A Call to Innovate: Co-Branding

Could there be a better example of Cause Branding than the Nike partnership with Live Strong? Read more at Cone.

Per my last post, here is another follow-up to my “Hey, Nonprofits! Wake up! You can innovate or you can die” article.

Can you add more value to your sponsorships by exploring co-branding?

Just take a look at corporate giving over the past 6 months.

If you are not considering ways to give your sponsors more return on their investment – more marketing bang for their philanthropic buck – you are on the wrong side of a quickening trend away from hand-outs and towards hand-in-hand partnerships.

One of the greatest and yet untapped assets within your organization is its brand: more specifically, the relationships that customers have to your brand.

Leveraging these relationships can be an incredibly valuable opportunity for any corporation. Your organization should consider how it can deliver customers to a corporation, and then offer that opportunity at a hefty price:

-          The supporters of animal organizations are likely strong prospects for everything from Kibbles ‘n Bits to the local perky-poodle salon. Your pet shelter has great access and strong brand recognition among some core users of those products: monetize it!

-          The parents who send their kids to your summer camp are buying everything from super-safe Volvos to Kumon Math and Reading Centers’ tutoring. Gaining access to those parents is worth a fine penny to those corporations.

-          The hundreds of people who drive their cars to your museum are all in need of oil changes, car washes, gasoline, etc. What would one of these companies be willing to pay for their flyer to go on every windshield (or, better yet, handed to them by the parking lot attendant when they drive in)?

-          The side of your food pantry’s warehouse faces a highway. That’s a billboard just waiting to earn money for you!

Think about all of the ways that you engage clients, volunteers, donors and the general community.

Now, think of all of the sponsors whom you solicit throughout the year.

Sure, they might like buying a table at your event. But in this economy, how much more confident would they be in the value of that table sponsorship if it also included the opportunity to put one of their coupons at every seat? Or if their sponsorship were bundled with one of the opportunities above?

Do not limit yourself to the silos of your revenue streams: think creatively about ways to bundle your various “assets” together into a package for your sponsors, and work with them to understand their goals.

Read more about co-branding with a corporate partner -- cause branding -- at the site of the people who invented the term... Cone:

http://www.coneinc.com/cause-branding

What are the opportunities that you see at your organization?

[where: 75223]

Great Event: Fundraiser for Angela Hunt

Angela Hunt is one hot firecracker.

The campaign to re-elect Dallas City Councilmember Angela Hunt has just announced a very creative event for one of her first major fundraisers prior to the next election:

Celebrate Indepence Day with an
independent voice on the City Council!
Unfortunately, the event will be on June 26 instead of the 4th of July, but the tie-in to the national celebration is made through the following innovative sponsor levels:

• $2000 - Roman Candles (Couple)
  
• $1000 - Bottle Rocket (Individual)
  
• $500 - Firecracker
  
• $250 - Sparkler

Tickets are only $100 each. See the invite below, or visit:
www.angelahunt.com/








Not sure if Angela is your representative on the Council? Check out the (bizzaro!) Redistricting map here:
http://www.dallascityhall.com/government/council/adopted_map.html



Want to know who represents you in the State and U.S. Government? Go here:
http://www.fyi.legis.state.tx.us/

Tickets now on sale for Sept. 29 show with Clint Black!

Central Dallas Ministries has just released tickets for our upcoming benefit concert, A Night to Remember 2008 with Clint Black.

Click here for more information and to reserve your seats for what will certainly be another sold-out show!

Event Details
Monday, September 29, 2008
Doors open at 6:30 p.m.
Show begins at 8:00 p.m.

The Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center

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

Seth's Blog: Marketing the charity auction

Seth's Blog: Marketing the charity auction cites how "The Robin Hood Foundation raised more than 24 million dollars at their last auction, because people competed to overpay."

The story the charity must tell is: "don't pay $19 for this twenty dollar bill, don't even pay $30, we need you to pay $40!" The satisfaction of overpaying (whether you overpay anonymously or in public) is what they sell, not a bargain.

More here:http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/05/marketing-the-c.html

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

Save the Date... A Night to Remember 2008 with Clint Black

Guess what I'll be doing on September 29, 2008?

A Night to Remember 2008 with Clint Black


Monday, September 29, 2008
Doors open at 6:30 p.m.
Show begins at 8:00 p.m.

The Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center

More info here:
http://www.centraldallasministries.org/ANTR


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

Dallas mayor urges businesses to fight homelessness

Thank you to Phil Cubeta for not only joining me at Central Dallas Ministries' recent Urban Ministries Prayer Breakfast, but for citing the event on his blog, Gift Hub: "Of Metrics and Prayers for the Poor".

The Dallas Morning News also covered the event in their article, "Dallas mayor urges businesses to fight homelessness." This article is cited below.

To grow physically and spiritually, Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert said Thursday the city must embrace the needs of its most vulnerable residents – particularly the homeless – and not leave them behind while those stronger thrive.

“To progress together, we need to understand the needs of others,” Mr. Leppert said during a keynote address before about 1,000 people at the Urban Ministries Prayer Breakfast at Dallas’ Hilton Anatole hotel.

Economic constraints, such as limited housing options and high gasoline prices, remain barriers to the homeless engaging in mainstream society, Mr. Leppert said.

But Dallas is poised to significantly improve homeless residents’ lives through the opening this spring of a new downtown homeless assistance center, the mayor explained. Mr. Leppert also said he envisions the creation of a $20 million housing trust fund that could be included in the city’s next public works bond package. Top city staffers project placing such a package before voters within three or four years.

The public sector, however, can only provide so much funding, Mr. Leppert said.

“The private sector must step up,” Mr. Leppert said. “Government can’t do everything and shouldn’t do everything. It should set a foundation, it should set priorities.”

To that point, the mayor called on area businesses to support, through word and checkbook, efforts combating homelessness and its root causes. General investments in Dallas will also create a stronger economic climate benefiting the entire community.

“Investments are, at their heart, a belief that we can create opportunities,” said Mr. Leppert, a career businessman and self-made millionaire who often crafts his political messages in economic terms.

But this morning, he stood before the crowd as part preacher and part politician.

Quoting Mother Teresa, Mr. Leppert said that the good one does today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway, he implored.

“In the end, it is between you and God,” he said.

Supporters hail Mr. Leppert’s ideas for reducing homelessness as at once compassionate and realistic.

But some homeless advocates have derided as callous one particular program Mr. Leppert strongly advocates: the Lend a Hand campaign, which calls on Dallasites to resist giving panhandlers money.

Instead, the campaign recommends, drop pocket change in any of several dozen lock boxes provided throughout the downtown area. Backers call it a vehicle for better supporting organizations dedicated to helping the homeless.

Larry James, chief executive officer of the Central Dallas Ministries, rejects such criticism of Mr. Leppert. He says the mayor’s efforts will only help the plight of Dallas’ homeless residents.

“This mayor is the real deal,” Mr. James said. “Tom Leppert cares about every street, every corner and every person in this city … He’s refreshing in every respect.”

Thank you also to the sponsors of the event:

Providing Hope
The John and Dorothy Castle Advised Fund of The Dallas Foundation

Providing Housing
Baron and Blue Foundation
Clay Cooley Automotive Group
Jon and Linda Halbert Family Foundation
Morning Star Family Foundation
Mr. and Mrs. J. McDonald Williams

Providing Health
Anonymous
Champion Partners, LTD
Church of the Incarnation
Texas Instruments
Thompson & Knight Foundation

Providing Hunger Relief
Abilene Christian University
Anonymous
Argent Property Company
Bank of America
Baylor Health Care System
Beaird Commercial Realty
The Beck Group
Don J. Clevenger
Scott Collier/The Staubach Company
Cornerstone Christian Church
Wesley and Teresa Crawford
East Dallas Christian Church
Embrey Interests LTD
Holmes Murphy & Associates
Dan and Sue Hopkins
Willie and Gigi Hornberger
Sam and Patricia Ligon
Sarah Losinger
Schuyler and Lila Marshall
Leadership Network
North Texas Food Bank
Glenn and Gabriella Owen
The Rees-Jones Foundation
Riverside Church of Christ
Dave and Cathy Shipley
Blake and Erynn Shipley
Kay and Kevin Thomason
Jim and Rhonda Walton
Walton’s Garden Center

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

Saturday's Pumpkin Festival in West Village

Join us Saturday for the Life is good Pumpkin Festival!

Saturday, October 27

12 to 8 p.m.

West Village in Dallas

Finally, an event worth attending... Dessert First™ on October 16

My dear friend Cara Bush is one of those true "community builders" whose heart and hard work make our city a better place to live. Among her many services to Dallas, she is a member of the local chapter of Altrusa International. She recently forwarded me an invite to their upcoming event, Dessert First™.

Dessert first?!?! Now this is an event I could get into! Here are the details from the site:

Dallas Contemporary - Tuesday, Oct 16, 2007 - 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm

"Dessert First™" is the unveiling party celebrating the design of edible chocolate sculpture created by legendary Dallas architect, Cole Smith, FAIA. Cole has created a unique piece that has been made into 2 sizes of European style gourmet chocolate that can be purchased the night of the event or ordered online at www.altrusadtd.org.

We are honored to have Cole along with his wife, noted Dallas interior designer, Sherry Hayslip, ASID serve as Honorary Chairpersons for the event.

The event will be held Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2007 at the Dallas Contemporary museum located in the Wilson Historic District at 2801 Swiss Ave. The Dallas Contemporary spotlights smart art by emerging Texas talents. Currently on exhibit is the work of 2007 Texas Legend, Roger Winter.

Veuve Clicquot champagne provided by Moet-Hennessey will be served with chocolates truffles from Chocolate Secrets, cheese provided by Chateau de Fromage and Jimmy's Italian Market and desserts from York Street restaurant. Samples of the molded chocolate sculpture will be provided by Morgen Chocolate.

This European style gourmet chocolate sculpture will be offered along with chocolate truffles and poinsettias for your holiday gift giving to raise funds for the charitable projects of the Altrusa Club of Downtown Dallas Foundation.

Altrusa International, Inc. of Downtown Dallas is an organization of business professionals dedicated to serving the Dallas community. Our focus is on helping women and children in need in the Dallas area. Since 1982, our fund raising projects have raised almost $500,000 for community grants. We have contributed over 50,000 hours of hands-on services to local community agencies. Your support will help us to further our goal to help as many worthy organizations as possible.

Thank you, Cara, for all that you are doing for Dallas! And thank you Altrusa for putting on an event that looks too tasty to pass up...

Continuing Legal Education

Central Dallas Ministries is hosting its second annual Continuing Legal Education (CLE) seminar, "8 Things that Every Lawyer
(and pro bono volunteer!)
Should Know About Practicing Family Law," today at the Belo Mansion.

Friday, October 5, 2007
The Belo Mansion (Belo Hall)
12:00 – 4:45 p.m. with Reception to Follow

Click here for more information.
Tickets are still available at the door. Proceeds from this event benefit the public interest law firm of Central Dallas Ministries, Legal Action Works. The event helps the firm to fulfill three of its goals: achieving its mission (improving the quality of legal services available to the poor), building community (particularly among the legal community) and raising funds to support its work.

You can read the Dallas Observer's take on this event here:
Family Law For Families the Law Forgot

Trent Stamp Strikes Again

Trent Stamp would likely be proud of this article in The Dallas Morning News by Kim Horner (one of the strongest reporters in North Texas). The article, entitled, Cattle Baron's Ball nets millions for cancer, but party's cost is a secret" delves into the sour side of sweet events like the world-famous Ball after penning the apt phrase:

"Tonight's Cattle Baron's Ball is the kind of party that would make J.R. Ewing feel right at home."

In fact, Mr. Stamp is quoted in the article:

Officials from charity watchdog groups say charities should provide more information to back up fundraising figures.

Trent Stamp, president and executive director of Charity Navigator in New Jersey, said that expenses equal to 20 percent of gross proceeds – the cancer society's goal this year – makes for a good rate of return. But he said a charity should disclose publicly all of its finances.

"To not be totally transparent about that is perhaps a red flag and something that donors should be cautious about," Mr. Stamp said, adding that donors increasingly are demanding more accountability from charities.

Go get 'em, Trent.

Taste of Deep Ellum TONIGHT!

Thank you to our neighbors in Deep Ellum for naming CDM the beneficiary of this event. I hope to see you all at the show!

A Taste of Deep Ellum
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Sons of Hermann Hall, 3414 Elm Street at Exposition
4pm to 7:30pm.

Admission $25 benefitting Central Dallas Ministries
Tickets available at frontgatetickets.com, or locally at Bill's Records, S. Lamar OR at Good Records, Greenville Ave.

A Taste of Deep Ellum will be "family friendly" and feature Live Music by a diverse group of Dallas musicians including a group of students from Zounds Sounds School of Rock, as well as local Country, Folk and Rock bands.

Food Stations by each participating restaurant/business will be spread throughout the entire building and admission will grant attendees food samples from all.

Confirmed participants:

AllGood Cafe
Baker's Ribs
Chateau de Fromage
Daddy Jack's Wood Grill
Dallas Mozzarella Company
Deep Sushi
Golden Desserts
Istanbul Grill
Monica's Aca y Alla
Murray Street Coffee
Rudolph's Meat Market
Rush Patisserie
Santiago's Taco Loco
Sol's Taco Lounge
St. Pete's Dancing Marlin
Vern's Soul Food Cafe
and the
Deep Ellum Association

Musical Entertainment by:

SHIBBOLETH ~ SHANGHAI 5
ANN ARMSTRONG & STEVE HUGHES
ZOUNDS SOUNDS SCHOOL OF ROCK
LAURA HARRELL & FRANKIE 45

A Night to Remember 2007

Next Monday, Central Dallas Ministries hosts the 2007 A Night to Remember -- our annual fundraiser and community celebration!

Monday, September 24 at 7:00 p.m. the doors will open for the 8:00 p.m. concert at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in the Downtown Arts District here in Dallas. This year our night of celebration will feature country musician and Grammy Award winner LeAnn Rimes!

In addition to the great music, CDM will name the 2007 winner of the Hazel E. Brown Community Builder Award.

It will definitely be a night to remember!

Help us sell out this great music hall!

For ticket information, visit:
http://centraldallasministries.org

A few big philanthropy events coming to Dallas....

KRLD unveils list of participants for Restaurant Week

KRLD has published the eagerly anticipated list of participants for its 10th annual Restaurant Week, taking place this year August 13 to 19, during which diners can get a 3-course dinner at some fairly high-end places for $35 per person.

You want to participate because it gives an opportunity to people who normally might not be able to eat at your restaurant," says Victory Tavern manager Victor Rojas. "Plus it benefits charity [the North Texas Food Bank and the Lena Pope Home], so you're generating some good. And you get recognition and notoriety for that."

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

Life is good Pumpkin Festival - Dallas.

The 2007 Life is good Pumpkin Festival features a fun-filled day and night of live music, delicious food, and lighthearted homegrown activities such as scarecrow stuffing, pumpkin catapults, gourd bowling, and treasure hunts. People of all ages pour into Flagpole Hill, the premier park at White Rock Lake, to soak up the good vibes and the spectacular sight of more than 10,000 pumpkins aglow in the night.

The Dallas Pumpkin Festival builds upon the success of the past three years in Boston, where over 100,000 people attended the 2006 festival. Proceeds benefit Central Dallas Ministries and supports programs to help children who face unfair challenges rediscover joy in their lives.

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

On Monday, September 24, 2007, Central Dallas Ministries will host its annual A Night To Remember concert. This year's talent is the amazing voice of Leann Rimes!

For more information on the concert, please visit:
http://www.centraldallasministries.org/antr/

To hear Leann sing a gorgeous a capella version of "Amazing Grace," see the video below.

See you at the show!

Thank you gifts that support your mission

Every year, CDM hosts an annual concert to raise funds for our services. This year's event will be on September 24, 2007 at the Meyerson -- and will feature singer LeAnn Rimes. We have about 1,800 people join us ... including several hundred at the sponsor level.

In past years, we've given special gifts to sponsors -- the albums from the artist who is singing, a hand-cut stone paperweight in the shape of Texas, or some other trinket to help commemorate the event. This year, we've decided to provide our sponsors with something that will help them to better understand our mission: a copy of the new book, "Our Day to End Poverty", from Criterion Ventures.

We're ordering 350 copies of the book. We think that this will be a great way to give our sponsors a nice present that also helps them to understand what they can do to help end poverty (besides just giving us checks).

The book would be a great subject of study for a book club, a powerful source of activities for a youth group and a clear guide for a service organization. Here is a link to the book's press release:

http://www.ncccusa.org/news/070605ourday.html

You can order the book HERE AT AMAZON.

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

DISCUSSION: What other gifts have you provided to donors that support your mission? (i.e. not just another coffee cup)

Beware Publicity ... but also give me some!

Guidestar recently released a great article on the role of publicity/media in a major gifts effort... (with an important reminder about the costs and problems of relying on special events!)

GuideStar - News - Articles - Beware Publicity When Raising Big Gifts

So yes, publicity can be bad... but I have two initiatives that need some.

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

The first is CDM's car donation program, which was just launched at:

www.CDMcars.com



Unfortunately, when you Google "Central Dallas Car Donation," the site doesn't come up. CDM's own www.CentralDallasMinistries.org site appears, but this is below the national www.DonationLine.com site that we used to use. In order to get more "GoogleJuice" for our site, we need to get more publicity for CDMCars.com. If you have a blog or Web site, we would greatly appreciate you linking to this site!

(And if you have a car, truck, boat, RV or plane that you're not using... send it our way!)

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


The second thing I need publicity for is to help get the word out about "Our Day to End Poverty: 24 Ways You Can Make a Difference", a great book from Criterion Ventures. I spent some time the other day speaking with the folks from Criterion about their book and how we might help get the word out about it... anything you could do to help pass on the word about this wonderful text would be greatly appreciated.

Know any Book clubs? Youth Groups? Service organizations? Please send them a link to this book, which is well worth reading.

Are Special Events worth it?

I have been asking this question ever since I ran my first event (an auction that took me several months to plan, on which we spent about $40,000 in order to get a net return of $25,000). However, my boards and chief executives have always justified the events by "the intangibles":

• Public awareness of our work,
  
• Bringing in new money,
  
• Rewarding current donors (i.e. building relationships).

However, this new 2007 Special Events Study from Charity Navigator provides some very interesting data to answer the question of: "Are events worth it?"

Here is a sample graph that shows how inefficient these special events are compared to other forms of fundraising:


I do believe that there are benefits to special events that go beyond the bottom line. However, as fundraisers, we must consider this bottom line -- and if we are going to justify events because of their long-term impact, then we need to look at the annual return for our organization. If we justify an event by saying it creates long-term returns and yet our annual fund is not increasing every year, then we are kidding ourselves.

Here are some additional considerations that need to be included within any analysis of events:

• Compensation provided to event staff who work on the events. If your event raises $100,000, but your Development Director spends 30% of their year working on the event, then you need to deduct her salary from the return.
  
• Compensation provided to executive/administrative staff. Any event will likely pull away time from the CEO, the Controller, and other staff. These costs should be reflected as well.

Additionally, we need to consider the possible downsides of having an event:

• Opportunity Costs for Development Team. Rather than writing grants or meeting with donors, staff are busy picking out table decorations and working with vendors. The amount of "lost fundraising" is an opportunity cost that must be considered.
  
• Opportunity Costs for Volunteers. Although events provide volunteers with a great opportunity to bring their friends into the mission, they are also a great "out" for Board members (i.e. "I bought my tickets to the gala, so I don't have to donate" or "I filled my table at the breakfast, so I don't need to recruit any new donors."). The end result could be less successful cultivation than if every board member were responsible for leading one tour per year for their contacts.
  
• Negative brand impacts. Donors don't like it when organizations spend money on fundraising. When you have a big flashy event that nets less than 50% of its total revenue, you are going to make some people mad -- particuarly sophisticated donors who dig into your financials.
  
• Negative messaging. Big flashy events do not connote need. They convey an image of financial strength. I have heard several donors say that they "did not know that we needed money." Literally, those were their words. This is hardly what I want them to think at the end of the year when they are thinking about which organizations to support!
  
• They're a beating. Staff and volunteers can get worn out from doing an event. Every year, we have a big event right around the time when our United Way proposal are due. By the time we get through everything, the development team wants to take a month off... which is not exactly the ideal scenario, particularly towards the end of the year when we need to make our big push to close gifts from donors.

And yet, despite all of this info, it is rarely the fundraiser's call about whether or not to have an event. Our Boards still want them, and our Executive leadership still wants them.

"So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."
- F. Scott Fitzgerald

CDM's Urban Ministries Prayer Event: FORUM FOR OUR FUTURE

This morning, my organization hosted a prayer breakfast in which we invited the leading seven candidates for Mayor of Dallas to present their plans for addressing poverty in our community. Over 1,100 people attended our event -- one of the highest in the 12-year history of the breakfast, which has previously featured speakers such as then-Governor and now-President George Bush, Senator John Edwards, Jim Wallis, Tony Campolo and others.

We hosted the event for several reasons. Financially, the event's goal is just to break even (we gave away as many tickets as we sold). The primary motivation for the event is to create a forum in which we can discuss the issues that matter most to our mission. This supports our long-term branding of focusing on the root causes of poverty, while also focusing the future mayor's attention on the issues of poverty.

Audio from the event is available here, thanks to our local affiliate of National Public Radio -- KERA 90.1 (whose incredibly talented reporter Catherine Cuellar is one of the hardest working people in radio):

KERA: Central Dallas Ministries Mayoral Candidates Forum (2007-04-26)

A great event....

I know, I know... for someone who recently blogged about how much he doesn't like special events, it's odd for me to plug one. However, I have a great deal of respect for Share Our Strength, and their Taste of the Nation event is always a highlight of special event season here in Dallas:

Share Our Strength's Taste of the Nation: Dallas

In addition to being a successful fundraiser, the event is a great form of cause marketing... for both the non-profit beneficiaries as well as the corporate sponsors. It is also a great advocacy and awareness piece that gets out the message of the prominence of hunger in our community.

Thanks to American Express for their support of this program, and to chef Stephan Pyles for leading the team of chefs that gather to make this event a success.

(Now, if only I find a way to get CDM added to the list of beneficiaries....) :)

Please, no, not another special event...

Ask anyone I've ever worked with: I cannot stand special events.

They are an incredibly time consuming and expensive way to raise money. I also find that very few of them are effective.... but they provide enough busywork that they "feel" like raising money.

They are mostly unavoidable, of course. That being said, this article provides some good ways to integrate them into an ongoing campaign:

GuideStar - News - Articles - A Year in the Life of a Fundraiser: Year-round Fundraising for Everybody