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October 13, 2008
Economy Spurs Increased Need for Direct-Mail Appeals
Arlene Spencer, a grant-proposal writer, doesn’t believe charities should be scaling back their direct-mail efforts in light of the poor economy.
In fact, Ms. Spencer says charities that have eschewed direct-mail appeals in the past should consider incorporating them into their year-end fund-raising efforts.
“Whether your organization has sent an annual appeal letter before or not, it is something that you can do to raise money in these tough times, and again, year to year, when our economy rebounds,” Ms. Spencer writes on Seeking Grant Money Today. “It is one of many ways that any nonprofit can raise money.”
The advice comes as charities nationwide are reevaluating their fund-raising plans to deal with the changing economy — especially with the crucial year-end giving season approaching.
To help charities prepare for the year-end giving season, the Chronicle is playing host to a one-hour online discussion with fund-raising experts on Tuesday at noon Eastern time.
October 12, 2008
Gift Cards: "New Currency" for Charities
This holiday season, millions of Americans will contemplate what present to purchase for a relative or friend and then, out of ideas, they will buy a gift card. And each year, millions of people will forget to redeem them or spend only a fraction of their gift card’s value.
The amount of money that goes unspent each year from unused gift cards is staggering: $10-billion of the $100-billion spent on cards annually, according to some estimates. Now Plastic Jungle, a Web site that helps people sell or trade in gift cards, is hoping to channel some of that money to charities.
The company has started a fund-raising program that allows nonprofit groups to collect unused gift cards from any company, as long as each card is worth $10 or more, and convert them into cash.
The charities turn the cards over to Plastic Jungle, which gives the charities 70 percent of the total gift-card value.
—Caroline Preston
October 09, 2008
Election Giving Won't Take Big Toll on Charities
While the economy is the biggest concern for most fund raisers, others are worried that election-relation giving could be diverting donations to charity.
A new survey of 1,000 adults conducted at the end of last month suggests fund raisers can stop worrying about political giving.
Nearly eight in 10 Americans, 78 percent, said that they will not be contributing to either the McCain or Obama campaign in coming weeks. That figure grew to 85 percent among a key group of potential donors, those aged 55 to 64.
Among those who do plan to contribute to the campaigns, 63 percent said that doing so would not limit their charitable donations, according to the survey released this week by Dunham + Company, a Dallas marketing and fund-raising consulting firm.
However, the effects of the election appear to be more pronounced among Democrats than Republicans: Thirteen percent of Democrats said that they would contribute to the Obama campaign and, as a result, reduce their charitable gifts. Only 7 percent of Republican respondents said the same about their gifts to the McCain campaign.
Meanwhile, more of the survey respondents, 46 percent, reported that the economy had already cut into their charitable giving. Looking ahead to coming weeks, 26 percent said that they would be giving less than usual to charities.
October 08, 2008
Charitable Giving Might Not Melt Down, Philanthropy Scholar Predicts
Even with the steep stock-market drops of the past week, a prominent wealth researcher at Boston College says philanthropy may not suffer a financial meltdown as dire as some fund raisers fear.
Extrapolating from data on charitable giving in the last recession, John J. Havens, a researcher at Boston College’s Center on Wealth and Philanthropy, told a conference of fund raisers that it may be a year before the troubled economy begins to take a toll on the sums charities collect.
More important, he said, unless national incomes drop sharply, the decline in giving may not last long or be significant.
The current crisis is similar to the conditions nearly a decade ago, said Mr. Havens, at a conference on “The Supply and Demand of Philanthropy in the 21st Century,” sponsored Boston College’s Center on Wealth and Philanthropy, the Association of Fundraising Professionals, and the Eaton Vance Investment Council.
In the last recession, said Mr. Havens, the United States began to see a decline in net wealth in 1999, even before the burst of the dot-com bubble precipitated the 2000 stock-market crash. The downward growth in wealth continued for three years, with aggregate household wealth declining by 15 to 20 percent from 1999 to 2002 — the largest and deepest downturn in wealth since the 1930s.
Those variations in net worth, however, did not directly correlate with changes in philanthropic giving, Mr. Havens said.
Average household contributions did not begin to fall until 2000, and they did not drop as much as households’ net worth did. From 1999 to 2002, household donations decreased by 10 percent, while their net worths dropped by as much as 20 percent. Moreover, said Mr. Havens, once net wealth began to grow again in 2002, donations also rebounded.
The net wealth of households began to decline in the fourth quarter of 2007, said Mr. Havens. Based on the previous recession, Mr. Havens predicted a lag of up to a year before donations decline – -in part because most high-net worth donors plan their charitable contributions a year in advance — and the decline in aggregate donations may not be significant.
But Mr. Havens’ prediction, he warned, assumed there would be no big drops in income. If household incomes decline sharply, the impact on giving would probably be more severe and prolonged, said Mr. Havens. However, he added, household income levels have historically tended to remain more stable than net wealth.
October 07, 2008
Consumers Expect Companies to Keep Giving in Hard Times
As the economic crisis worsens, some charities are reporting that companies are curtailing their giving. But that could also make their products less appealing to customers, new research suggests.
A survey of more than 1,000 adults conducted by Cone, a Boston communications consulting company, found that even in a poor economy, consumers expect companies to support philanthropy. More than half said companies should maintain their levels of financial support for charitable causes, and 26 percent thought the companies should give even more.
Another preliminary study by Cone and Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business found that advertising promoting a product’s link to charity boost sales. More than 180 participants evaluated a magazine containing advertisements for four products—shampoo, toothpaste, potato chips, and light bulbs—and were then given money to purchase one product in each category at a convenience store containing 150 brand-name items. Each person saw ads that were traditional as well as those that advertised the manufacturer’s support for a particular charity.
Forty-seven percent of those who reviewed the advertisement linking the shampoo with a women’s health organization purchased that brand of shampoo, while only 27 percent of those who saw the traditional did. A similar effect was found for toothpaste.
However, the study showed only modest increases in sales for potato chips and light bulbs that promoted their association with a charity. Alison DaSilva, a Cone executive vice president, said the difference in sales may stem from a poor alignment between the cause and the product. For example, many participants, she said, were skeptical of the snack food’s affiliation with a children’s health organization.
“It’s not just about picking a cause off the shelf and saying this is what we stand for,” said Ms. DaSilva. Marketers need to show a clear connection between an issue and a product. Companies, she said, should ask themselves, “What are we doing that is authentic, real, and relevant to connect with consumers on an emotional and practical level?”
Has your charity seen a drop in interest among corporate marketing departments as a result of the downturn? Share your experiences and tips for attracting corporate support.
Learn How to Get Attention for Your Cause
As competition for attention grows, charities need to do more than have a great mission to win attention from donors and other supporters. Experts say they also need to put more effort into marketing their ideas and causes.
As a start, Nancy E. Schwartz, a marketing consultant in New York, suggests that charities develop a catchy slogan to capture their work – and cement an image in the public’s mind. For instance, the American Lung Association uses the tag line “Improving Life, One Breath at a Time.”
Ms. Schwartz recently studied the tag lines of more than 1,900 organizations to identify some of the nonprofit world’s most effective messages. As part of her research, Ms. Schwartz found that seven in 10 nonprofit groups rate their tag lines as poor — or do not have tag lines at all.
So what makes a winning tag line? Why are they important? And how do you create a tag line that makes others remember what you stand for?
Ms. Schwartz will answer these questions — and many more — during a live discussion at noon Eastern time today.
As part of the free discussion, participants are invited to share their tag lines with Ms. Schwartz and receive feedback on the effectiveness of those tag lines.
October 06, 2008
Raising Money With E-Mail: Do's and Don'ts
When using e-mail to reach out to supporters, don’t just be yourself, “be different,” advises the marketing consultant and blogger Katya Andreasen in her post, 9 Ways to Fix Bad E-Mail.
“People are drowning in e-mail.” she writes. “Whether it’s the tone of your message or the startling honesty of your subject line, a standout element is required.”
Ms. Andreasen cautions her readers against purchasing commercial lists of prospective online donors. She also urges them to make any action they want e-mail recipients to take “incredibly easy to do.” She adds: “Strive for a one-click or one-second level of ease.”
Ms. Andreasen is a fan of including useful information, such as tips, in e-mail messages.
But she’s not much of an admirer of Microsoft Outlook when it comes to sending e-mail to large numbers of donors.
“Don’t e-mail donors, subscribers, etc., via Outlook. Ever,” she writes. “It will get you into trouble. You need a professional e-mail outreach tool.”
What tips would you add to Ms. Andreasen’s list?
Fund-Raising Galas: Location, Location, Location
When the Chicago charity After School Matters planned its annual fund-raising gala, it expected that about 2,000 people would attend. But, in the week before the event, that number shot up to 2,600.
The reason? Sean Cannon, a director with Event Creative, a company that planned the gala, says people were drawn to the gala’s unusual location: O’Hare Airport’s new runway.
“It attracted a lot of people it wouldn’t have otherwise,” he says. “To be on the runway, that’s not something you’re going to get to experience again.”
The event also showcased young people enrolled in the charity’s after-school programs. Teenagers who participate in the group’s arts programs performed music, dance, and theater. Others who take the charity’s culinary classes helped prepare the dinner and made all the desserts. Teenagers’ artwork was also on display — and for sale — in the runway’s tents.
Each element of the event — the three tents, the trolleys that shepherded guests around, and the departure area, among others — was sponsored by a different donor.
The event raised more than $3-million for the charity.
What do you think of these ideas? What other advice do you have for people planning a fund-raising gala?
October 02, 2008
Raising Money From Former Patients
For most hospitals and medical centers, grateful patients are an untapped resource for fund raising, according to John H. Glick, an oncologist who serves as vice president of the University of Pennsylvania health system.
“Every time I read in an obituary of someone who received care at Penn that they left money to the American Cancer Society I see a lost opportunity, said Dr. Glick who spoke here at the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy’s annual meeting.
As the system’s senior physician leader, Dr. Glick asks doctors to devote 10-15 hours a year to fund raising and to attend training on how to identify potential donors among their patients.
Penn Medicine also created a “medical concierge program” that expedites appointments with physicians and provides other administrative services for generous donors. For the fiscal year 2006, said Dr. Glick, the 330 patients in the medical concierge program donated a total of $39.7-million. The hospital also created a 10-room hotel-like medical pavilion for in-patient care available to patients for a $350-$450 nightly fee.
The health system increased its development staff to 88, including 39 fund raisers who work one-on-one with donors and focus on establishing relationships with 150 patients a year within three months of their receiving treatment at a University of Pennsylvania hospital or clinic.
Because of those measures, said Dr. Glick, Penn Medicine now brings in $171.9-million annually, including $85-million from patients and their families.
September 30, 2008
Presidential Race Nets New Donors For Planned Parenthood
A political observer who dislikes John McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate has created an e-mail campaign that is spurring thousands of donors to give to Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the charity that supports women’s right to legal abortion.
The e-mail solicitation, now making its rounds on the Internet, urges people to make a gift to Planned Parenthood in Ms. Palin’s “honor”—as a way to register their objection to her political views, including her opposition to legalized abortion.
The e-mail includes a link to the charity’s Web site and instructions on how to make an honorary gift that will be acknowledged with a card sent from Planned Parenthood to the McCain-Palin campaign.
“Make a donation to Planned Parenthood in Sarah Palin’s name,” the solicitation reads. “A Planned Parenthood donation is tax-deductible, while a political donation isn’t.”
So far, more than 31,000 donors from all 50 states have responded to the message, contributing a total of $802,678. More than two-thirds of the donors are first-time donors to Planned Parenthood.
“The response to this viral e-mail has been phenomenal,” said Cecile Richards, Planned Parenthood’s president, in a statement.
The e-mail did not originate with Planned Parenthood, the statement said.
Copyright © 2008 The Chronicle of Philanthropy