MAJOR GIFTS -
Endowment Gift Policies – Many organizations adopt an endowment policy that describes minimum gift requirements to establish an individual or named endowment fund. Minimum amounts vary depending on history of endowment giving, size of constituency and so forth. In addition to a minimum dollar amount, you may choose to include a payout period. For example: “Endowed funds are gifts of $50,000 or more given during a three- to five-year period that are retained and invested to produce income.”
FUND DEVELOPMENT -
Identify Non-budgeted Projects for Special Circumstances – Asking for annual gifts that underwrite current operations is a top priority for most nonprofit organizations. And that makes sense. But what about non-budgeted needs that arise — equipment, programming, renovation and repairs, etc.?
It makes sense to continually identify and prioritize those needs that arise and to selectively share them with individuals and businesses that might have an interest in underwriting their costs.
Consider sharing a wish list of non-budgeted needs (that have been prioritized and approved) with:
- Current year contributors who might be interested in making an additional gift (beyond the one that underwrites current-year operations.
- Non-donors who may not be motivated to give to anything except a particular project.
VOLUNTEER MANAGEMENT -
Should You Form a Recruitment Committee?
Never seem to have enough volunteers? Assign recruitment tasks to a handful of volunteers whose sole purpose is to promote volunteer opportunities and enlist new volunteers. Here’s one scenario on how to accomplish this:
A. Hand pick a handful of existing volunteers to serve as ambassadors on behalf of your organization’s volunteer efforts.
B. Give the group a name — Esprit ’de Corps, The [name of organization] Ambassadors, Volunteers-R-Us, etc. — and have members meet monthly.
C. Develop a committee description that defines the group’s responsibilities. Allow members a hand in its development. Examples of ongoing responsibilities may include:
• Setting recruitment goals for the month, quarter and/or year.
• Inviting individuals to volunteer.
• Reviewing, approving and placing recruitment ads and literature.
• Speaking to groups about volunteer opportunities.
• Participating in and being present at volunteer job fairs.
• Coordinating “volunteer recruiting volunteer” campaigns.
With the assistance of this special committee, you should find recruitment efforts to be more focused and effective.
RESOURCES FOR NONPROFIT AND ASSOCIATION PROFESSIONALS -
UPCOMING WEBINARS
Major gifts result from building solid and lasting relationships. Discover new and improved ways of building donor relationships through this insightful 90-minute Webinar, Five I’s of Donor Cultivation, scheduled for Monday, November 15. One registration fee covers as many Webinar participants as you wish at your location.
NEWLY-PUBLISHED MANUALS
93 Ways to Make Your Website More Member Friendly – 48-page manual offers new and creative ways to connect with more members through your website, proven strategies to help you attract more would-be members, and great examples of member-related website features from a variety of organizations.
Gift Clubs & Societies: 71 Ideas on Evaluating Your Gift Clubs, Making Them More Inviting – 46-page manual shares how to use gift clubs to improve fundraising results, procedures for creating or fine tuning your gift clubs/levels, and great examples of donor clubs and accompanying benefits.
POST JOB OPENINGS WITH US
If your nonprofit has a job opening, be sure to post it on our Jobs Center. Any subscriber (to any of our newsletters) who posts a job opening will receive an extra month tacked onto their subscription!
