Nonprofit Bridge

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year since it encourages us to stop and think about what is already wonderful about our life.  No matter what is happening (or not happening) in your life, feeling grateful is probably the best way to bring more good things to you.  I hope this weekend has given you an opportunity to focus on what is already good, not on what you don’t currently have.  Everyone is blessed in different ways, although sometimes we are too ‘busy’ to recognize it.

Answr.net is an interesting new resource which offers best practices in nonprofit technology.  The first ‘channel of focus is email outreach – read some questions submitted so far.

As a follow up to my previous post about going forward with online communication despite the financial meltdown, Robert Weiner offers links to several articles about how nonprofits can survive the economic downturn.  Guidestar also has released a recent survey which offers comparisons between 2007 and 2008 giving levels.

Nonprofit Times offers a look at microblogging, as well as an interesting look at how to plan to utilize social networking tools.

Finally, Nten has released a Donor Management Software Satisfaction Report, which is worthwhile reading for anyone who is considering a change in CRM platform.  Some of the top rating products may be some that you’re not familar with, such as GiftWorks (which I’ve used and can recommend) and Neon CRM.

This week I attended my first Convio Summit in Austin, Texas.  Probably the most valuable part was the first day, where I joined many other national accounts for an unusual opportunity to work directly with Convio’s senior management in critiquing the product and discussing future plans.  I was most gratified to hear about the firm’s commitment to improving product usability, both on the back and front end.  Since I train and support staff nationwide for my nonprofit organization, I often get questions about what modules to use for what and why the screens are sometimes difficult to understand.  A good definition for usability was provided by Jim Killion of is7: “make it easier for people to do what you want them to do.”

More highlights:

Convio’s new Common Ground is designed to ease the pain of integration by providing a platform that will support both online and offline transactions.  Although a new offering, Common Ground uses the well established SalesForce platform and is built to interface well with Convio’s online product.  However, the availability of this product does not mean that Convio will stop building integrations for other fundraising software solutions.  I also spoke with Convio’s data integration director – connecting with other systems is clearly something that Convio has devoted substantial resources to.

I also spoke at length with Convio’s new Director of Client Support, who plans major changes in how calls are tracked and handled as well as eliminating the current need for multiple login into multiple systems.

Multichannel fundraising / marketing was a major theme. CARE and Defenders of Wildlife (which won an award for their use of integrated strategies) both spoke about how they’ve seen optimal results from campaigns that span offline and online channels.  While changing your organization to operate across channels may not be easy to implement, the payout clearly seems worth the effort.

Several speakers agreed that social media may not currently result in a large fundraising impact, but that it’s still important to participate because it’s where constituents are spending time and finding a sense of community and like-mindedness.  Beth Kanter is the expert on this topic, leading Nten’s WeAreMedia.

A fascinating session on how to structure your organization for online success reviewed results from a recent survey responded to by over 60 nonprofit organizations to date.  Not surprisingly, ‘insufficient staff’ and ‘budget constraints’ were viewed as the largest barriers, followed by ‘senior management doesn’t understand value of integrated / online marketing.’  Organization structure for online strategy was mixed: 20% centralized, 39% decentralized and 41% hybrid (combination of both).  However, Marketing & Communications was named as the department which most often handles this function, followed by Development and Information Technology (agreeing with what I’ve said previously in this blog).

Many nonprofits were recognized for their innovative use of online strategies.  Particularly noteworthy was the Trisomy 18 Foundation which received an award for best overall use of Convio.

Convio’s Misty McLaughlin discussed building a ‘top notch user experience,’ offering Three Things You Can Do Today:

For several months, I’ve been managing an implementation to Convio at my current organization first for TeamRaiser and then for other events, donation forms, and email marketing.  To support our nationwide chapter structure, we’ve also decided to use Convio’s MultiCenter, which will allow each chapter to view and communicate with its own constituents.  Next week I’ll be speaking about this project at the Convio Summit, joining representatives from other nonprofit organizations and vendors.

How can your organization successfully manage a transition to a new online vendor?  See my previous post on Tips for Working With an Online Vendor.

For more on my presentation, view the event schedule – my session is From Concept to Finish Line — Getting Results with TeamRaiser™ on Tue, Nov. 18 at 2 PM CST.

Last week the Nonprofit Coordinating Committee of New York hosted a conference to learn more from the organizations that have been recognized in the New York Times Company Nonprofit Excellence Awards during the past few years.  The morning’s keynote focused on fundraising and featured Naomi Levine, Chair and Executive Director of NYU’s Heyman Center for Philanthropy and Fundraising and Reynold Levy, President, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.  A few major points:

• board must be involved in fundraising, both personally and in reaching out to potential donors.  CEO must lead fundraising efforts
• explain to the donor the difference their gift will make (and thank past donors by reminding them what their contributions have enabled the organization to achieve)
• despite the recent economic events, ‘you get no credit for predicting rain, you get credit for building arks’
• donors don’t give because they aren’t asked
• in response to an audience question, don’t ever feel that your cause isn’t as important as others – constituents will donate to charities they feel an affinity with, regardless of what other nonprofits are requesting assistance

I then attended a session on strong communications practices.  A few takeaways:

• Suvasini Patel, Communications Director of Witness described how they train all staff in how to communicate the organization’s message to the public, not just those in the communications department.
• Richard Berlin, Executive Director of Harlem RBI focused on how the fundraising and communications functions in an organization should work together.  In whatever communication medium you use, remember what action you want someone to take.  Talk about your nonprofit’s successes.

An interesting exercise gave a few participants one minute to highlight their organization to Bill Gates upon leaving an airplane (after realizing that you’ve been sitting next to him during the entire flight).  For your organization, can you get across the essentials quickly and show your enthusiasm for the cause?