Tips on Turning Tiny Campaigns Into Big Money
More and more, charities are adding microcampaigns to their fundraising strategies. A microcampaign is any program conducted by an individual, over a short period of time, targeting a relatively small fundraising goal. It sounds simple, but it can be quite effective.

As organizations realize the advantages peer-to-peer fundraising has over traditional charity-to-donor appeals, microcampaigns are beginning to form an integral part of the “isosceles donor triangle.” Considering the nuances of this type of fundraising, there are three key elements to making sure your microcampaign is as successful as it can possibly be.

Make it personal

Fundraising Through the Years
Customizing a fundraising campaign that speaks to every generation isn’t just a question of whether an appeal should be delivered by postman or sent electronically to an inbox.

The method of delivery matters, but so does its message, Blackbaud enterprise solutions engineer Samantha Cohen said at a Blackbaud Delivers event held earlier this month in Philadelphia.

“It’s not just mail for the older and e-mail for the younger,” Cohen said. “It’s about what you say.”

QUICK HIT

Free Money — Eligible Nonprofits Apply Now
Southlake, Texas, consumer-goods company Project 7 is giving away money and looking for organizations interested in taking it.

Project 7 will donate $15,000 (from profits from the sales of products like bottled water) to one representative charity in each of these seven areas: Build the Future, Feed the Hungry, Heal the Sick, Help Those in Need, Hope for Peace, House the Homeless and Save the Earth.

“We are looking for organizations experienced in these seven areas of need that strive to do as much as possible with every dollar donated,” Project 7 founder Tyler Merrick said in a press release.

Any U.S.-based nonprofit that has been established for at least three years is eligible for the funding.

Other requirements include:

* donations received in the last 12 months must be between $1 million and $25 million;
* a minimum of 50 cents of every dollar received must directly support the organizations’s mission;
* the organization must have a Web site and means to communicate from the field with regular updates;
* the organization must be working to make a difference in one of the seven areas of need identified by Project 7.

Once all of the applications are received, Project 7 will narrow them down to three finalists per cause. Then the online community will determine the winners of each cause by voting.

Interested organizations can download the application and learn more by clicking here. Deadline is next September and funds will be awarded December 2009.

SOUND OFF

What advice do you have for your peers in regard to fundraising in an unstable economy?

To send responses/comments, e-mail: mbattistelli@napco.com. Responses should not exceed 100 words. Your ideas, insights and opinions could be published in an upcoming issue of FundRaising Success magazine.

EDITORIAL DIGEST

Call for Fundraising Professionals of the Year Nominations
In February, FundRaising Success will announce the winners of the fourth annual Fundraising Professionals of the Year Awards. To submit a nomination, send us an e-mail telling us who you’re nominating, in which category and why. Categories are:

Lifetime Achievement — Based on a body of work over the course of 30+ years.
Fundraising Professional of the Year — Based on specific fundraising achievement in 2008.
Fundraising Stars — Based on a body of work, a compelling project or special circumstance, an overall attitude or approach, etc.
Rising Stars — Up-and-comers with fewer than five years in the sector.

Send nominations to mbattistelli@napco.com before Dec. 22. Please include your name, as well as the nominee’s name, title, agency or organization, phone number, and e-mail; reason for the nomination; and, if possible, a digital headshot of the nominee.

Don’t Toy With the Marine Corps
In our cover story, “Don’t Toy With the Marine Corps,” Associate Senior Editor Melissa Busch explores how the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation regrouped after a fundraising and public-relations disaster — and came back stronger than ever.

Also, fundraising consultant Terry Burton explains the concept of transformational gifts and outlines how nonprofits can best position themselves to be recpients of these organization-changing donations in his story, “The Most Major of Major Gifts.”

QUOTE

“Law-watchers say ‘hard cases make bad law.’ We could probably add a nonprofit corollary to that: Crazy donors make bad fundraising.

The For Impact Daily Nuggets Blog looks at this issue at The Irrational Investor, making the observation that around 1 out of 40 prospects are ‘completely irrational.’ They ask weird questions. They have eccentric agendas. They just throw you for a loop. ... It’s always best to focus on the normal part of any audience you engage. Nearly all of your donors are reasonable, like-minded, clear-headed, and rational. Aim your efforts at these people. The effort you put into dealing with your irrational donors is time you aren’t spending with the normal ones who give you all the money. And no amount of prep is going to help you turn a crazy person sane.”

— Nov. 17, “How to deal with irrational donors: Don’t,” posted by Jeff Brooks on his Donor Power Blog.