Blueprint Fundraising

Happy holidays!

Happy holidays, readers! I wish you health, joy and success in the year ahead. I’m taking a break for a few days. Back to posting in 2007.

- Andrea

Shiny Things photo by Today is a Good Day

CBC phone-in all about giving

The topic on Sunday’s Cross Country Checkup call-in on CBC Radio was “What motivates you to give to charity? What puts you off.”

Required listening for all fundraising types!

I was busy during the show and only heard one call. It was about (surprise surprise) the unacceptably high cost of administration and fundraising. If you missed it too, you can listen online or download the show. I’m really looking forward to listening to the whole thing. But I’m anticipating sky high blood pressure as I yell back at callers who know nothing about how well most nonprofits work.

Your position on the Global Rich List

Christmas is a good time to count blessings and try to keep the pointless gluttonous consumption to a minimum.

Here’s some help putting it in perspective: the Global Rich List, where you key in your income and discover how you compare to the rest of the planet. It’s the perfect inspiration for extra holiday giving.

The site is by POKE and allows people to donate to CARE at the moment.

MADD fights back

The drama continues… MADD’s national board is fighting back with a detailed response to the Toronto Star articles and a clarification that they have not suspended their fundraising. MADD says that that have been using the word-count allocation of fundraising expenses on the advice of a Canada Revenue Agency auditor. Meanwhile, a CRA spokesperson denies that CRA approves of this method of allocation…

MADD Canada fundraising controversy escalates

Today MADD Canada announced that it will suspend fundraising pending an internal review of fundraising practices.

The dramatic announcement comes in response to allegations made in a Toronto Star article that says MADD spends only 19 cents of every dollar raised on its charitable purposes. The rest goes to fundraising and administration.

On the weekend, Andrew Murie, MADD Canada’s CEO said “the article’s claims of misspending and high fundraising costs are absolutely false. The Star’s investigation smacks of ‘gotcha journalism.’ It is unfair and obviously very hurtful to the many thousands of volunteers who put their heart and soul into the organization.â€?

But coverage since the weekend shows a major rift between MADD’s head office and its local chapters, where board members and volunteers have been requesting transparency on this issue for a long time.

The way that MADD counts its fundraising costs would probably rile many donors if they understood it (but is a common practice in direct mail and telemarketing programs). It comes down to a loose interpretation of “fundraising” and “education.” If your direct mail, telemarketing and door-to-door canvassing raises awareness for your cause, can’t you count some of those expenses as furthering your mission? That’s how MADD justifies the claim that 83.6% of the funds they raise goes to programs and mission.

I believe that there probably is some educational value to their fundraising programs, but there has to be a way to prove this and communicate it to donors so they know that their donations are being spent this way. Otherwise, the practice just does further damage to donor trust in charities. MADD is only promising an internal investigation– they won’t be opening the books for independent scrutiny. Stay tuned for more on this one…

Light to Unite

Here’s a beautifully executed website, Light to Unite, that raises awareness and money in honour of World AIDS Day (December 1). If you light a candle for AIDS/HIV, Bristol-Myers Squibb will donate $1 to the National AIDS Fund. One of the nicest parts of the site is how each candle represents a short story that someone has submitted.

I was disappointed to read the fine print… the maximum donation BMS will make is $100,000. When I went to light a candle there were already 213,000 others lit and it isn’t even December 1 yet! It looks a little uncharitable to spend so much on a great viral campaign and then cap the donations at a fairly low amount.

Just in the time that I was visiting the site, another 1,000 candles were lit. If they missed the fine print, those people probably thought they were actually doing something for the National AIDS Fund (and not just reading BMS advertising).

Quotation: Righting the wrongs of the 80s

It’s gonna cost more than a million…

“Do you really want to know why I’m doing all this goodwill, and why I’m an ambassador for Habitat for Humanity and why I gave a million to (Hurricane) Katrina?

“It’s because I feel guilty about the huge hole in the ozone layer my haircuts created. It’s my responsibility to right the wrongs of the ’80s.”

- Jon Bon Jovi

Why people hate us

Here’s a story in honour of Remembrance Day, via Trent Stamp’s Take.

This scammer has spent the last 25 years cultivating a phone list and stealing money from thousands of people through telephone fundraising, claiming to be from various veteran’s organizations.

I agree with Trent and Charity Navigator. I don’t think anyone should make donations on the phone and charities shouldn’t fundraise by phone either. Telephone fundraising is a big reason that people hate the fundraising business.

This is why people give me funny looks when I introduce myself as a fundraiser at dinner parties. Isn’t it?

What I meant to say was…

Over the last two weeks I’ve facilitated a few workshops where I mentioned various current events and then couldn’t remember the names of donors, institutions, and research studies to properly attribute what I was saying. Brain freeze!

So, for anyone reading who attended the Volunteer Vancouver fundraising planning workshop or either of the BCIT “Essentials of Fundraising” classes, here’s some of what I couldn’t remember as I rambled on…

• I mentioned research showing that people find it easier to give money that to give time (for volunteering, coming to events etc.). The research was conducted by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. You can read about that here.
• We talked about the ethical considerations of donors not fulfilling their pledges. The biggest story of late is that of Larry Ellison of Oracle, who pledged $115M to Harvard for a new medical institution, made it to #3 on the Forbes list of America’s biggest philanthropists, and now seems to have no intention of making good.
• We also talked about charities suing donors or their estates for unpaid pledges. You can read AFP’s take on this thorny predicament.
• The breakdown of revenue was from Cornerstones of Community: Highlights from the National Survey of Nonprofit and Voluntary Organizations (2003). Check out page 27, where you will see that 49% of revenue for Canadian nonprofits comes from government sources.

Nasty tricks being played on US fundraisers

Some people get their kicks in the strangest ways…

Since the summer, someone has been calling US development officers and posing as a dying, wealthy individual ready to make a major donation. The Chronicle of Philanthropy has been receiving letters to the editor from some of the institutions. The fraudster sometimes uses the last name Bolyer and his story is quickly debunked by an internet search for phone numbers, zip codes etc.

Here are a few of the groups he has contacted:

“…my guy promised to die within four months and leave my agency $154-million in liquid assets plus another $100-million to $200-million in his estate after the sale of his Hilton stock and his antique-car collection.” – Mississippi Children’s Home Services

“…he kept her on the line for an hour… he said his daughter (who he said had died three weeks earlier) had met one of our students on a plane and that had made her life a joy for the duration of it. In this case he was going to give us $40-million for a capital project and $5-million for an endowed scholarship in his daughter’s memory.” – North Park University

“…saying he was prepared to give the institution some $26-million. He even said he’d be flying from his Santa Barbara, Calif., home to Iowa on his private jet the following week to discuss his gift.” – Drake University

“In terms of savviness, he seemed as though he was someone who had made previous gifts to other organizations…” – Riley Children’s Foundation

My guess is that the fraudster is a very bitter development professional. Only they would understand the suffering and disappointment that these calls would cause!