Time to Rethink Your Approach to Social Media?
Last December, in commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the Internet, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency hosted the DARPA Network Challenge to explore the role of the Internet and social networking in contemporary communication. Whether influenced by recent events, like political protest in Iran or Columbia, or not, the rules of the contest were simple. DARPA moored ten eight foot red weather balloons in different locations across the continental United States, and teams tried to track them down as quickly as possible. While most of us were putting the finishing touches on our holiday shopping, a team from MIT tracked down all ten balloons in just under nine hours. Continue reading »
Filed under Donor Communications, Philanthropy, Social Media, Stewardship, Think Before You Thank | Tags: Communications, Development, Facebook, Friend Raising, Fundraising, new media, online giving, Philanthropy, Social Media, Trends in Fundraising | Comments OffNon-Traditional Donor Recognition Outlets
Monday I had the good fortune to participate in a session at the Association of Donor Relations Professionals annual conference in Baltimore. I sat on a panel discussing “tricks from the experts”. My portion of the presentation focused on ways to recognize donors beyond traditional plaques and printed lists. Specifically, we considered avenues available to those who either have no physical space for traditional donor recognition or are interested in exploring new methods for engaging donors and potential donors alike. Continue reading »
Filed under Donor Communications, Donor Recognition Programs, Philanthropy, Social Media, Stewardship | Tags: ADRP, Communications, consultant, Donor Recognition, Facebook, Fundraising, Interactive Displays, new media, online giving, Philanthropy, Social Media, Trends in Fundraising | Comments Off“Buying Legacy”: Donors RARELY give for self-serving reasons!
A recent Bloomberg article blew my mind! It’s titled, Getting Your Name on a Building Gets Cheaper as Non-Profits Compete. The article considers the possibility that donors may be able to negotiate gift amounts for naming opportunities during this economic crisis. True enough. Yet it also calls the act of giving “the price for immortality,” claiming that donors “buy” recognition. Nowhere in the article is there any mention of the basic tenet that donors give out of passion for a cause and that they do so to advance the mission of the organization. I’m offended on behalf of all philanthropists and fundraisers. I can only hope that the fundraising consultants mentioned in the article were misquoted to serve the author’s sarcastic premise. Continue reading »
Filed under Donor Communications, Donor Recognition Programs, Philanthropy | Tags: Capital Campaign, Donor Recognition, Fundraising, giving, Naming Opportunities, Philanthropy, Think Before You Thank, Trends in Fundraising | Comments OffAnonymous Donors Deserve Permanent Recognition. Fundraisers Benefit too.
This week Amherst College in Massachusetts announced two impressive gifts, $100 million and $25 million, both made by graduates who asked to remain anonymous. Emory’s Winship Cancer Center recently received $4.7 million anonymously. Earlier this year, more than a dozen colleges and universities received multi-million dollar donations from an anonymous donor who worked through financial advisors to guarantee that not even the institutions knew the origin of the gifts. Despite the donors’ requests to be anonymous, it is imperative that these gifts receive permanent, public recognition.
Filed under Donor Communications, Philanthropy | Tags: Anonymous Donor, area naming, Best Practices for Donor Recognition, Donor Recognition, Naming Opportunities, Philanthropy, Trends in Fundraising | Comments OffLeverage a Position of Authority through Donor Recognition Planning
Today Anne and I presented at the Association of Healthcare Philanthropy International Conference in San Francisco. We used the Greenville Hospital System’s Donor Recognition Program Standards & Guidelines as a case study to demonstrate how documented policy can leverage a position of leadership for the fundraiser. Our experience has shown that donor recognition planning has a positive impact on giving to the organization.
The handouts from this presentation are included here for quick reference.
AHP International Presentation 092609
In short, we focused on the eight key components of any comprehensive and fully-functioning donor recognition policy:
- Written donor recognition policies and procedures
- Comparative analysis of giving programs and their benefits
- Naming opportunities master plan with proposed location and scope of architecturally-integrated recognition elements
- Guidelines for donor recognition design
- Content formatting guidelines
- Product installation maintenance guidelines
- Product order forms
- Product implementation reference library
Participants were asked to complete a survey on the status and value of any donor recognition policy already in existence for their organizations. Likely the first ever research into this subject, findings from this survey will be available here soon. If you would like to participate in this research and analysis of the correlation between programmatic donor recognition and broadened and enhanced giving, please email thanks@rewinc.com for further information. Reference “survey” in the subject line.
This is the AHP presentation: Leverage a Position of Authority through Donor Recognition Planning.
