Welcome to MatchTips! MatchTips, a newsletter from MatchMaker FundRaising Software, provides fundraising tips and technology information to nonprofit organizations.

In this issue of MatchTips we discuss developing social media metrics, the YouTube Nonprofit Program and the release of MatchMaker FundRaising Software Enterprise Edition 2.0.  In addition, we provide tips for developing a donor recognition plan and creating accounting policies and procedures.

Social Media Metrics

Return on investment (ROI) in marketing terms is “the contribution attributable to marketing (net of marketing spending), divided by the marketing ‘invested’ or risked.”  Basically, what did we get for our spent time and money.  So what is the ROI for your social media efforts?  How do you value the 50,000 likes on your Facebook page or the 10,000 Twitter followers you have.  If the numbers you are tracking don’t give you an action, how valuable are they?

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YouTube recently announced live streaming of nonprofit events and fundraisers

YouTube has announced the opportunity to live-stream to all members of the YouTube Nonprofit Program. Nonprofits, from small to large, will now be able to engage live audiences in charity concerts, conferences, and other special events to raise awareness about their causes and drive donations in real-time.

The YouTube Nonprofit Program is currently open to registered organizations in the U.S., U.K. Australia and Canada and offers free benefits like donate buttons/overlays, custom thumbnail selection and channel branding. To learn more and apply, please click here. For organizations who are already members of the Nonprofit Program, you can enable live-streaming in a few simple steps, outlined here.

MatchMaker FundRaising Software Enterprise Edition 2.0

Introducing MatchMaker FundRaising Software Enterprise Edition 2.0.  This is more than a standard update.  We have increased the overall performance and added features to make your fundraising efforts more effective and efficient. New features range from dashboard reporting to online donation management.

Learn More

Developing a Donor Recognition Policy

To launch a successful fundraising program, an organization should have created a number of documents including the Case for Support, Gift Acceptance Policies and Procedures, and a Donor Recognition Policy.  The Case explains “why” you are raising money, the Gift Acceptance Policies delineate what constitutes an acceptable gift and under what circumstances your organization will accept the donation, and the Donor Recognition Policy explains how you will express gratitude to the donor.

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Management Tip

Nonprofit Accounting Procedures Manual

Does creating an accounting procedures manual for your organization seem like an overwhelming task?  Maybe you have thought about it, but you don’t feel like you have the time to put something together.  Well, the staff over at Blue Avocado have developed a template that will help produce an accounting procedures manual in 30 minutes.

Download the Accounting Procedures Manual Template created by Blue Avocado

For Fun

Fun with Stick figures

Ok, so this is a completely unproductive use of your time, but sometimes we need to have those moments to laugh.  Watch as your doodles come to life.

Create Stickman

To launch a successful fundraising program, an organization should have created a number of documents including the Case for Support, Gift Acceptance Policies and Procedures, and a Donor Recognition Policy.  The Case explains “why” you are raising money, the Gift Acceptance Policies delineate what constitutes an acceptable gift and under what circumstances your organization will accept the donation, and the Donor Recognition Policy explains how you will express gratitude to the donor.

The purpose of the Donor Recognition Policy is to ensure that those who support the organization through donations receive recognition that is appropriate, equitable and consistent.  The Policy is developed with the attitude that all gifts are important; that nurturing each donor is the business of the organization; and that a monetary gift is never more important than individual relationships.

Through the Donor Recognition Policy, the organization hopes to:

• Cultivate relationships with existing donors and encourage them to reach higher levels of giving
• Attract new donors
• Ensure that, in fairness to donors to the organization, one clearly stated policy of recognition is applied at all times

Items to be addressed in writing a Donor Recognition Policy include:

1. The Policy should have Board approval;
2. The Policy needs to address the confidentiality of donations;
3. How the Policy will be explained to donors;
4. A table that demonstrates giving levels and the recognition to be afforded each level;
5. If cumulative giving is to be recognized separately, then a table defining the cumulative giving program needs to be created;
6. How to manage gifts that may require special consideration such as tribute gifts, in-kind gifts, and capital or endowment gifts.

A Donor Recognition Policy adopted and shared with your major stakeholders will increase their level of confidence in your organization and help raise more money.

Return on investment (ROI) in marketing terms is “the contribution attributable to marketing (net of marketing spending), divided by the marketing ‘invested’ or risked.”  Basically, what did we get for our spent time and money.  So what is the ROI for your social media efforts?  How do you value the 50,000 likes on your Facebook page or the 10,000 Twitter followers you have.  If the numbers you are tracking don’t give you an action, how valuable are they?

Fenton recently released a guide focused on developing actionable social media metrics called:  “See, Say, Feel, Do: Social Media Metrics that Matter”.

“Before you start measuring, you need a social media strategy that you can measure against. The greatest obstacle to determining ROI doesn’t happen on the back end once you’ve collected mounds of user engagement data like RTs, bounce rates, and the number of “Likes.” The main obstacle to determining ROI comes from a failure to define the “R” on the front end. What is the return you are trying to create? Without knowing what you are trying to accomplish, it’s impossible to measure your success.” — Fenton

This guide breaks down reporting metrics into four categories: SEE, SAY, FEEL, DO.  Each category measures a different element of a campaign or organizational goal. The guide includes a space for identifying and tracking the data, as well as a place to include the insights and actions associated with it. The best of the guide book, though, is the inclusion of an example reporting form and a template for your organization to create a metrics report.

Download “See, Say, Feel, Do” here

A couple of weeks ago I read an interesting blog by Seth Godin.  Seth Godin has written thirteen books, including Tribes, Small is the New Big, and Purple Cow, that have been translated into more than thirty languages. Every book has been a bestseller. He writes about the post-industrial revolution, the way ideas spread, marketing, quitting, leadership and most of all, changing everything.  He is also an entrepreneur.  This particular blog talked about lying.  It posed the question, why lie?

I was particularly struck by the blog because he was discussing why prospective buyers lie to sales people.  I am a salesperson and I feel bad when I am lied to and I also feel bad for the person who feels compelled to lie to me.  I want to say its okay if you liked the other software better or the price was a better fit for your budget.

I do realize that sometimes a salesperson will question the buyer’s judgment.  Not all sales people are that way.  When I ask a prospective buyer which product they selected over ours and why, it is not because I question their choice, but because I want to learn.  Maybe there was something I did not do well in representing my product or company.  I can only learn if the prospective buyer tells me the truth.  I am in business to make a living.  However, I am also in business because I want to help nonprofits do a better job of raising money.  To do that I need shared trust from prospective buyers.  It strikes me that this concept spills over into encounters that we have day in and day out.  It is not just buyers and sellers, it is employees and bosses, husbands and wives, kids and their parent, and donors and the nonprofits they support.

I like Einstein’s thought: “Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters.” As a sales person, yes, buying my software is a big deal for me and for the nonprofit.  Yet, it still isn’t worth lying about.

I attended a Social Media Phoenix Boot Camp one evening last week. Check out www.smcphoenix.com. I came away with a few new tidbits of information and the resolve that I really needed to get back on track with doing something in the social media arena. We have all heard the mantra, “you need to be doing social media.” The problem for me, and many of the people I talk to, is finding the time. However, as the saying goes, “there is no time like the present.” I was also very energized by the enthusiasm of the two Boot Camp instructors.
One of my realizations from the Boot Camp experience was that despite all the social media opportunities my initial instincts regarding my involvement with social media were on target. The instructors adamantly stressed to carefully select the social media platforms that were right for your business. Four Square is way cool, but it is not a fit for a business selling fundraising software, MatchMaker FundRaising Software, to nonprofit organizations across the country.
I am going to continue to grow my Linked-In presence and blogging. Tweeting out my blog will also be part of my strategy. It is a matter of selecting appropriate social media venues, focusing your efforts, and doing it consistently.
If you live in an area that has a Social Media Club, I recommend participation. I learn a little every time I go and I love the energy and passion of the members who live and breathe social media. I must admit I envy their knowledge. For now I will just be happy bathing in the light of their geekiness.

Heritage Designs’ free online tool helps nonprofits draft and implement effective fundraising plans

www.matchmakerfrs.com/fundraising-plan

PHOENIX (Oct. 31, 2011) – Crafting a fundraising plan got a little easier for nonprofits with the help of a Phoenix-based software company’s newest tool. The Fundraising Plan from Heritage Designs is a free tool designed to enable nonprofits to easily create a fundraising plan that will serve as a guide for an organization’s fundraising activities.

“This new tool addresses the needs of nonprofits of all sizes, helping them design a plan that will maximize fundraising resources and establish attainable goals for the organization,” said Diana Hoyt, president and founder of Heritage Designs. “By using this tool, nonprofits can enhance their capacity for fundraising and, therefore, raise more money.”

After answering several questions, the Fundraising Plan will customize a document for the user’s organization. The tool simplifies the process of writing a fundraising plan by providing a decision-making framework for myriad nonprofit fundraising activities, including corporate giving, foundation giving, individual and major donors, special events, online fundraising, membership, planned giving and more.

To create a fundraising plan, visit www.matchmakerfrs.com/fundraising-plan

About Heritage Designs

Heritage Designs is committed to serving the nonprofit sector and providing excellence in designing solutions for fundraising. The cornerstone of its approach is MatchMaker FundRaising Software, a fundraising/donor management software package available in three products: MatchMaker FundRaising Software Standard Edition, Enterprise Edition and Online. In addition to the software, Heritage Designs provides comprehensive training, technical support and fundraising consulting. The company’s client base includes hospitals, colleges and private schools, library foundations and social service organizations, such as domestic violence shelters, food banks and organizations serving people with disabilities.

Corporate matching gifts occur when an individual makes a charitable contribution and the individual’s employer matches the employee’s gift by sending a contribution to the same nonprofit organization. Corporations will in some cases match an employee’s volunteer hours with a matching gift.

Even in today’s economy, corporate matching gifts are still alive and well. Some companies may have suspended them temporarily or cut-back; however, many companies have actually increased them. The matching funds enable the employee to dictate where the corporation will designate its charitable dollars. This takes the heat away from the corporation regarding the decision about its charitable giving. The corporation is also able to support those organizations in the community that are important to the corporation’s employees.

This stream of revenue is often overlooked by nonprofits. In order to have a successful matching gifts program, the nonprofit organization MUST make it part of their development plan with action steps and measurable goals. The goals might be to increase matching gifts by $2,000 or $5,000; a number that makes sense based upon the organization’s past history with matching gifts and the size of the organization’s database.

Nonprofits need to promote the matching gift program. A few ideas might include:

• An article in every newsletter
• A special email sent out to donors
• A special email to prospective donors letting them know that their employer might match their gift
• Include reminders in all appeals and acknowledgments

Whatever form of communication you select, and multiple forms are recommended, you need to explain to the donor how corporate matching gifts work – what they need to do and what you will do. This is often a process of educating the donor.

An organization also needs to research which companies in the community have a matching gifts program. If you are not sure, check out there web site or even better yet, call them. You might learn about other funding opportunities from that business; and establish a contact with the business. You may be very surprised at what is out there.

Welcome to MatchTips! MatchTips, a newsletter from MatchMaker FundRaising Software, provides fundraising tips and technology information to nonprofit organizations.

In this issue of MatchTips we discuss creating strategies from social media and fundraising to donor management policies and procedures. In addition, we provide tips for selecting donor database and board management.

Need a Social Media Strategy?

All communication strategies start with a goal: What are you trying to accomplish via your communications? More specifically with social media, what do you want the reaction to be when someone reads your blog, or Facebook status update, or tweet?  Kivi Leroux Miller analyzes these questions and offers a framework to create your social media strategies.

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Free Tool Helps Nonprofits Create Fundraising Plans!

Crafting a fundraising plan got a little easier for nonprofits with the help of a Phoenix-based software company’s newest tool. The Fundraising Plan from Heritage Designs is a free tool designed to enable nonprofits to easily create a fundraising plan that will serve as a guide for an organization’s fundraising activities.

“This new tool addresses the needs of nonprofits of all sizes, helping them design a plan that will maximize fundraising resources and establish attainable goals for the organization,” said Diana Hoyt, president and founder of Heritage Designs. “By using this tool, nonprofits can enhance their capacity for fundraising and, therefore, raise more money.”

After answering several questions, the Fundraising Plan will customize a document for the user’s organization. The tool simplifies the process of writing a fundraising plan by providing a decision-making framework for myriad nonprofit fundraising activities, including corporate giving, foundation giving, individual and major donors, special events, online fundraising, membership, planned giving and more.

To create a fundraising plan, visit www.matchmakerfrs.com/fundraising-plan

7 Steps to Follow When Selecting a Donor Database

Two nonprofits similar in mission and staff size are using donor management software to track donations and fundraising activities.  The first organization has a database full of bad data.  Donors are not getting receipts; deceased donors are getting appeal letters.  Staff members have not been trained and there is no support.  They complain that the software does not work and that they hate the system.  The organization is handcuffed when planning their fundraising strategies or tracking their effectiveness.  The second organization loves its donor management software.  The data is clean, their donors receive accurate mailings, the organization is successfully managing their fundraising activities, and staff love the reports.  New personnel are trained on the software before they ever log in and support is available to resolve any problems and questions that come up.

Here’s the kicker: Both nonprofits are using the same software package.

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Nonprofits Need to Think Growth

By Michael Pearson

Buzz words come and go for various reasons.  I guess that is why they call them “buzz” words.  Popular one minute and gone the next.  One buzz word I wish would fly off into the great unknown is the word sustainability as it relates to nonprofits.  The rough definition of sustainability is the capacity to endure (thank you Wikipedia).  Why are nonprofits content to just build capacity to endure?  Don’t get me wrong, your organization can’t do much when the doors are closed, but why wouldn’t you want your organization to grow and thrive?  As Benjamin Franklin once said, “Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.”

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Fundraising Tip

Creating Donor Management Policies and Procedures

By Diana V. Hoyt

Donor management consists of the policies and procedures a nonprofit develops to manage information regarding its constituents.  The constituents may be donors or they may be other groups such as prospective donors or volunteers.

The policies and procedures for donor management clearly delineate: what information to maintain; how to maintain consistent and accurate information; and who determines the application of various profile and fundraising codes to each constituent record.  I feel pretty confident in saying that very few nonprofits spend the time and effort to develop these policies and procedures; yet doing so would save them countless hours of tedious work cleaning up a database that has fallen into disarray.

Download the Donor Management Policies and Procedures Guide created by MatchMaker FundRaising Software

Management Tip

Ten Myths About Nonprofit Boards

Jan Masaoka of Board Café discusses a quick directory to the most common myths wreaking havoc in nonprofit boardrooms.

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Two nonprofits similar in mission and staff size are using donor management software to track donations and fundraising activities.  The first organization has a database full of bad data.  Donors are not getting receipts; deceased donors are getting appeal letters.  Staff members have not been trained and there is no support.  They complain that the software does not work and that they hate the system.  The organization is handcuffed when planning their fundraising strategies or tracking their effectiveness.  The second organization loves its donor management software.  The data is clean, their donors receive accurate mailings, the organization is successfully managing their fundraising activities, and staff love the reports.  New personnel are trained on the software before they ever log in and support is available to resolve any problems and questions that come up.

Here’s the kicker: Both nonprofits are using the same software package.

How can this be?  It is quite likely that the first organization never had the right software to begin with, and then proceeded to use it incorrectly.  They made a series of bad decisions and have been struggling with them ever since.

Let’s take a look at the steps for selecting and implementing the right donor management software for your organization.

1.  Gather input from all levels:

Purchasing new software to manage donors and fundraising activities will affect many areas within your organization.  This is a decision that should not be left up to one individual, i.e. the office techie.  It is critical to get input from the people who will actually use the software.  You do not need to include every staff member, but you should have contributions from all levels of the organization, especially those who may be impacted by a new system.

2.  Create a budget:

It is always prudent to know what you can spend before you go shopping for a new item.  Before you sign a contract make sure you can afford the item now and in the future.  Understand that support and training of new personnel will need to be included in the budget for each year.  A good rule of thumb:  If you cannot afford to train your staff and pay the annual support fee, do not buy the software.

3.  Address current and future needs:

Understand the current system you are using.  Ask what works and what doesn’t.  What codes and reports do you actually use?  Next, develop a list of needs.  It can be as general as, “volunteer tracking”, or specific, like the ability to manage recurring gifts based on a payroll deduction campaign.  Always keep in mind future needs, especially if major organizational changes are anticipated.  Once all the needs are listed you should rate each item as “mandatory” or “wants.”  Mandatory is defined as a feature that must be included in the new application or you must reject the software from consideration, no matter what else it can do.  The “wants” list should be ranked in priority order (e.g. A, B, C).  Your donor database has to meet your needs and provide room for growth.

4.  Prioritize price:

A fool knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.  The goal is to purchase a product that meets your top needs, fits your resources, and offers the best price.  The best price is relative to your return on investment.  Software that will provide better control over your fundraising programs, manage your donors and appeals, track your results, and analyze your fundraising effectiveness is an investment that will pay dividends for many years.

5.  Understand your staff:

The more complex the software the more computer skills your staff will be required to have.  Under-trained staff and poor management will not be solved by new software, in fact the problems will probably get worse.  Review your staffing and procedures as part of the decision making process.  Understand that staffing issues can masquerade as technology problems. For example, getting accurate reports might not be caused by the donor management software as much as it is sloppy data entry.

6.  Purchasing software is the easy part:

You have signed the software agreement now what?  You must focus your attention on the data conversion and the database setup.  Decisions need to be made on what data will be converted to the new database.  Designate a single point of contact to the software vendor for questions that will arise during the conversion.

Once data is converted, testing will need to be done on the database.  New codes and business processes will need to be defined.  Setting up security for all users will be a critical component.  Developing policies and procedures for your database management will help with the integrity of the data entry.

Click here to download a guide for creating a policies and procedures manual.

7.  Keep the database alive:

The death of most databases is neglect.  To avoid this, make one person in your organization the “database manager.”  This manager will maintain that your data entry procedures are documented and followed.  They will run periodic audit reports to identify problems.

Another key will be to make sure that staff is trained on new features and procedures and new personnel are trained before they begin data entry.

New software applications typically change the way work gets accomplished.  You will need to constantly review how data and paperwork move through your organization.

Lastly, the organization should budget for ongoing hardware and software upgrades, annual support fees, and additional training from the software vendor.

Donor management consists of the policies and procedures a nonprofit develops to manage information regarding its constituents.  The constituents may be donors or they may be other groups such as prospective donors or volunteers.

The policies and procedures for donor management clearly delineate: what information to maintain; how to maintain consistent and accurate information; and who determines the application of various profile and fundraising codes to each constituent record.  I feel pretty confident in saying that very few nonprofits spend the time and effort to develop these policies and procedures; yet doing so would save them countless hours of tedious work cleaning up a database that has fallen into disarray.

In teaching organizations how to use MatchMaker FundRaising Software, I have determined that information that an organization wishes to maintain falls into two distinct categories. The first category is basic information such as name, address, phone, email, etc.  The basic information is fairly generic to all nonprofit organizations.  Some organizations do a better job than others of collecting this information.  The key is to create a vehicle to gather this data.  If you are gathering information from a web site, have specific fields required.  If you are updating records, send out a short information survey to constituents or call them and ask.

The second category is very specific to an organization.  Information in this category can be related to the organization’s mission or operation.  Data in this category is often referred to as profile information.  For example, if an organization is an animal shelter, it might keep track of the kind of animal and breed that a constituent adopted.  Profile information would include codes that signify if you are a volunteer, a board member, or a designated United Way donor.  Fundraising values attributed to appeals and campaigns would also fall in this category.

Maintaining consistent and accurate information is something that should be easy.  However, I have observed that with the high staff turnover at nonprofits, data easily becomes victim to the latest, often ill-trained person.  It becomes incumbent on organizations to create policies for data entry and to have one person on staff that is responsible for overseeing the data entry.  Because they have the greatest usage of the data, the chief development officer will most often serve in this role.

Having good robust data can truly make the difference to an organization’s ability to raise money.  Taking the time to develop donor management policies will have a tremendous ROI.