Fundraising

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Nice year-end promotion from PayPal

Snip20151228_103PayPal is offering a terrific promotion at the end of 2015.

PayPal is encouraging donors to give to their favourite charities and is offering 1% additional, which means 101% of the donation goes to the charity. Nonprofit organisations looking for a twist or a motivator for donors to give at year-end may want to partner with PayPal during promotions similar to this one.

PayPal offered a similar promotion during #GivingTuesday earlier in December. While the calendar year-end is critical for US charities (it is the last week of the US tax year), Australian charities may want to consider partnering with a supplier during our year-end in the last week of June.

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Lack of joyful wishes from charities this season

Snip20151222_99It’s the holiday season – a time of year of well wishes and surprises. As a donor to hundreds of Australian non profit organisations, I am most surprised by the lack of well wishes from charities this year.

I have received plenty of requests for support via Christmas since September. However, to date, I have received a total of three greetings or wishes from – one from charitable organisation and two from professional organisations.

The Sydney Opera House is the only non profit organisation to take the time to send Christmas greetings. The greeting, via Email, was multi-purpose, including: offering joyful wishes of the holiday season, as well as a calendar of upcoming events, and the opportunity to take in all the Opera House offers.

The other two greetings received were from professional organisations, including CFRE International and Australian Direct Marketing Association (ADMA).

As we rush out of the office to commence our Christmas and New Year’s breaks, it takes nothing more than a few minutes to craft an email and include a holiday graphic to let donors, volunteers, and others know you appreciate their support and to remind them there is ample opportunity to give one last gift before year end.

Charities tend to spend a significant time planning and analysing appeals. Why not take a bit of time to express appreciation and to wish your donors well in the New Year?

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from FundraisingForce.

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Australia welcomes new Certified Fundraising Executives

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CFRE International announced four new Australians have received their Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE) credential.

Fundraising Institute Australia (FIA) have a CFRE Study Group, which meets on the fourth Wednesday of every month, to coach fundraisers through the application and exam process. The CFRE Study Group meets to review text in a “book club” format where participants read text and participants  are assigned to lead the discussion for various chapters. To date, nearly 100% of the participants have passed the exam on the first attempt.

The next CFRE Study Group kicks off on 27 January. If you are interested in participating, sign up by contacting Stephen Mally by email or call (04) 3050 0524.

Congratulations to the newest CFREs from Australia. We are a growing number and will welcome anyone to our study group in the New Year. Make CFRE a personal and professional goal in the New year!

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Debate on whether #GivingTuesday will work in Australia

Snip20151203_36I woke up this morning to a dozen emails from US charities celebrating the fact they exceeded their goal for #GivingTuesday. One nonprofit organisation, Dana Farber set a goal of $1 million and raised $1.165 million in the single day.

After enjoying the Fundraising Institute Australia NSW end of year celebration last evening, I went with a group of people to a nearby hotel to enjoy an additional glass of wine. A supplier in this group suggested to me #GivingTuesday will never work in Australia. I pressed her as to why.

The supplier suggested the reason #GivingTuesday will never work in Australia is the fact that “Australians take care of themselves”. This did not make sense to me. Sure, I understand Australia, as a country, takes care of its people. The government provides a lot for its people in this country. Australians are a very caring society. So, why would #GivingTuesday not work here? She went on to describe the fact Americans have Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday, etc. I understand all of that. She then suggested because Australia have none of those milestone days on the calendar (I would argue many Australians take full advantage of Cyber Monday), #GivingTuesday does not have a lead up to it and, therefore, it cannot possibly work here.

#GivingTuesday can and does work in countries outside of the US. I believe we will see an increase in the numbers of donors and dollars raised worldwide this year. I also believe Australians can adopt a marketing campaign which has several years of success under its belt. With an open mind and with a focused campaign, we, too, can join the ranks of Dana Farber and the thousands of other charities raising millions in a single day. Why not give it a try?

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Gifts of stock to charities

When I teach fundraising classes for Fundraising Institute Australia and others, I often times draw distinctions in fundraising in the UK, US, and Australia. One distinction I draw is the difference in direct marketing and major gifts fundraising between the US and their UK and Australian counterparts. Perhaps an over generalisation, but direct marketing is much stronger, particularly regular giving programs, in the UK and Australia than in the US. And, major gifts are far stronger in the US than in the UK and Australia.

Snip20151125_1Take this email I received from Dana-Farber and The Jimmy Fund as an example. The email suggests I consider a gift of stock at year-end. Gifts of stock are a popular means for US major donors to give due to their appreciation and tax benefits. US non-profit organisations and charities actively seek gifts of stock from their prospective donors throughout the year and, in particular at year-end.

I received a second request this week for gifts of stock. This one is from Florida State University (FSU). FSU points out the tax benefits of making this type of gift.Snip20151126_2

Australian charities may take a page from the US nonprofit playbook. Think about prospective donors who have an affiliation with your nonprofit organisation and who may have appreciated stock. Perhaps these prospective donors are employees of US corporations and part of their compensation package includes securities.

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Emirates Airlines and Emirates Foundation – capturing traveller’s attention

Snip20151103_1I wrote a blog post recently about travel audiences being captive audiences and I asked why more travel companies do not promote charities and charitable activity to this audience. With more than 23 hours of flight time on recent flights on Emirates Airlines from Amsterdam to Dubai and Dubai to Sydney, I felt that captivity!

EmiratesEmirates Airlines did a tremendous job promoting the Emirates Foundation on its aircraft, in the airline’s magazine, on the television monitors, and throughout the airport. The Airline, in fact, asked people to give online to the Foundation, donate onboard, donate airline miles, and to purchase Foundation merchandise via duty free onboard. Additionally, in the Emirates business class lounge there were coin collection stations encouraging people to give their foreign currency. Dubai is the homebase for Emirates and the traffic through the airport amounts to some 75 million passengers travelling annually. Dubai is the third busiest airport in the world. Clearly Emirates is playing to the audience and encouraging us to give with a menu of options.

Emirates also published a bit of a mini annual report or a project update to educate us about projects funded by the Foundation around the world.

Congratulations to Emirates and to the Emirates Foundation for a stellar job promoting the Foundation’s good work. You caught this passenger’s attention and kept it throughout the journey.

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Win or place at today’s Melbourne Cup

Today is the Melbourne Cup in Australia. Many people will either have the day of (it is, after all, a public holiday in Victoria) and others will simply pause to watch the race with their office mates who may be dressed for the occasion or who may have brought some bubbly or food to share to mark the occasion. As they say, the race does stop the nation.

The fact is, many offices will have pools or some people may stop at the TAB on their way into the office to place a bet in hopes of a big winning. I know nothing about horse racing and the past several years I have worked through the short race (a very un-Australian thing to do).

Nonetheless, I do know a thing or two about taking chances. I have been taking several chances lately in various fundraising lotteries/art unions.

One charity hired a telemarketing firm to call me recently to purchase tickets for various items. I bought. I just purchased 100 tickets/chances to win a luxury home in Queensland. Additionally, I am auto buyer for another charity to win a luxury car.Lottery

What is it about these charity lotteries? Is it the chance to win an outstanding prize? Or is it the fact I may win a prize for so little investment? For example, one charity is selling 30 tickets for $100. Finally, is it the fact I am giving money to charity (although not tax deductible)?

I think it is a combination of all of the above. Some of us like to buy the occasional lottery ticket and dream of winning big. The fact I may purchase a chance to win a Mercedes for $100, and there are limited tickets sold, is very attractive. Others want to support a charity in this fashion.

While I do not advocate gambling, I do like to take the occasional chance to win something big. Who doesn’t? The fact the money goes to wonderful organisations means this is just one more way I support charity in Australia.

Enjoy the Melbourne Cup. Good luck today – may the best horse win the race! And, may I win the house and/or the car!

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Donating is like dating – no one gets married after the first date

Donating is like dating. No one gets married after the first date. Do they? I get irritated when charities and their staffs treat my donation as a one-time transaction or, worse, like a one night stand.

It typically goes something like this:

  • I make a gift.
  • I receive a receipt.
  • I never hear back from the charity until they want an additional gift, usually double or triple the size of my original gift. Or, they ask me for a regular gift or a major gift in this third interaction.

What’s wrong with this picture?

I liken the situation to dating. I think it should go something like this:

  • I make a gift (this is the first date).
  • I should receive a receipt. I should also receive a warm and fuzzy letter of appreciation and, perhaps, a welcome video or SMS (this is the charity dropping me off after the first date and suggesting we should go out again).
    • You can never thank someone enough or too much!
  • The charity courts me, informs me of ways in which my first gift and the countless others matter.
  • I get asked for a second gift.
    • Remember, do not call the person the next day, after a first day, for fear you will look desperate.
  • I make a second gift (this is the second date. Note: we did not go out again right away and nor did we have a one-night-stand!).
  • Eventually I may decide to make a larger gift or a regular gift (this means we are attracted to one another and are getting serious).
  • The major gift and/or a legacy gift are really about a commitment (this means we are fully committed to one another).

Why is it that a majority of our donor interactions are not about the relationship and instead are focused on the first transaction?

The above analogy may not be politically correct and may make some non-profit staff a bit uneasy. Take a few minutes and think about it. If we spent less time focused solely on the first transaction and more on retention of the newly acquired donors perhaps we would have a lot less attrition.

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How current is your LinkedIn profile?

 

How current is your LinkedIn profile? Do you have more than one profile? Are you two employers behind in terms of your employment history? Is all your information up to date, but you do not post routine updates or maintain contact with others via LinkedIn?

Think all this does not matter? It does.

As a small business owner, I can report that approximately 50% of my business comes via LinkedIn. The other half comes from word of mouth, the FundraisingForce Website, Google searches, and other sources.

Do not discount the importance of LinkedIn even as an employee of a non-profit organisation. Think of the ways LinkedIn is important to your charity and to you as a leading fundraiser:

  • Donors investigate leadership of organisations via LinkedIn. Whether donors are researching staff or board leadership, donors want to know who is involved and what experience those parties bring to your charity.
  • Prospective employers and executive recruiters are using LinkedIn as one of their top means to find new talent.
  • Professional and service organisations research committee members and leaders in order to surface leaders.

SEO Diagram Showing Use Of Keywords Links Titles And TagsEncourage your staff and colleagues to maintain a healthy LinkedIn profile. Ask staff to routinely update the profile in order to maintain a high ranking amongst the massive numbers of LinkedIn profiles. Link other social media accounts to update your LinkedIn profile, as well.
Above all, remember LinkedIn is not a casual social media website such as Facebook. Keep your posts processional and ensure your profile mirrors your professional brand. Adopt a social media policy for your employees and ensure staff adhere to the social media policy.

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