Claris D'cruz’s Post

Why a Friends Of or Membership programme probably isn't the answer - even if your Board keeps on and on about it! There's something about small charity boards that makes them very, very keen on setting up Friends programmes. It's probably familiarity - it's an easy concept to understand, they are likely Friends of a few charities themselves, and they think that because the donations are small it therefore isn't much work. You probably don't need me to tell you that this last point is very much not true. Friends/Memberships are - at first - more work than the income level justifies. You have to create a cohesive group of supporters, keep them stewarded, perhaps put on events, handle enquiries, handle lots of small gifts, and when you're setting up, the income is low. Over time, Friends/Memberships are brilliant: you end up with a committed group of people who know about your cause and are on your side; they are a good group to ask for Legacies; they may go on to give bigger and bigger gifts. They work well as part of a broad fundraising strategy. But, at set-up, it's a slog for not much income. If you are going to do Friends/Membership, make sure you have enough time and resource to set it up properly AND to keep it running. If you set it up and don't give it attention, you'll just create something that takes up your time but doesn't give you the results you're after. Or, worse, something that gives donors a bad experience because they never hear from you again. In short - Friends/Membership (or other regular giving) should be part of your strategy, but IMO it shouldn't be the first thing you do, and it's definitely not a magic income generator!

How do you handle complaints? “You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time”.” ― John Lydgate I was reminded of this recently when the board president of an organization I'm working with called to vent about their low Charity Navigator ranking. She’d been contacted by a potential donor who said that he had planned on making a contribution, but, upon checking out the organization’s Charity Navigator paltry three-star ranking, changed his mind. The fact that this particular organization receives over $2 million worth of in-kind contributions a year (a tremendous showing of community support) doesn’t factor into the financial picture used to determine these evaluations … and, without an explanation, garners a low rating for this charity. How would you handle a situation such as this? My immediate thought was to address the situation, quickly and transparently, by way of the organization’s newsletter and website. Point out the flaw in evaluation methods and point out that another recent independent evaluation showed that every $1 donated results in $6 of goods and services! Sounds good, right? But stop and think about it. Whenever a person, organization, or company does anything worthwhile there will be critics and opposition. In such cases, it's important to develop a “thick skin” and remember to stay the course. (side note – often the two go hand in hand so well that you can actually plot your success by the amount of criticism you get). There are a couple of key points to keep in mind: – Beware of taking to heart negative feedback from people who are not giving you money. Read more: https://lnkd.in/ecCF2Q7g 

Whenever I’m working on a website project, we always ask clients for examples of what they like and don’t like. Without fail, the 2 most common examples given are Apple for small businesses because it’s so clean and slick and Charity Water for nonprofits because of the cohesive brand and notoriety they receive. If you’re prepping to dive into a website project soon, ask yourself this same question. Jotting down what you don’t like can often be just as important as noting what you do like. And, if you feel the urge to be like big brands (Apple, Charity Water, etc) remember you can still tap into the power of what they’re doing without feeling like the only option is to copy them. 😁

As we continue through the charity #trustee alphabet, we want to share with you the latest #MBS blog posts... 🧑🧑🧒🧒 M is for #Membership - Quakers talk about this and mean someone who has formally been recorded as a member. But in this post, I’m thinking about what helps us feel that we belong to a worshipping community – whether or not we’ve been formally recorded. 🔢 N is for Numbers - or those who don't like numbers! Check out our simple hints and tips to keep your finances in order. 💬 O is for Open to #Outreach - does your community know where to find you and what is happening at your place? Open up to outreach and reap the rewards. 💰 P is for Payroll - in our experience, this perplexes people! Check out our latest blog on the who, when, where, why, and how of payroll. 👇👇👇 The blog archive is packed with practical insights to help you. You can explore specifics for your role and charity. If you want to explore these topics in more detail, get in touch and a member of the MBS team is on hand to help. https://lnkd.in/e2hBJRKx admin@mindfulbusinessservices.com #training #BusinessSupport #financetips #CharityMarketing

𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠? Be encouraged, you're in good company! Fundraising is tough at times - for a whole bunch of reasons. Who should you apply to? How do you get their attention? How can we grow in confidence in asking for money? How should you respond when you get knocked back? And so on... I don't class myself as a fundraising guru, but I've learnt a few lessons over the past 25 years in the charity sector which I'd love to share with you. You've probably got a few gems yourself that others also need to hear (including me!). So let's hang out online on Wednesday 16th October 12:30 - 2:00pm to explore how we can all level up fundraising. I'll be sharing 11 things I've learnt so far and there'll be space to share, question and grow together. Sign up for a free space (and Zoom code) today, and I look forward to seeing you in October. Link below... Comments from previous participants... "𝘔𝘢𝘵𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦." "𝘔𝘢𝘵𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵. 𝘏𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦, 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘶𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨." "𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭 90 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩, 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘵𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘶𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨." https://lnkd.in/d7pyvsgy

Be the change with #fiscalhosting ✊ Our sister organisation, The Social Change Nest, fiscally host over 500 #grassroots groups, who are working to make the world a better, fairer and more sustainable place 💚 They are freezing their onboarding fees for new groups for 1 month (until 8 August 2024), meaning you can sign up to be fiscally hosted by them, for free. Find out more ➡️ https://lnkd.in/eeUUYFgF -- Fiscal hosting is where a legally registered organisation (The Social Change Nest) holds money on behalf of a community group, social movement or project that doesn't have the capacity or desire to register as a formal legal entity, i.e. a charity. You might want to be fiscally hosted if you want to apply for funding but don't have the right legal status, you don't want to spend time and resources on becoming a registered charity, or you're fed up of holding money on behalf of your group in your personal bank account and need a better way to manage group finances.

𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄: People are NOT going to give you what you need - until you show them... How you can give them what they want. When you focus on meeting the needs of your donors (rather than your charity's) you raise more: ✅ Money ✅ Long term relationships ✅ Access to wider networks That doesn't mean if someone says jump - you say how high. Nor does it mean you reinvent your charity to fit into a giving criteria (that's called chasing the money and is something very different). 📌 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 (𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗶𝘁) 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 - 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆. Because you're giving to get. Rather than trying to take. Giving to get is always more: ✅ Successful ✅ Enjoyable ✅ Comfortable For both the givers and the askers.  📌 𝗪𝗶𝗻-𝘄𝗶𝗻 😀

This is one of my grant rules -- "Nobody wants to help you." That's an exaggeration, of course, because a few people want to help you. But mostly, foundations (and other donors) are looking to solve a problem, and they give you money because they think you can help THEM solve that problem. #philanthropy #grants #grantwriting #grantwriters #grantrules #NobodyWantsToHelpYou

Since I launched Colvine Communications in 2016, it’s been tricky to find a sustainable way of giving back to the sector I serve. I initially went down the pro bono route, offering a few days of my time free of charge to small charities and other not-for-profits. But there were only so many days I could offer in any given year. That’s why, at the end of last year, I started to create free resources that provide practical support to small organisations that have very limited time and money for comms. This means I can spend my time producing something that will help out lots of organisations, rather than gifting those hours to just one or two.  If you’re a tiny team that needs a bit of a comms boost this week, check out  my current resources here: https://lnkd.in/e29_DcsA If you find any of them useful, or if you have a suggestion for a future resource, I’d love to hear from you 💛 #CharityComms #NotForProfits #SocialMedia #EventMarketing #FreeResources

Let's talk about systems and processes. This topic often comes up in my conversations with CEOs of charities. If you or someone in your charity were unexpectedly unable to work, would anyone else be able to step in and continue seamlessly? Too many organisations, both profit and non-profit, heavily rely on the person in the role to create a process that works for them personally. It's human nature to find the easiest route and stick to what you already know and use. But what happens when a team member doesn't understand your system, or you're the only one who knows how it works? That's when things start to go wrong. Ask yourself these questions: 💡 Does anyone else know my workflow and understand the priorities? 💡 Is there a document or folder in place that someone new could access and follow? 💡 Is the software we use the best tool for the task for both me and the team? So, do you have systems and processes in place for each aspect of your charity?