FundraisingForce

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Data cleansing is task #1 when preparing for your Christmas Appeal

Dirty DataThere has been a lot of talk about upcoming Christmas Appeal. It may be August, but non-profit organisations are already preparing their data files and copy for what becomes the second most important campaign of the year for most charities. As part of those tasks, it’s not too late for non-profits to conduct data cleansing. Data hygiene is task #1 when preparing your Christmas Appeal.

Some non-profit organisations take the important step to cleanse their data, while many others do not. Those non-profit organisations who perform data cleansing, perform this task at least one time per year.

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 flags for 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 a non-negotiable. 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.

Don’t assume someone else will do this task – whether you are assuming the mail house does it or someone else on your internal team. Develop a process to get this task done and to ensure the cleansed data makes it was back to your organisations CRM. To merely cleanse the file for the appeal and to not load the clean data back to the CRM (a common mistake made by charitable organisations) is like cleaning your child and putting them back on the playground.

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Always done it that way? The need for non-profits to transform business processes

How many times a month do we hear “we’ve always done it that way”? If I had a dollar for each time, I could take a nice holiday! The facts are – the world changes, it evolves, and it is appropriate for all of us to examine every business process; question whether we can do that process in a smarter, more effective way; and, to transform the way we do things to be more efficient.

Non-profit organisations need to conduct a business process review at least every other year. Business process reviews are  relevant to schools and universities, as well as non-profit/charitable organisations.

Business Process Review – the process…

A business process review involves the following:

  •  Workshops
    • Workshops aligned with an agenda set with your team members.
      • The agenda may cover all business areas or you may limit them to one portfolio or given processes within a single portfolio.
    • A review of all business processes, including any documentation to back up the process.
    • A day in the life – where a consultant works the processes with staff of the organisation in order to understand areas where there are bottlenecks, inefficiencies and opportunities for improvement.
    • A review of processes aligned with your non-profit organisation’s constituent relationship management (CRM) solution.
  • Document Review
    • A review of all organisation documentation related to policies and procedures.
  • Observations and Recommendations Report
    • A final report should be delivered and should contain observations and best practice recommendations from the review.
    • The report should also contain an action plan to address the recommendations.
  • Implementation
    • Implementation of the adopted best practice recommendations.

Advantages of External Consultant

Why hire an external consultant and why not just do the review yourself?

There are multiple advantages to hiring an external consultant to conduct the business process review:

  • External set of eyes. The consultant brings a fresh set of eyes to your business.
  • Objectivity. The consultant is unbiased and unattached to your business. He/she ought to be objective in their approach and have one interest in mind – to bring about efficiencies and to applaud existing best practices.
  • Experience. The consultant should bring years of experience to your organisation and also experiences from like organisations.

FundraisingForce conducts business process reviews. If you are interested in learning more, contact us at stephen@fundraisingforce.com.au or on our contact us form on the FundraisingForce website.

 

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It’s not too late for non-profits to conduct data hygiene

DataEarlier this week, I wrote a blog post about the first Christmas Appeal received this year. It’s the only one received so far, which suggests others may still be navigating the many tasks they need to complete in order to drop their Christmas Appeal. As part of those tasks, it’s not too late for non-profits to conduct data hygiene!

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

Some non-profit organisations take the important step to cleanse their data, while others do not. Those non-profit organisations who perform data hygiene, perform this task at least one time per year.

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.

Don’t assume someone else will do this task – whether you are assuming the mail house does it or someone else on your internal team. Develop a process to get this task done and to ensure the cleansed data makes it was back to your organisations CRM. To merely cleanse the file for the appeal and to not load the clean data back to the CRM (a common mistake made by charitable organisations) is like cleaning your child and putting them back on the playground.

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The first charity Christmas appeal received from….

It’s something I report on each year via the FundraisingForce blog. The first charity Christmas appeal was received from…The Salvation Army.

The Salvation Army has been the first for the past several years.

I’ve talked about the need for a charitable organisation to stand out in the letterbox in several past FundraisingForce blog posts. It’s really the key to successful direct mail. Your piece has to stand out amongst all the postal mail one receives. If the letter does not get opened, it is not going to get a response.

Salvation Army stood out in my letterbox because it arrived in early October and it was the first charitable organisation to send me their Christmas appeal! The organisation also stood out amongst my other mail because of the the art on the package.

As in the past, the appeal is a Christmas Wish catalogue, which is full of items I can purchase to change the lives of those Salvation Army supports. Once purchased, I will receive a gift card and envelope to give to a person on my list to share the joy of giving. A simple concept and something that stood out in my letterbox the beginning of October.

Many charitable organisations likely do not have their segmented direct marketing lists prepared and sent to their mailing house. Some may still be working on the letter copy, package content, and various approvals that go with the task. Where is your non-profit organisation in the process? Is the data pull and the segmentation all a little too hard in your CRM? It does not have to be. Hire experts like FundraisingForce to properly segment your data and to create that segmentation inside your CRM. Once set up, this segmentation may be tweaked and pulled for appeals in the future.

Don’t delay setting up your segmentation for your Christmas appeal because it is too difficult, too time consuming, or something you do not have knowledge to do. Let’s get the data ready so you can get the appeal in the mail and then you’ll be able to focus your time on other tasks – like assisting in the processing of the donations and the receipts!

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It’s end of tax year…in the United States

snip20161231_7It’s the end of the tax year in the US. It may seem odd to Australian’s, but the American tax year ends at 11:59PM on New Year’s Eve, 31 Dec.

US charities are repeatedly reminding me that the tax year is about to end tomorrow evening. I have received more than 50 eMail reminders in the last three days of the year alone. Of the 50, 6 charities have sent more than one reminder in the past 72 hours. 95% of the reminder eMails contain information about challenges and, particularly, matches from generous donors. Some examples, include:

  • Gifts to the Clinton Foundation will be tripled by “President Clinton himself”;
  • Gifts to the Alzheimer’s Association will be doubled; and,
  • Gifts to Shriner’s Hospital will be be doubled.

Matching gifts seem to be abundant this year. These challenges are a nice way for charities to attract new donors, renew lapsed supporters, and get the additional gift from donors who have already given this year.

snip20161231_8In addition, some charities have exposed my supporter record in eMails. Some have gently reminded me I have not yet given this year and some have nudged me by showing I have not given in 10 years.

Finally, others have informed me of their financial goal and status toward the fundraising target.

Most of these strategies are employed by Australian charities. If your non-profit organisation is not utilising one or more of the tactics, perhaps you want to test them to see if they may work for your organisation.

Happy New Year from all of us at FundraisingForce!snip20161231_12snip20161231_11

 

 

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Power of LinkedIn for nonprofit professional

Snip20160712_27Since starting FundraisingForce, I have become increasingly aware of the power of LinkedIn. I certainly viewed LinkedIn as terrific tool prior to the February 2014 opening of FundraisingForce; but, it has become one of the single most important sources of business for my company.

The percentage of main business referrals for FundraisingForce are, as follows:

  • Word of mouth – 40% (the most important!).
  • LinkedIn: 35%
  • FundraisingForce web leads: 25%

LinkedIn not only allows potential customers to research my professional background. LinkedIn often times serves as a referral to my Website.

Don’t underestimate the power of a solid LinkedIn profile. Additionally, maintaining the LinkedIn profile on a weekly basis is critical whether you are a small business or a fundraising practitioner in the market. Doing things such as: Adding references to articles, including your own published articles; “linking other posts”; and updating your own details will increase the likelihood of your LinkedIn profile being noticed by others.

 

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Data cleansing before tax appeals drop

Snip20160508_43Earlier 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.

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Non-profit mystery shopping – a must do

Snip20160402_25Mystery 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.

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