fund raising

Five Ways to Ensure You Won’t Have Enough Money

why-dont-we-have-enough-moneyMuseums and nonprofit places of learning have many constituencies. Often one particular target market becomes a priority because a sponsor steps forward not only with money but also with a desire to accomplish a specific project, with their name on it. Organizations often respond as they chase the money that is in front of them instead of assessing, long term, if the sponsor’s direction assists them in walking down the road of their strategic plan.

Does this mean that museums should not respond to donor suggestions or desires? Not at all. The donors’ interests and how they connect with your institution need to sincerely be considered and even embraced. But this should be done by taking a view of the whole and without putting all your eggs in one basket. As tempting as it is to let immediate (and often big) money set your course, take time to review how this money, a piece of the entire development pie, will affect your other development efforts and how it affects other museum priorities.

Here are five reasons why museums and similar institutions fail to meet their development goals.

1.  They expect development efforts to flourish without devoting enough time and providing the right mix of human resources. If you want success, staff the positions and do the work – a lot of concentrated work.

2.  They fail to realize that philanthropists want to see success and are interested in funding for that reason. Make them a partner. Communicate. Even share challenges.

3.  They forget that the organization’s leadership is in a relationship with the donor, and relationships need time to grow and dedication to keeping them healthy and alive. Learn about your donors and why they are interested in your organization. Listen More. It’s not a process of merely meeting with them when you want money.

4.  They use one or two of the development tools and forget the others. This relates back to number 1. A comprehensive development plan has many components – from sponsorships to major giving individuals to grants to planned giving and more. If you put a Development Director in place and give her/him no other assistance, how do you expect your plan to be comprehensive? Step back and conduct a development audit.

5.  They play the “if only” game. There is no silver bullet in fund development, so don’t waste time in trying to find the donor Knight in Shining Armor who will take care of all of your needs. For most museums, a mix of funding income is the healthiest, but it takes strategy and work – as much work or more than you put into planning exhibits, programs and events. As much or more than reviewing financial reports. What percentage of time do you devote to development efforts? (See number 1).

Saturday, July 19th, 2014 donors, fund raising, museums, public relations Comments Off on Five Ways to Ensure You Won’t Have Enough Money

Fund Raising is Hard!

main2Many of us serve on boards, manage boards, interact with board members, lead development programs, train volunteers on how to fund raise, and create a culture of giving and awareness with constituencies and staff members.

Board members often lament (sometimes in private or sometimes in public): “Fund Raising is Hard!”

That can indeed be the truth depending upon a wide variety of factors. I have heard board members of smaller museums say “If we could just find a big donor…” Our question back is: “What will you do with that person once she/he is located?”

The truth is that donors don’t write checks just because they turned up on your radar screen. Ideally they should have an interest in your museum or the content, engagement with your collections/programs/activities, a relationship with the museum and the people who care about it, and more. You need to build that relationship — care about who they are as people, family members, community members, and philanthropists – and sincerely assess whether giving to your museum can be a mutually beneficial activity.

This takes time and effort, and thus, “fund raising is hard.” But the rewards are many.

If you have a long list of prospects, it can be beneficial to grade each person on a variety of factors that include (not a complete list) engagement level with your institution, his/her history of giving to you or in the community; and capacity to give. We have a way to do this that will assist you and your board.

Here is a statistic to remember: 72% of giving in America is done by individuals.*

It is worth taking the time to build relationships.

– Jan

p.s. Here are the rest of the statistics: 15% of giving is done by Foundations; 7% by bequests; 6% by corporations

* Giving USA Foundation

Friday, April 18th, 2014 donors, fund raising, marketing, public relations Comments Off on Fund Raising is Hard!

Blame the Fund Raising Department?

Recently I read that half of fundraising professionals in the top jobs would like to quit! In fact, half of them plan to leave their jobs within two years or less and forty percent are thinking about leaving fundraising entirely!

The feeling is mutual. One in four nonprofit leaders is so disappointed in fund raising at his or her organization that the last person who had the job was fired.

This study was across 2,700 organizations at many types of organizations of various sizes. How did it get this way?

Is your museum or nonprofit destination in the same boat? Is your organization so tired of the recession and its challenges that it is in the denial stage or in a situation of plugging development income holes in any way it can? Are Board members holding parking lot meetings about the Executive Director and Development Director’s success? Are you all feeling the pressure? Is the Blame-Game a comfortable way of coping?

Many museums, gardens, historic homes and nonprofit destinations excel at programming and curatorial matters. It is often the fund development, marketing and relationship building efforts that are seen as necessary evils. This often happens when an organization’s leadership is born of hobbyists or those who love the content of the mission and prefer to focus energies where it is the most fun or satisfying.

There is no substitute for a comprehensive fund development plan that includes a variety of tools and strategies. If your organization has one development tynian.net staff member and one major event a year and it’s sink or swim, there is no wonder that fund raising professional has one foot out of the door. If your organization expects its fund raising professional to “do it all” and then fails to create a culture of philanthropy and embrace a comprehensive plan, then you can be assured of a revolving door in the fund development department. Many organizations have impediments to fund development that go to the heart of the organization.

What are you doing right? What are you not doing well? What is missing from your fund development plan? What is holding you back?

A Development Audit can help sort out the issues that create the above destructive scenarios. It can also highlight the potential methods for greater success. The audit will lead an organization to a comprehensive development strategy and plan including who, how, when and why.

Thursday, May 9th, 2013 fund raising Comments Off on Blame the Fund Raising Department?

Curators and Your Keys to the Collections Can Pay Dividends

Nothing makes a donor or media person feel more important than letting them have a special experience. I learned this at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History when I served as Director of Marketing and Communications. One day (early on in my career, thankfully) I realized that the keys in my hand actually created a sense of excitement and adventure for reporters. When I used one of these keys to open a locked door into a curatorial area, reporters and media folks knew they were in for a special behind-the-scenes look, even if we were just breezing through collections areas on our way to find a specific curator.

When I had VIPs with me, I always took time to drop in to say hello to a curator who may have been examining artifacts, taking an inventory, or engaging in some conservation effort. Even in this day of Citizen Curator, we often underestimate the power museum curators have in the development process. (The knowledge and credentials they possess still make them superstars of the museum.) During my quick behind-the-scenes visits, our curators knew that if I walked in with a VIP, it was important so they took the time for a welcome and a quick show and tell. (One paleontologist friend kept an impressive fossil shark on blackjack, baccarat, craps-noppapeli, ruletti ja tietenkin myos viimeisimmat toiminnantayteiset hedelmapelit, videopokerit ja arcade-pelit. hand for the “50 cent tour” as he called it – with good humor, I might add.) At this museum, there was a culture of sharing with everyone and a piece of the donor development and communications process was embraced by all staff. It was expected.

During these brief visits, I could sense the thrill of my guests as they viewed rows of pots, gems in cardboard boxes, fossils galore or taxidermy in action… things we as staff took for granted.

While donor development is a process, so is media relations. These visits created a way to let stakeholders share in the excitement of the museum”s work. Often these visits cemented my relationship with VIPs and reporters. Plus, I learned more about their interests and their levels of understanding, which helped me to create the next great experience for them or create an effective story pitch for an exhibition or brand piece. These behind-the-scenes/VIP visits often landed a much larger story or even a new story on a completely different area of the museum. Sometimes a visit to a curatorial area moved a donor to sponsor another project or exhibit.

Does it take time to tour special donors or prospects through the collections? You bet, but it”s worth it. Whether a small museum or historic home, or a large one, most curators today understand that their jobs include fund development and media relations, so show off what you do best and show off your best staff members – the curators. Make them a part of the process and ensure that they are included in planning ways to “wow” your stakeholders and prospects. So, hold those keys, jingle them and use them. They give you power for donor and media development.

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Friday, February 15th, 2013 donors, fund raising, marketing, public relations Comments Off on Curators and Your Keys to the Collections Can Pay Dividends

GIVING USA 2011 STUDY

Total Donated in 2011 was $298.4 billion. Charitable giving barely grew rising just 0.9% after inflation in 2011. Giving last year was 11 percent below what it was in 2007, before the effects of the recession were felt. Donations dropped by a total of 13.4 % in 2008 and 2009.

Giving by individuals, bequest, and family foundations amounted to 88% of total giving in 2011. This figure is one percentage point higher than in 2010.

Individuals represent 9 out of 10 dollars donated. Specifically, individuals gave $217.79 billion (73%) representing a 3.9% increase over 2010.

Donations were up to health charities (2.7%), to public benefit charities (4%), to arts, culture, humanities charities (4.1%), to International charities (7.6%), to human services charities (2.5%), to environmental and animal charities (4.6%).

Fundraising growth in the arts sub sector was helped by an $800 million cash gift to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Arkansas from the Walton Family Foundation. This was the largest cash donation ever recorded to an art museum in the United States.

Since 1971, the average inflation-adjusted rate of change in total giving in the two years following each recession was 2.4%. For the years 2010 and 2011, the average inflation-adjusted rate of change in total giving was 1.1%, which is on the lower end of the rates of change for these years.

Donations by corporations fell by more than 3 percent, to $14.6-billion, while foundations gave 1.3-percent less, at $41.7-billion.

Giving to international organizations grew 240.0% in current dollars or 167.1% in inflation adjusted dollars between 2001 and 2011.

Charities that conduct development and relief work oversees were the only type of nonprofit to outpace inflation by a significant percentage point, at 4.4%, while donations to environmental causes increased 1.4% after inflation. Giving to every other type of organization was either flat or declined.

Bequests were the only source of growth in donations last year, rising nearly 9 percent, to $24.4-billion.

Giving USA 2011 summary from Chronicle of Philanthropy and Charity Navigator report

Thursday, September 20th, 2012 fund raising Comments Off on GIVING USA 2011 STUDY

Your Year-End Fund Raising Letter Could Net Significant Returns

Now that the elections are finished and some of the “noise” is dying down, most of us are realizing a short lull before the onslaught of holiday messages, online, through the post office, television, radio and print. Take advantage of this lull to put the finishing touches on your year end fund raising letter. It could do more for you this year than you thought possible.

A recent national survey conducted by The Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund found that 55% of American donors plan to maintain their level of giving in the fourth quarter and 8% said they would give more than in past years because the need for help is “more acute.”  The study reports than while a third indicated they would give less than in past year, half of those donors said they will prioritize their gifts and reduce their giving by reducing or eliminating some causes. This means your case statement needs to be stronger than ever and your letter/mailing needs to contain the elements that will help you to succeed. Here’s a refresher on how to write to your donors and friends:

  • Explain how a gift will have impact and help your organization to succeed. Be specific. Give examples.  It is not enough to say you need money for the annual fund.
  • Appeal to your donor’s feelings and care for your organization. Logical explanations should not be the driving force in your letter.
  • Explain how their donation will make a difference and give examples.
  • Tell stories, make it interesting. No long paragraphs.
  • It’s OK to repeat main concepts in different parts of the letter.
  • Make sure the letter is addressed a person. No “Dear Friend” letters!
  • Be conversational. Shorter paragraphs.
  • Make sure your readers understand that there is an immediate need, not something to be done in the far future.
  • Make sure they can trust you. Reassure them.
  • Illustrate how you are good stewards of their dollars and how you make the dollars stretch and matter.
  • Give them some online casino heroes to look up to – other donors who have stepped forward. Include a testimonial or two.
  • Write a first line/paragraph that will hook them.  Write a few and then “test” them on friends. Ask them which ones would keep them reading. If possible, “test” them on close-in donors that resemble the profiles of who will receive the letter.
  • Restate your main points a number of times. People rarely read from start to finish – they jump around so it is OK to make the letter longer than you think. (See, I repeated this twice.)
  • Give them a reason to, first, open the envelope!  Be creative. Remember, they care about your organization but they still need to be convinced that opening YOUR envelope is a priority in their stack of mail.
  • Today, we speak with icons and pictures as well as words.  Make sure you include graphics and pictures, but only if they help reinforce what you are saying.
  • Reinforce the messaging online and in your other communications methods.

Go for it.  There are plenty of ways to learn even more about fund raising letters. Take the time to plan, write and rewrite, but do it from your heart. This will make more compelling copy that will, hopefully, translate to additional fund

Sunday, October 10th, 2010 fund raising Comments Off on Your Year-End Fund Raising Letter Could Net Significant Returns

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