Tag Archives: nonprofit management

What do Social Entrepeneurs and Sesame Street have in common?

Blake Mycoskie of TOMS recently had appearances to both SXSW in Austin, TX and the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) International Conference in Chicago.  I learned about his inspiration and motivation around his now famous TOMS brand and one-for-one movement.

Combining social good and the power of consumers is nothing new.

I came across a great article by Allen R. Bromberger, A New Type of Hybrid.  In it, he discusses how social entrepreneurs are using a hybrid model to combine the for-profit and nonprofit models.

Museums and performing arts organizations create for-profit retailers to sell merchandise, such as posters, jewerly, and books. And the hybrid model is nothing new to public broadcasting. The Children’s Television Workshop, owners of the Sesame Street characters, use separate nonprofit and for-profit organizations to both achieve business objectives and further a social mission.

Dan Pallotta, in his book, Uncivilized, points out why this arm’s length model is used for supporting social good with commercial activities. Rather than being politically or economically motivated, it was a religious view held by the Puritans who came to America in the 17th century. They believed that any commercial activity was sin. However they also understood it necessity, so to atone you could perform charitable activities and – never the twain shall meet.

In his article, A New Type of Hybrid, Bromberger discusses how modern social entrepreneurs are using separate, but contractual linked entities to accomplish their goals.

For any nonprofit concerned with the legal implications of UBIT (Unrelated Business Income Tax), or for-profit entities concerned that the pursuit which want to pursue a social mission, a single hybrid structure that contractual binds the nonprofit and for-profit entities may be a solution.

But Bromberger points out, it isn’t simple.

In the article, Bromberger describes various types of legal entities typically used in social entrepreneurship including, B corporations and benefit corporations and how they differ as well as the low-profit limited liability company (L3C) option.

He describes legal options to enter into activities together to achieve social good.

  • Parent-subsidiary model – where a nonprofit creates for-profit subsidiary
  • Commercial transactions and collaborations between nonprofit and for-profit companies (arm’s length model)
  • Corporate sponsorships and commercial co-ventures
  • Contractual hybrids

There is also a great discussion of legal ramifications of some of the various options and Bromberger spells out the particular IRS rules to consider.

  • Joint Ventures
  • Private Benefit
  • Unrelated Business Income Tax
  • Conflicts of Interest
  • Related Party Transactions
  • Form 990

The lively comments are also a must read.  One commentor notes a new option being considered in California which would allow the formation of a Flexible Purpose Corporation (Flex Corp.) You can read more about it in California to Allow Corporations to Blend Mission and Profit at corpgov.net.

I also loved Milton Friesen’s comment about using the open source model – create a platform upon which individual organizations can built new models – like allowing developers to create apps for an app store.

So what does all this very geeky, public policy mumbo jumbo mean?

Through open collaboration, we can essentially crowdsource innovation in social good and social entrepreneurial models! How cool would that be!

SXSW: Nonprofits and Free Agents in A Networked World

In an interactive session with Beth Kanter (@kanter) CEO, Zoetica; Danielle Brigida (@starfocus)Digital Mktg Mgr,National Wildlife Federation; Jessica Dheere (@jessdheere) Founder/Dir, Social Media Exchange; Mark Horvath (@hardlynormal) InvisiblePeople.tv at SXSW Interactive 2011, I learned how nonprofits can leverage free agents to support their cause.

First, Beth Kanter introduced the concept of a fortressed organization as one that is “opaque and impenetrable to outsiders.” (The Networked Nonprofit, B Kanter and A Fine, 2010)And what happens when a passionate, capable, and agile free agent who is eager to help meets this fortress? They crash into a wall.  


Instead, organizations must strive to be network nonprofits.  Networked nonprofits are more connected to the ecosystem of free agents (both individuals and other organizations.) They use more collaborative ways to issue and accept requests for work, for example, using social media to locate graphic designers.

According to Kanter, in order to exemplify a Networked Nonprofit, you must be comfortable with supporters experimenting with the organization’s brand.  Bridgida recommends getting buy-in from legal to allow them to do so.  Free agents don’t care about your branding document. Be sure your lawyers know not to send a cease and desist order when you support what the free agent is doing. Use creative commons licensing to freely allow certain uses of your organization’s intellectual property.

Free agents can sometimes accomplish things that the organization itself cannot, such as operating on the ground in foreign countries. Dheere points out that it is difficult to work as an NGO in certain societies due to cultural and government restrictions, especially with respect to open access to data and content.  This is one area where working with free agents isn’t just helpful, it’s crucial. Free agents have responsibilities too. They have to demonstrate how they help, not hurt, the cause.  Kanter mentioned having a code of conduct for free agents, so expectations and boundaries are clearly outlined.

Craig Newark and Beth Kanter
Craig Newmark (@craignewmark), founder of craigslist.org and Craigslist Foundation, and free agent extraordinaire, was in attendance.  He pointed out that free agents help charities and NGOs stay connected with the people they serve at the ground level.

A couple of key actions that you can do now to implement your strategy to becoming a “Networked Nonprofit”

  • Be a network weaver. Start by mapping out the relationships within your organization and you will probably find you are talking to the same people.
  • Develop an engagement strategy for people outside your organization and follow it
  • Fail fast and fail cheap. Reassess afterward.


Remember: “These networked nonprofits work as social networks, not just in them.” (Ibid)

I was lucky enough to meet Kanter after her session and briefly discuss how it went, including the integration of international free agents through live conference calls and recorded videos, as well as her informal moderation style and breaking down the physical barriers between audience and panel to facilitate the discussion.

Myself and Beth Kanter


All in all, this is one the BEST sessions I attended this year and I would highly recommend the book, The Networked Nonprofit (B Kanter, A Fine) to anyone interested in learning more.

The twitter hashtag for this session was #netnon.

Beth also has a great write-up of her reflections on this session on her blog.

SXSW: Text-to-Donate Fundraising for Non-Profits

In a core conversation with Bridge Communities, Amy Van Polen, Resource Dev Dir, discussed her experiences with text-to-give campaigns. The results surprised me.

Typically, text-to-give campaigns involve using a for-profit ASP (application service provider) to act as the trusted third party between the phone carrier and the nonprofit. This ASP provider manages the short codes and keywords and typically charges a monthly fee ($79-$99/mo) and a per text charge ($0.48/txt).Bridge Communities used Give By Cell.

Then they shared this little tidbit of information:

 

 

 

Really? Breaking even a success? She also mentioned her costs to be approximately $4000 to run the campaign for a single special event. This price tag is beyond the reach of most NPOs.

In addition to the high cost, the delay between the donors text and funds actually being received by the charity can be as long as 30 to 60 days.

The process for text-to-give campaigns can be complicated. When a donor texts to donate, they receive a confirmation message to which they must reply to complete the donation.There is an average 30% dropoff rate for Bridge Communities. Many donors were kids on family plans, and carriers frequently do not permit ad hoc text charges on family plans.

My biggest takeaway from this case study is that with text-to-give campaigns,the NPO does not have the ability to collect donors’ personal information such as name or email address. This makes it impossible to follow up with a thank you or develop a long term relationship.Instead, consider text-to-pledge campaigns.

With text-to-pledge, organizations collect vital donor data with which to follow up and collect the pledge, so they can develop the relationship with the donor.

Another consideration was the judicious promotion of the text-to-give campaign. Since the minimum donation on the web campaign was $25 and the text campaign was set at $10, Bridge Communities carefully promoted the text campaign where it would not cannibalize their web and other donations.

For maximum success, Amy recommended using emotional appeals, making it fun, and using an emcee or other high energy spokesperson at the event to create a sense of immediacy and encourage attendees to pull out their phones and donate right then.

For more comments on this topic, read the tweets on #text2donate Twitter hashtag.

SXSW: Let’s Hook Up: Brands, Celebs, and Non-profits

In a panel (click for recording) with Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (@IAVA) and LIVESTRONG (@LIVESTRONG) panelists, Katie VanLangen (@kvanlangen), Dir of Strategic Partnerships, and Paul Rieckhoff (@paulrieckhoff), Exec Dir of IAVA and Chris Brewer, Sr Mgr, Dev Comm with LIVESTRONG discussed using sponsorships and celebrity endorsements for your cause.

The key is to find a sponsor who really cares about your cause and then demonstrate the ROI to their brand.

Be sure your cause is a good fit with their personal interests. This will help alleviate possible problems when and if conflicts arise, such as for scheduling appearances. A sponsor who has an early morning flight will be much more likely to stay late at your gala if they truly believe in your cause than one who only has a passing interest.

If you are going to involve a celebrity in your special events, ensuring their security and comfort is paramount.

 

 

 

They also mentioned Movember as a great example of how nonprofits can use the power of social media to engage supporters.Read more about Movember on Wikipedia.

Check out the comments for this panel on the Twitter hashtag, #letshookup.

SXSW book reading: The Future of Nonprofits

From a book reading (click for official SXSW archive recording) of The Future of Nonprofits : Thrive and Innovate in the Digital Age with Randal C. Moss (@randalc) and David J. Neff (@daveiam) I learned that nonprofits are still businesses, they just spend their profits differently.They cannot be lazy when it comes to new initiatives.

David J Neff and Randal C Moss book signing for The Future of Nonprofits

Charities also must pay attention to the rise of the individual fundraiser. Don’t be satisfied for supporters to simply like your cause, engage them and call them to take action.

 


 

Awareness is dead. Advertising is in. Organizations must make a business case for each new idea. Ask; is it revenue positive or revenue neutral? Is it sustainable?

If you are not structured to innovate, you won’t innovate.Organizations must create cultures that encourage new ideas from staff and have procedures in place which facilitate the adoption of new ideas.

Check out the slideshare from David J Neff. Or for more tidbits of knowledge, 140 characters at a time, read the comments on the Twitter hashtag, #thefutureofnpos.

What being a mother has taught me about being a (nonprofit) manager

As a new mother of a beautiful baby girl, I have learned a lot in these past few months about myself and my management style. Maybe it sounds callous that I think in terms of “managing” my baby – and some parents would probably disagree and say my baby is managing me – but it’s true!

Here is what I have learned.

Perfection is not necessary – Instead, strive for continuous improvement.

I may not know everything about mothering, but neither does my baby!Both of us have started with a blank slate, and we both have to learn as we go. You can’t be a victim of decision paralysis. Accept that you will make mistakes and choose to fail informatively, so you can improve the process next time.

Your audience (be it a baby, an employee, or a donor) doesn’t necessarily know things didn’t go the way you planned, so just pretend you planned that way! And then plan on doing better next time.

Poop Happens – …on the outfit, the blanket, the wall…. (yes, the wall.)Don’t panic! Clean it up.

In business and in babies, sometimes circumstances beyond your control interfere with your ideal state (like clean walls.) Freaking out only adds to the stress level. And trust me, a stressed out baby is much more difficult to handle than a calm baby. Instead, deal with the situation one step at time.Change the diaper, change the outfit, and then hand baby to Poppa so you can go scrub the wall.

Anticipate needs – Babies don’t always know what they want; you have to know for them!

Be ready with what you think they’ll need, before they even ask for it. A happy baby is easier to feed than a fussy baby. Instead of waiting for hunger to arrive, proactively have the milk ready.You won’t have to scramble and baby won’t have to wait.

A nonprofit’s patrons are the same. If you know your patrons are going to wait until December 31st to think about their annual gift, have an online donation form ready for them to make that 11th hour donation painlessly.

Go with the flow – The best laid plans [of mice and men] don’t always work out the way you want.

Be agile enough to change directions when necessary. You may have planned a walk at 2pm, but if baby is napping, you may decide to wait and walk later.If it’s raining later, when baby wakes up from her nap, rather than being disappointed that the walk must be cancelled, consider it a chance to teach baby about what rain smells like!

In the professional world, new opportunities often present themselves with little introduction. Don’t rigorously follow your planned strategy with no consideration.Wise managers will even be flexible enough to turn a possible threat into a new opportunity.

Prioritize – Deal with the most urgent need first.

Sometimes it seems all your problems come to a head at the same time.Baby is hungry, baby is wet, baby is fussy!You may be super-mom (or super-dad), but can’t do everything at once.It’s important to prioritize needs and deal with the most pressing issues first, before proceeding to the next.

Feed first, then diaper. Don’t forget the cuddles!

Face time is crucial – Non-verbal communication is key, especially when you haven’t learned to talk yet. And sometimes just knowing that you are there is enough to head off a major incident. Be present and engaged. If you are working from home while the sitter watches the “lil bits,” poke your head in the play pen to get a good smile.

At work, tour the cubicles every once in a while, just to say hey to your employees and colleagues.

The bottom line – Similar to babies, customers, colleagues, and patrons don’t always know what they need.They may know they need something, but without a clear understanding of the solutions available, they don’t know exactly what that “something” is. By being present, listening, and anticipating needs, you can make happy babies and happy customers!

Online Fundraising: Fact vs. Fiction

The following article, Online Fundraising: Fact vs. Fiction, was originally published in the January/February 2011 issue of Advancing Philanthropy, a publication for the members of the Association of Fundraising Professionals and executives of nonprofit organizations and institutions.

 

Online Fundraising: Facts vs Fiction

By Stacy Dyer

Most organizations see the huge opportunity presented by online fundraising. Unfortunately, the majority have achieved limited success. In the 2007 Philanthropic Giving Index report, published by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, only 34 percent of nonprofits surveyed reported success with online fundraising. Even worse, survey participants ranked online giving as the least successful fundraising technique.

If your organization has yet to experience strong results raising funds online, it may be because you have bought into the online fundraising myths – that it is not as effective as traditional fundraising, that your donors don’t give online, or that you need expensive technology to be successful. These common misconceptions can easily be addressed with a few simple facts.

FACT: Online fundraising is just as effective as offline fundraising

Traditional fundraising campaigns focus on presenting professionally printed mailings, which include moving stories about your mission, and multiple giving programs to which donors may contribute. Too often, when donors go online, they find a generic giving form with no associated content as to how their donation will be used. Should it be surprising that they frequently abandon the process of making a donation online?

Make it easy for a donor to give directly within the content that motivated them in the first place. By creating donation forms that can be embedded within an email, or even within content pages of your website, you will remove barriers to completing the transaction and create a simple, elegant experience for your donor.

Start by evaluating whether you are committing a comparable amount of resources—people, time, and planning—to both your online and direct mail initiatives.

FACT: More donors are more comfortable with giving online than ever before

A 2008 Nielsen Company survey showed that 94 percent of Internet users in the U.S. have shopped online. Clearly, there is little reluctance within the general population to make purchases online. So, is something holding people back from giving online to your organization?

The answer to this question has a lot to do with the options given to donors. If online giving software is complex, cumbersome, and unrewarding for a nonprofit, it is almost certainly complex, cumbersome, and unrewarding for a donor, too.

A donation is an extremely important social interaction, but once someone is committed to a gift, it is simply another transaction; and the more steps a donor is asked to take, the less likely he or she is to complete that transaction. Creating multiple giving opportunities for each of your programs and streamlining the donation process are two simple changes that can increase online giving and strengthen donor satisfaction.

FACT: Raise more money by reaching donors where they already are online

Many organizations try to reroute people from wherever they are on the Internet – such as social networking sites or sponsors’ websites – back to a central, generic giving form on their own website. However, the true opportunity of online fundraising is unleashed when you tap into the powerful networking potential of all the other websites that your supporters frequently visit.

If we look at the places individuals visit online everyday, their favorite charity is probably not among them. However, they do visit their employers’ websites, and they might take action for a nonprofit their company supports. They likely edit their personal pages or blogs everyday, and they’ll even publish about a cause that inspires them. They also visit their friends’ blogs and personal pages, and may post, email, chat, or tweet about their favorite charity.

The individuals engaged in these conversations include some of your strongest, most vocal advocates. They have established bonds of trust with their personal networks. Why, then, would you ask them to leave a site they trust and go to yours?

Instead, take your message to where the social interaction is already happening. Reach out to your network of supporting partners, and the personal sites of individual advocates, and encourage them to continue the conversation.

FACT: Set high expectations to achieve better results

In January 2008, the Barack Obama campaign raised $28 million online—88 percent of the total funds raised. In fact, in one day that same month, the campaign raised $525,000 online in one hour. Many political campaigns, like most nonprofits, consider raising five to 10 percent of all funds online to be a success.

Ed Kless, political candidate for the Texas State Senate has much higher goals. He says, “Online donations are critical to any small campaign. In fact, I expect to raise nearly 100 percent of my campaign contributions online.”

To be successful, organizations must commit to making the Internet a major point of supporter engagement. Kless agrees, “In addition to my website, which includes a regularly updated blog, I have a Facebook page. It’s crucial that I have a fundraising tool that’s both easy to use and integrate into my current website and campaign.”

FACT: You don’t have to stop what you’re doing

In the past, online giving tools were expensive, only worked on a single website, and were difficult to update once deployed. Today’s online fundraising solutions are designed to work with your existing website and program content, so you don’t have to stop what you’re doing. By directly integrating into the methods you already use to communicate with your supporters and advocates, you can create a seamless, multi-channel approach to your fundraising.

Apply the same focus to your online strategy as you have to other communication channels. New online fundraising and advocacy tools allow you to easily control the message without the need for IT intervention or complicated website updates. Be agile – experiment and test often. Use your results to design more successful campaigns in the future.

Conclusion

You already have a compelling story for why your donors should support your mission.  Leverage it by embedding rich media, such as images and videos, into your donation forms, and then empower your advocates to share that message on your behalf. Consider this your opportunity.  The vast social shift happening online will create winners and losers. Be one of the winners.

Prepare Your Website for Year-End Giving

This article was originally published by Sage Nonprofit Solutions.

Prepare Your Website for Year-End Giving
By Stacy Dyer

If your nonprofit is like most, you receive over half of your annual contributed income during your year-end campaign. Donors often procrastinate until the last minute to make tax-exempt donations to charitable organizations.

To be successful, nonprofits must be at the top of donors’ minds when the time is right. In order to be eligible for the current tax year, donations must be made before December 31. While that may sound like a long way into the future, it’s a crucial fundraising opportunity for which your infrastructure must be prepared.

Simplify Online Giving

One of the best ways to capitalize on the additional traffic — and increased number of highly motivated donors — is to make it easy for supporters to give via your website. Whether they have searched for you online, responded to an email, or visited your website directly because of a postcard or direct mail solicitation, donors should be offered both highly effective opportunities to give online and an easy, seamless transaction process.

Online giving is driven by opportunity and convenience; yet, many organizations have online giving forms that are separate from the content meant to inspire the donor to give. If your donation solution requires supporters to leave your website to complete their transaction, you could suffer from higher abandonment rates and fewer completed transactions.

Instead, ensure your fundraising forms are embedded directly on pages with motivating stories, images, and videos about how donations will be used. Focus on keeping traffic on your site, and eliminate barriers to completing a donation transaction.

Create Targeted Donation Forms

Generalized donation forms – which are usually long and contain unnecessary or irrelevant questions – may also cause donors to abandon their transaction. Retain donor interest and motivation by keeping forms as simple as possible.

If different programs within your organization require different information to be collected, customize donation forms for each cause, and only require donors to supply the answers relevant to the cause that motivated them to donate in the first place.

For example, if you are offering promotional gifts in exchange for qualifying donations, don’t provide a list of every available item. Only list the items that are relevant to the program to which they are donating.

Start Identifying Opportunities Early

But, this kind of customized strategy doesn’t happen overnight. Challenge your team to identify all the giving opportunities on your website, and then create content that will resonate with new donors around each opportunity.

And, remember that it’s important to start preparations early. A thoughtful web strategy and well-implemented plan can significantly contribute to your year-end success, as well as stimulate new donor acquisition throughout the coming year.

Event Success: Operation & Execution

This is the third and final installment of a series about successful event planning for nonprofits originally published in Canadian Fundraiser eNews in October 2010.

Please read parts one and two of this series: Event Success: Practical Planning Tips and Event Success: Practical Promotion Tips

 

Event Success: Operation & Execution

By Stacy Dyer

As we explored in the first two parts of this series, planning and promoting special events, auctions, and ‘a-thons have many similarities. Different types of fundraising events, however, each have their own unique execution challenges.

A golf tournament may operate differently from a gala opening night, but there are several tips any organizer can use to ensure smooth operations and a headache-free fundraiser.

Harness the Power of E-mail

E-mail has become one of the most ubiquitous forms of modern communication. Seventy-eight percent of U.S. adults now use the Internet, and nearly all of those (91%) send and receive e-mail. (* Pew Internet & American Life Project, Generational difference in online activities, Accessed online January 28, 2009)

While many of us routinely ignore marketing messaging from generic organizational senders, most of us will open and read e-mails from friends, colleagues, and family. It’s important to empower participants and supporters to easily communicate with potential donors in their personal networks about your fundraiser.

Control the message your supporters share regarding your organization and its event by providing teams with e-mail templates. Consistent imagery and wording that matches other communications promoting your event will help the message resonate. Ideally, e-mail templates should not only contain information about your event, but also link back to a registration, sponsorship, or donation form where the recipient can take immediate action.

When you provide easy-to-use e-mail templates for your supporters to send on your behalf, you extend your reach far beyond your organization’s traditional online fundraising.

Technology Tip: Extend your online reach even further by adding a “Send to a Friend” link to your e-mails. Also include links from completed donation and registration “thank-you” pages online to immediately share participation on popular social networks. Look for systems that provide these links in your templates automatically. Some services also let your supporters customize personal donation forms, so individuals fundraising in their own networks can easily track their progress and monitor their success.

Create an Event T-Shirt

T-shirts are a wonderful way to promote your fundraising event. As supporters wear the shirts, they raise awareness about your upcoming event. Provide t-shirts to participants, sponsors, and staff as early as possible. Feature your event’s sponsors on the shirts to provide them with additional publicity, and sell the shirts online to raise additional money.

Technology Tip: If you aren’t able to secure a sponsor to print the t-shirts locally, consider a using a service, such as www.cafepress.com, so you don’t have to purchase a large inventory of shirts upfront. You can upload images and customize text to create your own unique design.

Maximize Event Revenue with Concessions

Successful sports franchises understand how important a concession stand can be to happy event attendees. Onlookers and supporters will remain at your event longer if they aren’t hungry or thirsty. And don’t forget about participants – take care of them, too, so they can walk further and, hopefully, raise more funds. To keep expenses at a minimum, get refreshments donated. Ask local restaurants, caterers, or wholesale distributors to become corporate sponsors. Be sure to check local ordinances if you plan to have volunteers supply food.

Technology Tip: Create volunteer registration forms on your event website to collect contacts from interested individuals. Have information from the web connect seamlessly to your existing donor database where coordinators can track contact information, assign duties, and schedule shifts, as needed.

Hold an Auction

A live or silent auction is another fun way to generate extra donations at the event. Get local businesses to provide items you can auction. If you have an emcee at your event, they can oversee live bidding and help encourage participation by attendees.

Technology Tip: Check out this thread in the On Fundraising group of LinkedIn, sponsored by the Association of Fundraising Professionals (registration required.) The ongoing discussion includes tips and best practices from nonprofit professionals using eBay Giving Works to enhance their organizations’ auction potential using the Web.

Photograph the Event

You can use event photos in many fun and creative ways. Publish photos on your website; include them in next year’s event publicity posters and pamphlets; or create keepsake photo books to use as thank you gifts to sponsors, committee members, or team captains.

“A picture is worth a thousand words,” so photograph as many activities as possible. Use images to tell your organization’s stories; however, make sure to check with your legal counsel on what photo consents you need before publishing.

Technology Tip: Use Flickr to create a Photostream highlighting your organization’s activities. Explore Creative Commons licensing (www.creativecommons.org) to allow others to share the images of your mission-related work, fundraisers, and events. Maximize the viral nature of compelling imagery by selecting images that do not require captions to clearly demonstrate your organization’s presence.

Don’t Forget to Say ‘Thank You’

Everyone who helped make your event a success should receive a personalized thank you note. Send a thank you gift and letter to your sponsors, recognizing their contribution and the impact it will have on your mission. Many organizations opt to invite participants and team captains to a special post-event celebration, where you can hand out prizes and recognize their efforts.

Technology Tip: While it may be tempting to utilize the mail merge functionality of your donor database, this is one occasion where a streamlined technological process can hurt you. Depending on the size of your event, consider hand-writing as many thank you notes as possible. The personal attention you invest will pay dividends since those appreciated volunteers, sponsors, and participants will be easier to recruit next time.

Conclusion

Executing your fundraising event smoothly and successfully doesn’t have to be tedious. Remember these simple tips and tricks to help make the most out of your next ‘a-thon, tournament, or auction. By planning ahead; utilizing multiple promotional channels; and setting the right operational expectations for staff, participants, sponsors, and volunteers; you can create a phenomenal fundraiser to support your mission without interrupting programmatic priorities.

Event Success: Practical Promotion Tips

This is the second installment of a series about successful event planning for nonprofits originally published in Canadian Fundraiser eNews in September 2010.

Please read parts one and three of this series: Event Success: Practical Planning Tips and Event Success: Operation & Execution

 

Event Success: Practical Promotion Tips

By Stacy Dyer

Fundraising events – like ‘a-thons, tournaments, and races – can help build community support for nonprofits and causes. While planning a successful ‘a-thon may seem like a daunting task, preparation goes a long way. Last month, we looked at practical tips to help you get started with event planning.

Now that you’re organized, let’s focus on strategies and tools for publicizing your fundraiser. Use these promotional tips to maximize engagement and tap into the power of social networking to ensure your next event is a fundraising success.

Get on Calendars Early

You’ll need the participation of your organization’s supporters and donors, if your ‘a-thon event is to be successful. As soon as the event date is confirmed, mention it in any communication you send to donors. If “thank you” confirmation letters or emails are automatically generated, update the templates with your event’s information.

Send out save-the-date postcards several months in advance of your event. Submit your schedule to community calendars published by newspapers and television and radio stations. Include any deadlines for registration or entry, as well the event date. Also, submit your event to local Chambers of Commerce and Convention & Visitors Bureaus.

Technology Tip: If your fundraiser is tied to a specific event date, use the Events applications on Facebook and LinkedIn, or www.eventbrite.com, to schedule your event and invite your fans to attend it. Consider listing your event on upcoming.yahoo.com, www.eventful.com, or www.charityhappenings.org (for large cities).

Exploit Free Publicity Opportunities

Maximize free publicity opportunities for both your event and your nonprofit. Submit public service announcements (PSA) about your event to local television and radio stations.

Make connections in the local media. Ask reporters from the community or lifestyle sections of area newspapers and business journals to cover your event as a story. Make yourself available for media interviews, and be prepared to discuss how your event supports your organization’s mission.

Technology Tip: Want to make it easier for donors to find your organization on the Web? Try applying to Google Grants, which provides free Google AdWords (PPC or “pay per click”) advertising for nonprofit organizations. Learn more at http://www.google.com/grants/index.html

Reach Out to Supporters Online

Your supporters are probably already among the estimated 46% of American adults now using social networking websites, such as Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn. (Amanda Lenhart, The Democratization of Social Media, presentation given on October 8, 2009) Enable your participants, supporters, and donors to become donation engines by giving them tools that easily share information about your event on their own personal networks. Encourage supporters to continue the conversation.

Technology Tip: Use www.hootsuite.com or www.tweetdeck.com to monitor conversations from several social media sites in a single dashboard.

Remember the Rule of Threes

Remember the time-tested marketing theory known as the “Rule of Threes.” A person must hear about your event three times before they will remember it and possibly take action. You’ll need to speak to the community about your event many times to ensure that people hear it enough to drive them to take action.

Technology Tip: Use social media channels, such as twitter.com to publish status updates and enable others to share the message on your behalf. Provide “share” buttons that send links to popular networks automatically on your event registration and donation forms.

Reach a Wide Audience Using Multi-Channel Communication

Different people prefer different communication methods – email, phone, text message, etc. Keep this in mind when you create your publicity plan. Utilize as many channels as you can, including traditional direct mail, email, social media, newspapers, and radio or television, to help get your message out.

Technology Tip: Keep your donor and participant databases in-house so that you can own the relationship and keep in touch with these supporters. Don’t be tempted to outsource your fundraising efforts. By maintaining control over your own data, you can incur fewer fees and help ensure that your donor list remains up-to-date.

Use Story-Telling to Make Personal Connections

Help supporters make a connection between their donation and the cause it will support through individual stories. Studies show that human empathy tends to diminish as we are asked to help a larger and larger group of people in need. Give your community personal, individual stories that demonstrate why your mission is important.

Technology Tip: When supporters are moved by your compelling story, don’t rely on donors to click on multiple links to get back to a generic form on your website.  Give your supporters personalized donation forms, so they can ask friends and family for donations directly on their social networking or personal websites. Create mini fundraising pages and forms that include images, video and other compelling content.

Motivate Donors by Clearly Communicating Results

Donors want to see evidence of the difference they’re making. Make a habit of regularly updating your supporters on program results, project status, and fundraising progress so they feel more connected to your mission. (And, don’t forget to do this using multiple channels – direct mail, social networking sites, etc.)

Technology Tip: Use online “thermometers” to show your financial goal and the amount of donations received. Seeing your organization get closer to your goal will keep participants and donors motivated and excited.

Conclusion

Promoting your next event doesn’t have to require a massive budget to be successful. Take advantage of existing networks, publicity opportunities in local media, participant fundraising, and powerful story telling to create buzz and encourage community engagement.

Now that we’ve covered planning and promotional activities, we’ll look at tips and best practices for executing on those plans in the final installment of this series. We’ll learn how to create an exceptional experience for participants and supporters, both during and after the event.

Read parts one and three of this series: Event Success: Practical Planning Tips and Event Success: Operation & Execution