By Benefit Blogger on
10/15/2009 7:41 AM
We’ve gotten questions from many of you asking for strategies to deal with negative online comments. I did a little research to see if I could discover how big the problem really is. To my surprise, only 6% of Web content has an emotional context...
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By Benefit Blogger on
10/5/2009 12:32 PM
It’s that time of year again—time for your supporters to give online. An online giving study conducted by Network for Good revealed that about 40% of online giving is done in December, due to the holidays and anticipated end-of-tax-year benefits. Online giving is cost-effective. It can cost up to $1.25 to raise $1 with direct mail, and over $.63 to raise $1 by phone—but it costs around $.05 to raise $1 online. And, on average, online gifts are higher than offline gifts. Online givers generally have higher incomes and online giving is naturally more impulsive...
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By Benefit Blogger on
10/2/2009 7:54 AM
We received a lot of feedback from smaller nonprofits and schools during and after our 9/30 webinar about how smaller organizations should approach social networking. Smaller nonprofits and schools should absolutely have a social media strategy! Leveraging social media is a great and inexpensive way to promote your cause and build a giving community far beyond your local donor base. Even if your mission is locally or regionally focused, at minimum nonprofits can reach out to former donors that have moved out of the area, and schools can reach out to alumni and students’ out-of-town relatives...
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By Benefit Blogger on
9/30/2009 10:03 AM
One of the best ways to encourage acceptance of a social networking initiative from your Board and executive management is to set appropriate expectations. Perhaps your Board members and executive management equate “social networking” with the Facebooking and Twittering they see their kids doing, i.e., fun but not purposeful. If that’s the case, they’re probably not going to be supportive of your efforts to incorporate social networking into your fundraising strategy...
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By Benefit Blogger on
9/29/2009 9:50 AM
We’re really excited about the social networking webinar tomorrow. Our speaker, Beth Kanter, has an incredible depth of knowledge about this area and is working hard to dispel the idea that social networking is a big black pit into which time goes—with untrackable results. She teaches a disciplined, purposeful approach to social networking using eight principles...
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By Benefit Blogger on
9/28/2009 7:42 AM
The “ice-cream” guy was back. That’s what some of the volunteers had begun calling him. He was a guest at the school’s auction, who claimed he was the winning bidder of the Hike and Ice Cream Outing package. Unfortunately, another guest had swooped in after the silent auction closed and penned her bid — a whopping $5 more! This made the real winner very, very upset, causing him to incessantly complain about the situation to anyone who would listen, instead of bidding in the live auction...
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By Benefit Blogger on
9/25/2009 7:58 AM
I was at a church fundraiser gala which included a silent and a live auction. The items up for bid in the live auction were high-end goods and services, plus a couple of weekend getaways at luxury properties. However, when I went to the silent auction area, I was astonished to see that...
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By Benefit Blogger on
9/24/2009 10:22 AM
I was recently at a fundraiser gala. The event had an open bar for beer and mixed drinks. Guests who wanted wine went to a separate, special wine bar. The wine being poured was from a local winery and was staffed by the winery’s sommelier and employees from the tasting room. Guests could sample any of the wines available for sale and get glasses of their favorites to drink at the event, which was also served with dinner...
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By Benefit Blogger on
9/23/2009 3:44 PM
Get your money’s worth out of your mission. If your mission statement was written even a few years ago, review it to see if it still accurately reflects what you do. If it’s out of date, refresh or rework it. For suggestions on how to cost-effectively conduct a mission review, see our white paper...
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