The post Volunteer Management InitLive appeared first on Bloomerang.
This article originally appeared in Bloomerang. See the original article here.
Tag Archives: marketing
Why I Donated: Why I Made A $20 Donation To The Trevor Project
In this post, we talk to Becky, an editor in Buffalo, about why she donated $20 to The Trevor Project.
The Cause: The Trevor Project offers suicide prevention and mental health support for LGBTQ+ youth.
The Donation: $20
What inspired you to make a donation to The Trevor Project?
A friend was raising money for The Trevor Project in honor of her upcoming birthday. In hopes of celebrating her and a cause she felt connected to, I donated!
Were you familiar with the organization before donating?
Yes! I work for a mental health nonprofit and we point to and collaborate with The Trevor Project often. In addition, through friends, I am familiar with the work they are dedicated to.
How did you decide on the amount you donated? Was it a recurring or one-time donation?
I made a one-time donation of $20 as it felt like a sufficient/substantial amount that could have an impact on my friend’s fundraiser and support the organization’s efforts while being mindful of my personal financial responsibilities.
When you make a donation, what do you expect to happen next? Why?
I expect a confirmation of receipt, and perhaps an email from the organization further explaining what the funds will be used for/will help them accomplish.
How did the nonprofit acknowledge the donation?
I received a confirmation/acknowledgment email that validated that the money I donated was going to a legitimate cause.
Do you intend to donate to the nonprofit again in the future?
I feel drawn to donating to smaller organizations rather than established ones, so I will probably seek out organizations with a similar cause/mission that are either starting out or don’t have a firm footing in the nonprofit world.
What would inspire you to make another donation to the nonprofit? What would inspire you to increase your donation amount?
I think knowing that the communities the organization serves are in need of care would propel me to donate again and even increase the amount. Also, if another close friend presented a reason for raising money or asking for donations, I would certainly feel the desire to support their efforts.
Is there anything you’d like to add that would help the nonprofit better understand why you donated or that would make you feel more valued?
I do believe that statistics are powerful and tangible ways of conveying why the cause matters and how the funds raised are going to benefit the communities the organization is working to care for.
Also, testimony from individuals who have been positively impacted by the organization is always a heart-driven way of communicating the good things that can transpire from a donation or a collection of donations.
Wondering how you can build better relationships with your donors? See how these nonprofits used Bloomerang to do just that.
The post Why I Donated: Why I Made A $20 Donation To The Trevor Project appeared first on Bloomerang.
This article originally appeared in Bloomerang. See the original article here.
8 Tips for Managing Your Nonprofit’s Memorial Donations
Contributing memorial donations is a meaningful way to honor someone’s life after they’ve passed away. Memorial contributions help foster positive change in the wake of loss.
Your nonprofit should have a clear strategy for managing memorial donations and building relationships with donors and the family of the deceased. When you can build relationships with families, friends, and donors, you can strengthen your nonprofit’s community and foster more legacy giving in the future.
Managing memorial donations requires sensitivity and thoughtfulness. We’ll cover the special steps you should take in the following sections:
Let’s start by taking a closer look at what memorial donations are and who they come from.
What are memorial donations?
Memorial donations are gifts made in memory of someone who has passed away. Many family members request donations to be made to a certain charitable fund or nonprofit instead of flowers at their loved one’s funeral.
There are a few reasons why your nonprofit may receive memorial gifts:
- The person who died supported your organization during their life and had a meaningful personal connection to your cause.
- Your nonprofit’s mission is related to the reason the person passed away. For instance, family members of someone who died from lung cancer might donate to your nonprofit if your mission is to fund lung cancer research.
The person who passed away might have requested their family and friends to make memorial donations in their memory, or a family member or friend might have created a fund or fundraising initiative in their honor.
8 tips for managing tribute and memorial donations
When your nonprofit receives memorial gifts, it’s important to respond thoughtfully and communicate openly with both the family of the deceased and donors. Follow these tips to better manage tribute and memorial contributions:
1. Involve the honoree’s family.
To begin the tribute-giving process, the family of the deceased may reach out to your nonprofit to let you know that you will be receiving gifts in honor of their loved one. If they don’t, use your donor management system to look up the name of the deceased and see if you have any contact information for a family member of theirs.
Once you’ve made contact with a family member or close friend, ask who the main point of contact or representative from the family will be. Also, determine what their preferred method of contact is, whether emails or phone calls.
You can also ask if the family would like to share information about their loved one via social media posts, emails, or blog post updates from your nonprofit. This can be a great way to show gratitude for the individual and the donors who are giving on their behalf.
Be sure to also send the family representative a memorial gift acknowledgement message to recap the donations that you’ve received in memory of their loved one. Using a robust donor management system like Bloomerang, you can easily automate tribute gift notifications by pulling data directly from your donor database. This allows you to share your condolences, acknowledge gifts, and notify the family about who has donated in honor of their loved one. Bloomerang’s tool allows your organization to:
- Save time by automatically creating tribute notification letters using a template.
- Customize letters with a personal note.
- Track relationships between donors and the family representative.
Keeping loved ones involved through every step of the memorial donation process helps create a positive experience and strong, long-lasting bonds.
2. Allow donors to send a note to the honoree’s family.
Enable memorial donors to send a personal note to the family of the person who has passed. You can allow donors to choose from pre-made e-cards or give them the option to type a short, personalized message.
For example, take a look at how the Michael J. Fox Foundation provides the option to notify the family after making a memorial donation:
The online donation form allows donors to choose from an e-Card or printed card that will be directly sent to the family. This provides an easy way for donors to share their condolences.
3. Send thoughtful donor thank you notes.
Send heartfelt, personalized thank you messages that recognize how meaningful memorial gifts are to your organization.
After someone submits a memorial donation using your online donation page, send an automated thank you message and donation acknowledgement. This message should be personalized with:
- The donor’s name
- The gift amount and date
- The name of the person they were honoring with the donation
Make sure this thank you note is different from your thank you message for general online donations. The message should recognize that the donor is submitting a gift to honor someone’s life, not just to support your organization.
4. Communicate the impact of tribute donations.
Your donor thank you notes and memorial donation page should describe exactly what your nonprofit plans to do with the memorial donations you receive. Make it clear that the individual’s legacy and positive impact will carry on throughout your organization’s work.
Share the impact of donating at different levels on your donation page. For example, look at how Ronald McDonald House Charities highlights the impact of different gift amounts:
The page highlights that a $2,500 donation sponsors a 10-day stay for a family at the Ronald McDonald House, a $1,000 donation helps stock a hospitality card, and other influential donation amounts.
Showing donors that you plan to put memorial gifts to good use can help foster trust among these new audience members who may be less familiar with your organization. They’ll see your nonprofit as transparent and reliable, which may encourage them to donate again in the future.
5. Keep memorial donation data organized.
Create a segment in your donor database specifically for those who have contributed memorial donations.
These donors may have just heard about your nonprofit for the first time and don’t have any other personal connection to your organization. Avoid overwhelming them with traditional fundraising appeals and other ongoing messages that your organization sends.
Instead, craft tailored outreach messages to thoughtfully and respectfully stay in touch with these individuals. For instance, you might reach out with information about how your organization used memorial donations. You can also reach out with a message of gratitude on the anniversary of the donor’s gift.
Stewarding memorial donors by communicating respectfully after they give can help your organization build long-lasting relationships.
6. Share information about your memorial donation program.
Your memorial giving options should be clearly highlighted on your nonprofit’s website and other online communication platforms. By increasing awareness of your memorial donation program, you can easily connect audience members with opportunities to give in honor of a loved one.
Promote your memorial giving options online using the following steps:
- Create a web page that explains how donors can make memorial contributions. Ensure the page offers comprehensive information about the impact of memorial donations and giving options. For example, the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital memorial donations page offers options for making an online memorial donation, sending a mail-in donation, or setting up a tribute fund in memory of someone.
- Share information about memorial giving on your social media and within email newsletters. You can highlight testimonials from families who have had donations submitted to honor their loved ones. Share links to your memorial donation information page in your posts and email updates.
- Consider branding the program to foster awareness. You can give the program a unique name and tagline that’s different from your general fundraising campaigns. Make sure your program’s name is concise and hopeful, like “The Sunshine Fund” or “The Enduring Joy Fund.”
Your online audience members should be aware that memorial giving is one of many options they have to show their support for your cause.
7. Highlight other ways to give.
Donations aren’t the only way to honor someone after they’ve passed. Experiencing a loss can be a challenging time in life, emotionally and financially. Give audience members the option to show their support in other ways, such as:
- Volunteering. If the person who passed was a frequent volunteer, you can plan a special volunteer opportunity for their loved ones, or host a regular volunteer event in honor of the person.
- Advocacy. Provide information about your organization’s advocacy efforts that people can get involved with, such as signing or sharing petitions or sharing their stories with elected officials.
- Giving in-kind gifts. In-kind donations are another option to offer supporters that can be highly impactful for your cause. If your organization accepts in-kind donations of common supplies like toothbrushes, canned food, or cleaning supplies, people may be able to easily gather items they already have around their house.
Whether families submit a monetary donation or show their support in one of these other ways, let them know how much your organization appreciates their involvement.
8. Facilitate peer-to-peer fundraising.
Give family members and friends of the deceased the opportunity to set up peer-to-peer fundraising pages. Peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns allow audience members to create personalized donation pages and gather donations from family members and friends.
Provide tips for how to set up the page and share it on social media. For example, the American Heart Association offers audience members the opportunity to create a Heartfelt Tribute Fundraiser on behalf of their loved ones. People can set up their own free fundraising pages in three steps:
- Register and personalize their unique fundraising page with details about why they’re fundraising.
- Set a fundraising goal and come up with fundraising ideas to help meet the goal.
- Share the page widely and ask family members and friends to donate.
Offer fundraising tips along the way, such as making the first donation themselves to jumpstart the campaign and sharing frequent progress updates.
When fundraisers reach their goal, celebrate their accomplishments by highlighting their campaign on your organization’s social media pages.
Where Can Nonprofits Find Hidden Treasure In A Request For Proposal?
For those familiar with the process, developing an application for any type of financial support (grants, corporate sponsorship, contract, etc.) requires preparation, strategic thinking, technical writing, and research skills. For some, it might seem more like an art than a science, as there is confusion about the process. Since many nonprofits are entering this space due to increased opportunities for federal funding, they can be overwhelmed with the requirements needed to prepare a thorough application and often lack resources, systems, or knowledge about how to be most successful. How can anyone stay above the fray if there is already a sense of defeat at the onset? The clues are in the Request for Proposal (RFP) – let’s discuss!
What are funders looking for in the RFP?
The funder often includes detailed information about their priorities and needs directly in the RFP. Where can you find them?
- Start at the beginning to see if they have highlighted strategic priority areas, agency priorities or goals, and objectives they want to achieve. These are usually found in the first few pages, so make sure you don’t miss some of this language.
- There are often repetitions in the RFP with specific word choices and phrases. These are often aligned with the funder’s strategic priorities and should also align with the criteria for evaluating a successful proposal. Highlight these words and integrate them into your response so the funder will know you understand their needs and can form a collaborative partnership.
- Review the criteria for an award. Are you addressing each of these components in your narrative (and attachment documentation)? This can cover various areas such as demographic needs, the strength of partnerships, past performance, proposed approach, plan, etc. Have others review the criteria to ensure you have met the mark.
Award restrictions
I have sometimes seen applicants overlook key details about what is not allowed if the application is funded. Unfortunately, what happens is that some costs are disallowed or the applicant will have to revise the application before it is funded. These can include certain budgetary restrictions on allowable and disallowable costs, key personnel requirements, evidence-based practices that are incorporated into the framework, and other areas that impact the administration of the award.
Reading the RFP in detail is critical and should involve more than one individual. If more time is spent upfront, it can save time on the backend and increase the chances for successful submission. There can be lots of subtext in the RFP that refers back to agency priorities, so communicating with a peer organization that has successfully received funding from that agency can be a value add in the process. In some instances, it might make sense to partner with another organization on the application, especially those with a strong track record of receiving government funding and familiar with the expectations.
Requirements post-award
The most important part of the pre-award process is to ensure your organization has the capacity, resources, and infrastructure to manage an award if received. If your organization gets a government grant, there are particular Office of Management and Budget requirements (per 2 CFR 200 – Uniform Grant Guidance). On top of that, the state or funding agency might have additional requirements. This is another reason looking at the RFP is critical. The RFP often details the specific post-award requirements (meetings, reporting, training resources), and it is crucial to understand these expectations before entering into a legally binding agreement with the federal government. Suppose your organization is not yet capable of being a good steward of government funding. In that case, it’s best to avoid any risk and fallout should the programmatic and financial requirements be too burdensome.
This process is not easy, but with careful planning and review, you will at least be armed with the information needed to develop a robust application. You might not receive an award at first, but the more you apply to opportunities that make sense and can strengthen your organization, the better you will be in the long run.
If you’re ready to buy donor managament software for your nonprofit, but you’re not sure where to start, we put together a helpful playbook you can use.
The post Where Can Nonprofits Find Hidden Treasure In A Request For Proposal? appeared first on Bloomerang.
This article originally appeared in Bloomerang. See the original article here.
Working with Constituents Part 1
The post Working with Constituents Part 1 appeared first on Bloomerang.
This article originally appeared in Bloomerang. See the original article here.
