Supreme Court Hears Taxpayer Challenge to Faith-Based Initiative

A very interesting article from The Roundtable on Religion and Social Welfare Policy on a very important topic:

Supreme Court Hears Taxpayer Challenge to Faith-Based Initiative

"In a spirited debate this morning before the U.S. Supreme Court, lawyers argued whether taxpayers have the right to sue the federal government for activities of the White House and federal agencies undertaken through general funding to promote the involvement of faith-based groups in government social services."

Give and Take, and Ultimate Gift

Philanthropy.com has a great blog that has a similar goal to The Raiser's Razor:

Give and Take: A roundup of blogs about the nonprofit world.

------------------

There is also an interesting article here, also on Philanthropy.com, about a new film that suggests ways for people to pass their wealth onto the next generation:

'Ultimate Gift' Creators Gear Up for Movie Release

Texas Dept. of State Health Services, Funding Alert

The Texas Department of State Health Services regularly publishes a very good list of public and private funding opportunities:

Funding Alert

The emails provide very clear descriptions of the opportunities available, and make it easy to determine if there's anything worse pursuing. A very valuable resource in a world full of opportunities!

United Way stars to shine during campaign's finale | Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | Business Columnists: Robert Miller

Robert Miller, The Dallas Morning News' Business Columnist, reports on the upcoming awards from the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas:

United Way stars to shine during campaign's finale

Quite a machine they have at UWMD -- their goal was $53 million. Congratulations to Gary Godsey and his staff for what will surely be a wonderful announcement!

How to write a grant proposal

Over the years, I've come across a great variety of articles about writing grant proposals. While they all have something good to say, few provide a comprehensive overview that I feel is worth reading more than once.

Here is the exception:

Get Started Tutorial - Proposal Writing Short Course

Every few months, someone contacts me about learning how to write a grant -- usually on behalf of a friend of theirs who is either working for a non-profit that does not have a full-time fundraiser on staff, or for someone who is trying to start a non-profit. I forward this resource to each of them, and it always seems to work well for them.

I hope that it's helpful!

--------------------------

Here are some other links:

How To Write a Grant Proposal, by Joanne Fritz
http://nonprofit.about.com/od/fundraising/ht/proposals.htm
(provides a nice straight-forward outline for a proposal)

How to Write an Outreach Grant Proposal, by Karen M. Markin
http://chronicle.com/jobs/news/2006/09/2006091501c/careers.html
(focus is on education programs)

How to Write a Letter of Inquiry (from the Foundation Center)
http://foundationcenter.org/getstarted/faqs/html/letter.html

Non-profit guides (several resources related to grant writing)
http://www.npguides.org/

Wealthy Young Adults Turn to Philanthropy

Lots of great articles today! This one discusses the emerging trend of younger philanthropists... (from Philanthropy Today):

Philanthropy Today: Wealthy Young Adults Turn to Philanthropy

There continue to be more and more articles on this topic, and a variety of online discussions popping up that are trying to figure out how to "crack" this donor market. Look for lots of future discussions about the role of social networking sites like MySpace.com, designation-driven sites like DonorsChoose.rog and the increasing role of social enterprise within our sector.

An exciting time to be a fundraiser!

PND - News - Bank of America Charitable Foundation Launches Fourth Year of Neighborhood Excellence Initiative

This article (again, from Philanthropy News Digest) describes the amazing initiative of the Bank of America Foundation:

PND - News - Bank of America Charitable Foundation Launches Fourth Year of Neighborhood Excellence Initiative

My organization secured this award in 2004-5, and it has had an amazing impact on our growth.

The student awards are also very easy to fill out, and are a great way to recognize the important contributions of our country's young people.

They have three types of grants:

Neighborhood Builders
We fund $200,000 (or local market currency equivalent) for operating support to 2 nonprofit/charitable organizations in each of
44 markets.

Local Heroes
We donate $5,000 (or local market currency equivalent) to an eligible charitable nonprofit/charitable organizations, selected by each of 5 Local Heroes in 44 markets.

Student Leaders
Five young adults in each of the 44 markets participate in rigorous internship and leadership programs.

PND - News - Foundation Support for Most Program Areas Up in 2005, Report Finds

Interesting article on trends in foundation giving, from the Philanthropy News Digest:

PND - News - Foundation Support for Most Program Areas Up in 2005, Report Finds

Branding Strategy Insider: Brand Equity

Great blog on branding:

Branding Strategy Insider: Brand Equity

This is particularly insightful:

Send in your book recommendations

Don't forget to add your book recommendations to this list of books relevant to donors or to people who care about the field of philanthropy.

Tactical Philanthropy: The Giving Carnival: Edition Three Topic

The Problem with Donors Choose, or, Am I Really this Jaded?

A friend of mine just sent me this article from Slate to ask if I knew about this sort of program:
Want To Buy My Students a $392 Camcorder?
A nonprofit uses the Web to work marketplace magic.

The article discusses this site:

DonorsChoose.org: Teachers Ask. You Choose. Students Learn.

Here was my reply:

I've heard about it. It's spawned a whole host of other sites, all of which are completely counter to developing a sustainable, effective business. These sort of "novelty sites" allow donors to feel good about themselves while designating their funds to something like a telescope or a computer -- all nice things that don't help keep the lights on or make sure that there's a teacher to lead the class. And those, I am afraid, are the real things that donors need to fund.

There's a nice hybrid of this sort of program offered by the major international organizations such as Heifer International (http://www.heifer.org/). The site allows donors to "shop" for items like a goat or a cow, so that they feel in control ("Wow, I bought this pour villager an ox to help with his farming!"). However, they include this very important language:

"The prices in this catalog represent the complete livestock gift of a high-quality animal, technical assistance and extensive training. Each purchase from this catalog represents a contribution to the entire mission of Heifer International. Donations will be used where needed most to help struggling people. Heifer International is a non-profit 501 (c) (3) organization."

In other words, when you pay $500 to "buy a heifer," you are really just giving them $500.... and they might be a heifer, or might not. It's pretty brilliant, actually, and is something I've thought about on more than one occasion.

But the more I think about it -- the more concerned I get about this kind of hoodwinking. Sure, it raises a lot of money. When you look at their annual report, Heifer raised over $80 million through contributions to programs like this.

(Nevermind that they spent nearly 25% on fundraising and M&G....)

But I have to wonder... is this the best way to conduct business?

I think that its critical to provide donors with the assurance that their gifts are being used effectively. It's also important to honor their wishes.

However, there must be some middle ground between the way that sites like DonorsChoose completely bows down to the fickle whims of donors' clicks and the way that Heifer International pulls the wool over donors' eyes in order to fund their work (including their exhorbitant overhead).

Open Letter to Venture Philanthropists

I am writing to you today on behalf of the global community of fundraisers. We need your help -- but we do not need you make another donation.

We need you to help us change the way that donations are made.

The future of philanthropy may not be entirely paperless, but the trend away from traditional forms of fundraising cannot be denied. Within the past five years, the amount of donations processed online has risen from the millions to the billions. Although overall giving has grown during this time, the majority of this increase is a result of changing behaviors among donors who would have previously donated offline.

This trend is merely the latest manifestation of a larger move away from writing checks in favor of utilizing credit cards to process donations.

I have two chief concerns within this reality:

First, the vast majority of fundraisers do not see this as a concern at all. In fact, many welcome the shift with open arms, praising the increase in overall giving as a result of providing donors with a quick, efficient way to make a gift.

While I am certainly grateful that the credit system has further opened the wallets of the world's donors, I am troubled by the fact that few question the effectiveness of this new tactic. Specifically, I am baffled as to why more of my peers do not share my next concern:

Such transactions require processing fees that result in a loss of millions of dollars that donors intended to go directly to charitable organizations.

In 2005, it's estimated that over $4.5 billion was donated online. Even at a rate of 4% (far lower than what many charities pay per transaction), that is over $180 million in processing fees.

Surely, there must be a better way to provide donors with a quick and efficient way of making a gift.

Admittedly, the challenge of changing something as entrenched and as powerful as the credit system is daunting. Much of the world's wealth is, quite literally, set against such a challenge.

But could it be done?

Could a network of foundations pool their capital to fund the creation of a social enterprise capable of processing over $4.5 billion at little or no cost to non-profit organizations?

Could a visionary leader -- a Bill Gates, a Richard Branson, a Pierre Omidyar -- leverage the resources necessary to change the way that the credit card companies do business?

What systems would need to be in place? What barriers would need to be overcome -- not just financial, but also political?

Is there another way?

I believe there is. And I believe that you, the venture philanthropists of the world, are the ones with the resources, knowledge and connections to make it a viable reality.

Imagine the impact of:

• Matching every $0.96 donation with an additional $0.04,
  
• Decreasing the entire sector's fundraising costs by 2-4%, and
  
• Removing the barriers that prevent smaller non-profits from accepting online donations.

The trend towards credit-based philanthropy will not stop. This year, non-profit organizations will surely receive more than $5 billion online. And yet there still will be too few resources to meet the needs, and every penny spent on processing a credit card is a penny that could have been spent on feeding the hungry, healing the sick, housing the homeless and more.

There must be another way. We need your help.


Yours, in the service of our community,

Jeremy Gregg
Editor, The Raiser's Razor

The Raiser's Razor included on Nonprofit Blog Exchange & Don't Tell the Donor

Thank you, Nonprofit Blog Exchange, for including The Raiser's Razor in your "Blog Exchange Roundup #8":

Nonprofit Blog Exchange: Blog Exchange Roundup #8

And here at "Don't Tell the Donor":
Don't Tell the Donor

Lots of resources out there for fundraisers... I'll continue to work to find the best of the best and put it on this blog.

Two more interesting articles from Slate

Our Better Half
How to make giving it all away part of the American success story.
Making philanthropy cool. - By Henry Blodget - Slate Magazine

Uncharitable Thoughts
Are foundations elitist, anti-democratic, and in danger of losing their tax exemptions? - By Lincoln Caplan - Slate Magazine

2006 Rankings — Slate 60 — Slate

It's that time of year, when Slate announces the largest gifts from the world's top philanthropists:

2006 Rankings — Slate 60 — Slate

It will be interesting to see what happens this year that could compete with the mega-gifts of 2006. Of course, according to the Forbes 400, no one in the world has the giving capacity to match Buffet's pledge to the Gates Foundation...

The 400 Richest Americans

... except, of course, Mr. Gates himself.

Area companies among best corporate citizens, magazine says - Dallas Business Journal:

Congratulations to TI, Kimberly-Clark, Chaparral Steel and Southwest Airlines for their recent awards!

Area companies among best corporate citizens, magazine says - Dallas Business Journal:

Thanks for all that you are doing to make our community better, and to serve as a model businesses for both your competitors as well as business in other sectors.

Chart of Blogs on Fundraising

Here is a graph of the various blog posts that contain the term "Fundraising" per day for the last 30 days.

Get your own chart here.

Foundations Need to Be More Accountable

As a follow up to yesterday's blog about the strange imbalance of accountability in the non-profit sector, this is an interesting article from Philanthropy Today:

OPINION: Foundations Need to Be More Accountable

The article comments on a similar article from Financial Times:

Charity needs a better foundation

This is obviously a very difficult topic. It is very hard -- especially for fundraisers -- to make recommendations to funders... let alone criticize their actions.

Further evidence that traditional "charity" will never answer the problems facing our world. What we need is a new model of philanthropy based on community investments and social enterprise.

We're #1! - Writing the Organizational Profile

This is a pretty clear and straightforward article about improving your proposals to foundations:

CharityChannel's Grants & Foundations Review eNewsletter: "We're #1! - Writing the Organizational Profile"

It's a good practice for all grant writers, even the experienced, to regularly reread their templates with "new eyes" and to question both the content and the structure of their argument for funding.

Philanthropy 2173: Courage where feedback loops would work

This is an interesting opinion on the recent uproar caused by Ami Dar's commentary on Omidayer.net:

Philanthropy 2173: Courage where feedback loops would work

It is a bit disturbing how the sector considers this sort of act to be truly courageous, as that implies such a significant imbalance in accountability.

Amazing opportunity from Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

The RWJF has an annual Call For Proposals for a very interesting matching grant, through which organizations have to secure the support of local funders in order to leverage multi-year grants from RWJF:

Open Calls For Proposals: Local Initiative Funding Partners 2008

It's no easy feat to secure the partnerships -- but could be worth the returns!

Blog Readers Spend More Time and Money Online

An interesting article that confirms why non-profits should integrate blogs into their outreach strategy:

Blog Readers Spend More Time and Money Online

Announcing new grant opportunities

The latest version of this newsletter includes some very interesting funding opportunities in a variety of areas:

CharityChannel's Don Griesmann's Grant Opportunities eNewsletter

So many opportunities... so little time to write proposals. Many of these awards are highly specialized, and several are for very small awards... the key to successful grantwriting is determining which proposals to submit, and which opportunities to bypass.

Not an easy task by any stretch, particularly for organizations that have multiple programs. Building a proposal calendar -- and sticking to it even at the cost of avoiding new opportunities -- will be a much more successful strategy than jumping from deadline to deadline among new funders.

Building a Brand

This is a strong article that quickly summarizes the key points behind the need to focus on brand-building:

Donor Power Blog: As everything changes, a great brand can keep you afloat

Every year, there are thousands more charities competing for funding -- a growth rate far beyond the increase in donations each year. Although it is important to focus on developing new strategies for reaching out to donors, the critical task for any fundraiser is to build the brand that will establish long-term relationships with donors.

Integratring online tools into your communication program

This article cites the growing acceptance and use of online tools within the non-profit sector:

AFP Blog: Recent News of Note: The State of E-Philanthropy in 2007 :: PNNOnline ::

Web sites, emails and other Internet-based communications are a critical part of any successful company's outreach and engagement efforts. For non-profits, they can become one of the cornerstones of their fundraising program -- but there are several unique barriers that non-profits face to successfully integrating such tools into their portfolio.

First, unlike more traditional communications pieces, these items are dynamic. They require constant oversight, and must be updated regularly to keep pace with donors' expectations as well as the growth/change of the organization. Whereas a newsletter can be built, mailed and forgotten -- a Web site should be a living, breathing extension of the organization's brand.

Second, online programs take a great deal of time to lead effectively. They cannot simply be another responsibility added to someone's job description.

Here, non-profits must balance the scale between barely dipping their toe in the water (i.e. building a Web site and never updating it) and getting sucked away in the river of opportunities (i.e. neglecting their established fundraising programs in order to take advantage of every new online program that is out there).

Finally, non-profits need to understand that there are many things that their online projects must include which private for-profit companies can neglect. Their Web site should be more than an advertising brochure -- it should be a hub of information on the organization's financials, performance measures and plans for growth. In this way, non-profits should look at some of the more robust public companies out there to see how their online efforts speak to both customers as well as shareholders.

Integrating online tools into a comprehensive communications portfolio can help non-profit organizations signficantly expand their capacity for outreach and engagement, but they must make their choices very consciously about what to do and what to avoid. Above all, the most important thing for these organizations to do is to craft a communications strategy that is focused on building their brand and engaging the community in their mission. The right kind of Web sites, emails and Internet tools will grow naturally out of such a strategy.

How much overhead is too much?

I think it is a problem when donors focus on overhead costs as the primary means of determining the worth or effectiveness of an organization.

In his monograph "Good to Great for the Social Sectors" (an addendum to his original book with a similar title), Jim Collins provides a very insightful argument against such a perspective. I think that the book is well worth the read for any person working in our sector, so I will not quote it here. However, the basic argument was that: "If one football team won more games than another, but had a higher percentage overhead than the other, would it be a worse team?"

That being said, I disagree with this recent act of Congress to lower the eligibility bar for entrance into the Combined Federal Campaign:

Philanthropy Today: From The Chronicle: Combined Federal Campaign

This issue is very concerning... when fundraising costs suck a quarter out of every dollar raised, the organization is likely to be poorly run or the mission is possibly not worth funding.

There are many fine organizations that can fall below this threshold. I believe that Congress should re-think this action.

Donors should utilize overhead/CEO pay to provide a quick "fraud check" when evaluating a charity. After determining that the organization passes muster, donors should then look at:

• Strength and diversity of board leadership
  
• Qualifications of staff (particularly CEO)
  
• Impact of services (inputs AND outcomes)
  

Personally, I also like to look at the uniqueness of the services/impact as well as the capacity for replicating services. This shows that the programs in which I invest are model services for other organizations.

Advice for Bloggers

Good advice here.... I should follow. :)

Have Fun • Do Good: 5 Tips to Start a Nonprofit Blog

Sample of Branding Program - Sierra Club: Daily Ray of Hope Archives - Sierra Club

Here's a great example of a simple but powerful branding tool from the Sierra Club...

Daily Ray of Hope newsletters

Every day, they email a quote that relates to their core values and that reaffirms the importance of their mission.

Gift Hub: Good Capital

This blogs asks some really important questions about social enterprise from the perspective of traditionally profit-driven businesses:

Gift Hub: Good Capital

The discussion that follows is also interesting.

Donor Power Blog: It walks and quacks like a duck -- but what is it really?

Something about these catalog donation programs -- in which you can "buy" a water buffalo for a farming family in a poor country -- has always bothered me. I think that this blog asks some important questions about these kinds of programs.

Donor Power Blog: It walks and quacks like a duck -- but what is it really?

They make money... but are they right for your organization?

Recordnet.com: Pacific students to manage $1M fund

This is an amazing program! Students at this business school will manage a $1 million investment fund.

AFP Blog: Recent News of Note: Recordnet.com: Pacific students to manage $1M fund

More universities should provide such an opportunity to their students; even a gift of $10,000 or so could have an impact.

In fact, if a University truly believes in the power of its teaching, it should put a portion of its endowment into such a program. This would provide great incentive to all parties, and make quite a statement about the school!

GuideStar

This is an excellent resource for not only researching foundations, but also for your donors.



www.GuideStar.org

Set a reminder on your calendar every January to update your company's profile. Many sophisticated donors (read: major giving capacity) are turning to this site for information on non-profits. Being forthright with your organization's information will prove a far more effective long-term fundraising strategy than any other action you could take.

Remember, our only asset is trust. No fundraising program, however slick or sophisticated, can succeed if it's ultimate goal is not to build the donor's trust in the institution.

onPhilanthropy: Who's Blogging Corporate Giving?

This is an interesting article bout the various blogs related to corporate philanthropy:

onPhilanthropy: Who's Blogging Corporate Giving?

"Despite all the talk and type about philanthropy blogs, though, onPhilanthropy hasn’t heard much about blogging in the narrower sphere of corporate philanthropy and its related fields, so we set out to explore the offerings."

THE 59 SMARTEST ORGS ONLINE on Squidoo

This is a really good list of non-profit Web sites:

THE 59 SMARTEST ORGS ONLINE on Squidoo

All of these sites have a nice design and a clean look, but more importantly -- they do a great job at communicating the importance of their mission and the impact of their work.

Stop Begging

When asked what I do for a living, I sometimes smile and say, "I beg for money for a living."

The joke usually gets a quick laugh, particularly if I am speaking to other professional fundraisers. But in the back of my mind, I've always questioned why I made the joke.

Why did I feel like the work that I do -- that we as fundraisers show up to do every day for organizations that are making a difference in our world -- was somehow less credible, less "worthy" than the work of, say, financial advisors?

Earlier this year, I was privileged to meet Pam Gerber, the Director of the Entrepreneurs Foundation of North Texas. She is working hard at changing the world of philanthropy from the most difficult of all places: from the donor's perspective.

She issued a simple challenge to me: "Stop thinking about your work that way. You are not begging. You are securing investments."

Pam is right, and her words reminded me of my first conversation with Larry James, CEO of Central Dallas Ministries. I was interviewing for the job of Director of Development, in which my job would be to oversee fundraising efforts for this $4.2 million (at the time) organization.

"I hate charity," he told me.

.... I was shocked. He repeated himself:

"I hate charity. 'Charity' is the reason that we have to be in this business."

Larry went on to describe that fundraising at CDM was not about getting gifts: it was about securing investments in the future of our community. His words ring true for all organizations, not just those fighting poverty.

We should all accept Pam's challenge.

----------------
PROPOSED DISCUSSION: What are you and your organization doing to put yourself out of the begging business and into the investment business?

Subscribe to The Raiser's Razor

You can subscribe to receive this blog by email through FeedBurner by entering your email here.

You can also select from a variety of RSS (Really Simple Syndication) services here .

----------------------------------
What do you think? Please click the COMMENTS button below.

About the Author

Jeremy Gregg is a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) who currently serves as the Vice President of Development for the Center for Nonprofit Management in Dallas, Texas. He has previously served as the Director of Development for Central Dallas Ministries and the Director of Development & Communications for Camp Fire USA Lone Star Council.

He received his MBA from the Executive Program of the University of Texas at Dallas; he also has a BA in English as well as a BA in Advertising from SMU.

He currently serves on the advisory board for the Prison Entrepreneurship Program, Cistercian Prep School and Friends of the Santa Fe Trail. He previously served on the governing board of the Hollywood / Santa Monica Neighborhood Association.

Jeremy and his wife Natalie are the proud parents of Madeleine; they are also expecting another daughter in January.

His profile is also available on the following social networking sites:

Blogger Profile

LinkedIn Profile

Facebook Profile

MySpace Page

Welcome to The Raiser's Razor

The Raiser's Razor is a blog on the artful science of fundraising. Written by Jeremy Gregg, Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) and Vice President of Development for the Center for Nonprofit Managment in Dallas, Texas.

The views and opinions expressed on this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of CNM, its staff or its board.