Year End Giving Tips and the Influence on Your Donors-Part I

At this time of year when the focus is on giving, I have seen a number of articles in local and national magazines on selecting charities for giving.   The one that I read recently sited Charity Navigator's post Top 10 Best Practices of Savvy Donors    As I read through the points I thought about how charites can be prepared for these savvy donors.

Here are the tips (in italics) and what you can do to put your best foot forward this giving season.

1.  Be proactive--identify what results are most important to you and be specific about the goals you expect by giving   Make sure your mission and your community impact are obvious to people who may not know you well.  Look at your website, your facebook page, any recent newspaper articles.   Can a donor easily see what you do and the impact you deliver?   Do they have to read through information or click onto other pages?  Most organizations communicate clearly what they do but is your impact obvious?  

2. Engage in dialogue-talk to the staff to learn about the group's accomplishments, goals, and challenges.  How easy is it for a donor to reach someone who can answer these questions?  Do you have several staff they could speak with?  Are there opportunities for people to volunteer with your work so that these conversations happen naturally in the course of the volunteer experience?   Are your Board members equipped to have these conversations?  The more opportunities that someone has to learn about your organization from a number of different contacts, the easier it will be for them to engage as a donor.

3. Confirm nonprofit status.  Make sure the organization is registered as a nonprofit charity.  You can check your organization's status here on the IRS website at Publication 78.  The IRS revoked the status of a number of small nonprofits that had not filed tax returns.   We have also come across older organizations that were filing tax returns with the IRS but were not registered.    Better for you to check and make sure than to be surprised by an inquiring donor.

The next few posts will continue to look at the other points.

The Data (and the Donations) are in the Details

I recently spoke with a wonderful group for a wonderful organization, the Association of Fund Raising Professionals at their Lehigh Valley conference. The presentation was “Where Can Your Limited Funding Dollars Have the Most Impact: Communicating to Your Funders the Power of Their Investment in Your Organization”.

A lengthy title, but it reminds nonprofits that their funders are indeed investors. Prior to making an investment, investors will look at the investment and make sure that it delivers a good return on their money at a level of risk that is acceptable to them. What information do your investors need to determine that their money will make the most impact in your organization?

First you need to figure out where your funds have the most impact. If you have several programs you need to look at each program separately. What are the direct costs related to that program? How many people can you serve? What amount of staff time is required to deliver your services? Can you use your staff time or your facilities or your resources in a more efficient manner to serve more people?

Once you have the financial information and the data, you need to figure out the best way to communicate that to donors and grantors. Different audiences will need different types of communication. One grantor may be interested in investing in your organization because they can see that if they provide money for staff training, the staff will be able to serve 50 more people each week. Another donor may donate because you have explained that their donation of $500 will enable your organization to build a well that can bring water to 600 people every day. And another funder may appreciate your commitment to building a stable, healthy nonprofit that continually is a community resource and they are glad to add to your reserve fund because they can evidence of this stability in your financial statements.

Financial and data analysis will not only attract more donors, it will help you manage your nonprofit better. As the saying goes, “If you can measure it, you can manage it”