Archive for May, 2016

Nonprofits: Explore the heart of Latino leadership

latinoleadershipIf you’re like me, you’re involved with one, two or more boards that would love to share the table with a thriving minority in the U.S avis rechnung herunterladen. In fact, minority won’t be an accurate description by the year 2060. Join me in getting acquainted with the first book that squarely focuses on describing the principles and practices of how Latinos lead in our communities autorennen downloaden. Bestselling author, Juana Bordas, has written The Power of Latino Leadership: Culture, Inclusion and Contribution. Bordas has also written Salsa, Soul and Spirit onedrive geteilte ordner herunterladen.

In Latino Leadership, author Juana Bordas takes us on a path to the very heart of Latino leadership. She explores 10 principles that illustrate how inclusive, people-oriented, socially responsible and life-affirming Latinos are in their grass roots efforts java runtime environment free. This book will inform every one of us about the nuances of Latinos in the social sector.

You’ll find her answers to our interviews questions in our recent podcast very informative below textbooks for free. Thank you, Juana!

6) How can nonprofits help with the goal in this quotation: “So how do leaders motivate people to do the hard work of community building and commit to the long-term struggle of creating a more equitable society?”

Image credit: Berrett-Koehler Publishers

 

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Nonprofits: Don’t raise a dollar unless you plan on keeping it

According to Ken Burnett, “Our nonprofit sector is bleeding to death. We’re hemorrhaging donors, losing support as fast as we find it, seemingly condemned forever to pay a fortune just to stand still. It’s time we stemmed the flow.”

It’s understandable why Retention Fundraising author Roger Craver chose Burnett to write the forward for this book. Burnett brings the right amount of warning to the issue. Burnett is right. Our social sector is in dire need of determined action to diminish donor attrition invitation cards 80 birthday for free.

Why?

A few of the many reasons include the following: Attrition costs our organizations billions of dollars and effort. It suffocates the other mission-related work we’re trying to do. It undermines the sector as a whole. Unfortunately, many fundraisers accept low donor retention as a fact of life herunterladen.

Roger Craver says it doesn’t have to be that way. Craver has unpacked the answers to many of the challenges nonprofits face with attrition such as shifting the fundraiser’s focus to what matters most to donors, overthrowing retention barriers, responding efficiently and more.

Thanks to a study of more than 250 organizations, Craver and his collaborators have introduced a framework for boosting retention and the lifetime value of donors herunterladen. This framework is the foundation to improve each of the retention issues he presents, from redefining loyalty to understanding authentic engagement.pinterest-com

We asked Craver about how to make a case for retention activities if you need to enlist your colleagues and leadership in the process. We also had him share insights on the metrics you should measure:

CausePlanet: How do you convince nonprofit organizations that focusing on donor retention is worth the extra time, effort and expense autogenous training?

Craver: Year after year for the past decade, donor-retention rates have been sinking. Today, they’re at an all-time low.  According to studies by the Association of Fundraising Professionals, every $100 raised from new donors was offset by $100 in losses because of attrition. All this despite the facts that organizations have

– a 60-70 percent chance of obtaining additional gifts from an existing donor.

– a 20 to 40 percent chance of obtaining an additional gift from a recently lapsed donor windows 10 voor mac downloaden.bloomerang-com

– but less than a 2 percent chance of obtaining a gift from a prospective donor (actuation).

So one thing should be glaringly obvious. The bulk of an organization’s fundraising spending should be aimed at holding onto and building relationships with existing donors, not in acquiring new ones herunterladen. It’s called “retention.” Unless an organization’s goal is to never grow and eventually decline, the failure to focus on retention is ultimately ruinous as the organization’s support shrinks like a raisin in the sun.

CausePlanet: Would you talk about how the metrics you have developed (lifetime value, etc.) help a nonprofit track its fundraising and justify its time and effort igo kartenupdatesen und installieren.pdf?

Craver: There are some fundamental metrics that serve as a sort of fundraiser’s GPS—Retention Rates and Lifetime Value. They quickly and easily indicate whether an organization is relevant to its donors.

Number of new donors making a second gift: A harbinger if not dead-on predictor of the retention rates and Lifetime Value an organization is likely to enjoy in the future zu downloaden oder downloaden.

Number of new donors retained into the second year: If you ask and answer the question as to why so many donors leave the first year and what your organization is doing to lose them and hold them, you’ll be on a true track to growth. Fail to answer them, and it’s more of the same.

Multiple Year Retention Rate: Same as above, but by tracking these year by year you can spot trends, problems and opportunities herunterladen. Why? Because year-over-year comparisons of this metric will trigger additional questions and answers for improving your program.blog-capterra-com

Lifetime Value of a Donor (LTV): At the end of the day all the actions you take to improve retention, average gift and donor commitment will be reflected in the Lifetime Value of each donor and all donors collectively. This is the key metric on which you can benchmark, guide and then track the success–or failure–of your intermediate and long-term strategies.

Craver provides countless data bases from which once can import data, and in turn, helps in retaining donors including Cliff Notes to his own advice at the end. From what drives donors to stay to what prompts them to leave, Craver makes it impossible to look the other way on retention–and your nonprofit will be better for it.

There’s never been a better time for Roger Craver’s book. Why let one more hard-won donor leak through the bucket when instead, she could be a lifetime supporter of your organization. Simply put, calculate the cost of repeated acquisitions versus the renewal of a donor who is predisposed to support you.

See other book summaries related to this title:

Fundraising the SMART Way™: Predictable, Consistent Income Growth for Your Charity + Website

Fundraising When Money Is Tight

Influential Fundraiser: Using the Psychology of Persuasion to Achieve Outstanding Results

Image credits: blog.capterra.com, bloomerang.com, pinterest.com, retentionfundraising.com

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Nonprofits: Four things fundraising is not

globalpassionblog-wordpress-comJeff Brooks’ How to Turn Your Words Into Money is a nonprofit writer’s new ally with the latest guidelines for creating the most effective messages to persuade your reader.

Brooks explains what fundraising writing is not and what it should be. He does so in a way that tells you exactly what to avoid and what to try in your next attempt to sway your audience kindle android download not possible.

A fair amount is appropriately dedicated to the many ways you can create a compelling story even when you’re stumped. How to Turn concludes with what every fundraising writer needs: universal assumptions we know about donors and some helpful advice to keep you inspired.

Brooks asserts that fundraising writing is different than any other writing. Many of its most successful examples defy English conventions and are counterintuitive windows 10 herunterladen für usb.

Brooks begins his book with what fundraising writing is not and then describes what it should be.

We’ve excerpted his “Don’t” list here for you.

Educating is not fundraising:theconnectedcause-com

Educating donors about your cause does not motivate them to give suunto daten herunterladen. Appealing to their passions and telling them about a person who is suffering motivates them to give. After they give, they are then willing to learn more about your cause. For example, educating donors about statistics on homelessness does not increase giving. Telling a person’s homeless story does motivate them more often iphone 7 whatsapp herunterladen. People are motivated by their emotions and interests, not facts.

Bragging is not fundraising:

Talking only about your impressive self does not work in any situation. Instead, “only share excellent qualities that are relevant to donors.” Don’t talk about your stellar processes, fame or awards you’ve won. Donors want to contribute to results and be part of your excellence spiegel app kostenlosen. Instead of saying what your organization has done, attribute your success to your donors’ generosity:

“We’ll stretch every dollar you give so you help the greatest number of people in the most life-transforming way.” Share these relevant facts with your donors: a purpose statement that shows you share your donors’ values, watchdog approvals or ratings, and quotations from authorities or celebrities that vouch for you.

Journalism is not fundraising:sharpenet-com

If you focus on the five Ws (Who, What, Where, When and Why), you will miss the word “you,” or the donor android to download. Instead of just telling a homeless person’s story, relate it to the donor: “Frank is a lot like you. He loves his kids, and like you, he’d do almost anything to make them happy. But last Christmas, Frank had to make a bigger sacrifice than most parents. …” (He spent his last few dollars on gifts for his daughters he hadn’t seen in more than two years and became homeless.)

Furthermore, as a fundraiser, you need to be biased, not objective, about your cause emoji to download. Therefore, focus on the conflict or what needs to change, show a problem, unveil the enemy, and recruit the reader by appealing to his values and challenging him to take action.

Humor doesn’t work well in fundraising:slate-com

For several reasons, stay away from humor: 1) It doesn’t translate across cultures or different age groups ubuntu software center herunterladen. 2) Insider jokes about your organization do not work with donors who are outsiders. 3) Humor makes fun of something or someone, which does not inspire empathy, kindness or a willingness to give.

We asked Books about testing his messaging in our Page to Practice author interview:

CausePlanet: How often do you test your fundraising messages youtube mp3 herunterladen? Do you see donor’s preferences shifting very often?

Jeff Brooks: You should test all the time–if your quantities are big enough to yield statistically significant results. If they aren’t, testing is a waste of time and money, and it’s just as likely to tell you the exact opposite of the truth as it is to enlighten you herunterladen. If you can’t test, you should pay attention to those who do.

We can count on donor preferences shifting over time. It happens slowly in direct mail and more quickly online. If something works really well now, it may not always work. A few years ago, everybody started using brown paper bags as envelopes for direct mail pieces. It really worked like crazy. Then it suddenly stopped working–probably because it became so common it lost its novelty value.

Why you should buy this book

Anyone charged with communicating on behalf of his nonprofit should buy this book. Brooks shares the latest conventions and discoveries in effective fundraising messages. In fact, very few of our early fundraising conventions remain and those that do are bendable rules at best.

What you learned in school or early in your career is no longer relevant. You will find the art and science of writing to the donor has evolved a great deal. Jeff Brooks is the antithesis of “those who can’t do, teach.” He’s a consultant and practitioner who is constantly perfecting, testing and retesting his craft. You’ll find this book supremely insightful and a bottom-line-changer.

See other relevant book summaries and titles:

Brainfluence: 100 Ways to Persuade and Convince Consumers with Neuromarketing

Content Marketing for Nonprofits: A Communications Map for Engaging Your Community, Becoming a Favorite Cause, and Raising More Money

Seeing Through A Donor’s Eyes

Image credits: Slate.com. sharpenet.com, globalpassionblog.wordpress.com, theconnectedcause.com

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