|
|
|
Articles
Read
About
|
Should
you not have Acrobat
installed in order to read PDF Files,
click
here to download the free Acrobat Reader. |
|
-
the mission
-
long-term goals
-
measurable objectives
-
and strategies
These
should be included in a Case Statement that is constantly
being reviewed.
2.
Prepare a fundraising strategy based on the financial
needs of the organisation and an analysis of the funding markets.
This must include:
The
fundraising strategy must be balanced.
Plan how you will raise support for:
3.
The Governing Body must be committed to the
organisation financially and be prepared to raise funds.
3.1
The Governing Body should appoint a Fundraising Committee
to assist with:
-
planning
-
implementation
-
oversight
-
evaluating
and
-
reporting
3.2
They should know how to use volunteers successfully
3.3
Appoint a staff person (full-time, part-time or
volunteer) assigned to co-ordinating and running the fundraising
programme.
3.4
Make sure that those involved in fundraising are being trained
for the tasks: –
workshops, seminars, study reading, interaction and membership of
SAIF.
4.
Build a donor base:
Identify and analyse potential donor markets (individuals,
corporates, foundations, trusts and institutions) with the best
funding potential for your cause.
Establish:
-
Linkage
-
Interest
and
-
Ability
4.
Service the donors:
Understand the needs of current donors:
what satisfies them, what will attract them to give more and
more often. This
requires good donor base management.
5.
Evaluate the fundraising programme regularly:
remove failures, make corrections and build on successes.
With
acknowledgement to David L Cuthbert CFRE, FSAIF
Extract from a
presentation to Coco Meeting 6 February 1995
Download
article in MSWord format
Top
|
|
Are
Fundraisers Saints or Sinners
Extracted
from the Resource Mobilisation & Fundraising Development workbook –
courtesy of SAIF E&T.
CHARACTERISTICS
OF A RESOURCE MOBILISER/FUNDRAISER
People who
move into fundraising and commence the creation of resource mobilisation
strategies come from many directions, and today the search is on for
effective staff or volunteers to handle this all-important function.
There is no pool of experienced fundraisers to draw on, no
placement agencies specialising in this field and until recently no formal
training programmes that would give the practical grounding in the
knowledge, skills and techniques that are essential for professional
development. Therefore, we
need to examine the personal characteristics that are most likely to
provide just the kind of fundraisers Non-profit organisations are seeking:
-
Committed
to public service:
Profit and personal gain are not part of the Non-profit scene.
The satisfaction of serving the community well and making the world
a better place are the incentives that await fundraisers.
Salaries and benefits are normally less than in the business world.
-
Good
interpersonal skills:
The ideal person has the ability to get along well with other
people, and the capacity to develop long-term relationships of mutual
trust.
-
A
keen student: The ability to learn and cope with information and
experiences that are constantly changing is essential.
Not only has fundraising training becoming serious today, but the
environments in which Non-profits operate provide new challenges every
day.
-
Subordinates
personal needs to the needs of the organisation:
While it is important for employees to have personal ambitions -
Non-profit organisations make uncomfortable work places for
individualists. Commitment to
others and the greater good of the mission comes before own goals.
-
Flexible:
Fundraisers often find themselves having to do things which are
outside their line of duty. This
is a people business and Non-profits never have enough willing hands
around when they are needed.
-
Self-motivated: The ideal person is able to maintain a drive and an
enthusiasm for the work even though the results and benefits to the
organisation may not be apparent for a number of years.
-
Confident
in own skills and knowledge:
A desire to build up skills through experience and learning is
essential. Success in
fundraising today means throwing off the "tired and worn good-old
ways" and adopting fresh approached.
-
Have
a great deal of patience, perseverance and tolerance:
The fundraising role is for the most part misunderstood by
governing bodies, Non-profit management and staff, the media and the
public. The ability to
quietly educate these audiences in the art and contribution of effective
fundraising practice is the responsibility of both old and new in the
profession.
-
Hard
working: Results do not come overnight, but after an investment of
many hours and experimentation. While
it is good to spread and delegate responsibilities to a willing and
committed team of helpers, it is usually the dedicated few who
toil through to the end.
The
above is definitely the description of a Saint but what about the Sinners
who;
-
don’t plan for success and have no clear direction
-
work without budgets and don’t even consider targets
-
have sloppy and weak administration skills
-
lack time management and self-discipline
-
fear meeting donors face-to-face and want to do everything via the
telephone or through a proposal
-
and finally lack enthusiasm, chutzpah and
passion.
|
A
FUNDRAISER'S PRAYER
A
fundraiser stood at the heavenly gate,
His face was scarred and old,
He stood before the man of fate,
For admission to the fold.
“What have you done,” Saint Peter said,
“To gain admission here?”
“I’ve been a fundraiser, sir,” he said,
“For many and many a year.”
The Pearly Gates swung open wide,
Saint Peter rang the bell…
“Come in and choose your harp,” he sighed
“You’ve had your share of hell!”
|
Top
|
|
“Sponsorship”
by
Ann Bown of Charisma Communications - a fundraising, public relations and
management consultancy to non-profit organisations.
Acknowledgements:
Heather Newell of Foresee Communications, New Zealand,
BMI and The Future
Marketing & Business Vision magazine.
A
word from your Sponsor – WIFMe
What’s
In it For Me - Is the first
question any potential sponsor is going to ask?
Do
you have an event that is of great interest and attraction to the public? Are you well known – are you a brand? Are you involved in
work that really makes a difference to other people’s lives? Do you have
the support of your management team or members and do they have the nous
for business negotiation? Do you have a volunteer element and do you have
a strong base of supporters?
If you are able to answer YES to most of these questions and convinced you
can lift a corporate profile and image, bring new customers through the
door, increase sales, generate publicity, provide visibility and really
add value to the bottom line of a product or brand then you certainly do
have something to trade!
In fundraising the definition of a sponsor is often confused with that of
a donor. There is a difference; a donation is freely given with
minimal requirement for public acknowledgement whereas sponsorship is a
mutually beneficial association between at least two organisations, where
one provides financial contribution in return for a beneficial association
with the other. Now the
beneficial association is a highly loaded term and this is where you need
to be smart and take a long hard look at what you have to offer?
The general objective of any sponsorship will be to create awareness for a
company name, product, brand or to grow a company’s image in the market
place. This all leads to the
main aim of increasing sales!
Sponsorship is an estimated US $22 billion a year industry worldwide, with
sports accounting for two-thirds of that figure.
Arts, music, education and good causes take the rest!
In South Africa the levels are similar to the global figures.
Sponsorship investment in South Africa has far exceeded the 2000 estimate
of R2.5 billion per annum after the 2002 World Cup Cricket mania.
Some of the bigger players like Coca-Cola, Sasol, SAB, Nedbank have
annual budgets of R20m plus.
An important thing to remember about sponsorship is that you need to be
prepared to negotiate and maybe even introduce the idea to a company –
don’t presume that they know more about it than you do.
Timing is important and so is a strategy for the approach.
Don’t dream up an idea and expect an instance response, think it
through, put yourself in the sponsors place and don’t rush the process.
So what is in it for them?
There are two types of sponsorship that you need to consider – will it
be a marketing tool where the sponsor will align their product with your
organisation or event with the express goal of selling more product or
benefits to customers. This
is often called event marketing. Or will it be a public
relations tool whereby the sponsor will want to show their
responsibility to the community by aligning themselves to your
organisation. Usually they
are promoting good corporate citizenship within a community or need to
improve their image to a target group.
Can you help the Sponsor achieve one of the above!
What would they like from this partnership? The only way you will
know the answer to this is through ‘detective’ work and finding out as
much as possible about the company (market research).
Annual reports are good places to start, surf the internet and
visit their website, scan newspapers and keep press cuttings, check their
letterheads for names of directors and so forth.
Once you have done this bit of intelligence gathering then make a
phone call to find out what the procedure is – if possible set-up a
meeting. The first contact person is often the marketing manager or
public relations officer but you may need to ascertain this beforehand and
probably speak to three or four different people before the appointment is
secured.
What type of benefits do sponsors want?
-
Naming
rights and ideas to where their name can appear
-
An
opportunity to host a function
-
Branding
and space at an event
-
Potential
media coverage, exposure
-
Free
tickets and best seats to a high profile gathering
-
Editorial
space and or a free advertisement in your magazine or newsletter
-
A
recognizable increase in product sales
-
Customer
loyalty retained
-
Leadership
profiling – keynote speaker at a special event or conference
-
Presenting
awards and prizes to well-known personalities
Keeping
the sponsor or sponsors happy is vital and you need to ensure that
promises are kept – don’t say that Nelson Mandela is the big draw-card
to a nighttime event when you know that he, or rather Zelda LaGrange his
PA, often decline invitations after 7 pm.
You may decide that your happening
is big enough to attract more than one sponsor so think through other
positioning opportunities such as a cocktail function, printing of
programmes, corporate clothing, advertising and so on.
When you enter into a deal with a big company it is highly likely that a
contract will be drawn-up – make sure that you get legal advice before
signing anything. With a
smaller company it’s advisable to put the agreed details into a letter
outlining who pays for what and who needs to keep promises about important
matters like paying for insurance, or cancellation fees.
For sometime there has been a buzz that perhaps sponsorship is
outperforming advertising. Well-known
strategic marketing planner and advertising agency consultant Jerry
Mpufane set some guidelines for future sponsorship ensuring synergy with
advertising budgets. He notes
four key factors;
-
Seek
long-term vision and enduring relationships
-
Find
synergy and separation between advertising and sponsorship budgets
-
Ensure
some scientific measurement to quantify what a sponsor gets for his
money
-
Add
creative thinking to identify, or create, potential winners among
events and sports thereby getting the best bang for your buck.
And
on that note a final word from our sponsor; after you WIFM you have to
WHOW em!
Top
|
|
NEW
FINDINGS DISPEL MYTHS ABOUT SOUTH AFRICAN SECTOR
- The
South African NPO sector is a vibrant economic player.
In 1998, it mobilised resources worth R13.2 billion (in
cash and kind), which included volunteer labour, private sector
funding and self-generated income.
- Black
women were largely responsible for leading and managing the NPO
sector in 1998. Of
the total managerial staff of the NPOs surveyed, 59 per cent
were women and 73 per cent were black.
Hence, the image of the sector as one dominated by whites
is inaccurate.
- Less
formal, community-based organisations make up 53 per cent of
NPOs. They can make
an important contribution to poverty alleviation because they
respond to community problems faster than formal structures.
Thus, both government and more formal NPOs would benefit
from partnership with such organisations in the fight against
poverty.
The
study was conducted by John Hopkins University and the Graduate
School of Public and Development Management at the University of
Witwatersrand, as part of the worldwide programme to map the
nonprofit sector.
For
more information or a copy of the report, contact Helen Poonen,
Centre for Civil Society, University of Natal at poonenh@nu.ac.za
(Taken
from Alliance – Vol 7 no 3, September 2002)
Top
|
|
RESULTS
OF THE 2001 CORE GOVERNING BOARDS SURVEY
by Phiroshaw Camay
The
Co-operative for Research and Education has completed analysing the
findings of its 2001 Governing Boards Survey with some startling
findings. These surveys have been conducted on a postal basis for
the past four years. In 2002 it is envisaged that both postal and
electronic means will be used to increase the response rate.
The organisations participating in the survey were founded between
1885 (!) and 2001. A substantial number who responded -43% -date
from after 1993, which confirms that new CSOs are still emerging.
Over 60% of the organisations are registered under the NPO Act
(1997). This is a 21% increase over the previous year. Many
organisations have also retained their status as either trusts,
section 21 not for profit companies, co-operatives or voluntary
associations.
11%
of the organisations have an international focus and 12% work in
Southern Africa, 38% operate throughout South Africa, whilst 41%
work only in a particular province.
The organisational mission focuses across a range of sectors as
funding often is more readily available in a particular sector. Many
organisations still depend on unpaid volunteers but the majority of
organisations have full-time or part-time employees.
58% had estimated gross revenue of more than one million rand,
with 11% having less than R250 000. That 15% have revenue over R5m
and have been successful in their fundraising efforts means that
whilst many organisations have a very small staff compliment, their
revenues are relatively higher. These figures also show that South
African fundraisers are doing better than their counterparts in the
United Kingdom. The Directory of Social Change in that country found
wide variations in fundraising costs but reported an average of 19
pence per pound fundraising cost as opposed to the 9 pence widely
quoted by the charities themselves.
It is still somewhat discouraging that of 16% of respondents refused
to divulge information. Clearly CSOs need to be transparent about
their finances. 65% of
the respondents provided information about their total income and
expenditure for the year. 35%
made a conscious decision not to respond to this question.
The result shows that at most levels, income equalled or exceeded
expenditure. The exceptions were the range between R500 000 and R1m
and R2m and R5m.
BOARD
COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE
76% of respondents reported that they have between 6 and 15 board
members – small enough to be manageable and large enough to cover
the required functions. 61%
of the members fell in the age range of 40 to 59 with over 34%
having more than four years of service.
82% of all the boards surveyed had committees.
Not surprisingly the weakest committee cited was the development /
fundraising committee 11%, followed by the finance committee 7%.
Reasons given for the weaknesses were:
-
Lack
of human capacity
-
Lack
of funds
-
Lack
of commitment
-
Unclear
responsibilities
South
African Boards compare formally to the rest of the world. The
following information was provided:
-
less
than 93% do not pay fees or honorarium to the Board members
-
32%
had a written conflict of interest policy
-
36%
have a written list of responsibilities of Board members
-
27%
have a code of conduct for Board members
-
58%
have a designated term of office
-
27%
have term limits for Board members
-
21%
of Board members make a personal monetary contribution to the
organisation
-
24%
had written funding policy
-
47%
had a Board orientation / induction programme
-
15%
had some formal training to improve their governance skills
-
57%
had a reasonable long range strategic plan for the organisation.
In
separate questions the strengths and weaknesses of Boards were
listed. However, when compared to attendance at Board meetings, 59%
reported that between 5 and 10 members attended meetings and ensured
the continued operation of the organisation.
In the light of the King II report, governance and good governance
will remain a key focus area by which South Africa will be judged.
In the non-profit sector a very positive record is being sustained
and all South Africans need to be proud of their achievements and
successes in this area.
A
full copy of the report is obtainable from:
Phiroshaw Camay – Co-operative for Research and Education
P. O. Box 42440 Fordsburg, 2033;
Telephone: 011
836-9942/3; Fax: 011
836-9944;
E-mail: corejhb@wn.apc.org
Top
|
|
New
NGO funding rules will cut fraud
This
was the headline to a report by Tendani Tsedu and Thembisile Makgalemele,
The Saturday Star newspaper July 19, 2003.
They introduced their report by stating that,
“The
Gauteng Department of Social Services and Population Development is
closing all loopholes to put an end to fraud and corruption by
unscrupulous non-governmental organisations (NGOs)…
And, in a bid to tighten its funding system, the department has
introduced service level agreements which all NGOs applying for money
have to abide by.”
SAIF
News has obtained a copy of the Service Level Agreement (SLA) from the
Gauteng Department of Social Services Tel:
011 355 7785 and comments as follows:
We accept that there probably is a level of fraud or mismanagement of the
use of government grants and condemn this strongly.
However, SAIF’s concern is that because of a few cases, the
Provincial Government is using a ‘sledgehammer to crack a nut’ by
attempting to control all non-government organisations receiving
grants with an agreement that is written in legal terms that the average
CBO management would not understand.
Forcing NGOs to sign an SLA is not going to improve the service delivery
of the hard working and honest CBOs.
They will just sign the paper because that is the only way they are
going to get the money! How many of them will understand the legal terminology or
references to the Public Finance Management Act?
SAIF believes that what is needed is a simple memorandum of understanding,
couched in friendly terms, clearly laying out in simple language what both
sides expect with basic terms and conditions.
If the agreement fails, then they should go to arbitration, not the
Magistrates or High Court, which would scare most community project
leaders. This agreement is
written in terms that favour the Department and does little to help the
small NGO struggling to raise funds.
If Government’s concern is the way public money is being managed then
the Department of Social Services should be placing more emphasis on
creating an enabling environment, with business and management capacity
building training and mentorship, not cutting off funding to those who
need it most.
SAIF strongly supports the need to build the capacity of organisations
through skills training and this is one of the aims of the SAIF Education
& Training Company. Contact
the SAIF office for further information about our training.
Top
|
|
“ALLOWING
RELATIONSHIPS TO FLOURISH"
by
David L Cuthbert, CFRE, FSAIF
Now
more than ever those Non-profit Organisations (NPOs) across North
America who have invested time in the cultivation of strong
relationships with donors, are reaping the benefits of sustained
funding. This comes at
a time when world economies have been in the doldrums for the past
two to three years.
A mid-year check of local fundraisers reveals that economic
stagnation, a roller-coaster stock market, and the growing state
support shortfalls have created a challenging fundraising
environment, as the largest pool of NPOs competes for a shrinking
pot of government and charitable dollars.
After two years of troubled fundraising many groups can no
longer make superficial reductions to their budgets and must start
trimming charitable programmes and laying off staff. Some observers predict that over the next several years, ten
of thousands of charities (there are 900,000 US and 92,000 Canadian
charities) will be swallowed up by more-established NPOs or forced
to shut their doors. Given
the length of the downturn, a return to robust times could take
several years.
Eugene R Temple, executive director of the Center on Philanthropy at
Indiana University, in Indianapolis, who conducted this survey,
advises NPOs to, “Stay close to your donors.
Don’t get discouraged when people say come back and see me
in six months.”
In the previous (3rd) article in this series I suggested
that the task of maintaining contact with present and past donors
takes more than one person’s (the fundraiser) time and ability.
You need a team, a committee of committed volunteers to help
you. Current active
donors need to receive the progress reports they have called for, on
time. They also need to be called at least twice during the year
for a personal conversation, and verbal assurances that the
programme they are supporting is on track.
In addition there are those individuals and institutions that used
to be active supporters, but have moved away from the organisation
for a number of reasons. These include non-active donors, former
staff members and volunteers. People
and groups who have heard about your NPO or experienced its
programmes, or gave their support at one time.
This is a mixture of those who are moving away from, and
those who are moving towards, the organisation.
Maintaining contact with those who have moved away enables you to
retain the possibility of their further support.
But they need to be made to feel that they still belong; that
they still have a relationship with you.
In order to communicate effectively with each of them you
have to find out the key interests and incentives that bond, and
capture this information on a reliable and useable data base.
Introduced a line of questioning in my third article, designed to
build your knowledge of each donor, and support an ongoing
relationship. Here are
more strategic questions you can use to fill out the personal
picture you hold of your present and past supporters:
- “What
are your impressions of our vision for the future?”
- “Do
you believe we have a strong case for support?
If so why? If
not, why not?”
- “To
what extent do you believe the needs of all individuals or
families to have access to the services and programs offered by
our NPO are serious problems for our community?”
- “How’s
business? How is this economy affecting you?
Your business – your donations programme?”
- “What
other organisations do you currently support? Volunteer for?
Serve on the board of?”
- “Which
are your top three? Why is that?”
- “Where
is our organization on your list (if not among the top
three)?”
- “How
have you been involved with other organisations?
What was that experience like?”
- “We
would very much like to have you involved with us and would like
to find the right match for your skills and interests, may I
share with you some opportunities that come to mind? What
appeals to you? Why?
(Why not?)”
- “Would
you be interested in helping us identify and engage others?”
- “How
and why have you settled on your life’s work?”
- “What
are the guiding principles that have helped you achieve in your
business life? (Personal life?) (Philanthropic life?) (Volunteer
life?)
- “To
what extent does our mission (vision, work) dovetail with your
beliefs? How so?”
|
|
“ESTABLISHING
STRONG LINKS OF FRIENDSHIP AND TRUST"
by
David L Cuthbert, CFRE, FSAIF
This
the third piece, in a series that argues that effective fundraising
for any Non-profit Organisation (NPO) starts from within, discusses
the need to set up a conscious program to draw prospective and
active donors closer to you.
About
three years after I began my 27-year fundraising career I began to
realize that it was more cost effective to build relationships with
existing supporters, than to just look for new donors
year-after-year. In the
early 1980’s I worked out that it was costing over R250 on average
to find each new donor, whereas it took R5 a year, of ongoing
contact, to keep each current supporter happy.
At the time I did not know how to do this effectively, other
than send out an occasional newsletter or report to donors.
Today
the fundraising world has become fascinated with building
relationships through the discipline of “Moves Management”, borrowed from the business sector.
Basically this argues that a donor moves through identifiable
stages in their relationship with an NPO, or its project.
And providing you know what these stages are you can plan to
move the donor towards making a funding decision in your favour.
For instance, once you have discovered a prospective donor
(whether an individual or an institution) and their interests, you
will present your case that matches or nearly matches those
interests. Having got
their attention you can increase their interest by having them visit
the project or beneficiaries; link them to a person in their peer
group that is already committed to your NPO; help them motivate for
a gift, and payment method, that both matches their financial
ability and your project’s budget; give them the arguments that
answer their questions or remove objections; and establish the
timing of the gift. After
the donation is made the ongoing relationship must be planned and
managed.
I
remember having a meeting with an international donor in Malawi in
1995, who helped me see that major donors today do not want to be
kept at arms length. The
representative said, “I wish
these NPOs would stop throwing paper at me, and engage.” Serious
donors are looking for serious involvement today.
This is a far cry from the occasional newsletter or report.
The
NPO, small or large, that plans to build a stable and predictable
support base has to set up a system of establishing strong links
with its donors. This starts with having a team of people helping with the
contacts and canvassing. You
might call this the fundraising committee, but this is a mixture of
staff, board members and other volunteers who are given the
responsibility of looking after a certain number of prospective and
active donors each. They work to a timetable of activities through the year, that
not only opens the doors to new prospects but maintains closer
relationships with existing donors.
These contact people have themselves to be donors and sold
out to your organisation – the point I made in the first two
articles in this series.
The
most important part of building these relationships is to allow the
donor the opportunity to make their input.
This is the difference between “throwing
paper” and “engagement”. It means that from the initial approach to the donor, the NPO
representative spends more time listening to the donor than talking.
It means asking questions of the donor, such as:
“What
do you know about the work of our organisation?”
“As
we plan (implement) this project, what advice can you give us?”
“What
are your perceptions of our effectiveness?”
“What
factors are going into your donation decisions?”
“It
is important to us that our donors have satisfying experiences as
they help us achieve our goals.
How can we best help you, to help us?”
The
ultimate aim of this “engagement” must always be an “ask”
for support. So I conclude with a checklist of the key steps to a
successful ask:
1.
Know
your organisation and its programme or projects.
2.
Make
your own financial commitment first.
3.
Plan
each meeting in advance.
4.
See
your most likely prospects first.
5.
Visit
a donor in pairs whenever possible.
6.
See
your prospect face-to-face if at all possible.
7.
Relate
your own personal experiences with the NPO or program
8.
Involve
the prospect through their own experiences.
9.
Do
not apologise. You are
not asking for yourself but on behalf of others.
10.
Ask
for a specific amount, and aim high.
11.
Listen.
Deal with questions and misunderstandings carefully and
tactfully.
12.
Be
enthusiastic, sincere and persistent.
13.
Always
confirm the decision of a meeting in writing.
14.
Always
know what your next step will be.
Looking
for financial sustainability? Build
this through donor friends that trust you.
Top
|
|
"STARTING
WITH THOSE CLOSEST TO YOU"
by
David L Cuthbert, CFRE, FSAIF
This
series is based on the premise that we, as Non-profit organisation
(NPO) staff or volunteers, have no right to ask outsiders to support
our work if we ourselves have not first given.
It’s a strange thing that when a new NPO gets off the ground it is
usually the founders, whether they be committee members or
volunteers, who put their hands deep in their pockets to keep the
young programme going. But,
when outside donors begin to take an interest in the activities, the
board members and staff back off with their support.
In fact, we sometimes see the opposite happening when funds
being to flow strongly, the NPOs leaders and workers attempting to
get as much out of the organisation as they can for themselves.
An international survey was taken of NPO board members in the
mid-nineteen nineties. One
of its responses revealed that 80% of respondents make no financial
contribution to the organisations they serve.
I am discovering that this lack of interest by board members
is just as prevalent in Canada as it is in Southern Africa.
Unless, the giving habit has been built into organisation
life. By habit I mean
we should warn new board members, staff and volunteers that they are
expected to contribute gifts to the organisation.
This should always be voluntary, but they can expect that at
least once a year they will be asked for their support.
A further key to getting internal support is to focus the staff and
volunteer attention on a particular project.
The chair of a South African NPO board once asked me how he
could persuade the members to give, because they had never been
asked before. We chose
a small community project of around R12 000 a year, and challenged
both the staff and the board to pledge their support.
We were delighted by the response, not only did we raise the
R12 000 from them, but their interest in the organisation was
switched on, and they developed into a co-operative team.
“Where your money is there also lies your interest”, as
the saying goes. Of
course we cannot expect staff, and even board members, to compete
with major donors. It
is the principle of giving that counts, rather than the size of an
individual’s support.
Another benefit of encouraging inside funding is that a number of
the organisation’s funders are now very close to home. Staff and board members will want to know how their money is
being spent, and they should have access to the information that
tells them what is really happening.
This urges them not only to ask hard questions of the
organisation, and of themselves, but be more inclined to be
accountable to outside supporters, when they are experiencing the
same relationships themselves.
Then, the greatest benefit of inside out fundraising is the
encouragement it gives to outside donors.
In fact some donors today are saying “You give first, and
then I will match it”. I have just completed my first Canadian
annual campaign. We at
the YMCA – Greater Toronto, have raised $1,7 million from 8500
donors between February and May this year.
Twenty percent of these funds came from “insiders” -
staff (both full-time and part-time) volunteers and board members.
I headed up a team of over 800 canvassers in this mainly
face-to-face campaign. During
the first month the canvassers, who were mainly staff members, made
their own financial commitments to the campaign. They tell me that when they were faced with prospect
questions like, “Why should I give?" or “How much should I
give?" they were able to answer with conviction, enthusiasm,
and with experience.
Perhaps you have never thought of yourself as a donor, however I
would guess that sometime in your life you have been asked to
personally give, or have given voluntarily to meet some local or
family need. Maybe you
don’t need reminding, therefore, that donors have just as much
responsibility in the fundraising transaction as do fundraisers.
Donors have the ability to direct their resources to
activities that will produce the best results. Finding an NPO that
is doing good work in areas that are important to the donor is a
first step. Then you
are more likely to stay informed on issues that concern you and
commit to long-term giving. This
commitment helps NPOs develop long-term strategies to deal with the
issues they are working with. Here
is a list of donor responsibilities to wise giving I came across
recently:
Be an informed donor. Make
an effort to learn as much as you can about the causes you are
considering supporting. If
an NPO approaches you don’t hesitate to ask questions.
Budget for giving. Work
your giving goals into your financial planning.
Earmarking money for causes important to you enables you to
give regularly.
Keep your donation receipts.
NPOs should issue a receipt for each donation.
Make sure you keep them for tax purposes. Most NPOs in South Africa are able to offer a tax rebate
through the expanded Section 18(a) of the Income Tax Act. You will need to declare your donations with your annual tax
returns.
Ask about matching gifts. Many
donors today encourage NPOs to spread their funding sources.
By challenging an NPO to match a donation equally or by some
agreed ratio, by raising support from other directions enables donor
funds to be multiplied in their effectiveness.
Donate anonymously if you like.
All NPOs should honour anonymous donations.
Not all donors want or need publicity for their gifts, and
NPOs should respect donor requests in this regard.
There is more than one way to give: NPOs benefit from all types
of giving. Bequests or
endowments, gifts in kind, volunteer time and skills are sources of
support other than money donations acceptable to NPOs.
You have the right to say “no”: If a donor feels unsure or
uncomfortable about the way in which an NPO requests their support,
or if you have serious questions about their legitimacy or their
ability to fulfil their promises, don’t hesitate to say “no”.
Don’t give money to any group you have not heard of, or you are
not sure of: There are an estimated 90 000 NPOs looking for
support in South Africa. It
is likely that you will often be approached by an organisation you
are not familiar with.
Find an NPO that is right for you: Many small organisations do
not have the funds to be proactive in seeking out donors.
Take the initiative in finding an NPO or NPOs that work in
the field that is of interest to you.
By doing some research you are likely to find the
organisations that are perfectly aligned with your giving
objectives. Hopefully
this will include the organisation you work or volunteer for.
Planning your next annual campaign?
Plan to ask those closest to you first!
Top
|
|
