In This Edition:

• It’s Official -- 2008 Stunk
  
  
• Planned Giving ...
  Helping your donors set their giving goals
  
  
• Public Relations ...
  5 tips for getting news releases used
  
  
• Marketing ...
  A lecture series can score real cash
  

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It’s Official -- 2008 Stunk

Here’s a surprise -- 2008 was a disappointing year in direct response fundraising for many national nonprofits. You’re not surprised? Really?

How bad was it? The sky didn’t fall but the median decline was 3.3 percent.

For its Index of National Fundraising Performance, Target Analytics evaluated transactions from 75 organizations, which included more than 36 million donors and more than 68 million gifts totaling over $2 billion ending in the fourth quarter of 2008.

To read the complete article click here...

Planned Giving ...
Helping your donors set their giving goals

Many fundraisers approach the idea of planned giving through asking for money and aligning the request with mission.

That approach certainly is necessary, but philanthropic advisor Kathryn W. Miree maintains that many donors often do not have any specific goals, and helping them understand goals can be useful in gaining their support.

According to Miree, common planning goals that an individual might embrace include the following:

• Providing for sufficient assets for spouse and family and addressing special needs.
• Providing for children. This requires a discussion of the amount or nature of the property to be left to the child(ren) and the form of the gift. The client should review whether the child is capable of financial asset management or if an advisor or trustee should be appointed.
• Providing for grandchildren. This also requires a discussion of how much and in what fashion.
• Providing for special educational, rehabilitation, medical or remedial provisions that should be made for one or more dependents.
• Providing for the care of extended family members.
• Creating a way to maintain control or all for flexibility. How important is the ability to provide direction and meet needs?
• Establishing family values and philanthropic goals that are important.
• Supporting specific charities that the client has supported during the person’s lifetime.
  

Public Relations ...
5 tips for getting news releases used

Want to write a press release, but have no idea where to start? Janet Rice McCoy, assistant professor at Morehead State University, and Jeanette Drake, associate professor at Kent State University, explained the essentials in “PR Bootcamp: Media Kits” at Blackbaud’s 2008 Conference for NonProfits.

Keep these tips on hand the next time you want journalists to take you seriously:

• Have something that is actually newsworthy. Nothing irritates a journalist more than receiving the same information over and over again. News generating items include debates, events, special reports, surveys, predictions or significant speeches.
• Formatting. Cut the clutter for releases. Try size 12 font, double-spaced text. Label the information as a news release and make sure to include contact information.
• Quotes. When journalists are on deadline, they might not have enough time to call your organization and interview the CEO – so include them in the release.
• Writing tips. Keep your sentences short and simple. Don’t be vague. Write clear information that the journalist can use.
• Grammar. Poor grammar can put some journalists on edge, but they can’t expect you to know Associated Press style inside and out. Remember to put punctuation inside of quotation marks, abbreviate states and do not capitalize job titles if they appear after the person’s name.

Marketing ...
A lecture series can score real cash

Money talks -- or lately around the country -- gasps. But nonprofits are finding that talk can mean money.

That is, a talk by celebrity speakers can bring in revenue. Nonprofits are finding lecture series to be helpful both for fundraising and heightening an organization’s profile.

There is no such thing as a sure thing, however (just ask the folks on Wall Street), so doing it right is as important for bringing in speakers as it is for any other endeavor.

Some considerations:

• Keep the subjects, and the speakers, relevant to the demographic being addressed. Susan Engel, director of lectures for the Charles Simon Center for Adult Life & Learning in New York, suggests asking key individuals in an organization what they would be interested in hearing.
• Be ready to pay big money for a big name. Bigger names can draw bigger crowds.
• Remember that a lecture program should make money, not devour organization funds, so try to find well-known speakers who will appear for free or at least at a discount and not with excessive demands for travel or accommodation. If you charge admission, keep ticket prices low. Grants and endowments can be helpful here.
• If a lecture series works for your organization, be willing to let it grow. The 92nd Street Y in New York (of which the Charles Simon Center is an extension) developed a satellite program that includes more than 30 community centers that broadcast the Y’s lectures.

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