Trade Associations/Trade Shows

[Chris Carnie is founder of Factary, Europe’s only consultancy focused on strategic funders — major donors, foundations, companies and government. It operates from bases in Spain, Belgium and the U.K. At the 27th International Fundraising Congress, which took place in the Netherlands last week, Chris and colleague Martine Godefroid presented a session titled Major Donors — The Personal View. Here, he presents a synopsis of that session.] It’s hard to start a major-donor program if you don’t know what a major donor looks like. That’s why we invited a philanthropist and an advisor to philanthropic families to give us their personal views at last

One of the biggest challenges to telefundraising is making contact with the people you’re calling. But Jim Chmielewski, vice president of client services for telemarketing firm Public Interest Communications, says it’s worth the effort. For one thing, you can get immediate feedback from the person you’re contacting, whereas with direct mail, it takes time to receive feedback -- if you get any at all. So if an organization is looking to test a new case statement or issue, the telephone is great for that because it can get immediate feedback from its members. The telephone also works well when trying to convert

As a member of the press, I was barred — and rightfully so, I say — from attending the “Special Nonprofit Only Sessions” at the DMA Nonprofit Federation 2007 New York Nonprofit Conference last week. So I wasn’t able to hear the presentation on ways small nonprofits with limited resources can still compete with the big guys and win the hearts and wallets of donors. I did, however, have a chance to catch up with session presenters Joan Geiger, vice president of development for RAINN; Jerry McCathern, director of development at Hyacinth AIDS Foundation; and Tiffini Swanston, direct-marketing manager at the 92nd Street

In a session last week at the DMA Nonprofit Federation 2007 New York Nonprofit Conference, Jennifer Donahue, director of development for NARAL Pro-Choice America, discussed her organization’s experiences integrating e-mail, telefundraising and postal mail. According to Donahue, NARAL’s journey to integration began when it had successful direct-mail, telemarketing and Internet fundraising programs and asked the question “What now?” Among its integration efforts, NARAL began using the telephone to convert non-donating online activists who didn’t respond to direct mail. The organization saw a 2-to-1 improvement in response, which Donahue attributes to the fact that activists were contacted within 24 hours after they took an action.

Web 2.0 is the new kid on the block, for businesses and nonprofits alike. What follows any introduction of the phrase “Web 2.0” is a host of terms like Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Flickr, Second Life, etc. — the list seems endless and grows by the day. It’s easy to get lost in the buzzwords, but the key to leveraging Web 2.0 capabilities is to do what your organization should have been doing all along: focusing on its mission and message. This was the advice shared by the presenters of a session on “How to Handle the Web 2.0 Curve Ball” at the DMA Nonprofit Federation

Getting Started With Web 2.0

Steve’s Telefundraising Tips

With all the hype surrounding online fundraising, direct marketers are left with questions about the performance of online campaigns vs. direct-mail acquisition campaigns. Which perform better? How do you know which to use for your organization? The answer: It depends. As with most aspects of direct marketing, there is no cut-and-dry answer as to which method of donor recruitment is better, but rather unique characteristics of both channels. In an effort to uncover some of the benefits and challenges of online and DM acquisition, I moderated a debate at the Bridge Conference in Washington, D.C., last week. Krista Harte Sassaman, senior account director at marketing solutions

44th AFP International Conference on Fundraising

More Live Footage From the Conference