But I believe their observation, although true to a large degree, makes the assumption that having, or not having, certain expensive consumer goods indicates that someone is in a state of poverty or not.
Recently a retailer, that will go unnamed, asked me to participate in an online survey. This retailer is among one of the top brands in the clothing retail space. You would certainly recognize them. I want to use this example to help you inspire donor loyalty within your organization.
I have been purchasing their goods for over 30 years, long before the internet, and have transitioned from being a brick and mortar customer to an online shopper. Admittedly, the latter experience has been encouraged by their relentless email marketing tactics, which have driven me to buy online and avoid the store experience when possible. The regular 20% off coupons that arrive in my inbox continuously mean nothing anymore because I know there will be a much better sale not too far behind.
The frequency and intensity of asking for a donation is an ongoing question that surfaces all the time. In my line work helping nonprofit leaders to be effective and to raise as much money as possible I encounter lots of naysayers regarding time-honored strategies and tactics. There is both science and art to nonprofit fundraising. There are tactics that clearly have the metrics behind it to support the effort while others don’t have the science behind it but it just seems right. And often your efforts include a bit of both. Why is this important?
In every part of our life we encounter a series of decisions that rest on past experience and sometimes you need to go with your gut because there is no past experience or it’s not 100% clear what is best. Fundraising is no different.
It used to be said that nonprofits should operate like for-profit businesses. This is somewhat true, especially with regard to professionalism, adopting innovation, and being relentless in the pursuit of cost efficiency and increasing profitability. But that’s where it ends.
Businesses are about providing a product or service that a consumer wants or needs while charities are in the “business” of changing lives, moving hearts, and impacting the world in a positive way.
CONNECTIVITY: The winners in the nonprofit sector, across all categories of charities, will be those that learn to foster and maintain deep, personal connections with their constituents.
The year 2016 is going to be an interesting year. The term “hang on” comes to mind. The stock market is down significantly – maybe plunging is a better word. Add to the mix a year filled with presidential election drama that can best be described as entertaining.
According to Philanthropy Roundtable, philanthropy is a huge part of what makes America America. They rightly state in a recent post that philanthropy’s importance stretches far beyond economics – case in point – their studies show that each year, seven out of ten Americans donate to at least one charitable cause.
“This is one of the things that I find most interesting about social media – yes, it’s great for entertainment and for engaging people in new, exciting ways, but the true power of the medium is in its connectivity, in its ability to link us together and highlight the commonalities of the human condition.”
If you are like most nonprofit leaders, you are asking yourself how the continuing economic downturn will impact your organization – and you may be wondering if 2016 is going to be worse than the last few years. You’re likely wondering how to increase funding so you can maintain the same level of service and program as in the past.
The way in which information is published and consumed is changing very, very rapidly. Social media is replacing the old tired and true mediums. But even social media is losing some of its luster as time goes by.
We should be most concerned with fulfilling our mission. Making an impact that is measurable and distinct while changing lives for the good.
As we all know, either from experience or otherwise in the world of nonprofit fundraising – the ground has shifted under our feet. And it’s unsettling. Have you ever been out on a bridge or other structure that juts out over a ravine. Such as the glass bottom walkway over a canyon or a metal grated “see-through” bridge over a river?
“The “non-profit” institution neither supplies goods or services not controls. Its “product” is neither a pair of shoes nor an effective regulation. Its product is a changed human being. The non-profit institutions are human-change agents. Their “product” is a cured patient, a child that learns, a young man or woman grown into a self-respecting adult; a changed human life altogether.”
— Peter Drucker
As the story goes, the concept was so counterintuitive that many readers thought the magazine had made a huge typo; surely, it had gotten things backwards. Anyone who was familiar with Drucker, however, knew that he believed in the power of the best nonprofits not only to be effective and highly impactful for the recipients of their services, but also to provide a much-needed sense of fulfillment for their volunteers. “Citizenship in and through the social sector is not a panacea for the ills of … society,” Drucker wrote, but it “restores the civic responsibility that is the mark of community.” Drucker advised the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army, the American Heart Association, the Girl Scouts of America and many others. In 1991, he created the Peter F. Drucker Award for Nonprofit Innovation, which remains among the Drucker Institute’s core programs. READ MORE
For further reading regarding the greatness of Peter Drucker visit HERE
Too many nonprofits, he says, are rewarded for how little they spend — not for what they get done. He questions how to measure a charity’s success. Instead of equating frugality with morality, he asks us to start rewarding charities for their big goals and big accomplishments (even if that comes with big expenses). In this bold talk, he says: Let’s change the way we think about changing the world.
You can find the video on YouTube HERE
In this video activist and fundraiser Dan Pallotta calls out the double standard that drives our broken relationship to charities
Development Audits are a genuine way to get a clear and logical snapshot of the overall health, effectiveness and efficiency of a fundraising organization.
I just read a great post online at Nonprofit Pro and the author stated the following in his first paragraph – go here to read the article….
Let me first say – I have the greatest respect and admiration for Charity: Water. Their business model, their passion and their commitment to what they do – and of course their entrepreneurial spirit – are infectious.
I assume Jack Bauer needs no formal introduction. But for those of you that have never watched the award winning show Jack is the larger than life figure that single-handedly rescues the world from complete destruction in a given 24-hour period.
It is truly all about the story.
Nonprofits often face challenges finding compelling stories about people whose life was positively impacted in some profound way by a nonprofit’s service, program, or people.
The face on a special needs child just makes one want to smile. The exhilaration this young women is feeling is obvious and the life-long impact this moment has on her will be profound.
Are you a transformative nonprofit leader? You need to be.
We are in a transformative period of not just how fundraising is accomplished but also how nonprofit services and programs are developed, managed and provided to the public served.
The success of any robust and successful fundraising process centers on four basic steps. They hold true for all levels and types of fundraising, but they are particularly essential for any successful capital campaign or major gift program.
Which means you have to use your intuition and common sense rather than some impersonal or overly mechanical system. It’s important that the process is genuine, sincere and donor-focused. It must, above all things, focus on the person — who they are and what they are interested in — long before the financial aspects of the process come into play.
RELEVANCY — Content and conversations must be of interest to the intended audience. The content must be interesting, stimulating, and persuasive – but more importantly it must provide value.
This past weekend I was doing a lot of thinking on the long road from Saint Louis to Chicago — a five full hours of blissful thinking time — and I was thinking back to a previous blog post regarding how nonprofits need to focus more on the changed lives and the impact they are making in the world and less on the financials.
Development Audits (or Development Assessments) are a genuine way to get a clear and objective snapshot of the overall health, effectiveness, and efficiency of a fundraising organization. Depending on the goal of the organization being assessed, the audit can include a review of the overall business operation, including organizational structure, business processes, marketing and communication efforts, positioning in the marketplace, donor surveys, as well as employee and volunteer staffing and so on.
Now that’s a million dollar question that we would all like the answer for wouldn’t we? The problem is this question is as elusive and subjective as asking a Wall Street professional when will we “hit the bottom”.
Most nonprofits have really missed the boat in terms of customer (donor) service.
Many retailers and service organizations believe the “customer is always right“ but very few companies actually practice what they preach. Exemplary customer service, like one might receive at a Nordstrom store for instance, is incredibly elusive because it costs money, takes lots of training, and most of all, it takes commitment on the part of leadership and the employees.
Is it brains, finesse, education, hands-on experience, determination, self-confidence, special training. What exactly does it take to succeed in the nonprofit field?
There are many nonprofit educational programs cropping up at universities all around the country yet I honestly don’t know one person, well maybe I know a few, that actually graduated from one of these programs and is currently working in the nonprofit field.
There is a great deal of talk about the accountability of nonprofits. Accountability is on the tip of everyone’s tongue and is being discussed at conferences and seminars and in nonprofit board rooms. It has become a punch line of sorts and frankly is in danger of becoming a meaningless word similar to the “all natural” tag lines you see on just about every food product sold, which have lost total credibility in my opinion.
We are all confronted with two seemingly opposing forces with our fundraising efforts. Building a relationship with our donor should always be front and center for us. We know that without a compelling relationship with our supporter no relationship can continue over the long-term — it will simply die out because there is no inspiring reason for it to continue.
