Napoleon Hill, the creator of the book “Think and Grow Rich“, once told a story about a man who discovered a rich vain of gold and purchased all the equipment he needed to extract the gold. After a short while the vain of gold abruptly ended and in frustration the man sold the mine for pennies on the dollar. The new owner had the vision to bring in a geologist who found a fault in the earth that had shifted the vain of gold and after an adjustment in the digging, picked up the vain again which turned out to be one of the richest gold mines ever. The original owner could have been a very rich man if he had not lost the vision and faith in what he was doing.

This is also true with the nonprofit community. Every nonprofit organization has a mission that they hope will have a positive effect on humanity as a whole. The challenge is not to allow the events of the day to day operations take away from the true purpose they are trying to achieve. Most nonprofit organizations got its start as a vision of someone or a group of people. The older the organization becomes the more diluted the original vision becomes until boards and employees see the mission more as a job and not as a means to making a difference.

When you talk to the founder of a nonprofit organization, you can feel the passion they have for what the organization is about. When you talk to the board members or employees of an established nonprofit about the purpose of the organization, you will get a generic description of what they do or a watered down version of a mission statement. Too many times the board members and office staff lose touch with the positive effect the organization is having. They have lost the vision or worse are operating off of independent personal visions.

So, how do you re-kindle the vision and passion in your board members and staff?

• Open every staff and board meeting with a real life story about a positive impact the organization has recently had.  Keep the purpose up front.
• Board Chairs should have an honest discussion of the vision each board member has about the purpose of the organization. Create a clear vision so everyone shares the same vision.
• Use your united vision in all of your staff and board member training session. Teach the vision so they can teach others.
• Require staff and board member to serve as volunteers so they can actively participate in making a difference with what your organization is doing in the community.

Nonprofit organizations have the power to create miracles in the lives of those they serve, but the first step in creation is having a clear vision. The organizations that are doing well usually have a clear vision and from that vision are able to create clear goals. The first step for any organization that is stagnate or struggling is to start with the image they have of their organization. Do not get so wrapped up in the day to day work that you forget the purpose of what you are doing. Board members and directors can not afford to allow the vision to be lost and suffer the fate of the original mine owner.

Bob Holder
bob@donorexpress.com
www.donorexpress.com

One of the greatest pleasures of living in the mountains of North Carolina is being minutes from a place where you can experience the natural world.  Hiking to the top of a local mountain is my way of re-charging after a long week.  Self-care is a critical part of working in the nonprofit community.  It seems that in the nonprofit world there is always too much to do and too little time or people to do it.  The staffs of most organizations are there to make a difference and not just for the job.  Good management will be watching for employee burn-out but it is the responsibility of each person to care for themselves..  Caregivers often allow their love of helping others turn their energetic enthusiasm into a tired, unhappy person.

Everyday I talk with people from directors to even volunteers who are concerned with or experiencing “burn-out” from just trying to do too much.  Here are a few simple suggestions on self-care to help prevent “burn-out”:

• Take morning and afternoon breaks where you are up and away from your desk. A fifteen minuet break in the morning and afternoon where you step outside to breathe and stretch can relieve a lot of stress.
• Get away for lunch and try to take a short walk.  Eating lunch at your desk while you work is a path to disaster.  Lunch time is your time.  You will be much more productive and creative after a one hour break with a short walk.
• Cut yourself some slack.  Caregivers are hardest on themselves.  Be aware of the inner voice that is telling you that there is no time for a break or lunch.
• Find a support group of other office mates to support each other in self-care.  Group support is one of the best ways to encourage each other to care for themselves.

Recovering from “burn out” is a much harder road than preventing it.  Smart nonprofit directors understand the need for self-care program and encourage their employees to care for themselves so that they can care for others.

Bob Holder
DonorExpress Software
bob@donorexpress.com
www.donorexpress.com

Recently I came across a startling statistic, most nonprofit organizations will lose between 40% and 50% of new donors between the first and second gift.  This was really hard for me to believe but I found it in several different sources.  As a business owner, this type of loss is uninageable knowing how hard it is to attrack a new client or donor.

In doing research I found that several studies showed that a large part of why donors left was because they felt detached from the organization they gave money to.  Donors give to make a difference and because they feel they have a connection with the work or service that organization provides.  The question is how can nonprofits allow their donors to feel un-important and disconnected?

Fast Fact: (From Judith Nichols, Pinpointing Affluence in the 21st Century)
Out of every 100 donors that stop giving to your organization:

• only 4 move away or pass away.
• 15 have decided to give to another organization.
• 15 are unhappy with your organization.
• 66 think you do care about them

So how do nonprofit organizations stop the hemorrhaging of new donors?  First is to do a better job of expressing gratitude and strengthening the donor connection.  This can be done by using better communication skills when with any correspondence that goes out to the donors.   Many times the donation thank you letter is your only chance to create a first impression and express gratitude for their gift.  Most thank you letters are very poorly written and do a bad job of saying thank you.   Start today by reviewing your letters and re-writing them so they express how much each gift means and what a difference each donor has made.

Bob Holder
DonorExpress Software
www.donorexpress.com
bob@donorexpress.com

Everyone who has been a part of an appeal knows the magic that some letters have.  For one reason or another your letter hits on an note that really touches those you are mailing to and the response can be startling.  The question is, why can’t all letters have that magic?  The presure of creating a master peice appeal letter can be great if you are the lucky person in charge of writing your appeal letters.

“Writers block” can strike at any time.  When it does, do not fight it.  Writing is creative and when it is not flowing,  it maybe best to push away from the desk and take a walk or get a cup of coffee to allow the thoughts to come to you.  It can be like the Uncle Remus story of Br’er Rabbit and the tar baby where the more you struggle the more stuck you get.

A good appeal letter should be a conversation with the donor.  Ease up on the strict rules of proper English and just talk to the listener.  An appeal letter that is written by an English major maybe grammatically correct but it will read like a text book.  Explain to the donor your mission and how he/she can make a difference to those you serve.  Talk to them.

Another good way to get your message across is to tell it in a story.  Stories are a great way to personalize your message and put a human touch to your appeal.  Nothing creates a mental picture better than a good story.  Think about that special situation or client that really defined your organizations mission and tell the story with passion.  Your message surely come through.

Being conversional with your writing and telling your mission in a story are two great ways toward an effective appeal letter.  Do not forget that writing is a creative process and the thoughts come through you and not from you so allow yourself the space to create.

Bob Holder
DonorExpress Software
bob@donorexpress.com
www.donorexpress.com

This title and similar titles are appearing all over the place.  Nonprofit organizations seem to be at a loss as to how to handle fund-raising when the economy takes a dive.  Some organizations chose the turtle approach and draw into a shell to wait for the storm to pass.  Most will continue with the “same old thing” mode of operations and hope for good results.  Then there are those who will see the economic crises as an opportunity to try new methods of raising money.

The reality is that the smart organizations will take a little of each of these approaches.  First they should take this time to analyze the efficiencies of their staff and office procedures.  Here you may need to make some adjustments so you are more efficence.  An organization must be abel to operate as efficenly in good times as in bad times.

Second, an organization should be operating from a marketing plan that is set for 1,2 or more years.  Supporters still count on taking part in your annual fundraising events.  But you may want to re-think some of the events that you sponsor that are more community awareness but require a great deal of time and money.

Third, an economic down turn is an opportunity to position yourself to take advantage of the sling shot effect that will come as the economy rebounds.  The smart organizations will have used the down time to set themselves up to be at the front when the money starts to flow again.  Then turtles will just starting to stick their heads out trying to time when to emerge again.  The “do the same old thing” organizations will probably be where they were last year or boosting about a modest increase.

By stream lining your organization in a down economy will set the stage for your organization to flower with the Spring of recovery.

Bob Holder
DonorExpress Software
828.264.2577
bob@donorexpress.com
www.donorexpress.com.

In working with nonprofit organizations daily you hear about all the exciting ideas nonprofit people are using to increase the effectiveness of their solicitations. You also hear where organizations have fallen into the annual routine of fund-raising. The events are the same, at the same time of year, with the same people and generating about the same amount each year.  I am not saying that tradition is not good but if your event generated about the same amount as last year, with the increases in cost, you are going backwards. 

Poorly preforming tradition may need to be revamped into new tradition or replaced with a new event that may attracted a new crowd. Network with other nonprofit organizations to get new ideas or to hear what is working or not working for them. Take the new ideas and put your own twist on them. Look at the advertising plan you have for your event to see if it is reaching your target market. Do not be afraid to try something new. Who knows when you may hit on the next “must attend” event that blows the top off of your financial expectations. To find out more about how we can help your organization, contact Bob Holder at bob@donorexpress.com or call 828.264.2577 or go to www.donorexpress.com.

Here is the catch. All not for profit organizations want to increase the donations coming into the organizations but very few are willing to study what motivates their donor’s giving.  They are stuck in the same mind set where they continue to look for new donors to replace the unhappy donors they are losing. The solution is simple.  Cultivate those who are already giving to you instead of always chasing new contacts.  The big buss word in fund-raising right now is “progressive fund-raising” where you take a first time donor and cultivate them into a second time giver then volunteer and on to a major giver.  This is accomplished largely through communication with your donor.  Communication with donors is where nonprofit organizations fall short.  And it starts with a poorly written or stale response letter sent out to your supporters and continues with newsletters with no valuable information.Your donors are your most valuable asset and each one deserve your attention.  It maybe time to look at the procedures you have in place to communicate with your donors.  I am sure you will find areas that could be improved on.  The staff of DonorExpress Software not only sell and support software but are actively involved with the operations of nonprofits.  To find out more about how we can help your organization, contact Bob Holder at bob@donorexpress.com or call 828.264.2577.

Last week we traveled to Oregon, Illinois to work with the local Hospice there.  It was a wonderful experience to push away from the desk and go on-site to an organization that is using our software.  In dealing with different types of nonprofit organizations all across the country, we have learned that everyone modifies their data entry procedures in the software to fit their needs. This Hospice has really grown in the past few years and realized that going forward they need to look at how they were using their donor database.  They ask us to come on-site and give them an outsiders opinion.  

Our philosophy has always been that a software application is only as strong as the office procedures that controls how information is processed. The first thing we did with the Hospice was to address any questions or concerns they had about the DonorExpressSoftware.  Then we had the write in an outline format each step their donations went through from the time they picked up the mail to the thank you letter going out.  Until now, they had never really thought it through.  They immediately recognized several areas of redundancy and bottle necks that slowed the entire process down.  With this simple process, we were able to increase the efficiency by making a few small adjustment in their procedures and add a few new ones.

So if it has been a while since you have reviewed the way your office is being run, take a few minents to write down how information flows through you office.  Your office is run by a set of procedures.  The real question is do you control the procedures or do the procedures control you?

For more information contact DonorExpress Software at 828.264.2577 or email to infor@donorexpress.com

Our current society is bombarded with information overload at all times. Our minds are being trained to seek visual stimulation from all directions. This stimulation has created addictions with most of us and especially our young people. If you are in denial about this addiction, I challenge you to have your cable disconnected for a month. Our nonprofit society is forcing us to look at different ways to get our message recognized.  New ways must be used to promote nonprofit fundraising and building your donor database.

View complete artical at http://www.donorexpress.com/Newsletters/NewsLineVol9.htm

Annual fundraising events are, in the short term, a great way to raise money but many organizations overlook several key areas that could take their event to a new level. The details of the event seem to be well covered, but there are some pre and post-event details that are many times neglected. Fundraising Events are NOT just about raising money. They are a way for you to “Tell your story”.  Telling your nonprofit story can help build your donor database.

View complete artical at http://www.donorexpress.com/Newsletters/NewsLineVol10.htm