I know I don’t have celebrity support and what appeals to the community I live in doesn’t necessarily have national appeal. Does it? I can understand why someone outside of Africa might want to help fight malaria in another country or help the abandoned children in Uganda but is there national appeal to what I’m doing in Seattle or what you’re doing in Boston or Chicago? Shane had a great response:

Online fundraising is not about the location, it is about the relationship. The relationship or connection you have with that person who is involved in the campaign. Whether it be family or friend, a celebrity with a message you believe in, or someone you feel attached to due to their commitment to a cause you feel strongly about. Frequently, like with Kiva, we see people give to people they have never met, simply because they believe in them.

I realized that one of the most amazing things about online fundraising is that no longer do we have to be constricted by geography. When a donor is passionate enough about what your nonprofit is doing to ask their friends they don’t have to be located only a few miles away. If your friends live in Colorado see if they want to get involved, if they live in Israel ask them. In this new world of online fundraising we are able to “go global” in our appeal to address our local needs.

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As I reflect on organizations that I have worked for I am struck with the value and significance of many volunteer leaders and donors. One thing that makes the nonprofit world great is that there are a number of talented community members that will come alongside and partner with you. I have had such a tremendous opportunity to learn from many donors and board members. It has been such a privilege to support their individual community missions.

Fundraising is about relationships. If you are thinking about starting a career in fundraising you are getting started in a really exciting time. Nonprofits today are more creative and engaging than they have ever been. Philanthropy is more accessible and the world has become a much smaller place. Another exciting thing about a career in the nonprofit world is that you can actually make and see a tangible difference. If you are good at what you do, work really hard at it, and have a good support network there are few things that you cannot accomplish.

When I first started this job I intended to write more thoughts on starting a career in fundraising. Do you have any specific questions or thoughts regarding a career in fundraising that you would like me to cover? For examples more information about the job search process, what it is like to work in a fundraising office, how to interview, anything like that?

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We were talking about how fundraising is changing because of online fundraising tools and Sarah mentioned, “We are no longer working with the donor pyramid. When you look at the traditional ways of fundraising peer-to-peer fundraising is almost like the fourth leg of the new fundraising stool.” Traditionally the fundraising stool consisted of annual fund and monthly donors, the major & principal gifts programs, and the foundation and grants programs. This is what we have all known and worked with for a long time. Often times part of these programs sometimes has a specialization for businesses or students/alumni but the principles are the same. The charity uses it’s contacts and fundraising acumen to raise money to support the organization.

With the emergence of new technology and online fundraising we are starting to see a fourth leg to the stool and that is having an avenue for your donors to promote the organization amongst their friends. With peer-to-peer fundraising you are not creating prospecting lists and doing donor acquisition. You are training your strongest supporters in how to fundraise. I made the mistake thinking it would be so great to run a peer-to-peer program to make new contacts that you could send a mailing to. And Sarah and Shane reminded me. The success of peer-to-peer fundraising is that friends are asking friends. If you take that away you lose what makes you successful.

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1. Forgetting your demographic. Who supports your organization is it alumni or past patients? If you have a strong group that things already work with build on it. Don’t think that people will come just because you built something, build a system that complements what you are already doing.
2. No call to action. Donors need to be asked you can’t assume that people will respond the way you want them to if you do not ask. Don’t create a great message and have no way for people to respond to it.
3. Losing the key message. Campaigns need to be designed with simplicity in mind – don’t make it confusing; preserve the “click path” for donors. When creating your message don’t try and be everything to all people. Your organization can do some things really well but can’t do everything.
4. Lack of creativity. Don’t be afraid to try something new even if it doesn’t work. Great campaigns come from great ideas.
5. Peer-to-peer happening only online. Peer-to-peer fundraising encompasses all of the ways in which people leverage their personal networks for philanthropy. Make sure to integrate your online and offline campaigns.
6. No building on past success. Make sure to talk to you’re your top fundraisers. Ask them what worked and what didn’t work and thank them. Pull together focus groups around what made your campaign successful. Feedback is crucial from connectors and first-time donors; reward programs are can play a key role in dealing with the 20% of people who indirectly generate 80% of donations.
7. Fixing things that aren’t broken. Switching technology is costly and time consuming, and should only be done if the new technology adopted is really going to make an impact beyond novelty.

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Lets say for an example that you work for a nonprofit that provides food for children in Africa. There are hundred of non-profits doing that vary thing why should I give my money (or why should I raise money) for you instead of another organization? I am really happy with many organizations that focus their organization on a specific niche group of people that they know how to serve or issue because it allows them to specialize. What about when two organizations that have a similar or overlapping missions do they go after the same dollars?

I know many nonprofits pride themselves on how collaborative they can be. And sometimes I believe this is true when you see a couple organizations coming together to serve a family in need, or an organization has a staff member who’s salary or work area is directed from an organization outside of the nonprofit.

I have found that when it comes to fundraising there is a very small amount sharing that is going on. Try calling up a local nonprofit and telling them that you would like to see a copy of their sponsorship levels and benefits (and don’t forget to tell them you work for a nonprofit) and you’ll get a no almost every time.

What do you think? Should nonprofits be open to collaboration and shared information on everything? Should nonprofits take a more serious business approach and see their partners as competition? Or is it a mix between the two?

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Joanne Fritz talks about what a capital campaign is at About.com. Visit the article about capital campaigns to find some really useful information.

Definition: A capital campaign is a time-limited effort by a nonprofit organization to raise significant dollars for a specific project.

Sandy Rees has some great insights on how to run a successful capital campaign. She talks about the need to start preparing your donors years in advance, and to have the right people on board. Check out her post on her blog, Get Fully Funded.

At its heart, a capital campaign relies on the same things as other fundraising efforts: a compelling case, relationships with donors, and the right person asking for the right amount at the right time.

Robert Guinto from Nonprofit Capital Management sent me a few pointers about how important messaging is to a capital campaign. Check out his blog.

The branding and marketing of the message is critical to capital campaigns. There is a need to have the capital plan designed in a manner that strategically seeks funding from foundations, businesses and individuals… Another element of a campaign is that it does not just state and end on a short time period. It is important to note that your organization needs to be in front of an individual several times before there may be a positive outcome.

I thought I would highlight some examples of capital campaigns online for you to check out.

• The Elevation Church kicked off their capital campaign, Dominate, giving away $40,000 to their congregation in increments of $5 and $10. Congregation members had so spend the money on other people. An interesting way to share the vision of their campaign but resulted in huge success.
• The University of Rio is trying a video approach to bringing university alumni.
• Do you have any links or stories to successful capital campaigns?

In a few weeks make sure to check back to read my interview with a few capital campaign leaders. I have asked The Collins Group, Convio, Lipman Hearne, and Tavro Lund and they will be sharing their expertise.

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Here are a few simple rules that I gleaned from that book:

• Start with a clear idea of what you want your community to do
• Plan for your superusers
• Have a growth plan
• Balance listening and leading

You need to know what you want to promote online. Is it a general issue, a cause linked to a geographic area? Make sure that you have this idea in place. Once you start your online community you will start to see a few “superusers” emerge. These are the one out of a hundred that leave a comment or send you an email. Make sure that you are talking to them, thanking them for their comments, asking for their input. Make sure that you are responding and changing based on what your community is telling you. If you ignore them and don’t listen they will go away. Here is another interesting quote from Digital Giving:

Online networks for social action and engagement, of course, compete not for retail sales but for the affections of people willing to speak up or at least listen to others with a cause… “The more connected people feel, the more active they’ll be.” Randy Paynter, founder of Care2

I’m just starting to see the power of this kind of planning and action. There are a few places that I’m trying to start some online community. One of them is connected to each post. A few examples of this working really well would be my All Donors as Major Donor’s post or I Don’t Want to Ask for Money. A couple places that I’m going to try and start some new conversations is are my Idealist Group, my Facebook page, and the Search & Questions section. I want to create a place where I can be listening to the kinds of things that you want me to talk about. Have you had success creating online communities? Has it contributed to fundraising success for you?

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Over the next couple of weeks I would really appreciate any input and advice from you on capital campaigns. Next week on April 21, I am hosting the Carnival of Nonprofit Consultants on the topic, “Ingredients to a Successful Capital Campaign.” Please send your submissions to me at infosmallchange@gmail.com, the last day to submit will be Friday, April 18. I really want this carnival to be a good one so if you have a few minutes to craft a creative and exciting article (on Capital Campaigns) I’d love to promote it on next weeks post.

In early May you will also see another one of my “Online Interviews.” At the end of January I interviewed a number of online fundraising experts and wrote a five part series. Come early May you will see a very similar interview on the topic of capital campaigns. Feel free to let me know of any great capital campaign resources, or pieces of advice below.

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Why? At this point online fundraising is growing but for most organization is only represents a small (but growing) portion of the organizations giving. But many people want to have the online option available to them but will use a paper mail product to initiate their gift. Richard McPherson in his book, Digital Giving, says “direct mail is a calm port in a storm of electronic demands. And it’s often easier than giving online.” You will find me quoting his book a number of times in the coming weeks he has a lot of incredible tangible tips on how to fundraise online.

With online giving growing and how easy it is for a donor to use it is something that your organization should start to think about. I would like to advocate for an integrated model of online & offline fundraising. In any of your paper direct mail appeals make sure that your website is on them & that there is a one click link to your donation page. Put a link to donate or visit your website at the bottom of your email signature.

What ideas do you have to integrate your current mailings & emailings?

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I am excited to bring to you this month’s feature organization, Charity for Debt. They are looking for some input from you on the most effective way to bring in $1,000 donations. Please check out past Org of the Months and if you want to promote your small non-profit download the sign-up form and email to infosmallchange@gmail.com.

What is your non-profit about? And what areas do you serve?

Charity for Debt is a new non profit aimed at alleviating student loan debt in America and staffing charities with reliable, motivated individuals through a transparent and personal donor-volunteer experience. Charity for Debt serves students and recent graduates with student loan debt, non profits and charities in need of volunteers, and our donors.

The Charity for Debt model enables our donors to select a student volunteer who matches their interests and values. The student volunteer works with the donor to decide on a charity to contribute his/her time. The charity then receives a reliable, motivated volunteer to fill any labor gaps in their operation. The volunteer works for the charity for 4 to 6 hours per week, usually for 6 weeks, and at the end of this time is awarded up to $1,000 paid directly to the student’s education loan company. The donor receive weekly progress reports and activities, which are tracked and archived on the volunteer’s online portfolio. The model creates a transparent process for the donors, students, and charities to track progress and easily show the positive results that were made possible.

What are the major fundraising programs you have?

We just started the Green Light Campaign to attract $10,000, which will enable two pilot programs of the Charity for Debt model to begin in Washington DC and Dallas TX. We are actively looking for individual donors and corporations to sponsor a student volunteer for $1,000 or more in these communities. The sponsoring donor’s name will be forever attached to volunteer’s positive outcomes porfolio on the Internet to show the results the donor enabled in their community. We hope to create a personal connection between the donor and the volunteer and allow the donor to see how their dollars are being spent.

What sector do you raise money for?

We raise money for the financial debt sector and for non profit staffing needs.

What geographic area does your charity serve and where is it located?

We are located in Washington DC and are currently serving the DC and Dallas, TX areas. We hope to serve every community in the United States at some point. We have been approached by an individual in Wisconsin and South Africa who want to open Charity for Debt branches in their communities. We are working with these two amazing individuals (and our lawyers) to create an expansion system that will easily allow other communities to establish a Charity for Debt branch serving their citizens. If you would like to open a Charity for Debt branch in your community, please contact us at charityfordebt@gmail.com.

Any tips on how to approach donors in your area?

Be honest, show transparency for their dollars, create a personal connection for the donors.

Any pointers for organizations in your area that help non-profit professionals?

Explore the advantages of running non profits more like entrepreneurial ventures.

Do you have any problems or questions that you would like to ask for answers form the philanthropic community?

• What are the most effective methods to find individual donors that will give $1,000 or more?
• What donor materials (simple brochure, flier, postcard, emails) are the most effective communication tool to attract new donors?
• What are the most efficient expansion models non profits have deployed to expand to communities across the U.S., and world?

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