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Got a short-term tech project on your wish list for next year, but not sure how you’ll pay for it? Here are two sources of pro bono technology help:
- Npower, a national nonprofit that offers technology services to other nonprofits, offers The Community Corps. The corps connects nonprofits with technology experts able to tackle small pro bono projects, under 25 hours. For example, you could get help with launching a social media page or preparing records for an upcoming data migration. If you're interested, start by creating an online account.
- Consulting firm Web Analytics Demystified offers the free Analysis Exchange. The service enables technology students to work with nonprofits looking to better measure and attract Web traffic. Nonprofit organizations are encouraged to submit questions online.
We know technology is an ongoing need for youth-serving programs. Some of our past articles on this topic include our "Go-To List for Nonprofit Technology" and "Affordable Technology for Nonprofits: Debunking the Myths."
It's Fundraising Week here at NCFY! We're re-posting some of our favorite articles from the Right on the Money series, which focuses on how youth-serving organizations can sustain their programs financially. In this article first published in May 2010, we talk to the author of "Fearless Fundraising for Nonprofit Boards."
Fundraising consultant David Sternberg has a simple message for nonprofit leaders in search of new funding sources.
“Most of the money that goes to nonprofits comes from people,” he says, not from governments, foundations or corporations. To build those relationships, charities should tap a built-in fundraising team: their boards.
“People give money when they are individually asked and have personal connections,” Sternberg says. “The only way to stay competitive and raise money is to have a board that’s engaged in the process.”
Board members should work together to identify potential donors and organize charitable events like parties or dinners, as well as raise money on their own. Sternberg suggests the following steps to making a charity’s board its best fundraising asset:
Structure the board to encourage fundraising. Sternberg recommends that every board have three committees: a governance committee, a finance or audit committee and a fundraising committee. Part of the last group’s role is to ensure that the entire board—not just the fundraising committee—has philanthropic assignments, he says, such as helping to identify and approach prospective donors. With the right structure in place, ask the board to make fundraising a priority. Start by winning over one or two influential board members then initiate a discussion with the others about the organization’s needs and the role board members could play.
Recruit board members committed to philanthropy. Sternberg suggests asking current board members to list their personal connections to potential sources of philanthropy, whether individuals, foundations or corporations. He also recommends meeting with the boards and CEOs of other nonprofits and asking for their help pinpointing potential board members. Perusing the board and donor lists in the annual reports of other charities is also a good start. Set expectations for new and returning board members and ensure that everyone understands their roles. Create a board member job description that includes both giving and getting financial contributions.
Train board members in the basics of fundraising and support their efforts. Board members should receive training on such topics as how to ask for gifts, how to identify potential donors, how to give an elevator pitch and how to be comfortable in the role of fundraiser. Finally, ensure that they have the staff assistance they need. For instance, help them prepare for meetings with potential donors, brief them about prospects’ interests and backgrounds, and accompany them on visits, if they request it. (For information about where to find training, contact your state’s nonprofit association.)
It's Fundraising Week here at NCFY! We're re-posting some of our favorite articles from the Right on the Money series, which focuses on how youth-serving organizations can sustain their programs financially. In this article first published in March 2011, we walk you through the steps of building a relationship with a potential corporate donor.
At a time when many corporations have cut back on charitable donations, a youth-serving organization in Fayetteville, AR, has beat the odds. Youth Bridge, which serves runaway and homeless youth and teens with substance abuse and mental health problems, has more than tripled corporate donations as a percentage of its annual budget over the past three years, says Nancy Hairston, the organization’s chief fundraiser.
The success, she says, comes from recognizing that making the “ask” of a business is not a one-time request: It’s the culmination of a long-term process, with plenty of hands-on, personalized attention.
Any youth-serving charity, even one without a dedicated fundraising department, can put Hairston’s philosophy into practice. To help others raise corporate dollars in this time of shrinking state and local budgets, she shared with NCFY the steps she took to build a relationship with and secure a donation from one Fayetteville company.
Be warned that the process takes several years. But by following Hairston’s lead, you’ll find that soliciting a donation from a business feels more like talking to a friend than passing the hat.
First Contact: Sponsorships
Hairston first invited members of the company’s board to sponsor YouthBridge events. Why? When sponsoring companies publicly associate their name with a youth-care program, it helps them feel invested in the program’s work and cause, which can lead to more substantive collaboration.
Next Steps: Courting Executives—and Employees
“Money is tight,” Nancy Hairston says, “and corporations want to know exactly who they’re supporting.” So she took steps to familiarize the company with the work that Youth Bridge does by inviting executives to her organization’s events.
She also met with corporate leaders on their own turf. Doing so showed them her commitment to reaching out, she says, and provided constructive feedback about how best to communicate Youth Bridge’s mission.
Because Hairston knows that corporations pay attention to where their employees volunteer and give money, she also created opportunities for its employees to volunteer at Youth Bridge. “[Companies] listen to employees with a direct personal relationship to an agency’s services,” she says.
Getting Closer: Board Memberships and Public Recognition
Next, Hairston asked a senior manager from the corporation to serve on her organization’s board. With a corporate representative on your board or in your regular meeting schedule, you have a valuable ally and advocate when asking the company for money.
If your board is already full or you’d prefer a different way to personalize your relationship with a corporation, consider some other form of recognition. Youth Bridge once gave their annual philanthropy award to another local company’s president, after which “two members of their management team asked to get on our board,” Hairston says. “And plenty of volunteers began to come, too.”
The Ask: A Conversation, Not a Question
When it came time to solicit a donation, Hairston had lunch with the board member, but she didn’t ask for money—she asked for help.
“Hopefully, your final ‘ask’ is a conversation” with a corporate representative or the company’s community relations liaison, she says. “Let them coach and strategize with you and help design a proposal for the board. That’s how you figure out what’s appropriate to request of them.”
The Result
With ample reason to trust Youth Bridge and a pitch tailored directly to their philanthropic interests, the corporation happily agreed to donate.
Read this previous Right on the Money article about how corporations approach charitable giving.
It's Fundraising Week here at NCFY! We're re-posting some of our favorite articles from the Right on the Money series, which focuses on how youth-serving organizations can sustain their programs financially. In this article first published in July, a Nebraska fundraiser gives advice on starting a monthly giving club for donors.
Once a month, about 250 donors to CEDARS, a social services organization in Lincoln, NE, get a letter in the mail with a story about a homeless or abused young person, or an update on the ways CEDARS is using donations to improve the lives of children and youth. Sometimes, a photo or a young person’s artwork accompanies the letter.
The recipients of these items have chosen to participate in CEDARS’s monthly giving club. In other words, they each write a check to CEDARS every month, delivering an ongoing stream of financial support for the organization’s programs. Just as important, says Meagan Liesveld, director of communications and donor relations, offering people a monthly “giving circle” enables CEDARS to stay in touch with them regularly.
“Some donors write back,” she says. “They feel like they really know us well. They really have a good handle on what we’re doing here and what our priorities are.”
That familiarity means that when Liesveld and her colleagues think about who might consider making a larger gift or including CEDARS in their wills, monthly givers are first to make the list.
“We call them our hand-raisers,” she says, because of their willingness to help.
Only a small fraction of CEDARS’s donors give every month, and on average they give only slightly more than other supporters. But Liesveld calls it a worthwhile investment of time and effort. Starting a monthly program and building stronger relationships with donors is easy as 1-2-3, she says. Here’s how:
1. Set up a way for people to give automatically. You can do this through a credit-card processing company, like your bank or PayPal. (Learn how to choose a credit-card processor and set up an online giving site.)
CEDARS employees also can give by having their chosen amount deducted from their paychecks each month.
2. Advertise the program. Liesveld recommends two concurrent strategies. First, identify people with a strong connection to your organization. For example, donors who give four or more times a year, board members, or longtime volunteers. Then send a letter or call them and ask them to join.
Second, reach a broader group by touting the program on every piece of communication you produce: your direct mail appeals, emails, website, newsletters, brochures and so on.
It helps to set “giving levels”—amounts people can choose to donate each month--based on how much it costs to provide youth with particular services, Liesveld says. For instance, CEDARS donors can choose to give at least $12 a month, which feeds a young person for one day. See CEDARS’s other giving levels on its monthly giving signup form.
3. Stay in touch. CEDARS staff send monthly reminder letters to people who pay by cash or check, and quarterly letters to credit card donors. A different member of the fundraising team writes each letter, so no one gets bogged down by the duty. The fundraisers interview the organization’s direct care workers to get stories about their day-to-day struggles and triumphs working with young people.
Sending photos, artwork and other small gifts is a nice touch that people like, Liesveld says. And if you want to save money, regular, newsy emails will do just fine, she says.
More Information
Read more advice on running a monthly giving program, from the website Fired-Up Fundraising.
Read NCFY’s advice on how to
It's Fundraising Week here at NCFY! We're re-posting some of our favorite articles from the Right on the Money series, which focuses on how youth-serving organizations can sustain their programs financially. In this article first published in October 2011, we take you through the basics of collecting donations online.
Americans like to support their favorite charities, and they're doing it more and more online. Nonprofit consulting firm Convio recently released a study showing that nonprofits raised more than $1.3 billion over the Internet last year, while the average online gift jumped to over $90.
If you'd like a fast and easy way to get in on the online fundraising action—and you're a small or mid-sized nonprofit organization—you're probably looking at using what's called a "third party donation processor," so you can accept credit cards online.
Third party processors collect donations through a "Donate Now" link on your website and then pass the donation on to you at the end of each month, minus a processing fee. Usually, your donation page is up and running in less than an hour.
"Online giving is growing, so it's incredibly important that nonprofits have a visible 'Donate Now' button on their website and that they make the donation process as simple and seamless as possible," says Jenny Henry of Sumac Software. "When choosing a payment processor, think about the donor's experience."
You want your contributors to feel safe using the site and know that any financial information they provide will be secure. Deciding how to do this will depend on what information you need from your donors, and how much money you can afford to spend.
"Ideally, go with one that has a donation page that can be customized to look like your website, so the donor doesn't even know they left. Research shows these donation pages raise more funds," Henry says. "If cost is a factor, however, going with a trusted name like PayPal may not be a bad idea."
One thing to keep in mind when using a third party processor: the name of the third party, rather than your organization's name, will show up on your donor's credit card statement. Make sure donors know how the charge will appear on their statements. You can do that on a receipt you email to donors. Since contributions to 501(c)(3) nonprofits may be tax deductible, you'll want to provide a receipt for donations anyway.
Once you decide what you want from your donation processor, there are many sites and services to choose from. To help you decide which product offers the best match of price and services for your organization, check out Henry's article, "Weighing Your Options for Processing Donations Online."
It's Fundraising Week here at NCFY! We're re-posting some of our favorite articles from the Right on the Money series, which focuses on how youth-serving organizations can sustain their programs financially. In this article first published in December 2010, we get advice from several fundraisers on how to say "thank you" to donors and volunteers.
Common wisdom says to thank your donors at least seven times during the course of the year. Here are five ideas for thanking those who give to your cause – whether individual donors, foundation or government officers or volunteers – one last time before we say goodbye to another year.
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Send an end-of-year wrap-up letter or e-mail message, says fundraising consultant Sandy Rees. “Nothing fancy,” she says. “Just let the donor know what their gift accomplished this year.” Keep it short, with a few statistics, such as the number of young people served by your programs, and a personal story about a young person (keeping confidentiality in mind).
“When you can include a couple of facts and a good story, it appeals to both sides of the brain,” Rees says. -
Mail a holiday card – if you can afford it and if you can get it to the post office by mid-December. “It’s a good idea to send something in the mail that doesn’t have an ‘ask’ in it,” Rees says. “You’re not asking for money, you’re just thanking them.”
But if you can’t get your cards out early in the season, consider waiting till mailboxes get less crowded, say at the new year or in February, for Valentine’s Day, says Karin Mills, formerly vice president of fund development and marketing for the Indiana Youth Institute, in Indianapolis. That way, your card will stand out, rather than blending in with all the other holiday notes.
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If your organization or a staff member owns a digital video recorder, videotape a quick thank you from staff or a testimonial from a family you’ve helped. Then post it on your website and share it via e-mail, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and whatever other social media your organization uses.
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Give a special gift to your top 10 or 20 donors or volunteers. “You can’t do something for everyone, but you can try to do something for those truly involved,” Mills says. An item as simple as framed artwork by youth in your program, a basket of brownies or a peach with a note (“You’re a peach”) lets donors and volunteers know you appreciate their contributions, she says.
- News is slow between Christmas and new years, so pitch a feel-good story to your local news media. Spotlight the difference your volunteers are making, and include a message of thanks. “I’ve always been able to place a story that week,” Rees says.
It's Fundraising Week here at NCFY! We're re-posting some of our favorite articles from the Right on the Money series, which focuses on how youth-serving organizations can sustain their programs financially. In this article first published in November 2009, we talked to Washington fundraiser Kristen Valentine.
In these tough economic times, hiring a full-time grant writer or using a consultant may not make the most financial sense. As an alternative, small nonprofits can tap into the talents of their staff to put together grant proposals.
“What you ultimately want is to use your staff’s greatest strengths,” says Kristen Valentine, chief fundraiser for Bread for the City, a social service agency in Washington. “You want to find out what people do well and have them do it.”
Following are some tips she offered on training staff to write grant proposals.
Assess the staff. Who are the best communicators, organizers, strategic thinkers? Who’s good with graphics? These individuals should be on your grant-writing team.
Assemble a grant-writing team. Appoint a single point person to manage the project, set deadlines, create the file system and marshal team members along. Assign writers to support the point person. Rotate team members for each grant proposal to avoid burnout and to give various staff members the opportunity to develop grant-writing skills.
Host a training. At an all-hands staff meeting, teach the basics of proposal writing and give staff an idea of the types of grants your organization will seek. Here are four important themes to cover:
- Measurable outcomes rule. Don’t try to measure things that are too hard to measure, says Valentine. If it will take years to reach goal, or a goal is hard to quantify, start with smaller, identifiable things such the number of meetings or communications.
- Sound financial statements that can back up your program are critical. Smaller programs have trouble with this, but plan ahead so that the person who will be doing the back-end reporting is the one putting together the statements in the proposal. “Foundations are poring through these sections more, and there’s much more of a push toward transparency than ever before,” says Valentine.
- Brevity and bullets ensure your proposal gets read. Funders read hundreds of proposals each day. You’ll do well to teach staff to make their points in short, clean, jargon-free language and to visually convey as much information as possible. Valentine says to use logic models, graphs and bullets points. “Cut back on adjectives and stop congratulating yourself so much,” she says. “If you can say it in 10 words, use 10 words.”
- Translate the mission. A crucial part of the writing will be aligning the program’s mission with the requirements of the grant. Foundations are giving away mostly targeted dollars, says Valentine. The writers will need to be coached to talk with program managers and work out creative ways to explain how your nonprofit will fulfill the requirements of the grant.
It's Fundraising Week here at NCFY! We're re-posting some of our favorite articles from the Right on the Money series, which focuses on how youth-serving organizations can sustain their programs financially. In this article first published in May 2009, we talked to Tammy Hopper, who is now project director at the Family and Youth Services Bureau's Runaway and Homeless Youth Training and Technical Assistance Center.
It's no secret nonprofit organizations are struggling to find new funding sources in these tough economic times. But with the right grant writing formula, your organization has a better chance of weathering the storm.
"Federal proposals are very much like baking a cake," says Tammy Hopper, president and CEO of the Youth and Family Services Network. "On the Betty Crocker box, it tells you what ingredients to use, what temperature to cook your cake, and it even tells you what type of pan to put the cake in."
One of the most critical mistakes grant writers make is getting a little overzealous with their proposals, she says. But clever techniques, graphics and numerous quotes won't ever trump a well-written proposal that answers the funder's questions. Hopper offered the following tips on crafting a good proposal:
Dos
- State the facts. State the problem that exists in your community and find current research to support your proposal.
- Fill the gaps. In cases where you don't meet all the eligibility criteria, state what resources and partners you have access to that qualify your organization for funding.
- Ask questions. Most funders have training and technical assistance centers as well as project officers who can answer questions.
- Invest in a grant writer. Hiring or contracting a qualified grant writer can be worthwhile. Another option is including someone with these skills on your advisory board. Check out the American Association of Grant Professionals for help finding a certified professional.
- Proofread, please! Although you won't lose points on paper, if the grant reviewer spots a typo, you won't make the best possible impression. Have a pair of fresh eyes review the final product.
Don'ts
- Don't recycle. A common mistake is pulling out last year's winning proposal and starting from there. But unless you have the reviewer's comments, you don't know why that old proposal was funded. Get the reviewer's comments and start a brand new proposal from scratch.
- Forego the old "team" approach. Because many staff members have information to contribute, proposals often come in without a cohesive voice. Hopper says a grant reviewer "shouldn't feel the proposal was written by six different people." Have one person tie it all together to present a uniform tone.
- Don't rush. Too many grant writers are chasing the FedEx truck at the end of the day because they didn't allow enough time to write a good proposal, Hopper says. Give yourself enough time to polish your work.
- Don't beg. Funders are aware of how difficult it is to find support, but that isn't license to use your proposal to overstate problems. Rather, explain to funders what techniques you've already established to ensure stability.
Grant writing is not a science. There are human beings on the other end reading your proposal. Hopper says, "You've got to make the best case possible. It's not enough to say we have a problem in our community and we should be funded. Your job is to convince them to invest in your project and that the investment is well placed."
It's Fundraising Week here at NCFY! We're re-posting some of our favorite articles from the Right on the Money series, which focuses on how youth-serving organizations can sustain their programs financially. In this article first published in September 2010, we talked to fundraising consultant Hope Neighbor.
What motivates people to give to charity? That’s the million dollar question for nonprofit organizations. To answer it, the Money for Good study, conducted by Hope Consulting of San Francisco, surveyed 4,000 people who make $80,000 or more a year. Givers broke down into the following categories:
Repayers like to give back to organizations or causes that have benefited them or people close to them.
Casual givers want giving to be easy, and they prefer to support established and respected organizations.
High impact givers support causes that don’t get attention by giving to organizations that do a good job addressing those issues.
Faith-based givers count religion as their single most important motivator.
See-the-difference givers donate to small local organizations that serve the community because they feel their gift will make more of a difference.
Personal ties givers have a close connection to the organization or person who asks them for a gift.
Hope Neighbor, founder and CEO of Hope Consulting, recommends that nonprofits focus on two to three of the six groups, rather than trying to be all things to all people. “Identify the segments that are most likely to give to you, and shape your marketing and the donor experience around the motivations and needs of the segments you choose,” she says.
With that in mind, we gave Neighbor examples of four hypothetical youth-serving nonprofits and asked what advice she would give to each. Her suggestions are laid out in the table that follows:
| Organization | Donor Groups to Target | Key Messages |
|---|---|---|
| Small youth-serving nonprofit | See the difference |
Gifts are used in your community Gifts make a big difference for the people we serve—and here’s how A donation of $X buys Y |
| Large social service organization that serves two counties |
High impact
Casual givers |
Background: Here’s the issue and why it’s important Greater depth: Here’s the impact we’re having and the ways we’re changing things We’re among the best at working on this important issue We’ve been doing this for a long time, and we have a great track record We’re respected in the community It’s easy to give to us by [giving at work, online, at one of our events] |
| Education and job-training program or college-preparation program | Repayers |
Stay in touch with us We keep you in touch with your fellow alumni You can give back by making a donation or volunteering |
| Youth-serving organization with strong religious orientation | Faith-based | Faith is integral to our work |
It's Fundraising Week here at NCFY! We're re-posting some of our favorite articles from the Right on the Money series, which focuses on how youth-serving organizations can sustain their programs financially. In this article first published in April 2009, we talked to fundraising consultant Ann McCaw about the importance of "diversifying" your funding sources.
When youth-serving organizations rely on just one source of funding, they can find themselves at risk during tough economic times. "An organization must diversify its funding streams in order to survive and thrive," says Ann McCaw, principal consultant at One Bright Bird Consulting, which advises nonprofit organizations on fund raising. "No donor will be around forever."
In addition, McCaw says, donors, whether foundation, government or individual, often put restrictions on how an organization spends its money. "The more different kinds of donors you have, the more flexibility you have in how you spend those precious dollars," she says. "If one donor won't support advocacy or infrastructure, another kind of donor will."
Seeking multiple sources of funding is a long-term strategy—not a quick fix in a difficult economy. "Relationships take time to build and tremendous energy to sustain," McCaw says. "By carefully thinking through the most fruitful kinds of relationships for the organization as a whole, you will be growing the organization—maybe not in six months, but definitely over a year or two years or three."
To get our readers started on the road to diversification, NCFY has put together a few tips:
- Government funding is a start—not an end—to meeting your program's needs. Triangulate funding from federal, state and local sources to stave off the effects of budget cuts. Most state budgets set aside funding specifically for programs serving youth outside of school including mentoring programs and those for runaway and homeless youth. Numerous cities, towns and counties do the same.
- Private funding includes donations from individuals and grants from foundations and corporations. Building strong long-term relationships is key to raising money from private sources. In addition, when thinking of how donors can help you, don't think merely of their pocket books, McCaw says. Consider, as well, the ways they might help you build your programs and your fund-raising strategy. "If you're providing job training skills to at-risk youth, is there a kind of business where you would like to place them?" she says. "Then work with those businesses on building program and on fundraising activities." Some foundations offer technical assistance and training to their grantees; individual donors can be powerful spokespeople and volunteers for an organization.
What you can do:
- Determine your current funding mix from all sources.
- Consider the restrictions placed on each stream of funding.
- Consider how long each funding stream might last.
- Forecast where a gap might exist in the future.
- Create a strategic plan that joins your programmatic priorities and your fund-raising needs.
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