What does the head of a foundation that gave $18 million in grant money last year have to say about grant writing and the relationship between foundations and nonprofit professionals?

Don’t get trapped

One of the many mistakes Kutash routinely sees in grant writing is that the applicant looks at the application as a set-in-stone document that has to be followed like a math formula.

“Too often, grantees get ‘trapped by the app,’ and they only answer the questions that they are asked,” Kutash explained.

He later expanded on that thought, talking about the perceived “power imbalance” between the foundation and potential grantee. He thought that this could be the reason that the grantees are getting trapped. Having the courage to step outside the boundaries of the application, and tell the foundation not what they think they need to know, but rather what you think they need to know can make the difference in an application.

The “value” of money

Let’s face it, the reason nonprofits turn to foundations and grants is a need for money. Some might think that the amount of money being asked for is a major part of the grant application process, but Kutash disagreed.

“In many ways, the specific dollar amount may be the least valuable part of the whole grant,” he said.

He also talked about the misconception that once the money is received, the grantee has succeeded and the process is over. Grant reporting is crucial in continuing to build the newly formed relationship between the grantseeker and grantmaker. That grantee has now gained a supporter and another “person” in their corner. In that sense, the relationship between foundation and nonprofit is very similar to the relationship that is strived for between nonprofits and individual donors.

Look for transparency

In a recent article Kutash wrote for The Center for Effective Philanthropy, he talked about how he believes transparency should be utilized by foundations, and how the Peter Kiewit Foundation is working towards being more transparent. We asked him to expand on some of the things he wrote about.

Kutash said that there are certain things that nonprofits have a right to know. The foundation’s strategy, priorities and goals of the foundation, as well as the process and criteria for reviewing grants. Knowing these things can help the grant writer know how their grant is being reviewed, and what they should emphasize in the application.

Customer service is key

Prior to taking the executive position at the Peter Kiewit Foundation, Kutash worked as a managing director for FSG, a San Francisco based consulting firm, providing assistance to nonprofits and other charitable foundations around the world. We talked about how his experience providing consulting services impacts his work now. He said the biggest thing he brought from FSG to his new position is an attention towards customer service.

“When you work in consulting, one of the things that’s really important is customer service,” he said. “I want our program officers to be great at customer service first.”

He went on to explain that a focus on this can help in relationship-building. That’s something that is important on both sides as the working relationship grows past the initial grant.

Check out Nonprofits Hub’s Certificate Course on Grant Writing Basics. Participants who complete the entire course will receive a non-accredited certificate to boost their resume and their confidence as they go for their next round of funding!

Originally published 4.4.16—Updated 12.26.22

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Dr. Cialdini has taught psychology for more than 30 years and is viewed a leading mind in the psychology field, especially on the topic of persuasion. In his 1984 bestseller, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, he sums up his findings in six principles: reciprocation, social proof, commitment and consistency, liking, authority and scarcity.

All of the principles are great, but we want to focus on the notion of Social Proof. Dr. Cialdini explains that it’s the influence someone’s peers have on them. When people aren’t sure about a particular choice or decision, they look to see what other people are doing to guide their own actions, and typically do so without even realizing it.

To test his thoughts, he worked with hotels in Arizona to find out what kind of messaging would best encourage guests to reuse towels. What he discovered was that signs that said a majority of guests reuse their towels were more successful than signs that appealed to environmental issues or those promising the laundry savings would be donated.

Authority adds to this idea. This, like social proof, draws from the idea that people look to others when making decisions. Not only do they look to peers, but they also respect the opinion of those they consider smart and successful. Studies have shown that just looking successful or in charge, even if it’s just an act, helps increase influence.

Researching social influence inspired us to apply his knowledge to our own corner of the universe as nonprofiteers. How can any of this help us? Let me explain.

Testimonials

Incorporating testimonials is probably the easiest way to use the idea of social influence to your advantage. Ask some people invested in your cause – whether they’re donors, benefactors, volunteers, or even employees – to write a few glowing words about your organization. Start including them in some of your marketing materials and social media. If people that aren’t involved see these, it will likely compel them to get in the mix.

You can also try to solicit some words from a local community leader. People who are held in high regard can do wonders for your organization. Anybody from business owners to politicians can increase your influence.

Referrals

If you have volunteers who are active with your nonprofit and believe in your cause, they can be another voice for your organization. They’ll talk to their tribes about your organization, and, when they do, those people are more likely to be interested in getting involved.

Safety in Numbers

Social influence is all about tapping into people’s tendency to gravitate towards behavior that other people approve of. Get creative and plan some group volunteering events because volunteering all by your lonesome can be intimidating. Being in a group is always better. Experiment with recruiting families as opposed to individuals to ensure your volunteers are comfortable volunteering with your organization.

Just like any skill, persuasion takes practice. Thanks to people like Dr. Cialdini, we have the tools needed to improve those skills. Take his knowledge and use it to your advantage to do more good.

Originally published 8.26.17—Updated 11.28.17

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When you review your media hits, you should be able to determine what each individual impression has done for your cause.

The study is a great resource with some useful takeaways, but all of the research is done on major national news outlets covering large nonprofits. The organizations that were tracked had operating budgets ranging from $50 million to as much as $500 million. If a nonprofit is working with that kind of money, they probably have a press secretary and a media team working to control the message. But if your organization is like most, your budget isn’t that big and you don’t have a media team. Most likely, the person responsible for media relations is also responsible for 4 or 5 other things. So we set out to figure out how these smaller, regional nonprofits can take advantage of this national study.

Hot Topics

In 2016, organizations with international causes had the highest number of hits, with environmental organizations close behind. The researchers thought that this could be because of the kinds of news stories that were dominating the front page. In another year, poverty and health issues could be on the forefront, and those kinds of organizations could see a bump in their news coverage.

There isn’t much you can do to control what stories grab the public’s attention but when they do, look at it as an opportunity to educate people about what you’re doing to help. Take advantage of the “piggyback publicity.” It’s a gift.

The Holiday Slowdown

The study also tracked the months that had the best and worst news coverage. They found that coverage in December and January is lower than it should be. The low numbers around the holidays are a problem; as organizations are ramping up in an effort to raise donations with year-end fundraising campaigns, their brand is appearing less in the news.

There’s still time to develop a holiday giving strategy, but if things are getting down to the wire, remember this for next year. There’s opportunity to grow and a story to tell, especially if your organization does something special around year-end. You just have to do a good job of telling the media about it, and they’ll spread the word. The goal should be consistent coverage all year long, so find your lulls—whether they’re around the holidays or somewhere else—and work to erase them.

Who’s Covering You

Finding out what kinds of media are in your “tunnel”—and which aren’t—will go a long way in any media strategy. Not all of them will be for you, so don’t waste time on the ones that aren’t advancing your cause. The study showed that newspapers covered nonprofits the most and magazines covered them the least, but this could be different regionally, or depending on the cause. You probably know what media is covering your nonprofit, but doing some research on where similar organizations are getting covered can give you some great insights. After that, you’ll have an idea of where you are up to par and where you have opportunities to grow.

You shouldn’t be afraid to ask for what you want in media. That’s easier to do in owned media as opposed to earned, but calling for change or action in interviews or mentioning it to reporters can help get the message across. As the M+R team puts it, “Are we asking loud and clear enough for the change or action we seek?”

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Getting your name in the news and in front of the community is as important as advertising and social media, but the hardest to accomplish. Much like other aspects of your operation, sitting down and developing a strategy is the way to start. Work these findings into that strategy and keep it evolving to stay on top of the earned media game.

Originally published 9.30.16 — Updated 8.22.17

The post It’s Time for Nonprofits to Grow Their Earned Media Strategy appeared first on Nonprofit Hub.

Nobody wants to be the person that can’t do something. But sometimes you have to pass up a job or responsibility to keep your sanity. There’s only so much time in the day, and you’re only one person. Our panelists talked about the importance of saying “no,” and the best ways to do so. They also shared their thoughts on taking personal time away from the office, and when you should just ignore that email in your work account until Monday or tomorrow morning.

Our panel had tons more to say, and about a lot more than just workplace wellness. Check out this episode from Cause Camp 2017’s day two panel to hear our speakers’ thoughts on how to determine what stories you should be telling, the best ways to get your audience to engage with you on social media, measuring the success of your email marketing campaign, and everything in between.

This episode of our Hubcast was sponsored by our friends at Reward Volunteers. Organizations can post their volunteer opportunities—and volunteers can win prizes just from logging their volunteer hours, all at rewardvolunteers.coop.

You can subscribe to the Hubcast on iTunes and Soundcloud to make sure you don’t miss out on our latest podcast.

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That’s why I was so surprised when I heard speaker John Rood tell Cause Camp attendees to think inside the box during his presentation. That particular piece of advice stuck with me after the conference, so I decided to take his idea and dive a little deeper.

Before we get too deep, let’s clarify what Rood was saying. The phrase came up as one of six points on his “wheel of hyperbole.” He isn’t advocating for keeping the status quo. Instead, he’s saying that as marketers, we need to think inside this hypothetical box. After all, he said, that’s why it became “the box” in the first place. It was developed over time by people’s successes and failures. These things are the things that work. You don’t have to figure out the right tool for the job, it’s been done for you.

This idea isn’t new. There have been several books written on what we’ll call the “counter-cliché.” These books use this lens to look at how this applies to topics like management and innovation. The authors of one of these books, Drew Boyd and Jacob Goldenberg, shared their thoughts with Theodore Kinni in an interview for strategy-business.com.

“Thinking outside the box is a complete myth. It is based on flawed research from the 1970s. Subsequent research shows that simply telling people to think outside the box does not improve their creative output. It sends people on cognitive wild goose chases… Contrary to what most people believe, the best ideas are usually nearby. Thinking inside the box helps you find these novel and surprising innovations.”

I don’t know if I’m ready to make the jump that outside the box thinking is a complete myth, but who am I to argue with two college professors? The most telling part of that quote for me is that we send people on a wild goose chase while the best ideas are usually nearby—right in front of you.

You’ve probably heard about Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000-hour rule. If you haven’t, the basic idea is that to be an expert in anything, it’ll take 10,000 hours of practice to master. Put even simpler, lots and lots of practice makes perfect. If you’re thinking outside the box, conjuring up some off-the-wall schemes and solutions, that time isn’t going towards mastering your craft.

Let’s say you’re working on some creative fundraising methods. The fundraising “box” is HUGE. Your own organization’s efforts may not be enormous, but if you can imagine a tactic, somebody somewhere has probably tried it out and had varying degrees of success. There’s no need to try to reinvent the wheel. The same can be said about recruiting volunteers and filling seats on the board.

Innovation often comes from small adjustments, not huge, radical changes. Take a construct that is in front of you already. If it’s not good enough as is, tinker with it and make changes, but you likely don’t need to start from scratch. The box is there for a reason. It’s been constructed by years and years of professionals that have been here before you. Don’t get too intimidated if you’re not an overly creative thinker or have a hard time getting outside the box, because oftentimes the answer is right there, inside the box. 

The post Cause Camp Recap: When It’s Okay to Think Inside the Box appeared first on Nonprofit Hub.

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Volunteering is a great place to look for both jobs and potential employees. We wrote up some reasons why this might be a viable option for you and a few tips on how to get started.

For Volunteers and Job Seekers

Typically, people on the job hunt are looking for something that they are truly passionate about. Through volunteering, you’re able to try out different kinds of work if you are either just entering the workforce or simply looking for a change-of-pace. You can also work at different places and see which is the best for you, see how several organizations and businesses operate, and get an inside look at what it’s like to work somewhere before sending an application in. Even if you never apply, volunteering provides a great, low-risk environment to network and refine real-world skills.

So how do you go from volunteer to employee? For starters, show off traits that any good employee would have; work hard, show initiative and be reliable. Think of your time spent volunteering as a hands-on “interview.” Anything that you think the people making the hiring decisions would appreciate will build your case for landing a full-time gig.

If you stand out when volunteering and let the organization know you’re interested in a paid position, the hope is that they’ll come to you when one opens up, or give an awesome recommendation if you go elsewhere. It doesn’t hurt to be proactive and keep an eye on their job postings. If you see an opening, talk to somebody about it and let them know you’re submitting an application. That’ll put your résumé on the top of the pile. If your experience isn’t quite what you expected, you don’t have to feel obligated to volunteer again and you don’t have to “quit” or go through any exit interviews or fear burning a bridge. Volunteering gives you the perfect platform to gain experience for your résumé, get your foot in the door at a potential new job, and try out new work environments to see what works best for you. 

For Organizations and Employers

When you’re in the process of hiring a new employee, there are likely several prereqs you want that person to fulfill. What that list looks like is unique to each organization and position, but there are a few big questions that show up on a majority of employers’ lists. Are they qualified? Are they reliable? Do they care about what they’ll be doing? Plus, if you’re hiring based on a need, you’re asking whether or not you can afford a new employee. 

So while everyone wants to do work they care about, it can be hard to find someone passionate about your cause. If you, like many nonprofits, are lucky enough to have a core group of volunteers, you also have a group of people committed and passionate. You should post opportunities for skills-based volunteers, rather than only posting needs to clean toilets or take out the trash. You can ask for volunteer help on your books, marketing, and even legal and HR services. 

Of course, skills-based volunteers also have to be qualified and trusted to be considered for the position. By turning to volunteers and asking if they’d be interested in an opening, you already have an idea about their work ethic and reliability, which is more than you can say about an outsider that comes into an interview. It’s up to you to find trustworthy volunteers with the right skills. If they prove their worth, you have an awesome candidate to hire. If they don’t perform, you’re not responsible to them outside of being a volunteer. Utilizing a volunteer does still take some managerial work, but often times is a great resource when your schedule just can’t support the boxes on your to-do list that continue to go unchecked. 

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Doing a lot of work for little to no pay is an investment for the volunteer and a luxury that isn’t available to everybody, but the success stories are out there. If it is — or you’re volunteering in a less time-intensive role — it can be a great way to put your skills on display for an organization that you respect and believe in. Interested in volunteering opportunities? Click here. If you’re in the hiring seat, who better to hire than somebody who has already worked for you? 

The post How to Turn Volunteer Opportunities into a Job (For the Employer and Employee) appeared first on Nonprofit Hub.

The truth is, this Freudian stereotype is only one part of a much larger field of study. To boil it down, psychology is simply the study of why. It takes seemingly insignificant, everyday things – how we talk to one another, what we do and the way we think – and tries to explain why they happen.

There are countless studies and experiments out there. Many of these can be used in your day-to-day life. We took a deep dive and came out with some findings and theories that can be applied to the nonprofit world. Check them out and see what works for you.

Teaching

As a nonprofit, you spend at least some of your time as a teacher, educating people about a problem and what your organization does to solve it. If you were looking to find the “best” teaching method, you would have had a hard time finding a definitive answer.

In the last 15 years, researchers have gotten a much better understanding of how we learn, which has allowed people to apply new methods that help teach more effectively. Because of this, we’ve since seen a shift in schools from a recite-and-memorize method to teaching a more conceptual understanding of subjects in an engaging manner.

One interesting finding is that the human brain actually learns best in relaxed concentration. That may sound like one heck of a buzzword, but it basically means that people retain new information when their body is relaxed but still alert enough to be engaged.

When talking to people, whether they’re potential donors or the community, don’t shock them or jar them to the point where they’re anxious and can no longer concentrate on what’s being said. Make sure the environment you’re meeting in is comfortable for who you’re speaking to. Don’t overwhelm them – speak calmly, especially if you’re meeting over the phone.

Principles of Persuasion

Dr. Robert Cialdini has been teaching psychology for more than 30 years, but his biggest influence on the field is his 1984 best-seller Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. In the book, he boils his findings on persuasion down to six principles.

One of the more notable principles is called social proof, or social influence. According to Cialdini, people’s actions are largely influenced by others around them. It’s the tendency to reflect a behavior in a given setting; doing something because others are doing it. For example, laugh tracks are added to comedy shows to encourage laughter, tip jars on coffee shop counters are rarely found empty even before a customer has tipped, and nightclubs have people line up outside to make the venue seem more popular.

When you’re developing marketing materials, keep this principle in mind. Use quotes, testimonials or pictures to show that people have already agreed to support your cause and can vouch for the impact you have. This creates a level of clout for your organization that can persuade people to give.

Get Specific

These general, broad-appeal studies are great, but studies done specifically on your cause are more useful. The American Psychological Association keeps a list of nearly 60 topics, each with a dedicated page that’s updated regularly with recent news and publications. You can also do some testing and trials of your own for primary research of sorts.

Research on nearly any topic can be found, from early childhood development to education to addiction recovery. Many studies that seem unrelated at first glance may actually turn up a vital statistic or theory that will change the way you do or think about your job.

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Keeping tabs on the latest psychology news can both affirm what you already knew and challenge your way of thinking. You don’t need a degree in psychology or years of experience, there are little takeaways waiting for you that will put your organization on the next level if you pay attention.

The post Next-Level Fundraising with Nonprofit Psychology appeared first on Nonprofit Hub.

At face value, it can be an appealing option for nonprofits. Putting your cause on one of many crowdfunding sites gets it in front of a new audience. Some causes take off and might even receive double or triple of what they were asking. But the grass isn’t always greener on the side of crowdfunding; less than half of campaigns reach their goal, and two-thirds of those unsuccessful campaigns get less than 20 percent of their goals.

Here are the issues with using crowdfunding platforms:

People Look to Go Viral

Visit one of the larger crowdfunding sites and you’ll find thousands of different active campaigns, and that’s just one site. Huffington Post estimated there would be over 2,000 crowdfunding options by 2016. Putting your cause on Kickstarter or GoFundMe is like shouting in a loud room. Making something with the intent of it going viral is almost always destined to fail, as Jeremy Vest mentioned in one of our recent webinars.

Why waste time trying to get attention in this crowded environment when you can talk directly to the people you know are already invested in your cause? You should focus on your existing donor base and work on potential leads you may already have. A smaller, more concentrated campaign has a much higher likelihood to be successful than a larger, less focused one.

“Making something with the intent of it going viral is almost always destined to fail”

It’s Impersonal

How likely are you to give a stranger money? When you break it down, that’s essentially what you’re asking for on a crowdfunding site. While you do have an opportunity to “pitch” your cause and explain your organization, at the end of the day you’re hoping that enough strangers:

1. Find your cause (either organically or virally)
2. Spend the time to research and read about your organization
3. Believe in your cause enough to attach themselves to it
4. Donate

Even for campaigns with smaller goals, that’s a pretty lofty expectation, as many have come to realize. Not to mention, a loyal donor wants 100% of their donation to go to your cause, not 95% due to the fees of crowdfunding platforms.

“A loyal donor wants 100% of their donation to go to your cause, not 95% due to the fees of crowdfunding platforms.”

People Ask for Trust

One of the biggest challenges of crowdfunding is getting people to trust you, as the majority of these sites offer little credibility. People fear the money they give won’t end up going where they intended. GoFundMe and Kickstarter put the responsibility on the donor to make sure the fundraiser is trustworthy, and refunds are very rarely granted.

I’m not suggesting that your organization would be dishonest to donors, but others in the past have been (see here, here and here). To some degree, this has tainted crowdfunding for many.

People that you personally know will trust you, but will they donate sitting behind a computer screen? They’re more likely to give – and more – if you personally meet with them. Trying to reach the masses and fundraise thousands of dollars in a viral crowdfunding campaign, instead of meeting with people or sending personalized messages, is idealistic – if not unrealistic.

“People that you personally know will trust you, but will they donate sitting behind a computer screen?”

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Crowdfunding offers the promise of huge returns without much effort; just put your cause on a site, people will share it a few times on social media and boom – a fully funded campaign. But it rarely works that way. It’s a microcosm for the societal shift to digital solutions to problems.

Talk to any Baby Boomer and they’ll tell you that nothing works as good as the “old-fashioned way.” In this instance, they’re probably right. Go to the people that already believe in you and your cause, and lean on them instead of hoping for support from the masses.

The post The Problem With Crowdfunding appeared first on Nonprofit Hub.

The study, a joint venture between Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy and Vanguard Charitable, tries to uncover how parents’ and grandparents’ patterns of giving affect their children’s charitable behavior. According to the researchers, this is “one of the first studies to look at giving across three generations (using longitudinal data)”. Their findings shed light on how much a parent’s philanthropy is passed on to the next generation, but it also provides some insight into how nonprofits that rely on giving and volunteering can take advantage of this new information.

The Study

The study made use of the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy’s Philanthropy Panel Study, the largest study of philanthropy in the nation. It has tracked the philanthropic behavior of 8,000 families for over a decade. It also conducted extensive, in-depth interviews with five families that provided more personal information, done by Vanguard Charitable. These brought the research findings to life, giving them real-world parallels.

The purpose of the study was twofold. They wanted to find out how closely parents and grandparents match their children and grandchildren in terms of philanthropic priorities. They also wanted to know how socio-demographic factors explain the similarity (or dissimilarity) in philanthropic priorities between parents and children.

Results

The study found out that while charitable giving by parents did influence their children’s giving, parents that volunteered were more likely to have children who volunteered AND give financially. Possibly because of the difference in age, the correlation between grandparents and grandchildren was similar to that between parents and children, but less predictable.

The study showed that many philanthropic tendencies manifest themselves in one’s children, and – to a lesser extent – grandchildren. It also lays out some more in-depth details of certain traits that tend to result in these behaviors being passed along:

• Younger parents have a stronger influence
• Married parents have a stronger influence when compared to separated parents
• The more time spent helping children (in any way), the stronger the influence

There are even more traits that apply to only religious giving, including education level, race and wealth.

The in-depth family interviews echoed the results of the research and added a personal touch that percentages can’t. There seemed to be a family to verify every finding. I won’t highlight all of them, but one of the more interesting families dealt with how the grandparents’ volunteerism impacted their children and grandchildren. When interviewed, the grandparents said that they didn’t think they had impacted their children’s behavior. They said they never did anything “formal” and didn’t set “much of an example,” instead being more spontaneous with being charitable.

The children didn’t remember it the same way. Their daughter had memories of many different charitable acts that her parents did, from volunteering on the PTO or town council, or being generous when giving at church. More than anything, she remembered buying a Thanksgiving meal for a family in need. The Thanksgiving memory even made its way to the third generation. One of the grandchildren called buying a meal a “necessity” for every holiday season and said he wanted to continue the tradition into his adult life.

For Nonprofits

So what does this mean for nonprofits? It can serve as an opportunity to take a fresh look at donors and volunteers. It’s easy to get stuck in a rut when recruiting volunteers, so use this information as an opportunity to shake things up.

Encourage volunteers to bring their children with them. Ask them if they have any family members that would also be interested in getting involved. Develop events around the idea of “family,” and foster learning by example. Emphasize family in donor relations too. If you start to think of donors as family units instead of people, it’s likely to trickle down into your donors’ children, creating a whole new generation of charitable people.

It could also be helpful to develop “tradition” events. They don’t necessarily need to be marketed as tradition, but doing yearly events and inviting the same families back can make these traditions without forcing the issue.

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Many organizations rely on both donors and volunteers to continue to offer the services that they provide. Identifying families, not just individuals, that are passionate about your cause can lead to even more possibilities for your nonprofit and your cause.

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