Disaster Plan

Sort of re-thinking my view on Disaster Prevention Plans as the water crept up to the steps at the Wilbor House today. It might really be time to finish ours.

Share the Wealth - Share Your Ideas for Great Fundraisers

What's your all time favorite fundraising technique?

Anyone working or volunteering for a small nonprofit for any length of time surely has a favorite.

Please take a moment to share your favorites here.

A few of my favorites:

Fall Fest - Little Compton Community Center

Volunteers offer to host a dinner party in their home. Community members purchase tickets and sign up for the dinner of their choice. At the end of the evening everyone gathers together in a functional hall for dessert. Because the hosts pay for food and local caterers donate the desserts the full ticket price goes directly to the charity. The expenses are minimal - mainly the printing and mailing of the invitations. Today a smart non-profit could do on-line invites and save that cost as well.

Calendar Raffle - Wilbur School 8th Grade Class

In December kids sell a one month calendar for the month of January. The calendar costs $5 and offers modest ($25-$100) cash prizes for every day in the month. A winner is drawn daily. The sales income pays for the prized and the "leftovers" went to the sellers to help pay for their class trip. A great - low cost - almost no cost - kid fundraiser.

Conferences - To Go or Not To Go

I have mixed feelings about conferences.

For people new to the field I think they are wonderful - a chance to learn from the best local (national) experts, a chance to meet them and your colleagues to form personal connections and an opportunity to leave energized and expired.

For mid-level non-profit professionals it gets a little tricker. You have to be very selective. Many conference presenters are young people building their resumes and often in my experience their presentations are not worth your time. Much like picking courses in college - pick your workshops based on the presenter - the more experienced, accomplished and respected the better.

Experienced professionals start to get tapped to lead workshops. It's great to contribute to your field. It may help advance your career but you need to decide it the benefits are worth the investment your organization has to make to send you there.

My most hated, but definitely most memorable conference experience, was a full day youth leadership program in Boston that sounded great on paper but ended up proclaiming the benefits of the teenage vampire communities in Mexico. (Honest.) That would have gone over really well in Little Compton. What made it better/worse is that I attended with a wonderful friend who helped me spend the day eye-rolling instead of learning.

Read the workshop offerings carefully before you decide to go. Look up the presenters on the internet or call your friends in the field. Choose local conferences over distant ones whenever possible. Try going every other year to keep from getting burned out. Really weigh the organizational benefits of presenting. And make a pact with your friends not to eye-roll until the ride home.

Please Don't Call My Projects Cute

I was talking to an acquaintance this weekend who asked about the Historical Society. I told her about this really exciting project I (We) have been working on for over two years. It involves the creation of Little Compton's first narrative history, the volunteer participation of a Newberry Honor Award author, an exhibition involving new art by over 35 local artists and an investment of about $100,000.

She called it cute.

Please don't call my big projects cute.

Some of the things I do are cute. Doll making with little girls. Random Image Bingo with elementary school students. Wearing a costume to a fundraising event. Those things are cute. I know they are and it's OK for you to say it. I'll say it too.

But for my big projects - or the big projects of any other not-for-profit employee - please don't say cute - even if you think it - try really hard to think of another word.

"Interesting." "Wonderful." "Rewarding." "Charitable." Even "fun."

Those are good words. Those are the words that I hope come to mind when the staff and volunteers of small organizations tell you about the work they do to share art and culture with the public, feed the poor, beautify a neighborhood, find a home for animals or educate a child.

Grant Writing 1-2-3

I'm writing a grant on this beautiful first day of spring and wishing I didn't have to. Actually I'm procrastinating and not writing at all.

But when you do need to write a grant here are three important steps:

1. Take as much (or even more) time to plan and design your project as you do to write the grant. Funders see project proposals all day long. If your project has been slapped together or isn't clearly defined they are going to see right through it and won't be willing to fund it.

2. Talk to the funder ahead of time to see if your project really is eligible. We all hate to hear "No" but think about how much time a nice firm "No" would save you. Time you could spend on something that might really pay off.

3. Read their directions and follow them.

Simple. Right? Now I have to go do it...

Newsletter or Use-letter

I know - I know - "Use-letter" - Yikes.

I apologize for coining a silly word but hopefully it helps us all remember that for small organizations a newsletter has to be multi-purpose and truly useful in many different ways.

What Can Your Use-Letter Do For You?

• Share exciting news that is about to happen
• Share exciting news that happened recently
• Publish photos of the people who are helping you meet your mission
• Invite people to programs
• Provide a lasting calendar of events
• Offer interesting articles on subjects related to your misson
• Recruit volunteers
• Thank supporting foundations, sponsors, volunteers and outstanding staff
• Ask people to help you with some of the following:

1. A Wish List for in-kind donations - Camera, Chairs, Scanner etc.
2. Planned Giving - "Remember us in your estate plan."
3. Membership - with a clip and send coupon
4. Annual Appeal - for anyone who gets the newsletter but not the solicitation letter
5. Sponsor an event
6. Invites to special events

Mix It Up

A long time ago a wonderful board member felt it necessary to warn me that our newsletter was asking people for money in three different places. To him that was a bad thing. To me, it's just about right.

If all a newsletter did was ask for things, then it wouldn't be a newsletter it would be a solicitation letter - and many people would toss it in the trash. But if you can blend two or three requests with lots of great photos, invitations (that don't involve money), and interesting stories, your audience will read the newsletter from cover to cover - solicitations and all.

Use-Letter Dos

A few rules to keep in mind for a useful newsletter that people will actually read...

• Font no smaller than 11 pt
• Articles in columns - like a newspaper
• At least one interesting photo or graphic on every page
• - -- Not every photo will reproduce well - try it on your copy machine first.
• ---Not every photo is interesting - ask someone who will really tell you the truth - spouse - child - parent.
• An opportunity to become a member/supporter in every issue
• White space
• Photo captions that convey important messages
• ---This may be all that anyone reads.
• Attention grabbing headlines and subheads that tell the stories in a nutshell
• ---Most people really won't read the whole article.

Proof Positive

Finally send a pdf of your draft newsletter to your board and anyone mentioned in the newsletter before you go to press. It is far more useful, and team-building, to have their corrections, comments, complaints while you still have time to make changes.

Sometimes You Don't Really Need Money at All

I attended a great conference workshop about creating exhibitions on a shoestring budget.

My favorite part of the workshop was this great retired sailor who was volunteering with a maritime museum. He was not a professional fundraiser or a professional public humanities person, he was just this smart, old guy who loved boats and used his common sense and his lifetime's worth of experience to help "his" museum share the love of boats with the public.

He told us, "You don't really need money now do you? You need stuff. So ask for stuff."

After you've been asking for stuff for a few years you start to call them "in-kind donations" but this volunteer really hit the nail on the head.

People who might be very reluctant to give you money may be very willing to give you a thing.

People who give us things at the Historical Society often start to like us and eventually give us more and better things or sometimes even money.

One example and then I'll sign off.

I wrote a grant asking for money to buy archival shelving. The widow of the man for whom the grant was named called me and said, "Well, we're not going to give you the grant, but I can give you some shelves." Our volunteers went to her house, packed up her shelves and installed them in our archive. They were a perfect fit.