End of Year Waltz on Facebook

The End of Year is always a busy time for fundraising.  Getting in end of year donations, mailings, thank you's and of course keeping up with social media and emails to both thank donors and get those last donations.  On the now working NJ Path to work  I put some thought into what to say to both thank our supporters and still try to trigger a few dollars because the clock strikes midnight. Since in my organization and those I work with (the Shelter) email usually need to be approved and lists are not easily accessible, Facebook and Twitter represent great ways to get the word out.

However, as we put together our messages, it's a real waltz to both thank donors and remind them "Get in those last minute dollars!" While some people think that we (fundraisers) just slap up Facebook messages and get to play on the Internet for a job, those of us that do this everyday know that we are constantly thinking about how to get the best response, target our audience, grow our base, figure out how to turn this into a fundraising tool, etc.  We carefully craft messages to coordinate with our activities, appeals, holidays, events, etc. So the end of year message is the pinnacle of our SM year.

I snagged a line I liked from PP for the Shelter asking volunteers and supporters why they supported the Shelter after a fellow volunteer had posted a thank you at 8am this morning (I was doing my dishes!).  I also pulled a quote from the volunteer we honored at our 30th Anniversary event. I already love the responses that have been posted and it's been shared on other pages.

Hoboken Shelter

“Every single time I go into The Shelter I hit the reset button. [Volunteering] is very therapeutic.” - Todd Kinney, 30th Anniversary Honoree. Why do YOU support the Hoboken Shelter?


Later I plan to cut and paste Jaclyn's winter note into a Facebook note and paste that up.  I'd like to pull from it how many people were helped.

For my regular job, I had previously pasted links to our Annual Report and asked about resolutions to do more pro bono work so today I went with a list of our major projects and a link to our donation page. Later I plan to post a thank you and happy New Year pic.

How are you thanking and getting your message out to donors for the end of the year?  What have been your favorite New Year's posts?

Hoboken Post Sandy Shelter Status: Twitter Lifeline

Hurricane Sandy hit Hoboken with tremendous force, ruining homes, cars, and belongings, leaving many without power and putting residents and their belongings on the street. It's devastating and I wish the best to all those who need to rebuild after the storm.  We were lucky and escaped with minimal damage and only spent about 5 days without power.  In the storm's aftermath, we've been trying to return to work as normal but crazy transit commutes have certainly made that a struggle.  And today we battle yet another storm - one that is threatening wind, rain and possibly even snow.

During the storm, we were one of the last to lose power and I kept up to date with friends and "the boken" on Twitter and FB, learning where the water was, what was flooding, and seeing incredible pictures of the damage.  We found at close to midnight our garage was flooding and ran down to move boxes, bags of soil and old clothes and trees to save the garage. See picture above.  The water came in a lot stronger just after this picture was taken.  Notice our lights were still on.

While on Twitter and FB, I kept tabs on the Shelter since I handle most of their social media efforts. It was really nice to see how many were asking about the Hoboken Shelter and what they needed and if they made it through the storm okay. We've added about 20 new fans who consistently asking what they can do to volunteer and what they can bring by.  We are lucky as a community to have such supportive friends of the Shelter. Fortunately, the Shelter did not have flood damage and they didn't lose power until Tuesday morning.   You can see how many people are asking about food and such below.

In talking to Jaclyn, the ED, after the storm the Shelter did need help . They had gone through many supplies, taking in so many of our poorer neighbors.  And with another storm approaching they need all the help of the community.  Last night I found an article online interviewing Jaclyn about storm prep for Winter Storm Athena as well as what they needed. Mostly coffee and sugar as well as paper goods.  Thanks to the Hudson Reporter for providing the info which you can find here.

Wishing everyone a calmer time in the weeks to come as well as a speedy recovery. #HobokenSandy

Fundraising Lunch: 5 Easy Ways to Jump Start Fundraising With Program Staff

I presented these 5 easy points during a staff lunch at Pro Bono Net on my past experiences creating a culture of philanthropy at the organization and encouraging program staff to be past of the fundraising. (Aside from making them stuff invitations and fold tickets during crunch time!) 

The goal was to start a conversation about how development could be more transparent about the fundraising work we are doing and how we could encourage the program staff to participate in fundraising. Here is an article from EJewish Philanthropy by Stephen G. Donshik, D.S.W.,which captures how much we as a staff need to participate in good stewardship. I also used this article on top tips for creating a culture of philanthropy to formulate my top 5 tips. Whenever I go to AFP meetings or events related to fundraising, I recap what I learned for other staff and I do that for the Shelter Development Committee.  I think training and current trends is critical to being good fundraisers.

 
 

1.       Identifying Donors

You’re pounding the pavement and talking about your programs, who’s taking the bait?

Program staff that do outreach may have the best opportunities to talk to potential supporters.  For example, I worked at a small shop where it was hard to do outreach, but much of our staff was doing outreach as part of their job. They took a fundraising lead when they found someone who was a potential candidate and wanted to donate, do an in-kind collection, or event. They would direct them to development and stay on as a point of contact. Frequently, these relationships developed into fundraising events and donations.

2.       Talking with Donors

No one can describe programmatic work as well as the people who do it – so they should.

When talking with donors, it helps to have supporters meet the program staff. For example, I frequently took along programmatic staff to luncheons and events where we’d meet donors or if donors came to the office, I set time aside for them to meet program staff.  The beginning steps of any stewardship plan is about building the relationship, having program staff speak passionately about what they do is a great way to immerse donors in your cause.  

3.       Cultivation and Sharing

I think this is the most important step in stewardship. Once you develop a relationship with a donor, program staff, board and development can help steward, and it doesn’t always have to be an overwhelming process.  For example, at one organization I worked at, one of our major donors to education was very interested in current trends, so the education department would send over new fliers, blog posts and articles that our donor might find interesting and I would forward them along – it helped increase the EOY gift.

4.       Share Stories

It may be something as simple as telling development about an interaction you had or putting something in an email.  It can really sell the organization if development staff can start with “You know I was just talking with someone about this very issue, they mentioned XYZ”.

5.       Share your Vision

Have an idea? Don’t hesitate to share.  My colleague, Pam and I have spoken with program staff and started a quarterly call and some ideas have become successful proposals. 

I recommended a few sites (I could have included a lot more but decided to aim for a half dozen) I check regularly including:

Association of Fundraising Professionals (New York Site)

Katya's Non-Profit Marketing Blog 

The Fundraising Coach 

Getting Attention Blog

Joyaux Associates

Ahern Communications Ink

Amy Eisenstein - Tri Point Fundraising

 

Get In the Spirit for the HoBOOken 5k

Normally, any reference to working out is saved strictly for my blog Pasta & Power Squats: A Girl Burns Up the Gym & the Kitchen but since this group is raising money for the Hoboken Shelter, I'll give them a quick shout out - the Hoboken Elysianettes.  Once again, this year, they are organizing, running, and greatly helping out the Hoboken Shelter by donating the proceeds from the HoBOOken 5k to the organization.  I went to their sprint workout last night, Thursday, to get some company and speed during what could be a very boring activity by yourself, 6 hill repeats, but having a few other people running up the same hill felt great. 

Last year at this time, after the Elysianettes approached us about the race, we were deciding whether or not to host our summer/fall happy hour and ultimately decided to host it as a launch party for the HoBOOken 5k. The Elysianettes and some non-running friends come out one month before the event and we enjoyed the chance to get to know them before race and raised $600.  Amazingly they raised more than $25,000 at the race, which despite the weather, was a great day. 

On October 3, 2012 from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m, we'll host our Second Launch Party for the HoBOOken 5k to "Get in the Spirit" at the Melting Pot Hoboken, 100 Sinatra Drive. 

In close vicinity to Pier A and the Path. The Melting Pot will offer complimentary dessert fondue as well as the following drink specials:

$5 draft beer (excluding Chimay)

$6 cocktails from our cocktail menu

I provided a link to the cocktail menu - I am thinking the pom martini but we'll see. The full menu will be out and available for order. Should you want to make it a night out, head over to the restaurant and the Melting Pot will offer meal package of Cheese Fondue, Chocolate Fondue, and a glass of house wine each for $40 per couple. If it's a nice night, bring pup, sit on the patio and they can enjoy K9-friendly white chocolate fondue and treats while you enjoy the meal package.  Available from 5-9 p.m.  

We ask for a suggested donation of $20 and with that you'll receive 3 raffle tickets, with a chance to win a Melting Pot g.c., Fleet Feet Sports g.c., as well as g.c. to other Hoboken hot spots. 

We look forward to seeing you there.  Thanks to the Elysianettes for their hard work to get Hoboken's  homeless back on their feet. Every night the Shelter feeds more than 400 people and shelters 50 of our homeless neighbors. 

#GetintheSpirit - follow kar002 on twitter

My friend Jen and I in 2011 - loving life and hot chocolate after a long cold run, props to Eileen for making the cocoa. 

Make it or Break it: Taglines For Events

Expert nonprofit marketer Nancy Schwartz whose website Getting Attention! has been super informative as I did/do more nonprofit marketing at organizations like Planned Parenthood, the Hoboken Shelter, and PBN.

I've been reading (read skimming) the emails about her 2012 Nonprofit Tagline Awards, and winners have now been selected from over 1,400 entries.  Today, I had some time to take a look at the finalists and some of them were really creative. It got my brain jogging about our fundraising and events and the messaging we use. I think I (or we) always thought a great deal about taglines for the  organizational and program use but not as much about taglines specifically for fundraising and for special events. But since we as fundraisers want to inspire people to attend/give, we probably need messaging here more than anywhere else.

Here are some of the taglines I have used recently for our events at the Hoboken Shelter (this is where I do most events)...

For our 30th Anniversary, our invite cover was a house made up of pictures of guests and we used a line that the women's group had stenciled above the door, "May all who enter as guests, leave as friends." And we invited our family of supporters to celebrate the community we'd created for our homeless neighbors.

In just a few weeks we'll host our second launch party to kickoff a 5K race put on by the Hoboken Elysianettes called the HoBOOken 5K, held Halloween weekend, that benefits the Shelter. When I was doing the invite, I was trying to come up with a cute and not overused tagline connected to running or Halloween.  I eventually gravitated to Halloween and the launch party is a "Get in the Spirit" Wine and Chocolate event to kickoff the 5K.  The flier invites all ghouls, gals, runners and non-runners.

Lastly, in terms of event messaging, the Teak Silent Auction, which is one of our biggest fundraisers and typically brings in $15,000 to $20,000.  I was nominated for the Marketing and Public Relations Chair because of the work I've done with the press, marketing and social media.  I started playing with taglines.  I don't believe we've ever used one, but since I was inspired...
"The Teak Silent Auction: Come to Bid, Stay to Strengthen our Community."

This was a 5 minute experiment...thoughts?  Thanks to Nancy for getting everyone to think about messaging.  As the end of the year comes in we should think about how we talk about ourselves and our messaging and not miss good opportunities to get across what we do.

Newsletter for the Hoboken Shelter

I've talked a lot about the note we put with the Hoboken Shelter's August newsletter in prior posts.  I just posted it as a note on Facebook and I am hoping people appreciate the time we put into sending a little note along. It was no easy task combining a thank you, with an ask and tying it in the newsletter.  And it was a delicate discussion as to whether or not we should ask supporters for money via the mail aside from at the holidays. (I was a 'yes' vote).  I am already noting places I think we could improve and getting ideas for the holiday mailing to share with the committee and E.D. but I think overall it's great we started including a somewhat personalized note to send with the mailing. My mom thought it was nice when she received it. 

The reason I thought the note was important is because the newsletter is the only mailing going to donors they are not receiving "asks" also throughout the year in addition to the newsletter.  They typically sent a letter at the holidays and that was it.  This was on a third of an 81/2x11 sheet and fit just over the newsletter in a number 10 envelope.  Again, because it had stats, thanked the donor, shared with the donor what the community accomplished, referenced a successful client and made an ask I think it is a successful round 1 attempt.

Here is the text we came up with that went out as part of the August newsletter...


Dear Friends,

I want to take a moment to say THANK YOU!

It is because of your generosity that 76 guests have moved into their own homes and 78,041 meals have been served so far this year. I am sincerely grateful for your dedication to our important work.

Your gift truly make a difference in the lives of our guests. In the newsletter you'll meet a lovely women named Yvette, who is a successfully housed guest. She worked her whole life  to take of her family and other people's families, but then found herself out of work and homeless. Thanks to our caring community, you helped us get her back on her feet and now she has keys to her own home!

Every day guests like Yvette count on us for food and shelter. Without your support, we could not continue to open our doors to our homeless neighbors on their journeys to homes of their own. I hope you'll consider a gift to support our life-changing work. 

Your support is critical to moving our homeless neighbors from the streets to our shelter to their own homes. With your help, I know we can end homelessness one person at a time. Thank you!

Sincerely,

Jaclyn Cherubini, MPA
Executive Director

Policy and Positioning: Game, Set, Match (Cecile Richards at the DNC)

I must admit that I did not watch any of the coverage of the RNC 2012.  I realize that I should be more politically-minded prior to making such a big decision but I had a few reasons not to watch.

1. I already am 100% sure which way I am voting.
2. I hate to get all riled up before bed.
3. There was an NCIS marathon.

I had not intended to watch any of the DNC 2012 (just to be fair) but the promise of Cecile Richards, Sandra Fluke, and most importantly the Foo Fighters had me at hello.

Cecile Richards spoke Tuesday night and gave, in my opinion, a great speech. During the following commentary, I realized not only was it great because I believed in what Cecile said but because she'd set everything up perfectly.  She gave the facts, she gave the human touch, she incited a little fear, and she rallied us at the end. There were some great takeaways in her speech for us fundraisers as authors of marketing materials and donor communications.

Cecile was introduced by Libby Bruce, a PP patient and supporter who spoke of the great care she received as a patient.  During her speech Cecile spoke about policy but she humanized the policy by referring to Libby and the stories of several other patients who were in need of the services offered by this organization.

As mentioned, after she spoke and they went to commentary the CNN folks said that Cecile had perfect set up in her speech (light bulb for me). The commentator said she spoke about the policies and politics and she humanized it by positioning the organization with stories about the real people in need of real services. I also thought she gave a strong call to action to get out and vote in terms of the positioning. You can see Cecile Richards speech here.

The way Cecile and the organization garner support for PP through her speeches, emails, and mailings is full of this aspect of policy and positioning.  It's a great method for communicating what they do.  And it's great for any organization.

I recently wrote about the Shelter's inclusion of a note within the August newsletter.  What Cecile did in her speech is what I had hoped to achieve with the note - that balance of information and humanizing the issue.  I wanted people to know the hard numbers, what we'd been doing, and what we had yet to do but also to hear about the real people who were, with the help of this organization, getting keys to open their doors. Then we make the ask - the call to action. 

There was a lot we could take away as good fundraisers from watching the conventions, particularly about how we communicate. I think, for me, though while Clinton and Michelle gave excellent speeches and many others rallied the crowd tremendously, Cecile's speech stood out for me because it reinforced many of the good direct mail/communications concepts I learned at PP. 

To look at the specifics - this is one paragraph from her speech, which states the policies that have come about this year but also puts a little bit of fear into her audience.
"Two years ago, when John Boehner, Paul Ryan, Todd Akin and the Tea Party took control of the House of Representatives, they promised to create jobs and jump-start the economy. But, instead, on day one, they came after women's health. And they haven't let up since. They voted to end cancer screenings and well-woman visits for five million women, end funding for birth control at Planned Parenthood, and for good measure, they even tried to redefine rape. And now, Mitt Romney is campaigning to get rid of Planned Parenthood and overturn Roe v. Wade. This year women learned that if we aren't at the table, we're on the menu. So this November, women are organizing, mobilizing and voting for the leaders who fight for us."

Now the humanizing aspect.
"Women like Libby Bruce, the patient you just heard from. Women like Brandi McCay, a 27 year-old whose stage two breast cancer was caught at a Planned Parenthood health center. She is now cancer-free. Or the woman who went on Facebook, after Paul Ryan voted to defund Planned Parenthood, and posted, "I guess they don't understand that us military wives go to Planned Parenthood when the doctor on base can't see us.""

And the call to action...

"So, this November, we're going to keep moving forward, and we are going to re-elect President Obama."

Game, Set, Match, Great Job Cecile!