GiftWorks - Fundraising software that helps you accomplish your mission

Readability—It’s Not Optional!

When placing copy on a print piece or web page, try to resist the urge to use unusual color combinations. Just look at magazine advertisements (women’s mags and catalogs are the worst offenders!) or billboards. How often is the type unreadable because the contrast between the background and the copy is not great enough. Sexy color combinations may be tempting, but the first test of any copy is Can you read it!

One time-honored test is so simple, you’ll be amazed you didn’t think of it. Here it is: Photocopy the color page in black and white. The copy will pop, or it won’t—it blurs into the background color. Now there’s no argument about what needs to change.

FREE Webinar on 5/23 – How Nonprofits Can Use Pinterest to Raise Money, Create Awareness and Do Good

In this free webinar you will learn how to use Pinterest to promote your cause, to gain a dedicated following and to raise more money.

Topics to be covered include: Why your nonprofit needs to get on Pinterest, now; the difference between a personal profile and a Company profile; examples of nonprofits that are kicking butt on Pinterest and why; the nuts and bolts of viral pinning; the qualities of a highly re-pinnable image; ways to integrate your efforts with your other social media platforms.

Join Julia Campbell and GiftWorks for a free webinar -
“Pinning for Good – How Nonprofits Can Use Pinterest to Raise Money,
Create Awareness and Do Good“

Thursday, May 23rd, at 3 p.m. Eastern Time.
Register for this webinar

Try GiftWorks free for a 30-day trial!

Get Creative in Naming!

There’s the Platinum Society, the Gold Circle, the Silver Council, and more. Naming your giving levels is one of the tools a fundraiser uses to maximize support.

But you can do better than that. The skill of creating the names and dollar amounts associated with the levels may influence a donor to increase the size of the gift in order to reach a desired level. Another benefit of named levels is that it’s a subtle way to indicate the level of gift you’d like to receive.

What matters (as in all your writing) is the concept. Is it designed to appeal to your target audience? You don’t want to be stale and predictable; you want to choose your words to attract attention, cut through the clutter, differentiate your organization from others, and excite the donor—leading to the sweetening of his act of donation—and his appreciation for your organization as a whole.

You want the donor to think that you’ve taken time to think about the categories and appreciate your donors, not just picked something up in a fundraising manual. Thoughtful naming contributes to the perception of your organization as engaged, personal, and committed full-bore.

If you’re an arts organization, you have Producers, Directors, Benefactors, Chorus, Orchestra. The best one for theaters is Angels, because that has a real meaning in the theater world.

Scientific societies may use the names of famous scientists—Albert Einstein, Linnaeus, Archimedes.

In academia, it might be the (Name of the Founder)’s Chair, the Dean’s Society, the Professor’s Society.

If your mission relates to military concepts, there’s Platoon, Squad, or Admiral, General, Captain, Lieutenant.

The Heifer Project is famous for naming its gift levels by what a gift can buy from a Goat ($20) to a Basic Necessities Blanket ($725) to a Milk Menagerie at $1,000.

At St. Jude’s Childrens Hospital you can be a St. Jude Warrior or a Partner in Hope; other children’s hierarchies might run from Nurturer, Provider, Guardian.

Animal organizations might use Best in Show, Champion, Best in Breed, Novice; or Companion, Best Friend, Caretaker, Keeper.

Home rehabilitation organizations could start with Builder, Contractor, Carpenter, etc.

Libraries could use names of Authors (Shakespeare, John Milton, Rudyard Kipling) or Movements (Classical, Romantic, Realism)

Save the Planet groups might have Biologist, Botanist, Recycler, etc.

Whatever your hierarchy of names, they should flatter the donor and challenge him to have an even bigger impact. They should be tasteful (might not want a whales category). The names may be playful. A birding organization has levels of Great Blue Heron, Snowy Owl, Scarlet Tanager, and Purple Martin. (Not sure I know how they develop the ranking, but it’s fun.) Be careful to consider how it will be used, so that it doesn’t come back to haunt you (as in recent clothing in “manatee grey” for large sizes).

It should recognize the true spirit of giving, not the tax deduction or dinner invitation. It should reflect your mission, not an accounting category. Remember, the giving levels are symbolic and commemorative.

Creating meaningful and relevant names for your levels of giving helps to elevate the donor’s contribution from writing a check to identifying and nurturing your cause.

photo credit: betsyweber via photopin cc

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The Online Experience

When a donor or prospect visits your web site, does he have the same quality of the experience as he would if he entered your office? He should. And there is an ever-increasing part of your audience who is interacting with you in that way.

You want your potential supporters to feel involved with your organization when they visit your web site. If they don’t feel involved, they may well move on to another site that does a better job of inspiring their interest.

Your Web site is an extension of your organization, so it should convey the same professional image and level of attention that you give supporters in person. It’s one of the most important tools you can use to help build and foster strong constituent relationships.

Provide a “personalized” experience for your constituents online as well as in person. Each person expects to receive attention that shows that you understand why he or she values your organization. If you run a day care center and a new prospect comes to visit, you may show the visitor children doing an activity; if the interest is infants, then you visit the crib room. If the visitor has offered to repair your ancient heating system, then that’s what you show. You need to personalize the online experience in the same way.

Offer options on your site to share the latest information, learn about volunteer opportunities, register for events, connect with legislators, make a donation, view success stories. The more convenient it is for visitors to connect with your community, the more opportunities you’ll have to interact with them frequently, create opportunities to ask for donations, and build rapport.

And the best thing is that the donor is more likely to respond to an appeal when approached at a time and place convenient for them. On line, the donor has come to you and is interested right now. Make sure you satisfy their interests while they’re there.

Not only can communicating online save time and expenses, but it often provides superior returns, because donors are more likely to respond to appeals when approached at a time and place convenient for them. They’ve come to you; don’t miss this chance to hook them with something along the lines of their current interest.

Provide the chance for a website visitor to make a gift, enter or update contact information, register for an event, volunteer, join with others in advocacy for your cause, and share your site with friends. You’ve probably already thought of other interactions to add.

Make the web experience as human and as interactive as a visit to your office would be!

photo credit: LisaW123 via photopin cc

FREE Webinar – A Time to Plant: Preparing for Capital Campaigns Pt. 1

The need in our communities can be overwhelming. To meet the need, your nonprofit may be considering big projects like building remodels, equipment upgrades, new services and facilities, and endowments. The best time to plan for these expansion projects is before you need them. Learn how to position your organization for big success in your next capital campaign. By the end of this two-part webinar, participants will be able to:

- Understand the benefits of a capital campaign,
- Describe the major phases of a campaign and why they are important,
- Develop next steps for positioning their nonprofit for a capital campaign.

Join Brent Hafele and GiftWorks for a free webinar -
“A Time to Plan: Preparing for Capital Campaigns Pt. 1”
Thursday, May 9th, at 3 p.m. Eastern Time.
Register for this webinar

Try GiftWorks free for a 30-day trial!

Scouring for Stories

Annually, and probably more often, you’re challenged to find fresh and significant stories to stir passion for your mission and your organization. You’re targeting prospective donors, and also existing donors to stoke the fires that make people want to give.

Fundraising is about inspiring people to believe they can make a difference. Most of the time the donor can’t literally see where the work is taking place. You need to be able to paint pictures with words so that the donor can see the work for himself.

If you feel that you’ve wrung all the story material you can out of your existing fodder, then you’ll welcome a few new ideas about places to look. Building your cache of stories provides a handy supply to turn to each time a new “challenge” occurs.

1. Talk to board members one-on-one to learn what motivated them to get involved with your organization. There’s usually more to the story than that someone asked them. There’s usually some kind of personal connection with (and passion for) the services you provide.

2. The same is true of staff members. Their interest in your organization probably goes beyond the paycheck. Find out what preceded the hire date or what changes they’ve seen as a result of your work. Don’t forget to ask what stories they’ve heard in their conversation with consumers.

3. Talk not just to consumers. Have conversations with parents, spouses, children, caregivers, friends of people you serve. Their point of view may see a story that the consumer didn’t see.

4. Of course, talk to donors. When you make thank-you calls or at other less formal times, ask donors why they’re involved. There may be a story you haven’t heard yet. And the conversation can build your connection with the donor.

5. Recheck your history. The “story” that started your organization is probably compelling and may not have been told in a while.

6. Don’t forget pictures. Keep a camera handy to record the wonderful moments you or staff are witness to.

7. A mini voice recorder is handy too. It’s easier to capture the life of the story when your source “tells” the story in his/her own words and without interruption. Preserving the conversational tone of the story adds to its authenticity; don’t edit too much out!

8. Challenge a staff member or two to go in search of stories. A staff member may uncover a different set of stories than you would, and may open a whole new line of thought for you. (Not to mention, give you a break!)

Build an inventory of stories. Keep the search ongoing. (Going in search of a story right at the time you need it is not the best time to get results.) With multiple stories in your stash, you’ll be able to find the right one for the audience you’re writing for.

photo credit: dbbent via photopin cc

Next Twitter Chat – Thursday, May 2nd at 3 pm ET

On Thursday, May 2nd, we’ll be hosting our next Twitter Chat! GiftWorks Customer Care Lead, Sheldon will answer all your GiftWorks questions! Just stop by at 3 pm ET and tweet your question with the hashtag – #GiftWorksChat and we will get to as many of them as we can! The best question asked will receive a $25 GiftWorks credit toward a future upgrade or purchase of GiftWorks!

IMPORTANT:

Make sure to follow us @GiftWorks.

Make sure your Twitter account and tweets are not protected. (This keeps your tweets private, and not known to the public, meaning we won’t see it or be notified of its existence).

Use the #GiftWorksChat

Follow the conversation at www.tweetchat.com/room/giftworkschat

Don’t have a Twitter account? Don’t know where to start? Start here, Twitter 101!

We’ll chat with you then!

GiftWorks

Not Another Plaque!

“Every volunteer, even the purely altruistic one who isn’t trying to advance a career or other personal agenda, wants to know that he or she is making a difference and advancing the cause,” writes Ilona Bray in Effective Fundraising for Nonprofits: Real-Work Strategies That Work (2008).

If there were a manual of Traditional Ways to Thank Your Volunteers, no doubt it would contain:

Awards, certificates and plaques.
T-shirts, pens, coffee mugs branded with your organization’s logo.
Special access or educational opportunities. Tickets to events, free registration for classes, invitations to the exclusive preview or pre-party.
Volunteer newsletters. Special publications only volunteers receive.

One caution about these “traditional” vehicles of appreciation: they all emanate from the question “what do we have that we can give them?” Of course, that’s the easiest place to start: “we need to thank them” and “what’s the easiest way for us to do that?” These approaches are “I/me” centered.

To thank a volunteer in the most memorable way is to thank the volunteer in the way that will mean the most to him or her. One more plaque, one more tote bag, may not be the answer.

Spend ten minutes thinking (alone or brainstorming with staff) about what motivates a particular volunteer to work with you. Most of us want to do good and want to contribute to something we feel passionate about. But look deeper and you may see that some volunteers are looking for personal growth; others may be seeking job skills or experience; some really feel a need to be connected with a group; others get excited about accomplishing something.

With this inside information, you open the door to thoughtful, creative, and meaningful gifts of appreciation for volunteers. Those looking for personal growth may appreciate special opportunities to interact more deeply with your constituents or your board. Those seeking experience may be excited to be invited to learn some new skills, go to training, network with the top people in your field. Someone looking for connection may welcome an opportunity to lead small groups. “Accomplishment” people will feel rewarded with picture evidence of a job well done or letter(s) from recipients of services.

Just as you spend a little extra time selecting a gift for a special friend, spend a little extra time to find the “best” way to thank those who are giving you so much.

Volunteers with Business Skills!

Set aside Mission for a minute. Isn’t it just as important to accomplish your organization’s goals efficiently and effectively? In fact, in the end skillful business practices leave more of your precious resources (time and money) available for mission. (Indeed, some donors use the ratio of your admin budget to your program budget as a way to measure the “bang for their buck.”)

Looking for volunteers to bring business knowledge and practices to your nonprofit makes good sense! It can make managing your nonprofit more efficient and less stressful. It can build contacts and relationships between you and the corporate community. It can attract a different kind of volunteer (and donor) to your organization. It also gives corporations a chance to become involved with you, even if they don’t have cooks or gardeners or special events planners on staff. Historically, nonprofits have recruited financial types and lawyers to bring professional skills to that part of our administration, but it’s time to think on a wider scale.

Some examples:

Offices of Aging use skilled volunteers to help clients do their taxes and file other complicated forms.

Social justice groups use skilled volunteers to help victims and youth offenders resolve issues peacefully.

What nonprofit wouldn’t love to have access to a website developer? A marketing pro?

Could a corporate trainer or personnel professional facilitate your efforts to improve office operations/ communications? Or train your other volunteers?

How about a volunteer experienced in advocacy or government relations?

Take a hard look at your administrative challenges. Make it a priority to recruit volunteer(s) who have the skills to make your work easier and more efficient. The right volunteers can have a great impact on your mission and your bottom line.