This message is from GuideStar on behalf of StayClassy.

Submit your NPO or volunteer for the 2nd Annual Classy Awards:

If you have and event/fundraiser/campaign in Boston, Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York City, San Diego, San Francisco or Washington D.C, you are eligible for a CLASSY Award.

You could [...]]]>

Who would you nominate for a Classy Award?

This message is from GuideStar on behalf of StayClassy.

Submit your NPO or volunteer for the 2nd Annual Classy Awards:

If you have and event/fundraiser/campaign in Boston, Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York City, San Diego, San Francisco or Washington D.C, you are eligible for a CLASSY Award.

You could win $10,000+ in cash and in-kind services as recognition for all you’ve done for the community this year.

Nominations are due by September 17, 2010…submit your organization:

The CLASSY Awards aren’t just a popularity contest—they focus on tangible action and results. The CLASSY Awards recognize and highlight the greatest philanthropic achievements—large and small—by individuals and organizations giving back to the community. Last year’s award winners rappelled off buildings to raise money, started orphanages for abused and neglected children in Tijuana, and built giant structures out of tens of thousands of cans to collect food donations. Get your supporters to share how you are giving back!

The 2nd Annual CLASSY Awards are hosted by StayClassy, the leader in social fundraising for nonprofits, and their partners: NBC Bay Area, NBC Chicago, NBC Los Angeles, NBC New York, NBC San Diego and NBC Washington.

If you have any questions, please email StayClassy at awards@stayclassy.org.

Categories are:

Charity of the year, Small Charity of the Year, Volunteer of the Year, Philanthropic Business of the Year, Philanthropic Small Business of the Year,  Most Effective Awareness Campaign, Most Creative Fundraiser, Most Innovative use of Social Media, Most Influential College Student or College Organization, Most Successful Fundraiser by an Individual.

Join us for our next Networking for Non-Profit Event September 30th in Plymouth!

Creating annual reports can be a time-consuming and expensive activity for nonprofits.  Many small organizations produce just a simple handout with the required financials, not a piece that is likely to attract new supporters to the organization. I recently read a useful article that explains “The Secret to a High Impact Annual Report”.

With so much buzz about online fundraising and using social media to market your nonprofit, do you think that the cost of doing direct mail may not be worth the return on investment? If so, think again. According to the Association of Fundraising Professionals, “direct mail consistently remains one of the most important [...]]]>

Jane B. Ford

With so much buzz about online fundraising and using social media to market your nonprofit, do you think that the cost of doing direct mail may not be worth the return on investment? If so, think again. According to the Association of Fundraising Professionals, “direct mail consistently remains one of the most important and successful types of fundraising”. Although donations from online and email campaigns are gradually increasing, income from direct mail remains a solid source of support for many nonprofits.

When working with clients who are either just thinking about getting into the direct mail field or want to expand their reach, I suggest that they interview experienced companies that have a track record of helping nonprofits raise money through direct mail. I often hear that it costs too much to outsource this work. When this occurs, I have the nonprofit track the actual time it took to produce a recent fundraising letter in-house (including the time to back up any supporting research, the creating of important stories to include, the actual writing, the clean-up of the mailing lists, the graphic design and production of the letter and envelope, and the time it takes to put together the mailing and separate it to utilize the nonprofit mailing rate). Then I have them multiply the total time it took
by the hourly salaries of all individuals involved in the project to determine the cost of producing this one request letter.

Even when using a direct mail company, staff will still have to put time into preparing the ideas for the letter, making sure the mailing lists are accurate, and tracking the results. In most cases, however, the nonprofit will discover that it is cost-effective to use a direct mail company – and that the results exceed those they have seen from in-house letters.  Of course, like any ongoing fundraising, the results may be slow at first but direct mail shouldn’t be a one-time effort. It is a fundraising tool that can be an integral, ongoing part of your overall fundraising plan.

Join us for our next Networking for Non-Profit Event in August!

How much thought do you put into thank you letters for annual fund donors? Do you use a standard form for all gifts? If so, you may want to look at three ways you can make your thank you letters more effective.

First, tell the donor how you will use the money they donated. [...]]]>

Jane B. Ford

How much thought do you put into thank you letters for annual fund donors? Do you use a standard form for all gifts? If so, you may want to look at three ways you can make your thank you letters more effective.

First, tell the donor how you will use the money they donated. Of course, you can’t be as specific as you may be with a major donor who gave you $25,000 to pay for a new vehicle. Most annual fund donations are much smaller but all can be related to something in the appeal letter. For example, if part of your appeal for funds was to expand your homeownership program, you could talk about how the funds will help provide education to potential homeowners. If your request focused on music education for teenagers, talk about how the donation will help provide music lessons. Relating the donation to the request lets the donors know that you will use the money as they intended.

Second, have someone who knows the donor handwrite a brief note on the thank you letter specifically thanking the donor for the gift. This could be the Executive Director, the Board President, or another board member. Although this can be a time-consuming process, such personal notes will impress the donor and may encourage them to give more in the future.

Third, if the donation is tax deductible, make sure to let the donors know that the letter will serve as a receipt for their donation (as required by the IRS). A simple way to do this is to draw a line below the signature on the letter. Then put a statement that this is a “Gift Receipt”, and include the name of your nonprofit, the amount and date. The donors can then take this receipt and put it in their tax files for future reference.

Taking the time to implement these three suggestions can make the task of writing thank you letters more than a mundane task. Well written thank you letters are another way to communicate with your donors that may bring them closer to your organization – and increase future donations.

Join us for our next Networking for Non-Profit Event in August!

Most people I know would prefer to hear a story about someone your nonprofit has helped than to listen to the latest statistics about the population you serve. The next time someone asks you what your nonprofit does, skip the statistics and tell a story. If you use the basic rules of storytelling [...]]]>

Jane B. Ford

Most people I know would prefer to hear a story about someone your nonprofit has helped than to listen to the latest statistics about the population you serve. The next time someone asks you what your nonprofit does, skip the statistics and tell a story. If you use the basic rules of storytelling below, you could make a new friend for your organization.

1. Be aware of the organizational image you want to create. The style of a story about a children’s puppet theatre may be very different than that of a nonprofit that provides literacy training to adults.
2. Use interesting and exciting language with which your audience can relate.  You may get really excited about the esoteric research your archeological group does but your audience is likely more interested in hearing about specific, compelling artifacts you have unearthed.
3. Use as many of your senses as are appropriate to the story to evoke audience interest. Describe the joy on the face of a teen who receives your scholarship.  Share the excited chatter of the volunteers who are constructing a house. Talk about the feel of the baby blanket created by a senior for a premature baby. Re-create the smells of ocean as your volunteers cleaned up the beach. Describe the taste of the wonderful soups that were served at your recent fundraiser.
4. Use your emotions to help your listener relate to the work you do. Some stories evoke tears, some laughter and others deep concern. Make sure you really feel the emotion and then share it with your listener.
5. Involve your audience so it becomes a conversation, not a monologue. For example, if you are talking about someone owning their first home, ask if your listener remembers how he felt when he moved into his first home (as long as you know he is a homeowner). When you are sharing the joy of someone who received a new lung, ask your listener if she can imagine how it must feel to be able to breathe deeply for the first time in decades.
6. Keep it brief. Don’t bore your listener with unnecessary details or extraneous description. Some of the best nonprofit stories I have heard were less than two minutes in length.

Join us for our next Networking for Non-Profit Event in August!

Each year I look forward to Giving USA’s annual research report on charitable giving in the United States. I love the way they use simple charts to show how much money is given in each area of contributions (individuals, corporate, foundations, and bequests) and also show what sectors receive this money. I often [...]]]>

Jane B. Ford

Each year I look forward to Giving USA’s annual research report on charitable giving in the United States. I love the way they use simple charts to show how much money is given in each area of contributions (individuals, corporate, foundations, and bequests) and also show what sectors receive this money. I often use these charts to educate boards and development committees on the overall state of charitable giving in the United States so they can use it as a comparison for their fundraising work.

However, since it takes awhile to do the research to produce these reports, the information is not as current as I would like to see. For example, Giving USA just published in June of 2010 the report for 2009. Although it is useful in the big-picture realm, I wondered if any report gave more current information, particularly in these economic times where things change so rapidly. You can’t imagine my delight when I discovered the Blackbaud Index of Charitable Giving.

This Index reports revenue trends of 1,400 nonprofits that represent $2.2 billion in yearly revenue – and it does this on a monthly basis. The nonprofits represent organizations of all sizes in the arts, culture, humanities, human services and more. The most recent quarterly report shows good news: nonprofit revenue in the U.S. increased 12.1% in the three months ending April 2010 (compared to the same period last year).

The news is particularly good for organizations of one size, good for those of another, and not-so-good for the third. Want to find out the news for your size nonprofit this quarter? Go to http://www.blackbaud.com/bb/index/blackbaud-index.aspx. Then bookmark this site so you can access current trends in fundraising every month.

Join us for our next Networking for Non-Profit Event in August!

I receive many newsletters from nonprofit organizations. Because I am always looking for interesting ways to raise money, I open most of these and skim through them quickly. However, there are two nonprofits whose letters I read very carefully. Why? Because I know that these nonprofits will tell me [...]]]>

Jane B. Ford

I receive many newsletters from nonprofit organizations. Because I am always looking for interesting ways to raise money, I open most of these and skim through them quickly. However, there are two nonprofits whose letters I read very carefully. Why? Because I know that these nonprofits will tell me a story that that touches my emotions.

Teen Challenge New England serves youth, adults and families whose lives are impacted by drug and alcohol addiction. Each month, this nonprofit sends a letter telling a story about one person who has participated in their rehab program (which generally is about a 15 month commitment) and has successfully returned to his/her family and community. The letter often includes “before and after pictures” of the individual visually displaying how recovery has changed that person. In addition, the letter includes a brief testimony about how recovery has impacted that person’s life and the lives of family members. I always feel uplifted and hopeful reading these stories.

Habitat for Humanity, both the national organization and its local affiliates, also focuses on the human aspect of its work when asking for money. Not only do the newsletters share brief stories and pictures of a family moving into a new home; they also show pictures of the home during construction that include the volunteers who provide the sweat equity that helps make the home affordable. I love reading about the myriad of volunteers who do everything from pounding nails to feeding the workers…and I am always touched by the stories of the families who now have a permanent, affordable home.

In the words of Tom Ahern of Ahern Communications (www.aherncomm.com) “Donors should feel something as they read your newsletter. Something. Glad, angry, relieved, hopeful, happy, satisfied…something. Judge everything you put in your newsletter by one standard: Is this news item, anecdote, statistic, or photo likely to make the donor feel something?”

Join us for our next Networking for Non-Profit Event in August!

The first answer to this question is how not to pay a fundraising consultant: under no circumstances agree to pay the consultant based on a percentage of what s/he raises for your nonprofit. This is true whether the consultant is helping you with proposal writing, major gifts, special events or any other development [...]]]>

Jane B. Ford

The first answer to this question is how not to pay a fundraising consultant: under no circumstances agree to pay the consultant based on a percentage of what s/he raises for your nonprofit. This is true whether the consultant is helping you with proposal writing, major gifts, special events or any other development work. Members of professional fundraising groups, such as the Association of Fundraising Professionals, must sign an ethics statement that includes an agreement to never work on a percentage basis.

Why? There are three basic reasons. First, fundraisers are professionals and should be paid as such. Second, payment on a percentage basis can lead to unethical practices such as inflating the size of grant proposals or pressuring potential donors to increase the amount of their gifts. Creating a resource development program is a long-term investment. The consultant who works with you to create a useful fundraising plan lays the groundwork for increasing your resources and this is likely to incur only after you actually implement the plan. In another example, if you are new to grant seeking, the proposal writer you hire will have a great deal of work to do to help you to receive that first grant. Once the groundwork is laid, future grants could be much larger because your consultant has prepared you to submit successful grants and you have the systems in place to do so.

How do fundraising consultants determine the fees they charge? Some charge by the hour, some by the day and some by the whole job. The experience of the fundraiser, the size of the nonprofit, and the geographic location often combine to determine the price. For example, you may pay $100-170 an hour if you are a midsize nonprofit in Boston who wants a consultant with extensive experience. A smaller nonprofit in the Berkshires or on the Cape seeking a consultant may pay in the $60 to $90 an hour range.

Most consultants use a daily rate (which is generally less) if you hire them for a larger project or a longer period of time. In this case, make sure you build evaluation points into your service contract. Review the work at agreed upon times and see if the original assumptions hold true. In all cases, make sure your nonprofit has a written agreement signed by the consultant and your organization that clearly spells out the consultant’s responsibilities, fees, expenses and timeframe for payments.
Join us for our next Networking for Non-Profit Event in August!