July 7, 2009 ADVERTISEMENT Are you using the right tools for the job? Try WealthEngine's donor screening services or our fast, online research center for the best prospect research available. More than 25 databases, detailed profiles and handy reports...use it for all of your development efforts. Visit www.wealthengine.com or call (301) 215-5980 for a FREE trial. In This Edition: Compete To Be Kiwanis’ New Worldwide Service Project Fundraising ... Strategies need redefining for modern times Online ... Email fatigue can be tiring Database ... Listen to what information tells you ADVERTISEMENT   Blackbaud NetCommunity Grow includes an easy-to-update content management system, professional design, sample campaigns, strategic consulting, community sharing, and individual support for nonprofits that need to up their online presence, but have limited resources to work with. Learn more and download the free white paper: Taking Five Website Staples to the Next Level. NPT Jobs NPT Resource Directory Subscribe to NPT NPT Latest Edition NPT Advertising Contact Us      Please forward NPT Instant Fundraising to your colleagues so that they can also subscribe. Tell-a-friend! Compete To Be Kiwanis’ New Worldwide Service Project Kiwanis International made a pledge in 1994 to help protect children from the scourges of Iodine Deficiency Disorders (IDD) in its first Worldwide Service Project. With the majority of the world’s children now protected against IDD, Kiwanis is inviting organizations, institutions and individuals to propose a project to become the global service organization’s second worldwide service initiative.   “We live today in a world of need,” said Kiwanis International President Don Canaday, of Fishers, Ind. To read the complete article click here...   ADVERTISEMENT 4th Annual Bridge to Integrated Marketing & Fundraising Conference Gaylord National Resort July 21-23 http://www.bridgeconf.org Fundraising ... Strategies need redefining for modern times Bob Dylan sang that “the times, they are a changing.” When it comes to fundraising, Judith Nichols agrees. Shifting paradigms are redefining fundraising strategies, said Nichols, deputy director for external affairs at Brooklyn Public Library. She presented a session called “It’s All About to Change: How Important Trends Are Driving Philanthropy In New Directions,” at the recent Fund Raising Day New York conference, sponsored by the Greater New York Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals. Longevity has changed fundraising methodologies, Nichols said. With people living longer, the donor pyramid and “linear” fundraising (annual giving, to major giving, to planned giving) has been replaced with donor gears and “cyclical” fundraising (based on lifestyle, lifestage and gift type). She said renewal and upgrading rather than acquisition makes sense when it takes five times as much work to acquire a new donor than to renew an existing one. Diversity has redefined who are your “best” prospects, said Nichols. A less homogenous prospect pool requires marketing by demographics and/or psychographics. Nichols presented The Rubik’s Cube school of prospect selection, which has four axes: Gift demographics Donor demographics Donor psychographics Donor communication style Repositioning fundraising to respond to tomorrow’s new opportunities, Nichols said, means moving from methodology driven to donor driven; from homogenous to niche audiences; from mass communication to one-on-one communication, and from a world where a pre-World War II population dominates to one where a post-World War II population dominates. Online ... Email fatigue can be tiring Are your email subscribers quick to delete your emails or are your open rates sluggish? Your online subscribers might be suffering from email fatigue. The best way to help them is to make your email user friendly, according to Lee E. Miller, managing director at NegotiationPlus.com, based in Morristown, N.J. Miller explained how to help your readers battle their email exhaustion at the recent Fundraising Day in New York conference held by the Association of Fundraising Professionals Greater New York Chapter: Read what you write thoroughly. Assume that your readers will not read it as thoroughly. Distinguish key points with bold words or underline text. Say what you want in the subject line. Put the most important information up top. Your readers might not make it to the bottom. Highlight your call to action and give a deadline. Keep it to one screen. You might lose readers if they have to scroll. Use visuals. Pictures and graphs can stimulate your readers to go on. Pay attention to choice of words and tone. Stay away from attachments -- people usually will not open them.   Database ... Listen to what information tells you Fundraising for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign and fundraising for nonprofits really isn’t all that different. Forget for a moment that the campaign raised hundreds of millions of dollars online, and focus on the concepts used in raising that money. Stephen Geer, former director of email and online fundraising for Obama for America, presented “What nonprofits can learn from the Obama online fundraising campaign,” during the recent Fundraising Day New York event, sponsored by the Greater New York Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals. Geer, now vice president for new media at OMP Direct in Washington, D.C., offered some lessons that can be adapted from the Obama campaign, among them: Have the courage to listen to your data. “It’s human nature to shy away from results we don’t like,” Geer said, but the role of testing is well known in the world of fundraising. Quality control matters. After an error in a state-specific fundraising email in the summer of 2007, every single message that went out had to pass a two-page checklist. “It takes time and staff to maintain quality,” Geer said, “but it ensures that you don’t make embarrassing mistakes or miss big opportunities.” Staff according to your goals. “You can’t raise millions of dollars online with a couple of junior staffers and a computer,” he said. The campaign had a huge staff around the country to keep up with the massive volume of outgoing emails. “I’m not making a case that every nonprofit should have an enormous staff for email and online fundraising. Instead I’m making a case that is seldom heard in the world of new media -- you only get out of it what you put in.” Don't Forget Us! Changing positions? Or have you moved to another organization? Then, make sure you still get NPT's family of eNewsletters by simply updating your profile. Copyright @ 2009 The NonProfit Times. To read our Privacy Policy click here. To forward Instant Fundraising to your colleagues so they can also subscribe click here.