Archive for the 'Community Engagement' Category

Direct Mail Fundraising is Junk Mail

Published
by
Hildy
on February 28, 2008
in Community Engagement, Fundraising and Stop Signs on the Road to Changing the World
. 6 Comments

I went on a rant on Charity Channel this morning. I tried to refrain, really I did - and I lasted almost a whole day. But eventually the devil on my shoulder made me cave. (For those who may have caught that rant, feel free to jump in here and tell me if I’m wrong. I may be opinionated, but I am also quite willing to learn - and to even change that opinion!)

The question being posed had to do with acquisition rates and return on investment. Seems innocuous enough, no? Unfortunately, what these folks were acquiring were people. Donors, to be specific.

The question was about a dip in acquisition rates for new donors from direct mail fundraising.

Can you just see me, staring at the monitor like a recently reformed smoker facing down a fresh, unopened pack - knowing my keyboard would not relinquish its hold until I had smoked every last one - um, I mean, responded to that post? Resistance was clearly futile. (BTW - GREAT comic to illustrate that very point, at my new favorite comic stop - XKCD.com. Speaking of addicted, I cannot wait for their feeds to hit my mailbox!)

So, here is what my fingers made me say in response to the question of “donor acquisition rates” and Direct Mail fundraising:

I hate direct mail. First, I hate getting it. I hate dumping it unopened, together with the rest of the junk mail, into the recycling bin on my way from the mailbox to the house.

I hate feeling guilty that I have no idea - nor do I care - who sent me the accumulated 27 sets of very lovely miniature Tibetan prayer flags, that are laying alongside the mile-high pile of mailing labels so numerous that no mere human could send that much mail in a lifetime.

This is charity junk mail. I don’t know who these people are, yet there they are - all these requests for money from complete strangers who found me on some list somewhere - heading straight to the recycling without being opened, along with the Penny Saver and the ValPak and the quote I never requested for cheaper insurance on my house and/or car.

I hate words like “donor acquisition.” Clearly, to the folks sending me this garbage (sorry - if it goes straight into the trash, it’s trash), I am a number, a statistic, the not-so-acquired side of their diminishing ROI.

And we wonder why our organizations are not sustainable? We wonder why we battle to sustain the incredible work we are all doing?

We are chasing money in any way we can find it, rather than engaging our communities (wherever they are - worldwide or a single block) in real relationships, involving them deeply in our missions with their hearts and their souls and their passion - and only THEN perhaps their dollars. And we wonder why the world sees our organizations as always having our hands out!

Have our organizations ever spent as much time trying to engage the people who come through our doors as we spend trying to “acquire new donors”? Have we spent time to ask those who already know us - ask for their wisdom, their advice about the work we are doing? How often do we ask the people who are already our clients, our patrons, our program participants - if they would like to help make our mission stronger?

And how often do we instead simply try to engage their wallets?

I am a season ticket holder at my local professional theater - have been forever. In all that time, they have never asked me for my thoughts, my expertise, my time, my help. They have never once, in all those years, showed me how I can get involved in making theater in my community stronger. They just send me renewals.

Both my dog and my cat came from my community’s Humane Society. My dog and I also did our training there. That was 10 years ago. Since then, I have never once been asked for anything but my money. How’s the dog? How’s the cat? What could we be doing differently, better? And why haven’t you been back in 10 years? And would you like to help us muck out the stalls one day?

Do they know if I would or would not? Have they asked me for anything but my cash?

Eldercare facilities, where many of our parents are now living. The community clinics and hospitals where we take our kids when they have skateboarded their way to a broken limb. We all encounter community benefit organizations in our lives all the time. When was the last time any of them engaged us beyond the service they provide and the donation envelope we then get in the mail?

I am seen as a consumer. I am seen as a potential source of money. And if this were the business world, I would feel perfectly ok about that.

But it’s not. This is the sector that is supposed to be changing the world.

And we cannot accomplish that if we do not see that every single person in our communities is an asset - not for their dollars, but for their ability to further our missions in every way possible!

I am often told, “But engaging the community like that would take time. We can’t afford to do that!” Translated: We can’t afford to do what works. So instead we will do something far less effective - with the added bonus that most people hate it!

When we cold-solicit for money, we are no different than ValPak. When we engage people in their hearts and their souls and yes, with their hands - their physical help, even when they are at long distances - we have a donor for life because we have a friend for life.

This is not airy-fairy rambling. There are HIGHLY practical ways to engage real friends (not the euphemism of “friend = donor,” but friends - you know, like we all have in real life? People who care and will help in every single way…). Those real friends will provide everything a friend would provide - volunteering and advocating and yes, giving dollars.

There are practical tools in our library at Help 4 NonProfits. Practical tools in the workbooks - not theory books but WORKbooks - I have written on the subject. Practical tools in every blog post I have done about this subject, right here.

To me, the bottom line is simple:

The way we raise money in this sector is not working.

If it WAS working - building honestly sustainable organizations - none of the readers of Charity Channel’s “Development Office” listserv (where this rant was originally posted) would have been reading this. They would instead have all the resources they needed, and would have no need for that listserv, nor the myriad workshops we all attend over and over, looking for the one kernel of truth that will finally, please dear God, make our money worries go away.

It’s not working.

And a big part of why it’s not working is that we have made it all about the money. I know we say it’s not, that it’s all about the mission. But when you are talking about acquisition rates and ROI on an anonymous mailing that is no different than ValPak, then I’m sorry - it’s about the money. And that’s why we all look for the next cool thing to make money - the next hot trend, the next guaranteed home run.

A system that separates truly engaged friends from a cause they would love to help is set up to fail.

In our real lives, those of us with a gaggle of friends we can count on are whole; those of us who are constantly chasing dollars are not. And in our organizations, it is no different. (And no, I’m not talking about “Making friends first, so we can ask them for money later.” That’s not friendship - that’s the plot line for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.)

So take your direct mail and toss it where it belongs, and start figuring out how to engage the people who already care about you and depend on you. They are right there, waiting for you to pick up the phone and involve them, engage them more deeply. It is a squandered resource, and one that will, if treated well, help you “acquire” all the new friends you could want. Those friends will help in every way imaginable.

And oh yes, by the way, they will also give you money.

Youth and Philanthropy: Engaging Young People in Their Communities

Published
by
Hildy
on January 22, 2008
in Community Engagement and My Inspiration
. 1 Comment

Whenever the subject of youth and philanthropy arises, I feel like I am in a time warp, listening to Paul Lynde singing “Kids” in Bye Bye Birdie.  “What’s the matter with kids today?”

In polite conversation, of course, the question sounds more like this: “How do we engage young people in philanthropy?”

I admit I have grown tired of the question. I am tired of hearing about kids who don’t care, kids who won’t take life seriously. Kids who are not involved. Kids who can’t take their iPods out of their ears long enough to care about their communities. Slackers! Hedonists! Spoiled brats!

So why am I tired of it? Because that doesn’t come close to describing the young people that are everywhere in my life. My daughter, and Dimitri’s sons, and all their friends. The young people who work in our office - and their friends and significant others.

But it’s not just the young people I know. One look at the Iowa caucuses tells the story. One look through the morning paper every morning tells the story as well. Kids seem to be busy creating the future of their world - everywhere!

I wrote about this last month as the Brain Teaser for our Help 4 NonProfits newsletter. The last few paragraphs sparked a ton of emails, all from adults saying, “Right on! That’s my experience as well!” And thank goodness.

Thank goodness, also, for the glimmer of hope we are seeing in the portrayal of young people in popular culture. Yes, there are still dopey books about teenaged crushes. But then there is Robin Brande’s wonderful first novel, Evolution, Me, and Other Freaks of Nature. This book is winning awards everywhere, precisely because it shows teenagers making the kinds of intelligent and yes, adult decisions that might equally be made by all the teenagers I know.

And then there is Juno, the sparkling treat of a movie from sparkling director Jason Reitman. Juno is about as honest a portrayal of a brilliantly smart teenager, with loving parents and a healthy dose of curiosity about the world as you are going to find. And imagine, the Academy Awards thought such a story worthy of a best picture nomination! Talk about finally growing up!

No, neither of these works is about philanthropy. But they both celebrate the fact that young people, as they always have been, have tremendous potential for amazing. They are bright. They are aware as aware can be. And they have answers.

Carol Weisman captured that in her latest book, Raising Charitable Children. I confess when I picked it up to read, I was so skeptical, expecting the same condescending drivel we find when folks wonder about young people and philanthropy. And I was so surprised to find a book that indeed celebrates the innate philanthropy in young people, that we started selling the book at our website!

And so when people ask me, “How do we grow philanthropy in young people?” here is what I tell them:

Young people are bright and aware and they have answers.
So don’t ask me. Ask them!

Photo credit: Me! (And yes, Adam, that’s you!)

11 Ways to Engage Your Community by Gardening in the Front Yard

Published
by
Hildy
on October 25, 2007
in Capacity Building, Community Engagement, Fundraising and Tools to Use Now
. 0 Comments

In last week’s post, I likened Community Engagement to growing my vegetable garden in the front yard of my house.

Instead of showing the community only your organization’s well-manicured fait accompli, Community Engagement invites members of your community to become an integral part of the work itself, engaging their hearts, their minds, and their hands in your mission.

And so, as promised, here are 11 ways you can start creating that deep, honest spirit of engagement.

1 - Brainstorm:
Gardening in the front yard exudes a sense of openness and transparency. What functions do you normally do in private, only with members of your own organization? Those might include planning or board training; they might include “marketing planning” or developing a whole new program.

List all those “private” functions, and consider how you might share those processes with other organizations. (It is not impossible - we have seen it work really well! And wait - here’s another example!)

2 - T-shirts and Questions:
Nothing can engage your community’s minds and hearts like fact-based questions. A fact engaged as a question helps people find their own wisdom, rather than insisting they respect your wisdom!

By printing T-shirts that engage those fact-based questions (with your organization’s phone number underneath), you can do your gardening wherever you go!

For example, the T-shirts for the staff at a botanical garden might ask, “Which of these plants attracts butterflies? (with pictures)” or “Which of these plants is poisonous?”

Regardless of your mission, you can find a fact-based question that can work. (And if you have trouble thinking of a question, click the Comment button below and tell us your mission - let’s see what the readers here at Creating the Future come up with!)

3 - Yard Signs and Questions:
Yard signs promoting political candidates or fundraising events have their place. But what if yard signs didn’t just “tell and hope” - announcing your event and hoping people will come - but really engaged people in dialogue? Talk about gardening in the front yard - this literally IS your front yard!

A yard sign in front of your organization can ask a different fact-based question every month (or if you are ambitious, you might rotate through a series every day for two weeks).

Imagine kids being driven to school, seeing each week’s new question, and raising those questions with their parents in the car. Imagine a carpool doing the same. Imagine creating engaged dialogue you may not even know about!

4 - Pop Quiz:
Put a quiz in your newsletter. Every month, ask fact-based questions that will engage people’s hearts and minds, eliciting the response, “I never thought of that!”

The quiz for a poverty organization might include, , “How much is the average monthly social security benefit for seniors? And how many seniors live solely on that amount?” or “If a family of 4 in the U.S., with two working parents, nets $1,450 per month after taxes, are they eligible for government healthcare or food stamps?”

And don’t forget to give folks the answers!

5 - Why Are Things the Way They Are?
As you try to address the bigger picture of changing conditions in your community, ask the biggest question of all - Why? - everywhere you go for a month, and see what happens.

When friends and family ask, “What’s new?” or when introducing yourself at a networking function, skip the standard responses (”I’m Susan. I’m with the Humane Society.”). Instead, ask about the very heart of your organization’s mission:

“I’m Susan. I’m with the Humane Society. And I am trying to figure out why people act inhumanely, both to animals and to each other. Anyone got any ideas?”

“I’m trying to figure out why we think it’s ok to raze our community’s historic buildings.” “I’m trying to figure out why such a wealthy nation does not take care of those who are struggling.”

Bonus Tip:
If you want to brainstorm some possibilities with those of us here at Creating the Future, click the Comment button and enter your mission statement. Let’s see what folks come up with!

6 - Public Service Announcements:
Use the same fact-based question approach to creating a PSA campaign for local TV and radio stations.

7 - Create a Blog and Ask for Wisdom:
Get folks thinking, and perhaps even contributing and talking, by starting a blog. Use the blog to share information you have found useful, and to share questions you can’t dig your way out of.

Bonus Tip:
 Don’t just stop at the blog post. Once you have posted a thought-provoking question, send an email to everyone on your organization’s email list. You will NOT be announcing, “Hey, come visit the blog!” You will instead be letting folks know, “We have posted a question on our blog that has been concerning us. Because you have supported our work in the past, we are hoping you will help us by sharing your wisdom about this issue. Would you take a moment and see if you have any ideas?”

Even if they do not respond at the blog, you will be getting folks thinking about the issues you care about!

8 - Write an Editorial:
 Write a guest editorial for your local newspaper. Do NOT ask for support of an issue. Instead, encourage dialogue, asking the same sorts of fact-based questions noted above. “If these are the facts, why is this so? What is at the heart of this? Here is what I think, but we want to know what you think.” Then give people a place to continue the conversation - either at a blog site, or at a real event, intended to build real engaged dialogue.

Bonus Tip:
If you choose to create an “asking” campaign, combining some of the activities in this list, get media attention for that campaign, increasing the list of folks being engaged in those questions!

9 - Engage Your SMALLEST Donors:
 Contact your BOTTOM 25% of donors - your $25 and $50 donors - the ones you probably ignore unless you are just asking them to give again. Invite them, in small groups, to focus group discussions around the mission-focused, community issues your organization is having trouble getting its arms around.

If we are going to garden in the front yard, sometimes the neighbors will know we don’t know everything. They will watch us experiment. And if we give them the opportunity, they will share invaluable advice and wisdom about the particular variety of tomato we are trying to grow.

Do the same with your LOW dollar donors. Stop ignoring the people who think your garden is terrific, just because they didn’t go out and buy you a whole landscape firm to help make it gorgeous!

Bonus Tip:
Strategy #24 in FriendRaising can show you a step-by-step way to do this.

10 - Have a Barn Raiser:
A “barn-raiser” takes gardening in the front yard to a whole new level, as it goes beyond engaging people’s hearts and minds, engaging their hands as well.

In days of old in the American West, if a family needed a barn built, it might take a month or more to build it themselves. If the whole community pitched in, however, the barn could be built in a day.

The same can be done with any large task your organization needs to have done. Instead of bringing in a crew of anonymous volunteers, invite members of your community (and especially your existing donors and supporters) to help get that job done - and engage them in your mission (and in each other!) while you are working side by side.

11 - Work WITH, Not FOR:
Gardening in the front yard has been great fun for me, as I get to learn from what my neighbors know about growing things. Sadly, our organizations often ignore the opportunity to learn from a group of people who likely know more about our programs than anyone else - the folks who will participate in and benefit from those programs.

If you are in the initial program development stages (or if you want to make your existing programs more effective), engage the people who will use those programs. Imagine how much more relevant and effective your programs will be when you create them by gardening side by side together WITH the folks who will use them, rather than simply creating them on your own, FOR them!

No one likes to always be on the receiving end; giving is empowering, as it suggests we have enough to share. (See Robert Thurman’s work for more about that.)

So have the people who will benefit from your organization’s “garden” do the work alongside you. You will be engaging their hearts and minds and hands all at once, while engaging your own hearts and minds and hands alongside them. Because you will have created those efforts together, you will all enjoy the fruits of the harvest more. And from that effort, your organization, your clients, and you will all grow at the same time.

12 - Bonus: What Has Worked For You?
Please share how your organization has gardened in the front yard, and how that has worked for you. The more we all garden together the more we will learn together!

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