Daniel Bernstein

About Daniel Bernstein

Dan Bernstein, MFIA, has been an independent consultant in Australia since October 2013. Prior to this, he spent three and a half years as Training Consultant at Blackbaud Pacific delivering services to customers in Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong. Before moving to Australia, he worked in the US for non-profit organisations of all sizes, as well as large corporations and small private companies. Dan has over 20 years experience and this varied background in fundraising, events management, sales and marketing, gives him a unique perspective on the philahthropy and fundraising industry. Having worked with organizations in Asia-Pacific and the US, he has been tasked with bringing solutions to their common data and fundraising issues. Dan brings a high-energy approach to delivering training and consulting allowing colleagues to have a better understanding of fundraising and their data as a tool to help them strengthen relationships with their constituents – increasing both donors and dollars.

Posts by Daniel Bernstein:

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Airline Points – Not just for flying

genericplaneAs the calendar year comes to an end, many of us are about to leave for a Christmas or New Year’s Holiday. For some, like me, it means heading off to the airport for a flight.

Although many of us can think of some downsides of air travel like security lines and uncomfortable seats; there are upsides, too. One is the ability to accumulate frequent flyer points and miles.

Most of us acquire points when we fly for business or pleasure, but many of us do not redeem those points for awards. Sometimes they accumulate for years just sitting in our account, waiting to be used. Or maybe you have accrued some points, but not quite enough for a free ticket? Or your points are about to expire due to lack of account use?

Did you know some frequent flyer programs allow you to make gifts to deserving charities by converting your earned miles and points into cash donations? What a great way to use small amounts of miles!

Looking at the two largest airlines in Australia, each offers multiple opportunities to give:

qantasplane2Qantas lets you choose from six (6) non-profit organisations, including The Clontarf Foundation, UNICEF, and Make-A-wish Australia. For each organisation, you can choose as few as 2,900 points minimum donation with increasing amounts for larger gifts.

virginplaneVirgin Australia allows you to choose among eighteen (18) non-profits to make your donation, including AIME, Black Dog Institute, Camp Quality, Kids Helpline, Oaktree Foundation, and Youth Off the Streets. There are two gift levels offered for each charity, with minimum amounts starting at 4,500 points.

I applaud these two airlines for giving their customers an option to use their points in a charitable way – especially if these points were never going to be used for other purposes.

Even if you only fly a few times a year, join the airline program of your choice and donate the all the points you earn to help a worthy cause. If you are a business traveller, it is likely you have a few extra points to donate as you finish up for the year.

So as we take off for our holidays, lets consider ‘cashing in’ those points for a donation. We can then sit back, relax and know we have made a difference.

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On #GivingTuesday Teach Your Children to Give

HandsHoldingGiftToday, December 2, 2014 is #GivingTuesday, which is “a movement to celebrate and provide incentives to give.” According to the GivingTuesday Australia website, “This effort harnesses the collective power of a unique blend of partners – charities, families, businesses and individuals – to transform how people think about, talk about and participate in the giving season.”

I would like to take a moment to concentrate on one word mentioned in their purpose statement – families. Especially how they talk about and participate in the giving season.

Here, in Australia, families and individuals are very charitable, especially when it comes to “emergency” situations like natural disasters. Individuals have historically given more than governments when it comes to philanthropy.

As citizens of the world, we embrace the idea that helping others helps our community and ourselves. As people, we enjoy raising money to help support the mission and goals of an organization. We feel we can “end this disease”; provide education or clean water; and save animals. It’s the idea we can work together for the betterment of all.

Those who participate in giving of their ‘treasure’ understand the importance of living in a safe, secure and strong society. One where we feel an obligation to give back to society in order to provide the ‘essentials’ of a community – A Home, Food/Water, Healthcare, Education and Economic Opportunity.

During this giving season it is very important for parents to pass this message to their children.

HandsHoldingCoinsA good lesson would be to speak with our children about SMALL DONORS making a difference.  Discuss participating in a ‘gold coin donation’ program and use one of the following examples to illustrate small donations can make a great impact.

In 1938, Polio victim US President Franklin D. Roosevelt started the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis (NFIP). The newly formed organisation turned to media stars to give the message about how a donation of a single dime (10 cents) could add up to an amount that would be big enough to fund research to find a vaccine for polio. The idea that One dime could help in the fight to end polio led to a well chosen campaign name – The March of Dimes. In the first year over US$238,000 arrived at the White House – all in dimes! By 1959, a total of $622 million had been raised. By 1979, polio was eradicated in the United States.

It’s likely your children have never even heard of Polio because of these efforts from small donors. Ask them to imagine speaking to their children about diseases that no longer exist because of their future efforts. Or maybe speak with them about the Tsunami Relief efforts in 2005 or the Bushfire efforts in 2009.

Or talk about causes that affect your family or friends. Here is a list of causes to consider:

  • AIDS Education/Awareness
  • Animal Protection
  • Environment and Conservation
  • Health
  • Hunger and Homelessness
  • Human Rights
  • Literacy and Education

The goal in these discussions is to have your children think about what their lives would be like without access to basic needs. And once you have talked about the idea of “giving back” and (I’m hopeful) chosen a cause to support with your children, put those gold coins into action.

HandsHoldingHeartFrom today, December 2, 2014 through to Christmas, have everyone in the family take their coins or money they would have spent on “treats” and collect it all in a jar. Place it where everyone can watch the pile get higher. Before the end of the year, donate the money to your charity of choice. You and your children will have participated in the giving season.

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35 Days until Christmas – Time to get your Charity Holiday Cards

charity christmas cardsIt’s mid-November and we are already starting to see the countdown of the number of days until Christmas. As part of my personal tasks of things to do now is start organising my holiday card list, so I can get my “best wishes” sent to friends and family.

But first, I need to find the cards I plan to send. This week, as I started looking, I noticed quite a few charities are selling holiday cards with their branding, including their name and logo. Being the in the philanthropy sector, I always gravitate to purchasing these kind of cards. There is an extra feeling of goodness when I know some percentage of the sale of the cards is going back to a deserving charity. Additionally, I get to spread the word of the good works of these charities to all whom I send the cards.

charity christmas cardsThis year, you will find a few organisations have their cards available though newsagents (Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia and Multiple Sclerosis), while others are found at Australia Post (Starlight Children’s Foundation, Lifeline and Careflight). I encourage all of you who are sending cards this year to consider choosing cards associated with a charity. It could be one you already support with donations or take this opportunity to choose a card from an organisation that is new to you as a supporter. Buying holiday cards might just be the small thing that pushes you off the fence to become a financial supporter for the charity.

In addition to buying and sending these affiliated holiday cards, consider supporting organisations that produce fundraising calendars. Many organisations produce a calendar for their cause. I found a firefighter calendar that benefits the Children’s Hospital Foundation and the Children’s Hospital at Westmead Burns unit Firefighters calendar.charity calendar

It’s also important to consider this as a moment where you can learn a bit more about the mission and projects of the charity for whom you sending the cards and maybe make a cash donation as well.

And since Christmas and New Year’s come EVERY year, if you currently work for a non-profit organisation, you might consider producing one of these items next year. It could be a new way for you to connect to the community and bring more donors and dollars to your charity.

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Get that Fundraising Trifecta – 3 ideas to help you win, place and show

It’s called “the race that stops the nation”. In Australia, today is the Melbourne Cup. And many of us will pause this afternoon to watch this horse race with friends and colleagues. For some, it’s a public holiday; for others, we simply might not return to working in the afternoon.

If our role is fundraising for a charity, we are also in a race today – one to hit our goal or target by 31 December. So, the first Tuesday in November is when we are coming down the stretch to the end of our calendar year – and, for most of us, halfway through our financial year. Whether we are in the back stretch or home stretch, we want to come in first and take home the cup!

Since many of us will put a wager on the race today, I thought I’d play ‘punter’ and give some tips for being the winning jockey in your race to raise dollars for your non-profit.

  1. Perform data hygiene on your data set before you drop the year-end appeal to acquire changes of addresses prior to dropping the mail out; ensuring less return to sender (RTS) mail
  2. As part of your stewardship, call donors who give over $100 to your appeal and thank him or her for their gift. Gain new information from these donors on the call and record this information in your database
  3. Add a seasonal message to your acknowledgement letter/receipt, such as “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year”.

Bonus tip: don’t forget a special message and effort to your LYBUNT and SYBUNT groups.

Finish LineDoing any of these things today may ensure you a win, place, or show. But I’m hopeful you will go for the trifecta and do all three. Only by taking some chances and being aggressive down the stretch will you get over that line ahead of the others. And within your organisation – everybody wins – you and your charity!

 

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A Halloween “trick” or “treat” for our donors is up to you

Haunted HouseWith tomorrow being Halloween, it’s likely a few parents will be helping their children dress up in costume, be it Star Wars, a superhero, or a princess, and taking them around the neighbourhood knocking on doors for the annual tradition of “trick or treat”.

In a way, every day is Halloween for charities. Where potential donors walk up to our doors, ring the bell, and when we answer the door instead of us handing out a “treat”, they hand us a donation. But it’s not as easy as sitting and waiting for that knock on the door. We have to work to get the donors to walk up, ring our bell and give their philanthropic support. Are we doing enough to get them to knock on our door or are they just walking by and going to the next place?

One year I was at home in my unit with a huge bowl of lollies waiting for the bell to ring. About 3 children came just as the sun was setting, but that was it. Not one more knock the entire night. When I investigated by going outside, I realised my neighbour was not home and had all their lights turned off, including up the walkway to both our units. It looked like no one was home at either place. A dark house is not too inviting to children on Halloween. And I was left with masses of leftover candy. It was very disappointing.

The following year, I did all I could to get as many children as I could to walk up and knock on the door. I made sure all the lights were on, I included coloured light bulbs, I played spooky music out the window and used a flashing strand of lights in an upper window. And sure enough, the number of families and children who stopped at my house went way up. But I also had great chocolates and candy to give away because I wanted the people who stopped at my house to tell other people “go there, it looks spooky and he’s giving away the best stuff.”

What can we do to make our charities look inviting to potential donors and not look like dark houses? We have great “goodies” to give them – stories of our great work and success!

First, what if a potential donor does physically walk through the door of our organisation? What do they see? Can they tell it’s our non-profit? Do we have appropriate signage? Is our logo visible? Is it neat and clean?

Are we ready to give them a tour of our organisation? Also, do we have printed material to give to them?

And are we ready to accept a donation from them if they want to give us a “treat”? Do you have a donation form ready to hand them?

Second, what if a potential donor walks through a ‘virtual’ door, by calling or clicking on our website? Does the person answering the phone know where to direct a potential donor? Does our organisation have a mission or purpose statement that is easy for all staff to repeat to potential donors? Or know examples of those success stories?

On our website, is it easy to make a donation? Is there only one ‘door’ for them? Imagine if children were “trick or treating” and they had to keep knocking on door after door to get their candy? They would leave and go to the next house with only the one door.

Third, we can make sure we have a coordinated effort with our direct mail and our electronic direct mail. Do we have all the elements we need to get that donor to walk up and ring the bell? I had inviting walkway lights, spooking house lighting, and eerie music together as a package. Not just one or the other.

Do we have the right content and message; layout and design; reply device with all the information we need to collect?

When we think about it, it’s scary how unprepared some of us may be for potential donors or how many donors just walk by our organisation because it’s too ‘dark’ and not inviting. Or we don’t have all the elements working together to make them want to stop and donate. Or the ‘treats’ are not good, so they tell others “skip that place”.

This year, let’s have “treats” for our potential donors and they have “treats” for us, too.

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What’s in a Name? – A Response!

SalI would probably never wear a tuxedo to a BBQ or pool party. Nor would I wear a singlet and board shorts to a gala dinner. I am hopeful most of us know the appropriate attire for the different events and occasions we attend. In a similar fashion, we use different language and words in different settings and with different people. Do we speak the same in front of close friends and family versus someone we have never met? The setting and sometimes the communication method dictate our words. We might use different language in a written card or letter than we would in an email. And a text message or tweet would probably use even different words.

When we communicate with our prospects and donors do we change the way we salute and address them depending on the occasion for communicating with them?

If we’re sending them an invite to our awards dinner, does their name appear the same as on their donation thank you? Is it the same as our invite to our summer sausage sizzle?

The name you use for your prospects and donors is important for relationship building. Using the correct Addressee and Salutation could affect whether you get a response from them. For example, I have a friend named Patricia. She only goes by Patricia. She is never called Pat or Patty. If any organisation approaches her using either of the latter, she will not respond.

Your organisation should record the preferred, standard way a constituent wishes to be addressed and saluted. However, your organisation should also consider recording additional addressees and salutations for each of the ways in which you may communicate with them.

The following should be recorded for each person on your database:

  • Formal – Used for invitations or communication from your Board or head of organisation. It would likely include the person’s title
  • Informal – Used for more informal event invitations and other communications. It would likely not include any titles and be only a first and surname

But beyond these obvious ones, this is a great place to record other ways you will use your donor and prospect names. Here are a few:

  • Known by director/president/CEO – Used for correspondence sent with the signature of your organisation’s leader who might personally know some of the people who are receiving the communication
  • Family/Household – Used to address additional members of the person’s family such as their partner/spouse and their children. It can include the names of each person or simply be something like “The <Surname> Family”. This option is great to invite the entire family to school functions or for a holiday card.
  • Receipt Name – Used to indicate a different name for a tax receipt than you might use for regular communications
  • Recognition Name – Used for when you post or publish a list of donors or other type of recognition. For example, in your annual report an individual donor might want their partner/spouse also listed with them even though the donation came only from him/her.

Once you have recorded these Addressees and Salutations, you will be able to communicate with a majority of your constituents in way that builds a connection and relationship with them. Again, think of my friend, Patricia, and your own communications with people.

So please salute me as Mr. Bernstein, Daniel or Dan depending on the occasion and method of communication. However, one final tip, please don’t mix addressees and salutations on the same piece or I might show up to your event in a tuxedo with board shorts and thongs.

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Do you deliver training via Chinese whispers?

Rumors-580x370As children, some of us may remember the game of Chinese whispers, where the first player whispers a phrase to the next player and each player successively whispers what they believe they heard to the next player. The final message usually does not have much resemblance to the original, because of the cumulative effect of mistakes along the line. In this game there is no winner, although all participants are provided with amusement in the unrecognisable result. The game can have an educational value in showing how easily information can become corrupted by indirect communication.

In many organisations, a large percentage of staff gets trained thru the “Chinese whispers” method, where staff trains one another. While it might seem leadership are saving the organisation resources, this methodology could actually end up costing your organisation more, especially when it comes to fundraising and the use of your database. Staff who train one another in practices that might not be “best” practices end up doing things in a fashion they believe is right or doing things in a consistent way that is not “best practice”. Then that staff member trains the next staff member and so on.

Just like in the game, the same results will occur – a cumulative effect of mistakes. You may notice your data becomes polluted with erroneous or duplicate entries, or maybe processes are done in cumbersome and inefficient ways, or timesaving functionality becomes over looked. Certainly there will be no winner – not staff, constituents, or your organisations. In this real-life game, the final result is a lack of participants, donors and dollars – not amusement. Training can reverse these negative impacts on your organisation.

It’s easy to identify new staff as candidates for training; however, there are several other staff members to consider for training:

Role Change: Staff movement within your organisation is another identifier for training. As staff change roles, these staff may require skills or use of database functionality in which they were not previously trained.

Long tenure in role: Staff who have been in database administration, gifts processing, research, or fundraising roles for a long period of time should consider refresher training. While they may not need to go back to basics, refresher training will remind them of best practices and also identify new ways of doing old procedures.

Upgrade of database software: If your organisation has upgraded to a newer version, then new functionality has likely been released and incorporated. Your organisation has likely paid for the upgrade, so you should learn the new functionality.

Never trained: a percentage of staff at some organizations has never had formal training in their job. Staff who self-train end up learning functionality in a way they believe is correct or doing things in a way that is not good practice.

Can you win at Chinese whispers? The game is a success if each participant carefully whispers what they have heard and the message is transmitted accurately. This is the result you want and need for the success of your organisation. Get the message out loud and clear, plan for your training today.

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Hot prospects for Spring

HotAs the weather starts to turn a bit warmer this time of year in the Southern Hemisphere, it can be a good idea to think of things that keep us warm and help us get excited for summer – the sun, the beach, a barbeque picnic. As a fundraiser, what keeps me warm this time of year? I try to think of my “hot” prospective donors. Who might donate to my organisation this time of year? This is especially important as we come closer to the end of the calendar year.

As Blazing as the Sun – LYBUNT

This first place to look are to those people and organisations who supported you last year, but have yet to make their donation this year, commonly referred to as LYBUNT (Last Year But Unfortunately Not This). Most fundraising database software programs have this report built into the system and should report on those individuals who donated last year, but not during a specified date range, usually compared to this year.

These potential donors are about as “hot” as you can get when it comes to raising money for your charity. Once they have started making donations to our cause, we don’t want to lose them, since it usually takes a good amount of effort and money to acquire a new donor to our organisation. If we have been working hard all year, the list of our LYBUNT’s shouldn’t be too long. Consider getting a short letter to them in the mail today, stating your immediate needs and include an ask and reply envelope. In two or three days, start making follow-up phone calls with the message to make sure they received the letter and to ask them to read it and consider replying by the end of the week. If you divide the list among staff members, it shouldn’t take too long to reach everyone. If you sort the list in previous gift amount order from highest to lowest, you’ll be sure to connect with your higher amount donors first.

As Burning as the Beach – SYBUNT

The Some Year But Unfortunately Not This should report on those individuals who donated some year in the past, but not during a specified date range, usually compared to this year. These previous donors can also be referred to as lapsed donors.

Although it may have been a few years since these people have supported your organisation, it should be a lot easier for you to convince them to support your cause again versus someone who has never given to your organisation. Your message to them could be about how the program they supported still needs their help today; or maybe mention a new initiative they can consider supporting.

If you don’t think you have time to reach all your LYBUNT’s and SYBUNT’s, narrow your focus to those who are also Trustees, Board members, Volunteers, or Committee members. They are leaders for your organisation and should understand the need and importance for your cause.

So, as you get thinking about the sun and beach, turn towards your “hot” prospects. With their continued support, you will feel warm and your organisation will continue to move forward with its mission and goals. Summer will be here before you know it!