Blueprint Fundraising

Need some inspiration for your next appeal? Check out SOFII, a “Showcase of Fundraising Innovation and Inspiration.” I don’t really know of anything like it. You’ll need to sign up for a free membership then you can browse through case studies and examples of some of the world’s most influential fundraising campaigns and ideas. The site has especially good examples of direct mail packages and advocacy advertising campaigns. The commentary for each case study tells you what worked, what didn’t and why the campaign was innovative at the time. There are some interesting historical fundraising pieces too. Here is Unicef’s first-ever Christmas card from 1946 and an Oxfam fundraising ad from the 1950s.

The Partners in Organizational Development (POD) grant program has announced upcoming deadlines. If you don’t know POD, it is one of the very few capacity-building grant programs for arts, environmental and social service organizations in BC. If you need help with fundraising planning, marketing, board development or strategic planning, a POD grant might be able to help.

• EnviroPOD applications are due Friday February 22nd, 2008
• ArtsPOD applications are due Friday February 29th, 2008

You can find all the details at the Centre for Sustainability.

I attended a planned giving workshop last week, presented by local consultant Leslie Howard of PlanforGifts.com. It was a very nice introductory session and she generously provided some great handouts. I thought I would share a few of her tips for identifying planned giving prospects in your donor base along with some of my own. You might be doing these already — but what about your co-workers? Leslie made the excellent point that the person who opens your mail and processes the donations (if that isn’t you) should be watching for these things too.

1. The best planned giving prospects are female donors who are 80+ years old. Makes sense. But how do you know if someone who sends in a donation by mail fits that profile?

2. Ask for birth dates on some of your donor forms (and then you can send birthday cards too).

3. Watch for those who identify as “Miss.” Younger women tend not to call themselves Miss. Anyone who does is probably at least 70 years old. And they aren’t likely to be married or to have children. Make sure there is a “Miss” options on your donor forms.

4. Pay attention to old-fashioned names. Leslie suggested looking up popular names from the 1920s and 30s. So I did. I couldn’t find much Canadian information but the US has extensive records dating back to the 1880s. There are many names you don’t see today that were more popular in the 20s and 30s: Mildred, Florence, Ethel, Ruth, Doris, Shirley…

5. Shaky handwriting could be another indicator of age.

6. Being a monthly donor or long-term supporter. Frequency of gifts is much more important than size when it comes to planned giving.

7. Living in an affluent postal code or zip code.

8. Sending a cheque from a VIP bank account — e.g. the cheque says “Private Banking” or is from the head office branch.

9. Being windowed or divorced, having no children, or having children with their own wealth.

10. Having had a direct positive experience with your organization — as a grateful client, volunteer or board member.

Happy New Year everyone! This is my first real day back at work after a holiday that was wasted away by being sick for almost two weeks. I’m better now, thanks, and just in time for work.

This time of year is always exciting to me — new beginnings, resolutions and infinite possibilities for the year ahead. I love hearing from clients about the last-minute donations they received at the end of December and I hope you had a few of those yourself.

Here’s a good way to begin 2008… Read this speech, filled with counter-intuitive secrets for success from Van Jones, a veteran of the non-profit sector and founder of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights…

There’s probably at least one person, and maybe more than one, who feels like their little not-for-profit just may not make it. There may be somebody that feels like their cause is too marginal, their constituency is too desperate, their dreams are too big, their knowledge base is too small, and they just don’t know if they’re going to be able to pull this one off. If you’re that person, I want to tell you a little bit about my story, my secret rules for success if you’re doing tough things, and to remind you how important it is that you stick this out…

Thanks to Mary-Ev Anderson for pointing me to the speech.