Nonprofit Gala Events Worth Everyone’s Money

Nonprofit Management

Article | July 28, 2022

For small nonprofits struggling to keep pace with day-to-day work, planning ahead can seem like a luxury. Especially when it comes to IT asset maintenance: If everything is functioning well right now, why mess with it? But a little work now can save a lot of work in the future. It can also prevent downtime, security incidents, and other issues that can hurt your organization.

Fundraising

Article | July 15, 2022

While it's obvious how non-profits directly improve people's lives, their positive contributions to the US economy are frequently overlooked. A closer examination reveals that non-profit organizations have a large and far-reaching impact on the American economy. Non-profits, in fact, improve and strengthen local, state, and national economies in a variety of ways, including the following: The more than $826 billion spent on salaries, benefits, and payroll taxes by non-profits each year accounts for a sizable portion of their nearly $2 trillion annual budget. Non-profit employees also pay taxes on their salaries, as well as sales taxes and property taxes on what they own. Non-profits that provide care for children or elderly parents allow family members who would otherwise be responsible for providing care to work outside the home. Non-profit organizations also offer job training and placement services to people who would otherwise be unemployed or underemployed. Non-profits spend nearly $1 trillion on goods and services each year, ranging from large expenses like medical equipment for non-profit hospitals to small purchases like office supplies, food, utilities, and rent. Non-profits have an even greater impact because they generate economic activity and jobs that spread throughout the community. Consider arts programming as one example. By attending a play at a local non-profit community theater, you likely helped local businesses as well as the cast, crew, and administrative staff. Have you paid for parking? Did you purchase the appropriate earrings, shoes, or tie for the occasion? Did you eat before the show or meet up with friends afterwards? If this is the case, you have increased the economic impact of that theater by helping to create more jobs in the local economy while also increasing tax revenue for the local government. Have you ever noticed how local non-profits are frequently mentioned in brochures for local chambers of commerce as a top reason for businesses to locate there? Many cities are proud of their beloved cultural amenities, such as non-profit museums and performing arts centres. Non-profit colleges, which demonstrate the value of an educated workforce, and non-profit healthcare facilities, which reinforce a commitment to well-being, are also common features. While these local icons are rarely labelled as "non-profits" in brochures, business leaders intuitively recognize the enormous value that local non-profits contribute to the community's quality of life.

Nonprofit Management

Article | July 29, 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?”

Article | May 18, 2020

According to the 2020 M+R Benchmarks Study, 44% of all website traffic for the average nonprofit comes from Organic Search. For groups that produce a lot of content, have a physical local location, or have hyper-focused SEO strategy, that proportion can be much higher. These high numbers make sense, since nonprofits have a natural mix of relevancy and answers to some of the world’s biggest questions—everything from climate change and reliable health information to how to crate train your newly adopted pug. We also know that relevance by creating focused content is one of many excellent ways to improve search engine results page (SERP) performance.