A simple way to do a good deed

I volunteer at a hospital every Wednesday. This morning, when I walked into the waiting room, I saw the sweetest surprise: a basket full of get well cards and valentines made by school children. What a simple way to make someone's day. If you have kids in your life, you can encourage their class or club to do the same.

Creative Grant Writing Month!

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As you may know, I'm fairly obsessed with the idea of grant writing as a creative pursuit. In fact, I just created an audio file, Grant Writing for Creative Souls, that celebrates this idea! This audio file includes 30 minutes of grant writing tips, creative writing exercises... and some pretty groovy music to set the mood.

A lot of people think of grant writing as a dry, stodgy pursuit. They think that the more big words you use, and the more boring the format, the more it sounds like a "real" proposal. I say... buck the trend!

In my experience, writing that is more lively, engaging, and creative is more likely to be remembered and more likely to be funded.

Now, that's not to say that you can write any old thing in a proposal and expect to get funded. Proposals should be put together in an organized structure with an impactful message that draws connections between the funder's interests and the needs being addressed. And the proposal is only half of the work - creating connections between the organization and the funder (e.g. foundation's program officer) is a HUGE part of creating lasting funding partnerships. But... I stand by my assertion that dry, boring grant writing does NOT = good grant writing.

Therefore, I have declared February CREATIVE GRANT WRITING MONTH! Every day, I will tweet one tip for creative grant writing, with the hashtag #creativegrantwriting (if I have room!). Hopefully, we will build a community of grant writers and fundraisers who share my belief that grant writing, and fundraising, does not have to be dry and boring - that creativity is actually an asset to fund development.

Please join the online conversation if you agree!

I left my magic fairy dust at home...

I saw a great article (or, rather, an opinion piece) in the Chronicle of Philanthropy today called "Development Directors are Not Miracle Workers." It was written by Rick Moyers, vice president of programs and communications at the Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation in Washington, DC. I think his concluding sentence really sums it all up:

The development director is only one factor in a complicated equation.

I've seen this phenomenon time and time again at nonprofits where I've worked and at nonprofits with which I've consulted. Things go well, and the Development Director gets little credit. Things don't go well, and the Development Director gets most or all of the blame. For a Development Director to be successful, lots of things need to be in place: a strong partnership between the Development Director and the Executive Director; an active and engaged board; supports for research, grantwriting, etc.; the Development Director's involvement in planning and budgeting; and much more.

Most importantly, Executive Directors and boards cannot see the Development Director as the person who will get them out of their responsibilities for fund development. Raising money for an organization is the job of EVERYONE in the organization, from the Executive Director to the Program Directors to the person who answers the organization's phones. It is especially incumbent upon the Executive Director and board to take lead roles in the fundraising process. When organizations see Development Directors (or development consultants) as the keepers of some magic fairy dust, which they can just sprinkle and the funding will appear, without the Executive Director or board having to be involved in the process... trouble is just around the corner.

I've also seen the flip side of this - Development Directors who are afraid to engage Executive Directors and boards, or who take on more administrative roles rather than actively cultivating donors (or helping Executive Directors and board members with cultivation).

Certainly, there are effective and ineffective Development Directors out there. But there are also many organizations that are quick to blame the Development Director when the picture is actually a bit more complex, and more revealing about the organization's overall health.

Keep. It. Simple.

I was pleased to see this article in The Chronicle of Philanthropy today, highlighting the importance of creating a clean, simple, concise tagline that describes your organization's work:

Can You Sum Up Your Charity's Work in One Simple Tagline?

The article highlights a few good examples:

Amnesty International: Exposing and preventing human-rights abuses
Habitat for Humanity: A world where everybody has a decent place to live
Southern Poverty Law Center: Fighting hate, teaching tolerance, seeking justice
World Wildlife Fund: Protecting the future of nature

This reminds me of an article I saw, and loved, in Nonprofit Quarterly called Mission Haiku: The Poetry of Mission Statements. 

Both of these articles highlight writing principles that I try to keep in mind:

Keep it simple.
Select words carefully.
Short sentences are powerful.

Do you have other examples of great nonprofit organizations' taglines?

A little New Year's Inspiration/Kick in the Pants

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Charity Images and Inspiration

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Image by CauseBrandSocial (causebrandsocial.com)

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How Does America Give?

There's been lots of attention in the philanthropy press recently about the Chronicle of Philanthropy's newly released study, How America Gives. It breaks down giving by state, city, religious and demographic group, etc.

I finally made the time to sit down today and read the Chronicle's report on its study (which was compiled using IRS and Bureau of Labor Statistics data from 2008, the most recent available year), and here are a few of the highlights that jumped out at me:

• The top 5 most generous cities in America are Mormon strongholds or Bible-belt cities. In order, they are: Salt Lake City, Memphis, Birmingham, Nashville, and Atlanta. This confirms what we have known for a while - more religious people tend to give more. However...
• When religious giving (giving to places of worship and religious causes) is not counted, the nationwide rankings change. "Some states in the Northeast would jump into the top 10 when secular gifts alone are counted. New York would vault from No. 18 to No. 2 in the rankings, and Pennsylvania would climb from No. 40 to No. 4."
• Generally, the rich are not the most generous. Lower-income people tend to give a larger share of their discretionary income to charities. Those who make $50,000 - $75,000 give an average of 7.6%, while those who make more than $100,000 give an average of 4.2%.
• Wealthy people who live in mixed income neighborhoods are more generous than wealthy people who live in wealthy zip codes. Fascinating! Put another way, the nation's most generous zip codes are not the wealthiest zip codes. Of the 1,000 zip codes whose residents give the biggest share of income to charity, only nine are among the nation's wealthiest 1,000 zip codes. So stop searching for donors only in the wealthy neighborhoods!
• State tax credits and other incentives for charitable giving do increase giving.
• Some nonprofits are focusing on courting donors overseas, where the impact of the recession is not being felt as strongly. Boston University, for example, has fundraisers traveling internationally, and approximately 20% of its early donations to a major capital campaign have come from overseas. Fundraisers are focusing on countries where new business growth is surging, such as the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) and the Middle East.
• (because I live in the Washington, DC metropolitan area) Prince George's County, MD, the wealthiest county in America with an African-American majority, has a higher share of donors than any other community in the Washington region. However, the total nonprofit revenue there is the lowest in the metropolitan region, in part because (1) there is a very strong tradition to church tithing, which means that some nonprofits don't get as big a piece of the pie, and (2) wealth in surrounding areas far exceeds that of PG County.

One of my biggest take-aways from this study is that organizations should start looking for generous people, not just wealthy people. Don't just look for donors in the richest neighborhoods, and don't focus on your current wealthy donors to the exclusion of less wealthy donors or prospects. Diversifying your donor pool will create more of a "hedge" to get you through the tough/lean times.

Lots more details (including how the Chronicle of Philanthropy compiled its data) can be found online at How America Gives.

Donor Giving Levels That Made Me Cheer

In the fundraising business, we're always trying to come up with creative ways to express donor levels. I'm so tired of:

• Platinum
• Gold
• Silver
• Bronze

or

• Benefactors
• Supporters
• Friends

Oh, sorry, are you still here? I thought you might have fallen asleep, as I almost did. YAWN!

I recently went to a SpeakeasyDC event, and I was so thrilled to see the titles they assigned to their giving levels. Creative, related to the work that they do, and FUN, which reflects the fun spirit of the organization! Their donor levels are:

• Bringing Down the House
• Encore Performance
• Standing Ovation
• Hootin' & Hollerin'
• Whistles & Cheers
• Enthusiastic Applause

Here is SpeakeasyDC's Mission Statement: Through the art of autobiographical story performance, SpeakeasyDC gives voice to the authentic experience of ordinary people, builds community, and promotes understanding. We have a three-part mission: to produce high quality storytelling performances; provide ongoing storytelling training and performance opportunities to the public; and preserve the oral tradition in a way that speaks to and enriches contemporary life.

OK, I know that their mission statement sounds all serious and academic and stuff, but their storytelling events are REALLY fun! Some of my best laughs and most memorable experiences in DC.

As another example of their creativity - at the end of the event, they presented their outgoing chairperson with a thank you gift for her service. It was a T-shirt, with the organization's name on one side and "I'm Kind Of A Big Deal" on the other side. Love it!

Kuddos to SpeakeasyDC! You should check them out!

Things I'll never write in a proposal again...

After spending the afternoon reviewing writing samples from a client, I am compiling a list of WORDS AND PHRASES THAT I'LL NEVER WRITE IN A PROPOSAL AGAIN. Here's what I've got so far:

Unique (it never is)
Innovative (it rarely is)
As well (always unnecessary)
In addition (as necessary as "as well")

 Do you have anything to add to the list?

Bark if you love fundraising!

I was fortunate to attend one of the hottest fundraising events in DC this weekend: the Washington Humane Society's Fashion for Paws. Yes, that's right, this event combines high fashion, major fundraising, and... dogs. It's pretty incredible. The event was held at the National Building Museum, where I worked as an educator when I was in grad school. The building is STUNNING even on its own, and when they gussie it up for a fundraising event - wowza.

As a professional fundraiser, I'm not always such a huge fan of fundraising events. Many of them seem to gross a lot of money, but when you net out what was spent to put on the event, they don't earn nearly as much for the cause. Then, when you subtract out the value of the staff time that was spent on the event, many of them actually lose money! Even with these negative numbers, many organizations still hold their annual fundraisers because the community has come to expect it, because it raises awareness for their cause, etc. What struck me about Fashion for Paws is that they do so many things RIGHT, including:

* As lavish as the event was, they didn't pay for any of it. According to organizers, EVERYTHING at the event - decor, food, cocktails, clothes for the fashion show, swag, etc. - was donated.

* Cache - this is hard to quantify, and you can't really come up with a formula for creating it, but Fashion for Paws has it in spades. There is enormous cache around this event, and people really want to be there and support it. I don't know how many of them are hard core animal advocates, and how many of them are really committed to animal activism, but it doesn't really matter at the end of the day... the cause ultimately benefits.

* An army of fundraisers - this event raised $700,000 in one night! And the "fundraisers" weren't just folks like me - each person who walks in the fashion show (most of whom walk with their dogs - yes, you read that right) has to raise a minimum of $5000 in order to walk, and many of them raise more.

I don't know what sort of follow-up the Washington Humane Society does with people who attend the event, but I'd be curious about it. I often tell clients that the most important aspect of a fundraising event doesn't happen at the event itself, but in the weeks and months that follow. One of the best uses of a fundraising event is raising long-term "friends" of the organization. If someone only hears from an organization once per year, with an invitation to an event, that's a lost opportunity.

All that said - I found that my other, personal bias was emerging during the event, and when reflecting on it afterwards. While this event raised money for a VERY worthy cause, I couldn't help but wonder what good could have been done if some of that $700K had gone towards helping DC's abused and neglected CHILDREN, instead of animals. Sure, one could make the argument that other people give to help abused children, and this event is for animals, so it all evens out in the end. However, we know from giving statistics that it does not even out. Human service, or social service, groups receive the least amount of charitable donations. These are the groups that are providing food, shelter, counseling, etc. to some of the neediest people in our communities. Housing the chronically homeless, feeding the indigent elderly, counseling repeat drug addicts... it's not "pretty" stuff, but it's stuff that has a tremendous impact on our society. In addition, the government funding for social service agencies is drying up, which is why private donations are even more important. Social service agencies do not represent cute causes or a "feel good" causes, and they suffer in terms of donations as a consequence. I am a foster parent, so again, its my own bias - I would prioritize helping a foster child who has been abused or neglected.

I certainly don't think that the answer is for people to not support the Washington Humane Society - quite the contrary! I think our work as activists and fundraisers is to learn from, and be inspired by, the extraordinary job that the Washington Humane Society is doing with Fashion for Paws, and elevate the level of fundraising that is happening for lots of other important causes.