 Successful Fundraising
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Fundraising News from Compu-Mail
This is the first issue of a new newsletter service from Compu-Mail designed to offer news and information for nonprofit organizations. Feel free to contact us at anytime with your questions or concerns.
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Are Charity Fundraisers Spying?
Whether a patient comes in for a
gall bladder operation or to have a baby, the routine remains the same for
staff at Sharp HealthCare hospitals in San Diego. The front desk checks
insurance records to make sure the bills get paid on time. Nurses take vitals
and tag their charges with a bar-coded wristband that helps them avoid treatment
snafus. And behind the scenes, the fundraising staff runs scans on the assets
of each patient. The goal? To find out whether they're "megarich," "wealthy" or
merely "comfortable."
While the folks checking in don't
know it, the nonprofit hospital chain is hunting for prospective donors. Those
who make the cut may enjoy a bedside visit from a "patient relations director"
who offers concierge services. Extra pillow? Free parking passes for visiting
friends? The director will make it happen. It's all about building a
relationship at the point of service, says foundation CEO Bill Littlejohn, and
it has proven to be effective.
When a nonprofit
isn't busy saving the whales, chances are it's making a serious
behind-the-scenes effort to know potential donors better, and using increasingly
sophisticated technology to do so. Whether it's the local museum or an
international relief group, a charity's prospect research staff can survey salary history, scan LinkedIn connections or even use satellite images to
eyeball the size of a swimming pool. Should a donor's stock
holding double, the friendly fundraiser can get an e-mail alert prompting
her to make an impromptu call.
Nonprofits say these practices
help them focus their time and resources on those who are most likely to give,
while reducing the awkward mishaps that drive donors crazy, no more
solicitations of the deceased, one company promises. And in most cases,
nonprofits rely on publicly available data such as SEC filings. Donors might be
startled to learn how much data has been compiled by charities across the
nation and how it's used.
Aggressive fundraising has
become standard procedure at hospitals, clinics and even hospices, as medical
institutions try to make up for higher costs and dwindling insurance
reimbursements. No one tracks the statistics, but the practice of screening
admission records to find rich patients is "pretty common," says Kathy Renzetti,
spokesperson for the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy.
Arthur Caplan, a bioethicist at
the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, says it's hard to justify
"golden runways" that whisk donors past the waiting lists. Patients who have a
recurring illness or are still recovering in the hospital, meanwhile, may feel
too vulnerable to refuse a solicitation. "When you're in a hospital gown,
half-naked, that's not the same as reading a letter at the kitchen table," he
says.
Whether or not they like it,
donors shouldn't expect the data collection to stop. There are virtually no
limits to the snooping that nonprofits can do, as long as they follow the law.
(They can't, for instance, tap a phone or search the trash.)
Going forward, information
aggregators are exploring new technological frontiers. Prospect-research firm
WealthEngine recently beefed up its donor reports with links to profiles on
social-networking sites like Facebook and LinkedIn, while Blackbaud, which has
22,000 nonprofit clients, has launched a new app that allows fundraisers to
access donor information from their iPhones. But for now the power remains in
the prospect's corner-there's still no fundraising technology that can win a
donor's friendship and trust. Says Kozma, of the Crohn's and Colitis
Foundation: "Having the data won't get you the gift."
Excerpted from Smart Money Magazine, Written by Anne Kadet, May 18, 2010
http://www.smartmoney.com
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Mail News
 The Direct Marketing Association and the DMA Nonprofit Federation have asked the Postal Regulatory Commission to dismiss the United States Postal Service's request to increase postal rates by 10 times the rate permissible by law. The petition was filed by the Affordable Mail Alliance. This action by USPS comes just three years after Congress passed the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006, which was supposed to prevent rate increases that exceed the rate of inflation.
If your in-house mail program is not growing net revenue and increasing the pool of active donors from year to year, you should consider bringing in an expert to help turn things around. Whether you hire a dedicated staff specialist or an experienced direct-response consultant, you need someone who can look beyond the typical metrics that define mediocrity, and offer integrated wisdom and technique to ensure that direct mail becomes an effective and productive incubator for your major, and planned-gift donor portfolio.
PayPal, eBay's online-payment service, has introduced PayPal Mobile 2.5, a new version of its application for Apple's iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. The updated version of the PayPal app allows users to donate to their favorite charities. The 2.5 version of the application, announced on August 18th, allows users to donate to more than 23,000 charities in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada, according to a blog post by Laura Chambers, senior director of PayPal Mobile. "As utilization of smartphones increases, donating via the mobile is also becoming more popular," wrote Chambers. "We hope the new application will simplify the donation process and help charities reach more donors."
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Finding the Right Social Media Enthusiast 
A year ago there seemed to be hesitancy about the how, what and where of social-media fundraising, and who to go to in order to find the answers to those questions. What a shift from how things are today!
It seems we have gone from very few options in terms of outlets for consultation on social media and its application regarding organizations, to now an overwhelming amount. To help cut through all the noise, I want to introduce you to the term social-media enthusiast. A social-media enthusiast breathes, sleeps and eats social media, and also tends to have a niche within social media. Some focus solely on nonprofits, others strictly Facebook applications, others on making websites socially friendly. They love the concept of social media and enjoy watching it evolve as people and technologies advance.The trick is finding the perfect enthusiast for the job. With all these companies and individuals claiming to be experts in the field of social media, how do you find the perfect fit for what your organization is looking for? Here are a few tips on finding your perfect match.
Be specific. It knocks out most of the experts and gets you in touch with the people who can really help you. By specific I mean make sure you know what you want out of your campaign. Are you looking to build a community online, increase your e-mail list or create a contest? Know where you want to go so you can seek out those who specialize in that particular niche of social-media application. Googling "social media expert" likely will not get you the results you are looking for.
Show examples, ask for examples. Do your research before a meeting with a consultant or enthusiast. Surf the Web on your own, and locate other nonprofits that are doing things you would like to implement within your social-media strategy. Then ask consultants if they have experience creating similar campaigns.
Start small, and build from the ground up. You want a solid foundation for integrating social media into your marketing strategies, so find someone who understands that first and foremost. However, once you build communities and they begin to thrive, other questions - more specific and more advanced questions - will arise.
Start to develop a go-to list of people who actively write or blog on those specific topics so when questions arise, you know exactly where to go. For example, I have several go-to people just for nonprofits' use of Facebook. By building these lists of enthusiasts, you will likely save time and money. Once you find the right people to follow for specifically what you are looking to achieve, you might get the answers to your questions right there in their blogs.
Excerpted from Fund Raising Success Magazine written by Christina Johns |
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