A Small Change- Fundraising Blog

As I’ve started to ask how can we fundraise differently I’ve found many different ideas and strategies that organizations are using. As we think about how to do what we do better I thought it might help for you to hear a few ideas.

Person-to-Person Fundraising: Peter Diaz runs a website called Social Actions that exists to help individuals and organizations with peer-to-peer fundraising. I watched a video by him when I first started blogging that I wanted to share. In many ways the internet has made the world a smaller place. His idea is for individuals to create, “blogs and essentially establish themselves as the guide to a specific issue.” This is an interesting idea because it in some ways could replace the community foundation. Donors could essentially be sponsoring an individual to give the money you give them away toward a specific cause or issue.

Friendraising: Advanced Solutions International is taking peer-to-peer fundraising to new levels. They are doing a lot of thinking about how to cultivate and grow a connection to online donors.

Transformational Giving: The Mission Increase Foundation is pioneering this idea. Eric Foley describes transformational giving as, “giving that arises from a transfer of ownership from ministry [or non-profit] to donor—a transfer of vision, responsibility, and equipping.” This is a whole new way of looking at the donor as a partner instead of simply as a donor. Using this model a non-profit can distribute their message out a lot faster and with more ownership.

Many of the above ideas involve person-to-person fundraising or using social networking to connect directly with new donors. Have you have heard of any ideas or had an experience working with any of them? Do you have any new theories or ideas of your own? If you ever have a topic or a question that you want to read about or me to look into please let me know.

Did you know that your donors can give more than money? Of course you do—many organizations strongest advocates are their major and monthly donors. Giving results out of a desire to make a difference to impact something you care about. Perhaps your non-profit has a small staff (maybe just you) and only a handful of development people and that makes it really hard to get your message out.An organization called the Mission Increase Foundation is trying some revolutionary ways to get the message out. One of these ways is to use your donors as advocates and development officers. What if you provided your donors with the tools that they needed to tell the story of your non-profit to their friends? Instead of sending out direct mail you sent out packages of 10 greeting cards for your donors to write a story about why they care about the non-profit and pass them along to friends and neighbors. Or when sending out your next e-newsletter you challenged your readers to forward the email on to a couple other friends with a quick note on the top of their email talking about why they support the organization.

What I’m talking about is not a change in degree in fund raising. It’s not about doing more of something, or doing something more systematically. It’s about a change in kind. It’s a bold leap that’s awaiting anyone who’s awakening to the value of seeing fund raising as a powerful communal experience. Eric Foley, Mission Increase Foundation

What do you think of this idea? Would it work in your non-profit? Why or why not? I think that one of the keys to making this work is to create ideas that fit with the mission of your non-profit. Maybe instead of sending a letter to forward on you send a magnet, postcard, or miniature coffee table book. Any other ideas?

This Month’s Giving Carnival is about what motivates giving? Why do donors give money away? You can see my thoughts in my posting, What Motivates Giving. We have a number of wonderful articles from bloggers on this topic this month so make sure to check out their site and possibly leave a comment.

• Phil Cubeta at, Gift Hub, provides a list of a number of reasons people give. Read his article, What Motivates Giving?
• Richard Marker at, Wise Philanthropy, writes about giving from the funders perspective. Check out his posting, What Motivates Giving- the funder’s perspective.
• Sean Stannard-Stockton at, Tactical Philanthropy, believes that giving comes out of a desire to find meaning. Read his post, Why Do People Give to Charity?
• Roger Carr at, Every Day Giving, talks about how matching funds can increase giving. Read his post, Unique Way to Encourage Others to Give.
• Jake Seliger at, Grant Writing Confidential, posted an article, Why Do People Give? And Other Unanswerable Questions.
• Michael Gibbons at, Make Hope, asks the deeper question what motivates giving to you? Check out his post, What Motivates Giving?

Some other great articles about giving: Seeking Grant Money Today’s, What Motiviates Giving?; Donor Power Blog’s, How to have Kiva’s problem; Nonprofit Leadership Innovation and Change’s, What Motivates Giving?; Dollar Philanthropy’s, Excitement in the Inbox; Look to the Stars’, Editorial: What Motivates Giving? Thanks for reading. If you want to be on a list to receive updates about the next Giving Carnival send me an email at infosmallchange@gmail.com and I will add you to the list.

The (Red) Campaign is evidence of something even bigger going on here than just cause marketing. If our shopping in even a subtle tiny way can begin to make a difference, it makes me ask, “What else can?” I think that we are being provided the opportunity to look at fundraising and giving/donating as a lifestyle. The products we purchase the places we go can affect the world around us in a profound way.

One thing that (Red) has shown us is that businesses can do social good. I’ve been reading Bill Clinton’s book, Giving, and he has a chapter discussing this very issue.

“There are enormous opportunities for businesses to increase profits, and for NGOs to make contributors’ money go further, by organizing and enlarging [public good] markets.”- Bill Clinton, Giving

When businesses see a direct benefit to social good they start mass-producing this social good to a wider audience than the non-profit world has the ability to do. Look at the work that World of Good is doing. They have set up two organizations one that is non-profit and one that is for-profit. The non-profit organization sets up standards that any business can use to enact social good. The for-profit organization acts out those standards in a profit-making environment. They currently have a partnership with eBay setting up a community to highlight social good business ventures.

My point is that we live in a different world today where non-profits are having an impact in business. The (Red) Campaign in some ways is the forerunner of what I think the consumer world is going to demand more of. Already consumers tend to favor a product that is connected to benefiting a charity or cause in some way. As businesses continue to see this trend it could force them to take a real look at how they are giving. I think there is a real opportunity for businesses to differentiate themselves from their competitors based on how they run their foundations and charitable giving.

Have you heard of the (Red) Campaign? You have probably seen them partnering with huge organizations like GAP, American Express & Motorola. Basically the way the campaign works is you buy a (Red) product and they donate a percentage of that sale to the (Red) Campaign. They have received some negative press recently and I wanted to hear from you what your take on it is. For more details read:
The February 6, New York Times article
Joe Waters’, Selfish Giving, recent post
Susan Hyatt’s The Business Coach, Posting 1, 2, 3

One argument is that these organizations are spending more money marketing these products than they are giving money to Africa. Many say that shopping as a response to human suffering is disrespectful. Businesses need to be careful about how and why they get involved in cause marketing. I agree many businesses could do a lot more than they already are and that more money could be given than already is. It is important that businesses are transparent about how much they are actually giving.

Cause marketing is about more than just financial donation it is about raising awareness. The amount of air time, publicity, and recognition that (Red) has received is invaluable for The Global Fund. If no money was ever donated many charities will spend millions of dollars to receive the community recognition that (Red) has provided. Is shopping for a (Red) product disrespectful? If buying a (Red) product is all that you do and you think you are making a radical difference, maybe.

Ben Davis has started a movement called Buy (Less) CRAP and his idea is that instead of buying a computer to benefit Africa you should give directly to the non-profit and then all the money goes to the charity instead of just a percentage. Great idea, if we want to make a difference in our giving lets give to the source. However, we need computers, we need shirts, we need credit cards. Why not make a difference when I’m purchasing an every day product that I need in addition to my other giving.

Why did this issue make people so mad? I think that there is a larger question here. The problems in the world are bigger than our answers and often times we have a feeling of guilt that comes with our inability to save a life or make a difference. I’d love to talk to you more about the response I’ve found—send me an email and we can chat offline.