A Small Change- Fundraising Blog

I hope that you enjoyed this week’s posts, Key Components, Campaign Strategy, and Current Trends & The Ask. Our final topic for tomorrow is third party help. I want this week’s posts to be used and available to as many people in the nonprofit world as possible. Please send this link to a friend, stumble this post, or simply take a minute to leave some feedback.

Do you recommend having an online fundraising strategy as part of your capital campaign? How would you go about doing this?

Convio:
Absolutely. Nowadays, I believe that it is important to incorporate a Web based strategy as part of a capital campaign. The objective is not to raise a lot of money on line per se, but to identify new prospects and to cultivate/ steward existing prospects and donors. Our research paper, the Wired Wealthy indicated that 66% of high value donors will go online to review a nonprofit’s Website prior to making a contribution to a new organization. Just like you’d make sure your facility was “up to snuff” if you had a major donor visit, the same applies to your Website. I recommend creating a campaign “micro-site” or mini Website focused on the campaign exclusively. It should have inspirational content, make it clear to donors how their funds would be applied, have an online giving option with gift levels/ asks tied to the theme of the campaign e.g. buy a brick, and have the ability to have prospects/ donors sign up for email. I also recommend an email cultivation strategy, with content segmented by prospects and donors at minimum. Major gift officers can leverage an online marketing tool like Convio to not only run the microsite and email outreach, but also to track the online engagement of prospects and donors. Often times, capital campaigns also have events associated with them. In those cases an online registration component should be included.
-Vinay Bhagat, Chief Strategy Officer and Founder, www.convio.com

The Collins Group:
Savvy nonprofits already use online fundraising in their annual fund programs to encourage regular giving. All campaigns should have some element of an online fundraising strategy, whether it’s a portal for a donor to make a pledge, a web site for sharing campaign and project updates, or emails that solicit gifts. Gifts made online are usually smaller than gifts solicited in person, but the social networking and communications values of “e-philanthropy” should not be overlooked.
- Dana Van Nest, Marketing Director and Kate Roosevelt, CFRE, Vice President, www.collinsgroup.com

Lipman Hearne:
Online fundraising is growing in importance, but more on the annual fund or operating income side than in the capital/major gifts arena. Major and leadership gifts are given as a result of direct and engaged conversations between a donor and institutional or volunteer leadership; that level of intimacy is not possible - even through Web 2.0. Ask yourself: what’s the maximum amount of money you would commit - either to a philanthropic cause or to a consumer purchase decision - through the Web without, in essence, “kicking the tires”? $500? $5,000? $50,000? In most cases, this level of commitment would not rise to the major or leadership gift strata. And major gifts drive campaigns. Online giving, properly managed, can provide a terrific new way to engage annual or operational donors, and get them in the “cultivation queue” (particularly in regard to younger donors), and online outreach can be a terrific tool in terms of stewardship, communications, and donor community engagement, but in the end the dollars are going to be brought in by the door-to-door retail slog.
- Robert Moore, Managing Partner, www.lipmanhearne.com

Please leave any comments or advice of your own below. If you would like to see past and upcoming online interviews you can visit the Interviews page. Thanks for reading!

I hope that you enjoyed this week’s posts, Key Components and Campaign Strategy. Other topics that are coming this week are including an online strategy, and third party help. I want this week’s posts to be used and available to as many people in the nonprofit world as possible. Please send this link to a friend, stumble this post, or simply take a minute to leave some feedback. Today I am asking about current trends and determining the amount for a capital ask.

What are some new and developing campaign trends?

The Collins Group:

• More organizations are creating comprehensive campaigns that bring together annual, capital, and endowment fundraising goals for a specific period of time
• We are seeing an increase in planning for endowment campaigns, particularly in sectors such as arts and culture that have capitalized over the past decade
• The community college sector is expanding its fundraising power with more and more colleges moving into their first-ever privately funded building and/or endowment campaign
• More donors are giving “tester” gifts early in a campaign and following up with additional gifts as a campaign progresses. This makes donor stewardship during a campaign more important than ever

- Dana Van Nest, Marketing Director and Kate Roosevelt, CFRE, Vice President, www.collinsgroup.com

Lipman Hearne:
As the economic disparities in our society have increased, the old 80/20 rule has become 90/10 or higher. And, campaigns continue to get bigger and the “breathing space” between them is typically reduced. It’s not unusual for us to talk about how to wrap up a current, successful campaign and how to launch the next one - all during the course of a single meeting.
- Robert Moore, Managing Partner, www.lipmanhearne.com

How do you determine the ask amount for a capital ask?

The Collins Group:
As a starting place, your organization should research the prospect’s giving history to your organization and to others, assess their level of commitment to your mission, and identify their giving capacity (e.g. professional history, assets, family history). It is most effective to have peers of the prospect involved in both establishing a respectful ask amount and soliciting the gift. Asking for a multi-year pledge can also help a donor see a way to “stretch” their giving.
- Dana Van Nest, Marketing Director and Kate Roosevelt, CFRE, Vice President, www.collinsgroup.com

Lipman Hearne:
Through the feasibility study process, ongoing conversations, prospect rating systems, and an examination of public data regarding the prospect’s financial status. One of the old truisms of fundraising is that “nobody is offended by being asked for too much” - the assumption being that the prospect says to himself or herself, “they must think I’m doing really well.” Overshooting the mark by a ridiculous amount, though, would cause a prospect to think that you haven’t really done your homework or preparation very well.
- Robert Moore, Managing Partner, www.lipmanhearne.com

Please leave any comments or advice of your own below. If you would like to see past and upcoming online interviews you can visit the Interviews page. Thanks for reading!

I hope that you enjoyed yesterday’s post, Key Components. Other topics that are coming this week are current trends, determining the amount for a capital ask, including an online strategy, and third party help. I want this week’s posts to be used and available to as many people in the nonprofit world as possible. Please send this link to a friend, stumble this post, or simply take a minute to leave some feedback.

Does campaign strategy change in each third sector industry (arts, social services, education, etc.)?

The Collins Group:
Campaigns across the third sector are a mix of art and science. While best practices are uniform, specific strategies should be tailored depending on the type, size, and stage of organization. For example, the campaign strategy for an organization with 10,000 members will look very different than that for an organization that has relied on foundation and corporate support.
- Dana Van Nest, Marketing Director and Kate Roosevelt, CFRE, Vice President, www.collinsgroup.com

Lipman Hearne:
To some extent, yes, though the real “outrider” is in social services. To a certain extent, campaigns in education, the arts, and health can all frame themselves at least in part through recognizing some core “self-interest” among people who have had direct contact with their services: alumni/ae, patrons, or grateful patients. Each of these institutions, while having to identify and appeal to a distinct segment of stakeholders, can base a good deal of its argument on an “earned” awareness of the quality of its programs by people who have participated in or benefited from them. Social service agencies, though, don’t often find people whom they served (the homeless, for example) becoming major donors or prospects, so their case has to be constructed in a broader context of “public good.” Social service agencies are also typically supported in large part by governmental contracts (for housing, foster care, aid to dependent children, etc.), so the case has to be made in such a way as it shows the marked improvements that such marginal philanthropic funding can generate.
- Robert Moore, Managing Partner, www.lipmanhearne.com

Please leave any comments or advice of your own below. If you would like to see past and upcoming online interviews you can visit the Interviews page. Thanks for reading

I am excited to bring to you my second online interview. I am interviewing a couple of skilled consultants on the topic of Capital Campaigns. Over the course of this week we will talk about campaign strategy, current trends, determining the amount for a capital ask, including an online strategy, and third party help. I would like to extend a special thanks to our interviewees The Collins Group, Lipman Hearne and Convio (When we discuss online strategy). It should be mentioned that each of these consulting groups is very different. In reference to a capital campaign The Collins Group would be your campaign counsel and manage your feasibility study. Lipman Hearne would be great to work with regarding key messaging and building your case and Convio focuses on online fundraising

What are the key components of a successful capital campaign?

The Collins Group:
There are six components that determine the success of a capital campaign. They are:

1. Strong board, staff, and volunteer leadership
2. Clear project definition and a compelling case for support
3. Ready and willing leadership donors (a dozen gifts often make up more than 50 percent of the campaign goal)
4. Solid reputation and visible organization
5. Adequate fundraising staffing, systems, and infrastructure
6. Timing (e.g. economic concerns and competing projects)

- Dana Van Nest, Marketing Director and Kate Roosevelt, CFRE, Vice President, www.collinsgroup.com

Lipman Hearne:
Through the feasibility study process, ongoing conversations, prospect rating systems, and an examination of public data regarding the prospect’s financial status. One of the old truisms of fundraising is that “nobody is offended by being asked for too much” - the assumption being that the prospect says to himself or herself, “they must think I’m doing really well.” Overshooting the mark by a ridiculous amount, though, would cause a prospect to think that you haven’t really done your homework or preparation very well.
- Robert Moore, Managing Partner, www.lipmanhearne.com

Please leave any comments or advice of your own below. If you would like to see past and upcoming online interviews you can visit the Interviews page. Thanks for reading!

The final of an exciting guest series written by Chris Logan from NPower Seattle. Today’s post provides some key things to remember when choosing a new donor management system. Thanks Chris for an excellent series. See his earlier posts Evaluating Your Donor Management Software: A Daunting Task and Step by Step with Donor Software.- Jason

• Don’t have a Technology Plan? Now might be a good time to put one together. There are many resources available to assist you with this. Remember that this process will not just impact development – but other departments as well. A strong technology plan and strategy will ensure the best choice possible.
• Hire a consultant or find a technology savvy volunteer. If you don’t have the expertise on staff, then find someone. It is strongly recommended that you go through this process with someone on your side of the table that knows technology and your agency. I don’t like the “us versus them” attitude, but Sales Reps spend all of their time figuring out how to close the deal. That’s what they do.
• Remember that the software can help you with your development success – it cannot create it for you. In other words – if you do not have good fundraising “best practices” in place now, then even the best most expensive software in the world cannot help. Start at the basics and work your way up.
• Keep your eye out on happenings in the software industry through trade publications. The donor management software industry is under-going heavy consolidation, and unfortunately that means smaller companies get swallowed up, and their products disappear in favor of the big boy that bought them out.
• Can your agency pass “Stable and Secure” benchmarks? Will the software even run on your systems that are 8 years old and running Windows 98? What about security? Remember – you will often have credit card information and other important personal data – is it safe from hackers or snoops? If you are not sure about the security level of your network – go back and review “Step Two”.

The bottom line is that although the process is long and arduous at times, hang in there! Use the resources that are available to you. Very little of the research you will do has not already been done elsewhere. The best strategy in this case is to have a strategy.

In my estimation the best donor management package out there is the one that is being used, day in and day out, and getting the job done.