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This article originally appeared in Bloomerang. See the original article here.
Are you looking for a way to make donating even easier for your supporters? Text-to-Donate is a powerful Kindful Fundraising Tool that gives you new ways to reach donors, and our latest updates make it easier than ever to set up and manage.
Easy to set up and manage. Some features to make campaign setup and management easier include the flexibility to choose your own phone number directly within the app, so you’ll never need to rely on support. Search and copy form URLs without ever having to leave the setup page, and with unlimited keywords, you can link to any form URL such as registration, events, campaigns, donation plugin, and more.
Donors can give in just a few seconds. Giving supporters a frictionless way to respond to your campaign helps ensure they’ll complete their donation. They simply text a keyword to a designated number and instantly they’ll receive a link to your selected donation page. Best of all, donations are recorded in your Kindful or Bloomerang account, so you can easily track transactions.
Reach new donors who aren’t in your database. Text-to-Donate makes it easy for individuals to make a donation using any connected mobile device. This allows nonprofits to tap into a wider audience, as individuals who aren’t currently in your database can still make a donation. And, by promoting the text-to-donate option through channels such as social media, email, or in-person events, nonprofits can reach even more potential donors who may not have otherwise been aware of their organization.
Ready to get started? Visit the Kindful or Bloomerang websites today to learn more about Text-to-Donate and how easy it is to set up for your organization.
Ready to try it? Check out our Help Article here.
The post Text-to-Donate campaigns are easier than ever with upgraded features. appeared first on Bloomerang.
This article originally appeared in Bloomerang. See the original article here.
It started December 21st with a bitter winter storm: Winds, snow, and record cold temperatures swept across the United States and Canada. Thanks to a combination of the storm’s effects and outdated technology, Southwest Airlines (SWA) started canceling the first of what would become almost 17,000 flights over the next week or so.
While you may never find yourself in a crisis of this magnitude at your nonprofit, you can learn from Southwest’s mistakes and use those lessons to prepare for a potential disaster. Keep reading to learn more.
Here are a few things that most likely contributed to the fiasco:
What can you do to avoid a situation like this or mitigate the possible negative outcomes if you can’t? Let’s look at the following lessons.
Infrastructure includes more than just the tools you use. It also includes the processes you have in place that define who uses those tools to do what and when.
You need the right software and processes in place—not just when it matters, but before it matters. You’ll need to make decisions as soon as possible—as many as possible before the crisis—so you don’t waste valuable time figuring out what happens next.
First, look at the technology you use and the processes you have in place. Identify your technical gaps and software needs.
For example, is all of your data stored in one place? Can you easily pull reports of donors who may be affected by an event or unforeseen error? Do you have a way to communicate with donors quickly?
Once you identify the gaps you have and research the tools you can use to fill those gaps, update your budget and get approval to move forward with these purchases.
Look at the factors that contributed to Southwest’s predicament. Now think about your nonprofit and what you could face in the future.
When you anticipate challenges, think about cause-specific and generic ones. Here are a few examples of challenges your organization may face:
Each of these will require a different set of precautions and processes, and you’ll want to have those defined long before you need to react to one or more of them.
So, you’ve got your tools in place. You’ve anticipated the challenges that may affect your organization. What now? It’s time to write out and practice implementing a plan to make sure you’re prepared for those challenges.
When thinking about your plan, think about who has to work together and what they have to accomplish. For example, your legal, leadership, and communications staff must be able to do their work independently while also working to find a way to get to a point where they can work collaboratively again.
Ask yourself:
No matter the size of your nonprofit or the challenge at hand, you can put together an effective contingency plan when you plan ahead.
You can’t know for sure what challenges your nonprofit will face in the future, but you can plan for the challenges you might face.
Invest in updated software and tools that will allow you to work effectively, plan ahead, and know your contingencies. Just taking a moment to ask yourself these questions puts you ahead of the game!
The post The Southwest Airlines Flight Fiasco: Lessons For Your Nonprofit appeared first on Bloomerang.
This article originally appeared in Bloomerang. See the original article here.
Our Ask An Expert series features real questions answered by Claire Axelrad, J.D., CFRE, our very own Fundraising Coach, also known as Charity Clairity.
Today’s question comes from a nonprofit employee who wants advice on where to find new donors and how to approach them:
Dear Charity Clairity,
Where do you look for donors, and what’s the best way to approach them?
— Where to Begin
Dear Where to Begin,
You’ve nailed the two challenges of donor acquisition on the head:
This is a difficult question to answer in a brief response, but I’ll endeavor to cut to the chase with (1) five donor acquisition strategies, (2) your case for support, and (3) how to impress.
I list them in order of “warm to cold” effectiveness.
Consider a “Let Your Friends Be Our Friends” campaign. Ask current supporters to refer new names of folks they believe may have an interest in your work. Begin by asking those closest to you (e.g., board, staff, volunteers and donors) for names from their networks. Don’t forget to ask folks if they’d be willing to add a personal note to the appeals sent to their contacts. Personalization makes a huge difference in rates of response!
Take a look at non-donors who are affiliated with you in other ways (e.g., clients, volunteers, members, vendors, family members of affiliates and even social media followers). Consider how you might reach out by sending them one or more of your current fundraising appeals.
One productive strategy is to offer a benefit in exchange for signing up for your email list. It could be a white paper, “how-to” video, tip list or recommendations (e.g., favorite books related to your cause; recipes; things to do on the weekend, etc.). You can also acquire new names by implementing a social media strategy (e.g., by running an online quiz that requires players to give you their contact info in exchange for the opportunity to play, to share the results, or be eligible for other benefits).
Could you trade names with other charities sharing similar constituent bases? Or would another organization be willing to send an appeal on your behalf? Sometimes business supporters are willing to send a “chaperoned” email to their employees, for example.
Consider working with a direct mail broker to purchase lists of folks who give to similar causes. Understand this is an expensive strategy that likely won’t pay off until you’ve retained the donors you acquire for approximately 18 months, so be sure you’ve got a donor acknowledgement and stewardship strategy in place to maximize the value of your investment.
Getting first-time donations is tricky, because you need to create a new market. It’s not impossible, as long as you’re demonstrating a real need and filling it.
No one knew they needed fidget spinners — until they did. A new market was created, and suddenly everyone wanted to become a part of it.
Many people didn’t know they needed lawyers to protect the foundation of democracy which they’d previously taken for granted — until the 2016 election and its aftermath came along and threw everyone for a loop. A new market was created for “rage donations,” and suddenly the ACLU was generating $24 million over a single weekend (when their previous annual total for online giving was just $4 million).
Absent a significant external event, getting someone to make a first-time decision to give requires a strong, relevant case for support. I suggest you begin by taking a look at your opportunity. It’s always knocking; you just need to open the door! What do you do that aligns with what is in the news today? What will people likely consider relevant?
Then show why your organization is the best to solve the problem. Then show this again. And again. This requires perseverance, because folks must be brought along a continuum (sometimes called a “marketing funnel“) to get them to the point where they feel comfortable making a philanthropic gift. Often it takes seven impressions or more for folks who’ve never heard of you before to take notice.
Channel your “case” and establish your relevance with strategic, consistent messaging showcasing your expertise and demonstrating how you help.
If you want gifts, you must give them. This can include research results, checklists, how-to videos, recommended resources and useful tips. Grab examples here.
An essential human quality is the desire to belong. If you can show you have a large community behind you, others will want to join in too. This is one of Robert Cialdini’s principles of influence: social proof. Plus, when everybody is talking about something, others don’t want to miss out. A psychological principle known as FOMO (fear of missing out) is triggered.
Using testimonials short cuts the decision-making process for prospective new supporters, and is a great way to establish your bona fides and trustworthiness. It’s useful to play into natural human instincts when you’re trying to develop a new market.
One way to demonstrate your support is through shares, likes, follows and comments. Don’t forget to join in discussions on LinkedIn groups and Facebook Live. It’s a great way to demonstrate thought leadership and get your message across.
Begin with the people already close to you and ask for referrals. Then branch out to others who may be tangentially related. Demonstrate you have something to offer, and you’re meeting a need that requires addressing.
Show how you address that need differently, and more effectively, than anyone else.
I hope this helps you get started!
— Charity Clairity
Have a question for our Fundraising Coach?
Please submit your question here. Remember, there are no stupid questions! If you need an answer, it’s likely someone else does too. So help your colleagues by asking away. Please use a pseudonym, like “Where to Begin” did, if you prefer to be anonymous.
The post [ASK AN EXPERT] Where Do You Find New Donors And What Do You Say To Them? appeared first on Bloomerang.
This article originally appeared in Bloomerang. See the original article here.
If you haven’t already, we hope you’ll check out this free library of resources that are designed to help nonprofit professionals establish and champion diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusivity (DEAI) initiatives within their organizations.
In this library, you’ll find:
Those resources cover a variety of topics, but we’ve recently heard from fundraisers that boards are on their minds. They want to know how to build them, how to get board members to engage in their nonprofit’s mission, how to empower those board members to fundraise effectively, and more.
If this is something you’re thinking about in 2023, we hope these resources will support you and your team as you work to build the board your nonprofit deserves.
Why Do Nonprofits Struggle with Diversity? – by Kishshana Palmer, CFRE and Bloomerang Board Member
How to Recruit and Retain Diverse Board Members – Terri Broussard Williams
5 Things Nonprofit Boards Can Do To Intentionally Lead On Diversity, Equity and Inclusion – Dr. Robin Hindsman Stacia
How to Build a Strong Nonprofit Board – Sabrina Walker Hernandez
Building A High-Performing Fundraising Team While Advancing Racial Justice – Valerie Harris
When It’s Time To Go: Firing Crummy Nonprofit Board Members – Christal M. Cherry
Reimagining the Nonprofit Board in the Throes of a Pandemic – JC Rivers
4 Ways Board Members Can Raise Money Without Making the Ask – Sabrina Walker Hernandez
Bold and Brazen Year-End Fundraising for Boards – Christal M. Cherry
Although we’re highlighting these resources at the beginning of Black History Month, you can find this page linked under the Resources tab in the header menu of our website every day of the year. We welcome suggestions and feedback and will update our site as we deepen our knowledge of these issues and become aware of new resources. You can reach our team at dei@bloomerang.co.
The post Build A Strong Nonprofit Board With These Essential Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, And Inclusion (DEAI) Resources appeared first on Bloomerang.
This article originally appeared in Bloomerang. See the original article here.