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?

From Flickr user Alan/Falcon (Creative Commons)

Hope Consulting wanted to find out why people donate to good causes, and specifically what would encourage people to focus on supporting organizations that get results. What they found is published online in “Money for Good” (a pdf). According to the study, here’s how the universe of donors divides up:

• 23% support organizations that have helped them or a loved one in the past
• 18% give to well-known organizations, often through payroll deductions
• 16% give to organizations they feel are making the greatest social impact
• 16% choose organizations that match their religious beliefs
• 14% look for small organizations where their gift makes a bigger difference
• 13% give to organizations where they know people or where their friends also give

Only a third of the people they surveyed reported doing any research before giving, and nearly two-thirds of those donors do the research only to check up on an organization they have already decided to support (to “validate” the choice, in the researchers’ words).

Hope Neighbor, the leader of the consulting group, described herself in a profile on FastCompany with a bit of chagrin about her own habits. “I am mired in inertia,” she said, “and I definitely don’t choose the best organization. The way we act is different than the way we think we act. It’s true for me as for any of the people surveyed.”

My takeaways?

Donors: think about what you want to accomplish with your gifts and then spend some time exploring whether the recipients are aligned with those goals. (Here’s how.) It won’t take long to put you in the top ranks of intentional donors.

Organizations: your work isn’t going to appeal to every group of donors, so figure out which donor-profile fits your work and your mission. Once you’ve done that, make sure they are able to find the information they look for on your website, in your “support us” mailings, and in the presentations you make. If your messages don’t match what your core supporters are looking for, you’re wasting your time – and disappointing people who might find great satisfaction in supporting your work.

Buoy your idea with the help of others. Photo of colorful buoys by Flickr user hermanturnip (Creative Commons).

Competition makes the world go round, and pushes us to make good ideas even better. Here are some folks who want you (yes, you!) to throw your hat in the ring for a little—er, a lot—of support:

• MIT’s IDEAS Competition. Grab your fellow world changing nerds, reach out to a community partner and come up with a solution to a problem of your choice. (Caveat: one third of all teams must attend MIT.) If you want to win $10,000, get your proposal in by February 5.
• Yoxi’s “Balance Your Digital Diet” Competition. Curbing digital addiction – can it be done? Yoxi, a hip social game, invites you to slim down on tweeting, Facebooking, emailing, and more. Register your team by February 7 to be in the running for up to $40,000.
• Toyota Ideas for Good Contest. From a solar powered ventilation system to advanced injury simulation, the Japanese car company has implemented some pretty awesome technologies in its vehicles. The challenge? Use ‘em to drive change outside the automotive world. Deadline to submit and win your own ride is February 28.
• PopTech’s Social Innovation Fellows. Are you an ambitious changemaker with a bright idea? Nominate yourself, or someone you know, for the chance to gain tools, skills and contacts in the social entrepreneurship field, as well as an opportunity to speak on stage at PopTech’s annual conference. Nominations close March 11.

Know of any others? Leave a comment below.

Screen shot from the Nonprofit Finance Fund website

Do you have a few minutes to fill out a survey? If so, you can help the Nonprofit Finance Fund understand what’s happening now, in order to better advocate on behalf of the sector’s needs. The survey gets a good deal of attention from funders, media, and nonprofits themselves, so it’s up to all of us* to make it strong and accurate.

Watch the “awesome video” about why the Nonprofit Finance Fund is conducting its State of the Nonprofit Sector survey for the third year in a row. (If you prefer, there’s the “moving drama” version or the “terrifying horror” version to watch instead; to tell the truth, all three are pretty much the same, but the different soundtracks are good for a smile.) The videos give a glimpse of the results from the 2010 survey and look ahead to what can be learned from people who complete the 2011 survey between now and February 15th.

You can take the survey at http://nonprofitfinancefund.org/2011-nonprofit-sector-survey.

Want to view the results from 2010? The full results from last year are in this file (pdf).

*If you’re not the right person to be taking this survey, you might pass along the link to someone at a nonprofit you care about who can answer the questions. The more data from the real world the survey collects, the better the information the Nonprofit Finance Fund can offer to funders, policy makers, and anyone else who cares about this work.

It’s December, which means you’ve probably started getting requests for donations from worthy causes. Here in the U.S., the income tax rules and the holiday spirit both nudge in the same direction: give what you can, before January 1.

Here are three tips for making gifts that matter. (And matter they do, no matter the size!)

From Flickr user Alexandra Campo

Tip #1: Understand the tax rules.

If you choose to itemize deductions on your income tax return and you want to include your charitable contributions in the mix, then it’s important to follow the guidelines that the law, and the IRS, have established:

• the organization must be eligible (usually it will say so in the materials);
• you’ll need a receipt or some other documentation of the amount;
• and the gift must be made before the 1st of January to go on this year’s tax return.

There are other, more complicated, rules about larger gifts and in-kind donations. And if you don’t itemize deductions, you still get some credit in the standard deduction. These are calculated using the giving habits of all non-itemizing households. Check the IRS site if there’s anything unusual about what you’re planning to do.

Tip #2: Choose wisely.

Maybe you’re getting a lot of requests, more than you can afford to give. How do you get through the thicket of year-end appeals that tug at your generosity? If you don’t have a personal philanthropy plan, you can make a simple one:

• Decide on an amount you’re willing, and able, to give. The average household donates about 2 percent of disposable income each year.
• Consider the organizations you already know, and know you want to support, so you can decide how much to give to each of them.  Then you’ll know how much you might have left over to respond to new requests.
• If you’re thinking of giving to a new organization, ask yourself “What does this organization do?” and “Do I admire how they do it?” With nearly 2 million nonprofits at work in the U.S., there are lots to choose from.  Looking at websites, reading fundraising appeals, and searching online to see what others have said about the group are good ways to see how strongly the goals, and the methods, appeal to you.

Tip #3: Maximize.

Financial data—the sort of information many charity “watchdogs” focus in on—can only take you so far.  Some causes are hard to administer, others are hard to raise money for.  Spending less than counterpart organizations doesn’t necessarily mean greater efficiency, it may just mean a different approach to the problem.

There are some things donors can do to help put the maximum resources to work, though:

• Respond quickly to requests, especially to renewal notices.  It costs money to prepare mailings so a quick response, even if it’s a “not this year,” is doing the organization a favor.
• Consider making fewer, larger gifts. That will focus your support on program work, not processing costs.
• Positive you won’t ever support Organization X? Ask them to take you off the mailing list so they won’t waste their money on appeals addressed to you.

Finding the money to build stronger, healthier, more lively communities is hard work. With a little preparation and some thought, your year-end gifts can support that work and make an important difference for causes and organizations you care about.

Via flickr user fergie_lancealot (creative commons)

I recently read that this Sunday’s New York City marathon has the highest number of people running on behalf of charities in the event’s history, expecting to raise over $26.2 million dollars. That’s a million dollars for every mile. That’s a lot of money and a lot of people willing to run a long way to support a cause they believe in.

Walk/run events such as The Susan G. Komen For The Cure event, March for Equality, and the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer are popular with nonprofit organizations, maybe because they’re such visible fundraisers and awareness-raisers. (Who hasn’t heard of them)?

One of my friends recently participated in the AIDS/LifeCycle event in California, a 545 mile, 7 day bike trip. I would have loved to support the cause by riding with him, but let’s face it, I would have probably required medical attention after mile one. I donated on behalf of my friend’s race, but I was still left wanting to be in an event instead of just cheering on the sidelines.

So, I searched for events that were more up my ally and matched my physical stamina:

• Dance-a-thons: I can definitely boogie all night. Check out the 24 Hour Cancer Dance-a-thon.
• Movember: Teams of dudes raise money and grow mustaches in the month of November to raise awareness around men’s cancers.
• Donate your birthday: Hannah blogged about this phenomenon last year. I love my birthday more than the average Joe, so this is a big one for me. Ask your social networks to make a donation on your behalf to an organization that you support.

Boom: My excuse to not fundraise for a cause I believe in because I’m out of shape is out the window. Have any other non-athletic fundraising ideas?

We’re partnering with NextGen:Charity for this year’s leaders in nonprofits and philanthropy innovation conference, November 18-19 in the heart of Times Square. Our founder and executive director Ami Dar will speak at the conference, and our blog readers can register for a discounted rate.

The conference is oriented towards leaders of the world’s top nonprofits and “aimed to help you run your organization more effectively and efficiently, and connect with donors and your community more powerfully.” Other speakers will include our friend Nancy Lublin, founder of DoSomething.org and author of Zilch: The Power of Zero in Business; Randi Zuckerberg from Facebook; and Scott Harrison, founder and president of charity:water.

To learn more about speakers, workshops, and attendees, click here. And if you want to be there yourself, buy your ticket through this link for 20% off the standard entry rate.

[This blog entry appeared on an older version of Idealist; any broken links are a result of having re-launched our site in Fall 2010.]

The United Nation’s International Day for the Eradication of Poverty is this Sunday, October 17th, and this year’s theme is “From poverty to decent work: bridging the gap.” After an economic downturn that has skyrocketed the number of people living in poverty or with precarious labor situations, it’s no surprise that the U.N. has chosen to focus this year’s events on organizations and ideas that lead to sustainable models for economic stability through job creation.

The Test of Poverty from Trickleup.org

Microcredit, small loans to budding social entrepreneurs, has received a lot of attention recently, especially as it proves itself to be not only an effective tool in empowering people to lift themselves out of poverty, but also as it increasingly becomes a profitable means of investing. You can become a micro-lender yourself by making loans through Kiva.org, which has facilitated over $160,000,000 in loans to over 225,000 recipients since it’s founding.

Another organization working in the realm of microfinance is Trickle Up. Working in Asia, Central America and West Africa, Trickle Up approaches microfinance through a wider lens than solely the facilitating of financial resources. Reaching out to people living on less than $1.25 a day, the organization provides one time grants, training on how to operate and sustain a microenterprise as well as ongoing business development and community building. You can check out a short video of Trickle Up’s work here.

Programs like Kiva’s and Trickle Up’s enforce that the true power of microfinance is it’s ability to empower people to lift themselves out of poverty – but that money, without knowledge, is not always enough to create the safety nets and sustainable livelihoods that lead to lasting social change. Do you know of any other organizations or individuals that are supporting this year’s theme for World Poverty Day? Share them with us!

[This blog entry appeared on an older version of Idealist; any broken links are a result of having re-launched our site in Fall 2010.]

By Flickr user wlmp (Creative Commons).

We know as well as anyone that times have been tough for social entrepreneurs and nonprofits over the last few years. However, there are still funding and collaboration opportunities to be had, provided you have some big ideas about how to make the world a better place.

If you are a social entrepreneur between the ages of 18 and 35, and are enrolled in a college or university in the Greater Philadelphia, PA area, listen up: The Women for Social Innovation is giving out their Turning Point Prize, which boasts a hefty sum of $15,000. Eligible projects will offer a “creative and entrepreneurial solution to a difficult problem affecting women, girls, or families.” Hurry, Philly! The deadline to apply is on December 28, 2010, and applications are being accepted now.

If you don’t happen to be located in the Greater Philadelphia area, don’t despair! See if you can join the ranks of Ashoka Fellows doing good in our world. Successful Ashoka fellows are individuals who have ideas that  “change the field significantly and that will trigger nationwide impact or, for smaller countries, broader regional change.” Their selection criteria is here. While Ashoka is not a funding agency or foundation, they “are focused on catalyzing Fellows by introducing them to an entrepreneurial platform of the world’s leading social entrepreneurs who source opportunities for partnership and expansion from the community.” (Full disclosure: our founder, Ami Dar, was elected to the fellowship in 2004.)

The Skoll Foundation is another must-consult for world-changers with big ideas. Skoll is interested in investing in ”innovators who have developed, tested and proven their approach. [Skoll's] goal is to partner with them to replicate or scale their impact and to help engage those whose resources, connections, and capabilities are crucial to advancing their innovations.” While Skoll is updating their application process and is not currently accepting any applications, you can email grants@skollfoundation.org to be notified when their revision process is complete.

For a list of many, many more private foundations, community foundations, grant-making public charities, and corporate giving programs in the United States, take advantage of the Foundation Center’s Foundation Finder.

More resources on social entrepreneurship:

• Echoing Green’s Top Seven Social Entrepreneurship Blogs
• The Skoll-sponsored Social Edge blog
• The Ashoka United States blog
• …what are your favorites?

[This blog entry appeared on an older version of Idealist; any broken links are a result of having re-launched our site in Fall 2010.]

Almost everyone has felt the effects of the less than stellar economic performance in the first half of this year. This is no less true for the majority of nonprofit organizations as seen in GuideStar’s report on The Effect of The Economy on the Nonprofit Sector for the first half of 2010 released last week.

Nonprofit organizations have been particularly affected this year on two fronts. With unemployment rates barely moving and the number of people coming off of jobless benefits rising, folks have increasingly turned to local community organizations to help fill the gap in services that they can no longer afford. Sixty-three percent of surveyed organizations reported an increase in demand for their services between January 1, 2010 and May 31, 2010. At the same time, more than 40% of organizations reported a decrease in donations and other funding streams. The strain on nonprofits has been so high that 17% of organizations had to cut programs and services and 8% said they were in imminent danger of closing.

From flickr user jasoon (Creative Commons)

If you’ve been considering donating to an organization whose work you support, you might want to consider donating now. You can find financial information on the nonprofit of your choice at GuideStar.org.

If you’re worried about the nonprofits in your community but not currently in a position to donate, there are other ways to help. About a third of organizations reported that they have increased their reliance on volunteers as a way to support their programmatic work and not cut services. You can search for a local volunteer opportunity here — and remember, volunteering is a great asset in career development if you find yourself temporarily out of work.

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[This blog entry appeared on an older version of Idealist; any broken links are a result of having re-launched our site in Fall 2010.]