GiftWorks 2011 Coming in September July 28, 2010 By Mary Pat Donnellon

The team is proud to announce the newest version of GiftWorks - GiftWorks 2011 - coming this September.  Each year, we evaluate all the feedback and requests from our vast user community, recommendations from our consultant advisors and other experts, and trends in the nonprofit sector to determine the improvements and new features to be included.

Here are just some of the enhancements included in GiftWorks 2011:  The ability to attach files and documents to donor records; enhanced receipting including simplified year-end receipting, Canadian receipting and more, more custom fields in both number and type (numeric and currency);  a new duplicate donor finder tool, enhanced pledge management, the ability to search Notes and use in Smartlist criteria.

All customers enrolled in our popular SmartPlan or who are using GiftWorks Anywhere will get GiftWorks 2011 automatically (at no cost) in September.  For everyone else, we are making it easy to get current with GiftWorks so your organization can take advantage of all the time-saving and fund-raising features we have added over the years.  Please email sales@giftworksconnect.com for more information!

Cultivating Donors: The Art and the Science July 27, 2010 By Mary Pat Donnellon

Cultivating donors. It's an art and a science. The best development officers (and some board members) are naturals at this; it's in their blood. And it's the heart of fundraising on all levels.

The science of cultivating donors is always something to work on.

Research shows, as Consultant Marc S. Saffren, CFRE, of m3 development (Manorville, NY) reports, that a strong follow-up to a gift results in increased giving. In the study, which targets 2,250 new direct mail donors, 220 received a thank-you phone call from a board member within 48 hours of their gift; the other donors received standard acknowledgments. Those who received a thank-you call gave 40% more in a second gift; and 70% of them were still giving two years later. More than 80% of the other donors had quit giving 2 years later.

We talked with Marc about how to use your GiftWorks database to ramp up your cultivation skills and point you to new targets.

Marc advises: "At the outset, especially in these challenging times, an organization needs a diversified development plan. This means that gifts are solicited using a variety of vehicles and strategies, from many audiences (individuals, corporations, foundations, government sources, event attendees, on-line giving campaigns) in a number of ways (direct mail, special events, personal ask,) and accepted in a number of forms (cash, gifts-in-kind, credit card, planned gifts, etc.), It takes all kinds of gifts and giving patterns to build a sustainable revenue stream."

Once a donor responds to one of your solicitations, the CULTIVATION process begins. You should have the stewardship and planned acknowledgment process in place. Think outside the box here! Don't limit yourself to the generic thank-you letter, the handwritten note from a Board member, or a Welcome New Member packet.

"Now," Marc continues, "comes the real work of cultivation and stewardship:"

Here's how it might work to go beyond the point of thank-you and lay the groundwork for additional and larger gifts.

The appropriate person in your organization makes a personal phone call to the donor. After warmly thanking the donor for the gift, the caller asks what motivated the donor to give, why he is interested in your organization, what other related areas might be of interest to him. (As a consultant, Marc and his team develop customized phone scripts for clients to help callers ask questions in a natural way.) Then the caller asks to update donor data and obtain the email address for the file. If the donor gave for a specific designated purpose, the caller should be prepared to talk about the program of their interest. In the course of the conversation, the caller might identify other donors or board members who have a connection to the new donor.

Record what you learn. Develop a system for callers to capture information they gathered and save it in GiftWorks. (You might designate custom field[s] for this information, or add this person to a group of people who share that interest.)

Now you have the makings of upcoming approaches:

If the donor's interest is breast cancer, you might invite him/her to a related event or support group or to meet a researcher in the lab.

If the donor is concerned about water run-off in local streams or is involved with businesses who are, you could ask him to get involved in your related project.

If the donor is retired, financially connected, etc., you might involve him in your Planned Giving initiatives. (If the donor is a financial planner or investment adviser, you might want to invite him to a lunch where you orient his colleagues to annuities and other planned giving instruments.)

If the donor has daycare interests and has a wealthy parent or family member, you might invite them both to see the architectural drawings for your new nursery.

Any of the above donors is a natural target for your next solicitation matching their interests. In fact, as you make your calls, you may learn about an area of interest you hadn't yet thought of. You may create a task force around the topic, and include this donor. You may also remind the donor about the possibility of doubling the gift through corporate matching. You might ask a board member with matching interests to contact the donor and pick up the cultivation.

Of course, your cultivation plan must include steps to follow-up--and a system of reminders so the momentum gained is not lost. GiftWorks will be the tool that helps you pull it all together. You can now run reports from the queried information using SmartLists. Periodically you'll want to review the data you've gathered to watch for trends or indicators to reframe your appeals.

With a consistent and effective plan for stewardship and cultivation, you can expect to see increases in involvement and gifts. All proving that old adage: Fundraising is Friendraising.

Marc S. Saffren, CFRE, is the Managing Director of m3 Development. His organization offers tailored fundraising and philanthropy solutions that combine innovation with sound fundamentals. Learn more at www.m3Development.net

GiftWorks Web Collect a Hit with Colorado Foundation July 26, 2010 By Mary Pat Donnellon

by Ellie LaCasse

Corinne O’Flynn wanted GiftWorks Web Collect even before it was released. “Once we saw the ease with which GiftWorks Online Donations was able to capture data, it was an instant wish that we could capture data online outside of an appeal for donations.”

Corinne is the founder of the Rowan Tree Foundation (Parker, CO), whose mission is helping families heal after the death of a child.

Rowan Tree’s website receives 160,000 hits each month. And though the organization’s events are local to Colorado, the foundation provides support and outreach worldwide. Only “about 65% of our website visitors are from the U.S. Most people find us via Google,” Corinne reports. “There is so little active support for those grieving the loss of a child across the globe that those who find us stay connected no matter what the distance.”

Each year Rowan Tree holds several memorial events enabling families to commemorate their child. One of them is an annual summertime Butterfly Release. Both attendees and nonattendees can register to have their child’s name read aloud and listed in the event program. Rowan Tree is using Web Collect to take and fulfill orders for personalized keepsakes made from photos taken at this year’s Butterfly Release.

"Fewer fingers involved, fewer mistakes."

Corinne created an online form with Web Collect to capture important personalized data and contact details. She then integrates this data seamlessly into her GiftWorks database. If the information collected includes monetary gifts, Corinne uses GiftWorks Online Donations to process the gifts. She is able to check and manage Web Collect, Online Donations, and GiftWorks Data Protect all from a single dashboard. “Fewer fingers involved, fewer mistakes,” Corinne quips.

After this event and others, Rowan Tree mails event programs, keepsakes, or other items to participants. “Having all the data on hand to do this automatically is great!”

Corinne has ambitious plans for future use of Web Collect, and she’s in conversation with GiftWorks developers, helping identify the most desirable new functions. As her next project, she hopes to develop a survey of 5–10 questions, use Web Collect to bring the responses into GiftWorks, then use that data to build a new awareness program.

“At Rowan Tree Foundation, we hope to help change the way child loss is addressed so parents have access to compassionate care that respects the humanity of their child, the gravity of the loss, and the lifelong impact that the loss of a child has on the family,” Corinne concludes. “To accomplish this goal, we need to have accurate information in our database so that we can treat each family with the utmost compassion.”

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Ellie LaCasse, a friend of GiftWorks, is officially retired from fundraising but is forever a community volunteer.

A Dollar Saved Is a Dollar Raised: Group Purchasing for Nonprofits July 21, 2010 By Mary Pat Donnellon

by Ellie LaCasse

It only makes sense. Vendors offer discounts for goods or services that are purchased in large quantities. However, since many nonprofits are small (and resources are limited), they can’t promise to make big purchases from office supply companies, printers, lawyers, accountants, and software companies—so they may think they’re not eligible for discounts.

Nonprofits in health services have long had access to group purchasing—because they’re often part of a large group with a long history of group purchasing of medical supplies. Most state nonprofit associations also offer group purchasing benefits to their members. You’ll want to check what’s available to you and find out whether this is the best way for you to make the type of purchases you need to make. In addition to state nonprofit associations, we had identified only two other nonprofit group purchasing organizations: Purchasing Partners of America (Colorado) and Nonprofit Purchasing Group of Delaware, and both focus mostly on local vendors.

But now there's a new player on the group-purchasing block you’ll also want to check out: the Non-Profit Purchasing Group (NPPG), a new GiftWorks partner.

After a career in the for-profit arena, Dan Engel started the nonprofit Miracle League of San Diego, a baseball program for children with special needs that currently serves 175 players in the San Diego area. Also board chair of the California Oncology Research Institute, Dan realized the need for nonprofits to find savings on routine purchases.

When Dan announced the start of the NPPG this January, he immediately received 3,000 responses. Even organizations that had previously explored group purchasing welcomed the chance to look into discounts (typically at least 15%) from NPPG’s 43 listed vendors, including GiftWorks.

"The challenge is to educate people about the
opportunity to save money easily."

Although you might be able to find special sale prices on occasion, at NPPG you can find them everyday. NPPG’s offerings include office supplies, printing, payroll fees, consumer directed health plans, telephone services, email marketing, website design, search engine optimization, surveys, social fundraising solutions, online auction fundraising, web conferencing and more.

“The challenge is to educate people about the opportunity to save money easily,” Dan said. Most nonprofit staff members don’t have a lot of time to devote to comparison shopping.

Data from a 2005 Urban Institute study shows that a typical nonprofit (excluding those in the health sector) spends about 10.8% of its budget on supplies, communications, professional fees, and equipment rental and maintenance. Dan estimates that smaller nonprofits spend a higher percentage of their budget on these expenses because they typically have fewer paid staff and more volunteers. It is precisely those smaller nonprofits, which don't have the resources to identify and solicit discounts, that benefit most from group purchasing organizations.

Because NPPG is dedicated exclusively to nonprofits, it doesn't accept commissions, rebates or administrative fees and is thus able to pass through 100% of the negotiated savings to its members. Instead, NPPG charges a membership fee scaled to the size of the participating organization. All members access the same discounts and find the offers in one easy-to-access place.

With an annual fee as low as $19, your organization can come out ahead with the purchase of a single laser printer cartridge or a subscription to the services of one of NPPG's many providers. In addition, NPPG expresses its commitment to the nonprofit sector by donating 10% of its profits annually to charity.

Check out the offers of your state nonprofit association and NPPG and see if there are savings that can help you focus more of your staff time and funds on your mission, and less on back-office purchasing and bill paying.

For more information about NPPG, visit nonprofitpurchasinggroup.org or call Dan Engel toll-free at 877.849.6774.

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Ellie LaCasse, a friend of GiftWorks, is officially retired from fundraising but is forever a community volunteer.

Where Nonprofit Meets For-Profit: Sustainability Through Results July 8, 2010 By Mary Pat Donnellon

Meet expert Tom Ralser, principal of Convergent Nonprofit Solutions. Tom’s work with nonprofits and his latest book, ROI for Nonprofits: The New Key to Sustainability, provide cutting-edge methods and processes to move nonprofits successfully forward into today’s environment, one which increasingly demands accountability, transparency and results.

 

     
 
Convergent has recently announced its new partnership with GiftWorks. Through this partnership, and the integration of their Investment-Driven Fundraising Model with GiftWorks tools, Convergent’s consultants are able to achieve even greater returns for their fundraising and sustainability plan clients.  Here’s how it all began:

 

When a nonprofit in Colorado where Tom Ralser taught Finance was deciding to move forward on a third campaign in the early 90’s, they asked Tom to step over into the nonprofit world and help them devise a winning strategy. Tom worked a little of his business-world magic and was able to demonstrate that for every $1 the nonprofit had spent, they had returned $17 in benefits to the community. With this outcome-driven philosophy, Tom moved into the nonprofit world on a full-time basis in 1993 and started the ROI revolution for nonprofits.

 

Who wouldn’t like to make an “ask” with a proven 17/1 return?

 

In today’s economic climate, every nonprofit needs to both maximize its impact and to communicate that impact in order to sustain ongoing investment. (Yes, Tom calls them “investors,” not “donors.”) Return on Investment is a strategy for the future in fundraising. Not to abandon the time-tested connections and the emotional appeals of the past, but adding the business case for investment completes the fundraising toolkit.

 

“Nonprofits and for-profits are not really all that different,” Tom explains. “Both seek to deliver outcomes that investors value.” If the cars you make aren’t fuel-efficient, you won’t sell many. If your homeless project doesn’t make a difference in your community, your grant probably won’t be renewed. “While the nonprofit arena may be a bit more subtle,” Tom continues, “the mechanism of rewarding the efficient and penalizing the inefficient still applies.”

 

When Convergent’s consultants are “on the ground” working directly with a client, according to Ralser’s colleague Frank Bennett, “we use GiftWorks to manage investor and prospect lists. When we complete our primary work, we train our clients and they continue to use GiftWorks. The ability to have all investor/prospect/stakeholder information in one place—in a format that is easy to manage—ultimately leads to more cohesive fundraising efforts short and long term. For most clients, the customized GiftWorks system is their fundraising hub.”

 

While impact itself is pivotal, the demonstration of that impact is just as important. For example, if you have a program to help school dropouts to earn their GEDs and 50% of the 200 students finish the program and get their GEDs (admirable community, education and social goals)—is this going to compel a local banker to invest in your program? On the other hand, if 80 of the 200 kids get a job, earning say $25,000/year, the banker will immediately see that those earnings translate into $2 million into the community (and an economic impact of $3.5 million). The banker (and the business community) will have no problem seeing how this outcome benefits them. “This is the classic win-win that we try to achieve with every client,” explains Ralser.

 

For more information on ROI and Convergent Nonprofit Solutions, visit their website at www.convergentnonprofit.com.

 

Also, GiftWorks is presenting a free webinar on August 11 featuring Tom Ralser on The Investment-Driven Model: Strategic Advantages in a Tight Economy. Please register here:  https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/856523016

 

 

July Nonprofit of the Month: St. Joseph's Home in Cape Town, South Africa July 5, 2010 By Mary Pat Donnellon

Each month, our intern Anthony highlights one of our GiftWorks clients as Nonprofit of the Month.  If your organization would like to be considered for a feature in an upcoming month, please email us at giftworks@missionresearch.com.  Here's Anthony's feature on the St. Joseph's Home for Children in South Africa:

Meet St. Joseph's Home for Children in South Africa by Anthony Fucito

As the world turns its eyes to South Africa for the international excitement of the World Cup, we here at GiftWorks are looking deeper, to Saint Joseph’s Home for Children in Cape Town.

Saint Joseph’s Home for Children is a medical facility in South Africa offering convalescent care to poor children who suffer from chronic medical conditions like cancer, HIV/Aids, congenital abnormalities and other life threatening conditions.

This year marks the Home’s 75th year of uninterrupted service to those most in need, having been managed by the Pallottine Missionary Sisters since 1935. Through the sisters' continuous dedication to provide service at no cost to families, they have made sure that the Home addressed all the needs of the child, such as having a school on the grounds, a preschool program, and a physio and occupational therapist.

Since they provide their services at no cost to families, fundraising is a huge priority. Their campaign to raise the funds is called “Mind the Gap”, in which they seek to close their 35% budget deficit.

This is not an easy task to accomplish. They made the decision to hire a full time fundraiser, as their cash reserves would only support St. Joseph’s for a limited time. One of the first tasks of the fundraiser was to organize existing donors, and that led them to GiftWorks. At a fraction of the cost of other similar products on the market, they found GiftWorks to be the best fundraising software to meet their needs.

“Over the three years we have been using GiftWorks, we have been able to organize our long-term donors, and effectively manage assorted campaigns and our volunteers," said Luis Medina, the Resource Development Director for St. Joseph’s Home. "Our donors and the money we have raised has increased each year, and the value of GiftWorks in tracking tasks and in report writing have allowed us to stay better connected to our donors who come from all over the world.”

The only concern was location. The GiftWorks Team was located half way round the world.
Luis added: “Would they be able to support our needs in Africa? The answer to that question was quickly realized once we started using the product. The GiftWorks team is exceptionally talented and really know their product. In spite of the distance and the time change, their service feels like they are just down the block.”

South Africa certainly feels like it’s right up the block to us here too, since every time we turn on the television or log onto Yahoo, there is a news post about the excitement of the World Cup. With all of this hype and action, we figured that there had to be some interesting stories.

“Several of our children just came back from a soccer game. They got to sit in box seats donated by a major company. The kids had the time of their life. They watched Cameroon lose to Holland 1 to 2.”

Amongst the excitement, there is always more work to be done. St. Joseph’s Home is hosting their 75th Anniversary Gala Event on September 9, 2010. They are also always looking for support from the global community—to donate to St. Joseph’s Home, please visit their website at http://www.stjosephshome.org.za/.