Columbus Foundation Launches PowerPhilanthropy

From time to time, you'll see organizations doing amazing things to provide great services to the community. The Columbus Foundation recently launched a new program that provides an excellent, user-friendly opportunity for community donors: Power Philanthropy

The following information comes from the Columbus Foundation website: www.columbusfoundation.org.

What is PowerPhilanthropy?
As someone who cares about charitable giving, you want to know that your efforts will make a difference. You understand that supporting a nonprofit organization is more than check-writing—it’s an investment in your community.

At The Columbus Foundation, we want to help build your understanding of nonprofits and topics that interest you, so you can give wisely. PowerPhilanthropy, a new online tool, was developed with you in mind.

As a simple, searchable database, PowerPhilanthropy:
Connects you with nonprofit organizations and programs that strengthen the community;
Enriches your knowledge of the nonprofit sector by delivering in-depth portraits of hundreds of local organizations. These comprehensive portraits tell stories and offer vital information about programs, finances, management, and services.

You’ll be able to easily manage your giving, safely and securely online, from anywhere at anytime. Start connecting to the nonprofit of your choice. Find out how you can experience the power of philanthropy.

This website highlights types of giving; how to make a gift; has information for professional advisors; has an outstanding knowledge center where you can download PDFs on anything from strategic planning to nonprofit governance; includes an event calendar; and has resources on grant making. And that's just in section 1 on "Find Information."

In the next section, "Connect with Idea and People", you can create a user profile and gain access to the following:

• PowerPhilanthropy Projects that have been reviewed and vetted for inclusion into our nonprofit database;
• Call to Action Projects that feature high performing programs that have received support from the Foundation; and
• Current Initiatives that have been cultivated by the Foundation to address broad community issues.

The final section, "Give Wisely" is the prize and not only educates donors on how to make a gift, but links them up to support various community charities.

This is a terrific "one stop shop" and an excellent example of using a website as a very useful tool to support the community. Kudos to the Columbus (OH - of course) Foundation for their thoughtful establishment of a digital tool that makes giving a simple task and for giving the community easy access to key information on charitable giving.

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!

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:

• 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.

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!

Dare Devils Master Fundamentals

Think about dare devils for a minute...freestyle skiiers, hang gliders, bungee jumpers, motorcycle stuntmen, trapeze artists. They take risks every day to amaze their audiences. They live on the edge. They try new things in innovative and dangerous ways. Their skills are so finely honed that they have the ability to take their sport to an entirely new level.

What you may not realize is that these dare devils are also master tacticians. They are pros at the fundamentals of their sport. Those fundamentals are the building blocks that allow them to excel at trying new things and taking new risks.

Creative fundraisers need to remember to practice the fundamentals. Utilizing broadband technology to deliver compelling fundraising campaigns via email are exciting new ventures for many fundraisers. It is fun and exciting to try new things and the initial response is generally positive. Additional fundraising appeals are emailed to donors but after the novelty wears off, development officers frequently see diminishing returns.

Here's why:

Raising money over the internet is new, fresh and allows you to share an engaging, interactive message. However, if done over and over again, it loses effectiveness because the novelty is gone. Donors will simply begin to ignore your messages if they think you are only asking for money. If you neglect the fundamentals of cultivation and stewardship, the results become neglible over time. Internet fundraising is no different than traditional fundraising. In a face to face visit, you don't ask for a donation in the first 90 seconds of meeting someone. You should not do that via email, either.

In launching an e-fundraising strategy, consider the basics of fundraising. You need to cultivate your prospects by sharing your story, explaining the mission and importance of your programs, enticing prospective donors about the value of their support, and providing the education about your needs. There are a myriad of ways to do that electronically and to build your case for support. Create a series of educational messages. Share testimonials from others. Show through video who is benefitting and how. Establish a relationship.

Then ask for a gift. Let the appeal come after you have successfully measured who has opened and read your cultivation messages. Look for those who have forwarded the piece on to others. Study the behavior of the prospects over a designated period of time. Target your appeal to their interests.

And then say thank you. Say thank you in as many ways as possible. You can do all kinds of electronic stewardship pieces, such as birthday greetings or holiday touch emails. But don't overlook the power of a hand-written note or a simple phone call to say thank you.

Mastering fundraising fundamentals is the root to your success. By all means, use innovative methods. Take risks. Try something new. Do not, however, fail to recognize that your risks will be far more effective if you use solid fundraising practices during the process. Take a leap of faith and start an electronic fundraising campaign. But remember to educate your donors first to engage them in your mission...and above all, say "Thank You" for their support.