Nolo’s Fundraising Tips for Busy Nonprofits

Well, with the election now hours away, it's hard to blog about anything else. And I can't decide whether to follow every news tidbit or just tune it out until it's over. Meanwhile, my email inbox offers no lack of election-related reading material -- most of them ending with a pitch for money.

But I must say I've been impressed at the Obama campaign's ability to produce email subject lines that ignite curiosity. As another fundraising commentator pointed out (I'm sorry, I can't remember who gets the credit), one method that the campaign has used is to have the emails come from different sources -- Joe Biden, Michelle Obama (I usually open those), various campaign staffers, and Barack Obama himself. Even if they're really written by a communications person, that added sense of individual perspective goes an amazingly long way toward making me want to hear what they have to say.

Many of the emails' subject lines are also cleverly suspenseful -- things like, "Last chance," or "Our best shot in Ohio." Or they offer videos, or other special features.

Obviously, their campaign didn't invent these techniques, but they've provided a look at how any nonprofit can, despite emailing people on an almost daily basis, keep those emails from becoming an unwanted and repetitive barrage.

Sometimes a simple "thank you" is the best way to forge connections between a nonprofit and its supporters -- and that's just what People's Grocery recently did, with its "Flavors of the Garden" party. People's Grocery is a relatively new organization, developing creative solutions to the health problems in West Oakland stemming from a lack of access to and knowledge about healthy, fresh foods. Their projects include operating community gardens to grow and distribute organic fruits and vegetables, youth training, nutrition and cooking classes, and more. You can also sign up for a regular "Grub Box" of organic seasonal produce, the cost of which helps sponsor similar boxes going to low-income residents of West Oakland.

The party was billed as "a special thank you celebration for all our Harvesting Justice Table Captains, volunteers, donors, & supporters with delicious appetizers and yummy beverages crafted by local Bay Area chefs from organic seasonal produce grown at People's Grocery's gardens and farm. See the new Grub Box, meet the people who are People's Grocery, listen to live music and taste the flavor of summer with People's Grocery."

It lived up to its billing -- great food and music, good company, all in a lovely urban garden setting. But, the cynic might ask, did it directly contribute to their bottom line? Well, from my limited one-person view, I'd say yes. For starters, I was there as the guest of a volunteer, but the entry person was prepared for folks like me, and put my name on their mailing list. I know I'll be hearing more from them, but that's good -- I encourage organizations to make sure everyone who shows the slightest interest has their name captured for future contact.

And I heard one volunteer, perhaps inspired by the good time she was having, say, "I want to give People's Grocery more money after I get my next disability pension check -- I hope it doesn't go down too much with the whole economic crisis, but I'll try to give anyway." I'll let that one speak for itself.

Every nonprofit that hopes to attract gifts from donors' estates knows how hard it is to find language with which to refer to that possibility in print. Words like "estate," "bequest," and "planned giving" are vague or jargony. And this is one case where simplifying the language -- for example, saying something like, "leave us money after you're dead" -- really doesn't work.

That's why my eye was caught by a page in an Audubon magazine (January 2008 happened to be the one I was looking at), with the heading: "Your Beneficiaries: There are more of them then you realize!"

Accompanied by a photo of children looking at a bird nest, it aptly, even humorously, reminds people that they care about a wider circle of life than their immediate family; and that by naming Audubon as a beneficiary in their wills or other documents, they can contribute to a better future for all.

Unfortunately, now that they came up with this nice language, it's off-limits, copyright-wise, to anyone else who might want to use it. But it's a good source of inspiration, and proof that you don't have to get into a language rut over this.

I just got an email from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) that grabbed my attention enough to read to the bottom (and that rarely happens).

It contained excerpts of actual letters from people responding to WWF's "Time for Change" challenge to make changes in their lives and/or raise money in honor of Earth Day (April 22). My favorite was the one from the ten-year-old having an earth-friendly birthday party, complete with endangered-animal sponsorships instead of gifts.

It's not that the ideas in the letters were particularly revolutionary -- one person planned to raise money with a garage sale, another to collect loose change at a school -- but there's something irresistible about seeing people coming together and sharing their own enthusiasm about participating in a cause. (Who knows, maybe some of the younger participants will grow up to be fundraisers!)

Does your organization have members who could be encouraged to take up a similar challenge? Even if this doesn't raise a lot of money on the spot, it seems like a great way to create a sense of energy and community.

As I was walking around San Francisco's Union Square Saturday in search of some holiday cheer (without doing any actual shopping -- see my last post!), I noticed a huge crowd gathered around the windows of Macy's department store. A suspicious number of them were saying "Aww," or "Mom, can I take him home?"

Trying not to do bodily injury to too many five-year-olds, I squeezed to the front and saw kittens playing in mini-San Francisco landmarks! A cheerful SPCA volunteer was collecting donations and explaining that the animals (dogs, too, behind other windows), were all up for adoption.

With all my pride of discovery, I had no idea that this was a 21-year old holiday tradition of partnership between the San Francisco SPCA and Macy's. But it's still cool -- and a great example of both fundraising creativity and a win-win corporate/nonprofit joint effort. Last year, the SPCA says that the windows inspired the adoption of 200 animals and over $25,000 in donations. This year, they're aiming for even more.

Check out the cuteness on their Webcam. And for more tips on how you can creatively raise funds for your organization, check out my book Effective Fundraising for Nonprofits: Real-World Strategies That Work (Nolo).

Does anyone remember the movie Calendar Girls? It featured a group of middle-aged women (played by Helen Mirren, Julie Walters, and others) who resort to full frontal nudity in posing for photos for a calendar to raise money for their local hospital.

I was reminded of it this weekend, when I became the proud owner of a 2008 calendar (no, make that a colondar) put out by The Colon Club, featuring photos of colon cancer survivors. Well, okay, they're not nude. But with the help of an artfully placed blue drape, they're definitely showing some skin -- and scars, and colostomy bags. And it's beautiful.

By itself, this calendar may not break any fundraising records. But there's a fundraising lesson in the reason I bought one: I was invited to a party given by one of the models -- Mr. May himself. Who'd say no to a chance to catch up with friends, eat bagels and lox, and find out how Henry was doing in the years since his surgery? There's nothing like making one-on-one connections.

It wasn't until I got to the party and began reading the informational material on the walls (and on the toilet paper, by the way) that I realized: I'm not just here to be supportive, I'm part of this group's client base -- namely everyone who knows less than they should about colorectal cancer -- second leading cause of cancer death in this country, good grief! And, to read the models' stories, frequently misdiagnosed. So, now we all know where to go to find out more: The Colon Club.

And, for tips on how your organization can be heard by the world, whether it be through calendars or on the web, pick up Every Nonprofit's Guide to Publishing: Creating Newsletters, Magazines & Websites People Will Read, by Cheryl Woodard & Lucia Hwang (Nolo).

In honor of Halloween, I want to give a shout-out to the many groups that support this country's historic cemeteries. These cemeteries aren't just for the morbidly inclined: They provide park and walking space, unusual collections of plants and trees, displays of one-of-a-kind carved headstones, and a window into the past. In some cases the cemeteries themselves are nonprofits, in other cases separate groups have formed to help preserve them.

There must be challenges involved in basically fundraising for dead people -- but the organizations that have made it work provide great examples of figuring out what your fundraising assets are and making the best use of them.

One great example is Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge and Watertown, Massachusetts. If you haven't been there, be sure to make a stop on your next trip. Founded in 1831, it was the nation's first large-scale designed landscape open to the public, and credited with fostering the movement toward creating public parks!

Mount Auburn cemetery has just received the Trustees' Emeritus Award for Excellence in the Stewardship of Historic Sites from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The Trust noted that the cemetery's fundraising activities include hosting 200 tour groups and presenting more than 70 public lectures annually, while also letting the cemetery be used by neighboring schools as an outdoor classroom for lessons in natural history, art, and literature.

My local favorite historic cemetery is Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland. It was designed by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted - yes, the same guy who designed New York City's Central Park, among other places. The cemetery brings the community in with walking tours, a tulip festival, a pumpkin festival, and more. You can see San Francisco across the bay as you wander the old headstones - like the ones pictured here.

Every group is always looking for an ingenious new way to capture the public's attention -- and, directly or indirectly, boost its donor support. And Environment California sure caught my attention, with its recent campaign around a bill before California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger that would ban potentially dangerous, hormone-twisting chemicals called phthalates from children's toys.

In order to pressure the governor to sign the bill, the group says, "For just $12, we'll send a toxic-free rubber ducky with your name on it to Gov. Schwarzenegger!"

Who can resist? Rubber duckies are cute, the price tag is reasonable, and the image of thousands of the little yellow creatures landing on the governor's doorstep is priceless. If they'd sent me a boring-sounding email titled "Ban Phthalates," I probably would have deleted it. Instead, one of those duckies is now winging its way toward Sacramento with my name on it. (And, come to think of it, I'd never before worried about -- or knew how to spell -- phthalates.)

For more tips on how write more effectively, and get those donations for your nonprofit and its latest campaigns, be sure to grab a copy of Every Nonprofit's Guide to Publishing: Creating Newsletters, Magazines & Websites People Will Read, by Cheryl Woodard & Lucia Hwang (Nolo).