Charities

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Not including an ask? Don’t send it.

Charity word cloudEvery day I receive charity mail. Mail from those included in my personal direct marketing study and mail from those organisations I support independently.

I often times get asked what is the thing that shocks me the most as you look across the charities? The thing that surprises me the most is organisations that send an appeal, a newsletter, an annual report, or other material without making an ask for a donation.

Just this week I received a beautiful newsletter from one of the nation’s leading medical research institutes. I opened the envelope, pulled the newsletter out, opened the newsletter and I wanted to scream. No ask was included in the envelope. No response device with a self-addressed envelope. The research institute included a response device printed on page 5 of the 6 page newsletter. How many people take the time to clip this device out of the newsletter to make a gift?

If you are going to take the time to send material to donors and prospective donors, take the time to make an ask for a donation. In doing so, make it easy for the donor to give a gift to you. Do not make it an art project. Include a pre-printed response device and an envelope for ease in returning the donation. If you are not going to make an ask for a donation, do not bother to send the fundraising or stewardship piece.

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New donor welcome package – a thing of the past? Not for McGrath Foundation

I cannot recall the last time I received a new donor welcome package. In fact, I was surprised when I received one from McGrath Foundation last week welcoming me as a new regular giver.

McGrathThe McGrath Foundation welcome pack included a nice letter from the McGrath Foundation Donor Manager, a thank you card with a photo of lots of smiling people dressed in pink, a brochure about the McGrath Foundation, a calendar, and a McGrath Foundation branded carry bag for me to use at the supermarket.

This package makes a recipient feel special and, at the same time, educates the donor about the McGrath Foundation while giving the donor two functional items back – a calendar and a carry bag.

The McGrath Foundation welcome pack, delivered in a window envelope, was likely generated in mass to all donors who signed up during a recent telemarketing campaign run by OURTEL. The caller who reached me from OURTEL, a woman named Wendy, sounded as though she could have been anyone’s mother. She was kind, spoke well, and educated me about the reason I needed to become a regular giver to McGrath Foundation. I gave because of the call and because Wendy caused me to realise the need for breast care nurses. The call was so terrific that I asked the caller for the name of her company and also her name. I later sent an email to the CEO of the McGrath Foundation telling her about it.

Congratulations to McGrath Foundation for a terrific campaign. Other organisations should use this as a model.

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Creating and sending an appeal in a few minutes or less?

Snip20150315_10Impressive. CARE Australia was able to send an appeal out about Cyclone Pam hitting Vanuatu within hours of the cyclone’s impact. This email reached my inbox seeking emergency donations to help people facing life threatening devastation.

How did CARE Australia get this out so quickly? In the case of a cyclone, CARE Australia was aware, via the international news, of the cyclone’s path and potential destruction. There was a bit more advanced notice on this one than, say, a hurricane or some other catastrophe. Nonetheless, organisations like CARE Australia have appeals like this ready to go so they may be launched in a moments notice.

The fact is all international relief organisations need to be ready to launch appeals quickly.

Your organisation should be able to do the same. What if a medical research organisation needed to announce a big breakthrough? What if a hospital or health organisation wanted to announce an advance in a procedure? Any of our organisations might have something exciting or some sort of issue to get out quickly. Yet, not all organisation are ready to push these type of communication out in an hour.

Organisations should plan for such an emergency/urgency and hope you never have to use it. It is better to plan and not have to use it than to not plan and be unready to get something out when the urgency presents itself!

 

 

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Finding the ‘perfect’ database for a non-profit

content‘Tis the season for non-profit organisations searching for the ‘perfect’ database.

There are countless organisations in Asia-Pacific searching for a new constituent relationship management (CRM) or Supporter Relationship Management (SRM) solution. All of these non-profit organisations are attempting to find the right fit, which will accelerate their organisations productivity.

Available Product

There are about 8 CRM/SRM key products or platforms in the Australian marketplace. Those products or platforms have many things in common, but there are some key differences across the systems as well. Additionally, a single supplier may have a variety of solutions to offer non-profit organisations.

Do your research before you approach these companies.

It’s About the Relationship

Non-profit organisations thrive on relationships staff create with donors, volunteers, and others. When a non-profit selects a new CRM/SRM, the suppliers are often very focused on the relationship. Ask current customers whether the relationship continued after the point of sale. Has the supplier continued to develop the relationship 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5+ years down the road or do they only contact customers when there is a sale to be had?

Remember, a relationships with a the CRM/SRM supplier goes beyond customer support. The relationship is about customer service.

Business Requirements

Are you really confident of your non-profit organisation’s business requirements? Are you able to articulate those business requirements to the market? Being able to communicate the requirements of each department in your organisation is essential in order to allow suppliers the opportunity to determine the best fit within their own product set.

While there are many products in the Australian market and they have many attributes in common, there are some key differences in the systems as well. It troubles me when I hear an organisation is signing a contract with a supplier simply because the supplier was “very nice” and “very professional” in the sales process. It further troubles me when an organisation is signing a contract with a supplier without having done their due diligence and conducted a search beyond that one supplier.

Dump your current CRM/SRM?

Moving away from your organisation’s current CRM/SRM may very well be the right decision, but it is not always a wise decision for every organisation. First you need to identify reasons you are looking to move away from the CRM/SRM. What are the reasons you feel the current system does not meet your organisation’s needs? Often times those reasons are not about functionality, but about internal factors such as business processes, training, and change management. No matter what CRM/SRM you adopt, your organisation may face the same internal issues again unless these issues are addressed.

Does the perfect non-profit CRM or SRM really exist? The answer is not a yes. But, it is also not a no. The answer to that question depends on whether your organisation runs a thorough process to search for the CRM/SRM, which is the best fit for your organisation based on the following:

  • Size of your organisation.
  • Business requirements identified for your organisation.
  • Future growth plans and strategies.

The Process

FundraisingForce is working with three non-profit organisations presently searching for systems. FundraisingForce suggests the following process when searching for the right CRM/SRM fit:

  • Examine the current CRM/SRM to determine its strengths and weaknesses. Be sure to examine what impact your organisation has had on the determined weaknesses. Sometimes this is the most difficult task to own.
  • Conduct a requirements gathering exercise and confirm the requirements with subject matter experts (SMEs) to be sure of accuracy.
  • Write a request for proposals document asking suppliers to respond to specific areas of interest to your organisation. You will seek information about functionality of the product, information about the supplier, and responses to questions. All of these will study the supplier’s strengths, weaknesses, stability and other critical factors.
  • Conduct a meeting with suppliers to review your process documents and to be available to answer any questions.
  • Create an internal selection committee.
  • Review proposals and answers to your requirements documentation.
  • Conduct demonstrations by suppliers about proposed product lines. Include an expanded audience (beyond your selection committee) to gain buy-in from staff across the organisation.
  • Check references offered by suppliers. Also, check references not provided by suppliers. You would not hire a candidate for a position simply based on what the references they provide say about their past. Simply calling the references a supplier puts forward is limiting.
  • Negotiate price. Whatever price the supplier puts forward is not the price that will be agreed to in the end. The fact is the supplier will want to know more information about your organisation, your business requirements, and other factors before the supplier is able to quote a more exact price. Remember price is only one piece of the overall process. Be sure to think through costs you will incur internally, as well, such as staffing and other variables.

Selecting a CRM/SRM may well be the biggest decision and the largest investment your organisation makes. Investing in the process and ensuring your organisation makes the right decision is critical. Once you select the CRM/SRM, the fun part starts – the implementation! I will write more about the implementation in a future post.

Does all of the above seem a bit daunting? Hiring experts, like FundraisingForce, who have worked on the supplier side to help you to navigate the process.

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Prepare for your tax appeal segmentation – now!

segmentation-feature-dBelieve it or not, we are talking Tax Appeals already. In fact, we are…a little late.

It’s surprising the organisations that send the same package with the same copy to everyone on their data set simply because it’s “too hard” to segment the data set and to craft messages for each segment. Other organisations rely on suppliers to segment the data when, in fact, these organisations could segment their own data with just a bit of help.

Organisations using The Raiser’s Edge, or other marquis CRM products, have the tools to create segmentation in house if they simply had the knowledge.

Any organisation lucky enough to have a CRM as powerful as The Raiser’s Edge, or the others in the market, should gain knowledge from an expert to create segmentation in house. It is not enough to bring in an outside expert to simply create your segmentation for the upcoming Tax Appeal. The knowledge should be transferred to your staff so segmentation may be created for future appeals as well.

Sending an appeal to everyone on the database simply because the supporter exists on the database is not good enough. Invest some time to create the segmentation on paper and then work with a FundraisingForce Consultant to build the segmentations strategy in your database. Ensure the strategy is future proof and may be used for the Christmas Appeal and beyond.

1 July will be here before we know it. Your appeal should be dropping in May. It’s nearly mid-March. Let’s work together to ensure a successful Tax Appeal for your organisation.

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Stop. Do not train your staff. They will leave your organisation anyway.

TrainingWe have all heard supervisors tell us why we cannot attend a training course or a conference.

Training costs too much.

My staff does not have time for training.

There is no money in the budget.

We will send you on a training course in the future.

Why bother to train my staff? They are going to leave anyway.

“What’s worse than training your workers and losing them? Not training them and keeping them.”

– Zig Zigler, Motivational Speaker

Studies about workplace learning show that investment in employees improves the organisation’s bottom line.

According to a post written by Dale Dirkes on LinkedIn, the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) concluded a national study of workplace learning practices and outcomes in 540 U.S. corporations. By creating two sub-samples in the study (one sample invested an average of $900 per employee per year and the other invested an average of $275 per employee per year) researchers found the top group outpaced the bottom by:

  • 57% higher sales per employee.
  • 37% higher gross profit per employee.

The study also offers organisations — some for the first time — reliable ways to measure tangible results from a training investment.

In a second phase of the study, ASTD identified leading edge companies for “Best Practices” ideas.

Here’s what they learned from the best of the best. They:

  • Invest up to 6% of payroll on overall workplace learning.
  • train 86% of employees on average.
  • utilise high-end technology (Internet, Webinar, computer-based training) to complement classroom sessions.

A graduate-level research project completed by Robert Klein, sales education manager for Nabisco, and aided by professor Dan Tanomery of Fairleigh Dickinson University, centered around what some U.S. companies are doing to train sales professionals.

The findings show there was a direct correlation between sales training and seven key business results:

  • sales increase.
  • market share increases.
  • there is a tendency for more new product rollouts.
  • productivity increases.
  • higher employee morale (and better retention).
  • customer satisfaction increases.
  • net Profits Increase.

Findings also show:

  • training improves employee performance.
  • training enhances the bottom line.
  • training saves labour.
  • training saves money.
  • training improves an organisation’s competitive edge.
  • training increases worker productivity.
  • training saves supervisory and administrative time and costs.
  • training improves supporter satisfaction.
  • training improves employee satisfaction and retention.
  • investment in professional development training is a win-win for a non-profit organisation and the employee alike.

Each of us has a responsibility to our organisations and to our staff to ensure our teams are fully trained and have the capability to do the job we have hired them to do.

Our peak body, Fundraising Institute Australia (FIA), offers a terrific range of courses for our sector and these courses cover a variety of skill levels and topics. Courses include:

  • Fundraising Essentials
  • FIA Certificate in Fundraising
  • FIA Diploma in Fundraising
  • Copywriting for Fundraisers
  • Creative for Fundraisers
  • Data Analytics for Fundraisers
  • Creating Transformational Mass Participation Events
  • Feel Good Major Gifts
  • Join the Bequests Revolution

FIA is offering courses in the classroom and also online to meet your training needs. Visit the FIA website for more details.

Semester I of the 2015 FIA training calendar launches this month. Signup for a course today and/or encourage your staff to attend a series of courses this year.

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FundraisingForce offers training on various fundraising database systems, including The Raiser’s Edge. We also offer training on Blackbaud NetCommunity. Contact us for more information and to tailor a programme to meet your organisation’s requirements.

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Nuggets of information from Fundraising Institute Australia 2015 Conference

Snip20150222_2The Fundraising Institute Australia (FIA) Conference is the largest gathering of fundraisers in Asia-Pacific. The Fundraising Institute Australia 2015 conference occurred last week on 18-20 February 2015.

If you could not attend, you missed a lot! And, because you missed a lot, I decided to create a blog post containing some of the nuggets of information learned from a few of the sessions I attended, including: a master class, plenary sessions, and various breakouts.

Wednesday, 18 February

9:00AM – 4:00PM

Building Your Personal Brand Master Class

The three days kicked off with some spectacular master classes, including one I attended called Building Your Personal Brand. This class contained a panel of four remarkable women from Brisbane, Sydney and Washington DC talking about the importance of building and maintaining a personal brand.

Presenters included:

  • Julie Lamberg-Burnet, Sydney School of Protocol.
  • Mary Macuga, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane
  • Korrin Barrett, Living Possibility.
  • Eva Aldrich, CFRE International.

The panellists combined to deliver a message, which included:

  • The importance of the first impression.
  • How to properly carry yourself in a social setting or interview.
  • Personality traits and work styles we each bring to the workplace.
  • How supervisors and co-workers learn to deal with our personality traits and work styles (and we deal with theirs) is key to successful offices.
  • How those same traits apply to successful donor interactions, Board relations, and donor solicitations.
  • How to rebuild your personal brand after a catastrophic situation.
  • How professional credentialing adds value to your personal brand.
  • How you can achieve goals and build your personal brand while also meeting the requirements to achieve the CFRE credential.

The day was packed with information and rich content from the presenters while, at the same time, insight from audience participants.

5:00PM – 7:00PM

Opening Reception

Often one of the favourite events of the FIA Conference, the opening reception was a chance for attendees to visit with suppliers in a sold-out exhibit hall, to make new acquaintances and to renew old friendships. The conference exhibit hall was packed and many of us found it the place to be to network and to gain insightful information from fellow conference participants.

Many conference participants coordinated one on one or group dinners to take advantage of the opportunity to network further and to kick the conference off right.

Thursday, 19 February 2015

Plenary I – Simone Joyaux, ACFRE (Joyaux Associates)

Simone Joyaux kicked off the conference with a direct and powerful message to the audience. She said fundraising is “not about the money”. Rather, its “about the donor’s own aspirations”. Simone has a unique style of presenting and the audience was captivated by her message.

Plenary II – Tom Latchford (Raising IT)

Young Tom Latchford offered a motivating talk about getting the NFP sector ahead of the commercial sector. His humour, coupled with his vast international knowledge, caused his message to resonate with the audience.

11:00 – 12:30PM – Breakout

Panel Discussion – Management and Leadership Issues in Fundraising

Dr Wendy Scaife, EMFIA (Australian Centre for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies – QUT)

Margaret Scott, FFIA CFRE (Margaret Scott & Associates)

Dr Daniel McDiarmid, FFIA CFRE (Global Philanthropic)

Simone Joyaux ACFRE (Joyaux Associates)

Nigel Harris, CFRE (Mater Foundation) led an expert panel discussion where the panellists focused on problems, challenges, opportunities and responses identified through research. The packed room gained insight from these seasoned professionals.

2:25PM – 3:10PM – Breakout

Mining Your Data – Getting the Gold

Dan Bernstein, MFIA (FundraisingForce)

Dan Bernstein, FundraisingForce, presented a 45-minute session full of tips and tricks to find the gold in your customer relationship management (CRM) system. As an experienced fundraiser and consultant, Dan knows how to get to the gold and his energetic presentation style and the information he presented captivated the audience. The audience was seen taking copious notes and some said they were creating a plan to implement right after the conference.

3:10PM – 3:40PM – Marketplace

How to Become a Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE) Next Quarter

Stephen Mally, CFRE (FundraisingForce)

I was able to take a dozen interested fundraisers through the CFRE process and to try to take the mystery out of CFRE. During the session I shared information about the application and examination process. I also invited participants to join the FIA NSW CFRE Study Group – whether these participants live in NSW or elsewhere. Videoconference is available for all.

4:35PM – 5:20PM – Breakout

Practical Ways to Use Your Data to Drive Up Results

Fiona McPhee (Pareto Fundraising)

Fiona McPhee’s sessions are always about sharing and Fiona did not hold back in this instance. She offered a lot of insight into RFM segmentation and how charities are winning the data battle in Asia-Pacific.

7:00PM – 11:00PM – Gala Awards Dinner

Friday, 20 February 2015

10:30AM – 11:25AM – Breakout

Deeper, Smarter Engagement of Donors

Derek Bell (MarketingCube) and Claire Wytcherley (Diabetes Australia VIC)

Marketing automation may be a foreign term to many in the NFP sector, but Derek and Claire offered definition and clarity into exactly what marketing automation is and how it applies to the NFP organisations. The two walked us through the process to change our marketing from “batch and send” processes to marketing automation processes. Derek and Claire discussed a need to understand our audiences and our supporter’s preferred methods of communication. Derek reminded us to be aware of the donor’s online and offline behaviour.

Diabetes Australia VIC is one such organisation seeing success through marketing automation. Cost reduction and deeper file penetration were both winds for Diabetes Australia VIC.

MarketingCube suggests the five p’s:  Plan, produce, publish, promote, and prove.

11:35AM – 12:30PM – Breakout

DIY Fundraising – 365 Days of Opportunity

Adrian Coupe and Henry Gresson (GoFundraise)

As the title says, do it yourself fundraising is available 365 days a year! Adrian and Henry offered insights into how charities throughout Australia are maximising the opportunity to captivate the attention of supporters to gain the most form every event. The two talked about the changing fundraising landscape: Fundraising landscape – 40% – signature event (owned by charity), 30% – 3rd party (owned by specialist event org), and 30% DIY. DIY is the fastest growing pillar in the fundraising landscape according to GoFundraise.

2:40PM – 3:25PM

Four Successes and a Failure: Sharing the behind the Scenes Secrets of Non-Profit Website and Social Media Successes to learn That Works and What Just Doesn’t

Tom Latchford (Raising IT)

Tom’s sense of humour and knowledge of best practice around the world came out in this session. Despite the fact we were in the midst of a cyclone, the room was packed and everyone benefited from Tom’s knowledge on leveraging best practices in websites and social media.

Closing Plenary

Following the Path to Donor Nirvana: The 6 Realisations Approach

Tom Ahern (Ahern Communications)

Tom Ahern offered several examples of US charity materials and showed best practice and opportunities for improvement. Tom told us if everyone tells you they love your newsletter you should “be suspicious”! He reminded us that we, as fundraisers, care more about the ask and the donor cares more about the thank you.

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Don’t judge your donors by the way they dress

Snip20150207_52The US morning show, NBC’s Today Show, reported this week about a gentleman who lived very modestly in the US state of Vermont. In fact, he lived so modestly no one had any idea he was worth about $8 million…until he passed away and left it all to charity.

According to the story, Ron Read, a janitor surprised everyone when he left $4.8 million to the local hospital – Brattleboro Memorial Hospital – and the remaining $1.2 million to the local library – Brooks Memorial Library.

His estate attorney says Read told her he had money. And, the estate attorney did not believe him because of “the way he dressed”. She said he typically dressed in a worn coat, flannel shirt and baseball cap. The attorney adds “never judge someone across the table for what they look like”.

Two institutions that impacted Read’s life while he was alive are now being impacted by Read after his death. In fact, both organisations say the gift Read left is the largest they have received. Simply put, Read has left the community stunned.

Think of the time and attention we pay to people, in and outside of the fundraising world, based on the way they look. Think of the time we spend in this business on high value donors simply based on what they give out of pocket today. Read likely did not give money while he was alive. Some reported they tried to buy him a meal in the hospital cafeteria based on the fact he looked like he was in need.

I love this story because it indicates to me that someone at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital and someone at Brooks Memorial Hospital thought he enough to care for Mr Read no matter how others may judge him. And, in the end, he recognised the caring received and the services provided by the hospital and the library.

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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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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.

MountainNon-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.

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