Social Entrepreneur blog for the world changers
Campaigns & Solicitations
Endowment Giving
Apr 19th
What kind of message does having an endowment give? I was recently at a development conference and one of the speakers said that an endowment is a message to your donors that you are not funding the solution of a problem; that we should be running our nonprofits with the goal of putting ourselves out of business (i.e. to end homelessness or to cure cancer, etc.).
Creating an endowment gives the message that we will be around for a really long time. Is that the kind of message that we want to send to our donors? I know WorldVision battled this for a really long time, asking, “If we have money that can help starving children right now, how can we sit back and let it collect interest?” Looking at another side of the issue, endowments allow a donor to give a gift that lasts longer and impacts more people than a traditional gift. An endowment would allow an organization like WorldVision to know that they will always be able to help a certain number of children every year. An endowment of $10,000 may only pay out at a good yield of interest $500, but after 20 years the money has not run out in fact after 40 years the endowment would have given away the equivalent of $20,000.
What policies has your organization set regarding endowment funds? How do you view endowment giving? You can make a good case in both directions, where does your organization fall? (1) Our current problems are big enough that we need the money now to make a real difference. (2) We want to provide a long-term impact that can goes beyond the initial gift and endowment.
Related posts:
- What Motivates Giving?
- Sample Solicitation Semantics
- Major Gifts or Middle Giving
- Ending the Problem
- The Multi-Year Gift
Informing Your Volunteers
Mar 10th
This would have gone well with my Event Invitation Mistakes post a few weeks ago but I didn’t make this mistake until recently. We have had a number of formal prospecting sessions and I have informally added a number of casually mentioned names. Recently I sent out invitations to our prospect list. At my next volunteer committee meeting one of the members asked me if I let each board member know when I invited their connections.
In the back of my mind, I had thought once a name had been mentioned I had the freedom to prospect and invite them as much as I wanted. That is not the perspective of the donor or volunteer. These prospects are often close friends and colleagues and it should be standard practice to let our volunteers know when their connections might be receiving an invitation.
Because I made the mistake of not letting our volunteers know, I missed out on a number of opportunities for cultivation. By letting the volunteer know it provides an opportunity for them to connect with the prospect. Your volunteer can encourage them to attend the event in a more personal way, which would improve the likelihood of their attendance. If you are cultivating the prospect for a gift, letting your volunteer know provides another opportunity for your volunteer strengthen the prospects relationship with the nonprofit.
Related posts:
- Event Invitation Mistakes
- Getting Started with Social Media Volunteers
- More About Using Board Members & Volunteers
- Linkage, Ability, Interest
- Will You Be My Volunteer?
Question: Who Asks for Money?
Feb 24th
In a recent post, Who Talks to Your Donors, I mentioned two different styles of fundraising. One style involves board members soliciting donors, and another style involves staff cultivating and soliciting donors.
Does your organization primarily use Board Member or Staff to ask for donations? And, how do you think it should be done?
I see advantages to both sides. Can Board Members really know an organization like a staff member can? Is it sustainable to have staff solicit gifts when the average staff member stays at the organization less time than the donor?
Related posts:
- I’m Not Here to Raise Money
- Who Talks to Your Donors
- Annual Board Solicitations
- Characteristics of a Model Board Member
- Cold Calling or Networking
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