What is your motivation to volunteer?

This week one of my fellow team members wrote a great blog on what motivates him to volunteer: check it out here. I always find it interesting to learn more about what motivates people, so I challenged our entire senior team here at Sage Nonprofit to share their stories on our blog. As such, here is mine.

I have volunteered with or supported a nonprofit for as long as I can remember. I am typically a supporter for social service causes. I think my passion for those causes comes from growing up in a home with many financial struggles. (Although, I really didn’t know it at the time…I like Ramen Noodles).

Needless to say, my most recent cause is Support Behind the Badge. The organization is a small start-up that myself and two other women joined forces to bring to Cedar Park.

My husband is a police officer and last year, his department was devastated by the loss of a fellow officer, Leonard Reed who died in a motorcycle accident almost a year ago.

At the funeral my heart went out to Officer Reeds family, and we decided that we wanted to do more to strengthen the bond between the families and friends of the department. And, we wanted to memorialize Officer Reed in a way that was fitting. We decided to start with a scholarship because Officer Reed was very committed to the children of our community and their futures.

Since October, we have held several events and are very near establishing the scholarship. It is exciting to be a part of something that we know is going to have an impact on the community for years to come.

Take-away: “For it is in giving that we receive.” St. Francis

Editor’s Note: This is a contribution by Bridget Brandt who writes at Customer Experience 101 it has been reposted here with her permission. 

Read Full Post »

Motivations for Volunteering

I make an annual commitment to my daughter to take some time off work and volunteer at her elementary school. For the school year that just ended, I spent four days volunteering for WatchDOGS (a program of the National Center for Fathering). This is a great program that aims to provide positive male role models for the students and to enhance school security.

During the course of a typical day, I get introduced by my daughter during the morning announcements and then spend most of the rest of my day assisting in various areas around campus… doing things like:

• Re-shelving library books
• Assisting the “wellness” (today’s PC word for “Phys Ed”) coaches with things like tying shoes or setting up equipment for an upcoming lesson
• Playing with kids during recess
• Updating the message on the school marquee
• Assisting in classroom with various class activities
• Helping the younger kids at lunchtime with opening ketchup packets and milk… and whatever other duties the teachers and office staff may need.

One time, the “other duties” included relocating (not killing) some tarantulas that were on school grounds as part of their annual migration. That was definitely interesting!

Initially, my motivation was to be even more involved in my daughter’s life… particularly that part of her life that happens while I’m usually at work. That’s still a strong motivator, but I’ve also had my eyes opened about how much assistance the school really needs. Unfortunately, it’s not going to get any easier with school funding going the direction it is (at least in Texas… probably where you are too). This past school year, the staff already dealt with some job cuts, and there are more that were recently announced for next year.

Have you had a similar experience… one where your motivations for volunteering evolved/strengthened after you spent more time volunteering?

Scott Springer
VP, Customer Support
Sage Nonprofit Solutions

Read Full Post »

Sage Raises Funds for Charity in “Iron Chef” Style Event

Kudos to Sage’s corporate board retreat committee for pulling together a synchronistic event that engaged individual board members, showcased Sage customer products and benefited Sage Nonprofit customers.  I am impressed by the creative combination of food and philanthropy and think it’s a great example for our nonprofit customers as a way they can engage their own board and corporations in their fundraising efforts.

The planning committee began by picking the Château Élan in Atlanta, a foodies favorite, and ideal venue host.  They then divvied up board members into teams of four making meeting attendees part of the event and the entertainment.  Each team was paired with a Château Élan chef and competed on behalf of a local charity.  All the teams had less than one hour to prepare a unique dinner course. Dishes were judged on taste, presentation and creativity.

• Team One prepared a lobster cocktail and competed on behalf of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Atlanta.
• Team Two created a gnocchi pasta dish using Nueskes bacon and benefitted Global Health Action.
• Team Three cooked the main dish, grilled pork chops with southern greens and represented the Georgia Conservancy.
• Team Four cooked up a cheesecake with a Guittard chocolate sauce on Walker’s Shortbread crust and competed on behalf of Junior Achievement of Georgia.

Team One, shown here, representing the Boys & Girls Clubs of Atlanta cooked the winning dish.  Although it was a tough decision for the judges, every team was a winner because each nonprofit received a $1000 donation for participating.  The winning team, the Boys & Girls Club of Atlanta, received an additional $1000 for a total $2000.

After the judging all the guests were served the same menu items created in the challenge. What’s more many of the ingredients were sourced from Sage customers. The lobsters came from Lobstergram, the pork chops from Heritage Foods, and all the vegetables came from a local distributor named Dexter’s Farm.

If you’re searching for a new theme and creative way to raise money, connect with your board or partner with local businesses you may want to consider hosting a similar epicurean event.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Patricia Tynan
Social Media and Community Manager
Sage Nonprofit

Read Full Post »

How Sage Customers and Other Nonprofits Are Using Social Media

In January 2011, Sage conducted an informal social media and communications study. Shortly thereafter our friends at NTEN kicked off their annual social media survey.  After reviewing the results of both studies, I am fascinated by the similarity in responses across both groups. Keep reading to see some of the similarities and if you haven’t had a chance to check out the NTEN report, download it here: 2011 Nonprofit Social Network Benchmark Report.

What social media tool is used the most?

Unquestionably, Facebook is the most popular social media tool used by nonprofits.  82% of Sage respondents and 89% of the NTEN respondents indicate they use or have a presence in Facebook.  Overall, the top 5 social networks in use by nonprofits are Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Linked In and Flickr.

How is social media used?

The most widespread activity using social media is advertising, promotion and marketing. 76% of Sage Nonprofit customers use social media for their marketing efforts.  While 75% of NTEN’s respondents state marketing as a goal for their social networks to “engage supporters or grow membership”.

Fundraising was a close second with 57% of Sage Customers reporting that it is a tool used for fundraising and 65% of the NTEN respondents reporting that it is a tool to raise money. I expect this number to grow as more organizations turn to fundraising in Facebook.

What do nonprofits think of social media?

Both surveys indicate positive sentiment towards social media or social networking.  82% of the NTEN respondents find their social networking efforts to be “very and somewhat valuable”. Whereas 69% of Sage Nonprofit customers responded that they find social media to be “very or somewhat important to their organizations success”.

What about late adopters?

Our Sage respondents cited the following as reasons why their organizations are not using social media:

• 33% said it was due to the uncertainty of the advantages
• 29% cited a lack of time and resources
• 28% feel that it is a waste of time and resources and,
• 25% are concerned with security.

Of these respondents, 76% stated that they are not sure when they will begin using it and that’s ok.  Until your organization has sufficient time, resources and enthusiasm to invest, it’s probably best to hold off until you can develop clear objectives and a sustainable plan for your social media efforts.

In the meantime you can watch and learn from the early adopters and early majority that are now using social media to their advantage to raise awareness, connect and communicate directly with their funders and constituents. When you are ready to begin putting a social media plan in pace, I encourage you to take a look at the results of the NTEN survey and use it as a benchmark.  What’s more there are plenty of helpful blogs and resources like NTEN.org, TechSoup.org, Idealist.org, 501derful.org or BethKanter.org  that can help you get started.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Patricia Tynan
Social Media and Community Manager
Sage Nonprofit

Read Full Post »

What’s the Secret to Fundraising Success?

Increase Your Asks

 

A Book Review By Bridget Brandt.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I just finished reading 50 A$ks in 50 Weeks, by Amy Eisenstein.  It’s amazing how much useful information she packs into this short quick read – it’s less than 145 pages.  I found this book to be extremely useful for anyone new to fundraising or who needs to get back to basics. The basic premise emphasized throughout is if you want to raise more money, ask more frequently and in a smarter way.

The purpose of my review is to provide you with an overview and give you 50 A$ks in “nutshell”. What I really like about the book is it breaks down the process of establishing a development program (with frequent asks) into easy to follow chapters and steps. It even includes checklists and templates to help you organize your work.  Another nice feature are the call out boxes Amy uses to define jargon in the text and the book includes a glossary in the appendix.  Now on to the chapters…

Chapter 1, Getting Started: What You Need to Know, covers the basics of fundraising. In this chapter Amy emphasizes the importance of frequent asks. She defines the actions that counts as an “Ask”, offers suggestions for making smarter asks, provides stories and example charts you can use for tracking the number and type of asks.

Chapter 2, Board Members are Fundraisers. Yes, you can expect your board’s help with all stages of the fundraising cycle. It begins with defining the right roles and responsibilities, setting the right expectations (ask to be one of the top three charitable gifts your board members give annually) and continually educate the board about the role you need them to fulfill as donors and fundraisers.

Chapter 3, Making Bulk Solicitations Less Bulky, Amy’s message for this chapter is get the right database and collect the right information on your prospects. That way you can “personalize, personalize, personalize” your direct mail campaigns. Most importantly make it easy for people to respond. I am pretty passionate about direct mail myself and I think Amy hits the key points for direct mail. (Check out this great direct mail campaign.)

Chapter 4, Incorporating Individuals Into Your Development Plan, addresses a key success factor – individuals. What I got from this chapter is that every nonprofit needs to figure out how the 80 /20 rule applies to their organization. Or as Amy notes, determine the 10% of donors who give 90% of your funds. Identify the most loyal donors and be sure to treat them like VIPS. It’s always easier to keep a customer than to lose one and the same is true of donors.

Amy also answers the Who, How Much, When, Where and How To of the “Ask”. My favorite is her practical tip “Remember after the ask is made, be quiet.” This is so true! Give your prospects time to think.   Another tip, don’t just give a dollar range always give a specific number in your ask. Otherwise your prospect will almost always select the lower number.

Chapter 5, Grant Research, Writing and Relationships, describes how to research and prioritize grant opportunities. The foundationcenter.org and grantstation.com are ideal sites for beginning your grant search. Once you have a list of grants, rank them, decide which ones to pursue, create a grant calendar and establish a grant writing schedule. I really appreciated her practical tips for cultivating funder relationships when no relationship exists.

• Find a connector who can serve as a bridge to the potential funder.
• If none exists, simply make a phone call to the organization’s program office. (You can often gauge their response, find out about new opportunities and see if your organization or program is a good fit in just a quick conversation.)
• Connect through social media, follow the funders you are interested in.
• Respond to opportunities and always, always follow up.

Chapter 6, Events Are Not About Ticket Sales. They’re About Sponsorship! Events are a great source of unrestricted dollars for your organization, they can boost visibility and give you a way to engage with prospects and donors. Most importantly Amy shows a different way to view events and provides event planning 101 tips and templates for organizing, executing and following up.

Chapter 7 as it is named is for Executive Directors. The gist of the chapter is Executive Directors are your organization’s Chief Fundraisers, fundraising is everyone’s job, hire the right person for development, set the right expectations with stakeholders and set the right development budget. Amy enlists the old adage “it takes money to make money”.

Chapter 8, Putting It all Together: Keys to Success, is about how to stay on track follow your plan, count and measure success. It includes a sample chart for goal and objective setting and assigning responsibility that is very useful. Amy also shares ways she stays motivated by connecting to other fundraisers and joining fantastic organizations like the Association of Fundraising Professionals. This chapter also concludes the book presenting final asking ideas and parting words of advice, “Ask ask and ask some more.”

If you want to learn more, please attend our upcoming webcast featuring Amy Eisenstein as she shares her best tips from 50 A$ks in 50 Weeks on June 28, 2010 at 2 pm EST. Click here to register.

Read Full Post »