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!

One of the benefits we offer to sponsors and speakers for the Non-Profit Toolbox is video.  We use the video interviews to promote our events, workshops, speakers and sponsors.  We use video from the event so people that couldn’t make it to the event can see what they missed [...]]]>

YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine

One of the benefits we offer to sponsors and speakers for the Non-Profit Toolbox is video.  We use the video interviews to promote our events, workshops, speakers and sponsors.  We use video from the event so people that couldn’t make it to the event can see what they missed and learn about the topic presented.  It is one of the most powerful benefits we offer – search juice.

So what does that mean to you?  Not much, unless you’d like to be found easier on the web.

Stephen Melanson spoke at our June meet-up about verbal branding.  We did a video interview before the event and videoed the presentation.  We posted the videos on YouTube (the second largest search engine behind Google), transcribed the audio portion and used it in the description, and embedded the video into our blog.

Here is what it’s done for Stephen:

• It’s on the first page of Google Search for Verbal Branding
• A Video and blog post of the video is on the first page on a google search for Stephen Melanson
• The video’s are in 3 of the 1st four positions on a YouTube search for Verbal Branding
• The videos are now embedded in other blog posts

Did any of the videos go viral? No.  Did they greatly improve his search rankings?  Yes they did, quite a lot.  We met Jane B Ford ( who speaks and blogs for us) yesterday and she told us that because of the videos and blog posts she now owns the first page of google search for her name, which she didn’t before.

Video, if used properly, can be a very important tool in your marketing mix.

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

When working with executive directors of small nonprofits one question they frequently ask me is “How much time should my development officer spend on grant seeking?” There are many ways to answer this question and I often begin with this simple approach, using national research provided by Giving [...]]]>

Where Do Your Grants Come From?

Jane B. Ford

When working with executive directors of small nonprofits one question they frequently ask me is “How much time should my development officer spend on grant seeking?” There are many ways to answer this question and I often begin with this simple approach, using national research provided by Giving USA. The research for 2008 (the most recent figures available) revealed the following for private sector giving: 13% comes from foundations, 5% comes from corporations, 7% from bequests and 75% from individuals. If the nonprofit relies primarily on private sector giving to support its operations, using these percentages for estimating staff time can be useful.

If private sector giving is the major source of funding for the nonprofit, I suggest it would be reasonable to allocate 20% of the development officer’s time to researching, writing and submitting grant proposals (since much corporate money comes from grants, too). This would allow 80% of staff time to developing the relationships needed to prospect, solicit and appreciate individual gifts, generally the most lucrative area for nonprofit contributions.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that the development officer can spend every Monday on grant seeking and then work in the area of individual giving from Tuesday through Friday, although having since a defined schedule might be nice. Given the demands of grantors’ deadlines, staff could devote one entire week or more to grant seeking this month and no time next month. The key is to keep the balance over the course of the year so that the amount of time spent in an area reflects the reality of how your nonprofit receives money from the private sector.

Jane Ford - The Joy Path

Early in my career in the nonprofit sector, I had the opportunity to apply for a federal grant. [...]]]>

Guest Post by: Jane B. Ford, The Joy Path and Speaker at the February 10th Non-profit Toolbox Mini-Conference, and author of Get Grants Now

Jane Ford - The Joy Path

Federal Agency Representatives are Your Friends

Early in my career in the nonprofit sector, I had the opportunity to apply for a federal grant. I had successfully applied for foundation grants and so used the same approach for the federal grant: follow all the rules, be honest, submit on time, and make sure to talk to my contact at the funding source. When I received that federal grant, my colleagues in other housing nonprofits expressed surprise that my first public grant proposal was fully funded.

They were even more surprised when I told them that I believed part of the reason for the funding was that my representative at the federal agency had been so helpful. Not only did he answer my numerous technical questions, he also gave me insight into the specific approach that his office was looking for in that year’s proposals. I didn’t find this surprising at all. Isn’t this the way program officers, whether private or public sector, usually worked?

It turned out that many of my colleagues had never chosen to contact their federal representatives believing that these public servants wouldn’t be really useful. In my naiveté, I assumed that program officers, both public and private, would be helpful. I had treated the federal rep just the way I treated private sector program officers, with respect, honesty, and appreciation. And he had been just as helpful in guiding me towards writing a successful grant proposal as had his private sector colleagues whom I had contacted in the past.

This experience confirmed my belief that when you treat other people as you want to be treated, good things generally happen. Learning this early on in my nonprofit career has helped me and the nonprofits I have served in ways too numerous to count.

Want to learn more about Grant Writing?

Join us at our next non-profit mini-conference.