Nolo’s Fundraising Tips for Busy Nonprofits

In my last post on text-message-based fundraising, I and the rest of the world were impressed by the American Red Cross having raised $9 million for Haitian relief efforts via mobile phone text messaging. That number has since gone up to $26 million -- even harder to ignore.

If there were any lingering doubts that this type of fundraising has caught the popular imagination, one need look no farther than the 2010 Oscars ceremony, at which the good folks accepting the award for best documentary, "The Cove," flashed a sign saying, "Text Dolphin to 44144." (You had to be watching closely, since the powers-that-be quickly moved the cameras in another direction -- with the predictable result that the moment is getting more media coverage and video linkings than it would have otherwise.)

But what's the bottom line -- has mobile text messaging (or "SMS") become, overnight, the hottest fundraising strategy around? The fees for nonprofit users are apparently trending downward as more providers enter the market, such as the Mobile Giving Foundation.

Nevertheless, a recent report called the "2010 Nonprofit Text Messaging Benchmarks" report concludes that, while text messaging can be an effective part of a communications mix with existing supporters that also includes email, the Web, and direct mail, it's main role for the moment will be to reinforce other messages and provide an immediate engagement opportunity in urgent situations.

In other words, if you're not responding to a widely known-about crisis like the Haiti earthquake, don't start counting your millions just yet. But start collecting your supporters' mobile phone numbers, just in case. 

If you're feeling the Twitter void from Miley Cyrus having deleted her account, here's something new to keep you busy: tweets from Bill Gates!

Which raises the question, is someone at your nonprofit keeping the world up on your activities via Twitter yet? It's one of the fastest and easiest methods of reaching out to people.

Of course, one has to wonder whether Gates writes his own entries or delegates this to his PR team -- he is, after all, reputed to be a pretty busy guy. But if you don't have your own PR team to handle such things, just bear in mind that there's something to be said for the personal touch, with messages that come from your heart, as your nonprofit confronts its challenges, in real time.

Have I not ranted about this yet? Or maybe I have, but I'm still continually surprised at how often nonprofits compose a nice email and then put no thought into giving it a subject line that will make people want to open it.

Just like with mailed fundraising appeals, email readers are looking for an excuse to ignore the message. We're all swamped with email even if we receive nothing but spam! A  less than compelling subject line provides the perfect excuse to zap your email into cyber-eternity.

The worst entry lines I've seen are simply inexplicable -- using mysterious or nonsubtsantive words like, "signs" or simply the organization's acronym. Others title their emails like distress telegrams: "Donations down," or "Help, need more money." It takes a pretty committed donor to not run from that one.

A better approach? As with all types of fundraising, it's to keep people's eyes on the goal; with intriguing subject lines like, "New program close to launch," or "We did it!" Then you can share the hopeful part of your news or plans -- but explain what funding or other help you need to complete or continue similar efforts. You don't have to believe me -- divide your donors into two groups and give it a try.

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."

Making the most of your nonprofit's web presence is no longer just a cool option, it's your best bet economically, when every stamp costs more money than your budget allows.

For ideas on expanding your online opportunities, check out news of this recent announcement from YouTube, which allows nonprofits, for free, to overlay ads onto videos they post. (Don't have a video? This is a perfect project for a volunteer or intern.)

Or, look at what other nonprofits are doing on Twitter. 

But don't forget the basics: A website that tells people who you are and what you do, with clear explanation of why you're a reliable and worthy place to send their money. For more information on this topic, see my article, "Using Your Nonprofit's Website to Help Fundraise," and this recent survey report about where nonprofit websites fall short.

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?

How far will Rob Gitin go to get a date with Sarah Silverman? And how much will people pay his homeless-youth nonprofit to spur him on? Find out in this San Francisco Chronicle article -- and pick up some tips about online fundraising, while you're at it.