Nonprofit Technology & Fundraising Blogs

Google One Today — Micro-donations could add-up, but limited ability to grow your constituency

June 17th, 2013
by Doug Schoenberg

One Today is a new app from Google. It is just being released for pilot testing on Android devices at this point, but I think it presents some very interesting potential to popularize micro-donations and perhaps even more importantly increase awareness of your non-profit’s mission. Download the app and every day you will be presented with a non-profit project and have the opportunity to make a $1 donation. You can’t donate more than $1 directly, but One Today allows you to “amplify” your impact by offering to share your interest in the cause with your social media connections by offering to “match” their $1 donation, up to a dollar limit that you specify.

What’s in it for Google? The website suggests that it is just part of Google’s commitment to support non-profits. I don’t doubt that Google’s motivation is in part philanthropic, but One Today micro-donations are made via Google Wallet. Google Wallet is a mobile electronic payment system that Google introduced in 2011 and which has been struggling to gain usage and I suspect Google also hopes that One Today could help spur adoption.

Regardless of their motivation, I’m very enthusiastic about using technology to create a modern version of the Salvation Army’s kettle or that check-out donation jar. One that eliminates the hassles and risks of giving cash and that doesn’t incur the very heavy fees that are typically associated with Text-To-Give donations. Will a sufficient number of charitably-minded people download and use the app? That remains to be seen, but I for one am looking forward to trying the app when it becomes available for my iPhone.

Note that the One Today donations, less a quite reasonable 1.9% fee, are distributed to the nonprofit through an arrangement Google has with Network For Good. Unfortunately, the non-profit will not receive any information about the donor. To me, this is really a major weakness, since the opportunity to thank the donor and provide them an opportunity to stay informed about the organization’s initiatives is essential, for there to be any real hope of converting that $1 donation into a sustainable and long-term supporter of your organization.

Posted in friend-to-friend fundraising, Fundraising & Nonprofit Social Networking, Marketing, Mobile Giving, Online giving | No Comments »

What would you do with 1,500 great ideas?

June 13th, 2013
by Josh Nelson

What would you do if someone gave you 1,500 great ideas to improve what you’re doing? Which one would you start working on next?

We wondered how to handle this situation ourselves. Our clients and staff were suggesting many great ideas but we didn’t have a fully transparent way to organize them, communicate their updated status, and even know which ones were most important. So, we began to search for a solution that would help us manage the feedback we receive on a regular basis.

The solution?

Suggest and Vote

It’s an idea warehouse powered by UserVoice that allows clients and staff to submit their ideas to improve our products or services as well as vote on the ones that they feel strongest about us working on next. Then, when an idea needs clarification, is accepted to be developed, or declined, we provide an instant status update through email for anyone who’s supporting the idea. Finally, we close the loop by returning their votes back to them when we complete (or unfortunately, decline) their idea.

Suggest and Vote makes it simple to provide your feedback at any time and support great ideas that others have submitted. With it, we’ve been able to listen more effectively, attend to the critical ideas faster, and provide better solutions to your needs.

What do we do with all the great feedback?

Prioritizing one great idea over another is the hardest part. We do our best to work on the most important ideas first but always wish we could do even more! Every month, we review the top 5 ideas, even those with only one vote. Then, we decide which ideas we’ll be including in a future software update and begin our process to get it done.

For the 2,500+ people who have used Suggest and Vote, we’ve been able to complete over 130 of their ideas since we first launched the site 2 years ago. That’s an average of one idea being completed every 4 days. We’ve taken on major overhauls such as making filters extremely simple to use with SideBar Reporting and a new Screen Designer (that was like rewriting the whole program). There have been other smaller (but important!) improvements, such as tweaks to a report or changing the way we describe a feature to make it more intuitive.

What’s coming up next?

We’ve already started working on another 23 ideas and are planning to include many more. Check out these ideas marked as and let us know with your votes what ideas you think we should work on next. Clients on one of our Support Plans can find Suggest and Vote from the Home screen in DonorPerfect or from the Client Area of our website.

Posted in DonorPerfect, DonorPerfect Online, Happy Customers, Software Development, Teamwork | No Comments »

Expert Webcast Series: Reconciling Your Fundraising and Accounting Systems

May 24th, 2013
by Arlene Berkowitz

Our thanks go out to Eric Fraint and his staff for presenting our May 21 Expert Webcast on Reconciling Your Fundraising and Accounting Systems. Eric Fraint, CPA, founded Your Part-Time Controller, LLC, which focuses on delivering general accounting and financial services to nonprofit clients. Fundraising staff is frequently confronted with the situation where financial reports from the development office don’t match the reports from the accounting office. In his webcast, Eric offered explanations and solutions to this problem.

Click Image to Watch Video
Please click here to download the webinar materials

Discrepancies in reports often stem from the following issues:

Timing of the income is an issue at month-end, and especially around year-end.
Conditional gifts are subject to a certain action from your organization. They create different reporting treatments because accounting does not recognize these gifts but development does.
All the revenue from multi-year gifts from pledges or grants is recorded in the first year by accounting. Development recognizes the income in the year it is received.
Valuation of stock and other non-financial assets may be different, particularly regarding the treatment of commissions.
Other possible causes are classifications of the income, treatment of pledge payments, reporting on a cash versus accrual basis, communication breakdown, and errors.

Many of these situations can be resolved with better communication between development and accounting, new or improved report formats, monthly reconciliations between the two systems, and documentation of policies and procedures. If data entry is done in both systems, the discrepancies can be minimized with coordination and cooperation between the two functions. To save time and minimize errors from double entry, DonorPerfect offers an integration with QuickBooks. Contact your Client Account Manager at 800-848-3279 for more information.

Register now for our next Expert Webcast on Thursday, July 25 from 2 – 3 P.M. Eastern, 1 – 2 P.M. Central. Carl Manfield, ACFRE, will present How to Make the Ask Successfully.

Tags: expert webcast
Posted in Expert Webcast, QuickBooks Integration | 2 Comments »

The “Other” Way to Raise More Money

May 20th, 2013
by sgoldenberg

In the fast paced world of fundraising software, we focus a lot of time telling nonprofits to use DonorPerfect to raise more money. But between you and me, there’s another way. Shhhh! Don’t tell my boss I told you this, but raising money is only half the equation. The other half is saving money. Here is the secret formula: raise more money – spend less money = more money for your mission.

How do I know this? Because I used to be unemployed. Yes, during this magical time of fear, self-doubt and endless chocolate chip cookies, I discovered a magic potion to make me feel better: daytime television. Shows on during the workday are like therapy. The game shows show you how to win easy money, the soap operas show you how sexy, fake people have sexy, fake problems, and there are thousands of hours of self-help programs.

On one of these programs – Ricky Lake or Oprah or Phil Donahue (ok, I just dated myself), was dedicated to people who had low incomes their whole lives, yet they amassed vast wealth! How? It’s simple: they were cheap BLEEPs! Excuse me, the politically correct term is “frugal”. They were frugal BLEEPs! They searched for bargains, they spent only when they had to, and then only on necessities. Now that doesn’t sound like a fun-filled life, and one look at them and you’d believe it, but I’m not telling you to do that for yourself (I’m drinking a latte and typing this on a new laptop, and I’m very happy and/or very caffeinated), but you can be careful about spending your nonprofit’s money on frivolous things. Careful thought and consideration of every donated or granted penny can save you dough that could be applied to your mission. (Please don’t feel guilty about everything – keeping the office warm in the winter is not like blowing donations on a trip to Maui).

There was one older lady who took it a step further. She was a school librarian, who was not only frugal, but she was a saver/wise investor. I’m paraphrasing now because this was a long time ago and my memory is…ah…I forget. Any who, she said something about how you don’t need to earn a lot if you don’t spend that much money. Then the money you don’t spend accumulates, and if you invest it wisely, you can amass a lot of money over your life. Nice! She made it sound so simple, but there was no way I could do it to her extent (see caffeine addiction above). But what I decided was I’d try to do it the best I could, and even if it’s a small amount I save and invest, rather than spend, it’s better than nothing.

How can you apply these half-remembered words of wisdom to your nonprofit? Well, unless you’re a huge university, you probably don’t have a major endowment with financial advisers investing your money in Google IPOs. But you can save money, and then invest in ways that make you more money.

These investments don’t have to be in stocks, bonds, or slot machines. Recently, I created a print advertisement (yes, I’m in marketing – don’t hate me) that tries to show how DonorPerfect integrates with various online tools like friend-to-friend fundraising (let others raise money for you), online donations, online shops, etc. I tried to show how the integration means your donors enter the data for you, and the data goes right into DonorPerfect (or any database, but I’m partial to the folks who got me out of my parents’ basement) for automatic tracking and acknowledgements, while the dough goes right into your bank account. So with a little investment, you can acquire tools that help you raise more money, save you time, reduce your workload, save you money and provide more money for your mission! Not too shabby! Somewhere in the world there is a frugal, wealthy, and wise older lady smiling and toasting me with a glass of tap water.

Posted in donor management software, DonorPages, DonorPerfect, friend-to-friend fundraising, online donations, Social Network Fundraising Online | 1 Comment »

Using Direct Mail to Improve Email Campaigns

April 22nd, 2013
by Doug Schoenberg

Email is easy, cheap and virtually immediate, but it is a real mistake to rely on it as your exclusive mechanism for communicating with your constituents.

Why? Because unlike physical mail, a significant percent of emails are never received or opened. There are lots of reasons, but even the most well maintained email lists have less than 80% deliverability, and open rates that are below 30%. The statistics get even worse as email lists get older, with email list attrition rates that can easily be 25-35% per year.

I’m not trying to dissuade you with this data, just reminding you why it is still very important to include traditional direct mail in your communication mix. For instance, if you email constituents a newsletter four times a year, make sure at least one issue is also sent as a printed piece. Direct mail can also be a critical way to expand and update your email list. Traditionally, this might be done by encouraging people to sign-up for the email version of communications, but consider these ideas:

Postcards to constituents who have not opened your last x emails – Email marketing tools like Constant Contact track if your email couldn’t be delivered and even which people open your email, but what do you do with that information? If your email couldn’t be delivered or even if a constituent hasn’t opened the last 3-4 emails you sent them, there is a very good chance you no longer have a valid email address. Instead of continuing to sending more emails to the same address, it might be more effective to send a simple postcard letting them know that you don’t seem to have correct information and ask them to update it. To make the process really simple, consider including a SmartGive link in the text or the address label so they can just type in the personalized URL to review/update the data via WebLink.
Petition/Survey – Asking constituents to complete an online petition or survey is not only a good way to build engagement, it can be a great way to collect and update email addresses.
Educational information/video links – If your organization’s website has valuable educational information or videos, consider promoting them in your mailings. Just make sure the pages also provide well promoted links to your email list sign-up and donation pages.

Since direct mail is certainly more costly than email, I’d suggest trying these ideas first with active donors or constituents who are the most likely to respond. Later, you can certainly expand the use of these ideas for use with lapsed donors as well as perspective donors.

Posted in DIrect Mail Campaigns, donor email addresses, fundraising basics, online donations | No Comments »

Expert Webcast – The Board’s Role in Fundraising

April 1st, 2013
by Arlene Berkowitz

Our most recent Expert Webcast was hosted on March 27, 2013, by Linda Lysakowski, ACFRE, a seasoned nonprofit consultant. The title of the webcast was The Board’s Role in Fundraising. Linda offered valuable advice to increase the effectiveness of the board. While the entire webcast and presentation are available here, I’ll summarize below some of the major points:

Click Image to Watch Video
Please click here to download the webinar materials

Recruiting the right candidate and conveying the responsibilities of the board are the key components to having a successful contributor “on board.”
Every board member must understand his or her role, whether they are a new member or one already engaged with your organization. Convey that role in the description of that position and incorporate it into several aspects of your organization.
Orientation of the board should make them supporters of your mission. They need to believe in your mission, and they also need to make contributions that are at meaningful levels.
If the board is not giving to your organization, they probably are not going to be as successful at asking others to give.
Make sure that the board is involved in your development plan. The board should also have a presence on your development committee.
Several ways exist for the board to raise money without even asking directly. By introducing various methods of raising money, some members who are not experienced fundraisers can be made more successful.

DonorPerfect has a tool that helps you gauge the success of your board. In our Moves Management module, you have the ability to identify the solicitors, constituents, and actions that go into an organized plan. You also can monitor the progress made toward financial goals by running several reports at any point in your moves plan.

You won’t want to miss our next session in this series entitled, Reconciling Your Fundraising and Accounting Systems, which will be held on May 21.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Supporter-Driven Fundraising: If you build it, will they come?

March 29th, 2013
by rstrickler

When I mention DonorPages, our integrated peer-to-peer fundraising application to clients, many if not most immediately associate it with event fundraising. “Oh right. That’s for walks, runs, bike races — things like that.” Though they’re absolutely right in that DonorPages is a great tool for DonorPerfect clients to engage their supporters for event fundraising, peer-to-peer fundraising has grown far beyond that limitation.

One example is supporters who “self-fund” their own mission. For example, Mercy Ships was recently featured on 60 Minutes. During that segment, their “unique” fundraising model was highlighted. Basically, ship’s crew members — doctors, nurses, missionaries, volunteers, etc — are expected to raise the money to cover their multi-month voyage. One of the tools Mercy Ships provides to help their crew members do so is their DonorPages site. Each crew member can create and edit their personal page, telling the story of why their mission means so much to them, and how much they are spiritually rewarded by serving as a crew member. It’s very inspiring to read their stories, as well as the messages their donors leave for them on their pages.

Another example of self-funding is how Flower City Habitat for Humanity provides DonorPages to their volunteer builders. Each volunteer is not only expected to give their time and physical effort to provide house for deserving but under-privileged families. They are also expected to raise the necessary funds to “pay” for the build.

The above are examples of the power of giving supporters and constituents ownership of their volunteer work and the fundraising process. But another way to expand your peer-to-peer fundraising program is to build a simple “general use” supporter driven site, such as The Brain Aneurysm Foundation’s BrainPower DonorPages site. This site can be used by supporters who simply want to do their own thing (or no thing), and have a personal fundraising page that they can use to promote and support BAF’s work.

All of these organizations promote their supporter-driven fundraising programs, to make sure their constituents are aware of the tools available to them. So it’s not simply a matter of throwing up a DonorPages site and watching the magic happen. But engaging your supporters to be self-sufficient and effective fundraisers is a terrific way to extend your fundraising reach with a volunteer army of fundraisers!

Posted in DonorPages, Fundraising, online donations, Online Social Network Fundraising | No Comments »

Good Advice Doesn’t Have to Be Hard to Come By

March 26th, 2013
by Josh Nelson

ad·vice

noun \əd’vīs\

Everybody needs advice.

Don’t you wish someone would have told you that you had spinach in your teeth before you got home?

Other times, you may be in a situation that you wish you could ask your grandpa how he would handle it because he was superman, and always knew what to do. When it comes to the best solutions for today’s issues, we don’t have all the answers – and don’t pretend to. We are constantly asking for feedback, checking in with clients, and making our decisions on the best advice we can acquire.

To think well and to consent to obey someone giving good advice are the same thing.
Herodotus (Greek historian 484-424 B.C.)

This quote from Herodotus provides some helpful insight into how much we value good advice. We need it to think well, make the best decisions, and see our blind spots. All of us at SofterWare have always taken feedback seriously by reading every survey we’ve ever received, improving our products based on the suggestions that our clients give us, and making it one of our top priorities to continue to do this better. Last year, we created the DonorPerfect Client Advisory Board to help us think well about what we are trying to do.

Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.
Unknown

We want to do what’s best for our clients by creating products and services that are delightfully easy to learn and use. Our mission isn’t small, but it’s worth pursuing because our clients are worth it. Chasing that mission requires us to make sure we’re going in the right direction by asking good questions.

Does this overall product, specific feature, or service delight you?
Is it easy to learn?
Is it easy to use?

Really, we want to know what you think about these questions. In addition, we’re seeking input and perspective on the latest industry trends, our business priorities, and the future direction of DonorPerfect from the board.

Since we wanted fresh advice from many different sources, we diversified our board. It’s made up of a representational cross section of our clients, and includes organizations of various sizes, geographic locations, types, DonorPerfect Online and Installed users, executive directors and part-time volunteers, as well as differing levels of DonorPerfect experience.

We meet quarterly for great discussions around a topic, feature, recent issue, or anything on their mind. Last year, we received excellent feedback on our initiatives of SideBar Reporting (a very simple and easy-to-use filter design), SmartGive (an innovative way to increase online donations), and many other topics. We’re also continuing our discussions after each meeting in the User Forum for any client to join in.

With high hope for the future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured.
Abraham Lincoln (Second Inaugural Address on March 4, 1865)

The future for software and technology can seem like a moving target that’s moving faster than ever before. We won’t pretend to know everything that’s ahead, but we’ll continue to be there with you, receiving your advice, as the industry changes. We’re excited for the sessions this year for the DonorPerfect Client Advisory Board, and we’re looking forward to the many great improvements to come.

Posted in donor management software, DonorPerfect, DonorPerfect Online, Happy Customers, SofterWare, Software Development | No Comments »

DonorPerfect Developer Selected Again as a Top Workplace

March 25th, 2013
by sgoldenberg

Last week we learned that SofterWare, developer of DonorPerfect, had been selected again as one of The Philly.com Top Workplaces for 2013.

We, the staff, didn’t need an outside organization to tell us this is a great place to work. The people are super friendly and fun; helping so many wonderful nonprofits is beyond fulfilling; and the company does all it can to make coming to work each day a pleasure.

Officially, the Top Workplaces are determined based solely on employee feedback via an employee survey, conducted by WorkplaceDynamics, LLP.

Doug Schoenberg, who is a SofterWare Co-Founder and CEO, noted, “We credit our longevity and success to our team’s dedication to delighting customers through outstanding products and services. We’re honored to win this award again, and as I noted the last time, this recognition is most gratifying because it comes from the hard-working team of people who drive our success.”

Nathan Relles, who is a SofterWare Co-Founder and President, said, “This survey confirms our belief that if we surround ourselves with outstanding people, and treat them with respect, SofterWare will flourish, and continue to achieve higher and higher levels of customer and employee satisfaction. We took great pride in reading some of the comments our staff shared anonymously, such as:

“I work for a great company with amazing people and enjoy what I do every single day.”
“Feel like I am an extremely important part of the team and success of the company.”

You can learn more about this survey ranking by visiting: www.softerware.com/topworkplacesprofile

SofterWare was founded in 1981, and has grown over 30+ years from a small entrepreneurial business to a $25 million+ company with over 10,000 nonprofit, childcare, camp, school and payment processing clients.

Philly.com published the complete list of Top Workplaces on March 17th. For more information about the Top Workplaces lists and WorkplaceDynamics, please visit www.topworkplaces.com and www.workplacedynamics.com.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

8 Steps to Help You Make a Difference

March 15th, 2013
by msernoff

In my last post, I mentioned that I read a lot of blogs to stay up on all of the latest news and trends that impact my job. Well, in addition to blogs, I also love to read business books. (I’d share my reading list with you but LinkedIn decided to get rid of that feature.) Many of these books have valuable advice for any type of organization, regardless of whether it is for-profit or non-profit. One book I really learned a lot from is Leading Change by John Kotter.

The book not only makes the case for why change is so important for an organization to be successful but presents a plan for how to implement change effectively. It probably doesn’t come as a surprise to you that change can be difficult for many people. So, if the change process isn’t handled well, you risk ending up with no lasting improvement at all. Even worse, you may alienate colleagues or exacerbate some of the problems you were trying to fix.

Dr. Kotter outlines an eight-step process in his book that can help anyone make the change process more effective. The eight steps are:

Establishing a Sense of Urgency
Creating the Guiding Coalition
Developing a Vision and Strategy
Communicating the Change Vision
Empowering Employees for Broad-Based Action
Generating Short-Term Wins
Consolidating Gains and Producing More Change
Anchoring New Approaches in the Culture

I can’t really do justice to each of the steps in a short blog post but I highly recommend the book for anyone looking to make positive changes in their organization. Whether you’re looking to raise more money, improve your ability to meet the needs of your customers or constituents, create a better place to work, or achieve any other goal that you feel will take your organization to the next level, the steps listed above will help you make a difference.

Thanks for reading,

Mike Sernoff

P.S. After blogging in my last two posts about things I’ve read, I promise that my next post will be about what my colleagues and I are actually working on, since there are a lot of exciting things we’re doing on behalf of our customers. Plus, I don’t want to give you (or our CEO) the impression that all I do is read all day.