Social Entrepreneur blog for the world changers
Archive for July, 2010
WordPress 3.0.1
Jul 29th
After nearly 11 million downloads of WordPress 3.0 in just 42 days, we’re releasing WordPress 3.0.1. The requisite haiku:
Three dot oh dot one
Bug fixes to make you smile
Update your WordPress
This maintenance release addresses about 50 minor issues. The testing many of you contributed prior to the release of 3.0 helped make it one of the best and most stable releases we’ve had.
Download 3.0.1 or update automatically from the Dashboard > Updates menu in your site’s admin area.
Note: If you downloaded 3.0.1 in the first 20 minutes of release (before 2200 UTC), you’ll want to reinstall it, which you can do right from your Updates screen. Our bad.
Small to Middle Donors and Obama
Jul 28th
I received some great comments and encouragement from, Major Gifts or Middle Giving, a couple months ago. I’m searching for answers to what this program might look like. What needs to happen is a technique where you can cultivate a fan-base in a way that is personal to them. Or, we need to find a way to cultivate middle giving donors in a low-cost, time-efficient way.
In Viral Loop
“If Obama had asked for $100 million in the weeks leading up to the election, he probably wouldn’t have gotten it. Instead he told people to donate whatever they could – a few bucks even – and then he was able to return to them over and over. In other words small is the new big.”
This started my mind thinking about all of the opportunities that social media can provide for us. Often nonprofits send off regular annual mailings that sometimes fund a direct need and other times fund an ongoing annual need. These letters often ask the donor to stretch their giving beyond what they have done in the past to upgrade their giving. I believe we do this because it can cost a lot of money to send a mail-out multiple times a year. But social media is free. What if we sent an email out to our donor-base regarding specific needs? Instead of asking for $100 from one donor, we would ask him to be a part of a group of people raising $100,000. We could also provide an opt-out box and let him know we will connect with him in a week’s time if we do not reach our goal. We could also encourage donors to fund specific needs as they develop. If they are funding in smaller specific amounts, maybe they would make more small gifts adding up to a higher overall total.
I don’t see this as a comprehensive donor strategy as I really believe in the power of monthly giving. I’m just throwing out one idea that popped into my head as I was considering this. What other ideas do you have, has this sparked any thinking for you?
Related posts:
- Obama Crowned Direct Mail King
- Are Fan Bases Major Donors?
- Organizing Your Donors
- Major Gifts or Middle Giving
- More on All Donors as Major Donors
Do You Talk or Do You Listen?
Jul 26th
I have met a lot of extroverted fundraisers; they are people who like to talk and be listened to and can often speak eloquently and persuasively about the causes of their organization. However, I’ve always enjoyed listening more than talking. I have found that many donors want to talk about themselves, why they do or do not give, and what they do.
One of the most valuable lessons that I’ve learned is that a person feels a lot more of an affinity with your organization if it feels like they have been able to share about themselves. This has left me with a question inside. Which is a more valuable trait for a development officer to have– to be able to speak with charisma and eloquence. or to ask good questions and be a good listener? We obviously cannot have one without the other. In fact, a good relationship is built on give and take, on two way conversation. It is important to be able to make your case and persuasively tell your organization’s story. But, it is equally as valuable to be able to understand what a donor’s interests truly are and how the organization links to them.
How do you go into a donor visit? Do you go in with questions or with answers and a presentation? I imagine that you probably do both depending on what stage of the solicitation process you are in. I know quite a few outgoing development professionals but not nearly as many introverted ones. What kind of development professional are you? Any introverts out there that share my story?
Related posts:
- Small Talk, Big Value
- All Talk And No Give
- Donor-Centered Solicitation Plans
- Prospecting and Asking the Right Questions
- How to ASSURE a Gift
USS Social Enterprise, part 4: Money + Funding
Jul 26th
CAPTAIN’S BLOG, STARDATE July 26th 2010 I never thought I’d say it, but thank Vulcan for Spock and his spreadsheets. Since the testing on Piloti, he’s been beavering away on our pricing to see what we should charge to sustain...
PHP 4 and MySQL 4 End of Life Announcement
Jul 23rd
Our approach with WordPress has always been to make it run on common server configurations. We want users to have flexibility when choosing a host for their precious content. Because of this strategy, WordPress runs pretty much anywhere. Web hosting platforms, however, change over time, and we occasionally are able to reevaluate some of the requirements for running WordPress. Now is one of those times. You probably guessed it from the title — we’re finally ready to announce the end of support for PHP 4 and MySQL 4!
First up, the announcement that developers really care about. WordPress 3.1, due in late 2010, will be the last version of WordPress to support PHP 4.
For WordPress 3.2, due in the first half of 2011, we will be raising the minimum required PHP version to 5.2. Why 5.2? Because that’s what the vast majority of WordPress users are using, and it offers substantial improvements over earlier PHP 5 releases. It is also the minimum PHP version that the Drupal and Joomla projects will be supporting in their next versions, both due out this year.
The numbers are now, finally, strongly in favor of this move. Only around 11 percent of WordPress installs are running on a PHP version below 5.2. Many of them are on hosts who support PHP 5.2 — users merely need to change a setting in their hosting control panel to activate it. We believe that percentage will only go down over the rest of the year as hosting providers realize that to support the newest versions of WordPress (or Drupal, or Joomla), they’re going to have to pull the trigger.
In less exciting news, we are also going to be dropping support for MySQL 4 after WordPress 3.1. Fewer than 6 percent of WordPress users are running MySQL 4. The new required MySQL version for WordPress 3.2 will be 5.0.15.
WordPress users will not be able to upgrade to WordPress 3.2 if their hosting environment does not meet these requirements (the built-in updater will prevent it). In order to determine which versions your host provides, we’ve created the Health Check plugin. You can download it manually, or use this handy plugin installation tool I whipped up. Right now, Health Check will only tell you if you’re ready for WordPress 3.2. In a future release it will provide all sorts of useful information about your server and your WordPress install, so hang on to it!
In summary: WordPress 3.1, due in late 2010, will be the last version of WordPress to support PHP 4 and MySQL 4. WordPress 3.2, due in the first half of 2011, will require PHP 5.2 or higher, and MySQL 5.0.15 or higher. Install the Health Check plugin to see if you’re ready!
Aren’t we all working to solve social challenges?
Jul 22nd
I was awed and amazed by the philanthropists and nonprofit managers came together for the social innovation fund. The corporation for national and community service's website states,
"The Social Innovation Fund is an illustration of the Corporation’s “all hands on deck” approach to solving social challenges by bringing the public, nonprofit, philanthropic and private sectors together to support community solutions"
Unfortunately this group of people and organizations appear to be a minority in our sector.
Many people who designate themselves as philanthropists and many people who designate themselves as nonprofit managers maintain separate platforms and separate issues and do not collaborate. Yet, aren't we all working to solve social challenges? Don't we all want to create a better society whether it be by investing in social causes monetarily or by creating social change through improved nonprofit operations?
I would like to see us all operate like the organizations and individuals that came together for the social innovation fund. We (myself included) need to work together (philanthropists and nonprofit managers) to create social change. For example, more philanthropists can invest in organizational capacity (like Social Venture Partners) in addition to supporting specific social issues. Also, nonprofit managers can learn a lot from philanthropists in how to invest in, and solve social issues.
"The Social Innovation Fund is an illustration of the Corporation’s “all hands on deck” approach to solving social challenges by bringing the public, nonprofit, philanthropic and private sectors together to support community solutions"
Unfortunately this group of people and organizations appear to be a minority in our sector.
Many people who designate themselves as philanthropists and many people who designate themselves as nonprofit managers maintain separate platforms and separate issues and do not collaborate. Yet, aren't we all working to solve social challenges? Don't we all want to create a better society whether it be by investing in social causes monetarily or by creating social change through improved nonprofit operations?
I would like to see us all operate like the organizations and individuals that came together for the social innovation fund. We (myself included) need to work together (philanthropists and nonprofit managers) to create social change. For example, more philanthropists can invest in organizational capacity (like Social Venture Partners) in addition to supporting specific social issues. Also, nonprofit managers can learn a lot from philanthropists in how to invest in, and solve social issues.
Aren’t we all working to solve social challenges?
Jul 22nd
I was awed and amazed by the philanthropists and nonprofit managers came together for the social innovation fund. The corporation for national and community service’s website states,
“The Social Innovation Fund is an illustration of the Corporation’s “all hands on deck” approach to solving social challenges by bringing the public, nonprofit, philanthropic and private sectors together to support community solutions”
Unfortunately this group of people and organizations appear to be a minority in our sector.
Many people who designate themselves as philanthropists and many people who designate themselves as nonprofit managers maintain separate platforms and separate issues and do not collaborate. Yet, aren’t we all working to solve social challenges? Don’t we all want to create a better society whether it be by investing in social causes monetarily or by creating social change through improved nonprofit operations?
I would like to see us all operate like the organizations and individuals that came together for the social innovation fund. We (myself included) need to work together (philanthropists and nonprofit managers) to create social change. For example, more philanthropists can invest in organizational capacity (like Social Venture Partners) in addition to supporting specific social issues. Also, nonprofit managers can learn a lot from philanthropists in how to invest in, and solve social issues.
Much More Than Office Space
Jul 22nd
Co-working spaces like POOL Together and Coloft are helping entrepreneurs prosper through shared expertise and mutual support.
For Mompreneurs, Failure Is Not an Option
Jul 21st
When things look impossible, it's time to rev up your drive and creativity.
Success Breeds Success
Jul 21st
No one wants to be a part of a failing project; people like to participate in success. This is why it is often easier to raise the last $100,000 than the first $100,000. Everyone wants to know that they have funded a project that is really going to fulfill the initial vision they gave to.
It is a special kind of person that likes to be the first to give. More often than not, people want to know answers to the following questions: how much has already been raised, who has already given, how long have you been raising money for this specific project? This is why capital campaigns don’t go public until a large percentage of the money has already been raised. Everyone wants to know you will accomplish what you’ve set out to do, especially when it includes their giving. Here are some tools you can use to let success breed success:
- Show progress. Regular updates that donors are giving and giving generously are important to keep the momentum of a campaign going.
- Set attainable goals. Achieving a goal motivates everyone to be successful and improve the next time. If a goal is too large no one will even try to make it. It’s easier to set a small goal and achieve it and then set a little larger goal and achieve it than to jump into achieving a large goal.
- Invest in your givers. Use those individuals who have already given to encourage their friends and community to give. These individuals want to see you succeed or they would not have given.
- Make sure your goal is not arbitrary but serves a specific need. Raising $10,000 because it sounds like a nice number is not motivating. Raising $11,000 to furnish a room at a hospice is more motivating because people understand that their gift will make a specific difference and why you need money to make that difference.
What are some other tricks of the trade? How have you brought about success with your campaigns? Any best practices?
Related posts:
- Celebrating Success
- To Measure or Not to Measure
- Faith in Facebook: A Success Story
- Success During a Recession
- Translating Tweets to Dollars
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