This dog is also wondering where half the year went...or if you have food. Probably food.
We’re more than halfway through May, and less than six weeks away from the halfway point of 2016. But as The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy put it, don’t panic. Friday Five is here with a nonprofit-focused set of five links that will help you shore up your fundraising efforts and reinvigorate your volunteers and donors. Let’s get started!
1) Kay Sprinkel Grace, author of The Busy Volunteer’s Guide to Fundraising, has some important reminders for volunteers in the midst of fundraising. One of the key reminders is not to assume that donors can’t give money. Sometimes people want to be asked:
http://trust.guidestar.org/volunteers-get-fundraising-right-and-sometimes-wrong
2) Congrats to the eight nonprofits that earned “Brand of the Year,” including Habitat for Humanity International! (Bergman and Allderdice is proud to represent their affiliate Habitat for Humanity Los Angeles.) The Nonprofit Times lists all the winners:
http://www.thenonprofittimes.com/news-articles/8-nonprofits-garner-brand-year-citations/?r=ig-mo
3) Nonprofit Nate, making his Friday Five debut, provides encouraging tips on how organizations can have a great fundraising event. Follow up, follow up, follow up is one important reminder; make sure to celebrate afterwards and focus on the wins is another. Find all his tips here:
https://nonprofitnate.com/2015/11/23/7-secrets-to-a-successful-fundraising-event/
4) What do your donors really want to accomplish? The deliberately disruptive, highly recommended Sheena Greer at Colludo reframes the donor/organization relationship. Her take is that you should think of your donors as artists and give them the canvas or mirror to ensure their vision aligns with yours. Then ‘tap into their muse’ and ask them why they give. Follow her steps and your chances of having a great conversation with your donors increase dramatically:
http://colludo.ca/blog/donor-as-artist/
5) Boards are great… except when they’re not. Have you dealt with a Jargonist, a Resister or a Debbie Downer? Wild Apricot gives you a funny field guide to the eight types of annoying board members and how to manage them:
http://www.wildapricot.com/blogs/newsblog/2016/04/22/8-types-of-annoying-board-members
Bonus Update Link:
We’re still tracking California assembly problem bill AB2855—the so-called “Warning Label” bill—with a wary eye. Carol Luong lists even more reasons to oppose AB2855 in a brief essay on her linkedin page:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-nonprofits-need-aware-frazier-bill-ab-2855-carol-luong
That’s all for the Friday Five. Stay tuned for continuing updates about the nonprofit world. Anything you’d like to see more of from the Friday Five, or from this blog overall? Let us know in the comments!