I’ll be speaking at the Social Media FTW conference on September 22 in Portland, Maine. The organizers have asked each of the presenters to do a quick video promoting why people should come to their session.

Would you help me decide which video to send to the conference organizers? It would be great if you could click through to YouTube and vote by clicking the “like” button on the one you like most. (Please only click the like button, not the thumbs down.) But that is asking alot, I know. So you can vote in the comments here too.

This video promo is less than 1 minute:

If you can’t see the video here, it’s on YouTube at http://youtu.be/ZAU9phQUtaU

This one is slightly longer:

If you can’t see the video here, it’s on YouTube at http://youtu.be/YCfTOxyWJc8

To get a discount for the conference, go to http://www.socialmediaftw.com/ and enter the code: marcpitmanFTW

(c) The Fundraising Coach, LLC

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The Chronicle of Philanthropy reported of a couple of $4 million gifts give to surprised nonprofits.

According to the story, a Pasadena couple gave $4 million to each of their alma maters. As is typical in stories like this (and Richard Walters [$4 mill] and Jean Preston [$8 mill] and Helene Alley [$7.3 mill]), people had no idea the couple had this sort of wealth.

I take two lessons from this kind of story:

• Never underestimate anyone

  We have to strategically choose who we invest our time with because we have to be good stewards of our nonprofit’s limited resources. But these stories remind us of what I call “forced integrity”: we are forced to have integrity in dealing with everyone. The $100 may end up giving $7.3 million, like Helen Alley. Or they might not.

  But they are human and therefore worthy of respect.

• Keep sowing

  Stories like these also remind me of Galatians 6:7: Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. People reap what they sow.

  I have no idea what the faith commitments of any of these donors or recipients are. But I do know that Ray Kroc was on to something when he said, “Luck is a dividend of sweat. The more you sweat, the luckier you get.”

  So keep sowing. Keep doing the right things. The harvest may come from an entirely different field. But a harvest will come. And in the words of Galatians 6:9: Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

I believe we’ll hear more of these stories in the coming years. Are you positioned to receive a gift like this?

Do you have a “don’t grow weary” story? Share it in the comments here!

(c) The Fundraising Coach, LLC

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Happy Star Wars Day!

May the 4th has become an unofficial Star Wars holiday, given the pun on “May the Force be with you.” (Back in Catholic school, my friends and I would respond, “And also with you.” Being extra witty–in my own mind–I replied “This is a reading from the Gospel of Luke.”)

So today being May the 4th got me thinking about fundraising. Isn’t that the first thing you think of?

The Force in Nonprofit Fundraising

As I think about what “the force” is in fundraising, “expectation” immediately comes to mind.

In the Star Wars movies, the Jedi characters “feel” the direction things are moving and are able to respond based not on sight but on insight. So too with fundraising.

So much of what we do is based on

• sensing where the donor is at,
• sensing what choice is appropriate for the initial ask,
• sensing when to stop a solicitation and save it for a later day.

And many times we fee like we’re as blind as Luke Skywalker is on the Millenium Falcon with the hood covering his eyes and a flying metal ball shooting lasers at him.

Use the power of the force

But I think the real power of the force is in expectation. Expectation dictates how we approach prospects, how we draft fundraising letters, how we involve volunteers. If we expect people to be annoyed by our “begging,” they feel it and respond in kind. (Remember, you’re not begging!)

But if we expect people to want to be involved in our cause, imagine them as waiting for someone to show them how their lives can have even more meaning, we approach people with a boldness can be contagious. Granted, too much boldness can become obnoxious, but that’s a line we need to tread as we seek funding for our cause.

So on this Star Wars Day, pay attention to the force of expectation in your work. Are you expecting good things from your next interaction? Or are you expecting it to fail?

It takes the same amount of imagination to expect good outcomes and success as it does to expect bad outcomes and failure. So “use the force” to help you do tremendous amounts of good today!

What other parallels do you see with the Star Wars universe and the practice of nonprofit fundraising?

(c) The Fundraising Coach, LLC

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Last week Good Day New York invited me to talk about career stress in light of Steven Slater’s quitting his job by jumping out of a JetBlue plane.

The interview is below. But there was so much more that I sent to Good Day New York. The entire 5-page article is available here:
Changing Careers Without Facing Felony Charges.

Here’s the interview:

But be sure to read the article. There’s a lot more there!
Changing Careers Without Facing Felony Charges

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Earlier this week, I walked into an office here at Inland Hospital and saw this.

After being a bit grossed out, I read that it was one way this office was collecting for our hospital’s United Way drive.

Being the geek I am, I decided to run a photo caption contest by posting this picture to TwitPic and Facebook.

I have some very funny friends. Here are their responses:

My Twitter Friends

• @kimberlylauth: The AMA is investigating the cause of Donald Trumps unusual kidney stones.
• @sandrasims: Pennies for Prostrates.
• @melmatho: Gotta give, gotta give, gotta give right now…
• @silverati2: Don’t piss away your pennies!
• @iman207: “You’re in. Please give”

And My Facebook Friends

• Margaret Battistelli: “That’s right, baby, I’m so rich I pee money.”
• Nathalie Lutz: Urine for a change!
• Jim Marks (crass sarcasm): Don’t piss away an opportunity to help others.
• Tom McCowan: Holy crap. I didn’t really even realize how accurate I was when I tell my daughters to keep the money away from their mouths because they don’t know where it’s been.
• Kate Armstrong Lee: We will get it out of you any way we have to … we have catheters and we aren’t afraid to use them.
• Richard DeVeau: Every little drop helps.
• Thomas R. W. Longstaff: Giving until it hurts.
• Matthew Sargent: Don’t piddle away your money on silly junk – donate to a worthy cause today!
• Caroline Cornish: Wow. I’m so naive, I didn’t even know what that was… I was going to suggest, “Let’s get a handle on our financial future!”
• Larry Hehn:
  • Keep your money from going down the drain.
  • 32 ounces of prevention – must be worth 32 pounds of cure!
  • Fill it up or we’ll start passing around the bed pan.
• Amy Toussaint-Lagasse: We were thinking about using the 24 hour urine jug!!! The big orange ones!!!
• Daniel Catano: my parents told me not to piss away all of my money…
• John Goodine: It’s a Pissybank!
• David Hazeltine: Gives a whole new meaning to a “Drop in the Bucket” campaign!!
• Lauren Sterling: “A Penny for your pee!”
• Garrett Robinson: Don’t Piss your money away! Let us do it for you!
• Mirjam Adolphi: Other has needs too
• Chris Forbes: Urine-vited to help!

Fortunately, we did go over our fundraising goal! (Our cup runneth over?)

I have more than a decade in fundraising, but I’d never seen this!

Got creative captions of your own? Feel free to add you captions in the comments here, on TwitPic or on Facebook.

(c) The Fundraising Coach, LLC

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Do you remember Jean Preston, the unassuming librarian who’d amassed an $8 million estate?

Or Helene Whitlock Alley, the $100 donor that bequethed $7.3 million to a diabetes group.

Well here’s another entry in the never underestimate anyone category: Richard Walters.

Perhaps you’ve heard his name on NPR:

“Support for NPR comes from the estate of Richard Leroy Walters, whose life was enriched by NPR, and whose bequest seeks to encourage others to discover public radio.”

To most of the people that knew him at the end of his life, Richard was just a nice homeless man. He didn’t even own a car. But when he died, he’d amassed an estate of about $4 million and gave NPR and many other nonprofits $400,000 each.

You see, this homeless man had retired from a successful career. And, according to the article on the NPR site, he was making stock trades from a telephone at a senior center.

Back in Fundraising Secret #17, I encouraged you to ask everyone for planned gifts.

I’ll bet there are possible Jeans, Helenes, and Richards in your organization’s universe. What will you do this week to help get to know the next one a little better?

(c) The Fundraising Coach, LLC

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Apparently 2009 is going to be the year of learning to delay Alzheimer’s.

In today’s news, work is apparently officially proven to delay Alzheimer’s. The equation? 1 year or work = 6 weeks of delay.

Earlier this year, I read that drinking strong coffee may reduce the risk of dementia or Alzheimer’s by 65%!

What does this have to do with fundraising? Probably not much.

But perhaps by providing a form of work our nonprofits are helping our volunteers stay in their right mind. And if we add strong coffee for the nonprofit employees, are we moving toward a more sane society?

(c) The Fundraising Coach, LLC

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See’s Chocolates sent me a tin of chocolates they use for a chocolate fundraiser. I told them my blog doesn’t talk about fundraising sales, but they insisted and who am I to turn down free chocolate?

The tin came yesterday. I was pleasantly surprised by both the assortment of chocolates in the tin and at how good they tasted.

In a totally unscientific poll, I ask our dinner guests:

1. Did you like the chocolates? They did.
2. If they were being sold as a fundraiser for your church’s school, would you buy them? They would.

Then I asked, “If you had to raise money for your church’s school, would you prefer to ask for donations or sell chocolates?”

They strongly preferred to sell chocolates. Even after I told them that only a portion of the sale would go to the school, the rest would get sent to California. They still insisted that selling something would be easier. One guest said she’d much prefer to give the person something “tangible” than just take their money.

And she’s not alone. I can talk ’til I’m blue in the face about how asking people for money isn’t taking from them. Jeff Brooks does an even better job. (Listen to my interview of Jeff for my occasional Ask Without Fear! Radio Show to find out more.)

And I could go on and on telling people that selling things dilutes your brand and potentially confuses your message to donors. I could even warn them of the “slippery slope.” Doesn’t it seem that after an organization does one type of fundraising sale, they keep adding on more? Starts with chocolate bars. Then wrapping paper. Then raffle tickets.

But all of these eloquent pleas wouldn’t change the fact that many people think fundraising is taking something from someone without offering something back. And selling them something tangible feels more comfortable to them.

So if your volunteers want to do fundraising sales, it may be a form of engaging your volunteers. I’d recommend asking them to do the research and finding the best ones. (See’s Chocolates may be a good place to start.)

But I’d be sure to reserve the right to make the final decision. Make sure your fundraising reinforces the mission and message of your school or church or nonprofit. (I’m tired of salespeople eagerly trying to prey on my volunteers, hoping they’ll become a cheap sales team for their long distance calling card or other product!)

And while you’re using these types of sales to engage volunteers, be sure to use your nonprofit storytelling skills to educate them on the joy donors receive when giving is moved from a business transaction to philanthropy!

(c) The Fundraising Coach, LLC

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I sure love the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s “Give & Take” roundup of nonprofit blogs. Today I found a gem from fundraising consultant Tom Belford on the Madoff ponzi scandal.

Tom writes on a pretty obvious, but unspoken, double standard: every few years, nonprofits are called to account for their actions and donations but large players in the finance industry go free without regulation.

Today the press reports that the SEC chief admits that his watchdog agency never investigated Madoff’s activities despite years of complaints. But let one nonprofit emit an errant fart and grandstanding Members of Congress and the IRS would be all over it (the nonprofit, that is) like ticks on a hound.

He sure paints a picture with words!

(c) The Fundraising Coach, LLC

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Like many Americans, I’ve been inundated with news stories about the Big 3 automakers attempts to get a federal loan of billions of dollars. Yes, billions.

So I started wondering, what if the Big 3 were to teach nonprofits how to fundraise?

Some of the humorous answers included:

• Lose touch with your donor base: Ignore the fact that the market’s changing and just stick with what used to work decades ago.
• Don’t spend too much time figuring out strategy: When you’re asking for huge amounts of money, there’s no need to have a plan of action. A “you can trust us” approach is fine.
• Assume everyone’s going to fund you: After all, you are the center of your universe. Why shouldn’t you be the center of theirs too?

Admittedly, these were thought up with my tongue firmly planted in my cheek. But it’s scary how often we do the same thing.

• Many nonprofits just do the same old fundraising events and mailings because we always have without measuring their effectiveness. And we too often forget to explore new tools like Twitter or Facebook.
• Talk to many nonprofits and they can’t clearly articulated plan including:
  • specifically how much money they want to raise
  • what they’re doing to do with it, and
  • by what date.
• Many nonprofits seem to forget that nobody owes them a gift. We need to earn the donor’s trust each time and be transparent about how we report back.

Those were my ideas for fundraising like the Big 3. This morning, I sent out a message on Twitter just to see what others would say. Some responses were:

TerraScene what a dismal business model

TerraScene arguably a big payoff in the shortrun – but no soul. no accountability. no long term vision for the greater good. yikes!

@rogercarr Fundraising like the Big 3? Volunteers (and development staff) might be members of the Union of Nonprofit Fundraisers.

You mean mess up royally, abandon your donors, and then ask for help?

@forimpact re: big 3. I think most nonprofits DO fundraise like them ‘bail us out’. And therein lies the rub…

How about you? What do you think it would look like if nonprofits fundraised like the Big 3?

Use the comments to let us know. And, please, feel free to be humorous.

(c) The Fundraising Coach, LLC

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