Charities

21 May 2015

Stephen Mally Charities, Charity, Fundraising, fundraising conferences, Fundraising Institute Australia, NFP, Non-profit, Professional development, Training

Professional development opportunities galore

We live in a country where fundraisers do not lack professional development opportunities.

The Fundraising Institute Australia (FIA) Education program offers a host of courses. The 2015 semester II brochure just arrived in our letterboxes and is rich with new courses, as well as well the standard FIA courses – Fundraising Essentials, Certificate in Fundraising and Diploma in Fundraising. New course offerings include Data Analytics for the Empowered Fundraiser, Digital Storytelling for Fundraisers, Fundraising Change Leadership, and I Gave at the Office – Workplace Giving Masterclass.

The FIA courses are taught by dynamic, experienced, and diverse fundraising professionals such as Kathy John/RobeJohn, Shanelle Newton Clapham/Parachute Digital, Nigel Harris/Mater Foundation and Peter Dalton/fundraisingfutures, and Bonny Bayne and Rachael Beckett/Charities Aid Foundation (CAF). These talented professionals offer a wealth of experience as part of the content they deliver throughout the semester.

Register for these courses today. FIA is able to offer these courses in cities across Australia if we support our professional fundraising organisation.

19 May 2015

Stephen Mally Charities, Charity, Charity data, CRM, Data cleansing, Data hygiene, Donor care, Fundraising, NFP, Non-profit

A stack of mail in the United States

I have not lived with my parents since 1983. I last lived with them in the US state of Wisconsin before I went away to university. My parents now live in New Mexico and have since ~1987. I visit them twice a year since moving to Australia – usually in May and December.

Each time I have visited them over the last 7 years, my mother has told me that I have “mail waiting” for me. It started with a piece or two, but it amounted to more that 20 pieces of mail this month.

The interesting part of the May mail stack is there were only two pieces of mail from charity. Those pieces came from a conservation group and they were premium packs – address labels! If I want to, I could send lots of letters out with my parents return address! The remainder of the mail was for mobile phone offers (3 pieces), catalogues for clothing (3 pieces), replacement windows (3 pieces), life insurance (5 pieces), and blank cheques from my United Airlines credit card encouraging me to transfer balances from other cards (6 pieces).

You might suggest 20 pieces of mail in ~4 months is not a lot. You are right. Nonetheless, 20 pieces at an address I never lived, in a state I have only spent short holidays in, is quite puzzling.

14 May 2015

Stephen Mally Charities, Charity, Charity data, CRM, Data cleansing, Data hygiene, Donor retention, Fundraising, NFP, Non-profit

The Joys of Moving

I am moving house. Where am I moving? I do not know.

Sounds unsettling? It is!

I have simply not had time to find a new home and I needed to vacate my current place due to a pending sale of the unit. The removalists showed on Saturday, packed my belongings, and loaded them onto a truck…to storage.

But, there is so much more to a move. Because I do not know where I am moving to, I had to complete a Mail Hold Service with Australia Post. When I determine where I am moving to, I will complete a Mail Redirection. As you know from my previous posts and articles in F&P Magazine, no charity I support has performed data hygiene since my last move and I know this because Australia Post continues to forward my mail sent to my former Sydney address. It will be interesting to see if charities find me now!

12 May 2015

Stephen Mally Charities, Charity, Donor care, Donor stewardship, Fundraising, National Volunteer Week, NFP, Non-profit, Stewardship, Volunteer appreciation, Volunteering, Volunteers

What have your volunteers done for you lately?

What have your volunteers done for you lately? Wrong question. What have you done for your volunteers lately?

It is National Volunteer Week in Australia. Every organisation needs to assess what it is doing to recognise volunteers and volunteers need to think about what organisations are doing to recognise the time they give to those organisations. Volunteering Australia gives us 101 Ways to Recognise Your Volunteers including 13 key ideas to celebrate National Volunteer Week

Give a certificate to commemorate anniversaries of involvement.
Take photos of volunteers ‘on the job’, imprint a ‘Thank you’ message and frame them – then give them to each volunteer.
Hold special ‘thank you’ or social functions in honour of volunteers.
For long-standing volunteers, collect coins in the amount of hours contributed, place them in a vase tied with a royal blue ribbon and present to them at a special afternoon tea.
Have a morning tea with testimonials to the volunteers from recipients of services.
Give them a mug with logo or ‘thank you’ motif.
Create bookmarks for the volunteers with an acknowledgement of appreciation for work contributed.
Hold a BBQ for your volunteers.
Run a Volunteers Breakfast.
Give a pat on the back: Trace your hand on plain paper and cut out. Write, ‘Here’s a pat on the back for _________________. Thanks for all you hard work.’ Invite staff or anyone else that has contact with the volunteers to make one in recognition of the service of particular volunteers. Hang them all together for visual impact.
Create Volunteer buttons and pins
Arrange discounts for your volunteers at local shops.
Celebrate formal recognition events such as International Volunteer Day and National Volunteer Week with dinners, teas, dessert buffets, etc.

Some might seem basic or a little hokey; however, at the end of the day, isn’t it about taking a minute to say thanks and trying to be creative enough that the volunteers accept your thanks with appreciation for being recognised. Too few organisations take the opportunity to say thank you. It might be too late to action many fo these ideas this week during National Volunteer Week. But, what about hand written thank you note or simply a personalised mass Email sent to volunteers with a big “THANK YOU”?

27 Apr 2015

Stephen Mally Charities, Charity, Emergency appeal, Fundraising, NFP, Non-profit

Uber ready with emergency appeal – ChildFund Australia get’s the gold star

Most Australians went to bed on Saturday night having already heard of the devastating earthquake and avalanche in Nepal. We woke up to learn of the growing numbers of people killed, injured or left homeless. The images from Nepal were heart wrenching to see.

Because the Nepal Earthquake disaster happened over the weekend, the staff of most international aid charities was away from the office. Nonetheless, Childfund Australia, worked to get an appeal out on Sunday morning. I suspect more would have matched this pace had the disaster occurred on a weekday.

How do charities like Childfund Australia get an appeal out so quickly? I am not on the inside, but I would venture to guess they are…prepared. Prepared by having segments pre-built and ready to simply refresh. All Childfund had to do was to write some copy, match the copy to the segments and push the urgent appeal out to supporters to raise the money needed to support the people in the heart of the disaster region. One might argue the EDM is not glamorous looking; I would argue the look and feel of this email is exactly what the moment called for and demonstrates the urgency of the message and the need for money now.

How ready would your organisation be if you needed to get an appeal out literally within hours? Think about whether you have the tools in place to outperform your counterparts at Childfund Australia. Some Australian organisations take weeks and, even months, to get a tax appeal ready. Change your readiness to be more like the Childfund model.

21 Apr 2015

Stephen Mally Charities, Charity, Fundraising, Gift in honour, Gift in memory, Memorial Giving, NFP, Non-profit, Tribute giving

Gifts in Memory and Gifts in Honour should be easy and painless to give

People want to support charities when someone they care deeply about has died and they also want to do the same when there is a momentous occasion such as a milestone birthday, retirement, wedding, or other happy moment.

I recently lost a friend who was an important part of the charity sector and a wonderful person. I visited this friend in a Sydney hospital throughout his illness and I thought it fitting to give a gift in his memory to that same hospital. I wanted to not only give a memorial, but I also wanted to recognise the superior nursing care he received at the outstanding healthcare institution.

When I logged onto the hospital’s website to make the memorial gift, I was challenged to find where to donate. Once I located the tribute section, I was most surprised I could not make the gift online. Instead, I was asked to mail, FAX, or call with my memorial donation. I gave up. A day later I was fortunate to learn this man’s sister and friends had set up a memorial page. This site, on the EverydayHero platform, made it easy for people internationally to make a gift.

It saddened me I was not able to easily and efficiently make a gift to the hospital.

One of the best memorial giving scenarios I witnessed was giving to a hospice part of Legacy Health in Portland Oregon. When I made a gift in memory of a friend’s mother cared for by this hospice, not only was my friend notified quickly, but I received a hand written thank you not within a week at my Australian address. Additionally, to this day, I receive various electronic communications from the hospice. Most of the asks from the hospice are in recognition of donor’s day, nursing month, or some other occasion.

Evaluate your tribute program. It might be time to make some adjustments so you do not lose people who want to give.

31 Mar 2015

Stephen Mally Charities, Charity, Fundraising, Innovation, NFP, Non-profit

Innovation + Not-for-Profit = Odd Couple?

Let’s be candid. We do not often hear the words innovation and not-for-profit used in the same sentence. Charities are not known to be forward-thinking and are often times in the shadow of their for-profit counterparts as a result.

Australia Post and GiveEasy have conducted a study to determine which Not-for-Profit organisation are truly the most innovative through the Innovation Index – Australian Not-for-profit Sector 2015.

The Innovation Index – Australian Not-for-Profit Sector 2015 is a study of the sector’s current innovation capability. The Index report is a compilation of a survey of more than 744 professionals working across the NFP sector from every Australian state and territory.

Organisations were measured according to their capacity to develop and deliver innovation according to seven key vectors:

External Collaboration.
Internal Collaboration.
Innovation Focus.
Openness of Culture/Vision.
Organisational Velocity.
Rewards/Recognition.
Stakeholder Centricity.

The ten most innovative not-for-profit organisations in Australia, according to participants in the study, are:

According to the study, the following offer insight into what innovation in a NFP organisation looks like:

Mid- to large-sized organisations employing 11-100 staff.
Ones that have national and/or overseas footprint (not one state).
Working in the environment, lobbying or youth sectors.
Treat beneficiaries and the private sector as important as front line staff and management as sources of innovation.
Developing over half of their innovations from outside the organisation.
Working hard to bring in new funding.
Financially rewarding innovation activity (not just paying it lip service).
Has a publically stated innovation policy that all employees know about.
Building their own apps as well as just being on Facebook and Twitter.
Hiring staff across all age groups including under 25s and over 50s.
Focused on retaining employees for 4 or more years.
Running a budget of $500-$1m or $2m-$10m.
Enjoying a rising budget.
Continually getting funds from new sources.

Does your NFP display the above attributes?

The study offers our sector areas in which the sector as a whole may be more innovative. Those areas, include:

Internal collaboration within organisations in the sector needs to be improved.
Effective collaboration with stakeholders is a key driver of innovation – the sector overall needs to work harder to solicit feedback from external stakeholders on a regular basis.
As in the corporate sector, setting aside time to innovate is a challenge – but it is a necessity if the organisation is to innovate effectively. Those organisations that make time for team members to work on opportunities beyond the daily urgencies reap the rewards.
It appears that the status quo of NFP organisations is challenged infrequently. In a world where disruption is rife, and most industry sectors need to justify their customer value proposition frequently, it would be expected that the NFP sector would be more self-questioning.
Organisations need to be receptive to change, and agile in their response.
While a very high number of people believe that it is important to be innovative in their organisation, there is little or no reward for innovation in the sector – either financially or through promotion.
A NFP might be expected to have a very high focus on its stakeholders. Only 63% believe they have a deep understanding of the needs of their stakeholders.

The above is summary lifted directly from the Innovation Index. To learn more and to gain greater detail, download a copy today. Special thanks to GiveEasy and Australia Post for conducting the study, offering insights into our sector, and identifying areas for improvement. Congratulations to the ten NFPs recognised from their peers as being the most innovative. The Australian NFP sector has much to learn from studies such as this one.

26 Mar 2015

Stephen Mally Charities, Charity, Charity data, CRM, Data cleansing, Donor care, Donor stewardship, Fundraising, NFP, Non-profit, Stewardship

Communication preferences tailored to supporter and organisation

Is the person who lives here on your list? I walk by this home a couple of times per weekend because the house is on the same street as my Brisbane apartment.

I chuckle each time I walk by the house. I am not making fun of the owner. It is within his or her right to post such a sign on their own property and on their letterbox. I simply wonder how many charities have this person on their database and I wonder if the person has ever alerted charities he/she wishes to be on a do not contact list, a do not solicit list, or some other alert.

When someone notifies you they do not wish to be contacted or wishes to opt out of certain communications, what action does your charity take? Do you mark the record “Do Not Contact”? Or, do you ask the supporter exactly what types of communications he or she does not wish to receive? Are you able to mark the supporter record to specify the exact types of communication rather than to code the record in your CRM to “Do Not Contact”, “Do Not Solicit”, “No Solicitations”, “No Mail”, “No Phone”, No Email”, “No SMS”? Would’t it be far better for you to be able use codes to document the supporter’s true communication preferences rather than blanket codes, which may prevent them to no receive communications they actually enjoyed? Codes such as:

Tax Appeal
Christmas Appeal
- The above examples allow your organisation to include all other supporters in all appeals and only include supporters marked “Tax Appeal” or “Christmas Appeal” if they have such a code in their record in the CRM.
Newsletter – Electronic
Newsletter – Post
- The above examples allow your organisation to include supporters with these codes when doing an email newsletter or when doing post newsletter, but to exclude them when doing one or the other if they have the opposite code in their record in the CRM.
No solicitation – phone
- The above example allows your organisation to exclude anyone with this code from a telemarketing campaign when their is a solicitation involved. If the campaign involved a thank you call or some other purpose, your organisation might include the supporter in the calling program.

Communication preferences are vital. Organisations over-engineer and other organisations under-engineer the tracking of this critical data. Doing so means your organisation is short-chaning the donor and your organisation. Don’t cheat your supporter out of communications he or she may value. And, don’t cut the supporter off from communications, which will cause you to ultimately lose the support of the donor as a result.

24 Mar 2015

Stephen Mally Charities, Charity, Donor care, Donor retention, Donor stewardship, Fundraising, Giving Day, NFP, Non-profit, Stewardship

Giving days are becoming VERY popular!

Giving days appear to have started in the university sector in the United States some four or five years ago. The giving days focus alumni, donors, and prospective donors on initiatives to support in a single day. Giving days are becoming very popular. In fact, this year we are seeing…giving weeks!

Universities such as Florida State University, Boston University, and countless others have giving days or weeks! Sacramento, California’s capital city, has a Big Day of Giving where the city has partnered with a variety of community foundations to encourage people to “Give where your heart is”. And, it does not stop there. Charities such as the Red Cross are holding giving days as well.

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Why are these days (or weeks) so popular? Not only is there a big opportunity to raise money, but the giving days offer a chance to really get the word out and to allow people to have a greater emotional connection to your organisation. Columbia University reported raising over $11 million on its 2014 giving day via 10,452 gifts from 50 states and 53 countries! Now, that’s reach.

It won’t be long before every one of the marquis universities in Australia join this trend. But, why stop there? Why wouldn’t charities, healthcare and medical research institutes, museums, and private schools jump on the bandwagon and test a giving day themselves?

23 Mar 2015

Stephen Mally Charities, Charity, Donor care, Donor retention, Donor stewardship, Fundraising, NFP, Non-profit, Stewardship

20 March was a good news and bad news day for charities

Last Friday was a good news day and also a sad news day for charities.

I received two emails from charities announcing the death of former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser. I also received an email from one charity announcing the birth of a baby gorilla. CARE Australia and Burnet Institute sent email obituaries announcing the death of the Prime Minister and Zoos Victoria sent an email about a happier occasion at the zoo.

Although unrelated to one another, all three organisations used electronic communications effectively to get the word out and to describe the importance of these occasions to their organisations. CARE Australia and Burnet spoke about the importance of Mr Fraser to their organisation (the Prime Minister held leadership roles with both) and Zoos Victoria gave us an occasion to smile by informing us what this new addition means to the zoo’s world-class collection.

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