Fundraising: a concept those of us in the nonprofit sector may groan about, but understand that it’s a necessary evil. For years, we’ve done it the same way—big events, door-to-door asks, social media pleas. And seemingly, it’s worked.

But there’s a cultural shift happening in the nonprofit sector. We’re focusing more on building a culture of philanthropy: one that supports and nurtures development within a nonprofit organization, making its board to its donors and every employee in between understand the importance of the organization’s fundraising success and their roles within it. We’re becoming more open about financing our overhead costs, and we’re choosing to be transparent with our boards about what we need from them. You’ve heard the phrase “culture eats strategy for breakfast.” What this means for nonprofits is that how well they do financially is now being determined by their values, practices, openness and behaviors of employees. With that emerging honesty and trustworthiness, the way we fundraise has to change too.

Let’s face it: if you’re a nonprofit trying to make an impact in your community, you need to be on the ball with what’s trending among potential donors. We’ve compiled creative new methods for you to try out and see if you can keep up with what your supporters are trying to accomplish.

Giving circles

A concept gaining a lot of ground among younger generations is giving circles: a form of group fundraising where members pool money together and collectively choose a cause or organization to donate it to. Their appeal stems from the idea of doing things that matter, together. Isn’t that why people join any club or organization? In a study done by the Collective Giving Research Group, it was revealed that younger people, minorities and women prefer joining giving circles to any other form of group fundraising. This might be because giving circles offer an inclusive way of giving that alleviates pressure from just one person. The 2016 study also found that giving circles engaged at least 150,000 people in all 50 states and have donated as much as $1.29 billion since their inception. If you’re looking for a great way to engage a more diverse crowd and gather a lot of donations quickly, consider creating (or joining) a giving circle.

Earned income

We’re big proponents of running your nonprofit like a business. Part of that comes from looking at ways you can bring in money to further your mission that doesn’t just come from standard donations. By definition, earned income is “any income that a person or company receives for work they have done.” For nonprofits, types of earned income can be from mission-related sales or from services, like selling t-shirts or consultation sessions. Remember that just because you’re “not for profit” doesn’t mean you’re not profitable. Do some primary research and ask your donor base what products or services they would consider buying. Pick one that’s tailored to your mission. Once you have that, put in the time and money to develop a product or service that will add something special to your nonprofit. Earned income falls into the picture when you’re trying to diversify your funds, so even if your nonprofit can garner financial support from grants, donations or major gifts, don’t exclude the idea of earned income to help supplement those as well.

Capital campaigns

A capital campaign is kind of like your typical fundraiser, but for an extensive amount of time. Looking at it further, a capital campaign is a concentrated effort to raise a certain amount of money for a particular project or operation. Capital campaigns usually have hard and fast deadlines, pressuring donors to contribute by a specific deadline. The appeal of capital campaigns is that it encourages community support around one thing they can all get behind. The excitement builds as the total funds climb and by the end, when you hopefully meet your goal, it’s the perfect time to host a party. The increased public awareness also entices volunteers to help out. Capital campaigns are great when you have a project that seems too big to tackle on your own (a building renovation, for example).

Donor matching gifts

Donor matching programs are a type of collective giving where a corporation doubles an employee’s initial donation to an eligible nonprofit. A partnership with a company that wants to implement a donor matching program is huge for an organization. Companies of all shapes and sizes choose to participate in programs like these to encourage social responsibility and build a culture of philanthropy among their employees. With these kinds of gifts, your organization and the company you partner with can create a symbiotic relationship where you both benefit: nonprofits get increased revenue and tailored outreach, while corporations get a no-cost donation and employee trust.

Planned giving

Everyone wants to leave some sort of mark on the world. That’s why legacy gifts, a form of planned giving where people leave a major donation to a nonprofit in the event of their passing, are increasing in popularity as a meaningful way for donors to contribute. This often comes in the form of a monetary donation, but can also come through as life insurance, real estate and retirement plans. A 2016 Giving USA report found that, in 2015, total bequest giving grew by at least two percent and represented nine percent of all charitable giving. Our philosophy behind planned giving is that you should never wait until someone is close to settling their estate to talk to them about putting your organization in their final plans. Making soft asks all the time might be a long game, but it’s also a game that can reap a lot of benefits. Remember that planned giving is a lot about reminding people you’re an option while they’re alive.

As the culture of our sector begins to change, we need to be changing too—especially when it comes to fundraising and creating an atmosphere where everyone feels they can play a beneficial role. By keeping up with the times and adapting to giving trends, your nonprofit will have a leg up when fundraising.

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Most nonprofits interact with volunteers at least a few times a year, whether that’s recruiting dozens for a big fundraiser, or just one to help out with your day-to-day duties. Volunteers come to you with the desire to help out (for free!) and that’s a pretty cool thing that shouldn’t be taken for granted. Though you should try to recognize them year-round, here are four ways you can thank your volunteers this month specifically.

Talk to them!

Don’t treat volunteers only as tools to help you execute your mission—treat them like an extension of your staff. Get to know the people who are giving up their time to be with you. Ask them about why they believe in your mission and try to form a real, human connection. Asking for feedback is another great way to show them that you respect their opinion. Send out a survey that poses questions of what they like about volunteering with you, what they think could change and what keeps them coming back.

Highlight their achievements

Show off your awesome volunteers! Spotlight a group or individual on social media, on your website or in your newsletters. Show the world the cool things they’re doing and how they’re acting out your mission. Donors will see that you’re making real moves to cause change in your community, and volunteers will get excited about their 15 minutes of fame. A great public display of affection for your volunteers is a win-win for everyone.

Give them a gift

When volunteers give you their time, that’s time they’re taking away from their jobs, personal lives and families. While it’s really great that they’re choosing to spend their free time with you, it wouldn’t hurt to remind them that you appreciate their decision to do so. Give them tickets to a show they can go to with their partner, or a gift card to a restaurant their family will love. If money is tight, give them a handwritten thank you letter or an extra day off to catch up on work.

Remember things about them

Keep a calendar of volunteers’ birthdays and send them a card to let you know you’re thinking about them. Take note of the skills they presented on their resumes and then remember those when assigning them to tasks. If you have a kickass graphic designer volunteering to be part of your team, don’t assign them a door-to-door fundraising job. Letting them utilize their skills will show that you genuinely recognize their talents (it will make them feel good, too!).

For more ideas on volunteer recognition, recruitment and retainment, check out our Volunteer Management 101 course at Nonprofit Hub University. Volunteers are essential for nonprofits, especially in their beginning stages. But no matter what stage of the volunteer management process you’re in, we’re here to help answer some of the questions you may have.

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Overhead myth

The overhead myth was once again a big topic at Cause Camp. You know, “the false conception that financial ratios are a proxy for overall nonprofit performance.” Those are the words of Julie Hirshey, Director of Community Relations for Super Bowl Champions Philadelphia Eagles, who came this year to chat about how her organization tackled explaining overhead to donors. Another hot take came from Vu Le, who said that some donors are worth losing if they’re just not getting it, like those who demand results or prevent you from achieving your mission and changing lives.

Delighting your donors

You know when you go to a restaurant and you receive a mint when your check comes? Or your car comes with a heated steering wheel? You didn’t go to that restaurant or buy that car because of those extra things, but weren’t the added bonuses so great? They’re what Simon Scriver calls “delights.” And he suggests you “delight” your donors when they give to you with things like handwritten thank you notes, personal meetings and stories about who they’ve helped directly. “You will never make everyone care about your cause,” Simon said. “Find that small group of people who care about what you do and lavish love on them.” That’s an idea we can get behind.

Millennials

Kristen Hadeed started her career at Student Maid when she was just a college student, and over the last 10 years she’s helped make it a booming business. She spoke at Cause Camp about her obsession with leadership and how the trials and tribulations she faced as a young business owner helped her understand what her employees need in the workplace. Kristen gave us four key things millennials look for in a career: autonomy, feedback, connection and purpose. With each of those points, she reminded us that, as leaders, we sometimes have to “step back and let other people step up.” And especially when it comes to a younger generation that values individualism and making a mark on the world, those words definitely struck a chord with many in the audience.

Diversity

Yes, we went there. Cause Camp 2018 saw us having that difficult conversation about diversity in the workplace. Speakers Vu Le, Nancy Schwartz, Simone Joyaux and Kishshana Palmer spoke on a panel and answered questions about the difference between equity and equality, representation, avoiding tokenism and why we should seek to recruit and retain diverse talent. What are some key points to take away? Expand your network to include people of color, women, religious minorities, people with disabilities and LGBTQ individuals. Make sure you’re asking people who are underrepresented what they want in a work environment and how you can accommodate them. Most of all: have those conversations about representation and diversity. As Vu said about racism, “Changing racism is not a tonsilectomy. It needs to be a dental hygiene process. Looking in the mirror every day, two times a day, brushing and flossing and saying thanks when someone points out we have a bit of racism stuck in our teeth.”

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In 2015 and 2016, the minds behind the annual giving holiday #GivingTuesday created #MyGivingStory, a campaign that aims to raise awareness by using storytelling as a marketing tactic. Project organizers analyzed the results from the 2015 and 2016 contests to find what helped them succeed and get more votes in 2017. Elements of effective storytelling in #MyGivingStory entries included all of the following features:

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TED Talks has been around since 1984, but found a resurgence with the rise of the Internet and social media sharing. The company encourages everyone around the world to spread their ideas—whether they’re large-scale and revolutionary, or small ideas that can change how someone goes about their every day.

Here are some of our picks for the best TED Talks to inspire those who work for nonprofits.

1. Dan Pallotta: “The way we think about charity is dead wrong”

This is one of our all-time favorite TED Talks and one that’s really stirred up the nonprofit world. It’s about a topic very near and dear to our heart: the “overhead myth.” In the presentation, Pallotta addresses an often overlooked double-standard that everyone involved with nonprofits should be aware of.

2. Audrey Choi: “How to make a profit while making a difference”

Choi’s TED Talk is a good one for those working with for-profit social impact companies. She answers many questions about how you can make changes in your community without letting it affect your bottom line, and poses that every for-profit company can invest in some social responsibility initiatives.

3. Katherine Fulton: “You are the future of philanthropy”

In this TED Talk, Fulton covers how all of us can achieve great things by coming together and working collectively. You don’t have to be rich or famous to make an impact in your community. Fulton believes that regular citizens should be working to do this every day.

4. Melinda Gates: “What nonprofits can learn from Coca-Cola”

In this famous TED Talk, Gates talks about the entrepreneurial spirit of Coca-Cola and how nonprofits can use similar marketing tactics to stretch their impact. The main point she makes is that nonprofits need to pay attention to who their audience is and what their values are. Once you know, you can change your messaging to directly appeal to them.

5. Ernesto Sirolli: “Want to help someone? Shut up and listen!”

In this cheeky TED Talk, Sirolli addresses a problem nonprofit professionals run into all the time: thinking you know all the solutions to a problem. Sirolli suggests it’s naive to assume that you can just go into a community and help them without talking to people in that community. Make sure that you’re asking the right questions before you decide to start a campaign, or an entirely new organization.

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Milk what you’ve got

Amy Eisenstein suggests that when creating a “prospect” list of those you feel would be interested in donating to your cause, start with board members and staff who already understand what you’re doing and why you do it. Reach out to them and remind them why they work with you. If your organization is able to stay afloat financially, not only is it furthering your mission, but it’s job security for them too.
Don’t be afraid to ask friends and family who know how near and dear the cause is to your heart. These people see the everyday ins and outs of what goes into running a nonprofit and understand how even the smallest contribution can go a long way.
You likely already have a list of donors, be it big or small. Planning campaigns and events for continued engagement, appreciation and communication will help solidify advocates and keep them around for the long-haul.

Recruit new donors

The key to capturing new donors is getting them to understand your mission. Often times meeting with them in-person is a great way to do this—but not always! The more they get to know the people behind the organization, the more likely they are to engage. Before sitting down with a potential donor, do some extra research to find out what they care about and what problems they are passionate about solving. See what you have in common with them, and how you can connect to them. From there, you can make the ask.
Here are a few ways to recruit new donors:

• Plan a social media campaign (we recommend starting with Facebook) to attract more small to medium-sized donations—keep track of those who donate!
• Strategize an exciting (and on-mission) fundraising event to gain one-off donations of all sizes. This also adds the fundraising potential of ticket sales, sponsorships and establishing a strong public presence.
• Develop a storytelling donor newsletter, be it a print or digital publication, showing the impact of the work you do to target donors.

Stay engaged

Both you and your contributors reap the benefits of working together. When a new donation is made, you’re closer to achieving your mission and they feel good about being part of the process. And the best way to keep a donor around is to make them feel important and keep them in the loop on what you’re able to accomplish with their help.
Engage with them on a regular basis (without being annoying!) and thank them for what they do. Make sure to do so on a personal level. Yes, that means you should be segmenting your list and strategizing your messaging to be specifically targeted for each group! When a contributor feels appreciated and like they’re making a difference, they’re more likely to come back and contribute again.

The post How to Grow Your Individual Donor List appeared first on Nonprofit Hub.

Make your giving form mobile responsive

It’s a well-known fact that people these days spend several hours a day on their phones. That doesn’t change when you’re a donor looking to contribute to your favorite cause. As nonprofits, it’s imperative to spend a little extra money to make things easier for your donors. Look into hiring someone to develop a mobile version of your website and make your user experiences as smooth as possible so contributors can donate easily and quickly.

Keep the form short

Get rid of any unnecessary fields on your donation form to keep it as simple as you can. The trick to getting those donors right way is to make giving quick and easy. Don’t ask too many questions, and don’t make users fill out more than the necessary information. Try making a donation on your own website and take note of what’s painless about the process and what’s just downright annoying. Make your changes from there.

Make the donation form easy to find

On your website, make it obvious where people should go to donate. Use large and colorful donate buttons with active verbs that people will want to click as opposed to the generic “submit” button. Don’t make anyone who could be a potential donor search for your form, as it could put them off if they get frustrated. Position it on the page where it’s clear you’re making the ask.

Have a singular call to action

Though it’s nice to have a section or page on your site where you can include volunteer opportunities, your mission statement or videos about your nonprofit, when donors want to make a donation, they want to make a donation. Ask directly on the page. Don’t beat around the bush. The donation page should literally say “donate to…” and whatever your cause supports. Your donors will thank you for not wasting their time and your nonprofit will reap the benefits of their generosity.
A quick and painless donation transaction will please those who want to contribute to your nonprofit when they’re not confused or frustrated with your website. It’s time the sector adapted to the frictionless market.

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Know what you want

Start by figuring out exactly what products you want and what needs they would fulfill. Show board members the data on where you’re lagging or what inconsistencies you have before showing them what product you need to improve it.
Do your research when it comes to what tools are out there so you know which ones provide the best value for the organization. Remember that return-on-investment is of utmost importance to board members, so showing them projected results should be a primary component of your proposal.

Know your audience

Introduce the idea of new technology to individual board members first. Before you pitch your idea to the board as a whole, it helps to have a couple of them on your side already. Speak in terms that everyone can understand so they’re not sitting there wondering what you’re talking about. Don’t be afraid to get individual board members involved in the selection process or pitch process—they’ll feel like they’re helping out directly with the cause they care about and you’ll form a better relationship for the future.

Make the ask

Obviously, the most important part of asking for new technology boils down to making the pitch. Be respectful, sophisticated and helpful—but be direct as well. Get to the point when it comes to the presentation (whether that’s a formal one or via email or written proposal) and tell them what tools you need and how you’re at a disadvantage without them. They will be willing to take the risk when they know what’s at stake. After all, they joined the board of directors to help you complete your mission, and if this is a step they have to take to do it, they will.
Getting your board on board for large financial investments can be hard, but the payoff is worth it when you have technology that helps further your mission. Change the way you work so you can change the world.

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External Communication Tools

Sprout Social 

Sprout Social isn’t just for social media scheduling. It also enables you to look over the messages and notifications coming in on any of your social media platforms and lets you respond right from your account. You can also access your newsfeeds and establish RSS feeds for keywords. Sprout Social’s smart system offers marketing analytics for you to see the best times for your nonprofit’s social media interactions.

Buffer

Buffer allows you to schedule your posts for social media ahead of time and curate content from other websites through feeds. Their basic template lets you upload an image, add text and choose which platform you want the post to come from. Not only is it free, but it’s also a timesaver for nonprofits that do their own social media marketing. With the ability to schedule posts weeks in advance, you won’t need to worry about falling behind on your posts.

Pardot

With Pardot, you can make email advertising easy and effective. The application, which is a product of Salesforce, focuses on B2B marketing and offers an automated solution so you don’t have to worry about precisely when or to whom you’ll be sending your marketing materials. It also features an in-depth analytics tool that lets you visualize what’s working for your nonprofit and what’s not.

Internal Communication Tools

Slack

We love Slack. Its easy-to-use system allows for everyone in your organization to be in contact with each other to get stuff done. The platform lets you have private, one-on-one conversations or create group channels. It allows for you to search for documents, threads and hashtags. It’s fun, too—you’re given the option of creating a channel for “water cooler talk” and customizing emojis. Nonprofits can get Slack for free, too, so long as they hold charitable status with the IRS, local tax service/charity commissions or local TechSoup Global partners.

Trello

We’ve written before about how using Trello can bring efficiency and clarity to an often chaotic workspace. Building boards with project-specific cards and tasks streamlines who is assigned to which task and when it’s due. You can make comments, change due dates and upload documents for other team members to download. This interactive to-do list can help your nonprofit when schedules don’t exactly match up and you need to track progress on projects. Nonprofit Hub uses Trello for mapping out strategic efforts like email marketing and drip campaigns, organizing our content calendar and keeping track of daily tasks. And, the kicker: Trello is free to use.

Kindful

Utilizing CRM is vital to your nonprofit achieving its mission. Kindful helps you do that by providing fundraising tools, organizing donor data and automating insight reports especially designed for nonprofits.
Having solid communications helps your overall fundraising strategy—whether that means managing your internal communications or engaging with your donors and volunteers with external communications. What’s your nonprofit’s winning stack of tools? Take to the comments below to let us know!

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1. #MeToo 

Back in 2007, Tarana Burke of the nonprofit Just Be Inc. launched the #MeToo campaign. #MeToo was meant to be a movement that provides “empowerment through empathy” to survivors of sexual abuse, assault, exploitation and harassment, especially those in underprivileged communities. Ten years later, when actress Alyssa Milano caught wind of the hashtag and encouraged others to share it in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal, the movement took off on social media. As of October 2017, over 1.7 million tweets included the hashtag “#MeToo,” in at least 85 countries. Burke’s original intent of bringing a sense of solidarity with the hashtag was achieved. Despite the fact that the hashtag was ten years old, when a chance to use it appropriately came along, the nonprofit behind it became more successful than it ever had been before.

What can you learn from #MeToo’s hashtag campaign? Seize opportunities. Stay aware of current events. Don’t be afraid to join a trending hashtag on social media if it applies to your cause.

2. Project Life Jacket

Civil unrest at home led millions of Syrians to seek refuge in recent years, forcing them to cross oceans and make dangerous journeys to find safety. When three Swiss organizations, The Voice of Thousands, Borderfree and Schwizerchruz, wanted to come together to raise awareness and support for these refugees, they created Project Life Jacket, one of this year’s most creative campaigns. Volunteers interviewed nine Syrian refugees who crossed the Mediterranean to Greece about their lives before they left Syria. Each of their stories was then illustrated on used life jackets, taken from the beaches of Greece where refugees arrive. Project Life Jacket’s website showcased each illustrated life jacket and paired it with a refugee’s image and bio, along with a clip from their interview. Donations to one of several humanitarian organizations could be initiated from the same page. This campaign brought the stories of Syrian refugees to the forefront of international dialogue and raised awareness through storytelling, which we’ve learned was a valuable marketing tool this year for nonprofits.

What can you learn from Project Life Jacket’s campaign? Ask people to tell their stories. Make things personal by putting a face to a cause. Think outside of the box and come up with a concept that no one else in your field has thought of yet.

3. Love Has No Labels

This Emmy-award winning ad campaign by Love Has No Labels, a nonprofit dedicated to eliminating bias, came from a partnership with the National Football League. The “Fans of Love” campaign put a spin on the classic sports event “kiss cam” by placing the spotlight on different forms of love like friendships, families and romantic relationships that spanned many races, religions, genders, sexualities, abilities and ages. The campaign not only helped the nonprofit spread a message of unbiased love to people of all cultures, but it honed in on a specific part of the sports culture and reframed it in a way that helped further their mission.
What can you learn from Love Has No Labels’s campaign? Partnerships matter! Find someone with a powerful voice in their community and work with them to spread your message. Put a new twist on an old tradition and shape it in a way that aligns with your mission.

4. truth

truth, the nonprofit public health organization that works to eradicate tobacco use, launched the #BigTobaccoBeLike campaign to shake up misconceptions about social smoking. The campaign showcased how every time a “social smoker” rationalizes that they’re not a “smoker-smoker,” tobacco companies, who they call “Big Tobacco,” still reap the benefits. The ads expanded upon the #BeLike hashtag, where social media users posted gifs to describe their feelings when something out of the ordinary happened. The nonprofit partnered with Vine and Instagram influencers to create a series of 15 second video clips showing social smokers’ perceptions vs. Big Tobacco’s reality. The videos garnered nearly 1 million views each in 24 hours. The nonprofit also saw success when they polled young people months after the videos were released and saw a 55 percent increase in those who agreed that, even if you smoke occasionally, you’re still supporting Big Tobacco.

What can you learn from truth’s campaign? Research your audience. Understand who your target demographic is and change your campaigns to fit their needs. Use social media influencers to advocate for your nonprofit’s mission.

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