Join the "Club" November 26, 2007 By RussBurke

Today, the New York Times reported on the impending departure in January of Ford Foundation President Susan V. Berresford. The point of the piece was her intention to join LAFF…Life After the Ford Foundation. They cite other examples too.

That the Ford Foundation has an “alumni club” isn’t that remarkable…it often happens when people have had a shared experience in which they’re significantly invested.

What does this mean for you, o’ fundraiser? Aren’t you “invested” in your mission? Aren’t your staff and current Board Members similarly invested?

I’ve suggested many-times that GiftWorks users create a group of “Board Members – Former” to specifically keep track of these valuable resources. But clearly my viewpoint had been drawn way too narrowly.

Consider the Ford Foundation’s idea…why not also creating an “alumni” group that might be grow to encompass former staff, particularly leadership, and those former board members? Consider the expanded e-newsletter opportunities, event and event recognition possibilities, and even, perish the thought, the ubiquitous “Departures” listing found in almost every university alumni magazine.

Building community builds legacy. And that’s a warmly rich concept to any fundraiser.

Have a great thanksgiving! November 21, 2007 By Steve Fafel

We are closed Thursday and Friday this week to spend time with our families. Tonight I'm working on a pumpkin pie--my second! Traditional--pumpkins my wife Amy grew, raw whole milk, organic eggs, yadda yadda. Goodness all around.

I'm thankful this year for a lot of things and people. With respect to Mission Research, I'm thankful for our customers, who are so varied and interesting, demanding in the right ways, and loyal to what we're trying to do for the nonprofit sector; I'm thankful for all of the people I work with, from the product team to sales and support, to the administration and of course the folks in marketing. We have a truly good set of people organized around an important mission--supporting your mission.

So this year I have lots to be thankful for. Including my marriage, which started in September, and which is beckoning me back to the kitchen to prep the pie.

Have a good weekend, folks, and stay safe.

Stewardship Failure November 15, 2007 By RussBurke

This morning I got bad news about my trusty Subaru...blown head gasket...and while stuck at the repair shop waiting for a ride, I chanced upon an old friend with whom I previously worked. We exchanged personal and professional pleasantries, then he shocked me...deeply. The bad news continued.

The social service agency where we labored had gone through a merger. And as my friend described the "outcomes" it became crystal clear to me. With all the merger due diligence demonstrated by management and the board, the "community" of donors went unnoticed.

So, here an organization had spent years cultivating friends and donors, and no one planned for them. The thought of it literally made me sick. Beyond the dissolution of support the merging institutions might have be able to forestall, I think of the confusion and disappointment that some donors would inevitably feel as their "partner" abandoned them.

A former nonprofit boss once "schooled" me on the importance of identifying and planning for "stakeholders" in the midst of change. Its one thing to say: "Yes, we notified all of our constituents of the impending merger." It is quite another to say we gave due diligence to the people who had been consistent, public and major donors. Stewardship failed.

Actually, I hope my impressions are wrong and that something better did transpire. The work this organization used to do ...and still does...is way too important and so were the people who supported it.

BoardSource Quantifies Another One November 12, 2007 By RussBurke

Most professional fundraisers I've met over the years labored under the impression that "my board members don't do enough fundraising". Certainly, the nonprofit community has long accepted that board members share a fiduciary responsibility to ensure your nonprofit is adequately resourced to pursue its mission. But it never gets the press it should.

In the November 8, 2007 Chronicle of Philanthropy's News Updates, writer Elizabeth Schwinn's "Trustees Don't Do Enough to Help Charities Raise Money, Study Finds" neatly summarizes the central point:

"Only 40 percent of charity board members feel comfortable asking other people to donate to their organizations, and on average, only about three-quarters of board members donate money themselves, according to the report by BoardSource, a Washington nonprofit group that provides governance training to nonprofit groups and their trustees."

Reveiwing BoardSource's survey of 1,100 nonprofit CEO's and board members, this reporter further quotes Linda Crompton, president of BoardSource: "Fund raising is the No. 1 area of board performance that needs to be improved. The nonprofit sector needs more board members who understand their fund-raising role and are willing to take an active part in the sustainability of their organizations."

Author Schwinn goes on to elicit some specific recommendations from Crompton on ways to improve board involvement. It is well worth the read and can certainly serve as background material for annual and strategic board training and planning sessions, along with BoardSource's orginal study that was reviewed.

We focus on board involvement often in our Effective Fundraising With GiftWorks series, knowing that GiftWorks fundraising software can support the reporting and management you need to drive fundraising. But this drives deeper into your responsibilites. If we accept that relationships drive major giving, then board involvement is essential to the capacity building for which we all strive. Failure to improve means sustainability itself is threatened.

Salesforce.com, Convio Security Breaches November 8, 2007 By Steve Fafel

The Nonprofit Times reports:

"Salesforce.com is the second software vendor to nonprofits this week to announce a data breach. The firm alerted its clients of phishing attempts and the security breach. The most recent phishing attempts included malware, software that secretly installs viruses or key loggers."

Convio is the other company--the link reports on both companies' security breaches. No company can guarantee absolute security, but with GiftWorks Fundraising Software, you control your security through the security of your own network. Online applications have some inherent vulnerabilities, particularly because the larger companies are visible targets for hackers.

If you feel your network security isn't great, consider getting a firewall--here's a resource-- and consider this article. Securing your network is not terribly hard and definitely affordable--please make sure you do it!

Just One of Ten Mistakes November 5, 2007 By RussBurke

Chanced by Gayle Roberts' Fundraising For Nonprofits blog today and caught her 9/28/07 post titled "37 fundraisng tips for the price of 1" which she followed up on 10/4 with "56 more fundraising tips...". I really enjoy Gayle's perspective and appreciate her expertise. So I hope you'll understand that I just couldn't resist clicking on the "10 common mistakes in selecting donor databases" link.

It's her citation of number "3.  Prioritizing price above everything else" that really caught my eye.

For a long time here, I was puzzled and even troubled by prospects who wouldn't look at GiftWorks because it was so inexpensive. Their rationale must have been something like "This fundraising software can't possibly be any good because it is so cheap." So that belief, based on no direct evidence, induced a fear... preventing some from even downloading the free trial.

This didn't square at all with my own experience. When I first saw GiftWorks and was able to try it...I saw it simply as a literal blessing. Here was something that could help me make our nonprofit more proficient and effective in cultivating donors and raising money...at a price we could actually afford. Fact was, GiftWorks was way more affordable than what we had been using.

Now that I've been here at Mission Research for awhile...on the other side, so to speak...that "too cheap" argument concerns me even more. So I want to take another perspective. Many of you use products like Microsoft's Word or Excel day in and day out. Yet, no one with whom I've had this discussion thinks they should pay Microsoft their suggested retail price for those products. They want it deeply discounted and even free with any new computer.  So the issue doesn't seem to be "too cheap" but rather "price should be whatever I want or perceive it to be".

We really can't have it both ways.  In this day of rapid technical evolution we shouldn't be, as Gayle suggests, prioritizing price above everything else. Let's agree just to look and measure "value" to our nonprofit with regard to "does the software do what we need to do at a price we can afford". That should be sufficient. And certainly, I know GiftWorks is way more than just sufficient.