Category: Financing & Loans

We are preparing to enter into a capital campaign for a Christian Camp. We do not have a budget for a feasibility study, but we do have some capable people. What resources or materials can you recommend for us to do a feasibility study ourselves?

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I have two immediate/automatic reactions to that question:

1. Feasibility Studies are obsolete. What you should be doing is a Planning Study — see this
   series of postings: Fundraising Planning

Not having money budgetted for a study should not keep you from looking for and finding someone or some corporation, foundation, church or church congregation to fund a study.

Then, in gratitude for that initial support, appropriate recognition could/should be given to that funding source(s).

When conducting the study, giving mention to the fact that a specific person, church or institution has already supported your project (by funding the study) adds credibility to the process.

2. As is most often, when organizations do their own pre-campaign studies, they don’t
   know what information to seek and how to use what information they get; and, planning
   a capital campaign based on faulty/inadequate/insufficient information is a formula for failure.

Fundraising consultants (the good ones) who work with clients to design and implement planning studies write the questions for each individual study after meeting with leaders of and learning as much as is reasonable about the non-profit. They don’t use all of the same questions for each client/situation. Questions must be designed to get interviewees thinking along specific lines.

Sure, there are some questions that could apply in many studies, but most of the questions for a study are/should be specific to that study.

A proper planning study is an investment in success. Identification (and the initial cultivation) of potential leaders and major donors and the setting of an attainable goal are the key results of a proper pre-campaign study … a study that will tell you whether or not you should be entering into a capital campaign, and suggesting what strategies and tactics would be most effective in-and-for each individual major-gift prospect and each distinct set of circumstances.

The only advice I can offer to an organization in the circumstances you describe is that if you’re going to do it, you should do it right. Doing it wrong gets very scary.

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Have a comment or a question about starting, evaluating or expanding your fundraising program? With over 30 years of counseling in major gifts, capital campaigns, bequest programs and the planning studies to precede these three, I’ll be pleased to answer your questions. Contact me at AskHank@Major-Capital-Giving.com

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If you’re reading this on-line and you would like to comment/expand on the above, or would just like to offer your thoughts on the subject of this posting, we encourage you to “Leave a Reply” at the bottom of this page, click on the feedback link at the top of the page, or send an email to the author of this posting. If you’ve received this posting as an email, click on the email link (above) to communicate with the author.

For a very long time I wanted to write something which championed the cause of overworked, underpaid, and under appreciated staff development professionals. But while I was still working as a member of that glorious “clan,” I felt that I was not in the best position to make the case for my many (often) under-appreciated colleagues.

Being retired, I can now better voice my opinions than I could while still working as a DOD – when perhaps I might have been seen as self-aggrandizing.

For my colleagues, still at it today, however, I wanted to bring to the surface some of the feelings I know they must keep to themselves.

I am reminded of the many times I was sitting in the back seat of a box in our Cleveland Orchestra concert hall with my donor/prospect guests nicely ensconced up front in the choice seats. (They were, earlier that evening, our guests at a festive reception and an excellent dinner.)

On stage, the finest Orchestra in the world was playing the best in classical music … “just for them,” and they were looking forward to meeting the conductor and other Orchestra notables at a party following the concert. I knew they were greatly satisfied. It was the perfect setting for building donor loyalty and setting the stage for even bigger future gifts.

All of which would have me serenely survey the scene in front of me, then lean back in my chair, and say to myself, “I made all of this happen! I’m really, really good at this job! They’re lucky to have me!” (No one knew I felt that way until now!)

Hopefully, you feel that way too !!

No matter what (type of) organization you work for, you should be (privately) patting yourself on the back when you have those magic moments – when you see the good things that happen because of your hard work and dedication.

Maybe it’s when you see an otherwise severely physically challenged youngster find new vitality and strength as she/he is put astride a horse at your Therapeutic Riding Center; seeing the smiles from the hungry as they are fed in your hunger center; as you breathe the clean air your organization is making possible for all in your community; when you are saving and preserving a wildlife refuge; while attending another graduation class ceremony at your school or college; helping to reclaim and repair the life of a rape victim.

In short, whatever the mission of your organization, you should/must have those secret, personal and justifiably proud moments regarding whatever your organization is able to do … because of what you do !!

Think of it. You are helping to enhance/enrich the quality of life for scores of people or animals, and you are generally helping to make life more fulfilling for broad segments of our society.

Remember, the work you do behind the scenes makes it possible for others to be in the spotlight … as your organization makes positive differences in the quality of life. You will find that your acceptance of who rightfully gets the public rewards and recognition for success will more than ever be personally and professionally satisfying to you.

And you should feel good about what you do — very good — but keep it to yourself, and savor every moment of it. You are really, really good at your job. “They” are indeed lucky to have you.

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If you have a question or comment for Tony, he can be reached at Tony@raise-funds.com. There is also a lot of good fundraising information on his website: Raise-Funds.com

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If you’re reading this on-line and you would like to comment/expand on the above, or would just like to offer your thoughts on the subject of this posting, we encourage you to “Leave a Reply” at the bottom of this page, click on the feedback link at the top of the page, or send an email to the author of this posting. If you’ve received this posting as an email, click on the email link (above) to communicate with the author.

“There are lies, damned lies and statistics.” -– Mark Twain

Here are some statistics about the CFC, and some common sense observations as to why you should almost always not base your actions on numbers that reflect the entire non-profit sector.

It would be like getting a weather report for the Northern Hemisphere, perhaps interesting, but usually not too valuable for letting you know what you should do about your outdoor plans!

2011 CFC Results
The 2011 Combined Federal Campaign results were just released by the Office of Personnel Management, Office of CFC Operations (opm.gov/cfc), and the total raised was $272,679,280. In terms of actual giving, if the CFC were a foundation, that level of giving would make it the 14^th largest foundation in the USA … ahead of the David and Lucille Packard Foundation.

Nonprofit Research Collaborative 2012 Report
Another report that was released in April is the Nonprofit Fundraising Survey by the Nonprofit Research Collaborative, which is a consortium of seven different organizations: Association of Fundraising Professionals, Blackbaud, The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, The Foundation Center, Giving USA Foundation, GuideStar, and the National Center for Charitable Statistics at the Urban Institute. This REPORT provides a really good snapshot of the current fundraising environment.

Federated Campaign Statistics
In the Nonprofit Fundraising Survey, one of the questions that was asked was, “Does your non-profit participate in federated campaigns?” Federated campaigns include the Combined Federal Campaign, United Way campaigns, Jewish Federation campaigns, and others. The response: 48% of non-profits participate in some type of federated campaign.

A subsequent question in the federated campaigns area, was, “If you do participate in a federated campaign, what percentage of funds do you receive from that campaign?” Here the numbers get interesting and misleading, all at the same time.
   53% receive between 1-9% of their revenue from federated campaigns.
   11% receive between 10-25% from federated campaigns.
     3% receive between 26-50% from federated campaigns.

At first glance, it appears that the majority of organizations are not doing too well, since more than half (53%) are only in the 1-9% range. Here’s where the problems with statistics start to show up. While I do not know if the American Red Cross was a respondent to the survey, if they were, they would be in the less than 1% category for the gifts they receive from their CFC donors. However, that “small percentage amount” is actually $5.5 million dollars, which, I think, even the Red Cross notices !!

One client, with an annual budget in the $125,000 range, followed the tips and techniques that I’m sharing in these blog posts and generated approximately $8,500 in 2011 pledges. They are very pleased with those numbers – as that was their first year in the CFC.

The point I hope I’ve made is that you should not be swayed by someone else’s success (or more the case, someone else’s lack of success) to affect your CFC action plan and steps. The blueprints and positive steps I’m sharing with you have been proven to work.

And, as I regularly emphasize, workplace giving is the only type of nonprofit fundraising that is subsidized, low risk and high leverage.

In the next post, I’ll be talking about what specific next steps you should be taking regarding your CFC campaign.

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During his 25-year career in the Federal sector, Bill Huddleston, The CFC Coach, served in many CFC roles. If you want to participate in the Combined Federal Campaign, maximize your nonprofit’s CFC revenues, or just ask a few questions, contact … Bill Huddleston

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We’re taking next week off to celebrate the Fourth. We hope to see you back here on July 10. Also, for the Summer, we will be posting only once each week, Tuesdays. We’ll be back to our twice/week posting on Thursday, September 6.

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From an email: I am scheduled to interview with a staffing company who is helping a non-profit organization fill the position of Director of Programs and Grant Development for a Chicago nonprofit. I’ve never held this position before, but I have over 10 years of IT experience and over 8 years of Sales experience. What is your opinion about starting salary for this position?

This was a question with many implications, so I addressed the several questions that I saw implied….

1. A person with the experience, skills and track record to be Director of Programs and Grant Development could be eligible for a salary of $75-$90,000 in the Chicago area.

2. How does your work history qualify you for that position?

3. No matter how bright and how much of a quick learner someone may be, a person without the experience, skills and track record, if hired by the nonprofit organization, would be doing that NPO and the people it serves a major disservice.

4. The eighteen years of work experience that you describe, where highly desirable in other occupational areas, should only qualify you for an entry level position in development at $25-$30,000.

5. If you have a strong desire to serve the nonprofit community in a development position, you’d be better off volunteering with a large NPO that would be willing to give you some training/mentoring – the nonprofit community would also be better off.

To take a position with a nonprofit organization for which you are not qualified, by virtue of training and/or experience, is to violate the ethics of the sector … but that’s a whole ‘nother posting.

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Have a comment or a question about starting, evaluating or expanding your fundraising program? With over 30 years of counseling in major gifts, capital campaigns, bequest programs and the planning studies to precede these three, I’ll be pleased to answer your questions. Contact me at AskHank@Major-Capital-Giving.com

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If you’re reading this on-line and you would like to comment/expand on the above, or would just like to offer your thoughts on the subject of this posting, we encourage you to “Leave a Reply” at the bottom of this page, click on the feedback link at the top of the page, or send an email to the author of this posting. If you’ve received this posting as an email, click on the email link (above) to communicate with the author.

Because words are so important in federal grant proposals, your proposal narrative should avoid clichés – words/phrases that have been worn out and have lost their meaning and effectiveness … especially the latter.

Clichés distract reviewers from the core of your proposal. They also waste the reviewer’s time, which can be very frustrating. Eliminating clichés, therefore, will help make your prose more persuasive, effective, and easier to read.

These are just a few of my “favorite” clichés:

Best of breed
If you are not selling puppies, why claim that you solution is the “best of breed?” The phrase comes from the world of show dogs.

Utilize
Sports announcers frequently use the word “utilize.” That is a compelling reason to drop it.

Well-seasoned
Managers who are “well-seasoned” probably have been consuming too much pepper and nutmeg.

Hit the ground running
Are you training for the Olympics or trying to get a grant?

Leverage, World Class, Uniquely Qualified
This is how you write an hour before the deadline. Quite simply, these words are meaningless.

Such words and phrases, which could be multiplied forever, are examples of wordiness, a lack of precision, and the inability to discuss topics of substance. Studiously avoid imprecise language that makes you appear unfocused and inept.

Clichés are the kinds of words that organizations frequently use to cover up problems, difficulties, or a lack of qualifications. That alone is a good reason to avoid them.

Choose Effective Wording

– some simple rules to help you avoid mind-numbing clichés in your grant proposal prose:

• Focus on what’s most important to your reviewers, and avoid unnecessary or overly long set-ups.
• Be as specific as possible while avoiding pompous words and phrases.
• Eliminate redundant words.
• Use the correct word in context.

Here are two examples of how you can turn your clichés into good prose. Clichés are in bold.

Before: The Jones building is the shining jewel in our downtown.
After: The Jones building is an outstanding example of early nineteenth-century classical style architecture in downtown Centerville.

Before: The J. D. Smith Center is widely admired as a fiscally responsible family planning organization.
After: The J. D. Smith Center received a #1 rating from Charity Navigator for “outstanding financial management” for the fourth year in a row.

If you use clichés, reviewers may conclude that you are not likely to communicate clearly and effectively on your proposed project because you cannot communicate clearly in your proposal. Avoid clichés, and your proposal will be more persuasive.

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Dr. Jayme Sokolow, founder and president of The Development Source, Inc.,
helps nonprofit organizations develop successful proposals to government agencies. Contact Jayme Sokolow.

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If you’re reading this on-line and you would like to comment/expand on the above, or would just like to offer your thoughts on the subject of this posting, we encourage you to “Leave a Reply” at the bottom of this page, click on the feedback link at the top of the page, or send an email to the author of this posting. If you’ve received this posting as an email, click on the email link (above) to communicate with the author.

The Summer Is A Great Time To Make New Things Start To Happen !!

It would be a good time for a Development Program Analysis/Assessment/Audit to take a look at your current fundraising activities/programs to determine:
• What you’re not doing that you could do; and,
• What you’re doing that you could do more (cost) effectively !!

That should include an evaluation of your fundraising leadership and your leadership potential. It should incorporate an assessment of your fundraising knowledge/skills. It should determine how effectively you’re getting your message out to your (potential) donors, and how your donors/leaders/volunteers feel about how they are recognized for their support/efforts.

It would be a good time to begin Creating/Enhancing your Major Gifts Program — you could:
• Identify potential leadership;
• Identify potential major donors; and,
• Figure out how to get them to tell you what you need to do to get them to do what you
   want them to do !!

Major focus of this process is to learn what it is that would make folks want to become major donors to your organization.

It would be a good time to begin working on that Bequest Program you’ve been thinking about, so you can:
• Ensure long-term (5-, 6- & 7-figure) cash flow;
• Build a volunteer leadership that will want to help you create the program; and,
• Design a “Recognition Program” that will encourage potential “Legacy Society” members
   to want to join you.

In addition to the elements noted for the first two activities, you must determine what it would take to get people to want to name you in their wills.

And, to emphasize “the” critical factor for all of the above, the fact-finding and planning must focus on how, by supporting you, the (potential) donors will be satisfying their own needs.
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Have a comment or a question about starting, evaluating or expanding your fundraising program? With over 30 years of counseling in major gifts, capital campaigns, bequest programs and the planning studies to precede these three, I’ll be pleased to answer your questions. Contact me at AskHank@Major-Capital-Giving.com

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If you would like to comment/expand on the above, or would just like to offer your thoughts on the subject of this posting, we encourage you to “Leave a Reply” at the bottom of this page, click on the feedback link at the top of the page, or send an email to the author of this posting.

Using Moves Management To Secure Foundation Gifts

Moves Management, initially developed by G.T. “Buck” Smith and David Dunlop at Cornell University, is a process of managing relationships with individual donors and moving them towards major giving.

As cited in the white paper, Moves Management: The Science of Fundraising, according to David Dunlop, “the moves concept focuses major gift fundraising on changing people’s attitudes so they want to give. To do this, we take a series of initiatives or moves to develop each prospect’s awareness of, knowledge of, interest in, involvement with, and commitment to the institution and its mission.”

Although Moves Management is typically associated with major gift fundraising, it can also be used to help cultivate grant prospects and steward existing grantors. As I wrote in my previous post, A Four-step Process for Effective Grantsmanship” — “Building a relationship with foundation trustees and/or managers takes time, but is a valuable investment to position your grant applications for success.”

A planned series of “Moves” with foundation trustees and/or managers throughout the year will help you build relationships with these people who are critical to the success of your grant program.

Moves are typically communications that don’t include an ask. The goal is to better connect the potential or existing funder with your NPO’s mission. Some examples of moves with foundation trustees and/or managers include:
• Letters with feel-good stories – I recently sent a letter written by a student describing why
   the school means so much to him and his family
• Invitations to tour your facility and meet the people you serve – I’m lucky because I work
  at a middle school and our students are almost always available to talk to a donor
• Invitations to meet with your Executive Director or Program Director
• Letters sharing fundraising successes – I sent a letter indicating that we were recently
  awarded a large state grant to trustees and managers at foundations funding the same
  program — this shows that our program is worthy of receiving a competitive government
  grant and that our organization is seeking additional funding to sustain the program
• Invitations to special non-fundraising events

It’s important to document your moves not only to track your progress, but also to help you spot any holes in your Moves Management process. Many donor databases have fields that track contacts, but I simply use a spreadsheet with the grantors in the first column and all of the moves I plan to make in a row at the top. I fill in the dates when I plan to make the moves, and this becomes the basis of my work plan for the year. I also include letters of intent, proposals, and grant reports so that my work plan encompasses all communications with every foundation.

Throughout the year, I track when I actually make each move, and also document additional communications such as phone calls or e-mails, so that I have a record of all moves and communications with every foundation. Then I can easily see at various points during the year if I’m appropriately cultivating and stewarding every foundation.

This might seem tedious, but after doing this work, I recently discovered that I was over stewarding some foundations that made small grant awards, and not doing enough to steward and cultivate some of our bigger funders and prospects. I was able to adjust where I was spending my time, and I believe this will pay off in the long run, helping to move more foundations to fund our grant proposals.

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Lynn deLearie Consulting, LLC, helps nonprofit organizations develop, enhance and expand grant programs, and helps them secure funding from foundations and corporations. Contact Lynn deLearie..

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If you would like to comment/expand on the above, or would just like to offer your thoughts on the subject of this posting, we encourage you to “Leave a Reply” at the bottom of this page, click on the feedback link at the top of the page, or send an email to the author of this posting.

This posting is based on an email exchange asking about the relationship between bequests and Naming Opportunities (NOs). I have expanded on my responses in that exchange:

With regrets, I do not have a set of generic naming policies that I can share. I would, however, be happy to suggest how you might structure such for your organization.

First, you need to have policies in place to “regulate” what your organization will do with bequests, whether all or only certain (types or percentages of) bequests will go into endowment, capital needs and/or operating expenses.

Then, you need policies for what you would be willing to name, and what you wouldn’t – and whether the naming would be permanent and/or if some/all would have terms of a specific number of years.

Once the policies are in place, and there is a list of naming opportunities approved by the board, they shouldn’t need to be involved in approving each naming.

Typically, the Development Committee of the Board, in conjunction with the Chief Development Officer, make the decisions as to who will be offered which “opportunity” … at what “price.”

One caveat, the organization should also have in place policies specifying from whom the organization will/will not accept support.

Naming Opportunities (using the term broadly) for support of operating expenses tend to be of the names-on-a-list or on-a-plaque variety. NOs for endowment, depending on the size of the gift, can be names-on-a-list, names-on-a-plaque, or the naming of a (part of a) program that the gift endows.

NOs for capital projects range from names-on-a-plaque to names on equipment to names on (parts of) buildings.

NOs based on bequests, since an NPO doesn’t receive the gift until the donor is no longer with us, must be discussed/negotiated with the donor before they die !!

Those discussions/negotiations tend to be very business-like, and focus on what’s important to the donor. After all, s/he is not going to name you in his/her will unless:
1. S/he already feels strongly about your organization (or one of it’s programs) and/or;
2. Through the process leading to naming you in his/her will, develops that strong feeling for your organization (or one of it’s programs).

If you’re going to “sell” a naming, just be sure that the price is commensurate with the value of the “opportunity.” Remember, the “price” of a “naming” is based on the market value of that naming – a price that has little-or-no relation to the cost of creating/building/purchasing whatever is being named.

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Have a comment or a question about starting, evaluating or expanding your fundraising program? With over 30 years of counseling in major gifts, capital campaigns, bequest programs and the planning studies to precede these three, I’ll be pleased to answer your questions. Contact me at AskHank@Major-Capital-Giving.com
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Have you seen The Fundraising Series of ebooks ??
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If you would like to comment/expand on the above, or would just like to offer your thoughts on the subject of this posting, we encourage you to “Leave a Reply” at the bottom of this page, click on the feedback link at the top of the page, or send an email to the author of this posting.

Continuing (from Tuesday) to devise/structure the process for rebuilding our relationship with our lapsed donors….

Our next step is to design our solicitation strategies based upon how “major” the lapsed donors’ gifts were … and might be again. That helps us decide whether we just send solicitation letters with return gift envelopes enclosed; if we send letters followed by phone calls; whether we just call for decisions over the phone; or, if we write or call to seek meetings to discuss their renewals in person.

We also give serious (sensitive) thought and consideration to deciding if we’ll ask that they renew their previous/last gift, or if we see potential for seeking an increased contribution.

Consider using one or more of the following statements sometime during your lapsed gift renewal contacts as you seek to convince those lapsed donors to reinstate their gifts:

• Your support has always meant so much to us. May we count on you again this year?

• We missed your participation in our campaign last year (or specify if it’s been a longer period). Please join us for another year.

• We take great pride in having your name associated with our institution. We have missed that association, and I hope we can count on your participation again this year.

• We are aware that you chose not to renew your gift to us last year (or in the year it ended). We welcome this opportunity to ask if that was because of something we did that we can now remedy, or if it is something out of our control. We will soon contact you to ask what we can try to do to win back your important support.

• I was reviewing this year’s list of important contributors, and could not help but notice that your name was missing. That’s why I wanted to contact you, to respectfully ask that you consider renewing your gift for this year’s campaign.

• There is a good chance we will establish a new record of gift support this year for our institution, but only if important contributors such as you continue to invest in our institution. Can we count on your support again this year?

And, an added note: We always looked to connect the renewal of lapsed gifts to a current matching or challenge grant program. which tends to be a compelling “selling” point. And we found, more often than not, that the “challenger” allowed us to use those renewed gifts as “new” money when that was a requirement for matching funds.

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If you have a question or comment for Tony, he can be reached at Tony@raise-funds.com. There is also a lot of good fundraising information on his website: Raise-Funds.com

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If you would like to comment/expand on the above, or would just like to offer your thoughts on the subject of this posting, we encourage you to “Leave a Reply” at the bottom of this page, click on the feedback link at the top of the page, or send an email to the author of this posting.

It’s an old saying in development, that your best prospects for the next time are the people who gave to you last time … or the time before that, or the time before….

Based on our best knowledge and understanding of the people who’ve given to us before, we should be making case-by-case judgments on how to bring our lapsed donors back into the fold.

Of course, care should be taken to avoid asking lapsed donors to reconsider their support if they previously made it explicitly clear that they wanted to be removed from the donor list and that they did not intend to give again. And, also of course, that depends on the quality/accuracy of our records.

If we kept good records, we would know why they did not want to be asked again.

But, through my rose-colored glasses, I always look for some hint that some of those “don’t ask me again” lapsed donors could now be thinking otherwise — especially if the reason for the halt in their giving was something which has changed in our institution, something we could fix, or that they might now be in a better financial or personal position to renew their support.

In those very special instances, we would say to the lapsed donor, “I know you said no to our request in the past, and we did take you off our regular solicitation list as you requested, but I wanted to determine that we did that because you were unhappy with something that we did or did not do at the time … or if the reason was something out of our control.”

(Since they once felt good about their relationship with our organization, they would, invariably, appreciate the call and would tell us if they had, indeed, wanted to be taken off the list because of a grievance.)

The purpose of our call was to find out if we had done something wrong and, if possible, restore our relationship with those donors. Sometimes it was something we could now fix. Sometimes, even though we never asked, they would even reconsider and make a gift.

So, our first step was to determine how far back is “lapsed.” Maybe three years with no response is a good cut off point. Some institutions go back five years.

Then we calculate a minimum donation level, based on what is practical, relative to good use of time and effort vs. potential dollars. (With an eye on those below the minimum cut off who are thought to have greater giving potential than their last gift.)

— This post continues on Thursday of this week —

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If you have a question or comment for Tony, he can be reached at Tony@raise-funds.com. There is also a lot of good fundraising information on his website: Raise-Funds.com

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If you would like to comment/expand on the above, or would just like to offer your thoughts on the subject of this posting, we encourage you to “Leave a Reply” at the bottom of this page, click on the feedback link at the top of the page, or send an email to the author of this posting.