August 27, 2009 ADVERTISEMENT Unique. Distinct. Eye-catching. Product to suit your every need. Ornaments and more. Visit ChemArt at www.chemart.com In This Edition: It Was Christmas In July For Salvation Army Donors ... 7 ways to deal with difficult donors Database ... Getting information that you can use Boards ... Teaching members to actually fundraise 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! Editor's Note: Do you work for the best nonprofit on the planet? We are looking for the best nonprofits where people love to work. They actually show up early and stay late. If your organization has at least 10 employees, we want to know why you're great. Please go to http://bestnonprofitstoworkfor.com/ It Was Christmas In July For Salvation Army By Mark Hrywna In Nashville, it was a full month. In Philadelphia, it was every Wednesday in July. In New York, it was a full week. In each case, The Salvation Army’s Christmas in July campaign had one goal: to raise more money to handle the continuing increase in requests for essential services. The Christmas in July campaigns are a decision that local units made to meet increased needs in their areas, according to Jaime Joswick, public relations specialist at The Salvation Army National Headquarters in Alexandria, Va. A program was initiated in as many as two dozen chapters around the country.  To read the complete article click here...   ADVERTISEMENT More than 80,000 nonprofits are now using GoodSearch.com and GoodShop.com to earn funds with every search of the web and every purchase!  More than 100 new groups are joining daily!  Success stories include: - The ASPCA has earned more than $27,000 - The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation has earned close to $11,000 - Save Darfur has earned more than $10,000 Read more about GoodSearch and GoodShop in the NY Times, Oprah Magazine, CNN and more... Donors ... 7 ways to deal with difficult donors Skeptical. Controlling. Underappreciated. Some descriptions of your donors can sound like a list of the Seven Dwarfs gone wrong. But you should be looking at how your donors feel and communicate with them based on those emotions so you and your donors can live happily ever after. Sarah Burdi, assistant vice president of InovaHealth System Foundation in Falls Church, Va.; Bruce Wenger, vice president of client services and senior consultant for Henderson, Nev.-based IDC, Ltd.; and Jessica Harrington, vice president of Schultz & Williams in Philadelphia, explained this all during the recent Bridge to Integrated Marketing & Fundraising Conference, in National Harbor, Md. Here’s how to deal with your Seven Donors: Skeptical. These donors might not think your organization is a government conspiracy, but they don’t always believe you. Try to be transparent and honest about how fundraising helps the mission. Informed and involved. They want to learn more about your organization and get their hands dirty along the way. Give them as much information as possible. Provide volunteering other opportunities to get involved.  Outcomes focused. They want the details. Try to give these donors concrete numbers about what their donation is doing. For example, tell them that a $10 donation can give a family an emergency kit or that $30 provides a low-income child with school books. Underappreciated. They love your organization but aren’t feeling the love back. Thank these donors and provide some follow-up. They might show their appreciation with another gift. Too many choices. Donors are bombarded with hundreds of different asks. These donors might be so overwhelmed with decisions that they ultimately don’t give at all. Give them unique opportunities to give and focus on timely issues that give deadlines. Do their homework. They have your federal Form 990 and go over it with a highlighter. Be transparent and offer easily accessible information on your Web site and in other materials. Don’t let them feel like you are burying information. Controlling. These donors don’t like feeling helpless in their relationship with the organization. Provide communication options so they are tailoring the relationship they want with you. ADVERTISEMENT How will you meet the new IRS form 990 documentation requirements for your organization's top executives? Find exactly the comparable data you need in the new NonProfit Times 2009 Nonprofit Organizations Compensation & Benefits Report. Order your subscription today! Click here. Database ... Getting information that you can use Your donor database is probably full of great information that tells you more about your donor and their behavior than ever before. But what is the point of having that rich database if you aren’t going to use the information? There are challenges to collecting data – and even more for collecting quality data and actually using it, explained Janet Winston, vice president of analytics at Fairfax, Va.-based SCA Direct, and Lisa Maska, partner at Lautman, Maska, Neill & Company in Washington, D.C., during the recent Bridge to Integrated Marketing & Fundraising Conference, in National Harbor, Md. Here are some challenges to tackle: Capturing the data. Winston and Maska said this is the most important thing you can do. Try to categorize your campaigns from premium, annual fund and other mailings. Ask your donors to volunteer information, but limit the information to items that might help your donor relationship. Storing data. You have all this information -- but where do you put it all? Before asking for every demographic detail, plan how you will code the information. Try to have one database that will make it easier to access information. Deciding what’s valuable. Will it help you to know a donor’s favorite color or what soap a donor prefers? Probably not. Figure out what information is important to the organization’s relationship with the donor. Winston and Maska said there isn’t a hard, fast rule. Information on a donor’s actions may be able to predict future behavior, while donor supplied data shows the donor trusts you. Doing something with the data. If you are going to collect mountains of data, make it worth it to you. Incorporate your donor information with your recency, frequency and monetary strategy. Look at modeling your list to maximize your file. Boards ... Teaching members to actually fundraise Telling your board members to go out and fundraise is comparable to telling them to walk off a cliff. It doesn’t do any good for your fundraising and it’s not the best situation for your board either. Give them a parachute by preparing them for fundraising and donors ahead, according to Barbara Ciconte, senior vice president of consulting services at Chevy Chase, Md-based Donor Strategies, Inc., and Lee MacVaugh, director of development and fundraising at The Character Education Partnership in Washington, D.C. Ciconte and MacVaugh explained what it takes to get your board members ready for fundraising at the recent Bridge to Integrated Marketing & Fundraising Conference, in National Harbor, Md. Here are their ideas: What you need from board members, besides a sunny disposition? Have each board member sign confidentiality and conflict of interest policies. Also have your board members write down their interests – it may help matching them to donation asks. What board members need from you. Each board member should be given an outline of role descriptions and responsibilities. That will ensure they know what is expected of them. Create board ambassadors. Board members should be coached on the organization’s facts and messages. They should know how to describe the organization and what it does in just a few sentences. Advocate for the cause. Try to develop your board member into an activist that can take the organization’s mission to leaders. Prepare them for debates, questions and objections that may come up when talking about your organization. Fundraise for the mission. Your board members may know the case statement inside and out, but make sure they still think about the ask. Team up development staff with a board member the in the beginning to prevent a freeze up once donations come up. Pack a survival kit. Give your board members any material or information they would need to solicit. Make up a packet that the board members could use and leave with prospective donors, which may include brochures, fact sheets, a development office contact list and pledge cards. 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.