Nolo’s Fundraising Tips for Busy Nonprofits

A study by the Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund found that, among American women, almost half make the decisions on which charities their household will support and how much to give them. Although that's not a majority, it starts getting more significant when you see that the vast majority of men (92%) say their wives are their primary source of influence in making charitable-gift decisions.

And who's influencing these influential wives? Their friends, family, and coworkers.

So now you know which networks to tap into -- and who to ask for when you call a donor's home.

The latest in Nolo's nonprofit podcast series is available for listening. It's an interview with Jennifer Spoerri, PR consultant, about how nonprofits can turn these tough economic times into valuable media opportunities. Listen here. 

Say whatever you like about social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter -- and the overabundance of information they generate -- but for cash-strapped nonprofits, they offer enticing ways of putting your message in front of more people's eyeballs, for free.

If you're the time-stressed person in charge of creating material for such online forays, you'll appreciate that Twitter is (at least for today), the most time-efficient of them all, with its mandate that you restrict your update messages to 140 characters. And now there's a new twist (or is that "tweest"?): Charity Tuesdays.

Through some grassroots organic process, Tweeters have started a nonprofit-themed meme and have been posting updates about their favorite charities on Tuesday. They tag the message with "#charitytuesday" so that others can easily search for these entries, and the phrase will appear in the right column of the site under the top 10 "trending topics" if enough people use it (as has been the case today).

There's nothing to stop you, as a nonprofit, from posting your own Charity Tuesday messages about your work. Just encouraging people to support your cause may be enough, though the catchier you can make your entry, the better. Hint: It's better to say something pointing directly to the cause, like, "Help hungry kids or animals," than to say "Support our group." And if other individuals like your phrasing or your cause enough, they'll even retweet your message!

Here are some sample tweets that show a couple of ways the #charitytuesday tag has been used:

• From Twitter user @nikki_madebig: "#charitytuesday we need YOUR causes!!! http://madebig.com/ has over 350 cause, but we need MORE!!! join us 2day! http://bitly.com/VjC1e"
• From Twitter user @WPCL_Teens: "Help your local library on #charitytuesday! (We're in West Chester, PA!)"
  

With many nonprofits still struggling to integrate modern technology into their fundraising and other activities, it's worth giving a special round of applause to those whose websites earned nominations for the prestigious Webby awards, honoring the best of the Web. (We'll set aside for the moment the fact that one of these nonprofits, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, probably has no lack of technological expertise at its disposal.)

The nominees include the aforementioned Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Causecast ("where media, philanthropy, social networking, entertainment, and education converge"); charity: water (yes, that's really its name, apparently a clever way to capitalize on people's Web searches); Outward Bound; and The Nature Conservancy.

A quick glance at these sites reveals what the judges admired, and what other nonprofits designing their websites can learn from. Most of them show clear organization, an up-front and brief explanation of their mission, colorful and vivid use of photos and images, interesting content, and other clever ways to draw in readers and get them more involved in the cause.

Although the Webby awards aren't specifically about these websites' effectiveness in bringing in funds, check out the methods that some of them use. For example, the Nature Conservancy puts a number of donation and other options under the heading "how you can help," and encloses it all in a bright yellow box -- the brightest thing on the page. Charity: water opens its site with inspirational video, and offers two buttons underneath; "enter site," and "donate $33." Note that these don't appear too pushy; they're just a realistic part of supporting a good cause.
 
The Webby winner will be announced on June 8th. For more detailed tips on creating a website that's effective for fundraising purposes, see my article, "Using Your Nonprofit's Website to Help Fundraise."

So, the Girl Scouts have gotten themselves into a flap about whether they should be forbidding use of the Internet as a way of selling cookies. It seems that door-to-door is okay; and marketing your cookies on the Internet is okay; but once a girl (in this case, a particular girl named Wild) starts actually letting customers order online, that's either unfair to other girls or a safety risk. Not exactly a bright dividing line.

You'll find the whole story, called "The Cookie Crumbles," written up by Kurt Soller in Newsweek. He raises the important points that Internet sales are not necessarily safer than knocking on strangers' doors, and that a little entrepreneurship should probably be rewarded rather than slapped down, especially in a world where kids will need to know how to use the Internet (at least until the Next Big Thing comes along).

Another point that didn't get raised in the article, which may also underlie the unease with Internet sales, is that the girl in question had her parents' help in setting up the website, and not all Girl Scouts have that opportunity. That's a little troubling, but hardly new. I remember being irked as a kid when other parents took the cookies to work and sold them, while my dad worked at home and had no office to peddle sweets at. Here's hoping the Girl Scouts find a way to make this a "teaching moment" about Internet usage for all concerned, rather than get into an impossible enforcement effort.

And while we're on the topic, when is a major nonprofit going to come up with healthier snacks to sell?

A November 8th article in The New York Times called "Bake Sales Fall Victim to Push for Healthier Foods," by Patricia Leigh Brown, raises a question that was probably inevitable: When will general concerns for healthy -- not to mention non-allergy-producing foods -- undo bake sales' once inevitable profits?

According to the article, the traditional school bake sale is "fast becoming obsolete" in California, where state regulations forbid selling snacks to students that don't meet certain nutritional guidelines regarding saturated fat, other fat, and sugar. Other states' school districts seem to be headed in the same direction Kentucky, for example, was listed as having especially tight school regulations.

Still, if you're planning your next bake sale, I wouldn't panic yet. For one thing, even the school group featured in the article managed to do an end-run around the rules by holding their bake sale across the street from the school. The taste for sweets will probably never go away.

For another, the great thing about food is that it's endlessly versatile. Let's take the sweet issue: I held a bake sale recently (yes, in California), where I asked someone to bring cheese bread as an alternative to all the sugar. It turned out to be a popular item. Even sweet treats can be created using bananas, fruit juice, honey, maple syrup, or agave nectar in place of the sugar -- all you have to do is check the right cookbooks or websites (try ones dedicated to people with allergies or diabetes). Or if that sounds like too much work, how about creating baggies of trail mix, including colorful additions like dried cranberries? 

Also, as someone with food allergies, I can guarantee you'll have more customers if you put a sign next to each baked good explaining what's in it. Delicious baked items can be made without many of the common allergens including eggs, dairy, wheat or other gluten-containing flours, and peanuts as well as other nuts. If you really want to make an effort on this one, it's easiest to start by finding a volunteer who's experienced in baking for people with allergies.

With steps like these, you'll not only bring in profits, but feel good about what you're doing -- providing nutritious, home-baked foods in a world of junk calories.

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.

Is a newsletter for members in your nonprofit's future? Or are you wondering why your existing newsletter isn't getting the results it should?

Check out the latest of my interviews with expert nonprofiteurs. This time you'll hear from Cheryl Woodard and Lucia Hwang, authors of Every Nonprofit's Guide to Publishing, talking about how your nonprofit newsletter can make money. Some of Cheryl's clients bring in money with every newsletter they publish, and you can do the same -- by first paying attention to important tips on budgeting, using volunteers, and writing text that excites -- rather than bores -- the reader. 

Some interesting news tidbits recently:

First off, did you notice the FTC warning consumers about scam charities supposedly fundraising for people affected by the earthquake in China and cyclone in Myanmar? (It was written up by Dan Thanh Dang in the June 15th Baltimore Sun.) Potential donors are being warned to double-check that any phone calls really came from the charity, ask what percentage of the donation will go toward services, and more. Of course, this affects every nonprofit as donors' level of suspicion goes up. No sense fighting it -- just be ready to provide every possible tidbit to reassure donors that you're for real.

Another interesting story came from the June 12th edition of Conde Nast's Portfolio, written by Dalia Fahmy and titled "Charity Prize Fight". The story discusses how nonprofit foundations are using contests -- for example, to create the best, most commercially viable solution to global warming -- as a way to simultaneously address a problem, get publicity, and stimulate more giving. (The global warming contest is, by the way, from Richard Branson's Virgin Unite foundation.)

How is this news important to smaller, non-foundation charities? Aside from staying alert for a contest you can enter (been keeping a solution to global warming up your sleeve?), creating contests among your donors and members might make for an interesting change of pace. The simplest would be an online contest -- say, to raise the most money through grassroots efforts, suggest the best name for an animal under your care, or the like. Instead of cash prizes, offer a personal tour of your facility or a meeting with the E.D.. And be sure to call the media!

Finally, on the lighter side of fundraising, it's interesting to watch overseas trends. As far as I can tell, the British are maniacs for stunt-based fundraising -- like this bungee-jumping priest, or this skydiving grandmother. And then there were the two store managers who (voluntarily, it appears) were locked in their shop window, given a phone, and told to raise 1,000 British pounds for charity before they'd be let out. Is there a lesson to be taken from these? I await your comments.