GivingThree

People Don’t Give to People, They Give to Mission

Mar 2, 2009 Weblog Leave a comment

The Agitator cites two research studies regarding consumer brand loyalty and positive experience. The studies emphasize the need for an opportunity to directly interact with products.

Tom Belford asks the question “How can you provide a some kind of “touching” and “experiencing” of your organization?”

This goes back to my mantra “people give to the mission.” All elements of your integrated philanthropic plan (e.g. identification to stewardship) should link the donor back to the mission in a personally meaningful way. Are you sending thank you notes? Why not print note cards (blank on the inside) that proudly display the artwork of a staff member/program beneficiary/donor on the front and tell their story on the back?

Nonprofits should always be looking for a way to reengage constituents with the mission.

If Government Expands, Nonprofit Sector Contracts

Mar 2, 2009 Weblog Leave a comment

The Obama Administration has once again thumbed its nose at the nonprofit sector with the latest proposal to limit deductions on charity. Unfortunately the debate over the revised deduction rates has focused primarily on the affect on the wealthy.

The real irony here is that under Obama’s proposal the funds being captured via the reduced detectability would go to benefit programs that are in direct competition with the nonprofit sector.

This raises the question, does Obama really know what the nonprofit sector does or how it benefits the greater good? The three sectors provide one another with a series of checks and balances. Increasing the responsibility of government to provide services currently under the purview of the nonprofit sector would be detrimental to the balance of power between private, public, and nonprofit sectors.

Yes, Facebook’s Causes Is a Bust

Jun 2, 2008 Weblog Leave a comment

Philanthropy blog Give and Take asks the question, “Is Facebook’s Fund Raising a Bust?” Having tried giving via Causes shortly after it first launched the answer to this question is not difficult.

Even with the 4.75% processing fee, the Causes application would probably have broader support from non-profits if gifts were given directly to the non-profit instead of passing through an intermediary.

Since all gifts processed through the Causes application are actually gifts to “Network for Good” designated to support the selected non-profit, the non-profit never has the opportunity to interact with the donor.

There is no benefit for non-profits to invest any resources into encouraging annual fund donors to give to a donor advised fund.

Donor Advised Fund for the Millennial Generation

Nov 5, 2007 Weblog Leave a comment

Here’s my first hand feedback on the Facebook/nonprofit topic. The Facebook plug-ins that allow donors to support their favorite causes through the popular social networking site basically amounts to a donor advised fund for a new generation. Gifts given through the Facebook Causes application go to Justgive.org where they take a 3% cut for credit card charges, 1% for gift processing, and .5% goes to Project Agape.

If I was to give directly to the nonprofit where I worked via credit card, they would have deducted 1.8% for credit card processing and the rest would go to the intended purpose. If I send in a check 100% would go to the intended purpose.

The problem is further compounded by the fact that when Justgive.org finally does sends the 95.5% gift to the intended nonprofit, no donor information is given to the nonprofit… which makes stewardship and accountability impossible.

Donors Bid Millions NOT to Rename School

Nov 5, 2007 Weblog Leave a comment

Facebook and embedded giving aren’t the best examples of philanthropy. This story out of Wisconsin. Donors team up to preserve the Business school name for the next 20 years… that’s what I call philanthropy.