June 2009 Entries
Direct mail is not yielding as many results as before in gaining new donors, and this leaves many organizations worrying if they should continue looking for new donors. The answer, in short, is “Yes!” When organizations stop investing efforts in looking for new donors, it may save some costs short-term, but the long-term revenue loss from not having those donors is far more damaging. The NonProfit Times illustrates this by saying, “about 20% of the donors that are acquired in a given year will still be contributing to an organization in five years’ time. This is what...
posted @ Thursday, June 25, 2009 10:06 AM |
The effects of the recent economic downturn are undeniable in the lives of nonprofits: high operating costs, increased demand for services, and the nagging question of whether donors will continue their support in the midst of trying times are worries that weigh on the minds of many organization leaders. Tim Delaney, president and CEO of the National Council on Nonprofits, has noted the increased pressures on organizations throughout the last few years, and asserts that the economic dowturn can be traced to shabby ethics in the government and giving sectors. At a workshop sponsored by the Philanthropy Journal, Delaney illustrated...
posted @ Wednesday, June 24, 2009 1:12 PM |
Professionals in the for-profit community are observing non-profits, and they do have suggestions. It is important to listen to these ideas because many ministries fail to balance their passion with the practicality. Business ideas and vision are necessary. John Klein, a marketing professional, who works with nonprofits and for-profits, offers his suggestions as a summary of the for-profit community’s thoughts in order to “help create stronger and more resilient nonprofits as we emerge from our current economic situation.”
Klein’s suggestions:
1) Nonprofits should utilize social media—Many professionals are noticing this trend as nonprofits began to move towards using these tools. However, it...
posted @ Tuesday, June 23, 2009 10:56 AM |
Some people may wonder why we chose to create a database of private foundations. After all, aren’t there other ways that might help ministries and non-profits find better funding? Well, according to the Giving USA 2009 report, “Foundation grant-making increased 3 percent (in current dollars), although giving from all other types of donors declined. Foundation grants accounted for more than 13 percent of total charitable giving, and the Foundation Center estimates that grant-making in 2008 surpassed all prior records.” As seen by these statistics, foundations are a good place to look for grant money.
So, what exactly is a private foundation?...
posted @ Monday, June 22, 2009 2:34 PM
It is predicted that by the year 2020, online giving will make up the majority donations. This is dependent on the development of nonprofits’ websites though.
Jakob Nielsen, who has researched nonprofit online trends, gives suggestions based on his findings. He analyzed 23 different websites in a recent study through simple tests. From this study, several clear areas showed up:
1) Your missions, goals, and objectives must be made clear—People want to see these things on the homepage. Of the 23 websites analyzed, only 43% had done this. This information is important to prospective donors because “they want to contribute to causes...
posted @ Friday, June 19, 2009 10:05 AM
A supporter has just signed up for your e-newsletter or joined your cause. How do you engage them while their interest is still new and passionate? Allowing them to just sit there will only teach them to be passive about your cause. Here are four tips for encouraging new members to become donors.
Ask soon
New members are most likely to be inspired by your work because they just joined. For example, once a person signs up for your cause, the next page they should see could include a tell-a-friend button and a donate page. This will give motivated new supporters a...
posted @ Thursday, June 18, 2009 1:54 PM
In the marketing of any nonprofit, storytelling plays a crucial role. Donors are ultimately humans with human emotions, and they want to know why they should become involved with your organization’s mission. What does it mean to them? Why should they care? With the unstable economy causing increasing numbers of donors to tighten their belts, making a human connection is more crucial than ever. That is just the point addressed by Mark Royner of SeaChange for Network for Good.
According to Royner, nonprofits commonly either neglect to tell their stories or, out of a desire to seem professional, savvy, and...
posted @ Wednesday, June 17, 2009 2:13 PM
Because of the declining economy, many nonprofits are considering mergers in order to survive. A recent survey by the Nonprofit Finance Fund found that almost 1 in 5 nonprofits said they were interested in conducting a merger feasibility analysis, and 5% reported they were planning to or had already undergone a merger. That 5% is in increase from the average merger rate of 1.7% in the for-profit sector and 1.5% in the nonprofit sector over the last decade, according to another report. However, there are pros and cons to mergers.
There are many good reasons to merge: mergers increases a nonprofit’s...
posted @ Tuesday, June 16, 2009 2:26 PM
One of the most important things an organization can do to build fundraising is to create a clear face for themselves. Think of it like the Starbucks culture—many people are drawn to Starbucks because of personalization, the unique experience. Say “Starbucks” and people don’t just think of coffee. People will talk about the friendly baristas, hanging out there, the food, custom drinks, etc. Starbucks has created a face for their organization that draws people in and gains their loyalty. So how can this be applied to your organization? Personalization and emphasizing the unique facets of your organization are...
posted @ Monday, June 15, 2009 10:17 AM |
The newly released Giving USA 2009 report showed that despite the beginning of the recession, charitable giving only dropped 2.7% in 2008. The Giving USA press release is available here.
According to the University of Kent, people should not assume that philanthropy will be drastically affected by the economy: “Charitable giving is a very complex and personal decision that is not driven solely by how much spare money someone has […] If the main reason people made donations was because they could afford to, then every rich person would be a philanthropist, and every fundraiser would walk away with a big...
posted @ Thursday, June 11, 2009 3:04 PM
Fearing Facebook? Terrified of Twitter? Bashful about blogging? Just because some nonprofits are jumping right in does not mean that everyone knows how to use all these forms of social media. Need some help getting started? Want to learn about the different opportunities before signing up for a plethora of sites? Allison Good, an expert on technology in the nonprofit world, is offering podcasts once a month to explore the different forms and provide helpful tips. She takes emailed questions from listeners and attempts to answer some of those as well. The Chronicle of Philanthropy is...
posted @ Wednesday, June 10, 2009 1:02 PM |
Recently, United Way announced that it may have to cut up to 40% of its grants due to a $15 million drop in donations. As United Way prepares to makes cuts to many of the charities it supports, churches are discussing how they can fill the gap.
In Charlotte, NC, churches and ministries are discussing ways to alleviate the effects of United Way’s cuts. Some churches, including the Myers Park United Methodist Church, have begun making larger donations to charities. Mecklenburg Ministries is co-sponsoring a “community conversation” to raise awareness and discuss possible ways to aid nonprofits. While no church-led community...
posted @ Tuesday, June 09, 2009 1:58 PM
Most news sources focus on how giving has dropped in all sectors; however, a new report shows that not all giving has declined. A survey by the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CEDP) reported that 53% of companies increased their giving in 2008.
In 2008, 70% of all companies saw their profits fall or declared a loss for the year. Yet surprisingly, companies’ average giving only declined by a slight 7.8%. Of the companies that increased their giving, nearly 35% of them began donating non-cash items, such as employee volunteerism.
CECP mentioned three innovative and non-cash philanthropic programs that occurred this past year....
posted @ Friday, June 05, 2009 2:23 PM
The average subscription cost to most databases is $1,000. So… we are lowering the CFG Insider Price to just $99.00, until June 30th. We understand that many organizations simply cannot afford such a price; therefore, we want to do our best in offering you access to the best resources at an affordable price. For $99.00 you will receive one year’s access to: -- over 4,500 foundations that all accept applications and have given to faith based causes -- Sample grant proposals -- Complete access to all our blogs, articles, and many other resources These...
posted @ Friday, June 05, 2009 9:16 AM |
Research on difficult economic times is still progressing. However, already there are clear results emerging. As Jonathan Baker, writer for The Guardian, says, “charitable giving has been more resilient than expected when faced with a challenge; and this recession will actually be unusual if it seriously damages the third sector.” This is good news for nonprofits, but there is a second part to this. There still may be many charities that find themselves forced to close operations. Research gives us a key into understanding why this happens. Statistics show that the “one thing that characterized nearly all of the...
posted @ Thursday, June 04, 2009 9:43 AM |
Everyone wants their website to be memorable because visitors are more likely to return and to tell others about the site. There are several things you can do to create an outstanding website:
Quizzes and Polls
“What is the largest living mammal? Guess in our free quiz!” Getting people to click buttons and check boxes is an easy way to move them past your homepage.
E-newsletters
Make sure a subscription box for your e-newsletter is featured on every page on your website. Keep the request short, but make it sound like the newsletter offers exclusive and important information. The newsletter sign-ups will add email...
posted @ Wednesday, June 03, 2009 1:42 PM
“I’m just more aware of the nitty-gritty of needs that happen every day. I just feel like, now, I’m…on the front line,” said one member of a giving circle. A recent study called The Impact of Giving Together, has reported that members of giving circles, like the one mentioned above, gave more strategically than a control group of donors.
This report showed that donors in giving circles were more likely to give to causes that advance change, support general operating expenses, make multi-year gifts, and take cultural differences (race, class, gender) into consideration when choosing organizations to support. Also, these...
posted @ Tuesday, June 02, 2009 1:17 PM
Search engine optimization is becoming very important for your website to become competitive with other organizations. Generally, if your website is not on the first page or page and a half of listings then people will not view your website; therefore having good search engine rankings (where your website is listed, eg. Page 1, page 16 etc.) are essential to drawing website traffic. Chris Nastav, a Kansas City web developer, offers some insight into a simple idea that could help improve your website ranking. Nastav says, “There's things we as Web developers can do to your site to help...
posted @ Tuesday, June 02, 2009 9:32 AM |
One of the important steps to maintaining funding is to retain your donors. One time gifts are nice, but having a consistent and strong donor base is important. Some basic steps to retaining donors: Make personal phone calls to ask donors to renew. Involve your staff and even board to make this contact. Develop a newsletter. Whether sent by email or direct mail, it is important to keep people informed. Let donors know the stories of what is going on in your organization. People want to know...
posted @ Monday, June 01, 2009 4:14 PM |