Monthly Archives: December 2008

A Year End Donation Story

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With 2008 ending soon, I realized this week that it was time to finish charitable donations to maximize our tax deduction.  Although my wife and I give to many of the same organizations each year, we usually make many contributions at year-end.  Since I so often talk about the advantages of online giving, I decided to make most of our donations on the web.

Interestingly, some of the nonprofits I support haven’t learned the lessons of integrating offline and online campaigns.  Many of the direct mail pieces we received came with increasing frequency, but offered no dedicated web address to use other than the organization home page.  When I went online on one nonprofit’s site, I couldn’t find a way to join or renew my membership, nor could I find a phone number to call.  With the help of Google, I found a phone number and asked that they please not keep wasting my money on constant direct mail requests when I 1) prefer to donate online and 2) want our donations used for the nonprofit’s mission, not for mailing costs.

I’ve also found that even for nonprofits who we support, I am still a bit reluctant to receive email updates throughout the year, possibly because they also come a bit too often and don’t offer enough incentive for me to open them.

Maybe some people take the time to read long direct mail pieces, but I’m not one of them.  Nor do I want to navigate lengthy email messages.  Interestingly, none of the organizations we support asked how often we wanted to be contacted and whether we preferred online or offline communications.  Perhaps these would be good questions to add to your donation form.

There’s one day left – make sure you donate to your favorite causes (even if it’s not as easy as it should be).

Completing a Pre-Holiday Migration to a New Online Product

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As part of completing my organization’s move to Convio, this week I’ve had the ‘pleasure’ of completing the transfer of over 300,000 records from our offline database into Convio while making sure that the appropriate records can be accessed by each of our 40 chapters across the US.  Since the contract with our previous vendor expires Dec. 31, I realized earlier this week that I would need to push this week to get things done.  Trying to do this at a time when many companies are shutting down for the holidays is especially challenging.

Here’s how I’ve managed the process.

  1. At last month’s Convio Summit, I took the time to get to know several Convio management staff, including Esther Pomeleo-Fowler, Director of Client Support Services.
  2. When I heard last week that Convio would be closed from Dec 24-26, I realized I would need to arrange for help during the days before, especially since our main resource person would be unavailable during Christmas week.
  3. Submitted a support ticket Monday evening to request help on Tuesday, also emailing Esther to ask that she provide a resource, referencing the ticket.  Esther quickly left a phone message, promising to assign someone to work with me.
  4. Through Convio’s online ticket system and by phone, worked with the support person to complete the test import.  It turns out that the original instructions I’d been given did not work completely and that several features in our account had to be ‘turned on’ so the import process could complete.
  5. Emailed Esther last night to thank her for the help her staff provided, copying Convio’s CEO, Gene Austin.

While there’s a lot more I need to complete to finish the migration by year-end, being able to complete this import is a big relief.  By approaching Convio politely but firmly, I was able to get the assistance I needed.  (Special thanks to John Holland.)

No online product works perfectly, but by treating people with respect and by working collaboratively with vendors and consultants, we can get great results.  Expressing thanks and appreciation also helps.

Wishing you a peaceful and healthy holiday and all good things for 2009.

Upcoming Program at Foundation Center in NYC

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On Thursday, January 8, 2009, from 5:30 – 7:30 PM EST, I will be moderating a program at the NYC Foundation Center, Online Fundraising Strategies for Tough Times.  My speakers will include Cristine Cronin, President of NY Charities and Allan Pressel, CEO/Founder of Charity Finders.  We will discuss ways to continue to fundraise effectively during tough economic times using online techniques.  Our target audience will be mostly small to mid sized nonprofits that already have a web site, but want to raise more money onlne.

Attendance is free, but early sign up is encouraged.  Thanks to Charlotte Dion, Director of Foundation Center’s NY Library / Learning Center,  for helping to arrange this program.

Meantime, here’s an interesting portal prepared by Nonprofit Consulting which links to a presentation and other resources on the topic we’ll be discussing next month.   Also see some Online Fundraising Myths.

Hope to see you at the Foundation Center.

Don’t Use the Economy As An Excuse Not to Give

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With all the talk lately about this year’s meltdown in the financial markets, it’s easy to get caught up in negative talk about how bad things are, and how long it will take for conditions to improve.  I found myself guilty of this behavior last weekend when I tried to bargain down someone who was selling merchandise to raise money to buy clothes for the homeless.  Fortunately, the woman came up with a creative solution – she gave me the item I was considering buying but asked that I buy socks to donate instead in an amount equal to the purchase price.

While our portfolios have suffered and for those of us who are lucky to still have jobs, skimping on giving to people who need help and charitable organizations is not a good way to respond.  Even if we can’t do as much as we’d like, surely we can do something.  An interesting example is the recently launched GiveList, which offers ideas for making contributions during the holiday season in ways other than financial donations.

While we don’t know how nonprofit organizations will survive the current climate, we do know that in the past, donations have usually continued to flow during good and bad times.  In Katya Andresen’s Non-Profit Marketing Blog, Network for Good is providing a free e-book with 45 pages of strategies on how to “survive and thrive in a down economy.”

Another theme I’ve seen in many places is to remember to thank your donors, and show them what a difference their help makes.   Make sure you take the time to personalize auto-responders and that you take extra time to acknowledge long term contributors.  Here’s some tips in the Art of Donor Retention.

Here’s a wonderful post from personal finance blog Get Rich Slowly on Why Charitable Giving is Even More Important During an Economic Downturn

We may need to work harder to survive during this recession, but it’s important that we stay positive and think creatively in our fundraising and marketing campaigns.