 May 09, 2014 - By Mark Brownlee
Ottawa festivals are getting creative in their bid to compete for the sponsorship dollars many of them need to survive. “You can’t just do logos anymore,” said Kelly Neall, the managing director of the Ottawa International Animation Festival. “You have to do something where the company is involved and where they can brand a component of the festival as their own.” Ms. Neall cited a partnership her festival created between two different companies as an example of how sponsorship is changing. She provided an animation company with a sponsorship for the festival in exchange for producing a 30-second animated film for another Ottawa company. The company that received the film then agreed to sponsor the festival as well. Ms. Neall said she isn’t concerned that these sorts of activities take the festival away from its core function. Almost all of her time is consumed with getting sponsorship dollars, she said, which account for about half of the organization’s revenues. “Sometimes you have to get a bit creative with things like that,” she said. READ MORE
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The Able Altruist, February 10, 2014 by Janna Finch Nonprofit fundraising is hard. And getting donors to donate more than once isn’t easy, either. The Urban Institute found that overall donor retention rates fell to 41.5 percent in 2010-11, down from 49.6 percent in 2004-05. Asking for donations from people who have already contributed to your cause costs less than soliciting new donors—so it’s important to implement strategies that facilitate repeat donations. Software Advice conducted a survey study which found that proving your mission’s success through impact stories and a little old-fashioned direct mail can go a long way towards encouraging donors to give again. The report surveyed 2,833 people who donate to nonprofits to find out what motivates them to give more than once. Here, we explain the most effective ways to persuade people to donate again. Key Findings
Donors Want Impact Stories We asked donors what types of updates they want to receive from the nonprofits they contribute to. The results underscore what we expected: a nonprofit’s level of success is a major factor in a donor’s decision to give again. Impact stories are a great way to show the good your organization is doing and proves to donors their gifts are being put to good use. READ MORE Software Advice Website Calgary Herald, March 26, 2014
Home to the first city in Canada to launch and operate a community sourced funding platform, InvestYYC (www.investyyc.com) is ensuring that a sustainable culture of citizen engagement and participation is hardwired into its a vibrant, dynamic and growing arts cultural scene. Launched in November 2012, InvestYYC has already raised more than $600,000 through donations for approximately 50 projects ranging from dance productions, to video and new media installations. According to Emiko Muraki, Director, Impact & Engagement of Calgary Arts Development, the not-for-profit organization responsible for administering the platform, projects on the platform have achieved a 97% funding rate. While InvestYYC’s ability to leverage the community has been the key to its funding success, it’s also rooted in the platforms origins. In 2012, the city was designated Cultural Capital of Canada title along with the Niagara region in southern Ontario. In a pivotal development, Calgary 2012 launched a website to crowd source bid ideas and of the 5,000 voices assembled, one of the ideas that quickly emerged was to leverage the one-time infusion of capital by building a sustainable fundraising tool for artists and arts organizations to broaden audiences and donor communities. “There’s long term resonance. Champions of culture are bonded with the arts environment,” says Karen Ball, former Chair of Calgary 2012. READ MORE  Spring has Sprung & the 2nd Annual PHTheatre Auction has begun!We invite you to visit our Online Auction home page to browse and bid.
There is something for everyone with house concerts, jewelry or even a Date with Jay Brazeau! Browse & Bid here: www.pht.charity-auctions.ca Auction closes on March 30 and please note closing times on the items. BUSINESS IN VANCOUVER
By Nelson Bennett Fri Jan 17, 2014 James Pollard, who has terminal prostate cancer, hopes to see a software program he developed to help directors manage live productions commercialized before he dies. Pollard, a former general manager for Theatre Under the Stars, has launched a KickStarter campaign in the hope of raising $59,000. He needs the money to help secure financing from the Canadian Media Fund, which would be used to fine-tune and commercialize PreShow, a software program for live theatrical productions. “I have a strong passion for the cultural community and I wanted to offer affordable, meaningful ways to better deliver live presentations through PreShow,” said Pollard. “Unfortunately, my time is literally running out. So, it’s my hope that I can raise $59,000 in 30 days with KickStarter, which will enable us to launch PreShow in 2014.” READ MORE KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN CAPITAL CAMPAIGN MAGIC - REVEALING THE SECRETS OF SUCCESS
4 Things You Need to Know to Create Your Capital Campaign Budget 1. Create Your Capital Campaign Budget Early We all know the phrase, “It takes money to raise money,” yet too often I see nonprofit organizations go into a capital campaign without first creating a budget for the campaign itself. Don’t make this mistake – it’ll end up costing you more money down the road and it’ll make your campaign much less effective! Instead, create a preliminary campaign budget early in your campaign process – and include the campaign costs in your ultimate campaign goal. For example, let’s say you want to raise $5,000,000 and you estimate the cost of the campaign at $500,000. In that case, your working campaign goal will actually be $5,500,000. (You’ll have to front-end some money to pay for early campaign expenses, but you can include these expenses in your campaign goal as well.) What will you be spending the money on? I’ll cover the details in another post, and a sample campaign budget is included below. For more detailed information, including several sample capital campaign budgets, consider buying my book. (Gail and I will be going over capital campaign finances in our Capital Campaign Magic coaching program! Submit an application to be considered for the April sessions.) 2. Calculate Your Initial Campaign Budget as a Percent of Your Campaign Goal The budget for launching a successful capital campaign is calculated as a percentage of your fundraising goal – the larger the goal, the smaller the percentage. Why? Because some campaign costs will be the same, no matter how big or small your goal. These same costs, though, will be come to a larger percentage of your goal if your goal is a smaller one. Let’s take a look at the ballpark: If your campaign is small — $2,000,000 or less, you can expect to spend 15% of the goal. If you’re raising between $3,000,000 and $5,000,000, though, expect to spend around 10% of that amount on your campaign. And if your goal is closer to $10,000,000, you can expect to spend around 4% or 5% to raise those funds. Once you’ve come up with a basic estimate based on percentages, run the numbers the other way and build budget from the ground up with a list of everything you think you’ll need to make your capital campaign a success. READ MORE  How Chimp Works
Chimp is built on a simple idea — to empower people’s personal giving choices and to simplify the process. We believe giving should feel good. There are many different ways you can use Chimp. Curious about the entire Chimp ecosystem? Here’s an overview. Chimp Accounts - At the core of Chimp is the Chimp Account: an online charitable account for individuals. When you deposit money into your account, you receive a tax receipt immediately. The funds can then be given away or simply saved to give another day. If you’re familiar with charitable lingo, your Chimp Account is like your own private foundation. Or you can think of it as a savings account for charity. Read more about Chimp Accounts. Giving Groups - Giving Groups simplify fundraising for your favourite cause, and make giving social. Anyone can start a Giving Group to support any Canadian charity. Giving Groups can also give to other Giving Groups, or to a personal Chimp Account. Learn more about Giving Groups. Ways to Give TO A CHARITY - You can give to any registered charity in Canada with Chimp, and you can choose whether you wish to remain anonymous. TO A GIVING GROUP - Support a group that’s raising funds for a good cause by contributing to their Giving Group. You can always choose to keep your gift amount anonymous. TO A FRIEND’S CHIMP ACCOUNT - Give the gift of giving. Send a friend a gift of charitable dollars through Chimp, and let them decide the recipient. Your friend does not need to have a pre-existing Chimp Account; they’ll receive a personalized invitation to claim your gift, and can give it through Chimp to whatever cause they care most about. FEES - Chimp charges the lowest transaction fee in the country — 1%. And signing up for a Chimp Account is free. Learn more about fees. TRUST - Chimp is built on trust, and we take your confidence seriously. We practice accountability and build expert legal and sectoral guidance into everything we do.Learn more about why you can trust Chimp. THE FOUNDATION - When you deposit money to your Chimp Account (or give to a Giving Group or charity directly through Chimp), you’ll immediately receive a tax receipt from the Chimp Foundation. The Foundation exists only to give money away, and is responsible for ensuring your dollars reach the recipient you choose. Learn more about Chimp Foundation, our board members and advisors. Chimp for Charities CHIMP CHARITY PAGES - Chimp lists every registered charity in the country. We display public data (from the Canada Revenue Agency) for each organization on our Charity Pages. This helps users research their giving options, and learn more about organizations working in their area of interest. CHIMP CHARITY ACCOUNT - Charities will receive any gift a Chimp user makes to them through Chimp. They don’t have to sign up to receive this money. Charities can sign up for a free Chimp Charity Account to access extra benefits — such as the ability to customize the welcome information on their page, send thank you’s to donors, and view data from supporters who chose not to be anonymous. Learn more about Chimp for Charities. Chimp for Companies - Chimp’s customizable and automated matching technology makes it simple for companies to empower employees, customers, and community members to give to what they care about. Companies can match contributions to personal Chimp Accounts, or they can match any gift to a charity or Giving Group they want to support. Learn more about Chimp for Companies. Here is an interesting discussion…
By Nell Edgington - Social Velocity Yep, it’s true, the nonprofit sector doesn’t have enough money. There are lots of reasons for that, but part of it stems from the taboos the nonprofit sector (and the staffs, boards and donors within it) perpetuates. But perhaps if we lay them bare, we can start to break free from them, which is the topic of today’s installment of the ongoing Financing Not Fundraising blog series. If you are new to this series, the idea is that nonprofit fundraising is broken. Instead of continuing to hit their heads against the fundraising brick wall, nonprofit leaders must take a strategic approach to financing their work. You can read the entire Financing Not Fundraising blog series here. Nonprofit taboos are so insidious because they are unwritten and unquestioned. But that has to stop. If we want to move the nonprofit sector forward, we must uncover certain taboos and determine whether they are really unacceptable anymore. Here are the five most egregious taboos in the nonprofit sector:
Photo Credit: wheat_in_your_hair - See more at: http://www.socialvelocity.net/2013/10/financing-not-fundraising-5-taboos-nonprofits-must-get-over/#sthash.sHLmOnop.dpuf GuideStar
Thomas Wolf, author of How to Connect with Donors and Double the Money You Raise, recently spoke with his publisher about donor relations. GuideStar has published two excerpts from the book […] and we're pleased to be able to share Dr. Wolf's additional thoughts with you. Your book is about relating to donors, at times befriending them. A cynical person might say that's a manipulative ploy to snare money. That's an attitude I've never understood. I like people. I like getting to know them whether they have money or turn out to be donors. Invariably, our relating makes them feel good and makes me feel good—especially when we strike a bond or find common interests. Why should there be an invisible barrier just because someone is a potential supporter? You have a would-be donor on your radar: he has money and community influence. Problem is you detest the fellow. What's your strategy? This is a great challenge. I find it difficult to build a relationship with someone I don't respect. And I'm loath to fake it. On the other hand, I've been wrong about people who I didn't think I'd like and who turned out to be genuinely interesting and kind. So everyone gets a chance in my book. But if it's not a good match, I'll look for another fundraising volunteer. Interestingly, there's almost always someone who will take up the challenge. You say that if you were to choose one potential donor you'd like to make friends with, it would be the wealthy individual who says (or implies) that he or she doesn't want to talk about money and doesn't want to be solicited. That sounds counter-intuitive. There are many wealthy people who don't want to talk about money and others who tell you they don't want to be solicited. It's a challenge, certainly, but it can be overcome. One of my mentors was just such a person. He didn't like talking about his personal giving but he did love to talk about what was going on with the organization. And more than anything, he liked to give advice. I asked for it frequently. Sometimes he would become especially interested in an idea and would ask, "How much would it take to do that?" And that would usually lead to a nice check. Can you be too close to someone to ask them for money? And, if so, what's Plan B? Absolutely. There are people I won't solicit because the relationship is too close. But I will help others develop a plan of action and I don't mind opening the door for other fundraisers, making the introduction. One of my boyhood friends—a man with quite a lot of money—is someone I finally decided I could solicit. But I asked him first if he'd mind or would he rather be solicited by someone else. We had a good laugh, went off for a beer, and I came away with a contribution. Your book makes it clear that connecting with donors can take a while. When all the good work and time invested fails, it must be awfully frustrating, is it not? Ted Williams was one of my heroes—he was a great hitter for the Boston Red Sox and practiced hard to get better and better. But when he stood at the plate, even with his remarkable hand-eye coordination, he realized he'd fail more often than not. One season he batted .406—an amazing average. That means, the greatest hitter perhaps of all time struck out, grounded out, and popped up more often than he got a hit. Fundraising is like that. You work hard but you don't expect 100 percent success. You just try to improve your average and hit for extra bases when you can.You're a huge proponent of thank you letters, aren't you? I write "thank you" letters obsessively—they're one of the secrets of truly effective fundraising. Sometimes people ask me: "What should I say in my letters?" That's a completely wrong-headed question. The whole point is that there is no formula. The letters must be personal, often citing some wonderful thing a donor or a member of the organizational family has done recently. Sometimes I send an article that I know will be of interest or share something humorous. And often the best letters are those I send for no reason at all—a note or a card that says I'm thinking of them. You claim in your book that you can predict "with a fair degree of accuracy who's going to be an effective fundraiser and who isn't." Tell me the clues you pick up. Self-confidence combined with interest in other people. These are individuals willing to look me in the eye, offer a firm handshake, and show curiosity. They're willing to engage, and, most important, they show a talent for listening. On the other side, I've rarely met a good fundraiser who scowls a lot or looks depressed. The first three letters of fundraising are "f-u-n," after all. Many have the impression that fundraisers have to be gregarious. Need introverts apply? It's funny—some gregarious people are terrible fundraisers. Everything's about them. On the other hand, skillful fundraisers can be modest and quiet—and great at listening. They draw out the donor and find topics he or she wants to talk about. But it is true, if you lack self-confidence, you probably won't be good at raising money. You have to be able to make others feel comfortable. What's the worst mistake a fundraiser can make? If there's one mistake I've made all too often, it's not paying attention to donors' children. They're the ones, after all, who will someday come into the family wealth. And once they do, it's too late to cultivate a relationship. Because kids like to strike out on their own and usually don't want to mimic their parents' philanthropy, I try to find activities and programs for them that are completely different from the ones their mothers and fathers are supporting. Visit Website  Crowdfunding has grown increasingly popular in the nonprofit sector over the past few years, thanks to the Internet and crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter and Indiegogo. The question on every non-profit, charity and fundraiser’s mind is “can crowdfunding really raise a lot of money for my cause?” The answer is yes - if you do it properly.
Christopher Charlesworth, co-creator of the CSI Catalyst crowdfunding platform for social good, and Whelena Sainsbury, volunteer and creator of Not Far From the Tree’s crowdfunding campaign, lead a workshop on crowdfunding at Toronto Net Tuesday on October 8th, 2013. They shared tips and strategies on how your nonprofit can be successful in your crowdfunding campaign. Read More |
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