Charitable organisations Archives

19 Oct 2017

Stephen Mally Charitable organisations, Charity, Charity direct mail, Charity lottery, Direct mail, FIA, FIA Code, Fundraising Institute Australia, Non-profit organisations, Premium, Premiums

Lots of discussion about excessive premiums in charity direct mail

There have been lots of discussions about “excessive” premiums in charity direct mail lately. The conversation was raised in various circles, including at the Fundraising Institute Australia (FIA) conference, as well as during the development of the new FIA Code. Card packs, pens, shopping bags, and other items are sent to various prospective donors to entice them to give a first time gift to a charitable organisation.

The fact is premiums work for some charitable organisations and premiums have proven to be a strong method to get people to give. On a recent visit to my parent’s in the United States, I found dozens of packs of address labels and other items sent to them from various veteran, healthcare, and other types of non-profit organisations. They have enough address labels to wallpaper a small bedroom.

The “debate” and discussion around premiums raises several questions:

Who decides what is excessive?
Should the cost of the premium item for a direct mail donation be deducted from the value of the donation for tax purposes?
- The US follows a similar rule.
How do charity lotteries fit into this discussion – i.e. the luxury automobiles, $1 million+ homes, boats, and lavish holidays that are given away by hospitals, medical research, and other types of non-profits?
Does the ratio of those luxury prizes to the cost of the ticket mean they are excessive?

In interest of full disclosure, I am a big fan of charities using premium packages for their direct mail and they cause me, as a private donor, to respond. I have seen some fairly create premium packs used by some key direct mail suppliers in the Australian marketplace. That said, the debate is worth having and this discussion is worth the calories. I purchase many lottery tickets from the likes of the Mater Foundation, MS Queensland, RSPCA NSW, and others. Also, in interest of accuracy, FIA chose to remove clauses related to excessive premiums from their Code.

9 Dec 2016

Stephen Mally Appreciated stocks, Charitable organisations, Florida State University, Non profit CRM, Non-profit organisations, Securities, Stocks, Tax, Tax benefit

Another difference between US and AUS fundraising

Last week, I blogged about a few differences between US and AUS fundraising. In the blog post, I discussed some key areas where the US hospital was far more aggressive than Australian non-profit organisations.

Yesterday, I received an eMail from Florida State University (FSU) asking me to donate long-term appreciated stocks. Appreciated stocks are securities which are worth more than their original purchase price. Gifts of securities are quite common amongst donors to charities in the US. Donors are encouraged to donate because of the tax benefit to the donor. Donor’s may gain a tax benefit equal to the full market value of the securities.

It is rare I hear about gifts of securities amongst even the largest of non-profit organisations in Australia.

12 May 2016

Stephen Mally Charitable organisations, Charity, Christmas appeal, Data cleansing, Data enrichment, data management practices, De-duplication, Deceasing, Do not call, Do not mail, FundraisingForce, NCOA, Nonprofit, tax appeal

Data cleansing before tax appeals drop

Earlier this week, I wrote a blog post suggesting tax appeals are a bit tardy this year. This may or may not be right. It is simply my opinion as a donor to more than 200 Australian charities.

Assuming some charitable organisations are behind with their tax appeal, perhaps the reason is data hygiene. One of the single most important steps prior to the tax appeal drop is the need to complete data cleansing.

Some nonprofit organisations take the important step to cleanse their data, while others do not. Data cleansing includes, but is not limited to, high level activities such as:

National Change of Address (NCOA).
De-duplication of constituent records.
Data enrichment, including:
- Deceasing of records
- Do not mail flag.
- Do not call flag.
Other important mass data management practices.

As suggested in prior FundraisingForce blog posts, dirty data gets you nowhere…except broke. Proper data cleaning prior to dropping the all-important tax and Christmas appeals is not optional. Do you put this in the “too hard” basket? Hire an expert like FundraisingForce who will guide you through the process, management of suppliers, and develop a process for you to follow for years to come.

5 Apr 2016

Stephen Mally Bequests, Charitable organisations, Charities, Community fundraising, Donations, face to face, Face to face solicitation, FundraisingForce, Mystery shopping, Nonprofit, Nonprofit organisations, secret shopping, Supporter services, Telephone enquiries

Non-profit mystery shopping – a must do

Mystery shopping is really not something your charitable organisation can ignore or decide to not action. Non-profit organisations must mystery shop.

Mystery shopping defined

Mystery shopping (or secret shopping) is the act by a nonprofit organisation to measure quality of service, compliance with a procedure, practice, or regulation, and/or to gather specific information about products and services. The secret shoppers’ identify and purpose are generally not known by the nonprofit organisation being evaluated – certainly not to the line staff under evaluation.

Mystery shoppers perform specific tasks such as making a donation, registering for community event fundraising, enquiring about leaving a bequest, asking questions, registering complaints, or behaving in a certain way. The shopper then provides detailed reports or feedback about their experiences to nonprofit management.

Examples of areas shopped

FundraisingForce have conducted mystery shopping studies for numerous nonprofit organisations across Asia-Pacific. These studies have helped organisations look at areas such as:

Bequests
Community fundraising
Donations
Face to face solicitation
Lottery
Supporter services
Telephone enquiries

Your organisation has two choices to action mystery shopping – you may choose a do it yourself approach or hire a consultant like FundraisingForce to secret shop your charitable organisation. Choosing to do it yourself will mean you need to identify the shopping areas to be studied and hire independent shoppers who will shop the scenarios identified. Hiring an independent firm further masks the identify of shoppers and also takes the work off of your shoulders.

Secret shoppers help you to praise and reinforce good behaviours. They also help you identify issues or gaps and to action plans to resolve the problems. Mystery shopping ought to be a routine evaluation tool used in your overall fundraising program and across your nonprofit organisation. Seeking more information on mystery shopping? Contact us for more details and to start mystery shopping.