Blueprint Fundraising

If you are a regular reader of the fundit, you probably have an opinion on naming rights. The City of Vancouver wants to hear it. Fill out their survey before May 1 (that’s Monday).

This policy is so important. I would like to see something that:

• Allows nonprofits and the City to both benefit from naming (sharing the proceeds in some manner with the majority going to capital upgrades and endowments)
• Does not allow naming of city-run facilities (there has to be a nonprofit partner)
• Does not allow naming in perpetuity
• Limits the size of recognition signs
• Doesn’t allow logos on signs
• Doesn’t allow re-naming of already named facilities and places

That’s my two cents. Now go give ‘em yours.

The charity wristband thing has been over for a while but I still laughed when I saw these online. Express yourself with existential wristbands saying: Apathy, Carnivore, Corporate Whore, Irony, and Despair.

If you are looking for a comprehensive introduction to fundraising, AFP Vancouver is offering the AFP first course in May. I’ll be teaching the Major Gifts module. Here’s the scoop:

AFP FIRST COURSE
A Course for Volunteers, New Fund Raisers, & Allied Professionals
May 18 & 19, 2006, Vancouver (at Vancouver General Hospital)

Who Should Attend

• Fund raisers with less than 3 years experience in the development field
• Fund Raising and Board Volunteers
• Individuals interested in pursuing a career as a professional fund raiser
• Allied Professionals who want a better understanding of development (i.e. special event planners, communication specialists, etc.)

What You Will Learn

• Fund raising concepts and about fund raising as a profession
• An overview of fund raising techniques including Annual Campaigns, Capital Campaigns, Writing Grants, Major Gifts and Development Office Functions

This workshop will be limited to 45 participants to facilitate group discussion and participation. Participants will receive a 450 page participant manual – a valuable reference on fund raising functions.

Registration: $350 AFP Members | $400 non-members.

Register here or call the AFP Vancouver Office at 604-736-1010 for more information.

“One generation plants the trees, the other gets the shade.” - Chinese proverb, found on a note card published by Volunteer Vancouver

Looking through the McCord Museum collection reminded me about this list (found in Ken Wyman’s book Face to Face Fundraising). I love that there was a need to teach people how to fundraise in 1891. The tone is rather predatory. But the concepts still resonate today.

Ten Principles of Soliciting
By John D. Rockefeller, Sr.
First published in 1891

1. When making a solicitation, dress well with costly clothes, immaculate linen, and well brushed shoes. See also that your hands are clean.
2. Hunt in pairs. A call by two persons makes more impact than one, but only one should talk. This has greater dignity.
3. Both people should have an elegant personal card to present at the door.
4. At the outset, ask only for a few minutes of the person’s time, and by plunging into the subject, create the impression that the call will be short.
5. Enter the room in genial and radiant good nature. Allow no provocation to disturb this good humour. Keep your victim also good natured, and this throughout!
6. If you find him big with gift, do not rush too eagerly to the birth.
7. Let him feel he is giving it, not that it is being taken from him with violence.
8. Appeal only to the nobler motives. His own mind will suggest to him the lower and selfish ones. He would not wish you to think that he has thought of them.
9. Let the victim talk freely, especially in the early part of the interview, while you take the opportunity to study his peculiarities.
10. Never argue or contradict him. Let him talk, talk, talk. Give the fish the reel and listen with deep interest.

A recent survey of 2,500 Canadians, conducted by James Hoggan and Associates, found that 53 per cent were not familiar with the term “sustainability” and 70 per cent of respondents could not define the term.

Advice to environmental fundraisers: stop using the word sustainability!

“More than 90 per cent of Canadians fear that over-consumption of the
world’s resources threatens the health and welfare of their children —
and lack of government leadership is the biggest cause of the problem,”
Hoggan said. “Asked why Canadians don’t behave more sustainably, 48 per
cent of Canadians blame government leadership first.” Other highlights of the Hoggan survey:

• 92% of Canadians
  surveyed agree Canada should phase in mandatory standards requiring all
  new buildings and appliances to deliver 50% more energy efficiency
  within 10 years;
• 83% agree Canada should reduce taxes on income, payroll and
  investment, and replace these with taxes on pollution and depletion of
  natural resources; and
• 82% agree Canada should introduce laws to promote denser, walkable
  cities that would make public transit more practical and reduce traffic
  congestion.

On an ironic note, as of April 1, the federal government has stopped funding the One Tonne Challenge which supported a wide range of community-based programs to help Canadians cut greenhouse gas emissions through their personal activities.