Merry Christmas from FundraisingForce
Merry Christmas! Thank you for your support of FundraisingForce in our inaugural year! May you have the happiest of holidays. All best wishes for the New Year!
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Selfless acts for Christmas, birthdays or other milestones
A birthday reminder? Indeed, my birthday is just around the corner. It’s 5 January. On 5 December I received an email reminder about my own birthday and a terrific suggestion by Crowdrise, an online fundraising Website.
In this email reminder, Crowdrise suggested I set up a page for charity and ask friends to give in my honour to the charity. I thought this was a terrific idea and one many may implement.
The email reminded me of someone from Boston. A young woman named MaryRose Mazzola with whom I became acquainted with when she was just a young girl. MaryRose asked family and friends to give a donation to Lahey Clinic in lieu of gifts for herself on her 12th birthday. When Lahey Clinic was notified, I remember being amazed that someone so young would act in such a way. Motivated by an illness her beloved Grandmother (Nana) had, she wanted to make a difference as a 12 year old. I am not sure most adults would act in such a way, but MaryRose set a good example for all of us.
This last week, I was at a client site and learned about a 9 year old boy who is giving the money which would have been spent on his Christmas gifts to this particular charity. This story reminded me of MaryRose and the others who take such selfless acts to make a difference. Not only are people like MaryRose and this boy raising needed funds, but they are also attracting new donors to these charities who may otherwise have not donated to their charity of choice (or donated at all).
MaryRose, now attending Harvard University Law School, recently reported she has raised $100,000 to date in donations in tribute to her Nana. This is truly remarkable.
This holiday season, I hope you will think about what you can do. And, perhaps, you will set up a giving page in lieu of your birthday, anniversary, or some other milestone event. Organisations like GoFundraise, Everyday Hero, JustGiving and others are set up specifically to aid you in such efforts. As individuals we can do what GoFundraise call Do It Yourself (DIY) fundraise and get started now. As charities, we can promote such activity as party of our gifts in honour/gifts in memory program.
MaryRose Mazzola set a good example for each of us to follow and now it’s our turn.
Airline Points – Not just for flying
As 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:
Qantas 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.
Virgin 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.
It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas for #GivingTuesday Participants
According to the latest news, charities really benefited from #GivingTuesday. The latest total being reported is close to $50 million raised on this important day for philanthropy worldwide.
Non-Profit Times reports close to $47 million as of last Tuesday, this is up from $32 million Non-Profit Times reported one year ago. This number is a tally from various companies including Blackbaud, DonorPerfect, Network for Good, Razoo, and Click & Pledge. Imagine the total if every supplier accepting online donations participated and numbers were reported for all suppliers worldwide! The report suggests the number also does not include any number from PayPal, which reported some $4 million last year on #GivingTuesday.
Why is this important to those of us in Australia? While there are no totals reported for #GivingTuesday Australia, it proves collective movements work. When we work together we all gain. Some people suggest there is a lot of competition for the charitable dollar. While I do not doubt that fact, there also is much to be learned about movements like #GivingTuesday, which show when we approach philanthropic giving through a mass marketing effort and encourage people to give everyone wins.
Learn how you can become involved through the Australian GivingTuesday website. Sign up today and start to plan for 2015.
How was your day? Your #GivingTuesday, that is.
Just one week ago today, our sector experienced #GivingTuesday. It appeared some Australian charities took advantage of this vast worldwide marketing campaign while others are still unaware of the campaign or have not yet jumped in.
Organisations like Blackbaud report worldwide giving on this #GivingTuesday was up 36% compared to #GivingTuesday 2013. Here are some other statistics reported:
- Since the inaugural #GivingTuesday in 2012, overall online giving is up 159%.
- Blackbaud processed more than $26.1 million in online donations on #GivingTuesday 2014, up from the $19.2 million processed on #GivingTuesday in 2013.
- Online transaction volume grew 50% compared to 2013.
- The average online donation on #GivingTuesday 2014 was $128.30, slightly down on last year.
- 17% of online donation form views came from a mobile device.
Royal Institute of Deaf and Blind Children (RIDBC) is the only Australian charity to have solicited me directly and mentioned #GivingTuesday in the solicitation. In fact, RIDBC sent me an SMS and asked me to give by responding with the word “Joy”. I complied and I was sent to a giving page where I was offered the chance to make a gift. After I made the donation, I received a thank you via SMS and I was offered the chance to give again. I gave it a “test” and retyped the word “Joy”, which automatically converted to an additional $5 contribution because my credit details had been tokenised when I made the original contribution.
After tweeting about this terrific experience, I learned RIDBC is using GiveEasy SMS as a new channel to offer supporters a fast, innovative, and effective way to give a donation.
If your charity did not participate in #GivingTuesday this year, why not start planning for next year’s #GivingTuesday and determine a means to wrap it in your organisation’s Christmas Appeal? Also, I suggest organisations give GiveEasy a review and see if SMS giving should be in your future. Perhaps you might implement SMS giving in the New Year!
On #GivingTuesday Teach Your Children to Give
Today, 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.
A 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.
From 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.
Happy Thanksgiving
It is Thanksgiving Day in the United States. On behalf of FundraisingForce, I want to wish everyone stateside and around the world a very Happy Thanksgiving!
FundraisingForce has much to be thankful for – especially our customers. To those of you celebrating, have a safe and wonderful holiday. To all of you – thank you!
Tuesday is the best Tuesday of the year – it’s GivingTuesday!
Several weeks ago, I wrote about an important day of the year – #GivingTuesday. In fact, I would say it is my favourite day of the year because this campaign brings a boost in charitable giving worldwide. We see a boost in giving of volunteer time and of donor financial support all across the nation.
This weekend, in the United States, is a weekend of indulgence. Thursday is Thanksgiving Day in the US, a day when people indulge in amazing food prepared by love ones. Thanksgiving is followed by the biggest retail-shopping weekend of the year. Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday. Next Tuesday, better known as #GivingTuesday, is a terrific campaign to promote the opportunity for people to give back to their communities and support the charities they love.
Mark your calendars for 2 December – #GivingTuesday. Give your time next Tuesday to a charity of your choice. Give a little extra gift to a few of your top charities. Make a major gift to charity you have been pondering for a while. I plan to act on my own suggestion and give a financial contribution to each customer @FundraisingForce has worked with in 2014. I challenge every supplier in the non-profit space to do the same. Additionally, I am planning to donate hundreds of toiletries to a Brisbane homeless organisation in hopes those toiletries will help a lot of homeless people in need.
There are dozens of ways in which you and your organisation may be involved in #GivingTuesday. It is not too late to get involved in this campaign and movement. Together, let’s make 2 December the biggest #GivingTuesday ever.
35 Days until Christmas – Time to get your Charity Holiday Cards
It’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.
This 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.
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.
Charities leaving money on the table
I received a newsletter in the mail from a Melbourne charity this last week. The newsletter is a beautiful full colour piece; full of images and stories about the good work the charity is doing around the world. The stories are motivating and might even influence someone to get involved. The charity included a blank envelope in the mail piece. There is no call to action. The blank envelope does not offer recipients a clue about the course of action the charity wants the recipient to take. Is the assumption the recipient will send a cheque in the mail? In fact, the blank envelope only confuses the recipient.
Make an ask in every treatment you mail or email your supporters. You do not have to make a hard ask in the piece. The Melbourne charity should have, at the least, included a giving envelope in the piece I received.
I might suggest this charity create a test – test a letter with a direct ask against a giving envelope to see which performs best. The letter/direct ask might contain an ask ladder tailored to the segment.
I am putting my money on the fact both of the approaches in the test will outperform a blank envelope hands down!