Design Matters

The following email was sent from an alumnus to his alma mater.

“Congratulations! You have succeeded in making your online giving form so difficult to find that I will not be able to make a donation this year.”

Many online retailers (the ones that are still in business after 6 months) invest great time and resources to create an online experience that makes it simple and easy for customers to buy their products. Shouldn’t nonprofits be doing the same for their donors?

Design matters.

The folks at Amazon.com get it. Fundraisers should too.

DonorBadge

DonorBadge is a subscription based software application that helps nonprofits encourage peer-to-peer fundraising on Facebook and other social media platforms.  Here’s how it works.

1.) A nonprofit subscribes to DonorBadge and integrates the tool into its existing online giving infrastructure.

2.) A donor makes a gift to that nonprofit.

3.) A “badge” (which includes the nonprofit’s logo) is displayed on the donor’s Facebook profile.

4.) The donor is prompted to share the news of their gift with friends.

5.) A message is sent to those friends along with a link to the nonprofits online giving form.

6.) Tracking and analysis is provided through DonorBadge.

The University of Michigan and The University of California at Berkeley have already tested DonorBadge.  For more information contact Shankar Radhakrishnan at shankarr@orbees.com

Traits Of A Successful Annual Fund Manager

1.) Recognizes that the devil is in the details, but always keeps an eye on the big picture.

2.) Good at delegating, even better at managing-up.

3.) Familiar with FCC guidelines on telemarketing to mobile phones.

4.) Knows how much (and why) postage has increased over the past decade.

5.) Appreciates that social media isn’t just for young people.

6.) Expects 100% Annual Fund participation from their board.

7.) Has a sense of humor.

8.) Starts every donor conversation with two words: thank you.

9.) Understands the difference between data mining and predictive modeling.

10.) Realizes that the #1 reason that people give to charity is because they’re asked.

Is Your Glass Half Empty?

It’s easy to see the shortcomings in an annual fund program.  Not enough budget, disgruntled donors, bad data, increasing postage costs, declining participation rates.  The list could go on and on.  That is if you’re a glass-is-half-empty kind of person.

The best annual fund managers are “the best” for a reason.  They see their programs’ shortcomings as opportunities and they turn them into goals.

They view small budgets as a call to be more efficient.  They see donor complaints as market research.  When their database gives them a record with a bad address, they know who they need to start looking for.  To them, increasing postage costs are a signal from the economy (and the environment) that it’s time to find new ways to raise money online.  They understand that declining participation rates can be a way to encourage new donors to start giving.

Thanksgiving reminds us to stop and be thankful for the things we have.  Our families, our health, and our talents should be at the very top of that list.  But take a moment to be thankful for the strengths and opportunities in your annual fund as well.  In the long run, your program (not to mention your team’s morale) will be better for it.

Have a happy and safe holiday!

The Good, The Bad, But Not The Ugly

If you have not yet incorporated social media into your annual giving strategy, it’s probably for one of three reasons:

• you don’t know how
• you don’t think it’s important
• you’re not sure what’s considered “acceptable” by your organization

While the first two reasons are easily overcome with time and good advice, the third can be overcome by having a social media policy.  But creating a policy and establishing helpful guidelines without appearing to censor the honest and transparent conversations of social media participants is not an easy task.

Technology giant Intel has developed a good social media policy. Click here to read a copy on the company’s website. These guidelines, which apply to all employees and contractors, are summarized by, “the good, the bad, but not the ugly.” They imply that when content is positive or negative and related to the conversation, then it will be approved whether it’s favorable or unfavorable to the company. However, if the content is offensive or unrelated to the conversation, then it will be rejected.

Your organization likely has many supporters and many critics.  Let social media be an open space for both of them to speak their minds.  Watch them, listen to them, and learn from them. Don’t try to control what they say unless it’s ugly or off topic. Good news travels fast, but giving your critics an opportunity to voice their opinion is sometimes the best way to earn their trust.

Seeking Faculty/Speakers for CASE’s 2010 Senior Annual Giving Conference

I will be serving as the Chair for CASE’s 2010 Senior Annual Giving Conference, May 10-12 in Phoenix, AZ.  If you are interested in participating as a faculty member or speaker, or if you would like to nominate a colleague, please email me at:  annualgifts@gmail.com

The Blue Pig at Emory University

The Blue Pig Campaign at Emory University is an example of a good integrated online fundraising strategy.

Launched for the first time three years ago with the goal of getting current students in the habit of giving back, the campaign centered around a plastic piggy bank given by the development office to freshmen when they first arrived on campus.  Students were encouraged to put spare change in the plastic piggy throughout the year which would later be collected as donations toward $500 Class Book Awards for their classmates. 

The Blue Pig became the campaign’s mascot and was featured in monthly emails to students and as part of the campaign’s social media presence.  (Click here to see the Blue Pig’s facebook page and here to see its Twitter feed.)  All communications encouraged students to add money to their piggy banks or make donations directly online with a credit card or with their Emory Card.

What was especially successful about this online campaign was how well it integrated offline marketing.  “Round-up Events” were held to give students a chance to unload their plastic banks and parents received information about the campaign through direct mail and phonathon calls. 

Was it a success?  Yes, student giving at Emory has increased from 2.9% to 12.7% over the past 3 years and last year 144 Class Gift Book Awards went to undergraduate students for a total gift of $72,000.

What Really Frightens Me…

It’s Halloween, but here’s what really frightens me…

1.) Declining donor participation rates.

2.) Development officers who are in the office more than 3 days a week.

3.) Direct mail appeals that don’t encourage online gifts.

4.) Trustees who don’t give to the Annual Fund.

5.) Managers who don’t measure ROI.

6.) VPs who don’t meet with their Annual Fund Director (at least) monthly.

7.) Fundraisers who doubt the power of social media.

8.) People who get offended when you ask them to support a worthy cause.

9.) Phonathon callers who don’t ask for email addresses.

10.) Annual Funds where 90% of the money comes from less than 10% of the donors.

The “Obligations” of Gift Club Membership

Last week, I spent a long afternoon listening to a discussion about gift clubs.  At the beginning of the meeting, everyone was asked how gift clubs could be better leveraged to increase giving.  The consensus was that members needed to be offered better benefits. 

Next came hours of brainstorming, scribbling on post-it notes, and summarizing concepts on a white board.  The list of ideas was long and not terribly original.  The first suggestion was recognition in an annual donor publication.  “Or do we already do that?” asked one senior manager.  Then came countless other ideas (most of which had already been implemented) including invitations to special events, names on a plaque, a subscription to a newsletter, and breakfast with the President. 

Things did get a little more creative when someone suggested offering members a dedicated development officer.  We’ll call it our “concierge service.”  The name was a nice touch, but most agreed it was really just a marketing tactic.  And so went the rest of the meeting, one attempt after another to come up with something new and exciting to offer donors in return for their generosity.

I came away thinking that an important point had been missed.  It’s not what donors get from us, but when we expect from them, that needs to be clarified.  Good philanthropy isn’t the result of an outstanding donor benefits program, just as good corporate leadership isn’t simply the result of good CEO pay. You only have to look to Wall Street over the past several years to see that.

In your next meeting see if the group can list five things you expect from donors.  Make it something you wouldn’t be afraid to post on your organization’s website.  Yes, one of them should be financial support, but don’t be afraid to explain the obligations that come with leadership including time, creativity, and shared relationships.  

I’m sure your donors are smart enough to figure out the benefits of philanthropy on their own.

10 Social Media Resources for Fundraisers

This month’s issue of Tech News features a great article by Adam Louie entitled Making Sense of Social Media.  Take 15min out of your day to read this article and familize yourself with these important tools.

• Firstgiving.com: users can create fundraising projects for you and send emails to friends and family to get them to donate.
• Change.org: Organizations can make profiles, blogs, post videos and take donations.
• Razoo.com: Online Donation site. No processing fees.
• Amazee.com: Online donation site. Users create projects to collaborate and donate money towards.
  Ning.com and Wikia.com Make your own social network site.
• Facebook.com: The most popular Social Network site today.
• LinkedIn.com: Is a great tool for finding companies and other professionals.
• Twitter.com: Broadcasts updates frequently and quickly – all in 140 characters.
• Mozes.com: Pushes your Twitter updates to cell phones as SMS text messages. Great for coordinating one-off events and volunteers.
• WordPress and Typepad: Easy to use blogging platforms. WordPress is free and open source, Typepad is free with the option to pay for upgrading. Both publish to RSS.
• Mailchimp and iContact: Both are mass mail programs you can use for free with the option to pay for more features.