Mobile computing is a powerful force in our lives. But it is not the force for good in fundraising that it should be.
Yes. Entering numeric codes for a text gift is quick and efficient. But is it a good donor experience? Certainly, many donors are attracted by the ease of the transaction. Yet the overall experience of mobile giving is as exciting as putting coins in a parking meter.
We can do better.
Remember the adage about philanthropy being the mystical mingling of the joyful giver, artful asker, and grateful recipient? We need to find ways to connect to the joy of giving even as we leverage new technology such as mobile giving.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Monday, November 1, 2010
Development Engagement Officer opportunity. Know fundraising + social media
I am partnering with Anne Rizzo of the Excelsior Bay Group for a retained search for a Development Engagement Officer at the CaringBridge.
This is an extraordinary opportunity for the right person who knows fundraising, social media, and how to navigate a high-tech environment to engage donors.
PRIMARY OBJECTIVES
1) Implement current and initiate new programs to achieve fundraising objectives using cutting edge technologies.
2) Establish strategies to reach CaringBridge funding goals and monitor progress against objectives.
3) Demonstrate an understanding and an appreciation for the mission of CaringBridge's technology-based service; and possess the ability to creatively match needs and interests of prospective donors to the organization.
This is an extraordinary opportunity for the right person who knows fundraising, social media, and how to navigate a high-tech environment to engage donors.
PRIMARY OBJECTIVES
1) Implement current and initiate new programs to achieve fundraising objectives using cutting edge technologies.
2) Establish strategies to reach CaringBridge funding goals and monitor progress against objectives.
3) Demonstrate an understanding and an appreciation for the mission of CaringBridge's technology-based service; and possess the ability to creatively match needs and interests of prospective donors to the organization.
The successful candidate must be a relationship-focused individual with a spirit of innovation and entrepreneurialism; a results-oriented fundraiser who has a passion for driving change with a proven track record of infusing leading edge ideas in developing e-commerce, social media, and other online communications to reach donors.
Contact
Monday, October 25, 2010
Living Social. Place your seat backs and trays in an upright position
John Perry Barlow. Forget about trying to pigeonhole him. He is the quintessential square peg in a round hole.
The retired Wyoming cattleman and former Grateful Dead songwriter is widely attributed with applying the term "cyberspace" to the Internet
His weathered face is a ready reminder of his 17 years punchin' cows. Yet his role as co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation speaks to a vision unbounded by cattle fences and the Wind River Mountains that overlooked his ranch.
"The Internet," I recall Barlow saying during a 1995 Association of Professional Researchers for Advancement Conference in Minneapolis, "is like stepping from the landscape onto the map." Time / space no longer constrain us.
Fast forward to social media ... 2010!
Facebook. 500,000,000 million users. Twitter Tweeps Tweeting ... at the speed of life.
"There is no work-life balance," a colleague noted during a recent panel sponsored by Minneapolis St Paul Social Media Breakfast. "There is just life."
I wonder how John Perry Barlow (@JPBarlow) sees our new social world. He once said that “in the information economy, attention is the monetary unit.” But who is paying attention?
The global threat is no longer over population. It’s attention deficit disorder.
We have jumped off the map into a social sphere hurtling through space / time at astonishing speed.
Fasten your seat belts. Place your seat backs and trays in an upright position. Warp speed ahead!
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| Twitter Profile |
The retired Wyoming cattleman and former Grateful Dead songwriter is widely attributed with applying the term "cyberspace" to the Internet
His weathered face is a ready reminder of his 17 years punchin' cows. Yet his role as co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation speaks to a vision unbounded by cattle fences and the Wind River Mountains that overlooked his ranch.
"The Internet," I recall Barlow saying during a 1995 Association of Professional Researchers for Advancement Conference in Minneapolis, "is like stepping from the landscape onto the map." Time / space no longer constrain us.
Fast forward to social media ... 2010!
Facebook. 500,000,000 million users. Twitter Tweeps Tweeting ... at the speed of life.
"There is no work-life balance," a colleague noted during a recent panel sponsored by Minneapolis St Paul Social Media Breakfast. "There is just life."
I wonder how John Perry Barlow (@JPBarlow) sees our new social world. He once said that “in the information economy, attention is the monetary unit.” But who is paying attention?
The global threat is no longer over population. It’s attention deficit disorder.
We have jumped off the map into a social sphere hurtling through space / time at astonishing speed.
Fasten your seat belts. Place your seat backs and trays in an upright position. Warp speed ahead!
Monday, October 4, 2010
Twitter, Peeps, & You
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| Join us. Oct 14, 2010. |
Does your nonprofit use Twitter to identify prospects or engage donors? I would love to hear from you for a Twin Cities workshop we are doing October 14 regarding donor engagement.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Going Small for Big Results
Whatever size prospect list you have, make it smaller. It doesn't matter if your list is 10 names or a database of thousands. You have to start somewhere. And there is no better place than at the top.
The particular score is less important than having a consistent methodology to compare prospects relative to each other. Create a score that makes sense for your constituency. You may want to add other variables, such as membership, ticket holders, event attendance, volunteer status, etc.
However, keep it simple. Do include hand review of your top scoring donors.
Detailed data on your donors' giving behavior is unique to your organization. Use it to your competive advantage.
Three measurements from your donors' giving histories point the way: recency, frequency, and giving total (RFM).
I have added longevity as a fourth factor in the score illustrated here.
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Create your own RFM score to fill in the blanks indicating your donors' prospect value and loyalty. |
I have added longevity as a fourth factor in the score illustrated here.
The result ranks (prioritizes) your prospects relative to each other. Such scores are particularly useful at the segment level for prioritizing your direct marketing, phone calls, and personal visits.
Include the RFM score for each donor in gift reports your database, if you are fortunate enough to have such reporting capabilities. If not, create an Excel file to quickly calculate donor scores.
Include the RFM score for each donor in gift reports your database, if you are fortunate enough to have such reporting capabilities. If not, create an Excel file to quickly calculate donor scores.
The particular score is less important than having a consistent methodology to compare prospects relative to each other. Create a score that makes sense for your constituency. You may want to add other variables, such as membership, ticket holders, event attendance, volunteer status, etc.
However, keep it simple. Do include hand review of your top scoring donors.
Detailed data on your donors' giving behavior is unique to your organization. Use it to your competive advantage.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Start Seeing Donors
The donor pyramid is a common analogy fundraisers use to represent donor tiers or segments.
Yet such pyramids can be so loaded with complexity and numbers that we lose sight of what the statistics represent.
Let's set the numbers aside for a moment. What else do you see in your nonprofit's donor pyramid?
Hopefully, a picture emerges of donors as individuals and the strategic role that each segment plays in your organization's success.
Intuitively, we realize this. The challenge is to operationalize what we know to be true.
The solution in part requires treating different donors differently, to recognize people for their individuality, even as we learn from each segment's statistical profile.
Closer inspection reveals the donor pyramid as communities of donors. Moreover, such a perspective forces new questions.
What is our engagement strategy for our top donors? How can we more effectively apply scarce resources to involve mid-point donors in a meaningful way to lift them to a higher giving level? And how can our organization add value to attract new donors?
Documenting plans for each donor segment, including contact schedules, message, and channel is instrumental in creating consistent and repeatable outcomes.
Naturally, a donor pyramid is not an end in itself. But visualizing donors is a good place to start.
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Visualizing the donor pyramid as communities of donors can prompt new insight. |
Let's set the numbers aside for a moment. What else do you see in your nonprofit's donor pyramid?
Hopefully, a picture emerges of donors as individuals and the strategic role that each segment plays in your organization's success.
Intuitively, we realize this. The challenge is to operationalize what we know to be true.
The solution in part requires treating different donors differently, to recognize people for their individuality, even as we learn from each segment's statistical profile.
Closer inspection reveals the donor pyramid as communities of donors. Moreover, such a perspective forces new questions.
What is our engagement strategy for our top donors? How can we more effectively apply scarce resources to involve mid-point donors in a meaningful way to lift them to a higher giving level? And how can our organization add value to attract new donors?
Documenting plans for each donor segment, including contact schedules, message, and channel is instrumental in creating consistent and repeatable outcomes.
Naturally, a donor pyramid is not an end in itself. But visualizing donors is a good place to start.
Monday, August 30, 2010
You've Got Mail (Insight)
Want to squeeze more value out of your donor database? Then, consider email domains. Review the portion of a donor's email address following the @ for indicators of
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