Navigating New Terrain

New York City is gradually recovering from a deep but surprisingly short recession that ended in November, said the Federal Reserve Bank last week.

Hmmm…

So what does this mean for nonprofits?

We’ve said before that we’re seeing money start to move – and that fundraising is psychological. That feeling that you have the capacity to give…that you can take care of more than your family’s basic needs…is based on a gestalt, a shared communal mood, more than on a simple number in a bank statement.

OK, so we’re seeing money start to move – but where is it going?

The answer, in one sentence:

To nonprofits which have strengthened their ties to their communities so that they’re ready to ask those overlapping circles of (potential) supporters to step up to the plate.

Well that sounds simple (nay, simplistic), but how does that apply to your organization?

To help nonprofits answer that very question, we’ve developed Cause Effective’s new Fundraising Tune-Up Consultation. Thanks to a generous grant from the New York Community Trust, we are able to offer low-cost fundraising consultations to a limited number of nonprofits facing out-of-the-ordinary fundraising challenges due to the economic downturn.

In a single, practical session at Cause Effective’s offices, Cause Effective will serve as your personal thought partner to assess your organization’s funding environment during a time of rapid economic change, review planned fundraising activities, and brainstorm new ways to get back in the action after two years of unpredictable results. Eligible organizations will receive this consultation, normally valued at $600, for the nominal fee of $50; and longer term support at discounted rates may also be available.

If this sounds like it might be helpful to you, take a look at this flyer and email Susan@CauseEffective.org to discuss your organization’s circumstances, or apply directly at http://www.causeeffective.org/consultingapp.htm.

Come on in – the water’s getting warmer…

The Choices You Make

We were sitting with a board chair yesterday who was telling us about a summer fundraising picnic his group was sponsoring – everything was donated except for a few incidental costs, resulting in a $50 admission price which would net out at $45 per person to help the organization’s bottom line.

At a 200-person projected capacity, that was starting to add up to some real dough.

The choice?

The organization was planning to serve beer and burgers, but part of its constituency (including a few of its board members) consists of Muslims who don’t drink – or eat non-Halal meat.

The crux of the choice? The beer (and the burgers) had been offered as a donation, thereby increasing the net…and wasn’t that the board’s primary job? To raise money?

But what about the message that gave – that the Muslim community wasn’t welcome?

(Because while there would be some Halal-meat off to the side, the message surely was that the Muslim families were a secondary component, not the main audience, for this event.)

What was most important in the long run?

And – could the organization afford to make a long-term choice with less short-term monetary return? In this day and age?

Or turning that question around – could the organization afford to make a short-term decision that would work against its long term future?

Online Fundraising: The Hype And The Results

A report titled Reality Check: How Grassroots Environmental Organizations Are (or Are Not) Raising Money Online just came across my desk.

Fundraising trainer Andy Robinson, working for the Institute for Conservation Leadership, interviewed grassroots environmental leaders about how they were using online fundraising – separating out the hype from the results. The lessons are good to note for all of us without the reach of the large national nonprofits.

A clear winner: Time-bound email campaigns built around a specific theme or program goal, with a challenge to be met by the campaign deadline and lots of emails reminding recipients to come on board – as many as one message per day. Special note: make sure the campaign theme has maximal relevance to your recipients.

Team-based fundraising with a personal fundraising page: very effective way for individuals to support a project and reach out virally to their networks and beyond. There are various software programs that support this specifically although some fundraising database programs can also provide this aspect.

Competing in online contests: can be successful but (as many of us found in the Chase Online Challenge) focusing on recruiting FaceBook “friends” to vote for our organization often takes away time from building off-line, more personal relationships.

Which brings us to Integrated Campaigns (using email and social networking tools to increase offline (and online) giving) – the real value of this material. Using e-communication as a touch along with snail mail, phone, and in-person contact: fundraising = relationship-building, and on-line is yet another piece in the arsenal.

The report is free to download on the Institute for Conservation Leadership’s website once you register on the site. Go take a look (and then reach out to touch a supporter – personally – today)!

What Summer’s Good For

Summer’s a terrible time for fundraising.

Heard that one before?

I hear it every year, from clients, board members, donors…it’s as if everyone gives up and heads for the beach – or wishes they had.

But unfortunately, the need to pay the rent, electricity, salaries, benefits – doesn’t slow down.

So what’s myth and what’s reality about summer fundraising?

Myth: In the summer, everyone is focused on family, friends and fun, so no one has time to pay attention to the fundraising drive of their local nonprofit.

Reality: You just have to go where the people are. Try a family picnic, or a pool party, or some other activity that acknowledges that summer’s here and the kids are hanging around. Alternatively, you may have a donor base whose children are away at summer camp – leaving them footloose and fancy free in the evening. What about a mint julep party on a sultry summer evening? How to find out? Decide who you most want to reach…and ask them.

Myth: Donors are away during the summer. All summer. It’s impossible to engage them between June and September.

Reality: They may be away, but that doesn’t mean they’re not capable of wanting to make a difference in the world. Try an email or web-based campaign – many people use their summer vacations to catch up on non-work-related interests. At the very least, you’ll remind them of all the good work still going on that they helped make possible.

Myth: You can’t get volunteers to put in time over the summer – if you haven’t organized your team by mid-June, you can just forget about it till September.

Reality: It is just about impossible to get a group of volunteers (or board members) together for an in-person meeting in the heart of summer. I just tried to schedule an in-person meeting of my board’s fundraising committee, and once we finished hop-scotching through everyone’s summer vacation, we landed on September 1st! But it’s not impossible to schedule conference calls to keep an early-fall campaign on track.

And it is possible to meet with people one-on-one – to update them on your agency’s work, to ask for a leadership commitment for a fall campaign, to help them (and you) figure out how they’re going to help you over the next year.

So use the summer to think, to plan, and to line up the dominoes one by one.

And to relax – it’s gonna be a busy fall, so catch up on your R & R, now.