Looking at a sponsorship from the business side of things, it’s important that nonprofits are communicating effectively with their sponsors. A sponsor has a right to know what is going on when it comes to use of logos, their name and/or likeness. An effective nonprofit communications professional is going to get the sponsor’s approval on these every step of the way.

The same can be said for letters or press releases sent out on behalf of the sponsor and nonprofit. Approvals are necessary so the sponsor knows what is being said, where it is being said, etc. As strapped as nonprofits are for staff, it’s important for us to remember to keep the lines of communication open, no matter how busy we are.

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Keep the Lines of Communication Open with Your Sponsors

Are you letting your shoestring budget show?

I was sitting in a meeting recently with a committee of volunteers for a local nonprofit. The materials for the project we were working on just didn’t cut it. They didn’t have the polish you would expect from someone trying to raise money.

Now, I know that a brochure or a poster is never going to be the only reason someone gives money to a cause, but it will speak volumes about your professionalism. Everyone who works in the industry knows resources can be hard to come by – money and good people – but your organization is never going to get to the next level with an attitude of “good enough.”

Take the time to find someone who can create great pieces for your cause within your budget. Whether that’s sending your administrative assistant  to a Microsoft Office class to sharpen skills or working with a designer looking build a portfolio, finding a way to make your cause stand out from the crowd of shoestsring flyers is a must.

The same goes for your press releases, social media pieces, letters and e-mails. If it doesn’t look polished (words and design), you aren’t putting your best foot forward. It’s the same as going to a first job interview. If you don’t look the part (sharp, pressed professional attire), you probably won’t get the job. The same goes for meetings with big donors.

It’s time to grow up and put on our adult clothes. Take the time to get your “look” together.

Photo Credit: Zsuzsanna Kilián http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1108413

Post from: EveryJoe

Don’t Let Your Nonprofit Communications Look Like You Have a Shoestring Budget

Karen, at Pink Ribbon Review, will live blog the event at her site. Stop by for more information.

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Stand Up To Cancer: Live Blogged Event

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Notes, Follow-Ups, and Reminders | Nonprofit Tidbits from the Last Week

With the growing impact of nonprofits on the communities they serve, the issue of how those charity dollars are spent is often a deciding factor for donors.

The Lower Eastern Shore’s top nonprofits spend about 20 percent of their charity receipts on management and fundraising, an analysis of figures reported to the IRS shows.

Administration expenses locally are under the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance’s efficiency benchmark of 35 percent.

The very fact that a newspaper is poking around this issue should tell you that someone thinks it’s news. All organizations have overhead, of course, regardless of their sector, but those that can keep theirs low reap the rewards — again, regardless of their sector. How are you spending your dollars?

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The Search for Nonprofit Efficiency Picks Up Steam

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Notes, Follow-Ups, and Reminders | Nonprofit Tidbits from the Last Week

Heart of Florida United Way needed 18 months and $50,000 in research to come to that conclusion, but at least it got there. According to the Orlando Sentinel, the chapter has refocused its funding in hopes of “going after ‘root causes’ of hunger, homelessness, crime and family violence instead of ‘putting a Band-Aid’ on the problems.” It also will seek “to collaborate with other agencies … and to focus on a handful of issues rather than spreading the funds so thinly that they have little impact.”

This new approach should help not only to increase the effectiveness of its funding efforts, but also to make a stronger case to its own donors. Of course, such an outlook — preventative maintenance, really — would help all of us, and in ways that stretch far beyond nonprofit impact. Financially, medically, and more, tackling the root causes of our problems, individually and societally, would make us far healthier and happier than addressing the symptoms that crop up later. That we don’t do this routinely could serve as a warning sign to Heart of Florida about potential difficulties in implementing its system. | 501(c)

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Band-Aids are Good; Preventing Bleeding in the First Place is Better

… [T]hey pool their charitable dollars, debate their passions and award grants. Like a book club, they meet monthly — at their homes, in offices and even during yoga classes held in parks. …

Some members are lawyers, consultants and business owners. One recently lost her job as a real estate loan counselor, yet she still gives. Most contribute $2,500 a year; some give as much as $10,000, and others as little as $1,000. Together, they share a voice in championing their causes.

The story positions the women’s group as part of a trend that has seen hundreds of such giving circles form across the country over the last few years. The big question for fundraisers, of course, is how to reach such newfangled philanthropists. Many of these groups are about something more than donating money; they bring together people with common interests and passions, people who want to be part of a collective effort that is more impactful than they are as individuals. So outreach to them cannot focus simply on the power of giving; it must emphasize that their support somehow fosters the togetherness they seek as a group. | 501(c)

Post from: EveryJoe

Fitting a Giving Circle Into a Fundraising Square

To those who fear that the deluge of political fundraising will leave nonprofit fundraising high and dry — money is not infinite, after all — Jeff Brooks of the Donor Power Blog has good news. Brooks is the creative director of the database marketing firm Merkle, whose new report, Examining the Impact of Political Fundraising on Nonprofit Direct Mail Performance, includes these conclusions:

• Elections have little impact on charitable contributions.
• We largely aren’t competing for the same donors. Political donors are typically younger, more likely to be male, and have higher incomes.
• While political fundraising grows to new records with each presidential election, charitable giving also continues to grow. Chances are, new political donors likely become better prospects for charitable giving.

I have some concerns about Merkle’s observations. For example, shouldn’t nonprofits be targeting younger people with higher incomes? Hook them now and reel them for years to come, right? And Brooks’s “chances are” worries me a bit; I’d love to see some data on whether those who have flocked to fund Obama, especially, have an inclination to support nonprofits. Like Brooks, I suspect that’s true, but can it be quantified? That could help organizations tailor messages to this new group of donors. | 501(c)

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Report: Rising Fundraising Tide Lifts All Boats … Probably

Like a venture capital firm, Jumpstart identifies companies to invest in and advises them on their next steps.

But unlike a venture firm, Jumpstart relies on charitable donations, many of them from the private sector, for its financing and does not return a share of profits to those who provide the investment dollars. The return comes as satisfaction for elevating a region’s economic standing.

I love this kind of partnership, but my cynical side tells me that the private funders are in it for something more than regional pride. The kind of start-ups they’re funding attract talented workers, people who like to spend money. Economically strong regions are able to command higher real estate prices. Entrepreneurs who don’t have to kick back a percentage of their funding look positively on their funders. You get the idea. Like I said, it’s a cool notion, but while the funding organizations are nonprofits, many of their donors most certainly are not — and they’re the kind of people whose motivation isn’t the warm-and-fuzzies. | 501(c)

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Nonprofit VC Firms Look to Turn Around Struggling Regions