Is your non-profit Green?

You hand out your non-profit's flashy annual report to your major partner and then the guy lashes at you for using so much excessiveness in your annual report. And you thought you were giving the partner a favor by making the report look oh so good! Hehehe.

Ther are partners who understand the value of showing your best foot forward in terms of communication. And then, there are those who smack you in the face for not being a good steward of your non-profit's money. So how do we balance it?

In reality, a non-profit should not be using all sorts of flashiness in any communication that partners will misconstrue as a misuse of money. There should always be restraint even if another partner is paying for all the flashy stuff.

So think wisely, and also use your non-profit's money wisely.

What's next after the handshake?

Oftentimes, the Pinoyfundraiser meets potential partners, a meeting is adjourned, they shake hands and go on their separate ways. What do you after? Do you wait for the check to arrive in your mailbox?

The Filipino culture is sometimes a deterrent to follow-up, the point of this post. Follow-up is critical to getting a deal through. Without follow-up your potential partner will forget you in a few days. They have their own challenges and difficulties and as much as they want to help your non-profit, you will just fall by the wayside if you do not follow-up.

Here are some suggestions how to do it:

1. Call them the next day! Make sure to let them know how you appreciate their time.

2. When you end a meeting it is important that you agree on an action point. It can be as small as asking their permission to call them up in a few days to, you guessed it, follow-up

3. Mail a thank you note. In your own handwriting. Provide additional info that you think may help make decision faster

4. Do this again after a week. Its like courtship. Don't lose heart, this is a persistence game.

5. Remember them on important dates.

Obsiously, there are a lot of things that I have not mentioned that you can probably think off, that's good! Make sure you do that five things above first.

God bless!

Make your partners feel like a winner

Nobody wants to be in losing team right?

It is very important that we as Pinoy Fundraisers make our partners know and experience that we are the right non-profit for them. Of course, every organization has its ups and downs, and we should not neglect people from knowing of our challenges, but we need to let our partners know that can have full confidence in us.

Our communications plan should always be able to address the non-profit's triumphs more than the failures (who wants to hear them anyway). Partners will be more trusting with their hard-earned money to an organization they know that will make sure that a project succeeds. I believe its called attitude.

An organization's attitudes is distilled from the prevailing culture in the office. If there is a culture of so much chaos, anarchy and misdirection, then it won't be hard for people to put their money with other "worthy" organizations. If their is a never-say-die culture then people will put their money behind you. they know that you will do whatever it takes for your efforts to succeed.

Now that's a winner!

What does your newsletter look like? Part 2

Here are a few more insight on making newsletters:

1. Be creative in naming your newsletter. Something unique to your non-profit would surely boost appeal.

2. Use a generous amount of white space. For a definition on what a white space is, check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_space_(visual_arts)

3. Size your body text to something like a 10pt. Times New Roman that can be found in almost all computers. Also, use a serif font, e.a. Times New Roman, so that it will be easier to read. Let me remind you, my dear reader, that readability is of utmost importance in a newsletter.

4. If you caption your photos, make captions as if it is a story in itself. This one I learned from my mentor, Gordon Robertson.

5. Use subheads. There are readers that scan your page. Making subheads helps them understand your article.

6. Use multiple columns for your story. A lot of people use only one column for the whole story. Its very hard to read a story in just one column. The readers' eye will get lost going through a loooong, column. They'll just give up reading altogether.

7. Infographics helps. They are also nice eye candy. But use them sparingly.

See you tomorrow! I may have a part 3.

Writing a Fundraising Letter

As I write this, I am in the finishing stage of writing a new fundraising letter for our humanitarian arm. As all writers experience, it is very hard to write a letter, let alone a two-pager.

Starting the letter is the first hurdle. When I write, I need to have all the information at hand. If I ever need additional information that can only be given to me by somebody else, I usually ask another person to get it for me. Sometimes I do it myself. One of the tenets of writing these things are that you have to have your facts accurate. One cannot assume anything.

That is why it usually takes me the better part of the whole day to finish the letter. I take a lot of breaks, not only to clear my mind, but because it helps. When I take a break, I usually take a walk, sometimes not even a few meters away from my workstation and then I have to hurry back because something came to my mind.

You need to seize these opportunities when it comes. If you let if get away, who knows, it may have been something that could have gotten your response up. Who knows, right?

Writing is also something of an art. It is also part science. Part psychology. You need to know your audience well. You need to have a balance tone when you write. You need to convey excitement, fear, sadness, hapiness and ultimately, joy.

You should also have a clear goal when writing. Is it to inform? To provide updates? To ask for money? You need to provide specific action points to the reader. You cannot allow your reader to feel that they were not able to do anything.

You can't make them feel useless or that you have done all the work and they should send money so you can be compensated. No! Whatever your project is, its a collaborative project. You need to make them feel involved. Make them feel that they made a contribution

God bless you and see you again tomorrow!

P.S. I just read that if ever you make typo errors, they sometimes increase response rates. Its not a guarantee but it shows that the letter was done by a person and not by a professional computer.

Hands on or Hands Off?

Greetings from Siquijor!

As non-profits, we are expected to be leading the charge that will further our cause. That is why, the head is the best spokesperson for the organization. If you are reading this and you lead a non-profit, are you the one I just described?

The head should always be in the best position to communicate the non-profit's work and should be very intimate with it. Whatever question that you encounter that is related to your non-profit, it should always have a definite answer. Generalities should be avoided. The answer should always be to the point. This shows that you are in touch with what you do and makes you very credible and trustworthy of one's support. Anyone other than you is the most credible to communicate what your non-proft does.

The head should not avoid, at any cost, the role of making your cause known. We cannot be too shy about it because that is our role. ANo one can replace you and until such time when someone who is thoroughly conversant with what the non-profit does, then that is your sole role.

God bless from Siquijor!

"Ask and it shall be given..."

How well do you ask money from your supporters?

Is it a hard question for you to answer? Do you fidget around and hope that they get the message? Do yo beat around the bush and hope that they catch what you mean? And by the way, what do YOU actually say?

The problem with us as Filipinos is that some times, its hard for us to ask for help. It's very difficult for us to say, "Can you please help me out?" On the other hand, there are those who make a living on asking people for money. It's not hard for them to ask but they can get annoying and irritating so easily.

The Pinoy Fundraiser (PF) needs to overcome this hurdle. The PF needs to know when to ask and when not. Asking for money or support should be second nature for the PF, especially if they work in a small non-profit. The PF should not say something like this, "Hey, please pray for our project. We don't have any money and a lot of supporters but we know that God wants us to do this. You will pray, right?"

Why can't we just simply say, "Hey, we have this project and we don't have enough funds, can you help? You can start by sending us 500 pesos today." Now, was that hard? For some, it is. The Bible tells us this in Matthew 7:7, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." What does this say to the PF? You need to ask directly! Don't go around in circles.

The bible also says in James 4:2, "You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God."

You need to let others know that there is a need. You need to let people know how they can help. How they can be part of the solution. And people are just waiting to be asked. If you ask for prayer, what you will get is prayer, because that is what you asked. Why don't you ask for prayer AND MONEY?

I hope this enlightens you. PEACE!

What's Your Cause?

All non-profits have a cause, but few can articulate it well. This is what I will be posting about today. The Pinoy Fundraiser (PF) should know all the innards of the non-profit organization. You need to know why it exists, how it can make this world a better place, it all starts from there.

When you start a fundraising campaign, big or small, it usually evolves from a cause concept--the reason why you need money in the first place. From cleaning the local river, to making the air more breatheable, to taking care of children with the HIV virus, and you should believe that it is worth other peopele's money. Convincing others about it is another matter though.

So, how does one develop a cause concept. It starts with your vision. For example, if you have an orphanage and you started with housing orphans and you embark on a project to expand your housing facility from 25 to 50 residents, then its a cause concept. How you then communicate this need should now revolve around this concept. Explain the reason for the need to expand, how much it will cost, who will help you build it, how long will it take, etc. And from these questions, you can now outline how you would be presenting it.

Then show it others. Find out what they think about it. Ask your peers. Ask them if it works. You'll get a lot of reactions and you will be able to weigh things and improve your appeal. Unless you are a seasoned Pinoy Fundraiser, your first draft will almost always contain issues that needs to be addressed and improved. Don't be too attached that what you wrote. You are not your audience.

More to come on Monday! God bless!

Strut Your Stuff

05/25/09 AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've just edited the post below to correct some typos and other errors and to make the message clearer (well, to me at least).

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Most non-profits do a great job of rendering social and humanitarian services, but has a difficult, no, a terrible time letting others know about it. Communication is one essential skill a Pinoy Fundraiser should have.

There are so many ways for you to show the world what good you are doing. Some, in modesty cannot bear to "lift their own chair" (ok, that was a lame and very literal translation of "pagbubuhat ng sariling bangko) or being too modest at ones' acievements. But if you really think about it, how else can you get people to give to you if you dont...let...them...know... what...you...are...doing!

Yes, let our fruits tell them how great we are, but then, those fruits take a lot of time to ripen, and when it happens (the fruit, ripening), your donor would have moved on to the next "fruitier" non-profit.

So what do you do? Get a communications plan going!

Write a letter to the 20 or so newspaper editors and the bazillion FM and AM jocks and tell them that you have a good thing going and has just started ("Kailangan pa bang i-memorize yan?")

When you get to the middle part of your project, let them know again. Write a one-page announcement for the press. Call them! Text them! Blog it! Tweet it! Tell them to your friends over and over! Repetition is a good thing. They'll tire of hearing from you and they'd give up have no other choice but to give you a look. Remember the parable of the persistent widow? (Google it right now!). She was so persistent (not to mention annoying) that the judge she pestered surrendered and gave her justice. And when your done, let them know about it too!

So get a pencil and paper ready (a computer would do fine too!) and whip out your communications plan. If its the first time your doing it, you might fail--but you may also succeed!
More to come tomorrow, God bless!