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Donation Transparency: How We Spend Your Donations

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Anyone who would like to contribute to our campaign efforts: here is a helpful infographic to show you exactly how your donations have and will continue to impact our efforts to flip this district. With your support, we will send a representative to Congress who will fight for modern legislation that protects the safety and prosperity of lives of ALL Americans, not just a few.

Spotlight

MERS / Goodwill

MERS / Goodwill Mission Statemwnt: "To provide opportunities for persons with barriers to employment to work and live more independently in the community." MERS Goodwill’s strategic plan provides for continued expansion with a goal of reaching out to more communities with 50 retail locations and serving individuals across 50 counties.

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NONPROFIT MANAGEMENT

Utilize an Email Marketing Strategy to Drive More Donations

Article | July 29, 2022

When creating your nonprofit fundraising and donations strategy, email marketing should be on the top of the list of channels to use to support your efforts. However, 70% of nonprofits do not have an email marketing strategy, despite 26% of online donors saying email marketing is what inspires them to give. Email marketing can help nonprofits reach their fundraising goals by helping expand reach, develop a loyal donor base and drive more donations. Build an Email Marketing Strategy Implementing email marketing may seem intimidating to some, but once you have an effective strategy in place, it will act as a blueprint and support all your goals moving forward. When you start building your strategy, it’s important to spend time developing a unique strategy that aligns with your mission and goals. Consider these questions: Who is your target audience? How are you collecting email addresses? What types of emails will you send? What types of content do you want to share in those emails? What will your emails look like? What is the layout? What is the design based on? How often do you plan to send emails? What platform will you use? Does it integrate with your donor database and have all the features you need to implement your strategy? Email marketing is the most effective and successful when there's a strategic plan in place. Creating a detailed strategy that answers the questions above will provide your nonprofit with the stepping stones needed to set your email marketing efforts up for success and help meet your overall fundraising goals. Send Emails Once you have a strategy and execution plan in place, you’re ready to start sending your messages to your audience. Email subscribers want to hear from you, but you need to be sure you are sending engaging messages to the right audiences. When you start sending your emails, plan to send a mix of different messages to your audience. Email marketing is an effective channel to not only fundraise but to help subscribers stay engaged and keep donor retention high. A great example would be to include advocacy emails in your plans. Advocacy emails include newsletters and impact stories. These types of emails help your subscriber feel valued as a donor as they’re seeing the direct impact of their support. As you start and continue to send emails, always track each email's performance. This helps you determine what is working and what is not working. By tracking key metrics, like click-through rates, conversation rates and donations per email, you will be able to continuously improve your strategy and the emails you are sending. Follow Best Practices As you begin to execute your email strategy, there are a few key best practices I recommend following to help increase engagement, donations, and overall performance of your emails. Personalize the email for your subscribers. Personalized emails can generate donations up to six times more compared to a generalized email. Make sure your emails are well-designed with compelling imagery that helps the donor visualize your mission and the impact of their donations. Provide clear calls to action in each email you send and always include a “Donate” button in all your communications. Include social sharing buttons and links to your social channels in all your email communications. Emails with social sharing buttons increase click-through rates by as much as 158% and help expand your reach by allowing donors to recommend and share your nonprofit with their network. Create an email cadence so you are regularly communicating with your audience throughout the year. For every 1,000 fundraising emails delivered, nonprofits raised $78, so it is in your best interest to continuously send messages to your subscribers. Start by sending emails monthly and then experiment with increasing the frequency of emails per month and see what works best for your nonprofit. Utilizing email marketing is key to having a successful fundraising strategy for your nonprofit. By building a well-thought-out strategy and implementing it, you will be able to engage, retain and convert subscribers into a loyal donor base.

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NONPROFIT MANAGEMENT

The Psychology Behind Donations

Article | July 14, 2022

Are you expecting all donors to be the same? If you answered “no…well actually… kinda,” then you are not alone. It’s simple to send out the same fundraising message to everyone. However, you can transform your fundraising when you understand that there are many reasons why a person chooses to donate to a nonprofit. Once you understand the psychology of donating to charity, you can then best appeal to current and potential donors. Why do Donors Give? Along a spectrum, there are two extremes that prevent nonprofits from using donation psychology in their fundraising messages. On one end, the person making the ask – the Executive Director, Development person or Board member – assumes all donors have the same motivations for giving that they do. This translates into single-focused messaging that appeals to the person making the ask and to some donors, but not to others. On the other end of the spectrum when a nonprofit neglects philanthropy psychology, the person making the ask becomes paralyzed. They fear offending donors by asking at the “wrong” time. They focus on external, societal crises, such as the pandemic, wars, tragedies, and make a decision for the donor that this is the wrong time to be asked for a gift. They assume that the donor would be offended if asked. The Millennial Impact Project studied why donors across generations start giving. Unexpectedly, according to the researcher, Derrick Feldmann, donors first give because they want to belong. They desire to join their friends or be a part of a cause doing the good they wish to see in the world – this is before they understand what the cause or nonprofit is seeking to accomplish. As they gain that sense of belonging and begin believing in the cause, they can be motivated to continue to give when the nonprofit taps into their giving style. The Seven Faces of Philanthropy was groundbreaking research published in 1994 that has been updated and is still relevant today. In summary, the researchers found that donors give for different reasons. Some donors give because they enjoy the act of giving, especially through events. More donors prefer to donate to local charities or make a long-lasting impact through their investments. Other donors desire to repay or pay forward in gratitude through their giving. Others give because of religious or altruistic reasons. Then, there are donors who see giving as a family tradition and, if applicable, to teach their children generosity. Understanding the donor’s motivations for giving guides a nonprofit in developing the right message, using the right fundraising methods and segmenting to the right group of donors. How Can you Encourage Your Donors to Give? Now that you understand the psychology behind making a philanthropic gift, you can implement this knowledge to customize your fundraising appeals. First, you will need to determine why your donors give. This is done through discussions with Board members, personal conversations with donors, and through donor surveys. It begins with a simple question, “Why do you give to…?” The answers will assist you in creating donor identities; that is, the types of identities or groups where donors wish to belong. Sample identities could be “community leader” or “survivor” or “change maker.” Next, based on what you learned from your current donors, pick the top two or three donor motivations and associated identities. Alter your current messaging and fundraising methods to these giving reasons. The messaging and methods that inspire your current donors will likely attract more donors. Begin testing your messaging for these two to three reasons: Which message has the highest engagement in response and donation? This will be your primary message that you will rotate with the secondary messages. As you further explore your donor’s psychology for giving, you can advance to segmenting your communications based on what will motivate groups of donors to give. Once you understand donor psychology, you will wonder how you missed the clues to why your donors give – and be ready to catch future donors by staying one step ahead of their giving habits.

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NONPROFIT MANAGEMENT

How Donor Data Can Inform Better Donor Experiences

Article | July 12, 2022

Although we recommend talking directly with your donors to learn what matters to them, one-on-one conversations aren’t the only way to gain valuable information about your donors. Through analysis of the donor data in your fundraising software, you can obtain insights that will help you create a better experience for your donors, and motivate them to give more over time. Here’s what you can learn from the numbers and how you can apply this knowledge to improve your donor experience. Biographic and Demographic Information: This particular donor data isn’t snazzy, but it provides you with important tools to use in donor communications. Here’s what you can do with it. Preferred Name: Even something as simple as addressing your donors by their preferred names or nicknames will go a long way toward building a meaningful relationship. Employment: Improve the timing of your emails by sending to full-time individuals when they’re at work. Age: Millennials are more likely to check social media or text messages for communications, while Baby Boomers are more likely to use email or even snail mail. A multi-channel communication strategy, however, is the best thing to help you reach your donors where they’re at. Educational Background: While someone’s education level may provide insights about their capacity to give, consider looking at what your contacts were involved in while in school. Did they join clubs that provide a clue about their interests? Did they hold certain leadership positions that tell you what they’re committed to? What community service projects were they active in? This information can help you customize your communications more meaningfully. Involvement History: Monetary giving isn’t the only indicator of a donor’s interest in your organization. When you’re putting together your campaign lists, don’t forget to look at other historical indicators as well. Note: If you’re already using Network for Good’s simple, smart fundraising software, demographic details, like the ones above, need to be individually added as “Custom Fields” to a constituent’s record. Involvement in Advocacy Work: If an individual advocates for charities or causes, he or she is usually serious about making a difference and seeks to do so in other ways. Corporate Sponsorships: If someone has organized a corporate sponsorship for her or his place of employment, the individual has demonstrated a willingness to go the extra mile foryour organization. Showing Up at Events: If you have regulars who appear at your events, they’re prime candidates to get more involved. An events platform that integrates directly with your fundraising software can be a key tool here in making sure you’re following up with the right people. Network of Connections: Prospective donors will always be more willing to respond if a friend or business connection has introduced your organization to them. If you think an individual would be willing to contribute to your nonprofit, look at who in your donor database is connected to that person and ask for an introduction. This strategy can also be used for raising corporate sponsorships. Hobbies: Hobbies and interests will tell you who’s most likely to participate in your events. They’ll also give you ideas about what types of events will be most popular with your contacts. Here are a few ideas: Games: Trivia night, bingo, or board games. Outdoors: Run/Walk, golf or fishing tournament, or softball. Food & Drink: Wine tasting, celebrity chef or bartender, or profit share at a restaurant. Music: Benefit concert, talent show, or Battle of the Bands Arts & Culture: Group night at the theatre, charity poetry reading, or author meet-and-greet. Timing of Gifts: When do individuals give? If someone tends to make donations at a certain time of year, your request will probably be welcomed (and successful!) if you ask at that time. Using tools such as the “Giving” filters to conduct donor analysis can help determine if there are trends around a particular time of year for one (or multiple) donors – and knowing the timing of gifts will also help you spend your marketing dollars more wisely. If someone has given within a year-long time period, that person is much more likely to give again than someone who gave two years ago. You can allocate your marketing resources more intelligently if you know who is more likely to donate. These are just a few ideas on how to use your data to not only build a stronger donor experience but also increase your fundraising revenue. Learn why the donor experience is vital to a successful organization and how to implement an effective donor experience program by downloading “A Better Donor Experience: Is it the Cornerstone of Donor Loyalty?”

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NONPROFIT MANAGEMENT

7 Reasons to Invest in a Volunteer Program

Article | May 20, 2022

Volunteers are the lifeblood of any nonprofit. Your services, fundraising campaigns, and even day-to-day operations of your nonprofit can depend on volunteers. An estimated 30 percent of Americans or 77.9 million people reported they volunteered for an organization or association.” AmeriCorps published survey So, if people want to volunteer, the key to garner willing volunteers is to: Communicate your needs Share your “why” Make it easy While all nonprofits know they need volunteers, investing time and energy into building a program can naturally fall by the wayside. As you look to recruit and retain volunteers, a best practice is to put a strategic volunteer program in place. You may be asking, “What’s the benefit to me, the nonprofit?” Let’s dive into it! First, let’s start with the basics — what are the top reasons to invest in a volunteer program? We’ve got you covered. A dynamic volunteer program: Creates ambassadors for your mission. Volunteers spread the word in your community and increase your community engagement. They can advocate for you with their friends, family, and local and state legislatures. Provide your volunteers with messaging so they can share their “why” on social media and by word of mouth. One pro tip shared by Points of Light is to provide a digital badge to add to your volunteer leaders’ email signatures. Develops new funding sources. The line between a volunteer and donor should be fluid, not separate. A 2014 study by Fidelity Charitable found that 83% of volunteers report supporting the same nonprofits with their donations. Don’t silo your volunteers and your donors! Reduces your operating costs. According to the Independent Sector, the value of a volunteer hour was estimated at $28.54 in 2020. Since payroll is often the largest expense for a nonprofit, volunteers provide essential support to your cause with minimal costs to you. Increases the quantity and quality of your programs and services. It’s a win-win situation for professional development and your lengthy project list! That list will be met by an eager, talented volunteer, and your volunteer will improve their professional skills at the same time. Maximizes your limited staff resources. We’re sure there’s been a few items on your wish list that you’d love to check off if you had more resources, like being open on holidays or offering more services to your community. Volunteers can fill in those gaps! Maybe they are looking for ways to give back over a holiday, or they may have the connections to develop a new service opportunity for you. Increases your diversity and brings in new ideas. Although your nonprofit may always strive to diversify or get out of the “we’ve always done it this way” rut, you may not meet the potential of those goals with your staff. Volunteers can provide unique perspectives, different experiences, and even that spark of excitement that comes with a new idea. Minimizes volunteer turnover.Just like staff onboarding, volunteer onboarding takes time and money. If you recruit and onboard well with easy-to-access opportunity matching, training, and tracking mechanisms in place, your volunteers will be well on their way to a successful experience. Build on that by learning more about your volunteers’ interests and skills, and they will feel seen and appreciated. An upfront investment will pay off in years of dedicated service. Are you convinced? If so, it’s time to take the next step of how to start putting a volunteer program into place. Then you can scale your volunteering as your nonprofit grows! Here are our 5 fundraiser-approved steps to developing a bullet-proof volunteer program. Step 1: Quantify your current volunteer impact. Gather data on number of volunteers, hours and skills contributed. Measure the return on investment (ROI) including your program cost and total estimated volunteer value (# of volunteer hours x est. volunteer wage per hour). You can even take it a step further and consider the monetary savings to the community when volunteers provide the service or in-kind donation versus a private provider (e.g. number of children tutored or trees planted). Step 2: Educate your staff and board on the benefits of volunteering. Share your ROI and other data with your executive team and board and garner to get them on board. Recruiting, onboarding, engaging, and retaining your volunteer base will be much smoother when you have their support. Step 3: Purchase or build a volunteer management software system. Track volunteer hours, record your volunteers’ information, and create reports. Your software/tracking system should include a personalized volunteer dashboard where they can track their hours and volunteer services provided, demonstrating to them their impact in real-time. Step 4: Develop a plan for recruitment, training, and growth opportunities for your volunteers. Share the plan with your current volunteer leaders and solicit their feedback before rolling out to the community. Step 5: Make the case for even more investment in your program next year. Give insight into how your efforts to recruit, engage, and retain volunteers positively impact your mission and your bottom line.

Read More
NONPROFIT MANAGEMENT

Marketing Your Nonprofit Organization in 4 Simple Steps

Article | July 29, 2022

When creating your nonprofit fundraising and donations strategy, email marketing should be on the top of the list of channels to use to support your efforts. However, 70% of nonprofits do not have an email marketing strategy, despite 26% of online donors saying email marketing is what inspires them to give. Email marketing can help nonprofits reach their fundraising goals by helping expand reach, develop a loyal donor base and drive more donations. Build an Email Marketing Strategy Implementing email marketing may seem intimidating to some, but once you have an effective strategy in place, it will act as a blueprint and support all your goals moving forward. When you start building your strategy, it’s important to spend time developing a unique strategy that aligns with your mission and goals. Consider these questions: Who is your target audience? How are you collecting email addresses? What types of emails will you send? What types of content do you want to share in those emails? What will your emails look like? What is the layout? What is the design based on? How often do you plan to send emails? What platform will you use? Does it integrate with your donor database and have all the features you need to implement your strategy? Email marketing is the most effective and successful when there's a strategic plan in place. Creating a detailed strategy that answers the questions above will provide your nonprofit with the stepping stones needed to set your email marketing efforts up for success and help meet your overall fundraising goals. Send Emails Once you have a strategy and execution plan in place, you’re ready to start sending your messages to your audience. Email subscribers want to hear from you, but you need to be sure you are sending engaging messages to the right audiences. When you start sending your emails, plan to send a mix of different messages to your audience. Email marketing is an effective channel to not only fundraise but to help subscribers stay engaged and keep donor retention high. A great example would be to include advocacy emails in your plans. Advocacy emails include newsletters and impact stories. These types of emails help your subscriber feel valued as a donor as they’re seeing the direct impact of their support. As you start and continue to send emails, always track each email's performance. This helps you determine what is working and what is not working. By tracking key metrics, like click-through rates, conversation rates and donations per email, you will be able to continuously improve your strategy and the emails you are sending. Follow Best Practices As you begin to execute your email strategy, there are a few key best practices I recommend following to help increase engagement, donations, and overall performance of your emails. Personalize the email for your subscribers. Personalized emails can generate donations up to six times more compared to a generalized email. Make sure your emails are well-designed with compelling imagery that helps the donor visualize your mission and the impact of their donations. Provide clear calls to action in each email you send and always include a “Donate” button in all your communications. Include social sharing buttons and links to your social channels in all your email communications. Emails with social sharing buttons increase click-through rates by as much as 158% and help expand your reach by allowing donors to recommend and share your nonprofit with their network. Create an email cadence so you are regularly communicating with your audience throughout the year. For every 1,000 fundraising emails delivered, nonprofits raised $78, so it is in your best interest to continuously send messages to your subscribers. Start by sending emails monthly and then experiment with increasing the frequency of emails per month and see what works best for your nonprofit. Utilizing email marketing is key to having a successful fundraising strategy for your nonprofit. By building a well-thought-out strategy and implementing it, you will be able to engage, retain and convert subscribers into a loyal donor base.

Read More
NONPROFIT MANAGEMENT

Non-Profits Impacting the Economy

Article | July 14, 2022

Are you expecting all donors to be the same? If you answered “no…well actually… kinda,” then you are not alone. It’s simple to send out the same fundraising message to everyone. However, you can transform your fundraising when you understand that there are many reasons why a person chooses to donate to a nonprofit. Once you understand the psychology of donating to charity, you can then best appeal to current and potential donors. Why do Donors Give? Along a spectrum, there are two extremes that prevent nonprofits from using donation psychology in their fundraising messages. On one end, the person making the ask – the Executive Director, Development person or Board member – assumes all donors have the same motivations for giving that they do. This translates into single-focused messaging that appeals to the person making the ask and to some donors, but not to others. On the other end of the spectrum when a nonprofit neglects philanthropy psychology, the person making the ask becomes paralyzed. They fear offending donors by asking at the “wrong” time. They focus on external, societal crises, such as the pandemic, wars, tragedies, and make a decision for the donor that this is the wrong time to be asked for a gift. They assume that the donor would be offended if asked. The Millennial Impact Project studied why donors across generations start giving. Unexpectedly, according to the researcher, Derrick Feldmann, donors first give because they want to belong. They desire to join their friends or be a part of a cause doing the good they wish to see in the world – this is before they understand what the cause or nonprofit is seeking to accomplish. As they gain that sense of belonging and begin believing in the cause, they can be motivated to continue to give when the nonprofit taps into their giving style. The Seven Faces of Philanthropy was groundbreaking research published in 1994 that has been updated and is still relevant today. In summary, the researchers found that donors give for different reasons. Some donors give because they enjoy the act of giving, especially through events. More donors prefer to donate to local charities or make a long-lasting impact through their investments. Other donors desire to repay or pay forward in gratitude through their giving. Others give because of religious or altruistic reasons. Then, there are donors who see giving as a family tradition and, if applicable, to teach their children generosity. Understanding the donor’s motivations for giving guides a nonprofit in developing the right message, using the right fundraising methods and segmenting to the right group of donors. How Can you Encourage Your Donors to Give? Now that you understand the psychology behind making a philanthropic gift, you can implement this knowledge to customize your fundraising appeals. First, you will need to determine why your donors give. This is done through discussions with Board members, personal conversations with donors, and through donor surveys. It begins with a simple question, “Why do you give to…?” The answers will assist you in creating donor identities; that is, the types of identities or groups where donors wish to belong. Sample identities could be “community leader” or “survivor” or “change maker.” Next, based on what you learned from your current donors, pick the top two or three donor motivations and associated identities. Alter your current messaging and fundraising methods to these giving reasons. The messaging and methods that inspire your current donors will likely attract more donors. Begin testing your messaging for these two to three reasons: Which message has the highest engagement in response and donation? This will be your primary message that you will rotate with the secondary messages. As you further explore your donor’s psychology for giving, you can advance to segmenting your communications based on what will motivate groups of donors to give. Once you understand donor psychology, you will wonder how you missed the clues to why your donors give – and be ready to catch future donors by staying one step ahead of their giving habits.

Read More
NONPROFIT MANAGEMENT

What Are the Top Five Lessons for Your Non-Profit This Year?

Article | July 12, 2022

Although we recommend talking directly with your donors to learn what matters to them, one-on-one conversations aren’t the only way to gain valuable information about your donors. Through analysis of the donor data in your fundraising software, you can obtain insights that will help you create a better experience for your donors, and motivate them to give more over time. Here’s what you can learn from the numbers and how you can apply this knowledge to improve your donor experience. Biographic and Demographic Information: This particular donor data isn’t snazzy, but it provides you with important tools to use in donor communications. Here’s what you can do with it. Preferred Name: Even something as simple as addressing your donors by their preferred names or nicknames will go a long way toward building a meaningful relationship. Employment: Improve the timing of your emails by sending to full-time individuals when they’re at work. Age: Millennials are more likely to check social media or text messages for communications, while Baby Boomers are more likely to use email or even snail mail. A multi-channel communication strategy, however, is the best thing to help you reach your donors where they’re at. Educational Background: While someone’s education level may provide insights about their capacity to give, consider looking at what your contacts were involved in while in school. Did they join clubs that provide a clue about their interests? Did they hold certain leadership positions that tell you what they’re committed to? What community service projects were they active in? This information can help you customize your communications more meaningfully. Involvement History: Monetary giving isn’t the only indicator of a donor’s interest in your organization. When you’re putting together your campaign lists, don’t forget to look at other historical indicators as well. Note: If you’re already using Network for Good’s simple, smart fundraising software, demographic details, like the ones above, need to be individually added as “Custom Fields” to a constituent’s record. Involvement in Advocacy Work: If an individual advocates for charities or causes, he or she is usually serious about making a difference and seeks to do so in other ways. Corporate Sponsorships: If someone has organized a corporate sponsorship for her or his place of employment, the individual has demonstrated a willingness to go the extra mile foryour organization. Showing Up at Events: If you have regulars who appear at your events, they’re prime candidates to get more involved. An events platform that integrates directly with your fundraising software can be a key tool here in making sure you’re following up with the right people. Network of Connections: Prospective donors will always be more willing to respond if a friend or business connection has introduced your organization to them. If you think an individual would be willing to contribute to your nonprofit, look at who in your donor database is connected to that person and ask for an introduction. This strategy can also be used for raising corporate sponsorships. Hobbies: Hobbies and interests will tell you who’s most likely to participate in your events. They’ll also give you ideas about what types of events will be most popular with your contacts. Here are a few ideas: Games: Trivia night, bingo, or board games. Outdoors: Run/Walk, golf or fishing tournament, or softball. Food & Drink: Wine tasting, celebrity chef or bartender, or profit share at a restaurant. Music: Benefit concert, talent show, or Battle of the Bands Arts & Culture: Group night at the theatre, charity poetry reading, or author meet-and-greet. Timing of Gifts: When do individuals give? If someone tends to make donations at a certain time of year, your request will probably be welcomed (and successful!) if you ask at that time. Using tools such as the “Giving” filters to conduct donor analysis can help determine if there are trends around a particular time of year for one (or multiple) donors – and knowing the timing of gifts will also help you spend your marketing dollars more wisely. If someone has given within a year-long time period, that person is much more likely to give again than someone who gave two years ago. You can allocate your marketing resources more intelligently if you know who is more likely to donate. These are just a few ideas on how to use your data to not only build a stronger donor experience but also increase your fundraising revenue. Learn why the donor experience is vital to a successful organization and how to implement an effective donor experience program by downloading “A Better Donor Experience: Is it the Cornerstone of Donor Loyalty?”

Read More
NONPROFIT MANAGEMENT

7 Reasons to Invest in a Volunteer Program

Article | May 20, 2022

Volunteers are the lifeblood of any nonprofit. Your services, fundraising campaigns, and even day-to-day operations of your nonprofit can depend on volunteers. An estimated 30 percent of Americans or 77.9 million people reported they volunteered for an organization or association.” AmeriCorps published survey So, if people want to volunteer, the key to garner willing volunteers is to: Communicate your needs Share your “why” Make it easy While all nonprofits know they need volunteers, investing time and energy into building a program can naturally fall by the wayside. As you look to recruit and retain volunteers, a best practice is to put a strategic volunteer program in place. You may be asking, “What’s the benefit to me, the nonprofit?” Let’s dive into it! First, let’s start with the basics — what are the top reasons to invest in a volunteer program? We’ve got you covered. A dynamic volunteer program: Creates ambassadors for your mission. Volunteers spread the word in your community and increase your community engagement. They can advocate for you with their friends, family, and local and state legislatures. Provide your volunteers with messaging so they can share their “why” on social media and by word of mouth. One pro tip shared by Points of Light is to provide a digital badge to add to your volunteer leaders’ email signatures. Develops new funding sources. The line between a volunteer and donor should be fluid, not separate. A 2014 study by Fidelity Charitable found that 83% of volunteers report supporting the same nonprofits with their donations. Don’t silo your volunteers and your donors! Reduces your operating costs. According to the Independent Sector, the value of a volunteer hour was estimated at $28.54 in 2020. Since payroll is often the largest expense for a nonprofit, volunteers provide essential support to your cause with minimal costs to you. Increases the quantity and quality of your programs and services. It’s a win-win situation for professional development and your lengthy project list! That list will be met by an eager, talented volunteer, and your volunteer will improve their professional skills at the same time. Maximizes your limited staff resources. We’re sure there’s been a few items on your wish list that you’d love to check off if you had more resources, like being open on holidays or offering more services to your community. Volunteers can fill in those gaps! Maybe they are looking for ways to give back over a holiday, or they may have the connections to develop a new service opportunity for you. Increases your diversity and brings in new ideas. Although your nonprofit may always strive to diversify or get out of the “we’ve always done it this way” rut, you may not meet the potential of those goals with your staff. Volunteers can provide unique perspectives, different experiences, and even that spark of excitement that comes with a new idea. Minimizes volunteer turnover.Just like staff onboarding, volunteer onboarding takes time and money. If you recruit and onboard well with easy-to-access opportunity matching, training, and tracking mechanisms in place, your volunteers will be well on their way to a successful experience. Build on that by learning more about your volunteers’ interests and skills, and they will feel seen and appreciated. An upfront investment will pay off in years of dedicated service. Are you convinced? If so, it’s time to take the next step of how to start putting a volunteer program into place. Then you can scale your volunteering as your nonprofit grows! Here are our 5 fundraiser-approved steps to developing a bullet-proof volunteer program. Step 1: Quantify your current volunteer impact. Gather data on number of volunteers, hours and skills contributed. Measure the return on investment (ROI) including your program cost and total estimated volunteer value (# of volunteer hours x est. volunteer wage per hour). You can even take it a step further and consider the monetary savings to the community when volunteers provide the service or in-kind donation versus a private provider (e.g. number of children tutored or trees planted). Step 2: Educate your staff and board on the benefits of volunteering. Share your ROI and other data with your executive team and board and garner to get them on board. Recruiting, onboarding, engaging, and retaining your volunteer base will be much smoother when you have their support. Step 3: Purchase or build a volunteer management software system. Track volunteer hours, record your volunteers’ information, and create reports. Your software/tracking system should include a personalized volunteer dashboard where they can track their hours and volunteer services provided, demonstrating to them their impact in real-time. Step 4: Develop a plan for recruitment, training, and growth opportunities for your volunteers. Share the plan with your current volunteer leaders and solicit their feedback before rolling out to the community. Step 5: Make the case for even more investment in your program next year. Give insight into how your efforts to recruit, engage, and retain volunteers positively impact your mission and your bottom line.

Read More
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Spotlight

MERS / Goodwill

MERS / Goodwill Mission Statemwnt: "To provide opportunities for persons with barriers to employment to work and live more independently in the community." MERS Goodwill’s strategic plan provides for continued expansion with a goal of reaching out to more communities with 50 retail locations and serving individuals across 50 counties.

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SpartanNash Foundation Hosts In-Store Fundraiser to Benefit Military Heroes

SpartanNash | July 01, 2022

Food solutions company SpartanNash is proud to join forces with store guests in its annual companywide fundraising campaign to support military servicemembers, veterans and their families. As part of a commitment to serve those who bravely serve, the SpartanNash Foundation fundraiser will run from June 29 to July 10. All money raised will be divided evenly between three nonprofit organizations – Team Red, White and Blue, Operation Homefront and Honor and Remember – providing critical funding. “Our partner organizations go above and beyond every day to serve our troops, veterans and their families who have given so much, many who have been seriously injured or have paid the ultimate sacrifice,” said Senior Vice President and Chief Customer Officer David Sisk, who oversees SpartanNash Military (formerly MDV), a division of the Company and a leading distributor of grocery products to U.S. military commissaries and exchanges worldwide. “We see firsthand the sacrifices our servicemen and women – and their families – make to protect our freedoms every day, and this is an impactful and meaningful way we can continue to support our American heroes regardless of where they live or the care they need within the community.” The three organizations benefiting from this fundraiser support the military community in a variety of ways, including physical and social activity, providing critical financial assistance and family services and honoring those who lost their lives defending American freedoms. “We are able to deliver upon our mission to build strong, stable and secure military families because of the steadfast commitment of supporters like SpartanNash,” said Operation Homefront Chief Revenue Officer Margi Kirst. “SpartanNash allows us to be there for our fellow Americans in their time of need after all they have done for us in our nation’s time of need.” SpartanNash has consistently been on the patriotic forefront of recognizing and identifying the needs of the military community. Through our partnership, we can broaden the message to thousands more who may or may not understand that freedom comes at a very high price.” George Lutz, founder and executive director at Honor and Remember Store guests who visit any participating SpartanNash-owned retail store or fuel center during the fundraising period will have the opportunity to donate $1, $5 or $10 at any checkout lane, or round their total up to the nearest dollar to support the three patriotic partners. Customers, and others interested in participating in this fundraising campaign, can also donate online through Fast Lane. Since 2015, the SpartanNash community has provided $1.75 million in donations to patriotic partners through the SpartanNash Foundation, benefiting veterans service organizations such as Give an Hour, Fisher House Foundation, Blue Star Mothers of America, Inc. and Disabled Veterans National Foundation, in addition to its trio of patriotic partners for 2022. SpartanNash also proudly hires veterans and military-connected Associates as a military-friendly and veteran-friendly employer. About SpartanNash SpartanNash is a food solutions company that delivers the ingredients for a better life. As a distributor, wholesaler and retailer with a global supply chain network, SpartanNash customers span a diverse group of national accounts, independent and chain grocers, e-commerce retailers, U.S. military commissaries and exchanges, and the Company's own brick-and-mortar grocery stores, pharmacies and fuel centers. SpartanNash distributes grocery and household goods, including fresh produce and its Our Family® portfolio of products, to locations in all 50 states, in addition to distributing to the District of Columbia, Europe, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Honduras, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Djibouti, Korea and Japan. In addition, the Company owns and operates 148 supermarkets - primarily under the banners of Family Fare, Martin's Super Markets and D&W Fresh Market - and shares its operational insights to drive innovative solutions for SpartanNash food retail customers. Committed to fostering a People First culture, the SpartanNash family of Associates is 17,500 strong and growing.

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FUNDRAISING

DipJar Announces DipJar Online, Extending DipJar's Leadership in in-person Fundraising to Online and Mobile Channels

DipJar | June 24, 2022

DipJar, a giving technology platform, announced the Early Access release of DipJar Online, which will enable nonprofit organizations to create goal-driven, campaign-based fundraising initiatives that facilitate multi-channel donor engagement. The new software builds on DipJar's leadership in in-person fundraising to enable more robust and flexible fundraising. New and existing customers can sign up for early access here. DipJar Online builds on DipJar's campaign-focused giving capabilities, providing the ability to run multiple customized campaigns and the ability to access and use donor data more effectively. The result is an integrated approach to online fundraising that is a perfect complement to DipJar's iconic devices, which are in place at more than 5,500 organizations across the United States. DipJar Online is a natural extension of our mission: to make fundraising as easy as possible for our nonprofit customers. DipJar Online allows our non-profit customers to provide donors the same simple and fun experience whether they're donating in-person at the DipJar, using their phone, or online. The initial feedback from testers has been overwhelmingly positive and we're excited to roll it out to our customer base - and beyond." Chris Selland, DipJar CEO "DipJar devices and staff have added so much value to our organization, so we're thrilled to take advantage of DipJar Online during the Early Access program. The devices have been such a fun addition to our events, but DipJar Online will allow us to offer that same experience to our virtual audience," Stephanie Scoletti, MSW, Executive Director, Young Adult Survivors United. Key features of DipJar Online include: Campaign-focused giving that show donors why their donations are needed Goal-driven fundraising that gamifies giving by showing donors the immediate impact of their donation Multiple campaigns provide the flexibility to fundraise for a number of initiatives at once Integration with DipJar devices extends campaigns beyond a physical location and counts contributions made via DipJars or DipJar online toward the same goal Enhanced donor data collection that fuels closer donor connections and support Affordable pricing "By necessity, fundraising has become a more flexible function for most nonprofits," said Selland, "and by pairing robust online and offline capabilities, DipJar is helping thousands of organizations - and the communities they serve." About DipJar DipJar is changing the fundraising game with a connected, cashless donation jar and an integrated payments platform that enables joyful, engaging, and frictionless giving. With DipJar, organizations of any size can collect donations anywhere and "Create More Giving Moments."

Read More

FUNDRAISING

Smart & Final Charitable Foundation Annual Fundraising Campaign to Support Olive Crest Launches Today

Smart & Final Charitable Foundation | June 23, 2022

Smart & Final, the smaller, faster grocery warehouse store for household and business customers, announces the return of its annual fundraiser for Olive Crest, an organization dedicated to preventing child abuse and treating and educating at-risk children. Beginning today through July 5, customers at every Smart & Final location throughout California, Arizona and Nevada can support kids in crisis with a $1 donation at checkout. All proceeds go directly to Olive Crest’s Child Abuse Stops Here Network of agencies, including Olive Crest, Safe Refuge and Christian Family Care. For more than a decade we’ve been proud to support at-risk children through our partnership with Olive Crest. The past few years have been incredibly challenging for Olive Crest kids and their families. We’re grateful to their Child Abuse Stops Here Network for providing resources to help stop child abuse in the communities we serve.” Tinamarie Squieri, Manager, Smart & Final Charitable Foundation Olive Crest’s Child Abuse Stops Here Network provides loving homes, counseling, and education services for more than 24,000 children and their families each year. In 2021, Smart & Final raised $515,000 for Olive Crest. “We continue to be inspired by and grateful for the generosity of Smart & Final customers and associates in their ongoing support of Olive Crest,” said Rhonda Tagge, National Director, Olive Crest. “The work our Child Abuse Stops Here Network does to build strong families and keep kids safe continues to be critical through the additional hardships the pandemic has brought on. We simply couldn’t provide the services we do without the support we receive from the Smart & Final Charitable Foundation and their supporters.” The Smart & Final Charitable Foundation is committed to improving the quality of life and nourishing the communities Smart & Final serves. The Foundation aids nonprofit organizations with a focus on hunger relief, health and wellness, team sports and youth development, education, and disaster relief. In 2021, the Charitable Foundation raised almost $2 million to support 1,500 causes with the help of Smart & Final customers and associates. About Smart & Final Smart & Final is the smaller, faster grocery warehouse store, headquartered near Los Angeles in Commerce, California. Smart & Final’s 254 store locations offer quality products in a variety of sizes, saving customers time and money without a membership fee. Its larger format stores, Smart & Final Extra!, combine the warehouse store with traditional grocery offerings like farm-fresh produce and natural and organic options, to provide a one-stop shop for all. In business since 1871, Smart & Final remains committed to giving back to its communities through employee volunteer opportunities and donations to local nonprofits. About the Smart & Final Charitable Foundation Established in 2002, the Smart & Final Charitable Foundation is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that strives to give back, improve the quality of life, and nourish the communities we serve throughout California, Arizona and Nevada. The Foundation has donated millions of dollars to non-profits and organizations focused on health and wellness, education, hunger relief, team sports and youth development, and disaster relief. The Smart & Final Charitable Foundation raises funds through vendor and associate donations, and in-store fundraising. About Olive Crest Since 1973, Olive Crest has transformed the lives of over 100,000 abused, neglected, and at-risk children and their families. We work tirelessly to meet the individual needs of kids in crisis by providing safe homes, counseling, and education for both youth and parents. Our many innovative programs reflect our conviction that strengthening the family is one of the most powerful ways to help heal children. With unwavering compassion, the Olive Crest family maintains a lifelong commitment to the youth and families we serve even after they have graduated from our programs.

Read More

FUNDRAISING

SpartanNash Foundation Hosts In-Store Fundraiser to Benefit Military Heroes

SpartanNash | July 01, 2022

Food solutions company SpartanNash is proud to join forces with store guests in its annual companywide fundraising campaign to support military servicemembers, veterans and their families. As part of a commitment to serve those who bravely serve, the SpartanNash Foundation fundraiser will run from June 29 to July 10. All money raised will be divided evenly between three nonprofit organizations – Team Red, White and Blue, Operation Homefront and Honor and Remember – providing critical funding. “Our partner organizations go above and beyond every day to serve our troops, veterans and their families who have given so much, many who have been seriously injured or have paid the ultimate sacrifice,” said Senior Vice President and Chief Customer Officer David Sisk, who oversees SpartanNash Military (formerly MDV), a division of the Company and a leading distributor of grocery products to U.S. military commissaries and exchanges worldwide. “We see firsthand the sacrifices our servicemen and women – and their families – make to protect our freedoms every day, and this is an impactful and meaningful way we can continue to support our American heroes regardless of where they live or the care they need within the community.” The three organizations benefiting from this fundraiser support the military community in a variety of ways, including physical and social activity, providing critical financial assistance and family services and honoring those who lost their lives defending American freedoms. “We are able to deliver upon our mission to build strong, stable and secure military families because of the steadfast commitment of supporters like SpartanNash,” said Operation Homefront Chief Revenue Officer Margi Kirst. “SpartanNash allows us to be there for our fellow Americans in their time of need after all they have done for us in our nation’s time of need.” SpartanNash has consistently been on the patriotic forefront of recognizing and identifying the needs of the military community. Through our partnership, we can broaden the message to thousands more who may or may not understand that freedom comes at a very high price.” George Lutz, founder and executive director at Honor and Remember Store guests who visit any participating SpartanNash-owned retail store or fuel center during the fundraising period will have the opportunity to donate $1, $5 or $10 at any checkout lane, or round their total up to the nearest dollar to support the three patriotic partners. Customers, and others interested in participating in this fundraising campaign, can also donate online through Fast Lane. Since 2015, the SpartanNash community has provided $1.75 million in donations to patriotic partners through the SpartanNash Foundation, benefiting veterans service organizations such as Give an Hour, Fisher House Foundation, Blue Star Mothers of America, Inc. and Disabled Veterans National Foundation, in addition to its trio of patriotic partners for 2022. SpartanNash also proudly hires veterans and military-connected Associates as a military-friendly and veteran-friendly employer. About SpartanNash SpartanNash is a food solutions company that delivers the ingredients for a better life. As a distributor, wholesaler and retailer with a global supply chain network, SpartanNash customers span a diverse group of national accounts, independent and chain grocers, e-commerce retailers, U.S. military commissaries and exchanges, and the Company's own brick-and-mortar grocery stores, pharmacies and fuel centers. SpartanNash distributes grocery and household goods, including fresh produce and its Our Family® portfolio of products, to locations in all 50 states, in addition to distributing to the District of Columbia, Europe, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Honduras, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Djibouti, Korea and Japan. In addition, the Company owns and operates 148 supermarkets - primarily under the banners of Family Fare, Martin's Super Markets and D&W Fresh Market - and shares its operational insights to drive innovative solutions for SpartanNash food retail customers. Committed to fostering a People First culture, the SpartanNash family of Associates is 17,500 strong and growing.

Read More

FUNDRAISING

DipJar Announces DipJar Online, Extending DipJar's Leadership in in-person Fundraising to Online and Mobile Channels

DipJar | June 24, 2022

DipJar, a giving technology platform, announced the Early Access release of DipJar Online, which will enable nonprofit organizations to create goal-driven, campaign-based fundraising initiatives that facilitate multi-channel donor engagement. The new software builds on DipJar's leadership in in-person fundraising to enable more robust and flexible fundraising. New and existing customers can sign up for early access here. DipJar Online builds on DipJar's campaign-focused giving capabilities, providing the ability to run multiple customized campaigns and the ability to access and use donor data more effectively. The result is an integrated approach to online fundraising that is a perfect complement to DipJar's iconic devices, which are in place at more than 5,500 organizations across the United States. DipJar Online is a natural extension of our mission: to make fundraising as easy as possible for our nonprofit customers. DipJar Online allows our non-profit customers to provide donors the same simple and fun experience whether they're donating in-person at the DipJar, using their phone, or online. The initial feedback from testers has been overwhelmingly positive and we're excited to roll it out to our customer base - and beyond." Chris Selland, DipJar CEO "DipJar devices and staff have added so much value to our organization, so we're thrilled to take advantage of DipJar Online during the Early Access program. The devices have been such a fun addition to our events, but DipJar Online will allow us to offer that same experience to our virtual audience," Stephanie Scoletti, MSW, Executive Director, Young Adult Survivors United. Key features of DipJar Online include: Campaign-focused giving that show donors why their donations are needed Goal-driven fundraising that gamifies giving by showing donors the immediate impact of their donation Multiple campaigns provide the flexibility to fundraise for a number of initiatives at once Integration with DipJar devices extends campaigns beyond a physical location and counts contributions made via DipJars or DipJar online toward the same goal Enhanced donor data collection that fuels closer donor connections and support Affordable pricing "By necessity, fundraising has become a more flexible function for most nonprofits," said Selland, "and by pairing robust online and offline capabilities, DipJar is helping thousands of organizations - and the communities they serve." About DipJar DipJar is changing the fundraising game with a connected, cashless donation jar and an integrated payments platform that enables joyful, engaging, and frictionless giving. With DipJar, organizations of any size can collect donations anywhere and "Create More Giving Moments."

Read More

FUNDRAISING

Smart & Final Charitable Foundation Annual Fundraising Campaign to Support Olive Crest Launches Today

Smart & Final Charitable Foundation | June 23, 2022

Smart & Final, the smaller, faster grocery warehouse store for household and business customers, announces the return of its annual fundraiser for Olive Crest, an organization dedicated to preventing child abuse and treating and educating at-risk children. Beginning today through July 5, customers at every Smart & Final location throughout California, Arizona and Nevada can support kids in crisis with a $1 donation at checkout. All proceeds go directly to Olive Crest’s Child Abuse Stops Here Network of agencies, including Olive Crest, Safe Refuge and Christian Family Care. For more than a decade we’ve been proud to support at-risk children through our partnership with Olive Crest. The past few years have been incredibly challenging for Olive Crest kids and their families. We’re grateful to their Child Abuse Stops Here Network for providing resources to help stop child abuse in the communities we serve.” Tinamarie Squieri, Manager, Smart & Final Charitable Foundation Olive Crest’s Child Abuse Stops Here Network provides loving homes, counseling, and education services for more than 24,000 children and their families each year. In 2021, Smart & Final raised $515,000 for Olive Crest. “We continue to be inspired by and grateful for the generosity of Smart & Final customers and associates in their ongoing support of Olive Crest,” said Rhonda Tagge, National Director, Olive Crest. “The work our Child Abuse Stops Here Network does to build strong families and keep kids safe continues to be critical through the additional hardships the pandemic has brought on. We simply couldn’t provide the services we do without the support we receive from the Smart & Final Charitable Foundation and their supporters.” The Smart & Final Charitable Foundation is committed to improving the quality of life and nourishing the communities Smart & Final serves. The Foundation aids nonprofit organizations with a focus on hunger relief, health and wellness, team sports and youth development, education, and disaster relief. In 2021, the Charitable Foundation raised almost $2 million to support 1,500 causes with the help of Smart & Final customers and associates. About Smart & Final Smart & Final is the smaller, faster grocery warehouse store, headquartered near Los Angeles in Commerce, California. Smart & Final’s 254 store locations offer quality products in a variety of sizes, saving customers time and money without a membership fee. Its larger format stores, Smart & Final Extra!, combine the warehouse store with traditional grocery offerings like farm-fresh produce and natural and organic options, to provide a one-stop shop for all. In business since 1871, Smart & Final remains committed to giving back to its communities through employee volunteer opportunities and donations to local nonprofits. About the Smart & Final Charitable Foundation Established in 2002, the Smart & Final Charitable Foundation is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that strives to give back, improve the quality of life, and nourish the communities we serve throughout California, Arizona and Nevada. The Foundation has donated millions of dollars to non-profits and organizations focused on health and wellness, education, hunger relief, team sports and youth development, and disaster relief. The Smart & Final Charitable Foundation raises funds through vendor and associate donations, and in-store fundraising. About Olive Crest Since 1973, Olive Crest has transformed the lives of over 100,000 abused, neglected, and at-risk children and their families. We work tirelessly to meet the individual needs of kids in crisis by providing safe homes, counseling, and education for both youth and parents. Our many innovative programs reflect our conviction that strengthening the family is one of the most powerful ways to help heal children. With unwavering compassion, the Olive Crest family maintains a lifelong commitment to the youth and families we serve even after they have graduated from our programs.

Read More

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