May 2019

, , , , , ,

Sharing hotel toiletries with the homeless of Sydney

FundraisingForce has been in business for five years as of April 2019. Over the last five years, I have travelled extensively to meet with clients and for client engagements. Travel has included Australian domestic travel, as well as international travel to the US, Europe, Asia, and Asia-Pacific. I may spend up to five nights in a hotel in a given week. During that time I have done something which would make Miss Manners cringe. Shhh…I have taken the toiletries from most hotels. I do not keep the toiletries for myself. I have been sharing hotel toiletries with the homeless in Sydney.

There are some who might suggest the hotel toiletries – shampoos, conditioners, hand creams, and, even, slippers, are not for the taking. They’d argue taking them increases the costs to hotel chains. I argue that if I was keeping them for myself or taking them home for out of town guests, then you might be right. But, passing them on to those in need seems to me to be a worthwhile deed.

Why am I confessing this to you? I have given these toiletries, sometimes multiple bags full each month, to the same homeless shelter in Sydney’s CBD. The staff of the homeless shelter have never asked my name, asked me to meet with senior leadership, or taken my contact details.

To be fair, this is not a cash donation. I am not expecting a receipt. However, the homeless shelter does not know who I am and has never bothered to take my details to have someone follow up with me or to ask me for a cash gift.

It is obvious I care about the homeless people in Sydney or I would not take the effort to collect these items and to add extra weight to my luggage each and every week. I might be ripe for a regular donation to this shelter, which does have DGR status.

I will continue to bring the toiletries to the shelter each month. It is just puzzling to me why the staff is not trained to better manage these sorts of situations for, perhaps, increased opportunity.

, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Thank you – an easy thing to say

Thank yiouIt is the easiest task to do, yet it is often times overlooked in our day-to-day responsibilities. In the rush to get stuff done, including finding new donors, asking for that next big gift, we are overlooking the most important task. I am talking about saying thank you to donors, volunteers, and staff.

We all need to take the pledge – one thank you call, email, or handwritten note a week.

We have more tools to actually say thank you today than ever before. It is often times the “old fashioned” way to do it – the handwritten note – that stands out in donors, volunteers, and staff minds.

We receive most of our communications today via electronic format. Communications flow in via email, voice mail, SMS, or via social media channels like Facebook, Facebook messenger, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Yet, what do we actually receive that is highly personalised and handwritten besides a birthday card or an occasional invite to a formal event like a wedding? Even those communications are moving more and more electronic.

This leaves me to argue, as fundraisers, we need to communicate more in handwriting. Thank you notes are a perfect place to start.

Reasons to send a handwritten thank you

There are a variety of reasons and ways to thank individuals for the fantastic support they offer your non-profit organisation. Reasons for handwritten communications may include:

  • A birthday.
  • An anniversary.
  • Honouring someone for achievements in your community.
  • A significant donation.
  • A donor’s giving milestone
    • A ten-year giving anniversary.
  • Volunteer service milestones.
  • A note to recognise a staff person who has gone above and beyond.

Think about who you will write a personal thank you to this week. Think about who you will call to thank. Try to say thank you via the most personal channel as possible.

 

, , , , , , , ,

A CRM is is a relational solution, not a transactional database

CRMThink about your non-profit organisation’s Constituent Relationship Management (CRM) solution for a moment. Is it configured and designed so you are you able to fully record a constituent and their contact details? Tick. Are you able to record a donation and associated details? Tick. Does it end there? Issue. A CRM needs to be relational in focus because a CRM is not simply a transactional database.

If you are not maximising your CRM to fully manage constituents, their internal and external relationships, and if you are unable to manage business processes, workflows, and pipelines, it is time to think about transforming the CRM to be relational in focus rather than simply focused on transactions.

Relational CRM

A relational CRM, simply put, connects the data elements stored to relate constituents with their opportunities, donations, activities, interactions, engagement, and most importantly, with other constituents. Most of this happens “out of the box”. But, it is the design of the CRM that actually really matters. Maximising the CRM data to be able to track critical workflows and processes and to be able to manage pipelines, moves management, and other critical activities make the relational CRM pay dividends. It is, after all, called a Constituent Relationship Management solution.

Workflows

Ensuring your CRM allows for workflows means you will save the staff of your non-profit organisation time, allowing them to focus on critical tasks.  The CRM should be able to deliver automated processes resulting in efficiency gains. Workflows can help you to maximise levels of engagement with your constituents, alumni and members.

The “buttonology” or functionality in a CRM is half the battle. It is typically how you configure that functionality and the user experience you offer which really matters. Staff should enjoy utilising the CRM and see it as a time saver rather than an administrative burden.

, , , , ,

Do we really need a new CRM?

ChangeSearching for a new CRM is a complicated process. But, when done right, landing the perfect CRM is a great feeling and a wonderful accomplishment. Change is nice. But, remember the new car smell only lasts so long. Ask your organisation, do we really need a new CRM?

It is typical for organisation leaders to be convinced a new CRM is essential.  “If we only had Salesforce, The Raiser’s Edge, Microsoft Dynamics, Blackbaud CRM, or product X, we could…”. Staff leap to this conclusion without first analysing the current CRM and their functional requirements in order to first determine the existing CRM is incapable of meeting business requirements.

Why

FundraisingForce receives one new lead for a CRM search every 7 business days. Step one for FundraisingForce is to explore with the non-profit organisation the why. Why is there a need to change? Are you seeking to use your CRM organisation-wide and your organisation adopted a fundraising CRM years ago? Have your fundraising requirements outgrown the existing CRM? Can you demonstrate the investment in a change will return dramatic financial results through increased revenue and improved efficiencies/time savings?

Perhaps staff require leadership to invest in training on the existing CRM. Maybe there are add on features your organisation needs to acquire in order to meet new business requirements which did not exist when you adopted the existing CRM 7-10 years ago.

Investment

Searching for and implementing a new CRM is an investment. The investment is not simply what you will pay in licensing and implementation/services costs to a supplier(s), but also the cost to engage your staff in the implementation. Additionally, there will be some loss of productivity as you ramp up the use of the new CRM and staff become used to new processes. The cost is never the cost presented when you sign the agreement to purchase. Study the true cost of ownership, which includes staffing resources and other costs.

The new car smell is gone in a month or two. Ensure the decision to leap to a CRM search is the right decision before you leap to a CRM search. Make sure you have done the analysis so you do not have buyers remorse after driving the car off the lot.

 

, , , , , , , , ,

Face to Face Fundraisers – do not need to be out of site out of mind

Do you often worry what your face to face fundraisers may be doing to capture the attention of prospective donors on the streets in the capital cities of Australia? Are they stopping prospects in their tracks? Reaching out to shake the prospect’s hands? What are they saying to the prospect to get them to surrender a credit card for their regular gift?  Are they only stopping prospective donors their age or are they, indeed, diverse in those they approach?

Face to face fundraisers do not need to be out of site out of mind.

Mystery Shopping Defined

Mystery shopping allows a shopper to mask as a prospective donor or fundraiser on behalf of a non-profit organisation and to perform a scenario specifically designed for the organisation. The shopper will employ their skills to seek answers to questions an organisation seeks to understand. Whether your organisation is seeking to understand an experience of a prospective donor or fundraiser or whether certain quality measures or targets are achieved, mystery shoppers will help you to measure the situation at hand.

FundraisingForce has over a dozen years shopping face to face fundraising, lotteries, community fundraising, major gifts, bequests, and other fundraising scenarios for charitable organisation across Asia Pacific and throughout Europe. We know, first-hand the scenarios organisations are after and the type of reporting desired.

Benefits of Face to Face Mystery Shopping

Mystery shopping will allow your non-profit organisation to understand the following:

  • Demographics of individuals engaged.
  • Number of individuals attempted each 15 minutes.
  • Manner in which prospective donors are greeted.
  • Dress and grooming of your fundraisers.
  • Length of discussions.
  • Highlights of discussions.
  • Distractions causing fundraisers to not approach prospects.
  • Additional training needed.

Steps for Mystery Shopping

Mystery shopping must not be conducted in a cookie cutter approach. Shops should be tailored and customised to meet your organsiation’s requirements. The following steps are conducted for each mystery shopping customers:

  1. Defining and understanding the non-profit client’s requirements.
  2. Developing scenarios and surveys to fit the client’s requirements.
  3. Approval of the scenarios and scenario by the client.
  4. Hiring of shoppers to meet the demographics required.
  5. Training of the shoppers.
  6. Shopping the scenarios for a defined timeframe.
  7. Reporting to the non-profit client.

Experience

Experience in mystery shopping is critical. Hire a professional mystery shopping firm with expertise in non-profit mystery shopping. Mystery shopping our sector is specialised and no one should assume all mystery shopping – whether for a commercial organisation or charitable organisation – is the same.

For more information on non-profit mystery shopping, contact FundraisingForce today.