No Time to Distribute News?

A continual challenge in communicating with donors is the time it takes to develop news stories, formating the newsletter, and distributing it. The labor intensive project consumes just as much time sending an e-newsletter as a print newsletter. If time is an issue, consider a different alternative: a formated news microsite.

I worked this year with Delta Zeta Sorority's national headquarters staff in creating a news bulletin board. They needed a way to post immediate news that could be accessible to members, parents, prospective members and the media. However, the logistics in sending out a newsletter was a concern. As an alternative, a news microsite was developed.

The microsite is essentially a one-page website with full back-end administrative functionality. Staff members log into the microsite and can news articles and relevant photographs in four main areas: news about the National organization, updates from the National Council, news for collegiate chapters and members, and news for alumnae members. Additionally, a media player was established for Delta Zeta to upload videos on a regular basis.

The videos are a great feature in and of themselves. PowerPoint presentations are developed and through our good friends at Apple, can be saved as Quicktime videos on a Mac. This allows for a simple and very fast option to produce basic videos.

The microsite also features the following:

• Link to the Sorority's main home page
• Links for additional news articles
• Link for members to update their contact information
• Link to make a donation to the Foundation
• Link for user to submit their own news and photos

Graphically, the site is contemporary, uplifting, and fun. The response from members has been outstanding and thanks to a screen shot and link on the home page, it is one of the most frequently visited section of the website. Take a look at: http://newsboard.deltazeta.org.

If considering a similar microsite, I would recommend one additional step to aid with news distribution. Add an RSS feed for your constituents to automatically subscribe to the site. As new updates are posted, the material is pushed out to members who receive an update in their RSS reader or email box.

The microsite provides an efficient and timely way to post news articles and updates for your organization. Overall, the cost for development is less expensive than printing newsletters. And unlike a traditional newsletter, a news microsite is available 24/7. The key is still to update on a regular basis to continue to draw viewers and to be effective for those using an RSS.

To add your own newsboard to your website, contact:
Mediasauce
317-218-0500
www.mediasauce.com

Electric Philanthropy - Live and In Person

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!

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.

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!

Ponder Relationship Building

The genesis of good fundraising is really building strong relationships. Donors need to have a linkage to your organization, but without someone continually building a relationship, the donor may turn his or her sights elsewhere. The concept is not much different than what businesses must do to build relationships with customers.

Today a thought-provoking question was posed by MediaSauce Creative Director, Mitch Maxson. Every Wednesday at 5:15 p.m., staff members gather on the "dance floor" (Woot! Woot!) to discuss new ideas, concepts, and issues. I wanted to share the question of the day for the discussion. I can't be there for the dance floor discussion, but instead thought I'd put it out to you to share your thoughts.

The following quote comes from Jim Stengel, the CEO of Proctor and Gamble. Consider how this relates to how we approach fundraising:

"Building relationships through our brands is the future of marketing. It's not about new media models and new tools. It's about engaging with people in two-way relationships."

"It's about seeking to understand the other person rather than trying to control their actions...Building honest relationships between us and our consumers is not only a smart business decision; it is the right thing for us as marketers to do."

If it is the right thing for marketers to do, it is definitely the right thing for development officers to do. Personal meetings, special events, regional activities, focus groups, are all ways to build relationships. Utilizing multi-media tools such as personal video messages can also create a more realistic relationship. And the opportunities to build relationships through social networking sites such as MySpace and LinkedIn seem to be endless.

What are the best ways for you to build personal relationships? What works? What is innovative? How are you engaging in two-way relationships? How can you better understand who your donors are and what they value? How will you measure that level of engagement (here's a hint: study giving history and patterns)?

How will you achieve greater results if donors better understood who you are and who you represent? How are you providing opportunities for donors -- or potential donors -- to develop a relationship with you?

Perhaps that last concept is what we overlook the most. People successful at building relationships and networks are putting themselves out there for other like-minded individuals to find them. How accessible are you? How and when can people reach you? Are you approachable? One of the simplest tools I use at MediaSauce is a "MailWire." It's simply a frame around my initial email message and it contains the MediaSauce logo, my photo and contact information, and key links to the MediaSauce website. It is one very easy way to let people know who I am, who I work for, and how to reach me. It is an easy way to put a name with a face and make a personal connection, often the very easiest first step to building a new relationship.

Take some time and assess how you are building relationships with others and how you are allowing others to connect with you. And then share your success stories and bring Electric Philanthropy to life!