rob's favorites 175.jpg •Three Stages of Fundraising Development •Annual Giving Programs •Direct Mail •Writing Fundraising Packages: the market, the business, the creative •Managing the Process •Special Events •Assignment One • • • • • • ¡ ¡Stage: 1: Formative 2: Normative 3: Integrative ¡ ¡Who: Vendor Facilitator Strategist ¡ ¡What: Product Relationships Growth partnerships ¡ ¡Skills: Sales Soliciting Building & maintaining ¡ relationships ¡ ¡Result: Make sale Relationships Assure with donors growth ¡ ¡ ¡Source: H.A. Rosso, The Fundraising School The Optimal Fundraising Strategy includes: •The total integration of the three three types of giving: o Annual o Major/Capital o Planned The Annual Fund, which supports annual operations, should be sustained and supplemented- not supplanted- by a major/capital campaign. Planned Giving enhances organizational longevity. We’re going to begin to talk now about the tactics of fundraising. And to give you a little context – a well-rounded fundraising strategy in any organization will address three types of giving: Annual giving, major or capital giving and planned giving. They should all work together, but they differ in terms of the type of gift, the type of donor, the tactics used and the purpose of the gift. The annual fund or gift supports the ongoing annual operations of an organization. It should be supplemented by a major or capital campaign or gift – but those gifts are generally targeted toward longer-term and larger capital needs of the organization. Finally, planned gifts are gifts to sustain the organization far out into the future – they assure organizational longevity often into the next generation and beyond. Annual Gifts o Relatively small gifts from as many as possible as often as practicable Major/Capital and Planned Gifts o The largest possible gifts from as few as necessary as seldom as practicable “Little from many, much from few” Said another way, Annual gifts are relatively small gifts from as many donors as possible and with a giving frequency as often as practicable (usually at least once a year). Major/capital and planned gifts are the largest possible gifts from as few donors as necessary to support the cause and seldom given (meaning maybe only once or twice in a donor’s lifetime.) ¡Foundation of all fundraising efforts ¡Annual Gift: Any gift that can reasonably be expected from same donor on an annual or regular (monthly) basis ¡Personal solicitation, direct mail, internet appeals ¡Primary source for attracting new donors and raising giving levels of existing donors ¡Goals: Bring in new donors, renew existing donors, increase size of gifts ¡ Annual giving campaign is the foundation for all fundraising efforts. If one thinks of fundraising as a pyramid, the annual campaign is the base of that pyramid; brings in smaller dollars but the largest number of donors. Annual fund drive should work closely with major giving programs. Many organization still depend on the annual drive as their primary means of fundraising support. United Way is the quintessential user of this model. Annual campaigns are designed to provide funds for basic program operations and normal growth. They address relatively short term needs (a year or less) and focus on individual giving, corporations, foundations and civic groups. Annual giving campaigns can use several different techniques (and virtually any and every technique of fundraising can be useful in an annual giving campaign – direct mail, personal solicitation, telephone solicitation, internet appeals). Point is that these are done with regularity (once a year), they are repeatable (they should build each year) and represent a foundational base of donations. Donors understand that their support this year will be rewarded by a request for renewed and often increased support the year after. Major goal is to bring in new donors (build your donor base), renew existing donors (make them repeat supporters) and to increase the size of individual donor gifts over time. Individual donors should receive the ion’s share of attention in any annual giving plan. Why? 80 percent of all giving comes from individuals. For most organizations, the private sector will produce scant income for basic operations – overall, corporate giving accounts for less than 5 percent of total philanthropy. Corporate giving has been further reduced in recent years by mergers, takeovers, purchases by foreign companies, and economic downturns. Most corporate gifts are small, even from giant corporations. Significant coprorate gifts are almost always elicited through personal relationships with top executives. It is virtually useless to send “cold” letters to a list of companies where no personal contacts exist. Many large companies have written their marketing budgets to fund activities that may enhance their visibility in markets they value – in-kind donations are also important. Service clubs are also a resource – Kiwanis, Junior League, Women’s clubs – has a host of service clubs that award monies. Support scholarships, give equipment, some sponsor specific program interests. ¡Personal Touch ¡Focus on prospect and donor interests ¡Solid overall plan that includes goals, research, feedback/assessment C:\Users\Rob\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\W90GJLJ1\MCj04359970000[1].wmf Good annual fund drive with feature three major elements: A personal touch- incorporates as much personalization as posible into a program, from personalized salutations to having as much information about the individual prospect as possible when making phone call (what they have supported in the past, how they might be linked to organization, past relationships, etc.) A focus on prospect and donor interests. Keeps the prospects interest in mind – perhaps it is allowing a designation in honor of a specific individual, considering who should do the asking, what programs the individual is specifically interested in. A solid overall plan that includes a goal (a goal is to increase the number of donors, increase average size of gift, increase number of repeat donors, etc.); research (the preparatory work on potential prospects, how to approach, when to approach, etc., and procedures for getting feedback on and assessing the utility of the campaign. ¡Net income ¡Pledge or response rate ¡Average pledge or gift ¡Number or percentage of new donors ¡Number or percentage of donors retained ¡Increase in gift size ¡Involvement of specific group: current donors, non-donors, specific demographic or geographic characteristic, etc. ¡ So what are the ways we might know if our campaign is a success? What might be some of our goals? First, and foremost, organizations tend to measure success by net income– when considering donations rec’d and backing out the costs to administer the campaign, what kind of income was realized? Year over year increases are sought. But there may be other valuable indicators of success: What was the response rate (of the number of donors reached,how many pledged or gave money). What has happened with the size of gift – over time, we want to see the average size of the gift increase Is the campaign cultivating new donors – of all donors, how many are new? Are the existing donors staying with us – what percentage of donors repeated their gifts or fell off as donors? What has happened with the gift size? And we may want to look at our donors in terms of demographics, geographics, current customers, non-donors, past donors (lybunts, sybunts). It’s important to know what you want from campaign – set goals and measure with respect to those goals – some organizations launch campaigns and really don’t know what they are aiming for. ¡Is it effective? Why or why not? ¡Does it have personal touch? ¡Does it focus on donor/prospect interests? ¡What would we expect the goals to be? ¡http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h70epPi_mN4&feature=relmfu ¡http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQkpkJDkK5k Salvation Army does its annual fund drive particularly around Christmas. Let’s look at this little video and assess how the organization has done relative to the key elements – personal touch, focus on donor interests, and evidence of an overall plan. What did you like about the message – was it compelling to you –anything it could have done better? ¡Defined: Targeted mailings of fundraising appeals ¡Any standardized mailing of more than ten pieces ¡Key vehicle for conducting annual fund campaigns C:\Users\Rob\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\TZN7XHJZ\MPj04389800000[1].jpg Direct mail is one of the techniques that is frequently associated with annual fund campaigns. I’d like to take a bit of time to understand this very important technique. First of all, how is it defined. Traditionally, direct mail is seen as any targeted mailing of a fundraising appeal. Every year, people donate tens of billions of dollars to ngos/nonprofits – some write small checks of $10 or $20; others make contribution of much more. But often a first gifts that made to an organization was in response to a letter asking for financial support. Kim Klein estimates that eighty percent of the gifts Americans give each year start out with a direct mail letter. So direct mail becomes the first point of entry or contact into an organization. What else does the term mean? For many, it means only large-volume, preprinted, impersonal commercial letters that arrive by the pound in the mailbox. Technically, it is almost any mailing of more than 10 pieces wherein each piece is virtually the same as the other. ¡Build base of donors beyond board and friends ¡Renew gifts of lapsed donors ¡Upgrade donors ¡Convert event donors ¡Learn more about donors ¡Increase visibility ¡Complement public relations efforts ¡Save time and resources Why so we do direct mail? Because it is very effective in building the base of donors beyond the board and immediate friends. It has been proven to be a good way to renew gifts of lapsed donors –to get them re-engaged. It can be effective in upgrading donors – to get them to give at higher levels or more often. It also can convert event donors – to take those people who were just casual acquaintances and get them to get more regularly. As a result of direct mail, we can learn more about our donors, particularly if we couple a donor card with some questions that will find out more about them as donors. Direct mail is trackable – can systematically identify people capable of making the very large gifts and bequests on which organizational success can depend. Direct mail increases the visibility of the organization – even if a prospect doesn’t give, they become more aware of the organization, it’s cause and its programs as a result of receiving your direct mail piece. In this way it complements public relations efforts – it helps create an image and awareness of the organization. And we do direct mail because it is a good way to fundraise in a way that saves time and resources. As compared to other fundraising methods, it is viewed as fairly efficient. (Average response rate for direct mail – 2.61, for nonprofit 5.35% -- e-mail is 18% if your list is good) ¡What is potential response rate? 2- 5% ¡How long has the program been in place? ¡What are your costs? ¡Do you have a long-term outlook? But have to be realistic about direct mail effectiveness – if we assume a response rate of 2 to 5%, that means 95% of what you mail out ends up in trash. Too often organizations have unrealistic expectations about direct mail success. They tally donations, figure in their costs, conduct break-even analysis and declare verdict. If mailing does not make profits or does not make at least a 2 percent return (as they have always heard a direct mail campaign should) they conclude it was not successful. Mistake is in looking at direct mail as a limited campaign, when it should have been looked at as an ongoing, long-term process of building a program. It is more costly in the earlier years – takes time to build success. ¡Three key elements: the market, the business plan and the creative effort §The market – the mailing list §The business plan – the goals §The creative effort – the printed package There are three things that you have to pay attention to in organizing a direct mail effort – the market, the business plan and the creative effort. —Your mailing is only as good as the name and address data you have —Types of lists —House lists —Compiled lists —Mail order buyer lists —Publication lists —Donor lists —Exchanged lists —Postal regulations —Maintaining the list C:\Users\Rob\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\W90GJLJ1\MCj04128060000[1].wmf First, the market –how are you going to define and reach the people who will care about your cause and give? In direct mail terms, this means, building the mailing list. Your mailing is only as good as the name and address data you possess. You’ve got to spend time building, refining and maintaining your list. So how will you build your list – there are a number of different sources. First, you will compile a house list – from internal records, sources – past clients, current clients, vendors, board members, staff members, volunteers and family, friends and acquaintances of all those sources. This is an important list – make all give you names – the linkage component for these people is very strong. Compiled lists – getting lists from other sources in community to add to your list – country clubs, civic clubs, associations, etc. Creating your own list is labor intensive but a good list. Your are looking for people who have natural affinity with cause, strong community ties or deep pockets that might make them a natural candidate. Who is giving elsewhere?(Mining for names – looking for donor lists in annual reports of other organizations). You can obtain a list from a list house. You do not buy or purchase these lists. You rent these lists at an average of cost of $95-$110 per thousand names for a one-time use for a specific purpose. Many list owners or brokers will require a minimum rental of five thousand names (many list owners will also trade their lists for yours, again for one use only. Your only expense is typically a 20 percent broker’s fee based on the rental rate.) Exchanging list – if yours is a small, local and/or grass-roots organization, you may be able to exchange lists with other organizations in community. Call your colleagues and competitors and suggest a one-for-one name exchange for your mailing. They need good lists too. If you exchange, withhold your major donors from the exchanged list. Theory is that when a person is interested in a particular subject, he or she tends to give to two, three and perhaps more organizations that work in that field, tackling the problem from different perspectives. If you rent a list, go through an experiences list brokers specializing in fundraising appeals. List owner may request to approve your mail package in advance and vice versa. List owner will monitor your usage through dummy drops. Ask for names of clients and check references of broker. Place order in label format, zip code order. Be sure to ask how often list updated (not less than quarterly). Be aware of postal regulations – need to obtain the appropriate permits to mail at the discounted not-for-profit rates – savings are substantial (40% lower than regular commercial rate). Usually requirements are that mailing have to consist of a minimum number of pieces(200 for example), mailing must be presorted by ZIP codes, in packages and sacks and mailing pieces have to be identical in weight and must be mailed at the post office from which the permit was issued. Name and address of authorized permit holder must be in upper left hand corner. Paper work must accompany the mailing with exact totals – pieces and postage calculated – good volunteer activity. Keep list updated – People move – 16% of American move each year. ¡Be clear about goals: monetary, donor, other ¡Setting the ask amount ¡Consider all costs ¡Consider the timing ¡Consider mechanics C:\Users\Rob\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\OWWBN21B\MCj00788260000[1].wmf Business plan entails knowing what you are trying to accomplish. Be clear about your goal going in. Monetary goal – the goal for many nonprofits is to break even on the direct costs of the mailing, spending a dollar for every dollar raised. However, it is not uncommon for more money to be spent than earned in the early years – in later years, you of course want to make money off mailing. Most experienced development officers are willing to subsidize manageable losses as long as the campaign is attracting quality donors. Donor goal – do you want to renew past donors, attract a certain number of new donors, upgrade existing donors. You should segment/evaluate your results int his way. Set conservative goals. Perhaps with respect to cold prospects (1/2 – 2% response, existing donors (2.5 -5%), long lapsed donors (1-3%), loose affiliation (10-15%), consistent annual givers (80%). Important rule: You usually get what you ask for. Suggest a dollar amount and be strategic in setting your ask amounts. In other words, it is critical that your lowest asking amount, or entry level, be competitive in the market. For example, know that animal causes attract gifts of fairly low amount, whereas environmental causes attract larger gifts. Health causes attract smaller gifts as compared with education and advocacy causes. Most organizations are advised to set their entry level at $20 or $25 because smaller gifts are initially given without much thought. Keep in mind that relative to other fundraising methods, gifts amounts will generally be small (again, must be viewed as way to build donor base). Segment your market – non-donors – lower ask amount, past donors, upgrade gift. Be sure to consider all costs: list rental, cost of printing, cost of postage, cost of preparation time (use volunteers whenever possible – stuffing envelopes, affixing labels), tracking the mailing, handling receipts, acknowledgements. As a general rule, annual fund mailing may cost between ,50 to $1.25 per piece, including printing, design, photographs, production, mail vendor costs and postage. Consider potential profit – when will it break even. Timing should be determined by comprehensive fundraising calendar. Think about direct mail in context with other solicitation activities and other pieces being mailed. Don’t compete against yourself and similar causes. (end of year, beginning of year, holiday) ¡Capturing attention, creating interest and prompting action ¡Perceptions of direct mail ¡Turn-offs: §Expensive mailings, false urgency, outlandish claims, mass produced look, misspelling of names, errors in grammar and punctuation, persistent reminders ¡Mail segmentation: Vary your mailings Finally, the creative plan. How will you make it compelling, inspiring, action-oriented? A major obstacle is the perception of direct mail pieces as junk mail. Keep in mind that you only have 4 seconds to capture the receiver’s attention. What are the ways that receivers are commonly “turned off” by direct mail pieces? Driect mail appears to be dropping in use among NGOs because of credibility issue, regulations, past overuse, more sophisticated donors, e-mail/internet as a better alternative. Mail segmentation is an important element to use of direct mail. Segment your mailing to include messages saying you know who the recipient is. Appealing to their unique attributes/interests/history. Objective is to personalize the contact. Can segment according to : relationship to organization (volunteer, board member, past donor, past client, etc.); recency of relationships (as someone who has recently experienced a loss), frequency – contributions over the past 10 years, size of gift (your gift of $200 last year enable us to….), type of gift – your past support of the children’s bereavement program enabled us to send 10 children to. All this helps us to combat the impersonalization of direct mail. ¡Creating an image ¡Piece reflects organization ¡Appropriateness of spokesperson ¡Aesthetics and function ¡Producing the mailing C:\Users\Rob\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\W90GJLJ1\MCj02952980000[1].wmf Creating an image – you must focus on the image you want to project through your piece. Type of organization you are sets the tone. Letters from museums, hospitals, religious organizations are going to look more restrained than those from youth organizations, animal groups, political causes. It is important piece reflect the organization – sophisticated, playful, serious, desparate, urgent, hopeful, ¡Generally, four pieces §Outer envelope §Reply envelope §Letter §Reply card In any direct mail piece, there are four components: the outer envelope, the reply envelope, the letter itself and the reply card. Outer envelope captures attention with teasers/graphics, use of color, size, type faces, labels. Need to consider whether to use window or regular, remember postage, return address, address format Reply envelope should match the rest of the package. Correct address. Stamped or unstamped. Size of envelope must fit within outside envelope. Letter should be on agency letterhead. Use short, indented paragraphs. Use of graphics and bolded type for important elements. Color and phot may draw interest. Type face that is easy to read (sans serif) and looks like typewriter font. Margin notes also used as way to draw attention. P.S. can be i8mportant to reaffirm appeal. Letterfold – address folded out and most important info in first paragraph. Not longer than a page if you can do so. Type face should be at least 12. Look at examples. Should all work together as a package. —Grabs attention in first sentence/paragraph —States problem and tells story —Tells reader how they can help and benefits of involvement —Asks for and suggests specific amount —Uses personal approach —Uses P.S. —Asks for action today C:\Users\Rob\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\OWWBN21B\MCj04242340000[1].wmf So what makes for an effective fundraising letter? One that will cause prospect to drop what they are doing and pull out their credit card or check book and send you a gift? There are lots of books available on writing fundraising letters. And here is a distillation of what they all seem to commonly say. First the beginning of the letter is paramount. You must have an opening that grabs attention – something in the first paragraph that captures their interest – post question, tell a story, throw out an alarming fact, appeal to their very personal interests……This is commonly referred to as the lead. Research shows that the lead of the letter has higher readership than any other element but the outer envelope copy and the P.S. The lead paragraph – a simple sentence, more often than not – is one of the most important elements in a fundraising letter. Often start with a brief, inspiring story – BB/BS telling about a little sister that achieves some major feat and who personifies everything that’s best about this work. Do state the problem – in very simple, direct, graphic, measurable terms – 60% of kids who live in the inner city will drop out of high school because they lack adult support for their studies. Tell a story – make it visual and personal through the experience of one. Appeal on the basis of benefits – tell people how they can help and what their help will result in. What will be received in return for the monetary gift – the satisfaction of knowing that through your $100 gift you helped provide mentoring service for two students over the next six months. Talk about lives saved, human dignity gained, larger causes served. Ask for money not support – be clear, explicit and repeat. The ask shouldn’t be an afterthought tacked onto the end of the letter. It’s your reason for writing and should be stated early, directly and repeated. It should suggest a specific amount. (How do you determine the amount to ask for?) It should use a personal approach = should be addressed to a specific person, should reference past support and should appeal to their specific interests if you know them. Should be signed by someone they know if they know someone in organization. It should use a P.S. The postscript is the real lead more than 90 percent of the time because that’s where readers usually turn first. P.S. often conveys three of the strongest elements of the appeal – the deadline, who will benefit and any benefits they will receive. Ask for action today – give a sense of urgency for appeal. Tell them what the deadline for the campaign is – why it is critical that they act today. ¡Use I and you (but mostly you) ¡Appeal on basis of benefits, not needs ¡Write a package, not a letter ¡Write in simple, straightforward language (short sentences and paragraphs) ¡Format letter for easy reading ¡Write only as long a letter as need to make your case Other considerations to think about in drafting a letter. Use I and you – write from a personal perspective – but try to use more yous than Is – what is the benefit for them. Appeal on the basis of benefits, not needs. You must talk about the need, but more importantly you must focus on the benefits of addressing the need through a monetary gift. Further, the ask shouldn’t be an after thought tacked onto the end of the letter, it’s your reason for writing. Write a package, not a letter. It should all work together. Your outside envelope should tell part of the story and mirror the letter. Graphically it should all appear similar and not contradict in format or content. Same themes, symbols, colors, typefaces. Write in simple, straightforward language – use short sentences and paragraphs. Use compact, powerful words and short, punchy sentences. Favor words that convey emotions over those that communicate thoughts. Avoid foreign phrases or big words. Minimize the use of adjectives and adverts. Don’t use abbreviations of acronyms, spell out names. Repeat and underline key words and phrases. Avoid pretense and cliches. Format your letter for easy reading. Lots of white space. Avoid paragraphs more than seven lines long, vary length of paragraphs. Use bullets, underlines, bolding to attract attention to most important thoughts. Write as long a letter as you need to make the case for your cause – but no longer. Use every strong argument you have for readers to send you money now. Keep in mind readership and highlights. ¡Is the writing easy to read? ¡Does it engage the reader? ¡Does it acknowledge past support? ¡Does it focus on people or interests served (not organization)? ¡Does it ask for donation in straightforward and explicit way? ¡Is it personal? Look at these examples. Critique along the following lines: ¡Photos, graphics, colors, startling facts, giveaways promised. Examples: ¡ ¡From North Shore Animal League: Your beautiful holiday labels are enclosed... ¡ ¡From Susan G. Komen for the Cure: Turn your passion into progress! And stamped to the right of the address window: Gift Enclosed. ¡ ¡SmileTrain: Make one gift now and we'll never ask for another donation again! ¡ ¡From the International Campaign for Tibet: positioned in the upper left corner (where you'd normally look for a return address): A Message from His Holiness the Dalai Lama Enclosed. ¡ ¡The Connecticut Audubon Society: (beneath the photo of a wide-eyed owl) Milton is a people friendly 'teacher' at Connecticut Audubon Society, who seems to enjoy his role as an educator whether during the day or night! See where to meet him inside... Donor Reply Card ¡Based on what you know about your nonprofit agency, write a one-page fundraising letter that could be sent to a prospect that has not yet supported the organization ¡What would your direct mail package (outside envelope, reply envelope, letter and reply card) look like? (color, size, graphics, paper, photos, print, etc.) Let’s try it. Other things to think about – sometimes you may want to insert other things – be careful with this – the bigger it is, the more intimidating it is to read. Also may send a message contrary to what you want to send…..if you have the money to insert an expensive brochure in every mailing, maybe you don’t need my gift. ¡Ten weeks ¡Money-saving production and mailing tips ¡Test mailings ¡Use of premiums ¡Use of service bureaus vs. volunteers A couple words about producing the mailing. If you are going the direct mail route to fundraising, keep in mind that it can’t be done overnight. It has gotten better with all the software packages that allow people to create their own fairly nice mailing, but you will still have printing and production and mailing periods. If you have a mailing of a fairly large size, I always like to advise to start preparing it 10 weeks before you want to mail it. Direct mail can be expensive. Things you will want to think about to minimize the cost are: Obtain several printing bids for the best price, ask the printer for suggestions about the most economical size/format for each part of package, order envelopes from an envelope manufacturer as opposed to buying them off the shelf, order paper/envelopes in large lots, confine your color – two color if possible, weigh your mailing – lighter paper stock will save you – use your own photos vs. stock photos, avoid odd size mailings or die cuts. You may want to test your mailing to see if it gets much of a response before you print a huge mailing. That would allow you to refine some things before you send out major mailing. Some people like to include premiums in their mailings –There are front-end premiums (decals, bookmarks, stamps, notecards, calendars, certificates, address stickers, even coins, etc.).Things that are designed to be used and are inexpensive to produce; items perceived value is higher than actual cost; back-end premiums (membership card, newsletter or magazine, free admission, discounts in shop or by mail, etc.) Used to be more effective in promoting gift giving – people felt guilted into giving if they use items. But use has become so pervasive that people have gotten over that – particularly on the front-end premiums. Also, think about how you are actually going to get the mailing out the door. After it is printed, who will administer labels, preparing for the post office , etc. There are service bureaus that can be hired for just that purchase – you just deliver the finished product to them and they manage the list, labeling and preparation of postage. Can be expensive, but probably better than using staff time for this. Often, however, this is a good activity for volunteers – seniors who will come in and affix labels, bundle and sort and package mailings for post office. —The process of using sports, arts, entertainment, festivals, fairs, auctions, and other gatherings of people to generate revenue. —Functions of special events: —Generate revenue —Enhance reputation —Generate interest —Educate individuals —Generate publicity —Gain donors who normally wouldn’t contribute —Foster social unity Another common type of fundraising tactic that many organization use is the special event. In fact, when most organizations decide they want to fundraise, this is what they generally will do first. The problem is that many organizations never move beyond this very basic form of fundraising. What are special events – they involve the process of using sports, arts, entertainment, festivals, fairs, auctions and other gatherings of people to generate revenue. Special events attract consumers during their leisure time. This appeals to sophisticated consumers who want their participation, whether as spectators or participants, to have some value beyond their personal enjoyment. What functions are we serving through special events: Hopefully we are generating some revenue (however, it is amazing to see how many organizations host special events and find that after they tally their results, they have barely if even covered their costs.) They can enhance the reputation and awareness of the mission of the organization They generate interest and enthusiasm for the organization among those working on and attending the function. They can educate individuals about the organization’s purpose and objectives They can generate publicity about the organization in a way that the daily activities of the organization will not They help gain some donors for the organization that you normally wouldn’t find supporting the organization And they foster social unity (within the organization among board, staff, volunteers) and within the broader community. Having said that, they don’t do all of these things equally well. They are good for increasing visibility, social unity, generating interest and some of those other p.r. functions, but unless the organization has hit upon a particularly lucrative special event, they generally are not moneymakers. ¡Consider §Fit with organization image §Timing §Energy required §Front money §Repeatability §Revenue potential (Break even analysis) Most of the time, organizations are hosting their own events. The time and effort to do so can be immense. Again, you don’t want to think of the event as an end in and of itself. It is a means to an end – raising money. So, you want to always be mindful of whether or not the event is serving the true purpose of raising money well and back away from those events that aren’t going to produce adequate revenues. When you are thinking about the kinds of special events to have, consider these things: The appropriateness of the event – does it fit with the organization’s image to host this kind of event. Consider the impression of your organization that will be left with people who knew nothing about your organization other than what is conveyed by the event itself. Is it too flashy, ostentatious, young/old, etc.) Think about the timing of the event – does it work well with your other fundraising plans and the timeline of the organization in general. Will it compete with other major events in your area, or other priorities/challenges of your prospective attendees; holidays, etc. What kind of energy is required to pull it off? What are the opportunity costs – if you didn’t do this special event, would there be another more productive way to use your volunteer and staff resources to raise money. What kind of front money does it require? You have to be able to say that you can afford to lose that money …..of better yet, can you assure that can get a sponsorship that will cover most front end costs so that the event itself becomes profit. What is the potential for repeating the event. Ideally you want a special event that can be repeated (costs to hold special events will decline if you can do it more than once and if it’s successful, additional events tend to grow in popularity/success if repeated – up to a certain point. What is the revenue potential – in the end, you must consider how much you are likely to make off the special event. Often nonprofits engage in many special events and pay off is not really significant. Another problem tends to be with organizations that set unrealistic goals about a special event. It is hard to find special events that are huge moneymakers. If you are not driven by a financial goal, what are some other goals and how will you measure – number of new supporters, volunteer involvement, visibility, education, etc. ¡ ¡ Examples:http://www.worldmsday.org/wordpress/2010/06/15/raising-money-for-ms-a-concert-and-a-cake-i n-the-czech-republic/ ØLuncheons/dinners ØMusical or Theatrical Performances ØGolf tournaments ØDances ØFestivals ØTrivia Nights EVENTS Here are some common examples. Other? —It’s all in the details! —Date and site —Budget —Timeline —Event leadership —Management structure —Sponsorships —Invitation lists —Printed materials —Public relations —Financial oversight —Record-keeping —Holding the event —Post-event activities —Murphy’s law C:\Users\Rob\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\TZN7XHJZ\MCj02960090000[1].wmf If you decide special event fundraising is for you, there are myriad of details to attend to: Select the date and site – may have to book best sites six or more months in advance. Keep in mind holidays, competing events and other activities of organization itself. Prepare a budget early – determine what the break even point is – how many people will you have to bring in to cover all your fixed and variable costs. Always seek sponsors and then promote them prominently in ads/signage/publicity. Seek in-kind gifts. Lay out a detailed timeline for every element of the event (from planning stages through the actual night of the event and the work to wrap up budget/acknowledgments afterward). Designate event leaders – designate chair people and hold them responsible for overseeing that every thing gets done. Assign each task to someone. Consider role of honorary chairpeople (name only) and operating chair. Have a management structure – have committee structure, reporting intervals, etc. Special events are not a one-person job. Always seek sponsorships. Develop good invitation lists- build list from board directors, staff, volunteers, past donors/attendees, clients, etc. General lists of wealthy in community. Produce quality printed materials – invitations, flyers, posters, programs. Graphically consistent, interesting, inviting….Give sponsors prominent billing in all printed materials. Seek all public relations opportunities. Promote the event – radio, tv, internet, interviews, features,etc. Press releases well ahead of the event and then follow-up to get coverage. Find a hook to make your event stand out – human interest story. Free publicity through public service announcements. Financial oversight – put someone in charge of continually assessing how the event is proceeding financially. Follow budget. Track all expenses. Track all revenues. Also helps to determine where you may need to cut corners as you go along or do follow-up work to increase participation rate/attendance. Keep records of what worked and what didn’t. Have a post-mortem immediately after event to document what you learned so that you can improve next time (if there is a next time). As you hold the event – checklists, volunteer descriptions, walk throughs, communications. Have back up plans for everything – what if your av doesn’t work, what if your emcee gets sick, what if your programs contain errors or don’t get delivered, what if it rains on the day of the golf tournaments, what if you run out of food, etc…….) Operate by Murphy’s law – if it can go wrong, it will. After the event, you’re not done; thank yous to sponsors, volunteers, emcees, etc. Collection of any pledges of outstanding revenues. Assessment of the event – meet with key players to do exhaustive critique of what worked and what didn’t. Making assessment of whether should do it again. Cultivation – how do you build on relationship with those who are first time participants so that they will continue to support organization in bigger way in future. Close out records and make financial accounting of event. ¡Three Stages of Fundraising Development ¡Annual Giving Programs §Direct Mail ▪Writing Fundraising Packages: the market, the business, the creative ▪Managing the Process §Special Events