Bright One

A few thoughts on non-profit fundraising (as explained to a local cultural center)

Something to think about

Before asking for donations you should have a solid mission statement. Donors and grantors expect your mission to be carried out throughout your actions and plans, in all communications: annual reports, elevator pitches, your website, the would of social media. Proof is in the pudding, as it were. Strengthen your case for giving - - money doesn't just materialize. It has to be earned.

Make sure the statement answers these key questions:

Think about it. You expect value when you buy anything. A donation needs to have even more of a perceived value attached as there is no exchange of goods. This is true whether the gift is $5 or $500,000. 

Furndraising Opportunities 

Discount cards - work with local businesses to give a discount of 5-10% to support the center  You can use the discount to reward memberships (usual choice) or you can sell the card to raise money!

Auctions - As discussed, auctions. An art auction around the holidays is a great time - open it up to businesses to bid as well. 

You can also auction off skills (an accountant might donate doing taxes), or a local celebrity auction. Get the community involved! It is amazing what people will donate and others will buy to support a great cause. Think big!

Start raising money or connecting with constituents on geo-location social networks like Foursquare or Gowalla:

Have a sponsor donate $1 every time someone checks into their venue and shows it to the manager/cashier/etc.

If you’re coordinating an event, give attendees an opportunity to earn a swarm badge for being there with more than 50 people, or a super swarm badge for being there with more than 250 people. 

Add a contest, such as a random lottery drawing of everyone who checks-in .

Other ideas: raffles, golf tournament, buy a brick (for a side walk or for the new sign),  merchandising (online as well!!!!)

People give because they want to make a difference.  However, people also give to because they WANT to show they are a MEMBER of something of social importance. Keep that in mind and create tiers of membership. Associate membership on up. Giive something in exchange for membership: You can have mugs, T-shirts, calendars, etc, for those who contribute X amount. Companies, such as Zazzle.com, create on demand so there is no need to hold an inventory of items.

Sponsorships

To begin with, why do businesses sponsor?

In the end, the question you have to answer is WHY the sponsorship would be right for that business. If you can have the answer ready when the business asks....

Don't forget

Press is a great way to get on the radar of groups and individuals who give. If you are showing that you are helping, contributing, educating a group/community - the gift has more perceived VALUE. Also, many foundations give money of their CHOOSING, no solicitation - so you have to seek press beyond the borders of LC. Create programs that draw the press and social media's attention. Still send out press releases!

Grants, etc

As you already know, I am sure, that it is easier to go after money for projects, than it is to support a whole center  Grants are gifts awarded  for specific uses. Look for grants that match your mission and goals. Most granting organizations require a detailed plan.  Write a plan with carefully outlined financial and other goals. Granting organizations are like investors and they want details on how their money will be used.

A quick punch list

Yes, these are basic questions. But does your marketing address them?

What You Think You Need Versus What You Really Should Have

A website should be part of an overall marketing plan. So how does it fit?  What will drive visitors to your website? What will you offer them when they arrive? Do you need to post updates? Have a forum? Twitter? Link to Facebook? Do you even know why you want to have Twitter and Facebook and who will monitor and update them?

If we know better, why do we continue doing it (when it’s not even fun)?

The three most important areas of a business are marketing, knowing your numbers, and customer experience – the triumphant three. We know this is common sense - we've learned it formally or in the school of hard knocks. So if we know this in our heart of hearts and our brain of brains, why then do so many businesses not follow through? The short answer is because we’re lying to ourselves, and we’re afraid to admit it.

If we were to be truly honest with ourselves, we would confess that we're not quite sure how to run effective marketing campaigns, or even if we need to.

We hold on to the false reasoning that we're too busy to run our numbers every day.

We assume that our customers experience, interact, and know our business in the way we intended. (Major hint: They don’t.)

Acknowledging these shortcomings can be difficult. They are a blow to our egos. And in the back of our minds there is the niggling suspicion everyone else gets it, while we don’t. 

What can we do to have the thriving, successful business we know we should have, want to have, or once had? 

• Learn the difference between working on your business rather than in your business.
• Ditch the ego.
• It really is all about the numbers.

 Working on your business vs. in your business- you are working in your business (not on it), IF:

• You find yourself trying to do everything and getting nowhere
• You are using a shotgun approach to marketing (a little bit of a bunch of different approaches – something has to work eventually, right?)
• You are crossing your fingers that the bill collectors won’t call you today or tomorrow, or the next day…

 Working on your business means the following:

• You know your breakeven point every day, every month, and for the year.
• You know how much daily revenue you need to bring in to operate another day.
• You are marketing, and marketing effectively.
• You know your customers and their perceptions of the business.
• You know that your customer’s experience in dealing with your business is aligned with your perception of their experience. You also know how easily and quickly your perception and your customer’s experience can get out of touch with one another.
• You have a realistic grasp on operations, and you have goals that you are meeting and exceeding.
• You have a plan for where you are going, a roadmap for how to get there, and you know where you have been.

Ditch the Ego:

One of the hardest things to do is to let go of our ego. Are we willing to admit that we don’t have all of the answers, or is it just easier to dig in our heels and watch our business struggle day after day, knowing something is wrong without being able to stop the hemorrhaging? First step to ditching the ego is to understand nobody has all of the answers, so go get help – call a mentor, take a seminar, or read a book. 

Secondly, failure is always an option, but learning from failure increases success and can lead to brilliance. 

Third, and hardest, your company is struggling because of something you are doing or not doing. This last one is the hardest to accept, and the scariest to admit. It’s what we fear to be true, but we know deep down that it’s so. The good news is that once we can accept this statement, we can begin to tackle our problems. So, go ahead and grab a pen and a piece of paper and ask yourself, what is it that I am doing or not doing that is sabotaging my business.

Know the Numbers:

Absolutely, without a doubt you need to know how much money you will need to cover expenses for the day, week, month, and year. In the simplest of terms, if we make more than we owe we pull a profit. If cost is even with revenue, we break even. If we pay out more than what comes in – we are in trouble. Regardless of profit, break-even points, or trouble, we need to know where we stand, so we can begin to understand where our companies are financially. Once we know where we are, we can proceed to move ahead.

If you were to think of your company as a car, your finances are the fuel (or battery if it’s electric – oh, just go with the analogy). Just as you monitor your fuel gauge to see if you need more gas, so too should you with your money. However, in order to get anywhere, you still need to start the ignition and hit the accelerator – we’ll call these marketing. Add in the steering wheel and a map, and you’ve got effective marketing, which is powered by money coming in. You wouldn’t drive a car with a missing fuel gauge and a faulty accelerator, so why would you operate a business this way?

Effective marketing has been mentioned throughout this post, but here’s a quick brief on what it is and isn’t:

Effective marketing is not something you do every six months or once a year. It isn't a random postcard mailing when business gets slow. It is not a magic bullet. It is not a one-sided conversation. And especially, it is not a line item that can be dropped when profits are low.

Then what is effective marketing? It is any message, effort or action that directly and positively impacts your business' bottom line (start crunching the numbers). It is done all the time, woven into the fabric of your business. It encompasses customer experience. And if done well, it is interactive, not reactive.

Sounds simple, right?

“If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there.” Lewis Carroll

-Kate MacKinnon Business Strategist Bright One