Non-Profit organisation

26 Oct 2017

Stephen Mally Charity, Christmas appeal, Data cleansing, Data hygiene, Data Management, De-duplication, Deceasing, Do not call, Do not mail, FundraisingForce, NCOA, Non-profit, Non-Profit organisation

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

Earlier 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.

2 May 2017

Stephen Mally Charity, Lost and Found, Mission Australia, Non-profit, Non-Profit organisation, Qantas

Qantas lost and found is a treasure for one charity

Every day people lose things on airplanes and in airports. Having recently left an item at the Sydney airport, I learned the Qantas lost and found is a treasure for one charity.

In early April I was going through the security in the Qantas terminal at Sydney domestic airport. The buzzer continued to go off as I removed my belt, shoes, wallet, and other items. You know the drill. Each item removed was placed in a separate bin and scanned. Well…you guessed it. I left an item behind. After sitting in the Qantas lounge for more than 15 minutes, I reached down and felt a lack of a belt. Thinking I had left my belt at home (I also lacked a couple of cups of coffee at this hour of the morning), I went to Oxford – a men’s store in the airport and purchased a new belt.

When I returned home from the overnight I trip I realised my double error – the belt was not forgotten at home, but at the security line at the airport and I did not need to purchase a new belt as a result!

On my next trip through the security, I asked one of the staff where the lost and found was located. He informed me the Qantas lost and found was downstairs. I decided I would check with them when next in the airport.

When I visited the Qantas lost three weeks later, I found it is an amazing organisation. Sorted by month, the lost and found is further sorted by type of item and each item is tagged with the date and other details. When I stated I had lost my belt in early April, the gentleman produced a bin marked men’s belts with more than 50 belts from April 2017.

Enter Qantas Charitable Giving

I asked the Qantas staffer what happens with the eyeglasses, laptops, luggage, clothing, and other items carefully inventoried and stored for claiming. Apparently, Qantas provides the items to Mission Australia after it is stored for more than a month. Additionally, I was informed the eyeglasses go to a charity focused on assisting people with eyesight issues overseas. This was music to my ears. I was pleased to learn the items are put to good use once unclaimed after a set length of time. Giving these items to non-profit organisations, rather than disposing of them, makes a lot of sense.

Perhaps this is common practice in the airline industry. I do not know. But, kudos to Qantas for their organisation skills and for ensuring lost items are given a new home.

31 Dec 2016

Stephen Mally 31 Dec, Alzheimer's Association, American tax year, Charities, Clinton, Clinton Foundation, FundraisingForce, New Year's Eve, Non-profit, Non-Profit organisation, President Clinton, Shriner's Hospital

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

It’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.

In 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!

25 Nov 2016

Stephen Mally Charitable organisation, Donor care, Non-Profit organisation, Stewardship, Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving – a day for charities to thank donors

childrens It’s Thanksgiving Day in the USA. A day when family and friends gather to offer thanks for what they have and to acknowledge those present in their lives. It’s a non-religious holiday and it often times has more meaning to people as a result.

Thanksgiving Day is also an opportunity for charitable organisations to recognise donors who have supported them throughout the year. Causevox recently published a blog post offering 7 ways to thank donors during Thanksgiving. Several charitable organisations have sent me Thanksgiving greetings over the last week and I thought I would share them with you in hopes it will offer some ideas for donor care and stewardship for your non-profit organisation

Happy Thanksgiving!

25 Oct 2016

Stephen Mally appreciation, Donor care, Non-profit, Non-Profit organisation, Paula Bonner, Stewardship, University of Wisconsin, WAA, Wisconsin Alumni Association

Wisconsin Alumni Association offers a great donor care example

I recently gave a donation to the Wisconsin Alumni Association (WAA), which is the alumni association for my alma mater – the University of Wisconsin. The gift is a small token of my appreciation for the way the university set me up for success in life. It is also my way to recognise the terrific work the WAA does to mobilise its alumni base and to keep us engaged with the University of Wisconsin.

WAA could have sent me a form letter to thank me for my contribution. Instead, I received a very personalised thank you letter with a hand- written note from the CEO of the WAA, Paula Bonner. The note invites me to come back to campus next summer when the WAA Alumni Park is finished. The WAA and Paula Bonner know how to continue to engage its base of active Alumni who “bleed Wisconsin red”.

Whether you work for a university or a non-profit charitable organisation, each of us can learn from this type of donor care or stewardship. It might seem simple and, even, basic. But, personal outreach holds high value for your constituencies.

7 Jan 2016

Stephen Mally ADMA, Australian Direct Marketing Association, Best practices, Charities, Charity, CRM, Data cleansing, Data hygiene, Database, Deceased, Deceased registry, Deduping, Deduplication, Fundraising, FundraisingForce, Non-Profit organisation, Nonprofit, TABR, The Australian Bereavement Register

Mailing to deceased? Your non profit organisation lacks best practices

There is nothing worse than sending a deceased person mail. First, it stirs up emotions when a loved one receives a letter addressed to a person who has since passed. Second, it sends a message that your non-profit organisation lacks best practices. I recently posted, on LinkedIn, about the number of charities not taking the extra steps to remove deceased from their CRM/database – reactively or proactively. The post received a high number of comments. Perhaps it was a little too close to home for some.

This past month, I visited some people in the US in the state of Florida. The husband of the couple visited was the executor for an estate. Let’s call the deceased Mrs Bloggs. Mrs Bloggs has been deceased for more than five years. Yet, the household continues to receive charity mail in her name. Again, Mrs Bloggs has been deceased for more than five years.

What’s even worse is this household has notified the charities of her death. The couple have returned notices in the response envelopes with the response coupons. In some cases, charities have been notified 2-3 times. These same charities, and others, continue to mail to Mrs Bloggs.

The charities are risking offending the survivors, as well as their reputation through poor processes, wasted materials, and postage.

US charities have an even bigger advantage over Australian charities in that the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) exists, which is national register of deaths. When someone passes away in the US, it is a requirement the death is reported to the US government. The end result means all deaths are documented on the SSDI. US charities have access to this list to screen their database through a variety of suppliers.

In Australia, the Australian government does not yet have anything compared to the SSDI. Yet, Conexum has The Australian Bereavement Register (TABR), which is a strong product and increasing in capabilities each year. Additionally, suppliers will match your database against the Australian Direct Marketing Association (ADMA) list of deceased individuals. This list is developed via notifications sent to ADMA. Any person may document a death via the ADMA website or we may call or write ADMA direct.

Charities have a responsibility to do the following:

Reactive documentation:

Document notifications of death in their constituent relationship management (CRM)/database. When charities are notified of deaths from survivors:
- Document date of notification, method of notification, and date of death.
Notify list brokers of deaths. Pass information to list brokers when charities are notified of deceased parties on various lists rented or received via exchange.
- Notification to list brokers should include date charity notified by next of kin, method of notification, and date of death.

Proactive documentation:

Screen your non profit organisation’s CRM/database using SSDI, for US charities, or TABR, for Australian charities.
- Screen at least one time per year. Better yet, screen prior to all major mailings.
  - Screen your CRM/database, plus any lists rented for acquisition purposes.

Acquisition Preparation

You would never rent thousands of names without deduping them against your database to ensure you were not marketing to existing donors. Take it a step further. Whenever your organisation rents or exchanges names via a list broker, ensure you de-duplicate all known deceased from your CRM/database. Save your organisation the embarrassment of mailing to known deceased people despite the fact the lists may be dirty from a broker or from a charity. Then, report deceased back to the broker to save your colleagues from embarrassment, as well.

Those of us who work for charities have been on the receiving end of the calls when people are upset because we have erroneously mailed to their deceased loved ones. If everyone takes an active role, in the New Year, in terms of deceased processing, we can vastly improve processes and ensure we decrease the number of times deceased persons are marketed.

Need help with your deceased processes? FundraisingForce assists charities globally to improve deceased processes and others. Contact us today.

3 Jul 2014

Stephen Mally Bobby Goldsmith Foundation, Charities, HI, HIV/AIDS, Non-Profit organisation, QR codes, Quick Response Code, Smart phone

Charities behind the 8 ball with QR Codes? Or, are QR Codes something to ignore?

Charities use of QR codes appear to be either late to the game or, perhaps, charities are approaching the game a bit cautiously. I am not sure. Let me tell you what has caused me to as the question.

When on a recent business trip to New Zealand, I was faced with QR codes repeatedly. QR codes are literally everywhere – at the Auckland airport, on political signage, on tourist brochures, in tourism ads in magazines, and on billboards. New Zealand has awakened to the use of QR codes! Yet, I have asked myself whether charity usage of QR codes is non-existent? I was on the hunt for them on charity content and I could not seem to find an example where charities are using QR codes, including in organisational materials, on fundraising brochures, on appeals to get bikers to do a multi-day bike ride, and the like. I have come up empty handed searching the charity material in New Zealand and Australia.

QR code (Quick Response Code) is a two dimensional barcode that has storage capacity behind the code, which allows organisations to create marketing campaigns to take the reader elsewhere (think donation form, video, website, and beyond). All it takes is a smart phone (camera-enabled device) for the donor or prospective donor to read the QR code and you can immediately drive the reader to some sort of call to action.

I recently received a piece of mail from Bobby Goldsmith Foundation commemorating the 30th anniversary of the passing of Bobby Goldsmith. The piece was a tribute to Bobby and all his life meant and the 30 years of work BGF has done to fight HIV/AIDS and to care for those with HIV. A brochure was enclosed and featured a QR Code. When one scans the QR Code, a video launches to educate the reader more about BGF.

With over 8.8 million Australians estimated to carry a smart phone, unless charities create QR codes and drive the reader to associated content, the charities are leaving the reader to respond using other devices – phone, email, Website or…mail!

Is your non-profit organisation using QR codes? How do you use them and are your constituents finding value in their use?