Innovation is in the air! Dust the cobwebs from your brain and polish your ideas for a better world before these opportunities disappear:

Dell Social Innovation People’s Choice Awards

• WHO: University students from around the world
• WHEN: Deadline to submit and vote for projects is May 13
• WHAT: Dell Social Innovation Challenge wants your brilliant solutions to global problems in categories from agriculture to health to technology. The community votes on which projects make the grade, with $1,000 awarded to the eleven most popular ideas.
  

  Want your idea to have the best chance at success? Increase the levels of serotonin in your brain by soaking up sunlight, spending time with loved ones, and encouraging others. Photo via Flickr user Spec-ta-cles (Creative Commons).

2012 Rockefeller Foundation Innovation Challenges

• WHO: Individuals, organizations, and groups across the globe
• WHEN: Deadline to apply is May 15
• WHAT: To celebrate its 100th birthday, the Rockefeller Foundation invites you to submit your innovative ideas for the next century in three areas of focus: data, irrigation, and farming. Icing on the cake if your idea shows promise of being scalable and replicable, positively impacts poor or vulnerable populations, respects local context, and finally, is new and exciting. The foundation will grant funding from a pool of $100,000 to nine finalists.

GOOD Maker challenges

• WHO: Anyone with a good idea
• WHEN: Deadlines for the challenges vary
• WHAT: The folks at GOOD are at it again. With their new tool Maker, organizations and individuals want to hear your ideas for social change, with the community deciding which ones will have the most impact. Right now challenges include a call for speakers at TEDxChicago, an ideal car-free day in Los Angeles, and new ways of learning. Rewards for ideas typically run the gamut from funding to promotion to more tailored goodies like—ready for this?—a vacation at a Hawaiian resort.

Know of more contests and awards our community should be aware of? Leave a comment below!

Today’s idea funding model

The idea

Food + creativity = community. That’s the concept behind Sunday Soup, a micro-granting model that brings together those with a taste for innovative ideas and the people who want to help fund them.

Here’s how it works: a local group organizes an affordable meal. People pitch their ideas for a creative project during the course of the gathering, with attendees voting on who to give the proceeds of the meal to. Think Kickstarter, but offline and with good grub.

So far, the network has collectively granted almost $60,000 to initiatives around the world such as an art project that transforms abandoned signs in Albuquerque, NM; a documentary featuring children’s thoughts on the political situation in Egypt; bike taxis in Toledo, OH; and more.

Photo of Detroit SOUP event by Vanessa Miller.

Why we’re adding it to the Idea File

• Cheap and easy. While it’s the meal that brings people together, the idea is that it should be low-cost, like soup.
• Circumvents bureaucracy. The people who decide which idea will benefit your community are the ones you pass in the street everyday – not foundation officers whom you might never meet.
• Increases supporters. Don’t lose, schmooze. Even if your project doesn’t win the cash, it’s a great opportunity to make contacts – maybe even an employer or new flame. And, Amy adds, getting your project funded from a Soup event also gives you a leg up when applying for funding elsewhere.
• Awesomeness awareness. There are probably a gazillion good ideas waiting to be discovered where you live; why not get them all out in the open?
• Adaptable in many contexts. The model is flexible and Sunday Soup encourages you to adapt it, taking regional and cultural quirks into account.

How you can replicate it

First, see if one already exists where you live. If not, and the 63 groups from the U.S. to South Korea to Ukraine have whet your appetite, check out Sunday Soup’s tips for getting started.

We also reached out to the folks at Detroit SOUP, who’ve helped other SOUPS in Michigan and across the U.S. get up and running, to hear their tips on how to make your group a success.

Here’s what Lead Coordinator Amy Kaherl had to say:

1. Don’t restrict the types of projects. Allow everyone from business entrepreneurs to artists to activists to pitch their ideas to keep the discussions and voting process interesting. Here are the Detroit project proposal guidelines.
2. Know what’s affordable and what’s not. Detroit SOUP, for example, charges $5 per plate so as to include as many community members as possible.
3. Ask for help. Local restaurants, gardens, farms, and friends might be happy to donate food.
4. Proposals first, dinner second. People are more likely to converse and exchange ideas when there is a point of connection.
5. Stay informed and curious. Listen to the community’s needs, and cultivate an environment where people are encouraged to ask questions.

“Don’t be afraid to fail either with the dinner or with the projects,” Amy finally says. “When things break down, we all learn from one another about what to do and not to do.”

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If you’re inspired to bring Sunday Soup to your community, feel free to email Amy for more advice: detroit.soup@gmail.com.

Do you know of other projects that are fun and potentially replicable? If you’d like us to consider posting it as part of this series, leave a comment below or email celeste [at] idealist [dot] org.

We’re 10 days into the new year, which means it’s a great time for some of us to reflect on our organizations’ year-end fundraising efforts, our personal giving decisions, or both. Here’s a report (a PDF) from the Fundraising Effectiveness Project that affirms:

• Nonprofits of every size and description make a special effort to identify supporters and secure additional support in the closing weeks, days, and even hours of the year. (Network for Good has an entire year-end fundraising guide if you’re already looking ahead to 2012 holiday season.)
• Sadly, a large number of those donors won’t be found in the roster of supporters during the following year.
• And, if you look closely, there’s an amazing range from the most to the least successful organizations when it comes to maintaining a strong group of supporters who renew their gifts year after year.

Finding new donors is much more difficult (and expensive) than staying in touch with people who already know about the organization and have shown their interest through making a donation. So why do so many organizations spend so much time trying to reach new donors, rather than building relationships with the old ones?

Why don’t donors continue to give?

Of course, there are some perfectly good reasons why a donor might give once and never again – such as gifts that celebrate a milestone or great accomplishment, or a memorial gift that honors a person who has passed on.

But the most common reason donors offer for not continuing to support an organization is lack of information about what has been accomplished with the money given so far before there’s a request for more. Finding out what donors want to know and making sure to tell them during the year is just as important—maybe even more important—than getting the year-end appeal in the mail on time.

What savvy development professionals can do

Looking ahead to the 2012 fundraising program, you’re probably already thinking about your communications with donors and prospective donors. How will you tell them—clearly, accurately, and persuasively—what the work they have supported is accomplishing and how important this support is to the morale of the people who do it? The books listed toward the end of the 2011 Donor Retention Supplement (the first link on that page) are full of ideas on how to do this well.

What savvy donors can do

If you’re looking ahead to the contributions you might make in 2012, consider your own priorities. What kind of community do you want to live in? What kind of world do you hope to see? Then find out which organizations are most likely to bring those visions to life.

If you have lingering questions about organizations you’ve supported in the past, you’ll do them a favor by asking. The request doesn’t need to be a demand, and the response doesn’t need to be a burden. If you can spark better communication between an organization and the donors who support it, that will be good for organization and donor alike.

How do you plan to communicate with your supporters (or learn more about the organizations you support) this year?

If your New Year’s resolution was to make the everyday a little more awesome, check out today’s idea incubating model. Browse more Idea File posts here.

The idea

Every month, a group of 10 volunteer “micro-trustees” from a chapter of the Awesome Foundation each shell out $100 to fund an innovative idea in their city. While the criteria is vague and guidelines are generous to say the least, the overall goal is to fund new projects that make the world more fun and happy to live in. Who doesn’t want that?

Though this is just one street in Cary, NC, the folks from the foundation are dedicated to “forwarding the interest of Awesome in the universe, $1,000 at a time.” Photo by moonlightbulb (Flickr/Creative Commons).

So far, they’ve helped support everything from an Indiana Jones simulator in Washington, D.C. to a rooftop beekeeping venture in Melbourne to birdhouse-sized free libraries in Chicago. Anyone with a catchy idea and the gusto to see it through can apply.

Why we’re adding it to the Idea File

• Philanthropy for the people. This crowdsourced model makes philanthropy accessible to anyone, and enables you to sidestep the complex bureaucracy of foundations when seeking funding.
• Enticing and easy application process. Their lighthearted spin on submitting an idea is a welcome break from the usual dry, jargon-heavy grant applications.
• Local ideas, local (free!) money. Here’s your chance to revisit those seemingly crazy ideas jotted on a napkin in your drawer, and make an impact where you live.
• Community building. Being a micro-trustee gives you the opportunity to meet others, not to mention a direct connection to innovators in your area. Besides, imagine how good you’ll feel when you’re walking down the block and see your money put to good use?

How you can replicate it

Currently, there are 29 chapters from Berlin to NYC to Zurich. But they’d love to see more; email contact@awesomefoundation.org to get one going where you live.

If you don’t think being part of the Awesome Foundation is for you, try browsing their blog. You’ll find no shortage of inspiring ideas (like aMoment’s adorable art) to bring to your community.

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Like this idea? You might also want to check out the One Percent Foundation and the Sunday Soup Network, or read our post about a secret society that tests the boundaries of philanthropy.

Looking for practical ways to improve your fundraising, inspire donor loyalty, and broaden your community? Want to connect personally with other fundraisers and share your own expertise?

If you’re a volunteer manager or a nonprofit development professional and you’ll be in the San Francisco area from November 10-12, you can do all this and more at the Vivanista Fundraising Summit. And between now and September 30, Idealist blog readers can access a $60 discount off the ticket prices using the code IDEALIST-VIP.

A Vivanista training (photo: Vivanista1, Flickr/Creative Commons)

The summit features dozens of bootcamp workshops, plus “TED-style talks” from the likes of Adriana Gasciogne of Girls in Tech; Susan Gordon, Director of Nonprofit Services at Causes.com; Darian Rodriguez Heyman, organizer of Social Media for Nonprofits; Robert Rosenthal of VolunteerMatch; Tamsin Smith of (RED); Julia Hartz of Eventbrite; Rick Smolan, photojournalist best known for the ‘Day In The Life’ series of books; and many others.

Learn more about the full summit lineup at http://vivanista.com/fundraising-summit/, or follow along on Facebook or Twitter (@Vivanista and #fundsummit).

Tons of sites are putting a do-gooder spin on the Groupon model.

A few months ago I wrote about G-Team, the cause-based, collective action website that eventually sparked Groupon. Groupon is no longer running solo with LivingSocial, Google Offers, and Facebook’s Deals, amongst many others, now competing in the local, social deal business.

The huge success of these platforms has also caught the eye of some new startups that see the potential to use this model to support the work of nonprofit organizations. Here are just a few of them:

• 

  Has your organization joined GoodTwo? What do you think so far?

  goodtwo: Nonprofits can create a page, pick a deal, and then share with their constituents through tools that the company provides for social media and email promotion. About 25% of each sale goes to the nonprofit, so it’s a unique, fun fundraising opportunity that puts a modern twist on the old bake sale and wrapping paper model.

• Philanthroper: They say they’re another daily deal site, but instead of selling something, they’re sharing the story of a new nonprofit every day. If you identify with the story, you can donate a $1 to the organization to help fund it’s work. It’s a great way to disconnect from that shop ‘til you drop mentality, and connect with new nonprofits that need your support to scale their model.
• CAUSEON, The Daily Hookup, and so many others. CAUSEON sends 20% of each daily deal sale to local community causes, while The Daily Hookup pitches deals relevant to the gay community, then sends 5% of each sale to local 501(c)(3)s that support LGBT organizations.

There are hundreds of daily deal sites now (DonorBuy.com just joined our site, for example), so it’s great to see some of these companies trying to differentiate themselves from the competition by pursuing models that benefit the nonprofit sector.

Know of any others I didn’t mention here? Ever snagged a particularly awesome deal? Shout it out in a comment below.

Want to support an issue you care about or help someone get the recognition they deserve? If you’re the type to ask for a power saw for your birthday or get riled at the racetrack, then the following might interest you:

Home Depot Foundation’s Aprons in Action program
Think this mega home improvement store only exists to help you tile your bathroom? Think again. Company associates don their trademark orange apron well after the workday ends to help economically disadvantaged vets and their families build better houses. Home Depot features four team projects each month, and is asking you to vote on Facebook which one nails it. Winning project receives a $25,000 gift card at, you guessed it, Home Depot. You’ll have the opportunity to vote every month until February next year, but this month’s deadline is June 30.

Hammer this into your brain: apply soon! Photo by David Blaine (Flickr/Creative Commons).

GQ’s Better Men Better World Search
The Gentlemen’s Fund, the men’s magazine’s philanthropic arm, is on the hunt to put the “good” in good looking. The target? Ordinary dudes in the U.S. who are at least 18 years old and are making a difference through charity, volunteerism or community involvement. Winner receives a glossy package: a donation of $10,000 to a charity of his choice, a promotional in GQ, a trip to NYC to be honored, $2,000 pocket cash, and a Movado watch. May the best man win. Deadline to apply is July 6.

NASCAR Foundation’s Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award
These prestigious car racing fans aren’t just about speed and glory; they’re also about driving change in their communities. U.S. NASCAR fans who are 16 and older and champion children’s issues are eligible to receive a $100,000 donation to a youth charity of their choice. The victory is certainly sweet: winner also receives a 2012 Ford Explorer and all-expense paid trips to both NASCAR race weekend and the Spring Cup Series Champion’s Week for their charitable efforts. Three finalists will also get in on the action. Deadline to apply is July 18.

Last week I got to attend the annual Personal Democracy Forum (PdF), a conference that crams two days full of nearly 40 talks and panels that explore technology’s impact on politics and government.

This is the first of a few posts about PdF11 takeaways that might be of of particular interest to our community. This one is about Lucy Bernholz; watch the video of her talk here.

Lucy Bernholz blogs at philanthropy.blogspot.com

“I need your help to open up philanthropy,” said self-described philanthropy wonk Lucy Bernholz. How many of us, Bernholz asked, have researched a nonprofit on GreatNonprofits or GuideStar, backed a project on Kickstarter, or made a loan through Kiva? Thanks to sites like these, we can access vetted information about the causes we care about, feel confident that diligence has been done, and add our own testimonials so that others can do the same.

Contrast that, Bernholz said, with the experience of applying for a grant. We spend hours on end researching, editing, and laying out our ideas and plans to do something specific in hopes of making our communities better. At long last, we submit the application and – then what?

From Bernholz’s transcript:

In a best-case scenario, the due diligence by each funder unleashes one grant.

In the usual scenario, the due diligence results in no grant and no information sharing on what was proposed.

Imagine being able to unlock the vaults on what the Carnegie Corporation, literally the grand daddy of American foundations, knows about after school programs [...] or what we could learn from the Gates Foundation about improving libraries or distributing vaccines.

But how do we get foundations to share this information? Bernholz pointed out that several foundations and organizations are already leading by example: from the DonorsChoose hackathon supported by Bing to the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, “which feeds all of its grants out in an RSS feed as well as on Twitter.” She implored the crowd at PdF11 (mostly tech geeks) to do three things: ask foundations to share the data they have about what’s been proposed and what works; give them permission to share your information when you apply for grants; and show them what their data can look like. If we do this, we can give communities and planners access to a vast amount of information about good ideas and good projects – the ones that are funded as well as those that aren’t.

Do you work in philanthropy? Or do you rely on foundations to run your programs? I’d love to hear what you think of Bernholz’s talk, specifically:

• Why aren’t more foundations already sharing data like this? What are the main barriers and challenges?
• Do you believe, as Bernholz does, that “we need to hold foundations – which hold private resources in trust for the public good – accountable to that public good”?
• Do you have a favorite example of a foundation’s transparency leading to positive change in a community or around an issue?

The full transcript and video are here.

Are the appeal letters you send to supporters a helpful reminder or a huge turn-off?

Flickr user Shane Adams purchased a cow through Heifer International. Photo: ishane/Creative Commons

Last week I wrote that the first thing I want when I make a donation is a simple, quick thank you. It’s the no-brainer, proven “donor retention strategy” every organization should follow.

Paying attention to what donors want in a wider sense is, though, a little more complicated.

One day I ended up sitting next to the charming ED of a large organization in my home town that I’ve supported in a small way for years.  I said to him, “You know, I send you guys a check every year, and almost before it lands in your mailbox, I get an appeal for additional support.  I’m at the point where I’d almost rather forget about making my gift if I get more than one reminder a year.”

His answer?  “Those systems are automated.  The only way I could make sure you only get one reminder would be to put your name and address in my tickler file and do it myself.”

I can’t remember my answer, but I do remember being astonished. I still get way too many reminders…and I still make a gift every year. I guess I value their services enough to put up with this familiar feeling that no one is paying attention.

Still, I’d love it if the organizations I support could operate their development departments efficiently and still pay attention to the requests that donors make about how they want to be treated in the future. Admittedly, those two goals are a little bit in conflict.  The most “efficient” way to handle the daily incoming mail is to open it immediately, record the donors’ names and gifts in some database, and deposit the checks.  The most respectful way is to examine the post-it notes and scribbles on the donor-response forms to see whether there’s any sort of message there, and then do as much as possible to honor any reasonable request.

In a busy organization, being able to honor requests depends on having systems in place that match what donors want, which takes us back to square one and then on to square two.  Say “thank you;” pay attention. That’s the “donor retention strategy” that has the greatest promise of success.

Has your development department found a way to balance both of these priorities?

Wondering what donors want?

Well, what do you want – when you make a gift to a friend, a wedding couple, a grandchild, or a community organization?

The first thing I want is just a “thank you.” Often that’s enough. And if I want anything more, it’s to know that my gift made a difference was welcomed and put to use.

Penelope Burk is famous in fundraising circles for researching what donors want. As Guidestar reported last summer in its newsletter, Burk found that organizations where board members call key donors to say “thanks” see an increase in donations of 39% —without anyone doing any asking at all.

From vistamommy (Flickr/Creative Commons)

Saying thank you—quickly!—is the proven “donor retention strategy” that seems to fall off the edge of the desk a little too often.  When coupled with a brief message about the difference donations make to the success of the organization, it’s about the best thing a nonprofit can do to keep the flow of donations coming.

Not every organization can use this exact technique.  But every organization can think about what donors want, which is probably the more direct route to getting what the organization needs – more donations.

Have you tried having board members call your supporters? What works for you?