Are Your Income Expectations Realistic?

Do you expectations match reality? Use this checklist to test them.

Are your income expectations realistic? Yes, if you . . .

1. Base them on experience. You earned a similar amount in the past.

2. Establish them around industry standards. That is, someone in your sector regularly achieves this outcome with the same kind of inputs you plan. Your organization will struggle to make the funds it needs if it invests 5 percent of its budget to obtain foundation funding vs. the national standard of around 18 percent.

3. Support them with a solid strategy. Expenses less other income does not equal the amount of individuals’ donations you will raise. You can have all the pieces to make a ship model in a bottle, but without the instruction sheet, the strategy that gets you from here to there --the model will gather dust. For income, how exactly will you increase individual donations by 5 percent next year? What will you do today to work toward that goal?

4. Have access to the required resources. You can’t make spaghetti if you lack pasta and tomatoes. Do you have what you need to do the job? For your planned giving effort, do you have donors who have been giving consistently for seven years?

5. Own or invest to gain the necessary skills. You can have a bathing suit, plenty of grease and be at the shore, but this doesn’t mean you’re going to be successful swimming the English Channel. Do people in your organization feel comfortable asking for money?

6. Commit. You, your board and members may understand surviving requires different actions, but if all of you continue to embrace change halfheartedly, over time your expectations will become unrealistic.

7. Flex, as needed, in response to changing conditions. Groups who had the base, industry knowledge, skills, strategies, resources and commitment for a winning capital campaign, faced new challenges in the face of the Great Recession.

The more of these criteria you can say yes to the more realistic are your income expectations. For more about setting realistic expectations see Setting Realistic Expectations About Income. This article is the lead article in this month’s Added Value Newsletter, subscribe today.

Thinking of Entering a New Market?

Here are five key questions to ask and thoughtfully answer as you plan this step:

1. Who are you?

2. What services will you offer?

3. Why are you needed?

4. What value will you provide?

5. How will you relate to other efforts?

Your customers, potential donors and supporters will ask these questions, even if they use other words. Use your answers to structure your planning efforts.

Low Cost Employee Reward: Add Meaning

At Friday’s planned giving luncheon, I asked Fran Levinson, Vice President at the Sarasota Boys and Girls Club, to identify the best part of her job. “The time I get to spend with the kids,” she replied without hesitation. Fran works in the Club’s administration offices, so she relishes the chance to provide club tours which gives her an opportunity to interact with hundreds of youth.
In August in this blog, I shared the availability a podcast Laura Mikuska and I created about low-cost employee rewards. The podcast shares a dozen or so ideas. To the list of rewards let’s add, “Helping employees to identify what provides meaning for them and incorporate it into their routine.” For many, like Fran, creating meaning will be a chance to see the impact of their work first hand. For some this will mean mixing with the youth you serve. For others, it will be talking with customers after a performance. For some, it might be a chance to deliver meals for a week once a year. Your organization has many meaningful “touch points.”
The list of low cost employee rewards need to continue to expand. What ideas do you have? What works in your shop?

Focus on Mission to Achieve Results

Last week Kathy Kingston, Fundraising Auction Consultant and Professional Auctioneer, provided us with an overview on auctions and revenue streams for non profits. The most important thing to remember, she stressed, was to focus on your branding, mission and message at all times. In her experience, non profits that are good at this are great at raising funds.

She explained that most non profits who hold events and charity auctions focus their energies on promoting the event itself, rather than the reason behind the event, which is, of course, to support the non profit's mission. While it's fun to attend a party, you need to pull at your attendees heartstrings by focusing all your remarks, stories and materials on your mission. She reminded us that events are just another vehicle to enhance your messaging, just like your newsletter or website.

Focus your energies on your mission at all times - you will achieve better results in the long run.

Laura Mikuska
Fund development & event specialists
Mikuska Group

Partnership Unknowns

Partnerships always include unknowns. This summer, my husband and I vacationed in the Canadian Rockies. In Banff, because of grizzlies, Consolation Lake Trail was limited to groups of four or more. Day Three of the trip, we headed to the trailhead hoping it wouldn’t take long to double our party so we could use the highly recommended, but less frequently used path. As we approached it, we discussed that since we were Floridian flat-landers still getting our mountain legs, we didn’t want to hold up any eager young athletes. We needed older adults or a family for hiking partners.

At the trailhead, we found Walter and Granita, an older adult couple from Germany, waiting to hike to the destination. Delighted, we set off on the gorgeous, cool morning following their lead past the bear warning sign and over the boulders covering the trail. As we walked, we discussed travels, this trip and our respective homes. As we waked father we discussed-- us huffing-- that they loved to hike in the Alps and that they did so year-round. Walter and Granita, it turns out, were excellent, experienced hikers who attacked Consolation Trail with gusto. For three hours, we pushed to keep up with them.

Partnerships, even when you get exactly what you hope for, often turn differently than you expect. Nonetheless, they may have great value. The trip to Consolation Lake was a highlight. Even though arrived at the destination much faster than expected, our partnership with Walter and Granita, made the journey much more rewarding . . . and amusing.

To expand your thinking about partnerships review our September Added Value Newsletter (http://www.kedconsult.com/wp-content/themes/kedconsult/newsletters/sept-2010.php)

Accountability for Non Profits: A cautionary tale

This week the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) broke the story that some charitable organizations in Canada were using "professional fundraisers" to raise much-needed cash for their cause. It turns out some charities are paying astronomical sums for little return. In the case of an organization raising money for research into childhood leukaemia, $3.2 million of the 4.2 million raised over the last four years was paid to the telemarketing firm they hired. Read the story.

There are reasons why non profits and donors alike should pay attention to news like this. An organization has to be accountable to its donors. If it is receiving only one quarter of the money raised in its name, it should be re-examining how it chooses to raise those funds. As a donor, I would be appalled to know that my chosen charity was not receiving maximum benefit from my donation.

That said, it does cost money to raise money. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) guidelines stipulate that expenditure to revenue ratios should be no more than 35 per cent. If you're spending more than that, you're not spending it on charitable activities, and you should have your charitable status questioned or even revoked.

One additional comment about the CBC's use of the term "professional fundraisers". Those of us who pride ourselves on being part of the profession of fundraisers take umbrage with the negative undertone of the use of the term. We agree to abide by the Ethical Standards set out by the Association of Fundraising Professionals. AFP works hard to inform both its members and the giving public that there are ethical ways to give and raise money. Those that choose to ignore these standards do so at their own peril.

Non profits should continue to use outside consultants if they lack internal expertise or are short on staff. Hiring an expert to guide you through a capital campaign or help plan an event makes good fiscal sense. Finally, it's the relationships you build with your constituents and donors that will increase your bottom line - not farming that job out to the lowly telemarketer on the other end of the phone line.

Laura Mikuska
Fund development & event specialists
Mikuska Group

Return on Every Dollar You Spend

What do a group of marketing specialists have to share with nonprofit leaders about how to make their limited advertising dollars count?

Plenty, it turns out.

The following condenses down five 8 x 11 pages of notes from today’s one-hour presentation with experts J. Clifford Curley, Jane Bennett, Rue Ann Porter, Carrie Rasmussen and Gayle Williams during the 2010 Nonprofit PR and Marketing Forum.

In your ads and marketing materials:
• J. Clifford Curley suggests we use donor centric communications or “people talk.”
• Jane Bennett gave four rules of thumb for preparing winning ads: attention (draw eye), interest (you have seconds), desire (I want to be involved) and action (call for response). Knowing your vision, mission, strategy, business goals, marketing plan, target audience, etc., comes before designing ads or other materials.
• Gayle Williams shares that social media is a game changer—yes, but it also not a game changer. Social media is another tool or tactic for your nonprofit but it needs to fit within your overall strategy (not a game changer). Yes, social media is a game changer. It provides platforms that allow you to speak directly to your audience.
• Rue Ann Porter reminds us that PR and paid ads can work very well together. She suggests you consider your key prospect in both quantitative and personal aspects. What is their age and demographics about them? But, also what is their day like?
• When you look for media partners, Carrie Rasmussen recommends that you know what you want and what you want to achieve. She encourages you to be aware of the benefits you offer to the community and to your media partner. Collaboration is a powerful tool to help you “stand out.”

Overall, how can you take advantage of limited advertising dollars? Much planning and some work. Find your content in a quality strategic plan. Develop a PR and Marketing plan that includes the messages you want to share in the next few months. Then, work the plan.