E-mail Campaign

I thought I’d add to my presentation by giving part 3 of 6 from the echoinggreen.org/blog/putting-the-fun-back-in-fundraising about E-mail campaigns.  I didn’t really like the idea of sending e-mails and asking for money but this blog gives some good advice to fundraisers about e-mail campaigns.  Here are a few highlights:

It’s also a way to build relationships

It suggests using something in the news to create the subject of the e-mail.  That way readers know that the e-mail and subject are also current.

It emphasizes keeping a privacy a priority.  Everyone is concerned about their privacy and if you guarantee privacy your potential donors then they’re more likely to have confidence in your organization.

The blog gives great suggestions for when to send the e-mails as well.  It recommends times when people are more likely to check their e-mails.

I think the most important part is the last point in the blog: don’t ask for money in the first e-mail! “ You wouldn’t ask for money the first time you met someone, and you shouldn’t in the first time you email someone either.”  I agree with this and I think that non-profits should follow this suggestion as well.  I also believe it ruins the relationship you’re trying to build when all you do is ask for money.  That’s not a very good relationship if all you want is money.  You should build the relationship and build in trust and confidence before you start asking for money

Cell phone solicitations?

Before the class presentation I hadn’t thought about soliciting donations via text messages.  I think it’s a great idea as long as people sign up for it.  If it become like telemarketing except through text messages I think it would deter donations rather than elicited them.  Everyone hates getting those phone calls from telemarketers and I’d hate to see that happen to non-profits too.  As I said in class, I’d be afraid it would be a Pandora’s Box and then we really would get unwanted solicitations via text messages, which I would hate.  So if people choose whether or not to be included on the list, I think it’s a wonderful idea and I think non-profits should pursue it as long as the phone companies don’t take away too much of the money.

Mandatory Volunteering… Good or Bad?

I noticed that a few people had posts about mandatory volunteering and I’ve decided to go with the same topic instead of coming up with my own this week.  I fist started volunteering because I got in trouble in high school and had to do 40 hours of community service.  I was a good kid with good grades, involved in clubs and sports, and I’d had several jobs but volunteering was something I’d never done before until I was forced.  I worked at the Eagle’s Nest (a place where women can find cheap donated clothing) after their move to a new building.  I enjoyed volunteering and was glad I could help women in need.

So the question this poses is that should volunteering be mandatory for more than just punishment?  For me, the community service was not a punishment because it helped developed me and was my first glimpse into the nonprofit world.  I think it would be a good idea for high schools to require a certain amount of volunteer time per academic year or to be completed before graduation.  Many people in my graduating class became involved with drugs, many didn’t go to college, and all but me and 2 of my close friends are pregnant or have children.  I think volunteering would have helped to get my classmates involved in our community and give them something productive to do with their time.  Some of the girls I knew volunteered at the animal shelter and it became a popular thing to do for several months.  I think it would have been nice if our school would have encouraged us to volunteer or required it or even let us know about volunteer opportunities in our community.

I also think jobs should encourage philanthropy work but not require it.  Many people work more than one job and if one or both of their jobs required volunteer time then that would not be good for the employee’s families.  But jobs that reward people for volunteering would be a good thing for the communities they are in.  Some good ideas we discussed in class were paying employees for the time they volunteer and matching employees donations to charities.  Overall, I think anything that encourages people to donate their time toward a good cause is great and should be implemented.

Tax Deductions

In response to the previous post, I completely agree that tax exemptions should be left as is.

It’s as simple as, giving is rewarding, so sometimes there needs to be a reward.  I also, remember giving my clothes to places like Good Will when I was younger.  I had no idea that my parents were in any way receiving any other monetary reward from donating.  Now that I know there are some tax deductions involved, it really doesn’t change how I feel about donating.  Even people who donate just to get the deductions are, bottom line, still doing a good service to someone else.  Isn’t that the whole point of donating?

I wonder what would happen if the government took away all tax breaks.  Would non-profits see a huge decrease in funds? I think so.  In order to persuade people to take the time out of their day to donate, there sometimes has to be incentives, and tax deductions can be a very powerful one.