Molly Schar's Blog

Posted by Molly Schar

Cheryl Mendoza of Freshwater Future writes ...

I am the Associate Director of a small non-profit that supports the needs of grassroots environmental organizations throughout the Great Lakes region. Part of that support is a small grants program for community-based groups working on environmental advocacy issues. We are thinking of starting a quasi donor circle as a way to bring in much needed funding. I have been reading your articles on-line for guidance (fantastic by the way). In the model we are considering, we would start a donor circle where if a circle raises $5K for our grants program they can decide one group out of our bi-annual grant applications that they want fund/help. Some of that $5K would go directly to the group, some would provide staff (us) with resources for one-on-one consulting with that group, and a minimal portion would go to our administrative costs.

What a great question, Cheryl! This is a question that often surfaces when organizations are considering capital campaigns, and why organizations that conduct successful capital campaigns do feasibility studies. With a feasibility study, you gauge the capacity and interest in funding whatever is being proposed, but also talk with donors about whether they would be willing to give a campaign gift in addition to their regular giving. In most campaigns, by the way, there is an expectation that annual giving numbers will take a hit because some donors will inevitably choose to make a smaller annual gift or skip it altogether when making a campaign gift.

The benefits of giving circles are many: they can be a wonderful way for an organization to offer donors a way to be more involved in the organization's work (as you're describing with the chance for donors to be a part of the grantmaking process) and a way to attract new donors interested in the somewhat democratic process.

My best advice is this: ask your donors. Before you launch something like this, you want to talk with your donors anyway, even if it's not a full-blown feasibility study. Talk to the major donors you'd expect to participate in this giving circle and ask them if they would be willing to continue their level of regular giving in addition to this designated giving. Remember that old fundraising adage "Ask for money and get advice; ask for advice and get money."

My second best advice is to have a general case for support (for the capacity-building and undesignated funding all organizations want and need) and a case for support for this giving circle program so that donors can easily understand the difference and why it's important to give to both.

Thanks for the question! Keep them coming by emailing me at nonprofitmanagement@suite101.com.

Posted by Molly Schar

Not sure where to start with grants? Or looking to improve your success rate? Check out these nonprofit grantwriting articles.

• Key elements of successful grants.
• The organizational information section of the grant -- and how you can reuse the copy for marketing purposes.
• Writing the problem statement (also known as the needs statement or statement of need).
• Tips for writing the executive summary, cover letter and packaging.

Posted by Molly Schar

Whatever it is that someone has contributed to your organization, it's a good rule of thumb to thank them at least three times. This doesn't mean you have to send three separate thank you notes (though you could, I suppose).

Thanking donors is at the heart of the stewardship phase of the development cycle. Demonstrating your genuine appreciation helps build your relationship with the donor. The stewardship principles can be applied to other stakeholders, like volunteers and board members.

Read more about strengthening your donor thank you letters and be sure you include the elements of effective acknowledgements.

Also consider ways to thank your volunteers and board members, including helping volunteers with job hunting in this tough economy.

A final word of advice: don't let a thank-you become a thinly veiled appeal. For a thank-you to "count," it must be free of any kind of request. People can tell when you're asking for something, even if you dress it up as gratitude.

Have a question related to stewardship or appreciation? Comment below!

Posted by Molly Schar

I just wrote an article about how nonprofits can adopt the giving circle model to engage new donors and engage old donors in a new way. It got me to thinking that at this time of year, creating a giving circle with a specific "goal" might be a great way for nonprofits to rev up stagnant giving. It can also help donors think about an additional gift on top of annual giving.

As a development director or executive director, here's what I'd do --

• Brainstorm with program and fundraising staff. Can we identify three big needs at this time of year that don't usually get much attention? How could we make them interesting? What ties them together?
• Partner with marketing staff. Could we put together an attractive "menu" of these three needs?
• Talk with a donor leader. Would she be willing to spearhead this giving circle? With 20 people giving $1,500 apiece, we could do any of these three really important things. If she could work on getting the 20 people together, I can facilitate a social event, educational sessions on each of the three initiatives and voting -- all with a holiday theme.
• Produce the materials and work with the donor leader to identify prospects and support solicitations.
• Publicize the heck out of it.
• Probe along the way to see if this is a model that would work for year-round giving.

In another and slightly related fundraising campaign, Holly Ross, the executive director of the Nonprofit Technology Network gave donors to a special fund three options if they met the $10,000 goal. They could vote on what humiliating activity she would attempt and post online for their enjoyment. Recreating Beyonce's "Hey Single Ladies" music video got the most votes from donors and sure enough, Holly did it. Check it out.

Out of necessity, fundraising is requiring us to be more creative. And that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Posted by Molly Schar

Whenever you take a story mainstream, I think, you're going to have to make some compromises. Taking the story of Bobby Sager and the Sager Family Traveling Foundation and Roadshow and turning it into a sexy small screen drama-adventure has required some tradeoffs.

Most in the philanthropic community agree that Bobby Sager's story is a great one. Here's an enormously rich and successful businessman who retires and takes his wife and two children around the world to walk in the shoes of others and find ways to partner with those in need to support their solutions.

Where the controversy comes into play is in the depiction of Teddy Rist, Sager's television alter ego on "The Philanthropist." This guy is trying to mix business and philanthropy, coughing up cash to "rescue" people who cross his path. He's not a bad guy. But he's certainly no Bobby Sager.

Steve Gunderson, the president and CEO of the Council on Foundations released a statement denouncing the show when it debued, saying "very little ... conveys the reality of philanthropy."

Jeff Trexler, a professor of social entreprenuership at Pace University blogged that the show promotes neocolonialism.

Deborah Richardson, chief program officer at the Women's Funding Network, wrote in a Huffington Post article "Philanthropists are not those who show up "just in time" to rescue people in need. Philanthropists are each of us with a love for humanity and justice, who leverage our relationships, spheres of influence, the internet, and money -- whether it's $10, $100, $1,000 or more -- for lasting change."

But, blogged Sean Stannard-Stockton, the director of tactical philanthropy for a wealth management firm that serves philanthropists, "It’s a fun TV show. Let’s enjoy it and be glad that once a week American TV audiences will hear the voice over proclaim “The Philanthropist!” as if that’s actually something fun and exciting instead of the idea of philanthropy as a boring, stuffy, serious thing that no sane person would want to be involved in."

What do you think?

Read more about Bobby Sager and the work of his family's foundation.