Communicating success - If you did it, brag about it!

Who doesn't like the story of the "Little Engine That Could?" The 1930 children's book has stayed a favorite for 75 years because it teaches children that trying hard and often gets you to the top.

It's doubtful that the book would have even survived a week if it ended on a note of failure.

Most people root for the underdog, but what really moves them is when the underdog becomes the top dog.

That's the story your nonprofit should be telling.

When you are trying to raise funds, whether you're a nonprofit or a for-profit, people want to know that they are backing a winner or at least a solid competitor.

Often the difference between getting funding and going broke is your ability to prove you have a lasting impact on whatever problem you are trying to solve.

Nonprofits have a particularly good audience for success stories, because even little successes, if they are cumulative, motivate people to help.

We hear a lot about impact statements, but too many people want to prove their impact with numbers only, leaving out the emotional side.

OK, it's a good thing to be able to say you served 1000 more meals this year than last, but what difference did those meals make in someone's life?

Every nonprofit should make an effort to go beyond the numbers. Follow up with the people you fed or tutored or that you helped to finally get a job. What positive outcomes did they have beyond a meal, their first paycheck  or a passing grade on a test?

Stopping with the immediate end result of a program sells your whole operation short.

Go out and contact some of the people you helped, or the homes where you placed an animal a year or more later. What happened after the initial good deed?

Sometimes the outcomes aren't as rosy as you hoped they would be, but that's part of the story.

One nonprofit that worked with rescuing female domestic abuse victims did just that. What they found was that about 30% of the abused women had gone back to school and another 35% had found steady employment, but most of the others had either gone back to their abusers or entered into another abusive relationship.

That's part of your story too. Use it to show why you still need support.

Put the stories on your website, start a blog or send out newsletters, but get the word out.  

Remember, people want to give you money only because you help someone or something else. They aren't going to donate just because you need to pay the rent. Now go out there and start bragging!

Is your charity meeting donor expectations?

Given the high trust level that charities are expected to measure up to, could you look a donor in the eye and swear that all their donations will go to the mission?  More importantly, should you?

Donor confidence is not just important to your nonprofit, it is critical. If donors get even a faint whiff of something a little off, it can take years to regain that confidence.

In an article on 9/11 of this year, the Huffington Post noted that  even the venerable Red Cross took a hit for misleading donors after 9/11/01. The article noted that in the wake of the problem, donor and public confidence in charities in general dropped from 25% approval in July 2001 to 18% by May of 2002.

Charities that lose donor confidence don't survive intact. Some may not survive at all. The above-referenced article also noted that out of about 300 9/11-related charities started after 9/11, only five were surviving by 2006.

The best way to retain donor confidence is to be able to prove effectiveness and be up-front with the donors regarding the use of funds.

Given what I do, i.e. grant writing and funding research, I see this statement a lot.

"Once we get some grant money coming in, we can use part of it to pay you."

Ah…no, you can't. Nor can you pay the back rent or the overdue power bill. Almost every RFP plainly states that funds may not be used to pay debts incurred prior to the grant award. This is known as "restricted" funding, i.e. the use of the funds is restricted by the donor to certain costs for defined programs.

Most of them also state that "usual and customary expenses unrelated to the delivery of mission-related goods and services" (or words to that effect) are not eligible to be paid out of grant funds. The exception would be any grant funds received that state the use of the funds is unrestricted, or may be used for "general operating support".

But what about those individual donors?  The ones that chip in a few dollars every month, or write one check a year?  Of course you would never outright lie, but should you sort of gloss over the fact that you are paying the utility bills with their money? After all, shouldn't they just know that you have to pay some administrative expenses out of donations?

Maybe they should, but they don't. However naïve it may be, casual donors think that every dollar buys a meal, a coat, a bag of dog food, or whatever else your appeal is highlighting.

The best way to avoid that is to either define the percentage of each donated dollar that goes to the charitable purpose, or state in the appeal that funds received are used for both general and program support.

In the beginning, that administrative percentage could be 50% or more. Once you have your infrastructure in place, it should be reflected in your program-to-administrative cost ratio.

Just don't over-promise. It is usually unrealistic to claim that your administrative expense-to-mission allocation goal is five or ten percent of total donations. If you've done a proper business plan, you should have at least a rough idea of what percentage of the money will eventually be used for organizational support versus program expenses.

Be sure to let donors know about the good things their money has purchased. If your food pantry  fed 100 people every Wednesday of the last year, put it in your year-end report and plaster it all over your website and social media accounts. If your program participants are willing, tell a few personal stories. Have an animal rescue?  Along with all the animals needing homes, have a page for those that found their forever homes.

Like your Mom always said…honesty is the best policy. 

Crowdfunding for Nonprofits - Hype or Hope?

Crowdfunding. It's a money-raising buzzword. It's trendy and in some cases, trending. It's the 21^st century way for small businesses, artists, entrepreneurs and yes, small nonprofits to access cash for projects. Grants and government funding are incredibly competitive, and there is an element of the "good-ol'-boy network" mentality involved. Really new or very small nonprofits are often excluded just because they don't fit in that network.

Just a half-dozen years ago, no one thought of crowdfunding as a viable business model. Most business people were familiar with investor groups, but the idea of doing a whole fundraising campaign on the web was well, sort of a fantasy.

Then, in 2008 and 2009 respectively, Indiegogo and Kickstarter appeared on the scene. Primarily aimed at the performing and visual arts and the for-profit business market, these platforms offered a way for small businesses and start-ups, and even individuals to access funding for projects. Nonprofits have a category too.

In the last two years I have seen a decided uptick in the number of crowdfunding sites catering to nonprofits. So, is this a viable way for small nonprofits to access cash for programs?

I'd have to say "it depends". Like any new business model, crowdfunding has its share of hiccups. Initially, I saw a lot of sites go up that purported to be absolutely free to use. "We don't take a dime of donations for ourselves" was, and is a common tagline. Many of those sites no longer exist.

It costs money to build and host a website, process donations, keep track of whose projects fund and whose need to have money returned to the "crowd-vestors" ( I don't know if that's a real word…but it works for me!). Absolutely free just isn't going to pay the bills.

There didn't seem to be a lot of vetting of the projects and nonprofits for the donor's peace of mind.

In some cases, there was no way for the donors to receive an accounting for whether the money actually resulted in tangible gains or completed projects. Some sites gave the donors back their money if the project didn't fund, while others allowed the project owner to keep whatever funds were raised.

Lately I notice that many crowdfunding sites are themselves for-profit businesses. They charge a listing fee or other service fee, either from the donor, the project or program owner, or both. They withhold the credit-card processing fees so that the cost is not coming out of the site manager/creators funds. They seem to have a more stringent verification process for the nonprofit and to require more verifiable data before listing a program/project. In short, they have a business model and there seems to be some thought behind making the sites sustainable. Many like Uruut (www.uruut.com) are brand-new, but seem to have a grasp on the funding sources for the nonprofit sector.

Crowdfunding is certainly an avenue for small start-ups, both for -and non-profit, to explore. Like any other business venture, do your due diligence. All venues that have money as a component are ripe for exploitation and outright fraud. Service providers to the crowdfunding industry should be vetted. One resource I found was an ongoing five-part series on the website www.crowdcrux.com. titled "Doing due diligence on crowdfunding service providers". While it doesn't specifically apply to nonprofits,  the tips will undoubtedly apply across the board.

Exploring crowdfunding certainly provides the little guys with some hope of succeeding. Just remember, there is no such thing as "free". In this case your effort in selecting a good platform sponsor and a credible campaign will be the price you pay to increase your chances of success.

©091413 R.L. Baisch

Successful Nonprofit Fundraising

On a Personal Note

To all the people that requested Climbing the Ladder to Nonprofit Success-Thanks! To the "marketing guru" that emailed me to tell me I was missing "an awesome monetizing opportunity" - I'm not interested.

I'm not exactly stupid when it comes to marketing, internet or otherwise. I know about landing pages, and "free" offers that require me to enter my email just to look at something to see if it I want it. I couldn't even begin to count all the content pieces I've written for that type of campaign. Those marketing/sales techniques do have a place in many industries. If just getting subscribers to view your blog is how you make money, or you have a product that many people use, but lots of competition in the same product line, I get being able to mass email your contact list constantly. I really do understand top-of-mind branding.

That isn't what I intended to do when I wrote Climbing the Ladder to Nonprofit Success. That's why I gave you MY email address. If you are interested in starting a nonprofit the right way, or struggling with one that didn't start with a good business model, I figure you'll contact me. If not, bombarding you with a sales pitch every week isn't going to make you a client. That's when I become known in a negative way. "OMG!  Another email from that pest again!" is not how I want you to remember me.

What does all this have to do with YOUR nonprofit funding plan?

 

Don't be a robo-fundraiser

There are certain organizations that seem to live on seemingly never-ending cycles of email or direct mail appeals, especially around the holidays. We all get them. Every few days there is an email or a fundraising letter in the mail. Pretty soon, the intended recipient simply drops them in file 13 or its electronic equivalent on the way to opening the rest of the mail. Even at nonprofit presort rates, that is expensive. The marketing firm that produces the appeal materials doesn't work for free. And we wonder why their fundraising costs are 50%-plus of their budget?

   

Robo-mailing typifies the way many nonprofits approach fundraising. Nag, nag, nagging for money or shot-gunning your grant applications aren't always viable plans. It can be an ineffective, time-consuming and expensive way to turn off your donors. Purchasing one-size-fits-all mailing lists costs money.

One of my services is researching probable matches between funding sources and a specific nonprofit. Some people email me with a request to "send out up to 100 applications for grant funds". It ain't gonna happen. If I can find 12 good matches, that is a rarity. A half-dozen or so really good prospects per grant cycle is more like it.

Why less really is more

Are there 100 foundations, corporations or government grants that generally support your type of cause?  Maybe…but they aren't all a match. Some are not geographically matched, some are already locked in to supporting specific nonprofits, some require a depth of organizational development that your nonprofit simply can't provide at the time, and some actually don't support your specific mission at all. Just because they say they support youth doesn't make them candidates for a pitch for advanced dress designing classes for girls 8-13. Researching grants takes time and in-depth analysis. Why not spend your money to develop a really targeted campaign?

Spend Wisely

That's why I offer fund raising planning services. That can be a part of a larger strategic plan, or a stand-alone service, but the idea is to focus your time (and money) on developing customized strategies that actually have a chance of succeeding.

Get a focus. Develop a real plan. Know when you will need money and think ahead, not a week or a month, but a year or even five years ahead. For that you'll need a budget, a easily explainable program and verified positive outcomes. Develop these now, not when we're writing the grant, because making it up as you go along is not a strategy. And if you need help, give me a shout. Helping you to succeed is what I do. Just drop me a line at granthelp@ida.net.

How to ask for support effectively

I got a call yesterday from a local nonprofit. The nice lady on the phone spent about three minutes telling me all about the organization. She gave me a synopsis of what they support, their mission statement, even their web URL. At the very end, she said,  "Thank you for taking the time to let me tell you about (the organization name). Can we count on you to support us?"

 

Support it how?  Do you want money? Volunteers? Are you having an event? What specific thing will my support accomplish?

This is a problem with many smaller nonprofits. They don't complete the ask. Maybe it's because they are trying to avoid the hard sell, maybe they are uncomfortable with having to ask for money, who knows?

I get just as annoyed as anyone else when the first words out of the telemarketers mouth are the name of the organization and the dollar amount. You know, the ones that start out, "this is the Blank Society and we are calling to let you know we are sending out a donor envelope for $25.00. Can we mark you down for that amount?" Uh…no. That approach almost always gets you hung up on at my house.

In between those two approaches is that sweet spot that gets you what you need. If the local lady had simply told me in about one minute that they were the Blank Nonprofit trying to support X cause, given me their name, location and their URL, and told me they would appreciate a donation for $25.00 that would provide X benefit for a recipient, I probably would have been more inclined to either say yes, or counter with another amount.

I fully appreciate that many smaller organizations are using volunteer fundraising personnel that don't do cold calling for a living. Work up a script, and have them practice calling each other or role playing until they are comfortable with the spiel. Try to keep it short, but informative. Above all, specifically ask for the money (or time, if that's what you need). If the answer is no, and it often will be, thank them graciously and move on.

One well known nonprofit uses the tactic of visual images and a targeted monetary appeal. "Just $xx. a month will (feed, clothe, educate, whatever) a (deserving recipient)."  That is about as short and yet effective as it gets, and that nonprofit raises millions and millions of dollars every year, $x at a time.

Asking for money is a part of nonprofit survival, particularly for new or smaller nonprofits that may not yet be ready to apply for grants. It's a learned skill, but you can learn to do it well.