This afternoon I created a screen capture video of the random drawing. Everyone who completed the recent survey (which ended last Friday) was eligible to win. 10 ebooks were given away plus one lucky person got a  $100 donation to charity.

Were you one of the lucky winners? View this short video to find out

P.S. If your name is called during the video you’ll be getting an email from Tracie, our Customer Service Manager, about claiming your prize.

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There are so many aspects to planning a fundraising event. Determining the ticket price and what portion of the ticket is tax deductible for attendees is one of those many details.

Your article about determining the tax deductible portion of fundraising event tickets was very helpful. However, I’m wondering if any of the information you provided changes when everything for the fundraiser is donated?

For example, we have a big fundraiser with food and wine, but all of this is donated to the event at no cost to our organization. Does that make any difference as far as determining value?

Any help you have or could refer me to would be appreciated. Everyone I’ve asked doesn’t seem to know for certain!! As you said, this is a vague area it seems.

Amy Lehman
Lincoln Children’s Museum

Hi Amy,

This is a good question. The guideline goes by the fair market value of the event compared to something similar that someone would have to pay for.  So if someone went out to eat at a nice restaurant in your area, with dinner and wine what would it cost them? The fact that the items for your fundraiser were donated don’t play into the equation as far as ticket value. Though is is certainly a big benefit for your group that they were donated!

As of this writing, for tickets less than $75 you are not required to provide the fair market value, although some NPOs do as a courtesy to their supporters. Anytime you are planning an event it’s good to double check the IRS website to make sure you have the most current information.

Best of luck to you on your event!

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Step Fundraising & Charity Mile are sponsoring a survey to find out what questions you have about fundraising. Ten randomly drawn entries will win a free ebook and one lucky entry will win a $100 donation to their charity of choice.

Whether you are planning a fundraising event, other type of fundraiser or don’t know where to start at all, we’d like to hear what questions you have.

There’s just two days left to enter this survey. Entries must be completed by 11:45 PM Pacific time, tomorrow March 28th to be eligible.

Click here to take this short survey now

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This month Roger Carr of the Everyday Giving blog brought together several experts who all weighed in on the topic of fundraising events.

Christopher Scott offers six concisely written, practical tips for planning a fundraising event. These are extremely essential and I couldn’t have said it better myself. Read all Six Tips for Leaders of Successful Fundraising Event before you event think of planning an event!

Joanne Fritz from the About.com Nonprofit Blog takes a more narrative approach from her own experience. I think she really got to the heart of what can make a fundraising event special, or make it totally bomb: matching the event to the organization’s mission and the event’s intended audience. Find out about these two examples in: A Tale of Two Special Events

You can find links to the other articles here: Tips for Successful Fundraising Events.

Additional Fundraising Event Resources

Since we’re on the topic of fundraising events, here’s a roundup of some additional resources that you may find helpful:

A Few Good Event-Registration Tools from Techsoup - Web-based tools to help you accept payments for any type of event

Are You Serving Alcohol at Your Fundraising Event? by Deane Brengle of Fundraising for Small Groups Newsletter

Fundraising for Success - This is an interview I did with Julius of the Event Manager Blog.

8 Publicity Questions to Ask When Planning Your Special Event by Joan Stewart, from the Step by Step Fundraising Archives

6 Tips for Publicizing Special Events is a free 6 page report from Sandra Beckwith, author or Publicity for Non Profits.

The Five Essential Elements of a Successful Silent Auction - Boost revenues from galas, dinners and other events with a silent auction

Fundraising Events Shouldn’t Take All Night - A final tip to plan a fun event that keeps attendees interested, not sitting for hours on end.

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This week’s roundup features a variety links related to garnering support for your cause from the business community.

6 Tips for Creating Successful Nonprofit/Business Partnerships from the Stanford Social Innovation Review, Stanford University

Fundraising Secret #14: Don’t be hard on local businesses from Fundraising Coach Marc Pitman

The Single Best Way to Turn Local Businesses into School Supporters from Jim Berigan of Top School Fundraisers

Small Business & Cause Related Marketing: Getting Started from Cause Marketing Forum

Is there a good list of the top corporate donors to non-profits? a great Q&A on Linked-In

How to Approach Corporate Sponsors by Amy Casey

Getting Corporate Sponsors from the Step by Step Fundraising Archives

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Would you like organize a 5K, walk-a-thon, bowling tournament or other athletic fundraiser?

We are currently in the process of updating this page on how to organize a 5K.  In the meantime, please review the articles listed below for some great tips and advice:

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The question is simple, what have you given in return to those who make financial donations to your organization? No, I don’t mean little chotchkies, pens or mailing labels.

Maybe it sounds backwards even, “they are supposed to give to us!” But giving, as in any relationship, is a two way street.

Here are three things that every non profit organization should be giving back to its supporters:

1. Education

Most of the people who give to your group do so because they have an interest in your mission and activities. One of the greatest benefits that you can offer is to help educate them further about your cause.

Arts organizations seem to do this naturally. Information about performers and musical selections are included in the evening’s program. Art museums often publish books related to artists and exhibitions.

Any non profit can provide further education and it doesn’t have to cost any extra. You are likely already producing newsletters and a website so include information in these publications that inform readers about the cause. There are several suggestions in the article 27 Story Ideas for Your Non Profit’s Newsletter that will serve this purpose.

You could also sponsor lunchtime seminars, breakfast networking meetings or panel discussions with experts on a particular issue. Partner with similar organizations in your area for an even greater impact.

2. Resources

Donors give because it’s something they feel they can do to help a cause they care about. Some of your supporters will want to go a step further and would appreciate any other resources that you provide.

Last fall along with the usual donation request letter, World Vision sent me a simple Christmas themed devotional booklet. It included short passages written by their field personnel worldwide, along with scriptures and drawings by children. I really enjoyed reading it and seeing all the different countries represented. It was a nice touch and a practical gift at Christmastime.

If you primarily serve a local audience provide information about upcoming events and “best kept secret” resources that would be of interest to your audience. For example, a school newsletter could provide a list of possible after school educational opportunities for kids. Or how about something as simple as a recipe or game for family time?

3. Success

The best thing you can give your audience is successful outcome on your mission. Keep your mission and vision forefront in your mind and in your daily activities.

Communicating your success is key to making sure donors feel that their contributions have been worthwhile. Let your supporters know when you reach milestones through updates in your newsletters and in special mailings. Publicize your accomplishments to the community at large with press releases and media attention.

Everyone likes to be on the “winning team.” Donors will be more likely to continue supporting you when they know you make good on your promises.

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While researching email tips for non profits I discovered Kivi Leroux Miller’s blog about non profit communications. One of her articles presents 15 Places to Find Article Ideas for Your Nonprofit Newsletter which includes some creative places around the office and otherwise to find newsletter ideas.

So after reading Kivi’s post I decided to put on my thinking cap to come up with some article ideas too. My goal with these ideas is to provide actual article themes that you can just take and run with. Some of these include examples of real newsletters using these ideas.

1. Volunteer Spotlight - Recognize your hardworking volunteers by featuring them in your newsletter. Heroes for Children features its volunteer of the month on its blog. They use an interview format which is great for helping your volunteers get to know one another better.
2. Expert Interview - One of the purposes of most non profits is to advocate and inform the public about a cause. You can help educate your audience by interviewing an expert in your field and publishing this in your newsletter and/or website.
3. Highlight Challenge Grants - Challenges are a great incentive for people to make donations so remind your audience about it early and often. Each year the Feinstein Foundation offers a $1 million challenge grant to assist organizations who help alleviate hunger. Many food banks and other eligible organizations send special mailings during this time of year and/or include a notice in their regular newsletters.
4. Editorial - Feel like getting on your soap box? Write an opinion piece about current events or other issues that are relevant to your cause.
5. Legislative Updates - Inform your audience about proposed and enacted legislation on the state and national level that is important to your cause. The Food Bank of Western New York often includes information about legislative and policy issues. For example, the summer 2007 issue highlighted the Feeding America’s Families Act.
6. News Tie-ins - Current events don’t have to be monumental to provide story ideas. For example, the new US Five Dollar Bill went into circulation in February. How about a feature showing what a $5 donation, or $5 per month, will mean to your cause.
7. Flashback - Include a photo and caption from events in your organization, community or cause in years past. This is great if your organization is celebrating a milestone, such as 20, 25, 50 years, and you can make it an ongoing feature for the whole year.
8. Quotations - Let other people do the talking when it comes to bragging about your work. Publish quotations from participants in your program, event attendees, volunteers or community leaders.
9. Before and After - The success of makeover and home remodeling TV programs attest to the popularity of true stories of transformation. You could describe one of your clients and what their life was like before and after they came through your program. The Noah’s Ark Animal Foundation of Fairfield, Iowa publishes Happy Endings, stories from families who have adopted their pets.
10. The Next Generation - Ask one of your donors to write a short response to the question, “How does the work of [organization name] make the world a better place for our children?”
11. Q&A - Answer questions that you hear from the community or from supporters. The most recent newsletter from my local public television & radio station included the answer to “Why does KERA have on-air membership drives?”
12. Reminder of Membership Benefits - Remind people what benefits are included in your membership program so they will be more likely to use and renew their memberships. The newsletter mentioned above featured three local arts organizations that offer discounts with the KERA member rewards card and a description of their upcoming performances.
13. Statistics - Provide statistics relevant to your cause in percentages and/or graph format. If you serve a local audience include local stats as well as state or national.
14. Book Review - Recommend books related to your cause. You can write a longer review of one book or provide just short descriptions on 3-5 books.
15. Endorsements - Speaking of books, pick up almost any book and you’ll find quotations on the book jacket from people who give it a thumbs up. Arts organizations can make particular use of quotes from reviews to promote upcoming performers, artists or exhibits.
16. Show the Love - Ask a volunteer to answer the question, “Why I love volunteering for [organization name].”
17. Top 5 Lists - Taking a topic and putting into a “top 5″ format makes it easier to write and easier to read!
18. 60 Minutes - Write a list of what volunteers can do in just one hour to help your cause. At the end include a call to action like “Call Louise, our Volunteer Manager, at 555-1212 today.”
19. One Day - Describe one day in history that changed your cause in a big way.
20. How-To - Many people find how-to articles quite useful. For example, a school newsletter could publish an article on “how to save for your child’s college education.”
21. Big Issue - Ask your director or an expert on your topic to answer the question, “What is the biggest challenge currently facing [your cause]?”
22. Surprise! - If you give introductory classes, presentations or volunteer training ask participants to answer the question, “What fact or idea about [the cause] were you most surprised to learn?”
23. Cause Celeb - The site Look to the Stars is a great place to find out which celebrities support different causes and when they are in the news for their support.
24. Major Donations - Let your supporters know when foundations or businesses make major donations and what that money will do to further your mission. The June 2007 newsletter of CASA of Central Texas announced grants they had received including “a $10,000 grant from National CASA to focus on diversity initiatives.”
25. A Day in the Life - Describe an average day in the life of your typical client or ask a staff member to describe their typical day. Break down by hours such as 8-10 am, etc. or morning noon, afternoon, evening.
26. Calendar - While most newsletters include upcoming event announcements throughout the issue, why not have a column that summarizes just the dates, event name and location. You could put this on the front page of your newsletter and give the page numbers so readers can find the detail.
27. Photos - At first I thought that photos in newsletters were a given. But after browsing through many non profit newsletters researching this article I found quite a few that were all text. How boring! People love pictures. Homes for Our Troops does a great job of including photos of volunteers, events, and people they serve in all of their email and print newsletters.

So there you have it, 27 story and feature ideas for your non profit’s newsletter. Now there are no more excuses for procrastinating on those newsletters. Maybe you can even add to this list!

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Everybody knows that you should send a thank you note to a donor. Along with the fundraising “ask” letter, these two kinds of letters are the bookends. However these not be the only times you make contact with your supporters.

The following is a list of ten reasons you should stay in contact with your existing donors, without hitting them up for another donation.

1. Birthday Wishes

You should make an effort to find out your donors’ birthdays. It shows that you are considerate and thoughtful when you remember them on that special day with a nice card. Set up a tickler in your appointment calendar to remind you at least two weeks in advance, so you have time to buy a card, write a short note, sign it, and mail it. To be better prepared, I suggest you buy a stash of cards and stick them in your desk drawer, so you’ve always got one handy. Also, a quick, handwritten note shows a great personal touch.

Along with the birthday cards, sympathy and congratulations notes are a nice gesture, as well. It is a good habit to scan your local paper for obituaries and announcements. In the case of a donor or a donor’s relative passing away, you will be alerted so you can send a sympathy card right away. You can also use this information to update your database.

If your donor gets his name or photo in the paper for a special award or a new position, remember to also send a note- this time for congratualtions.

2. Regular Updates on Your Organizational News

Do you produce a monthly or quarterly newsletter? Do you send out communications that are important to your families? If you do, you should consider including your donors on the mailing list. By receiving the regular newsletters, the donors can stay “in the loop” about what’s happening and feel included.

While this seems like this would be a no-brainer, I do think you should ask each individual donor if he would like to receive your newsletter in the mail (or by email). Some donors may feel that although they made a donation, they don’t want to be bothered on a continual basis. There are those kinds of donors out there. However, my experience is that the majority like to be kept up-to-date on issues concerning the organization they contributed to.

3. Advice on an Internal Matter

If a person is able to make a donation to your organization, chances are that that person has some wisdom and life experience. I have found that many donors like to be consulted for advice now and again. Be careful not to become a pest, but if you are facing a situation that needs careful deliberation, think about asking for some outside advice from your donor base. Most of the time, you can be sure that since they have already given you their money, they will also be willing to share some of their wisdom, as well. It goes a long way toward erasing any feelings a donor may have that you only care about their money.

You may want to consult your board of directors before sharing any sensitive issues with the donors. Be careful not to treat your advice request as a gossip session. This can turn donors right off.

4. Update on a Previous Contribution the Donor Made

Many times, an organization will receive a donation, the donation will be put to use, and the donor will never hear about the effects of the donation again. You have to remember that when your donor was thinking about whether or not he would donate to your group in the first place, he must have been excited by what you were planning or else he wouldn’t have given. Therefore, it is logical to assume that the donor would like to be kept abreast of any developments within the scope of his donation. Many times, a quick note, an email, or a phone call will do fine. The point is to let donors know what a significant difference their gift made.

5. Interesting News Item to Pass Along

Once you have gone through the initial process of working with a donor, you have established a bond with him. In many cases, you probably had several conversations with him, shared your own personal story with him, and learned about his life a little. In some ways, you have begun to cultivate a friendship. And just like any friendship, you have to pay attention to it or else it will wither. Therefore, I think it is wise to occasionally pass along an interesting piece of news to the donor that you think he might find interesting. This news can have absolutely nothing to do with your group or any kind of donation. It could be about sports or culture or something you know the donor likes. You know- “Saw this and thought of you” kind of note.

Be careful, however, not to send something potentially controversial and be very careful with any use of humor. People can be easily offended, and the last thing you want to do is offend one of your donors. Never go for a laugh unless you are 100% positive you’ll hit the mark.

6. Personal Story of How a Person in Your Organization Achieved Something Great or Overcame an Obstacle

One of the reasons your donor was drawn to your group in the first place was the community of people. Organizations, in and of themselves, are non-living entities. It’s not until you fill it with people that the community springs to life. At some point, your donor must have made a connection with a person or a group of people there.

For instance, if you are running a school and you have a student who won a county spelling bee or got a silver medal in ice skating at the state level or made Eagle Scout, it’s very possible that your donor would love to hear about that. Even better, make sure to share a story of a student at your school who was struggling mightily in some capacity, but through hard work and the teacher’s perseverance, overcame the challenge.

By being included in these success stories, your donor will keep that personal connection alive with your school.

7. Invitation to Go to Lunch/Meet for Coffee

Everybody’s got to eat lunch, right? I think it is wise to plan a time each month where you take a donor out to lunch or meet them for coffee. Set up a rotation schedule for yourself. During this time together, don’t ask for anything for your organization. Just keep developing the relationship you have with the donor. The more often you get together and the more often you talk about other issues, the easier it will be to go back to the donor when you need something. The donor will have seen a pattern of continuing and sincere communication from you, and that will ultimately work in your benefit.

8. Bounce a Creative Idea Off of Them

I always loved to call up a donor and share with him a crazy new idea I had for my organization. Even if it was a “pie-in-the-sky” plan with no real shot of ever getting done, I got a charge from brainstorming with donors. As I alluded to earlier, most donors became donors because they had the ability to make lots of money. This implies that many donors have an entrepreneurial streak in them. And entrepreneurs love to brainstorm- even if it never goes anywhere- it’s just how they’re wired.

Whenever I have made these kinds of phone calls and have been really enthusiastic about my idea, I have always been met in kind with energy, enthusiasm, and support. Besides, you never know, one of your crazy ideas might really appeal to the donor, and he may decide to fund it!

9. Share Marketing or Enrollment Material with Them

Whenever I would come out with a new marketing piece, I would always make sure my donors got a copy of it as soon as possible. By doing this, the donor is able to stay current with any new slogans, pricing structures, or programs. I have found that many donors like to be able to talk about your organization out in public. If they have the latest version of your marketing material, they will be able to be better salespeople for you.

10. To Inform Them if There’s Been Some Sort of Problem Within Your Organization

While this is the least pleasant of all of my suggestions, I do think it is important that you alert your donors whenever something significantly negative happens in your group. You’ll have to use your best judgment as to what the donors should know and when they should know it, but it is often better that a donor hear from you about a potentially negative incident personally, rather than by rumor or even possibly on the news.

By hearing about the situation from you first, you can explain the entire story and offer your solutions. The donor will not get this kind of thorough message in any other manner. Bad news happens- it is inevitable. However, if you desire to keep the relationship with your donor stable, you must remember to keep in touch during both the good times and the bad.

Again, you never know, a donor may actually have experience in handling a situation like what you’re going through and could offer great wisdom to you. In any regard, it’s much better to get in front of a story than to be chasing behind it every step of the way.

Conclusion

I strongly believe that your relationship with each donor needs to be sincere, active, and dynamic. When a person makes his first contribution to your group, it is vitally important that you develop a strategy to get to know that person much better. Don’t let an initial “ask” letter and a thank you note be the extent of your relationship with him. Look for every opportunity to make your donor a part of your community. In the long run, everyone at the school will be much richer for it.

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Ever hears of a giving circle? It’s a great way for friends to get together and support causes they care about. Giving circles are made up of a small group of friends that meet informally on occassion, simliar to supper clubs and book clubs.

I suppose social service clubs have been doing this for years in a more formal way. In my town clubs like Rotary, Optimist and Business & Professional Women (which I’m a member of) support charities regularly and/or will make special gifts to a variety of causes.  A giving circle would just be a smaller, less formal way of doing this.

Here are some links with great information about giving circles…

Add Some Spice to Your Bunco Night: Make it a Giving Circle Too from Dollar Philanthropy

Giving circles mix fun, fundraising from USA Today (article referenced in the above post)

Ten Steps for Starting a Giving Circle from the Minnesota Toolkit for Giving

Giving Circles Are Here to Stay from the Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers

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