I will be giving a presentation at THE Foundations Seminar, hosted by the North-American Interfraternity Conference on August 24. This program, designed for inter/national fraternal organizations' development officers, will offer a number of sessions that you won't want to miss...especially mine!
Here's a teaser of what is to come:
Broadband technology has ushered in a new era of communication. Fundraisers have a wealth of tools never before available for donor cultivation, solicitation and stewardship. This session will explore how emerging technology can help you tell your story in new and powerful ways. See examples of how Web 2.0 can enhance and impact your development efforts. Learn if social networks, videos, blogs, interactive websites, email appeal campaigns, email stewardship programs, widgets, and virtual communities will work for your organization. Explore the value of building relationships through user-submitted content and viral marketing. You are guaranteed to see new things in this session and to take away ideas to grow your donor base of support.
If you are interested in having me speak at your conference, just say the word!
Monday, July 30, 2007
Monday, May 28, 2007
An Easy Way to be a Philanthropist
What is your definition of a "philanthropist?" Do you conjure up thoughts of Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, billionairres committed to changing healthcare and poverty global-wide? Do you think of men like Rockefeller or Carnegie, industrialists who made so much money that it still goes to work today? How about the wife of McDonald's legend Ray Kroc who left millions upon millions in her estate to benefit education and other charities?
Do you ever think of the plumber who lives across the street? How about your mailman? Your hairdresser? Yourself?
WordNet defines "philanthropist" as someone who makes charitable donations intentended to increase human well-being. The American Heritage Dictionary has a similar definition: The effort or inclination to increase the well-being of humankind, as by charitable aid or donations. Note: Neither definition describes how much one has to give to be considered a philanthropist. My favorite description is "the love of humankind in general."
Anyone can be a philanthropist. It simply means you give to help others, primarily because it is the right thing to do.
I was recently watching a news show and it profiled an innovative charitable organization that is nearly entirely web-based called www.DonorsChoose.org. that allows teachers to post needed items for their classrooms. In an era of substantial educational budget cuts, many teachers are in need of equipment and educational resources for their classrooms. This is particularly true in poverty-stricken areas, inner cities, and areas hit by disasters such as school districts in Louisiana and Mississippi.
The items posted are for things any philanthropically-minded person could support on any budget. Donors can search for projects to support based on geographic region, subject, special needs, amount needed for funding, or type of program. Donors can donate any amount that can fully fund a program or partially support a program. When doing a search, one can see what percentage is needed to complete a grant request.
The theory is simple: Teachers Ask. Donors Choose. Students Learn.
There are hundreds of requests to browse through. And making a donation to support an interesting project does not require a major gift. This is an extremely easy way for someone to make an online tax-deductible gift that can truly make a difference, even if the gift is small. Many of the projects can be fully funded with a donation for less than $200. Any project can be funded in part by donating $10 or $20.
Be on the lookout for a thank you note and a photo from the children you supported. Teachers are encouraged to communicate the results with donors of how your gift was put to use.
Have kids? Consider introducing them to the idea of charitable giving by having them select a project to fund with their allowance once a month. Make a gift to support these programs in honor or memory of someone. Want a creative way to recognize a special teacher? Donate to a project in that teacher's name.
DonorsChoose.org is one of the easiest ways I've seen for someone to make a gift in an amount comfortable for themself but have the opportunity to target it to a special program. Many charities would prefer unrestricted gifts, so if giving for a specific purpose to help children with their education is something of value, check out the website. Better yet, play around and actually make a donation. Not only will you feel good about your gift, you may be inspired by the creativity American teachers are demonstrating in an effort to help this country's most challenged students become interested and engaged in their learning. To date, nearly $13 million has been donated to 568,670 students just through www.DonorsChoose.org.
If you are building your own charitable giving website, give some thought to:
Do you ever think of the plumber who lives across the street? How about your mailman? Your hairdresser? Yourself?
WordNet defines "philanthropist" as someone who makes charitable donations intentended to increase human well-being. The American Heritage Dictionary has a similar definition: The effort or inclination to increase the well-being of humankind, as by charitable aid or donations. Note: Neither definition describes how much one has to give to be considered a philanthropist. My favorite description is "the love of humankind in general."
Anyone can be a philanthropist. It simply means you give to help others, primarily because it is the right thing to do.
I was recently watching a news show and it profiled an innovative charitable organization that is nearly entirely web-based called www.DonorsChoose.org. that allows teachers to post needed items for their classrooms. In an era of substantial educational budget cuts, many teachers are in need of equipment and educational resources for their classrooms. This is particularly true in poverty-stricken areas, inner cities, and areas hit by disasters such as school districts in Louisiana and Mississippi.
The items posted are for things any philanthropically-minded person could support on any budget. Donors can search for projects to support based on geographic region, subject, special needs, amount needed for funding, or type of program. Donors can donate any amount that can fully fund a program or partially support a program. When doing a search, one can see what percentage is needed to complete a grant request.
The theory is simple: Teachers Ask. Donors Choose. Students Learn.
There are hundreds of requests to browse through. And making a donation to support an interesting project does not require a major gift. This is an extremely easy way for someone to make an online tax-deductible gift that can truly make a difference, even if the gift is small. Many of the projects can be fully funded with a donation for less than $200. Any project can be funded in part by donating $10 or $20.
Be on the lookout for a thank you note and a photo from the children you supported. Teachers are encouraged to communicate the results with donors of how your gift was put to use.
Have kids? Consider introducing them to the idea of charitable giving by having them select a project to fund with their allowance once a month. Make a gift to support these programs in honor or memory of someone. Want a creative way to recognize a special teacher? Donate to a project in that teacher's name.
DonorsChoose.org is one of the easiest ways I've seen for someone to make a gift in an amount comfortable for themself but have the opportunity to target it to a special program. Many charities would prefer unrestricted gifts, so if giving for a specific purpose to help children with their education is something of value, check out the website. Better yet, play around and actually make a donation. Not only will you feel good about your gift, you may be inspired by the creativity American teachers are demonstrating in an effort to help this country's most challenged students become interested and engaged in their learning. To date, nearly $13 million has been donated to 568,670 students just through www.DonorsChoose.org.
If you are building your own charitable giving website, give some thought to:
- Posting specific needs
- Allowing donors to restrict their gift to fund a specific project
- Allowing donors to make full or partial donations
- Display how much is needed to fully complete a project (take the % one step further and use a flash-based gauge to visually demonstrate progress)
- Browse projects
- Set up a gift registry so people may select projects they want to fund and friends can make a gift to support those favorite projects
- Establish a giving blog that allows donors to spread your charity's message to their own personal readers
- Make online giving simple with easy to follow steps
- Make it personal; have the beneficiaries write personal thank you notes
- Offer your donors a widget to download from your website; You can send updates via the widget to show how much money has been raised, send gift giving reminders, share a great story and keep people in touch with your message and organization
- Allow your donors to interact with you and help spread your message virally
- Create a MySpace page where donors committed to your organization can have your organization as a friend
- Provide donors with items (i.e. your logo with a key message, wallpaper, etc.) that they can copy the coding for their own MySpace page
There are endless ways you can create opportunities to interact with your donors and constituents. Find your favorite charities online and look at what they do to keep you engaged. Then look for ways your own organization can replicate the concepts. Be innovative and creative. Try to make charitable giving something fun for people of all means to become philanthropists and help humankind.
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
What Every Foundation Needs
I should make that headline a recurring title. Or a book someday. Today's recommendation comes from a little known item that the Stelter Company provides. If you don't have this on your website as a planned giving tool, shame on you. This is a fantastic utility...and I get no residual benefits for promoting it!
At one point, I was interviewing with the Make-A-Wish Foundation. A wonderful organization that provides incredible services for critically ill children. It is hard not to become fascinated by the work they do. And believe me, their development officers love that about the organization and they have a website that makes giving simple. But they take it one step further. They make planned giving simple. How?
The Make-A-Wish Foundation allows donors to build their own planned gift right on the website using a very easy to follow interactive decision tree. It is likely built on something like PG Calc and is a service that Stelter provides. It walks donors through a series of easy to understand questions and literally builds the best planned giving option for them based on the answers. How great would it be for a donor to build this gift and then print it off and have it ready to be used. Instant planned giving opportunity that takes about 15 minutes or less.
The Build Your Own Planned Gift while powered and supported by Stelter, is designed to look like the remainder of your organization's website. No link to another site, no confusing questions, no hard language to figure out. I saw it as the Turbo Tax of planned giving. So easy (and actually pretty interesting) to use.
A little extra benefit...any tool like this can be measured and tracked. From the backend, staff can see who visited this section and used the tool. They can see where a donor completed the process or stopped midway. In either case, that is the perfect opportunity for a development officer to pick up phone and find out what questions the donor had and how you could count on them to join your prestigious planned giving site.
I will give the Make-A-Wish Foundation a flunking grade because I used the tool and stopped right before signing the dotted line. No one followed up with me. In fact, I even called them to ask some questions and still no one ever bothered to follow up with me. Guess what organization missed out on the chance to be included in my will?
Here's where I would emphasize my usual point: Just because you have an interactive website and great technology does not mean you skip the fundamentals of fundraising. Fundraising will always depend on personal relationships. Planned giving officers need to do their job and not rely on tools to do it for them. Tools simply help with the engagement process and opens a door for further conversation. Don't cheat the process!
All that being said, this is a great tool to educate donors, introduce concepts, provide a non-threatening and easy to use utility, use the tracking functions to learn about the behavior of your prospects, and take another positive step in building relationships and ultimately securing valuable resources for your future.
To learn more about the Gift Planning Tools, check out www.stelter.com.
To build a dynamic website and use the most cutting edge information and technology, contact Mediasauce at www.mediasauce.com or 317-218-0500.
At one point, I was interviewing with the Make-A-Wish Foundation. A wonderful organization that provides incredible services for critically ill children. It is hard not to become fascinated by the work they do. And believe me, their development officers love that about the organization and they have a website that makes giving simple. But they take it one step further. They make planned giving simple. How?
The Make-A-Wish Foundation allows donors to build their own planned gift right on the website using a very easy to follow interactive decision tree. It is likely built on something like PG Calc and is a service that Stelter provides. It walks donors through a series of easy to understand questions and literally builds the best planned giving option for them based on the answers. How great would it be for a donor to build this gift and then print it off and have it ready to be used. Instant planned giving opportunity that takes about 15 minutes or less.
The Build Your Own Planned Gift while powered and supported by Stelter, is designed to look like the remainder of your organization's website. No link to another site, no confusing questions, no hard language to figure out. I saw it as the Turbo Tax of planned giving. So easy (and actually pretty interesting) to use.
A little extra benefit...any tool like this can be measured and tracked. From the backend, staff can see who visited this section and used the tool. They can see where a donor completed the process or stopped midway. In either case, that is the perfect opportunity for a development officer to pick up phone and find out what questions the donor had and how you could count on them to join your prestigious planned giving site.
I will give the Make-A-Wish Foundation a flunking grade because I used the tool and stopped right before signing the dotted line. No one followed up with me. In fact, I even called them to ask some questions and still no one ever bothered to follow up with me. Guess what organization missed out on the chance to be included in my will?
Here's where I would emphasize my usual point: Just because you have an interactive website and great technology does not mean you skip the fundamentals of fundraising. Fundraising will always depend on personal relationships. Planned giving officers need to do their job and not rely on tools to do it for them. Tools simply help with the engagement process and opens a door for further conversation. Don't cheat the process!
All that being said, this is a great tool to educate donors, introduce concepts, provide a non-threatening and easy to use utility, use the tracking functions to learn about the behavior of your prospects, and take another positive step in building relationships and ultimately securing valuable resources for your future.
To learn more about the Gift Planning Tools, check out www.stelter.com.
To build a dynamic website and use the most cutting edge information and technology, contact Mediasauce at www.mediasauce.com or 317-218-0500.
Monday, April 16, 2007
Cool Kiosk Concept
I don't carry cash. I don't carry my checkbook. I do carry my credit/debit card that deducts money only from my checking account. It functions like a credit card, but I don't amass debt. I think it is one of the best concepts ever. One card. Easy to put in a pocket. Easy to use everywhere.
Except church.
I just read in the March/April edition of AFP's Advancing Philanthropy about churches installing kiosks that allow parishoners to make their weekly offering by swiping their debit card. They only allow debit cards because they don't want the congregation going into debt. It's a convenience to their worshippers to make their tithe as simple as possible.
Why not install these kiosks in central areas for donors to give to their favorite cause? This would be something that could be in every shopping mall in the country for people to give when the spirit moved them (like during the holiday shopping season). Organizations with annual conventions, meetings and conferences could install them for donors to make a contribution when they are the most motivated about the purpose of the charity. The use of a touch screen that guided people to make their gift would be simple service to donors.
Yes, donors can make their gifts online at any time. But a visible kiosk with the novelty of giving at an opportune time, may be a new way to acquire new donors. Bank ATM machines ought to consider giving their customers the opportunity to make a donation either to a selected charity or to select from a list of registered non-profit agencies.
This would be an ideal concept for United Ways to utilize. They could install kiosks in company lobbies for employees to make their donations. Perhaps these are only installed during peak "drive" times so the novelty remains fresh. (Consider this the old "Girl Scout Cookie" fundraising technique: offer the ability to make a donation only during a very specific time.)
Making gift-giving a simple and convenient opportunity should be the goal of all development officers. Watch for kiosks to start popping up all over the place. If you are the first to try something new, all the better!
Except church.
I just read in the March/April edition of AFP's Advancing Philanthropy about churches installing kiosks that allow parishoners to make their weekly offering by swiping their debit card. They only allow debit cards because they don't want the congregation going into debt. It's a convenience to their worshippers to make their tithe as simple as possible.
Why not install these kiosks in central areas for donors to give to their favorite cause? This would be something that could be in every shopping mall in the country for people to give when the spirit moved them (like during the holiday shopping season). Organizations with annual conventions, meetings and conferences could install them for donors to make a contribution when they are the most motivated about the purpose of the charity. The use of a touch screen that guided people to make their gift would be simple service to donors.
Yes, donors can make their gifts online at any time. But a visible kiosk with the novelty of giving at an opportune time, may be a new way to acquire new donors. Bank ATM machines ought to consider giving their customers the opportunity to make a donation either to a selected charity or to select from a list of registered non-profit agencies.
This would be an ideal concept for United Ways to utilize. They could install kiosks in company lobbies for employees to make their donations. Perhaps these are only installed during peak "drive" times so the novelty remains fresh. (Consider this the old "Girl Scout Cookie" fundraising technique: offer the ability to make a donation only during a very specific time.)
Making gift-giving a simple and convenient opportunity should be the goal of all development officers. Watch for kiosks to start popping up all over the place. If you are the first to try something new, all the better!
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Blog Your Way to Donor Relationships
Just the other day, I read on the collegewebeditors.com blog a recommendation for University alumni associations to offer a blog opportunity. The value of establishing a blog was to create an interactive relationship with alumni and give them a place to reflect on favorite college memories, locations, friends, and experiences. I would suggest Foundations consider the same basic concept.
Take a leap of faith and create a blog on your webpage for your donors -- or prospective donors -- to offer their thoughts. People choose to donate to causes they believe in. Every development officer in the country will likely tell you that while the number of donors they have every year decreases, the amount of dollars raised increases. There is a simple reason for that. People are being more selective in the causes they give to, but they give significantly larger amounts to those charities.
You want to be sure you are one of those charities that keeps donors engaged! A very simple way to provide an interactive relationship is to create a blog. Provide your donors with the ability to share why they are passionate about your organization. Let them explain why they think you are a worthy organization to support. Testimonials are a positive force. Imagine someone looking at your website and considering a gift. If that individual reads impassioned notes about what your organization stands for, why a gift is valuable to them, and why others should support the cause there is no better case for support. A blog creates a grassroots bandwagon.
Yes, there is a risk that someone could post something negative. But consider that an opportunity to address a problem. That person is asking for attention from you to address a concern. Do it! If you impress that person, chances are he will write back in and explain the results of how you addressed an issue. Better yet, other supporters may address the situation and provide their own viewpoint on why that blogger had it wrong. In any case, you have provided a forum for a dialog. It's risky to say this, but sometimes a little negative publicity provides a wonderful platform to make improvements and counteract that negativity.
Blogs give donors opportunities to share their experiences. Fundraisers ought to love the donor who feels such a compulsion to support an organization to write about it. Let the donors...or even better yet...the beneficiaries of support tell your story. You may see such a moving response that it would be worth expanding in a magazine or video testimonial for non-donors to see.
It is important for Foundation websites to be more than a brochure on the internet. Find ways for donors to build a relationship with you. Give them a forum to share their experiences. Respond to them. Call them and thank them for their thoughts. Engage them in conversation and continue fostering that relationship. Broadband technology has created an unbelievable new mechanism for building relationships. Just make sure that you don't leave it between computer screens. Reach out. Take that relationship to the next level. Create more opportunities for on-going connections.
Good fundraisers understand the value of "linkage." A blog may be a simple link that leads to many other opportunities. Don't miss the chance to develop that connection simply because you don't understand the technology. Your donors will and if your charity is one that has meaning and you are finding ways to engage them through multiple venues, you are creating a steady donor. And as that relationship grows and develops, so will the gifts to your organization. How can that be a bad thing? Give it a try.
Take a leap of faith and create a blog on your webpage for your donors -- or prospective donors -- to offer their thoughts. People choose to donate to causes they believe in. Every development officer in the country will likely tell you that while the number of donors they have every year decreases, the amount of dollars raised increases. There is a simple reason for that. People are being more selective in the causes they give to, but they give significantly larger amounts to those charities.
You want to be sure you are one of those charities that keeps donors engaged! A very simple way to provide an interactive relationship is to create a blog. Provide your donors with the ability to share why they are passionate about your organization. Let them explain why they think you are a worthy organization to support. Testimonials are a positive force. Imagine someone looking at your website and considering a gift. If that individual reads impassioned notes about what your organization stands for, why a gift is valuable to them, and why others should support the cause there is no better case for support. A blog creates a grassroots bandwagon.
Yes, there is a risk that someone could post something negative. But consider that an opportunity to address a problem. That person is asking for attention from you to address a concern. Do it! If you impress that person, chances are he will write back in and explain the results of how you addressed an issue. Better yet, other supporters may address the situation and provide their own viewpoint on why that blogger had it wrong. In any case, you have provided a forum for a dialog. It's risky to say this, but sometimes a little negative publicity provides a wonderful platform to make improvements and counteract that negativity.
Blogs give donors opportunities to share their experiences. Fundraisers ought to love the donor who feels such a compulsion to support an organization to write about it. Let the donors...or even better yet...the beneficiaries of support tell your story. You may see such a moving response that it would be worth expanding in a magazine or video testimonial for non-donors to see.
It is important for Foundation websites to be more than a brochure on the internet. Find ways for donors to build a relationship with you. Give them a forum to share their experiences. Respond to them. Call them and thank them for their thoughts. Engage them in conversation and continue fostering that relationship. Broadband technology has created an unbelievable new mechanism for building relationships. Just make sure that you don't leave it between computer screens. Reach out. Take that relationship to the next level. Create more opportunities for on-going connections.
Good fundraisers understand the value of "linkage." A blog may be a simple link that leads to many other opportunities. Don't miss the chance to develop that connection simply because you don't understand the technology. Your donors will and if your charity is one that has meaning and you are finding ways to engage them through multiple venues, you are creating a steady donor. And as that relationship grows and develops, so will the gifts to your organization. How can that be a bad thing? Give it a try.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)