100 DAZE

100 days into the Obama presidency and I’m irritated – with the press corps. I’m tired of the 24/7 doom and gloom. My anecdotal take on the economy is: A few houses in my neighborhood have SOLD signs on them, a dear friend’s new job pays 37% more than the one she left last year, the Jewel grocery stores cut food prices by 20%, I’m still paying my mortgage and my elected officials are primed to spend federal stimulus money on improving my state and my hometown.

What’s the outlook for the nonprofit sector? 181 nonprofit groups of various sizes responded to a survey in late January sent by a collaboration of groups and foundations to assess the impact of the current economic crisis on nonprofits. The purpose of the survey was to better understand how nonprofits are managing the situation within their organizations. Survey respondents were in positions of fundraising accountability: 44% were executive directors and 27% were development directors.

The majority of organizations across the board predict a recovery time of two years or less. For many groups, the economic downturn is an opportunity to focus on strategic priorities, reconnect with their mission, build relationships, collaborate with new partners, and get creative.

No surprise here: The report points out that nonprofits with diverse revenue streams, good management, and what could be labeled “learning cultures” appear to be coping markedly better than others. Many have seen an increase in the use of their services and pro-actively plan to expand programs/services in 2009. Organizations that are faring better appear to be putting more focus on fundraising activities, especially individual donor relations, including major donor development. Respondents highlighted some necessities:

- Board members need to be more actively engaged in fundraising, cultivating relationships, and being ambassadors for the organization.
- Nonprofit leaders need to set the tone, be calm, and communicate clearly about decisions, priorities, and organizational vision and goals. They, too, should be more visible and more involved with individual donor fundraising.
- More effort should be expended on donor outreach and cultivating relationships, requiring a corresponding investment in development staff, resources, and activities.
- Better internal communication among organizational team members is vital to surviving in this difficult economic climate.

PIF specializes in major gift fundraising, as well as the array of income producing programs. If you need fundraising help, feel free to email us: 847/227-7174

TWEETIE PIE

The nonprofit world is atwitter* about using social media to connect with prospective supporters and to get messages out to the broader public. Todd Cohen of the Stanford Blog recently wrote that nonprofits “should start looking at building social media into their overall fundraising and communication strategies. Often reluctant to move beyond traditional strategies, whether or not those actually produce positive results, nonprofits should look at social-media tools that are changing the way people communicate, connect and spur one another to action.”

"If you don't get started now, you're going to be playing catch-up," says Beth Kanter, a social-media strategist who is serving as scholar in residence for nonprofits and social media at the David and Lucile Packard Foundation in Los Altos, Calif.

Questions, I have questions: What nonprofit organizations are employing blogsters? Is there hard data on ROI yet? Can the internet be used to draw in large donations? You think none of that can be done? Watch this space for information on a future e-Philanthropy seminar. We’ve got some tech/media savvy early-adopters in development and communication departments willing to present on texting, tweeting, YouTubing, friending and other internet socializing. Interested?

* pun intended

HOW LONG?

Taking the temperature of our audience Wednesday at the Fundraising Summit at IIT, I asked for a show of hands of those who had been in fundraising for various amounts of time ... the only people among the 50 folks in the room who had been asking for money for 20 or more years were Ray Merenstein, my co-presenter, and me! (That may be why the Center for Nonprofit Success tapped us for this session.) In the car on the way back to Evanston with the sunshine glistening off Lake Michigan, I thought about the real answer to that question.

I bet most of the folks in the room had sold Girl Scout cookies or took gift wrap orders or washed cars for their team. In reality, we've been in fundraising so long we should be experts at it!

My kids were fundraising as toddlers! Their major gift requests may have had a few less 0's in the number, but they knew how to establish rapport, they educated me on the benefits of a gift (even if the benefit was only to them, like so many organizations' appeals) and they definitely asked for a specific amount or specific gift! (And, far more often than not, they got the gift!)

One point I hope everyone took home from the Summit was the need for being donor centric. Successful fundraising is done on a win-win basis, matching donor interest with organizational needs. Only by knowing your donors, will you be able to make that match.

If you would like notes from our presentation, leave a request here.

* Maggie Blake, fundraiser in training.

COMPLEX GRANDE GIFTS

Nothing like short notice -- but, if you want help, here it is!

You can catch me this Wednesday (4/22) at the Center for Nonprofit Success’ Chicago Fundraising Summit taking place at the Illinois Institute of Technology. I’ll be speaking on “Complex Issues Affecting Major Gift Solicitation” with Ray Merenstein of RDM Communications, Inc. from Denver. We’ll be addressing challenges such as getting your Board on board, benchmarking, goal setting and managing multiple priorities.

You can join us by registering at www.cfnps.org.

SYMPOSIUM NOTES: FOLLOW-UP

“Great seminar!” “So many good ideas!” “Just what I needed!”

Everybody was in exclamation mood! Sixty-six percent of anonymous evaluation respondents said Fundraising in This Economic Crisis was among the best fundraising training they had ever received. Thank you!

If you would like a compendium of the suggestions for reducing expenses that were sprinkled throughout the symposium, copies are available at kamblake@aol.com.

Attendees wanted more info on using new media: texting, tweeting, blogging, etc. Look for an upcoming PIF session on e-Philanthropy!

SYMPOSIUM NOTES: FUNDRAISING

We are sharing some of what we learned at the Fundraising in This Economic Crisis: Unearth Potential symposium. For a full copy of minutes, email kamblake@aol.com.

Addressing the handouts, Yours Truly, consultant to nonprofits at Public Interest Fundraising, discussed how to develop a Donor Base. Individuals are the largest and most loyal group of support. At the center of your donor universe will be people who have Linkage of some sort to the organization, Interest in what you do and the Ability to do it. In the outer reaches of the universe is where you prospect to acquire donors through cold, direct mail.

Use a Donor Pyramid to analyze and conduct your fundraising program. It gives you a clear snapshot of where your donors lie and the rational relationship between different sizes of financial contribution, different levels of donor commitment and different means of appealing to those donors…. Organizations must constantly be searching for new donors that form the base of the pyramid. Direct mail has been a tried and true, yet expensive means of acquisition; less expensive are e-Philanthropy online options for fundraising. You can't rely on one type of fundraising; you need to have a diverse set of fundraising mechanisms, especially in this economy.

Events and high dollar mail form the mid-level of the giving pyramid…. Track your responses each year – total dollars, average gift, and response time – so you know what works.

At the top of the Pyramid are individual donors. This is where the best use of Board and staff comes into play…. Every Board member needs to participate in major gift fundraising. The multiplier effect and equal responsibility for Board members make a stronger organization….

SYMPOSIUM NOTES: BOARD MEMBERS TODAY

The Fundraising in This Economic Crisis: Unearth Potential symposium was fortunate to have fantastic presenters. This week we will share some of what we learned.

There is no substitute for an informed, engaged and committed governing board. Dan Luber, Corporate V.P. of Social Responsibility and Environmental Affairs, Lawson Products and Board member of Little City Foundation, Anorexia Nervosa, Kupcinet Foundation and numerous non-profit organizations gave us his opinion on the role of Board members and what they need from staff to do their jobs well.

Success is dependent upon your staff. Run your non-profit like a business …. define your expectations, focus on your goal and get the board’s commitment. Don’t let them limit your vision and goals. Staff members should support the nominating committee by preparing Board members for the position. Let the committee know who’s donating, bringing in new members, who supports events. He suggested everyone subscribe to the Chronicle of Philanthropy.

Dan believes Board members must lead by example. His personal philosophy is to meet people, continue to educate, network….be open to the opportunities around you….

A full copy of Symposium minutes is available by emailing kamblake@aol.com.