Blueprint Fundraising

Note to alma mater: “I need the money more than you do”

I came across this funny plea “Your Fundraising Drives May Drive Me to Drink,” from a graduate who wants his college fundraising department to leave him alone. His $40,000 in student debt leaves little room for charitable giving to the school. He links to an interesting article pointing to a trend for higher-ed fundraising: the concern that as student debt rises, future alumni fundraising revenue is jeopardized. Makes sense.

I only recently made my first donation to McGill, where I spent my university days. They had my address wrong for years but they finally tracked me down. I gave not so much because I think they need the money (I don’t think so, although the English department probably isn’t their highest priority) but because I want to see their fundraising machine in action.

Link jumble for July 8, 2007

A few miscellaneous links:

What does it take to get the Detroit Zoo board of directors to fire their CEO? Apparently something worse than lying about having a doctoral degree.

Handy tool: an automatic gift range calculator.

A new study “Altruism and the Child-Cycle of Giving” finds that a significant portion of alumni giving is not motivated by altruism, but rather by a hope for a reciprocal benefit: the admission of the donors’ children to the school. Slate has detailed coverage.

The Toronto Star has been digging up dirt about the charitable sector again. This time they look at the Canada Revenue Agency. “Charity scams bust public trust: Toothless watchdog lets rogue agencies prey on donors and threaten a sector that raises billions of dollars a year.”

Check out Google Earth Outreach, “a program designed to empower non-profit groups with the resources, tools, and inspiration that they need to leverage the power of Google Earth for their cause.” Fly your supporters to your work, anywhere on the planet.

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Pet peeve: fundraiser wanted, must have car

I’m thinking about starting a whole category of postings on my fundraising pet peeves. I have so many! Here’s one: fundraising job postings that require the applicant to have a car or access to a car.

This is especially funnoying (a rather useful new word — a combination of “funny” and “annoying” from the Urban Dictionary) to me when the posting is for a job in a larger city. Fundraisers definitely need to get around — to meetings with donors and volunteers, special events and to run all sorts of errands. Some fundraisers are out of the office more than in.

But can’t we assume that people will figure out how to get around on their own? And if they are in a city, let’s hope it isn’t always by car. In most cities, public transit works very well. And so does walking, cycling and taking a taxi.

Nonprofits in the Lower Mainland are fortunate to have another option: car-sharing through The Company Car. It’s part of the Co-operative Auto Network and uses their fleet of 170+ vehicles. It allows businesses to join and provide their employees with access to cars — a perk for the employee, a nice environmental choice and all for a reasonable price.

And it is possible to look professional and ride your bike for work — witness Vancouver city councillor Peter Ladner!

Don’t walk (too far) into the light!

It’s not easy to balance dark and light messages in fundraising appeals.

It’s obvious when a group goes too far into the darkness and simply turns the reader off (I’m thinking of animal cruelty mailings I’ve received that made me so uncomfortable that I threw the package away, even though I’m supportive of the cause). But it isn’t as obvious when a group goes too far into the realm of light/happy/hope and eliminates the motivation to give.

I think the United Way of Greater Toronto is going too far into the light in their recent re-branding, as graphic designer John Lepp notes in a posting on his blog the Naked Idea.

Compare the old campaign to the new. Which one gives you a real reason to donate? I have to think that they have a well-considered reason for this change in direction, but I don’t think it will help their fundraising. (Not that they really need help with fundraising — the United Way of Toronto raised $106.8 million last year putting them in second place among UWs in all of North America. Seattle came first.)

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Ancient forests video from Greenpeace UK

Greenpeace does such an amazing job in communicating the importance of their work. Here is a great video from Greenpeace UK (you can watch all their videos here on You Tube) in support of Forest Stewardship Council products. The story telling and metaphor are very effective.

How would you feel is your home was torn down around you? Sir David Attenborough, Ewan McGregor and Andy Serkis (who played Gollum in The Lord of the Rings) lend their talents to this illustration of how forest communities suffer as a result of illegal and destructive logging. Directed by Julien Temple.

I just wonder why they don’t have a website in the video to tell you more about how to buy FSC products or support Greenpeace.

Found via the Appropriate Infrastructure Development Group blog.

Nominate your donors for the new Giving Hearts Awards

AFP Vancouver has launched a new awards program to honour local philanthropists. Nominating a donor is a wonderful way to show how much you appreciate them.

The two categories this year are “Outstanding Philanthropist” and “Outstanding Youth Philanthropist.” For more information on the categories and to download a nomination form visit AFP Vancouver’s website. The deadline for applications is fast approaching: June 15, 2007.

The awards will be presented at this year’s National Philanthropy Day on November 15th.

Howdy from the AFP Western Fundraising Conference

I haven’t forgotten about another post continuing on the topic of communicating with donors through RSS feeds… I will get on that soon.

I’m in Calgary right now at the AFP Western Fundraising Conference. So far, it’s been interesting. Highlights: a presentation on development audits, a storytelling session, and a donor panel with three Calgary philanthropists. The philanthropists had some advice:

• On the thorny question of whether boards should have to fundraise: Don’t continually pressure your board members to fundraise, some people just won’t/can’t do it and if you push too much you will alienate them. Just because they won’t fundraise doesn’t mean that they can’t be great board members and donors.
• On the next generation of philanthropists (i.e. 30 and 40 year olds): Don’t be disappointed by modest giving from these people. Be patient. They are probably in the midst of figuring out how much they need for their family and future, and may not be completely sure of how much they can give away. They are also aware that once they make a substantial gift, it is hard to go back to being anonymous or a smaller donor (because of the expectations that charities will put on them).

One of the speakers today talked about a clever advertising campaign by the Calgary Zoo that I hadn’t seen… awesome ads! The campaign has been very popular.

Clever fundraising for MS Australia

This comes to you via Donor Power Blog… Fantastic, creative advertising for multiple sclerosis research in Australia. Aside from making the connection between donations and finding a cure abundantly obvious, the display has proven to be a good fundraiser and is going to be used at MS events all over Australia. The dude in this booth is a volunteer and his wife suffers with MS. (Click to see a larger image.)

Mapping the fundraising process

Some people are visual learners. If that’s you and you are wondering just how fundraising works, check this out. ONE/Northwest has created three detailed diagrams mapping out all the steps to:

• Soliciting a new major donor
• Renewing donors and following up on pledges
• Processing donations

I love flow charts and these are cool. They clarify some processes that can seem arcane to those who are new to fundraising. Depending on your exact role in a development effort, I could see posting the diagram on your bulletin board as a reminder of the right steps along the way to getting things done.

I became familiar with ONE/Northwest when I worked in the environmental sector (fundraising for Sierra Legal Defence Fund). They also have tons of other great technology and networking-related resources on their site, for nonprofits from all sectors.

Compelling video: CMHA and The Cleaning Solution

If you are looking for inspiration on creating a good video to sell your organization’s work, have a look at this one.

The Vancouver-Burnaby branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association has built a very successful social enterprise called “The Cleaning Solution.” It’s a janitorial service run by and employing people with mental illness. It provides a supportive environment, where people can work and be proud of their contribution to society.