Charitable organisation

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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.

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Double their donation, double their impact

In the US, the last week of December is also the last week of the US financial year. Australian charities should imagine combining their Christmas and Tax Appeals in one. This is the scenario encountered for US charitable organisations!

Most US charities use matching challenges for the follow up wave to their year-end Appeal. This creates a sense of urgency where donors are encouraged to double their donation and to double their impact. Like Australian non-profit organisations, US organisations use count down clocks and every other means to add to the sense of urgency.

On 29 December, I received 17 appeals via email from various US-based non-profit organisations. Each of the emails asked me to give a last minute tax year-end gift.  15 of the 17 appeals offered a matching challenge whereby my donation would be matched and have double the impact. The emails came from universities, cultural institutions, hospitals, and health organisations. On 30 December and 31 December, the reminder emails continued with as many as 30 being received on each of the two days.

Donor History Embedded in Year-End Emails

One such email referred to the fact I had not given a donation this year. This email came from Mount Sanai Healthcare in New York City. Embarrassingly, the email reflected I had not given a donation once in 2018. While I was embarrassed, I was also impressed at the accuracy of the donor records. Emails showing any sort of donor history require good record keeping and testing.

Matching Challenges

Matching challenges work to bring in new donors, renew existing donors, and renew lapsed donors, like me. In this case, the charitable organisation added an extra push by reminding me I had not given a single gift this year. Some emails showed my giving history across the year and asked me to boost my year-end giving by an additional gift to match my average donation.

Australian charities conduct direct marketing appeals really well. Adding matching challenges and adding giving history for the existing financial year to tax appeals will make the Tax Appeals that much stronger. Happy New Year!

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Always done it that way? The need for non-profits to transform business processes

How many times a month do we hear “we’ve always done it that way”? If I had a dollar for each time, I could take a nice holiday! The facts are – the world changes, it evolves, and it is appropriate for all of us to examine every business process; question whether we can do that process in a smarter, more effective way; and, to transform the way we do things to be more efficient.

Non-profit organisations need to conduct a business process review at least every other year. Business process reviews are  relevant to schools and universities, as well as non-profit/charitable organisations.

Business Process Review – the process…

A business process review involves the following:

  •  Workshops
    • Workshops aligned with an agenda set with your team members.
      • The agenda may cover all business areas or you may limit them to one portfolio or given processes within a single portfolio.
    • A review of all business processes, including any documentation to back up the process.
    • A day in the life – where a consultant works the processes with staff of the organisation in order to understand areas where there are bottlenecks, inefficiencies and opportunities for improvement.
    • A review of processes aligned with your non-profit organisation’s constituent relationship management (CRM) solution.
  • Document Review
    • A review of all organisation documentation related to policies and procedures.
  • Observations and Recommendations Report
    • A final report should be delivered and should contain observations and best practice recommendations from the review.
    • The report should also contain an action plan to address the recommendations.
  • Implementation
    • Implementation of the adopted best practice recommendations.

Advantages of External Consultant

Why hire an external consultant and why not just do the review yourself?

There are multiple advantages to hiring an external consultant to conduct the business process review:

  • External set of eyes. The consultant brings a fresh set of eyes to your business.
  • Objectivity. The consultant is unbiased and unattached to your business. He/she ought to be objective in their approach and have one interest in mind – to bring about efficiencies and to applaud existing best practices.
  • Experience. The consultant should bring years of experience to your organisation and also experiences from like organisations.

FundraisingForce conducts business process reviews. If you are interested in learning more, contact us at stephen@fundraisingforce.com.au or on our contact us form on the FundraisingForce website.

 

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The first charity Christmas appeal received from….

It’s something I report on each year via the FundraisingForce blog. The first charity Christmas appeal was received from…The Salvation Army.

The Salvation Army has been the first for the past several years.

I’ve talked about the need for a charitable organisation to stand out in the letterbox in several past FundraisingForce blog posts. It’s really the key to successful direct mail. Your piece has to stand out amongst all the postal mail one receives. If the letter does not get opened, it is not going to get a response.

Salvation Army stood out in my letterbox because it arrived in early October and it was the first charitable organisation to send me their Christmas appeal! The organisation also stood out amongst my other mail because of the the art on the package.

As in the past, the appeal is a Christmas Wish catalogue, which is full of items I can purchase to change the lives of those Salvation Army supports. Once purchased, I will receive a gift card and envelope to give to a person on my list to share the joy of giving. A simple concept and something that stood out in my letterbox the beginning of October.

Many charitable organisations likely do not have their segmented direct marketing lists prepared and sent to their mailing house. Some may still be working on the letter copy, package content, and various approvals that go with the task. Where is your non-profit organisation in the process? Is the data pull and the segmentation all a little too hard in your CRM? It does not have to be. Hire experts like FundraisingForce to properly segment your data and to create that segmentation inside your CRM. Once set up, this segmentation may be tweaked and pulled for appeals in the future.

Don’t delay setting up your segmentation for your Christmas appeal because it is too difficult, too time consuming, or something you do not have knowledge to do. Let’s get the data ready so you can get the appeal in the mail and then you’ll be able to focus your time on other tasks – like assisting in the processing of the donations and the receipts!

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One charity has sent seven acquisition pieces in five months

Acquisition direct mailI have never lived at my parents’ address in New Mexico USA. Yet, one charity thinks I currently live with my parents. In fact, this one charity has sent seven acquisition pieces in five months.

I am not against charity acquisition mail. In fact, I welcome it and believe it is a necessary part of the charitable direct marketing mix. But, what puzzles me is why this particular charity thinks I live at this address. Even more, I wonder how the charity associated me with my parents at this address when, in fact, I’ve not lived with my parents for 33 years and never lived in the US state of New Mexico.

The direct mail pieces include membership offers, as well as return address labels. The address labels look fantastic. I wish I could use them; however, to use them will mean I will attract even more mail to my parents’ address!

I have a responsibility to contact this non-profit organisation to ask where my name was acquired. Informing them will solve the mystery and will also save the charity postage, mailing, and material costs. Most recipients will not exercise this responsibility and will, instead, let the issue bother them or, worse, discuss it with others. (Okay, I am blogging about it; but I am not naming the charity directly). The charitable organisation, likewise, has a responsibility to cease mailing me at my parents and to investigate the source of their data to see if an algorithm or some other issue caused names like me to make it onto the file.

 

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Telemarketing agency staff – representing your NFP’s brand

NFP telemarketingLast week, I received a call from a telemarketing agency. The agency was making acquisition calls on behalf of a charitable organisation. The agency called me as I was walking through a supermarket attempting to pick up a few items after a day onsite with a client. The telemarketer started the call with a pleasant hello. He identified himself and said what he was calling about. He then asked if I had ever heard of the charity he was representing. After I responded I had only heard of the organisation because of his agency’s calls to me on the charity’s behalf, the telemarketer proceeded to laugh and tell me he could not believe I have never heard of the organisation outside of their calls.

He then hung up on me.

I found this call odd for the following reasons:

  1. Whenever anyone hangs up on someone, it demonstrates anger and a complete dismissal of the person on the other end of the call.
  2. Had this man listened to my accent, it would have been clear I am not from Australia and, perhaps, I do not have a Rolodex of every charitable organisation in my brain.
  3. If this agency had done their homework, they would have seen they called me three times last year for this same charity. I blogged about the calls at that time.
  4. This telemarketer did not represent the charity in a good light.
  5. I have a soft spot for telemarketing and typically given whenever any charity contacts me by phone.
  6. This telemarketer has caused me to not give this particular charity ever in the future.

Any supplier hired by your charitable organisation represents you and your organisation. Suppliers are an extension of your non-profit organisation’s staff. They are representing your brand. Be sure to listen in on samplings of calls occurring on your organisation’s behalf to be sure these calls are the same tone and style you expect from any staff member of your non-profit.

Telemarketing is an important channel for non-profit fundraising. There is no doubt about. I am supportive of telemarketing professionally and personally (with my wallet). But, it is critical you manage your telemarketing and conduct oversight via checks and balances.

 

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Dine Out – Give $2

snip20161124_12Americans are labelled as “aggressive”, especially when we share our fundraising ideas. Perhaps this is a term of endearment. Perhaps it is meant as a label and some are truly turned off by campaign tactics shared out of the US. Nonetheless, I was surprised to see one tactic employed last week when I was dining in Newtown with some friends.

When the check arrived, we were asked by the server if we wanted to make a $2 donation to help the homeless (StreetSmart Australia). $2 is nothing – especially after enjoying a wonderful meal of wine and good food! I agreed and the server informed me the $2 had already been added to the bill.

I was surprised. In fact, I was shocked.

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Why was I surprised/shocked?

This type of fundraising tactic works and is rarely employed in Australia. I was surprised and shocked in a good way!

Why does it work so well and resonate with an audience? Rarely will someone ask that the $2 be taken off the bill. Also, rarely will people remember, at the end of the evening, to add the $2 to the bill. So, by adding it in, proactively, the charity is likely to raise more money. This is not misleading to the consumer, either, because the consumer is fully informed of the charge and has the ability to opt out should he or she desire.

Each of us were given a small pocket-size brochure on the charity so we could read more about the charity and about the campaign. #Success.

I have only one criticism of this campaign and, perhaps, this brings out the “aggressive American” in me. I would like to see the charitable organisation collect my contact details to have the ability to engage me as a true supporter rather than receive just a one time $2 gift. Without my contact details, this type of campaign mimics the gold coin collections in a theatre or at a street fair.

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Thanksgiving – a day for charities to thank donors

childrensIt’s Thanksgiving Day in the USA. A day when family and friends gather to offer thanks for what they have and to acknowledge those present in their lives. It’s a non-religious holiday and it often times has more meaning to people as a result.

Thanksgiving Day is also an opportunity for charitable organisations to recognise donors who have supported them throughout the year. Causevox recently published a blog post offering 7 ways to thank donors during Thanksgiving. Several charitable organisations have sent me Thanksgiving greetings over the last week and I thought I would share them with you in hopes it will offer some ideas for donor care and stewardship for your non-profit organisation

Happy Thanksgiving!

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md-anderson

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Why are BPay and PostPay not widely used by charity?

careflightYou and I have the opportunity to use BPay and PostPay™ daily to pay our mortgages, rent, utilities, and credit cards. Yet, why are BPay and PostPay not widely used by charitable organisations across Australia?

I received the Christmas Appeal from CareFlight recently and noted an ability to give a donation by BPay on their response device. I also received one from Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children, which contained BPay.  Their biller code and my reference number are printed prominently on the response device. Easy, convenient, and part of a menu of options to give quickly. But, this is not the norm. Most non-profit organisations lack this convenience payment facility for their constituents.ridbc

What are the reasons BPay and PostPay™ are not widely offered?

  • Lack of internal knowledge to create a BPay and PostPay™ process.
  • Organisation’s CRM is not capable of producing a BPay or PostPay™ number for each constituent.
  • It goes in the “too hard” basket.

Let’s take them in order:

  • Creating a BPay number for your organisation is as easy as contacting your bank to find out the required makeup of the BPay sequence to match your bank.
  • While at it, acquire the configuration makeup for PostPay™ from Australia Post.
  • Once you have the required makeup, the next step is contacting your CRM supplier to find out if they have written a customisation to do the following:
    • Create a BPay and PostPay™ number for every constituent in your current database (using a batch or bulk facility).
    • Create the same for new constituents upon saving the new record in the CRM.
  • If your CRM supplier has created such a customisation, acquire it for your organisation and ask that it be configured to meet your bank’s required standards.
    • Remember, charitable organisations utilise a variety of financial institutions and your bank will not necessarily have the same BPay configuration as another organisation. Thus, the supplier needs to configure the customisation to meet your bank’s requirements.

Action BPay and, if appropriate for your organisation’s supporter base, PostPay™ for your next appeal. At a minimum, BPay ought to be part of the menu of options a donor or prospective donor has to support your charity.

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