Has your organization created an innovative, inspiring video this past year? For six years, the DoGooder Nonprofit Video Awards has been shining a spotlight on all the clever ways that nonprofits use video.  It’s a contest that’s all about moving the field of nonprofit video forward and encouraging cause-video creators to try new approaches that make their work different.

And different is just what The Case Foundation  is looking for in this year’s contest.

• Did you experiment?
• Take risks?
• Did you highlight a failure from your past that’s helping shape the future?
• Share a big idea that will inspire others to dream big?
• Were you… Fearless?

If so, the Case Foundation wants to reward your organization!  This year, the Case Foundation is awarding one $2,500 grant to the organization with the most fearless video in each of the four categories, as selected by a panel of special judges.

These special grants will recognize those nonprofit video creators who aren’t afraid to deviate from the norm, use innovative approaches and fearlessly tell compelling, honest stories direct from the heart. Fearless video means taking risks and trying new approaches for the sake of creating moving content that inspires the viewer.  We recognize that nonprofits are fearlessly making new and interesting video everyday and we want to see more!

There’s no better time than right now to enter your video to win great prizes like these special grants from the Case Foundation as well as cash prizes and products from Cisco, free registrations to next year’s NTC from NTEN and your video on the YouTube homepage on April 5, 2012. To enter the awards, just visit the contest website by February 29, 2012, and submit your video.  Winners will be announced by See3 Communications on April 5, 2012.

Last year’s contest was a record setter with almost 1,400 submissions from over 800 nonprofit organizations and record breaking views on the website.  It’s incredible to think of all the great work the participating organizations submitted.  See past winners here  to get inspired.

So what are you waiting for?  Enter today!

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Children’s National Medical Center has developed a fun, donor-centric approach to engage potential new donors via their “Send Your Valentine to a Child in the Hospital” campaign.

With a few clicks, you can send a Valentine’s card that will be printed out and given to a child in the hospital. Children’s National Medical Center is “hoping to shower each of our patients with lots of valentines, so they know how much people like you care.”

And they note that “You will receive occasional updates from Children’s National, and can unsubscribe at any time.”

Be sure to check out their follow-up emails as well.

It’s a clever, simple way to engage — and easy to emulate.

Valentine’s Day is coming up.  What better time to shower your donors with love?

Over the past two years we’ve featured a number of ways for you to ramp up your organization’s stewardship program.  Here are six, in no particular order:

1.  Does your organization’s stewardship system need a tune-up?  Or perhaps you’re creating one from scratch?  Listen in on this 37 minute teleseminar with Lisa to learn:

• The two biggest mistakes you can make in a thank you letter (besides not sending one!)
• How your first communication with a donor following a gift sets the stage for future gifts
• Why you need to change your thank you letters and how often (and why you should include a P.S.)

2.  “On behalf of the board and staff of XYZ, I wish to thank you for your generous gift of…”  Zzzzzzzzzz.  Need to retool your organization’s thank you letter?  You’re sure to find plenty of take-aways in this “before” and “after” example.

3.  Shake it up baby now.  If you’re sending out seasons greeting cards, your mail is falling into the “because everyone else does it” category.  Try sending your donors a little gift to show your love.

4.  Does your communications calendar include plenty of listening?  Think of every opportunity you have to listen to your donors.

5.  Create lifetime donors!  Eight ways.

6.  And how about a plethora of ways for thanking via some of your favorite bloggers?

We talk a lot in this industry about donor retention.

All kinds of “Phantom Donor” testing occurs, such as Mal Warwick’s practice of sending a round of checks to twenty organizations to study the (usually unimpressive) returns.

Articles turn up regularly on penning the perfect thank you letter, and whether a thank you letter should include an additional ask, and how many times and ways that you can thank your donors.

So, what’s missing in this equation?

It’s simple really.  You can’t really be a donor-centric organization without both a good database and solid protocols and training in using that database.

How can you thank, survey, segment and communicate with your supporters if you’re keeping that data in an Excel spreadsheet?

My first step in working with any new client – typically a small, community nonprofit – is to evaluate their database and make recommendations.

How do you locate the perfect database?  Robert Weiner’s article on that topic gives a terrific overview and can help those new to donor databases evaluate and select a database that’s right for their organization.

But don’t stop there.  Begin developing your protocols for data entry before you begin using your new database.  Make certain that you’ve factored in funding for training and regular updates.

Awhile back I was having a conversation with Mazarine Treyz of Wild Woman Fundraising. Do you know Mazarine? She is one awesome woman, smart, savvy and loaded with energy and good will.

Anyway she said to me “Pam, I just love your consistency!”

She was talking about my weekly enews, The Grow Report, which goes out like clockwork every Thursday morning.

Why every week?

Early on when I made the decision to launch an enews targeted specifically to “small shop” development directors, one of the biggest decisions I had to make was how often I would mail. Regardless of whether I mailed monthly, bi-weekly or weekly, it’s a huge commitment. My enews takes an average of anywhere from two to four hours a week to produce – time that could be spent on client work – and costs about $75 a month to send.

But I believe strongly though that consistency, especially in today’s world, is vitally important to relationship-building. And it’s an area where the smaller community organization often falls flat.

If I had a nickel for every nonprofit website that I’ve visited or organization that I’ve been contacted by without any strategic communications plan I’d be rich. “Click here to read our newsletter” you’ll see proclaimed on their website, only to be directed to a pdf from 2009.

The importance of consistency and creating your daily, weekly, and monthly habits, especially when it comes to donor care, plays a huge role in your fundraising success.

In his book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, Robert Cialini notes that consistency is particularly important when it comes to the nonprofit sector. Fundraising has always been challenging, even in the best of times. You’re asking people to give financially without really expecting anything in return.

But when you use consistency — along with asking potential donors to take small steps toward true commitment (for example urging a prospective donor to “like” you on Facebook, or watch a video about your work, or even to forward your email) – before asking them to give financially, you’re using what Cialdini refers to as the “foot-in-the-door technique,” and you’ll have greater success.

Why do you see so little consistency in the world of small nonprofit organizations?

Building relationships takes time, focus and commitment.

How can you create an organization that’s donor-focused, year round? Learn why about.com called Simple Development Systems: Fundraising for the one-person development office “a road map to success that can take the scary out and bring in a sense of comfort, self-confidence, and focus about what can and should be done.”

Senator Al Franken’s latest email, a holiday greeting from his family to you, has even more take-aways for the nonprofit marketer.

How can you make your supporters feel a part of your organization’s “family?”

• Write in an open, personable style.  No jargon allowed.
• Share photographs.
• Use humor but keep it gentle.
• Creative use of the P.S.

You’re a nonprofit fundraiser, right?  That’s why you’re here, am I correct?

Take a look at the latest email to land in my inbox from Al Franken (click to read):

Takeaways?

• A fun, breezy subject header.  One that makes you curious to open.
• It’s personalized
• A you-centered story, one that everyone can relate to
• A gradually escalating call to action
• And check out the P.S.

When this email from Cafe Press, wishing me a happy anniversary from the date of my first purchase with them, arrived in my inbox I thought “how easy would this be for nonprofit organizations to emulate?”

Sure, if you’re the Lone Development Director, chances are you’re too busy to remember your own family’s anniversaries, let alone donors.  But what if you could implement something like this on autopilot?

Simply sign up for a service, such as Send out Cards, and set it up for your donor to get an anniversary card on the date of their first gift to your organization.   No jargon, no ask, just a simple joyful reminder of how grateful you are for their involvement.  Set it and forget it…but your donors won’t!

How can you create an organization that’s donor-focused, year round? Learn why about.com called Simple Development Systems: Fundraising for the one-person development office “a road map to success that can take the scary out and bring in a sense of comfort, self-confidence, and focus about what can and should be done.

Today’s before and after example comes to us courtesy of Erin Tierney, Development & Outreach Specialist for the amazing organization Explorations in Math, located in Seattle, Washington.

Erin writes that after downloading a copy of the free eBook, Lifetime Donor Attraction System she was compelled to recreate her organization’s already “not bad” thank you letter to result in a warmer, more donor-centered approach.  You can read both versions by clicking below.

Note how the second version brings the donor into the picture, inviting them to share in the experience of the children discovering the joy of math.  While there are dissenting opinions about the practice of using a photograph within the body of a thank you letter, I am of the opinion that if a photograph adds to the overall charm of the letter and the organization’s printing capabilities supports it, go for it.  We are, after all, in the joy-producing business.

Explorations in Math - Old Version

Explorations in Math - New Version

And, just in time for the upcoming weeks of thanking, you can still download your free copy of the Lifetime Donor Attraction System to redo your organization’s thank you letters – and create your own donor WOW calendar for 2012!

How can you create an organization that’s donor-focused, year round? Learn why about.com called Simple Development Systems: Fundraising for the one-person development office “a road map to success that can take the scary out and bring in a sense of comfort, self-confidence, and focus about what can and should be done.

What’s the real secret to fundaising success?

Last Friday #smNPchat featured guest expert Gail Perry to dish on major gifts in the small shop.  If you’re unfamiliar with Twitter chats or the #smNPchat, you can find out more here.  #smNPchat happens every other Friday and is hosted by yours truly, Marc Pitman and Amy Sept.  And it’s the only Twitter chat covering marketing and fundraising for the small nonprofit organization.

Gail never disappoints.  Lots of great information (and if you’d like to check out the transcript, you can find it here) but what it all boils down to is Gail’s mantra:  If you want money, ask for advice. If you want advice, ask for money.

The fourth principle in Dale Carnegie’s “How to Win Friends & Influence People”  – along with Influence: the Psychology of Persuasion, one of two books that should be on every fundraiser’s bookshelf – is “Be a good listener.  Encourage others to talk about themselves.”

Friday’s chat may have been all about major gifts, but the lessons from that chat are a primer for great fundraising in general.  I’ve talked about this before, how, in my first development job, with no traditional nonprofit training whatsoever, I created a small survey that resulted in three new major donors.

What are some ways the small nonprofit organization can listen?

1. Regular surveys:  think short, sweet and batching.  If you’re not factoring in surveys when you’re developing your organization’s communication calendar for the year you’re doing your organization a grave disservice.
2. What about sending out an email survey autoresponder to every new subscriber to your organization’s enews, 30-40 days after subscribing?
3. Think about sending out one page direct mail surveys, every other week or so to 10-50 donors depending upon the size of your database.
4. Schedule time for visits.  Was I ever delighted to hear from a prospective client that she’d be spending a day delivering home-baked banana bread to donors!
5. Open up your site for regular tours.  Could you host 3-4 mini “get to know you” events at your agency throughout the year?

A word about survey length.  People love to give their opinions when asked.  Very few people have the time or inclination to spend much time filling out a lengthy survey.  Keep it short, sweet and simple.  And an incentive to respond can’t hurt.  Spend a few bucks for Starbucks or Amazon gift cards.  It won’t break the bank.

While Gail noted that getting out of the office can be a huge impediment to success, I’ve just given you several other very do-able items for those times when getting out is tough.

By learning how to be a great listener you’ll be attracting your donors, rather than seeking them out.  And you’ll be surprised at their response.

Keep up with #smNPchat by liking us on Facebook! 

How can your small nonprofit learn the donor-centric basics for successfully funding your mission?   Simple Development Systems has been called the “Bible” for the donor-centered one-person development shop!

Welcome to the Nonprofit Blog Carnival round-up for November! This month we asked bloggers to offer up knock-your-socks-off ideas that they’ve used to thank donors.  The entries poured in – and why not?!

As UK fundraiser Mark Philips noted in Five things we learned at the IFC, “Calling a donor to thank them (whether you speak to them or just leave a message on the answer phone) can increase their next year’s gift value by up to 40%.”  And Blackbaud’s recent report Growing Philanthropy in the United States recommended an enhanced “focus on retention and building supporter loyalty” and reported that a “10 percent improvement in attrition can yield up to a 200 percent increase in projected (lifetime) value.”

How are bloggers, consultants and organizations going above and beyond to thank donors?  Read on…

How can older organizations rich in history find new methods of saying thank you?  You’ll delight in this charming exhibit courtesy of SOFII.

Phenomenal copywriter Jules Brown of Dear Joan notes that saying thank you is an art, not a process and offers up three tips for getting it right.

No article on thank you gestures would be complete without a post from The Good Steward himself, Dan Blakemore.  I always credit Dan with my oft-repeated advice to schedule in a minimum of 30 minutes a day to call and connect with donors.  Dan offers up Three Simple & Impactful Ways to Thank (and Steward) Your Donors.

Who are your supporters really?  Agents of Good puts a face to a name and urges you to “care, love and nurture these wonderful people in every way you can – THAT’s fundraising.”  We would agree.

And from another Canadian favorite, Kimberley MacKenzie, comes Anyone can thank a donor.  Just do it!

How does an organization built around intention and gratitude thank their donors?  Epic Change founder Stacy Monk and co-director Sanjay Patel have filmed an incredibly moving gratitude dance.

What are ways organizations can “wow” their donors all year long?  This free, downloadable ebook inspired many.

Connection Cafe offers up Seven ways to say thanks.

Listening is always key, as Daily Giving Adventures reminds us.  Have you ever thought about having “patrons, or staff members (whom the donor knows and has a fondness for) sing a few bars of a thank you song into a special voicemail message?”

Mark Phillips gets inspired by a holiday gift guide and asks what are some personalized ways that you can show your donors that you love them?

Why would you want to say thank you in Chinese?  Blogger Marti Fischer shares her method behind the madness.

Don’t ever forget your volunteers, the very lifeblood of many organizations.  How are you thanking them?  Volunteerspot has ideas for you.

Catholic Charities of Fort Worth uses an array of methods to say thank you, including video.

The always thoughtful Gayle Gifford shares the story of one very special show of gratitude - and why we, as a sector, need to do better in saying thank you.

As you’re reaping the returns from your year-end appeal, don’t forget to redo your thank you letters!  And who better to advise you than Lisa Sargent?  Check out this before and after example.

None other than the Fundraising Coach himself, Marc Pitman reminds us that being thanked never gets old – and what might seem mundane to us, still delights donors!

Wild Woman Fundraiser says that good manners never go out of style and asks us to “create a little more happiness in the world. Isn’t that worth it, in itself?”  Mazarine Treyz should know, she creates happiness wherever she goes.

Should your board chair call to thank a $20 donor?  What if there are special circumstances?  What would you do?

I’ve been a long-time fan of Maureen Carruthers of Low Hanging Fruit.  Now she offers up a thought-provoking post on rethinking donor thank you  gifts.

While this SOFII post is an older one, it still resonates and is bound to give the small shop fundraiser an idea or two on how to say thank you throughout the year.

And, of course, no round up of Giving Thanks posts would be complete without a revisit to Lisa Sargent’s thank you letter clinics hosted at SOFII.  Bookmark it if you haven’t already.

We can always use a formula, and brilliant nonprofit marketer Kivi Leroux Miller shares hers for powerful thank yous.

How can you thank to the MAX?  Exceptional nonprofit coach Lori Jacobwith has one great story!

Nonprofit marketer extraordinaire Katya Andresen says that “most nonprofits are terrible at it. If you’re good, you stand out.  Be the best organization at saying thank-you!

Sofia Michelakis at Philanthropy News Digest shares an interesting story about donor stewardship – from the donor’s perspective – in The donor is not always right.

Don’t forget your foundation funders!  Betsy Baker of Your Grant Authority has some savvy ideas on thanking your foundation funders year-round (just be sure to check with the foundation offices beforehand to ensure that they’re fine with the publicity).

Kirsten Bullock shares the gentle, heartwarming story of her brother, Fritz, someone we could all learn a lesson from.

What an awesome thank you video, via charity auctioneer Sherry Trular.  Check out Charity auctioneer grabs a video camera to express her gratitude.

Fundraising and nonnprofit coach Sandy Rees urges you to take a fresh look at your thank you letter.

Five simple ways to thank your donors courtesy of author and consultant Amy Eisenstein.

Lori Halley of Wild Apricot writes compellingly of thanking – from a donor’s perspective.

Joanne Fritz of about.com is hosting the December Nonprofit Blog Carnival.   Joanne asks “What’s Going to Happen in 2012 for Nonprofits?“  Trends, themes, the economic outlook – what direction do you plan to go in?

If you’re a one-person development and communications department in a busy nonprofit organization, you how challenging it can be.  Your job title consists of:

• Individual giving manager
• Event planner
• Grant writer
• Database manager
• Director of stewardship
• Public relations director
• Social media manager
• Webmaster
• and more

How do you keep it all together…or do you?  Studies have shown that multi-tasking flat out doesn’t work.  You know it yourself:  when you’re responding to emails, while simultaneously writing your year-end appeal letter, and simultaneously running queries on your database, you’re not giving your best to any one of those tasks.

The truth is, by doing less, you might accomplish more.

How’s that?

Well, stop for a moment.  What is, after all, the best use of your time?  Where do you need to focus – really focus – to fully fund your organization’s mission?

1. Building relationships
2. Following to your development plan
3. Understanding your mission, inside and out

One way to ensure that you get done everything that needs to get done is by batching.  Batching simply involves looking at tasks that you do over and over again and batching them into one or two spans of time.  Examples of things you might “batch” include:

• Checking email once or twice a day.  Perhaps schedule email from 9:00 until 9:15 or 9:30 and then again before you leave for the day.  (Trouble sticking to it?  Try a site-blocking program such as Leechblock to remind you.)
• The same with social media.  Spend 30 minutes to an hour a day monitoring your organization’s social media accounts.  Schedule it.
• When can you schedule daily or weekly calls to donors to thank them for their support?

What are weekly and monthly habits that will bring you closer to your goals?

• Schedule an hour once or twice a day or half a day a week dedicated solely to foundation prospect research.
• Eliminate meetings whenever possible.
• Free three to four hours a week when you’ll connect with program staff, take donors or board members to lunch.

Buy yourself a timer, and use it.  A task you might think takes you three hours might, in reality take you one.  And vice versa.  Learn where your time goes.

Delegate
A word about delegating:  I’ve seen waaaay too many organizations delegating responsibilities that they haven’t taken the time to understand.  Think social media or website development – this is what leads to organizations spending $5000 and more for a website they could have paid $500 with with better functionality – and control.  Understand why you are in social media and where your donors are.  I’d be very leery about outsourcing your social media, particularly without a solid understanding of your motivations and goals for social media.

Think creatively.  How could you utilize Craigslist or elance?  I’ve outsourced to Craigslist for small jobs like creating editable pdf surveys, logo design, compiling results, Excel worksheets – you name it.

Whenever you’re tempted to veer off course, remind yourself: “how does this factor into my development plan?”

Want more?  Check out Simple Development Systems: Successful fundraising for the one-person shop, the only book written solely for the one-person fundraising department!

What’s your biggest grantwriting fear?

Awhile back I did a poll of my readers on the biggest fears grantwriters face in writing a grant proposal.

Not surprisingly approaching new foundations, fear of rejection and facing a blank page were near the top of the list.

After all, who hasn’t suffered writers’ block at one time or another?

And, when you’ve got far too much on your plate, it’s easy to fall back on the tried and true funders – those foundations with whom you’ve built up good relationships over the years – neglecting to keep up with new foundation prospect research.

I was surprised, however, to find that contacting the foundation was one of the top fears grantwriters faced.

But, hey, it makes sense. It’s a little like cold calling in sales – something anyone who has ever been in sales generally acknowledges is not fun. It can be rather intimidating to place a call to foundation offices.

Yet, isn’t it true that by doing that which you fear, on a regular basis, you produce the greatest outcome?

Several years ago I was just beginning my career in nonprofit marketing and development.   And I’d spent considerable time and effort researching a new foundation grantmaker, and that research had led me to believe that the goals and programming of our organization meshed perfectly with this particular grantmaker’s funding priorities.

Bingo!

I went on to spend a good amount of time drafting the perfect proposal … the quintessential cover letter … pulling together statistics and stories … only to learn, just prior to sending the package out in the mail, that the organization had applied for funding to this particular foundation.

Indeed, they had applied three times – and been declined every time.

I was sorely tempted to throw my hard work in the trash.

Why was there no record in the database? Why hadn’t the Executive Director known about the prior proposals? Why hadn’t the funder funded us? How did the files disappear?

Good questions all.

But the high staff turnover prevalent in many nonprofit organizations is not what this article is about.

Fortunately I had spent seven years working in programming and communications for a large regional grantmaking foundation. And one thing that I had noticed throughout those years was how rare it was that a prospective grantee would follow up after a grant proposal declination.  So you had better believe that I promptly picked up the phone to place a call to the Foundation offices to learn what I could.

I pictured myself leaving a voicemail so you can imagine my surprise when the foundation’s Executive Director, a man well known in Philadelphia philanthropic circles, answered the phone himself.  He was warm and genuine and I introduced myself, explained my role in this wonderful organization and then rather brazenly, asked him point blank why they had never funded us.

I still remember his response.

He laughed.

“Send in an LOI,” he said, “we’ll take another look.”

I scrapped the proposal and drafted a two-page letter instead and off it went. Within two weeks the foundation called to schedule a site visit.

Fortunately the site visit was scheduled during a particularly busy time in the organization’s programming.

The Executive Director arrived, spent an hour watching our marvelous little program in action and we were fully funded within a week.

Since then they have become good friends and regular funders and their grants have increased. Their participation has brought other funders on board as well.

The biggest mistake in grantseeking?  Failing to follow-through.  Persistence pays off!

Can it be true?  Blackbaud’s recently released report, Growing Philanthropy in the United States,  notes that philanthropic giving stands at a paltry 2% of the average disposable income – a 40 year average.

Yikes!

How can nonprofit fundraisers increase giving to keep up with the pace of society’s increased demand?

Blackbaud brought together a think tank of 35 fundraising leaders at their first Growing Philanthopy Summit in June and arrived at a plethora of recommendations for growing individual donors in the new economy.

The resulting report, authored by Adrian Sargent and Jen Shang arrived at a host of recommendations, just a few of which I’ll touch on here:

Redefine relationships from donor relationships to individual relationships.
You’ve heard it before:  your donors are not atm machines.  Your supporters support what they’re accomplishing through you – not your annual fund (ugh, can we agree to get rid of that term once and for all?).  Increased donor surveying is one way to gain a deeper understanding of their motivations.  Recognize that there’s no such thing as generic persuasion.

Re-orient toward longer term measures of fundraising performance.
In everything that we do, we should be thinking about the lifetime value of a donor.   We know this intrinsically, but how do we apply measurements?  Perhaps more importantly, how do you educate executive directors and boards to the concept?

Enhance focus on retention and building supporter loyalty.“A 10 percent improvement in attrition can yield up to a 200 percent increase in projected value.”  Yet organizations continue to focus on new donor acquisition to the exclusion of true relationship building.  Is stewardship in your organization an afterthought or relegated to an underpaid admin?  Get with the program!  Showing your gratitude is fun, it makes for good karma and it’s everyone’s responsibility.

Promote the development of shared back office facilities.
The study “recommended that groups of nonprofits in a given community get together and share fundraising expertise with the creation of one central back office facility.”  Or think about starting a mastermind group like my friend Heather did!

Encourage the adoption of monthly giving.
“The wider adoption of monthly giving (also known as regular or sustained giving) in the U.S. could itself transform philanthropy.”  No!  Really???  GET OUT!  I’ve been beating this drum for the past three years.  Start it, nurture it, grow it.  End of story.

Redesign the system of professional development and certification for fundraisers.
Hmmm.   Membership associations are struggling mightily in the new economy, more than likely because they need to take a hard look at what’s in it for members, not vice versa.  I am not a huge fan of certification programs.  What, after all, do they prove?  That one has obtained the required credit hours and mastered the test taking process or concepts deemed by the accrediting organization to be valuable?  I don’t believe certification truly can measure who is best in their field or, for that matter, creativity and passion for a mission.

Educate board members about the intricacies of fundraising.BINGO!  Fundraising is everyone’s job.  Period.  You’ve got to recognize too that board education is a process.

Break down organizational silos and encourage greater collaboration between teams.How can your marketing department and your development office operate in a vacuum?

Blow the whistle on organizations claiming to have zero costs of fundraising.
Can we have a “Hallelujah and amen!”?

Encourage and promote best practices in social media.
It’s called “social” media for a reason and, in my humble opinion, the potential for building relationships – not necessarily fundraising, but building relationships – is unlimited.  How can you integrate social media (and don’t forget email!) within your fundraising plan?

Tackle high turnover rates in the fundraising profession.The sector has been talking about fundraising employee turnover for years with little resolution in sight.  I’ve faced it myself as a development director, coming on board as the fifth DD in three years.  Developing continuity and true relationships is next to impossible in that kind of environment.  I’ve faced it myself as a consultant, chided that my work was too “market-y” and “it won’t work for us.”  Fundraisers need to take the reins and lead.  We can’t ask for permission.

There’s more.  A whole lot more.  Do your organization a favor.  Download Growing Philanthropy in the United States, print out a copy for your ED and every member of your board and make it an agenda item it at your next board meeting.  Better yet, make it the focus of your next board meeting.

The future of your organization depends on it.

How does the small nonprofit organization create a donor-centric “road map to success that can take the scary out and bring in a sense of comfort, self-confidence, and focus about what can and should be done?”  Simple Development Systems: Successful fundraising for the one-person shop is on sale now!

Are you in the midst of drafting your organization’s year-end appeal?

I’m working on a number of  appeals right now – and, as you might imagine, my mailbox is filling up with year-end appeals as well.  Without fail every single letter (and one brochure) has made me throw up my hands and yell

Why?  They’re missing the basics.  As fundraisers, truly understanding donor centricity is key in everything we do, from our appeal letters to our foundation grant proposals to our web copy to, more importantly than ever, our social media.  

Don’t mistake being donor-centric for tossing in a few “you’s” here and there, like this letter from my local library did:


Dear Friend of the Library: (what? they don’t know my name?  I’ve given every year for the past five years)

Have you been to the XXX Library lately?  It continues to be a busy and wonderful place, whether you are taking out books or DVDs using the computer, or just browsing.  Perhaps you enjoy relaxing with a magazine in our Reading Room or participating in one of our successful programs:

• the XXX Poetry Contest for adults, teens and children,
• diverse programs for children including multi-cultural events, the Science in the Summer Program, and Story Hour
• adult education including one -on-one literacy tutoring, GED preparation, and English as a Second Language.


Have you met our new Head Librarian?  Jane Doe came on board a year ago.  Her creativity, knowledge, and experience as reference librarian have added immeasurably to our Library.  We are very fortunate to have a stable and dedicated staff working with Jane and our patrons.  Their warm, personal touch makes the XXX Library a place worth visiting again and again.

I won’t continue, but I think that you get the gist.  They mean well, truly they do. But despite a few “you’s” thrown in for good measure, this letter is still all about them, them, them.

Remember my mantra:  when your focus is on your donor the money will follow.

And don’t forget emotion.  Today’s SOFII news contained the following gem:
‘I will always remember Indra Sinha’s tip for copywriters : “Don’t start by writing. Start by feeling. Feel, and feel passionately, and the emotion you feel will come through the spaces in between the words.”

Struggling with your nonprofit’s appeal?  Download Simple Development Systems and learn why one reader wrote:  I just purchased your Simple Development Systems last week–I wish I would have found it 5 years ago when I took this job.  It’s wonderful!  One of the most challenging aspects of working in a very small development department is focusing your efforts in the places that will have the largest impact.  There can be a lot of distractions and “fires” that gobble up your day.  This easy-to-read and implement guide has helped me to fine tune my plan for next year.  I’m confident that this is a resource that I will grab again and again in the future.

I’ll be hosting November’s Nonprofit Blog Carnival and what better topic, as Thanksgiving approaches, than giving thanks?

According to the author of Donor-Centered Fundraising, Penelope Burk, “90% of donors who start contributing to a particular cause stop giving by the fifth renewal request.”

And fundraising expert Adrian Sargeant has noted that “Eight of 10 first-time donors do NOT make a second gift.”

You read that right.

Eight of 10 first-time donors do NOT make a second gift.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that it’s far less expensive to market to existing customers than to keep going after new ones.  When you think about how your organization’s thank you following your donor’s first gift sets the stage for future gifts, you’ll be putting an entirely different spin on saying thank you!

It’s pretty simple really.  Saying thank you well – and often – is the most effective fundraising tool you have for building sustainable individual funding

Lately we’re seeing more creative ways of saying thank you.  CharityWater recently posted this video, where founder Scott Harrison personally thanks a very special six-year old.  Handwritten notes are making a comeback.  Organizations are hosting ‘Thank-a-Thons.’  Emily’s List used email and their site to create a personal feel in their recent donor thank you.

We’d love to hear some of the knock-your-socks-off ideas that you’ve used to say ‘thank you!’  We’re particularly interested in how you might be using social media, including video, to express your gratitude.  Have you written a particularly heartfelt thank you letter?  Write a post!

Bonus points for offering advice that can work for small organizations with limited resources.

Want to submit?  Write a blog post, or even choose a recent post that fits the theme.  Go to BlogCarnival.com to submit your post using the form there or submit posts for consideration via email to: nonprofitcarnival@gmail.com – be sure to include your name, your blog’s name and the URL of the post (not your blog homepage).

The deadline for submissions is end of day – Monday, November 28.  Check back  on  Wednesday, November 30 to see if we’ve included your post in the November blog carnival.

Even better?  By submitting your post to the blog carnival, you’ll bring new traffic to your blog and help raise its online profile. If your post is selected for inclusion in this month’s carnival round-up, you’ll get a backlink to your blog post (cool for search engine traffic, no?) and the chance to get your writing in front of new readers.

So, what the heck is a Nonprofit Blog Carnival?

It is a  monthly round-up of blog posts on topics directed at nonprofits. Each month, the host creates a  theme and sends out the call (in a post like this) for posts on that topic. Then the host collects the pertinent posts together and offers these up in a round-up post towards the end of that month.

To find out what this is all about, check out the October Non-profit Blog Carnival, hosted by Lori at Wild Apricot.  Or read more about blog carnivals on About.com.

We can’t wait to read your submissions – be sure to submit your posts by end of day – Monday, November 28.  Oh, and thank you for submitting!

What can you take-away from this beautiful video thank you from CharityWater to one very special six-year old who gave up her birthday so that others could have clean drinking water?

As the gifts poured in following a membership appeal I created a few years back to approximately 70,000 individuals, one donation in particular stood out.  It was a check written out for $137.33 from a local business owner.  We had experimented with including the local businesses in our mailing for the first time.

We ran a check of our database.  Nada.  The business owner had never donated before.  We wondered if perhaps he had meant to pay a bill and accidentally written in our name.  It was a mystery.

So I paid a visit.  Turned out to be a delightfully eclectic antique shop located in the heart of town with, as you might imagine, a delightfully eccentric owner, Harry.  When I thanked him for his gift and inquired about the amount he laughed.  Every year, he explained to me, he would make a charitable gift to a charity he had never donated to before.  The amount?  He was off in reconciling his bank statement and had exactly $137.33 left over.

Chances are you won’t run across a donor with motivations quite like Harry’s.  But many organizations forget that all donors are not created equal.  While our focus has largely been on crafting the perfect story, we never want to forget that we’re writing to different individuals.

Mal Warwick reminds us that:  “segmentation is based on one simple truth:  some people give more money than others.”

Think about how you might segment your own organization’s database:

• Major donors
• Loyal donors
• Lapsed donors
• Prospective donors
• Donors who have made a one-time tribute or memorial gift, perhaps via Facebook
• Vendors and local businesses
• Board members and friends of board members

Every one of these donors has a different motivation for giving to your organization, something that you’ll want to keep in mind as you write to them.

As a postscript to this story, Harry did mention that, out of all of the random donations he had sent out over the years, he had never before received a personal visit.  I should also tell you that Harry became one of our agency’s most loyal donors.

Want more fun, actionable, do-it-now tips to build your donor base?  Download Simple Development Systems and find out why one reviewer called it the “Bible” for the one-person shop!

Early this morning as I was finishing up a 5K run on the nature trail near my home I couldn’t help but feel a sense of accomplishment, along with a wee bit of wonder.

You see, about six years ago I woke up one morning and couldn’t walk.

The pain was debilitating and I recall comparing it to childbirth – except that the pain didn’t go away and there was no beautiful baby for the effort.  The next three weeks were spent in doctors’ and chiropractors’ offices and I was, eventually, diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis.

I’d just started a new development director job — located in a fourth floor walk-up of one of those old Philadelphia townhomes.  Once an avid exerciser and runner, it was weeks before I could tackle so much as a slow and painful walk around the block.

My robust health was something that I’d always taken for granted.  Oh, I ate my fair share of vegetables and steered clear of fast food all my life but I also had a huge sweet tooth — one of the reasons I’d gotten to fitness in the first place.  You see, I hail from a midwestern family so sedentary, I used to joke, that they bordered on comatose.  For me to take up running and weight-lifting in my twenties was looked upon as a tad freakish.

And now I was faced with an illness that I didn’t understand.

Doctors were of little help.  I took prednisone once and never again.  I tried an antibiotic therapy for a period of time that offered some relief but destroyed my gut.  Traditional medicine seemed geared to masking the symptoms with any number of medications – medications that carried numerous side-effects.

There were weeks when I was spending two to three days out of the week bed-ridden.

Through it all I remembered how good healthy felt.  And finally I made a decision that was critical.

I took responsibility for my health.

I didn’t turn  my health over to my doctor.  I didn’t give in to the disease.  I accepted responsibility.

So about two years ago, after several abortive attempts at resuming my traditional fitness routine, which included intense high-repetition, low-weight weight home workouts and running, I finally joined a gym.

It took awhile to get back to regular workouts, and even longer to finally resume my running.  Heck I had told myself that my running days were over; that a good walk would suffice.  But I’d loved running since being introduced to it 20 years earlier and secretly always wanted to get back to it.

Running calmed my mind, raised the endorphins and soothed my spirits.  I get wonderful ideas when I’m running.

When I started back, with the podcast Couch to 5K program, I stuck with the first two or three pocasts for quite awhile.  For anyone not familiar with Couch to 5K, you start out with very short runs of around three to five minutes, gradually increasing your running times over the period of eight weeks, the idea being that by the end of the eight weeks you’d be running a full 5 K at a stretch.

I think that I used just the first two podcasts for the entire eight weeks!

Gradually, though, my endurance increased.  I’m now running three to four 5 Ks a week and lifting weights at the gym four days.  I take an occasional yoga class.

Still, it’s still a journey.

Okay, you’ve made it this far and you’re probably wondering “Why in God’s name is she telling me this?  What does this story have to do with the dismal state of affairs of many nonprofit organizations today?”

As you may have noticed, many nonprofit organizations are paralyzed by the economy.  Of course, prior to the economic breakdown they were paralyzed for other reasons.  Organizations are still relying on traditional methods of nonprofit fundraising education, methods where the “Aha” moments and actual implementable tools are few and far between.  They’re afraid to step outside of the box, afraid to go beyond the type of bland communications that practically 99% of nonprofits out there employ.

So what’s the answer?

Simple.  Nonprofit organizations need to accept responsibility and recognize that there is no magic bullet, no “wishing” for the funding you need.  Nonprofit organizations need to be as committed to funding their mission as they are to their mission.

You can’t let paralysis rule and you need to start where you are.

• No mailing list?  Well you’ve got a board don’t you?  Get a minimum of 5-10 names, address and emails per board member and start your list today.
• Put an optin box on your website to capture email addresses and start an email newsletter this week.
• No foundation funding?  Set up a grants system, focusing on weekly (better yet daily) prospect research and building a strong case for general operating support.
• Focus building on what works works for the long haul.
• Donor-centered” fundraising isn’t a trend, it’s not a buzzword – it is the only honest way to long-term funding success.  If you still don’t quite understand the concept of donor-centric – and you’d be surprised at how many fundraisers will talk about it without truly understanding the concepts behind it – start by reading a couple of the classics like Ken Burnett’s Relationship Fundraising, Tom Ahern’s  How to Write Fundraising Materials that Raise More Money or Penelope Burk’s Donor Centered Fundraising.
• Then think about how you can apply donor-centered fundraising to your organization’s communications, to your grant proposals and to new  venues including social media and email.

It’s all in the journey.

Are you looking for more ways to get out of the rut you’re in?   Simple Development Systems: Successful fundraising for the one-person shop is on sale now, and it’s jam-packed with useful, donor-centric tips you can put to use today!  “Absolutely recommend this book to anyone who is doing it all!”