Fundraising

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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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Now here’s an infographic!

Last week I wrote about the importance of telling your story via words and pictures in order to accommodate the two ways adults absorb information. I shared a terrific infographic received as part of an electronic direct marketing communications from my university, the University of Wisconsin.

I was pleased to receive another great example from MS Queensland later in the week. I am a MS Queensland lottery buyer (I love to take a chance on their great prizes and also to support MS Queensland). MS Queensland sent a stewardship or donor care email to all their lottery buyers. The infographic really displayed the difference the lottery program plays and the appreciation MS Queensland have for their lottery buyers.

Now here’s an infographic!

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Increase in philanthropy for AUS and NZ Universities

According to a report on higher education giving, philanthropic support of universities in Asia-Pacific grew in 2014. The Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) Asia-Pacific published findings from the Ross-CASE report this month.

According to CASE, “the total number of donors giving to the surveyed Australian and New Zealand universities increased from 41,511 in 2012 to 51,357 in 2014 while the total number of alumni donors at these surveyed institutions grew from 23,896 in 2012 to 31,296 in 2014”.

Case also reports “universities participating in the survey, conducted earlier this year, had more than 2.5 million contactable alumni in 2014. This represents a 12 percent increase from nearly 2.3 million contactable alumni in 2012. During the three years, the total new funds raised rose by 65 percent from 2012 to 2013.”

Snip20150927_19CASE published a nice infographic related to the survey. There are many detailed findings from the study, which ought to encourage universities across Asia-Pacific. For more details on the study, visit the CASE website. FundraisingForce applauds CASE and the 19 higher education institutions part of the study.

 

 

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Call from University of Queensland hits all the marks

Call center operator at work

I received a call from a University of Queensland student on Monday night.

I am a sucker for these calls. It reminded me of the type of calls I receive from my alma mater, the University of Wisconsin. This call from University of Queensland was superb.

The student, a female, thanked me repeatedly for my generous support of the university. She asked me why I give to the university, noting I am not a graduate of the university. Again, she thanked me for my support. She then confirmed, edited, and enhanced my contact details. Finally, she told me about an emergency fund, “Greatest Needs”, to help students in financial crisis and discussed the ways in which this fund helps students to remain in school rather than exit, before graduation, due to financial crisis.

She asked me to support the university once more by making a gift that night. I gave.

I gave because of the quality of the call and because this caller convinced me University of Queensland cared about my support, cared enough about me to check the data in their database and to keep it up to date, and cared enough to educate me about the emergency fund. I was convinced I needed to open my wallet and commit to giving again. Further, the call was not just about the next gift. The call was about stewardship, about data quality and, then, about fundraising. This multifaceted call proved to be a good use of University of Queensland resources and of my time. The call from University of Queensland hit all the marks.

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Infographics tell a story

Remember when you were a child and you loved it when your parents read you a book? You would listen to the story, but you really paid attention to the pictures. As adults we are really not much different. We appreciate the words in document, but we also value the pictures. As the 1971 Rod Stewart song is titled, Every Picture Tells a Story.

Snip20150927_18The University of Wisconsin, my alma mater, recently sent an electronic communications to alumni to highlight recent university rankings. They used an infographic to highlight the terrific standings. Each year, U.S. News & World Report rank the nation’s universities and the University of Wisconsin typically ranks in the top tier in a variety of areas. People love a winner and promoting these rankings offers an opportunity for Wisconsin to tell us how valuable our degree is in present day, as well as an opportunity to prove the money we are investing as alumni is paying dividends. Further, universities use this as an opportunity to attract new fundraising or additional gifts from those of us who may have already given this year.

How is your non-profit organisation using infographics to tell your story? You likely already have information together to tell a donor care or stewardship story. You likely put this type of information in writing. Why not translate it to an infographic, as well? Remember adults are pretty split in terms of absorption of information. Some adults learn by reading text and others by visual representation. Play to both audiences to be sure you capture the attention of the majority.

For universities in Asia-Pacific, U.S. News & World Report announced a global edition of the rankings as coming 6 Oct! Perhaps your alma mater or perhaps your university employer will be listed in this global edition.

How about a shout out to the University of Wisconsin for their outstanding achievements and for ranking so high amongst US universities? On Wisconsin!

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