Donor Relationship Management

“Collection of personal information is at the very foundation of a nonprofit’s success, for sure, but they also have the duty to protect that information.” This according to Katrin Verclas, executive director of the Nonprofit Technology Enterprise Network, a San Francisco-based professional community that connects people involved in nonprofit technology. Nonprofits collect all sorts of private information about their constituents, such as their home addresses; home phone numbers; work phone numbers; e-mail addresses; and details about their interests and family status, etc. Having that information is extremely important for any kind of nonprofit success and effectiveness, Verclas says. The more you know

The Metropolitan Inter-Faith Association is a Memphis, Tenn.-based social-service organization that serves more than 60,000 people a year with programs ranging from transitional housing for homeless families to nutrition to day care for infants to job opportunities for teens. The organization runs four main special events a year, according to Charlie Nelson, director of special events/volunteers for MIFA. One of the organization’s most successful events actually is a non-event: the No-Go Gala. For this, the organization recruits people to serve as hosts and has them supply a list of names of potential donors. MIFA prints up and sends out invitations to these people

On his www.raise-funds.com Web site, fundraising consultant Tony Poderis wrote recently on special events, addressing the question of whether they should be focused on making friends for an organization or bringing in money. His answer: Raising money should be the main goal, though special events also can help bring in new supporters, increase volunteer involvement and publicize the organization. A special event with the primary goal of making money, Poderis writes, is a special event more likely to succeed. Before considering putting on a special event, organizations should keep in mind the following: 1. Profit. Poderis says a fundraising event should not be produced

When people come to special events supporting The Cleveland Play House, a Cleveland-based organization that produces professional-level plays and conducts theater-focused training and educational programs, they expect drama and something spectacular, says Judy Comeau-Hart, director of development for the play house. Given that fact and the incredible competition that Comeau-Hart says exists when it comes to special events, the organization spares no expense for decorations and food. “You have to make it spectacular so that people will look forward to coming every year,” she says. Special events are not the most effective way to raise funds, Comeau-Hart says. They’re actually the least efficient

Tim Burchill, executive director of The Hendrickson Institute for Ethical Leadership at Winona, Minn.-based St. Mary’s University of Minnesota, says the ethical challenges that nonprofit organizations face in regards to fundraising can be broken down into seven categories. 1. Tainted money. Burchill says this category is a media favorite. While some organizations restrict who they’ll take funds from — e.g., Mothers Against Drunk Driving won’t take money from alcohol companies; American Cancer Society won’t take money from tobacco companies; etc. — many other groups don’t make such distinctions. Burchill says there is no money that is inherently bad, but each organization needs to

I took a seat in the Grand Ballroom in the Waldorf=Astoria on the second day of the DMA Nonprofit Federation’s 2006 New York Nonprofit Conference in early August with my coffee and bagel just as Heath Slawner began his general session on the power of influence. Slawner’s presentation shed light on the topic of influence and ethics in a fresh, new way that had me on the edge of my seat even before the coffee had a chance to kick in. A partner at Montreal-based training and development firm Hart Resource Development, Slawner outlined six principles of ethical influence developed by Dr. Robert B.

If you have a gnawing sensation in the pit of your stomach, you just might be doing something unethical. So says Elizabeth Schmidt, president of nonprofit management consulting firm Southpoint Social Strategies and professor of nonprofit law and practice at the College of William and Mary Law School. Schmidt says conflicts of interest having to do with board members are very common in the nonprofit world, e.g., board members doing business with the organization where they stand to make a financial gain. She stresses that the entire board should always be aware that a board member (or an organization affiliated with a board

The wonders of online marketing give nonprofits the ability to reach out to millions of potential donors. But organizations seeking major and planned gifts often struggle with prioritizing the large amounts of data that result. It’s no great surprise that, after a while, all that data starts to run together and all those donors start to look alike.

No one wants to listen to complaints every day. Whether the complainer is a spouse (“Put your dirty dishes in the dishwasher!”), one of your kids (“Why can’t you take me to the mall?”) or a donor (“Stop sending me so much mail!”), it might seem easier to ignore the situation than to do something about it.

But just as you don’t want your spouse to file for divorce or your child to hitch a ride to the mall from a stranger, you also don’t want a valuable donor to say goodbye to you.

Prospect research is most effective when you have the information you need when you need it. Sounds obvious, right? But it implies that an organization knows what information it really needs. The type of information needed depends on the prospect’s stage in the solicitation cycle. There are three stages within the solicitation cycle: the identification stage; the cultivation stage and the solicitation stage. 1. Identification of capable prospects is among the most important responsibilities of prospect research. At the identification stage, you only need to have clear evidence of major-gift capacity — expensive property or significant stock holdings, for instance. It is not