FundraisingCoach.com » 3. Ask

Great reason to NOT fundraise with Facebook

Marc A. Pitman — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 12:32:37 +0000

What would you do if your nonprofit’s only web presence and online fundraising were in Facebook?

I recently loaded Facebook but got this page. Apparently, Facebook was experiencing instability. While it still happens frequently with Twitter, this is rare in my experience of Facebook. But it serves as a good warning.

Don’t limit your fundraising to Facebook

Can you imagine how you’d feel if your only web presence were a page on Facebook? And your only online giving option was through Facebook?

Getting a page like this would mean your cause was invisible on the web.

Don’t let this happen to you. Getting your own website isn’t expensive. I use BlueHost [affiliate link] and a free WordPress blog software. A simple WordPress backup plugin automatically backs up my site each week and sends me a copy of the backup.

It’s not perfect, but at least there’s a web presence when sites like Facebook go down.

Learn how you can set up a brand new fundraising program, or re-tool your existing fundraising, to raise serious money for your cause. Purchase this full-day fundraising seminar you can download right to your desk and start learning today!

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Fundraising Secret #105: Stay Curious

Marc A. Pitman — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 11:11:22 +0000

As a fundraiser, it’s so easy to get jaded. To think we’ve seen it all. But curiousity is one of the most important tools a fundraiser can have. It helps in every step of the “Get R.E.A.L.” fundraising process:

Research: If you’re curious, you will not just enter someone’s email address, but notice that it’s a unique domain name and go check it out. Even if it doesn’t lead to a major discovery, it can be a talking point with the donor.
Engage: Being curious as you engage a donor involves asking perceptive questions. Once, while in the lobby of a factory that produced wrought iron products, I asked how paint got on the iron. That started a 2-hour tour of the plant, including a long (and fascinating) explanation of a new piece of equipment that not only fused the powder with the iron but also recovered the waste. The donor would never have spent that much time if all I talked about was my nonprofit. Curiosity shows donors you are interested in them and their business, not just what they can do for you.
Ask: Curiosity can be invaluable after making the ask. As the prospect processes how that size a gift might be possible, you can honestly ask curious questions like “When might be a good time to ask you in the future?” or “Would it be easier to make smaller pledge payments now and then bigger ones after the kids are out of college?”
Love: Curiosity will help ensure you are thanking donors in ways that mean something to them. Do they want public accolades? Or is a private lunch with the executive director more appropriate? Curiosity will lead you to show them gratitude in ways they will receive it.

The great thing about curiosity is that, when it’s genuine, it is always well received. Rather than being seen as annoying or probing, questions sparked from genuine curiosity show incredible respect for the donor and the things that are important to them. You can even draw on things you’ve read or heard in other places. “I was just reading that the publishing industry is trying to do x, y, and z to adapt. Is that similar in your industry?”

Even though you’ll be tempted to be the person with all the answers, if you want to be successful as a fundraiser, stay curious.

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Fundraising Secret #96: Use Google Docs

Marc A. Pitman — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 11:14:52 +0000

Have you checked out Google Docs? I keep finding remarkable ways to use this for collaboration!

For example, an organization I work with recently ran a phonathon that didn’t involve asking for money, but asking people to advocate for our cause. Our database administrator did the sort and dumped hundreds of names exported onto two Excel spreadsheets with just the minimum of information: record number, city, state, first name, last name, phone number.

That’s all we needed to make these calls.

The problem was, if we printed out multiple copies of these sheets and gave the sheets to each caller, we would run into the very real possibility that we’d unknowingly call people two or three times. Multiple calls were fine, but only if they were planned!

Just giving the sheets to callers was a bit problematic too. Not all of them came in to our central office. But saving the Excel sheets as individual files would be a complete hassle.

So we experimented with Google Docs. We simply uploaded the spreadsheets and added three more columns:

one for callers to put in their initials
one for the action that occurred (“lm” was for “left message” but we also were able to record “yes” when they would take the action or “no” or “undecided”)
one for notes

We then “shared” this spreadsheet with anybody we wanted working on these lists. We had a handful of callers in the same room, some callers in other offices in the building, and some callers in other parts of our state. It didn’t matter where they were physically located, because we were all calling from the same sheet.

Then found out we could see edits being made in real-time! This would let us see the letters as people were typing, no matter where they were located. Eery, but incredibly helpful to all of us on the team.

The callers loved it using Google Docs! They would choose a city or town, fill those lines with their initials, and get busy making calls. They said seeing their initials on so many rows made it feel like they were actually accomplishing something. They were also able to start at different times and still be, literally, on the same page.

I’m not sure any of us got over the “magic-like” quality of all of us putting information into the sheet at the same time. We could all see the notes people were typing in, the communities they were taking, and the actions the call recipients were promising to take as a result of our call.

We could even use a chat window right on the page to ask each other questions.

Each night, I’d try tally up how many calls were done. I’d also try to bring uniformity to the codes being used so they could get imported into the database more easily. I’d send out the stats of total calls and what the results of the call were each night to give callers immediate feedback. (The number of calls we were able to make was remarkable.)

To differentiate what day the call took place, callers would put their initials and the date, ie. if the date were May 23 and I were the caller, I’d put: map23. This worked for us because we were only calling for a week or two.

Google Docs is free and easy to use. I don’t think I’d use this for any lists that would include private information. (In our case, the record numbers already were public, not private.) But I highly recommend trying it for phonathons like thankathons or phonathons trying to get people to act in a certain way!

Have you found cool ways to use Google Docs? Let us know in the comments!

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Fundraising for your next walkathon

Marc A. Pitman — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 11:12:16 +0000

Lately I’ve been getting lots of questions about how individuals can fundraise for walkathon events and many other -athons: bike-a-thons, bowl-a-thons, etc.

So I wrote down some of the basic advice I was giving. When I finished, it was a 5-page article!!

Rather than post that long an entry here, I’ve put it in the Articles section. The link is:
How to Fundraise for Your Next Walkathon.

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Fundraising letter for acquisition mailing

Marc A. Pitman — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 11:06:52 +0000

Last week, I received this question about a fundraising letter acquisition mailing.

Hi Marc,
We are doing an acquisition mailing to patients of Local Community Clinic on behalf of Local Community Clinic Foundation, a 501c3 that offers support to the Clinic and the Community. The mailing is huge – just over 100,000 – and we are trying to keep this within our budget abilities without losing the personal touch for the end readers. The burning question is in regards to using a window envelope. We can use artwork on the envelope that says “a Special Invitation” or something to that nature so they know it’s not a bill, or we could really break the bank and use a regular envelope, whicn will require extra matching and printing. In your research and work, are you aware of any trends in aquisition mailings that use a window envelope vs. a non-window envelope? When this is to an audience with a relationship to us, what percent return on average should we expect? Not more than 1%?
Thanks,

Tesla Jabinski

Director, Fundraising and Development
Local Community Clinic

Here’s my answer:

Hi Tesla,

Great questions!

Even though these folks have a relationship, they still see it as a transactional, business relationship. If you’ve ever been a patient and had to pay bills, you’ll know what I mean.

So I’d still use the 1% benchmark. Actually, I’ve been told (and experienced myself) that acquisition mailings lose money. You do them because of the life-time value of the donor. Once a person gives, they’re far more likely to give again. So be sure to remember that when analyzing the results.

As for the envelope, your #1 goal is having them open it. That’s all. So I’d say go for a window with no teaser. They’re already used to receiving that from your organization. Plus it does help down the cost!

Marc

Do you agree? Share your comments below!

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When corporate donors attack and new fundraising dvd’s

Marc A. Pitman — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 19:08:20 +0000

I was honored to be this week’s guest for 501 Video’s “Movie Mondays”. My topic was: A Lesson learned from Angry Corporate Sponsors.

I’m out here in Seattle filming a couple fundraising training DVDs. One is a DVD of “Ask Without Fear!” The other is a blueprint for an entire year of fundraising. Both will have video and additional resources. I love working with Chris and Steph here at 501 Videos. They really know nonprofits and they really know video!

To sign up for more information about both of these projects, and to receive some free bonus videos, go to:
Marc’s DVD series.

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Fundraising Secret #79: Make Your Gift First

Marc A. Pitman — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 11:09:45 +0000

Have you ever asked someone trying to sell you a product if they use it themselves?

It can be pretty illuminating. After all, if they don’t use the product, perhaps it’s not a good one for you to use either.

So too with fundraising. If you’re asking for money, be sure to make your gift first. And make it in a way you’d expect others to give. If you’re asking others to consider a gift 10 times bigger than their annual fund gift (a common practice with capital campaigns), challenge yourself to do that too.

It’s not that you need to give the same size gift as those you’ll be asking. But if you fundraise for an organization, I do recommend you make a leadership gift, how ever that is defined by your group. (For most groups, a leadership gift starts at $1000 a year.) Most of us shouldn’t be able to give the highest gifts that we will be asking for. But all of us should challenge ourselves to give more.

Here’s why this is so important: Your donors are exposed to hundreds or even thousands or ads a day. (Some even say 3,000 or more ads.) As result, they’ve developed highly tuned “B.S.-ometers.” They usually have a gut sense when someone’s telling the truth and believes what they say.

Time and again, I’ve seen this B.S.-ometer affect fundraising.

During one campaign, we used a cocktail party approach to raise the last $1 million of a $3 million campaign. Hosts would invite their friends to a party where we and they would share the campaign. No solicitation would happen at the event. Instead, all attendees received a personal packet and a promise that we or the host would follow up in the next week or two.

The results were stunning. Hosts that gave $10,000 pledges, received $10,000 from their guests. Hosts that gave $25,000 pledges, received $25,000 pledges from their guests. But hosts that hadn’t made a pledge to the campaign raised $0 from their guests.

Zero.

People know. Not only do they have internal B.S.-ometers, they also talk to each other. They know how committed people are to the project before they make their gift. So be sure to make your gift first.

Making your gift first also helps your attitude. It is so much easier to ask, “Would you join us in making a pledge…” than to just ask for a gift. It’s as though you’re coming on the same side of the table as the donor, looking at the project as peers.

For many of you, July 1 was the start of a new fiscal year. So stretch yourself. Consider your options. And make your gift first.

[This post is a part of the Fundraising Secrets posts that are being compiled for my next fundraising book. To read some of the others, go to: http://fundraisingcoach.com/category/frsecrets/.]

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Book Review: Guerrilla Market for Nonprofits

Marc A. Pitman — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 20:12:40 +0000

I’m surprised by how many nonprofit professionals see “marketing” as a bad word, a practice that is somehow beneath them. If that’s your attitude, a new book called Guerrilla Marketing for Nonprofits will help you move beyond that and become excellent at communicating your message.

This book is packed with useful ideas, detailed strategies, and helpful tips from experienced professionals. The authors discuss crafting your message, defining your “product,” using traditional media, using new media like blogging…they even cover how to effectively use social media tools like Twitter and Facebook.

I’m thrilled that the authors also include great fundraising strategies in their coverage of marketing.

Guerrilla Marketing for Nonprofits clearly outlines ways to market your nonprofit and conduct effective fundraising initiatives. Best of all, you’ll be able to to easily implement them with relatively little cost.

Here are the chapters in the book:

What Nonprofits Need is Better Marketing
Getting to Know Nonprofit Guerrilla Marketing
The Guerrilla Marketer’s Personality
How to Turn Your Mission Statement into a Marketing Tool
Guerrillas Focus on People
Guerrillas Understand Their Marketplace
Mini-, Maxi-, and E-Media Weapons
Info-, Human-, and Non-Media Weapons
Attributes and Attitudes of Your Organization
Guerrilla Publicity
Guerrilla Marketing on the Web
Guerrilla Social Media
Niche Marketing Guerrilla Style
Meeting Needs While Changing Minds
Expressing Your Organization’s Unique Identity
Cultivating Winning Relationships for Your Nonprofit
Seven Golden Rules for Fundraising Success
Seven Platinum Rules for Recruiting Volunteers
Guerrilla Marketing Behavior Change
Launching and Maintaining Your Marketing Attack

The parts of the last chapter are indicative of the whole book:

Write a Marketing Plan in Just Seven Sentences
The 17 Secrets to Maintaining Your Marketing Attack
How to Spy on Yourself and Improve Your Marketing

And that’s just one of the chapters! The subtitle of this book is “250 tactics to promote, recruit, motivate, and raise more money”. And I believe them.

Read it yourself or buy a copy to give to your favorite cause.

I know it’s a book I’ll keep returning to!

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Nonprofit Executive Director and Fundraising Revisited

Marc A. Pitman — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 11:10:27 +0000

A few weeks back, I posted this question:

Q: As an E.D., what percentage of my time should be spent on fund raising? I am relatively new at this and want to balance my schedule.

My answer was something like, “100%.”

And I got some comeuppance. Here are some of the comments:
Roger Carr responded:

I appreciate that you are a fundraiser, but I am concerned with the answer you gave (and with many of the answers I have been reading lately from other fundraising consultants)…Raising money is not the purpose and mission of most nonprofit organizations.It is one of the required tools to carry out the mission. If most or all of the ED’s time is spent fundraising, there is probably no reason for the organization to exist. A significant amount of time also needs to be spent in areas such as program development and advocacy in support of the cause…Fundraisers need to understand there is more to a nonprofit organization than fundraising (although I agree it is a critical part). Do you agree?

In a conversation, my friend Rob Hatch asked largely the same thing.

Then Mazarine Treyz said:

I agree with Roger and Marc, equally. We’ve got to fundraise AND oversee programs as executive directors. Depending on what stage of crisis the nonprofit is in, I would say, allocate more or less time to fundraising. At least 50% of the time is a good start anytime, and 100% of the time if the nonprofit is really in trouble.

And Katie from NE posted a comment that made my day:

Since I work in a nonprofit that exists to raise money for a hospital, I can easily agree with Marc, but yes, for most nonprofits there is programming and advocacy, too. I would mention that there is fundraising potential in programming and advocacy efforts that shouldn’t be overlooked, and just because you are “working on our outreach” that doesn’t mean that the outreach activity might not also present a fundraising opportunity. For instance, if you are lining up volunteers to read with recent immigrants, you might also look for ways to bring board members or supporters in for an open house or other event to both orient the volunteers and make them feel important and appreciated, and help dial in your potential major donors to the core mission. Fundraising can be a part of nearly everything you do.

“Fundraising can be a part of nearly everything you do.”

I think Katie summed up what I’d meant to say.

But the conversation’s just starting. What do you think? Is fundraising taking away from mission? Or is there a way that fundraising it be part of “nearly everything you do” in your nonprofit?

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How much time should a nonprofit executive director allocate to fundraising?

Marc A. Pitman — Tue, 25 May 2010 11:47:43 +0000

Not long ago, I received this great question:

Q: As an E.D., what percentage of my time should be spent on fund raising? I am relatively new at this and want to balance my schedule.

A: Interesting question. I’m tempted to say 100%.

But there are so many variables:

If fundraising is your only income stream – you must be constantly fundraising
If you’re a small nonprofit – you must be constantly fundraising
If you have a staff to fundraise – you must trust them to do their job, and be constantly fundraising in sync with them yourself

I really know of no hard and fast percentage. But you can see my bias.

Marc

(Although shorter than most answers, the ED found this very helpful. Perhaps its brevity helped make it helpful?)

[Do you have a question about nonprofits or fundraising that you'd like considered for Question Marc? Send it to marc@fundraisingcoach.com.]

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