. Then it returns a pie chart of how you should divide up your charitable giving.

The logic is, "If you like organization X, you might also like organization Y." In my case, I got a few "what the heck?" recommendations, but as I understand it, the relationships between X and Y should improve as more people make ratings.

You can check out my portfolio here. I rated a lot more than the 15 that they start you with. The organizations that rose through the clutter are mainly ones I already give to. Not surprising, I guess.

I have two criticisms of this dashboard:

• Why organizations? Most people give to causes, finding organizations that match up with the causes they care about, not the other way around. In fact, in many cases, the small amount of information you get about an organization hardly tells you what the cause really is.
  
• Focus on efficiency rating. Each organization's "efficiency rating" is prominently displayed. That's unfortunate, because it has the appearance of being a meaningful quantifiable indicator of some kind of quality. Which it isn't. They should either remove it, de-emphasize it, or give a richer menu of information that gives a better picture of an organization.
  

When it actually links to an online giving mechanism, it'll really be slick.

But really, this is pretty spiffy, and is well on the way to give donors more power than ever. It will be up to us to work with tools like these in the coming years.

Other posts about the Donation Dashboard are at Prospecting and Tactical Philanthropy.

Technorati Tags: fundraising, nptech

This is pretty cool: the Donation Dashboard, a site created by the Berkeley Center for New Media. It's meant to help you decide where you should direct your charitable giving. It works like this: You are offered a series of... Jeff Brooks

Maybe you've seen this ATT ad. What's the problem here?

According to Greg Verdino's blog, it's the plain unbelievability of what they're claiming: Incredible? I'd settle for credible.

They claim wireless access on a remote desert island. But in the real world, you can't pick up your ATT signal in the middle of urban centers in America. Instead of being inspiring, as the ad is meant to be, it makes you hate ATT even more.
... there is no shortage of instances when actual product experience simply cannot live up to the promises made in advertising. ... makes me wonder what (at a time when consumers seem to prize corporate authenticity and transparency more than ever before) companies think they have to gain by making incredible claims?

Is your fundraising like that?

Does the real world match up to what your fundraising or marketing says? If it doesn't, your marketing could be doing a lot more damage than good.

Technorati Tags: fundraising, advertising

Maybe you've seen this ATT ad. What's the problem here? According to Greg Verdino's blog, it's the plain unbelievability of what they're claiming: Incredible? I'd settle for credible. They claim wireless access on a remote desert island. But in the... Jeff Brooks

Getting a first gift from a donor is an entirely different activity from getting subsequent gifts. The way you talk, what you ask for, and how you budget are all different. Knowing these differences is critical to long-term (and short-term) success in fundraising. We'll show you the practical things you need to know.

To listen, click here to download the audio file or visit the Fundraising Is Beautiful page here, where you'll find several listening and subscription options.

Or subscribe with iTunes:

Getting a first gift from a donor is an entirely different activity from getting subsequent gifts. The way you talk, what you ask for, and how you budget are all different. Knowing these differences is critical to long-term (and short-term)... Jeff Brooks

This is just cool. Studio Brussels (Belgium) called attention to its campaign to raise funds for clean water in the developing world with a crazy guerrilla tactic. Check it out:

The campaign raised nearly $5 million dollars -- that's from Belgium, a country with only 10 million people.

Such an odd, edgy idea. How many nonprofits would authorize a kid invading TV studios while they're on the air? Isn't the a bit risky? Won't people be offended?

If you want unusual results, you have to take unusual steps.

Technorati Tags: fundraising, WOM

This is just cool. Studio Brussels (Belgium) called attention to its campaign to raise funds for clean water in the developing world with a crazy guerrilla tactic. Check it out: The campaign raised nearly $5 million dollars -- that's from... Jeff Brooks

Are you feeling a bit freaked by what's happening to the economy? I am.

Here are two good sets of advice about what we fundraisers should do and expect:

From The Agitator, 7 Fundraising Tips for Surviving 2008:

1. Don't Whine.
   
2. Re-Project and Take it Upstairs.
   
3. Advance the time-table for your year-end campaigns.
   
4. Resist Your Natural Instincts.
   
5. Engage your core donors as you never have before.
   
6. Do not lose the courage of your convictions.
   
7. Don't expect that the "good old days" will ever return.
   

From FundRaising Success magazine, Five Tactics to Rev Up Fundraising in a Down Economy:

1. Connect with your donors' pain.
   
2. Call mid to major donors now.
   
3. Begin year-end campaigns in September with installment options.
   
4. Use alternative giving vehicles.
   
5. Focus on segmentation and target total net income (not return on investment or revenue).
   

Expect a lot more advice on this topic in the coming weeks. Not all of it this good.

Technorati Tag: recession

Are you feeling a bit freaked by what's happening to the economy? I am. Here are two good sets of advice about what we fundraisers should do and expect: From The Agitator, 7 Fundraising Tips for Surviving 2008: Don't Whine.... Jeff Brooks

Ever wonder what it's like to be one of your donors? There's an interesting study out from the University of Pennsylvania's Center for High Impact Philanthropy that doesn't quite get you into your donors' heads, but it does give you a look at how some high-end donors think: "I'm Not Rockefeller": 33 High Net Worth Philanthropists Discuss Their Approach to Giving (PDF).

(It's also summarized in the Chronicle of Philanthropy at New Study Sheds Light on What Wealthy Donors Care About; Many Say They Will Support Operating Costs.

It's worthwhile just hearing what they say. Sometimes surprising. I found three interesting points:

1. Their main source of information on what organizations to support is social contacts:
... most donors said they choose which charities to support by relying on information obtained from peers and other social contacts, rather than doing research or turning to watchdog organizations ...

2. They prefer to support tangible projects:
Donors frequently reported that it is difficult to track the results of their gifts. Consequently, some said that they intentionally give to tangible or time-limited projects such as a new building or a scholarship with easy-to-observe results.

3. But most don't mind helping cover operating costs.

The report is worth reading.

Technorati Tag: fundraising

Ever wonder what it's like to be one of your donors? There's an interesting study out from the University of Pennsylvania's Center for High Impact Philanthropy that doesn't quite get you into your donors' heads, but it does give you... Jeff Brooks

We often live in mortal fear of overmailing our donors, especially email, which we can send without the cost limitations of postal mail. Surely, there's a point where you're sending so much email you become an annoying spammer. The DMA (UK) Email Marketing Blog looks at this questions at Maximising ROI without overmailing.

The post points out that there's not one "right" frequency of mailing for the entire file. Every email file has different groups that behave very differently from each other:

• 1 - 5% of the list open, click and buy almost every time they receive a message.
  
• 40 - 60% of the list will interact with the offer mailing once or twice a year.
  
• 35 - 55% of the people on the list will not have opened or clicked, let alone bought off an email you sent in over a year.
  

This insight -- that your file is not one monolithic group, all experiencing your messages in the same way -- frees you to be more relevant to more people: For the first group, you can probably send even more. For the second group, you're likely about right. For the third group, you're almost surely sending too much already.

And you'll know if you're getting it right because you're testing.

Technorati Tags: fundraising, email, nptech

We often live in mortal fear of overmailing our donors, especially email, which we can send without the cost limitations of postal mail. Surely, there's a point where you're sending so much email you become an annoying spammer. The DMA... Jeff Brooks

Yesterday, we asked if your CEO should blog for your organization. Today, let's take it a step further: Should you have a blog at all?

B.L. Ochman's What's Next Blog gives us 10 Reasons Your Company Shouldn't Blog:

• Most blogs ... are boring.
  
• A blog has to have a personal voice.
  
• You need original content.
  
• Blogging takes time -- lots of it.
  
• You need to read constantly to be a good blogger.
  
• A blog is not a substitute for a marketing campaign.
  
• A blog is not a substitute for advertising.
  
• A blog is not a quick fix -- the results come in the long term, the same way they do with PR.
  
• Blogs are not cheap.
  
• You need to drive traffic to a blog.
  

The point isn't that having a blog is a dumb thing. It's that doing it right takes real commitment. Before you dive in, make sure you're committed, willing to do (and spend) what it takes. Or you'll be talking in an empty room.

Technorati Tags: fundraising, blogging, nptech