Social Media and Fundraising

Can non-profits bring in more donations by using social media? According to an article written Cody Switzer, most non-profit organizations that use social media as a means to solicit funds are disappointed with their results. It’s an effective way to reach people and get your name out there but ineffective when it comes to getting money. When using social media you still have to let the donor trust your organization and you have to foster the relationship.

According to the article:

“A recent survey of 233 nonprofits by the Association of Fundraising Professionals and Kaptivate, a nonprofit consultant, leads to a similar conclusion. That study found 20 percent of nonprofits were using mobile technology only to engage supporters, and about 50 percent were disappointed with their fund-raising results through the medium.”

I personally think using social media would be an effective way to reach donors. With so many people on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. you can virtually reach millions of people. As long as you foster the relationship and allow the donor to trust you, it is absolutely possible to gain more fundraising.

Do you think social media is an effective means of fundraising?

http://philanthropy.com/blogs/social-philanthropy/is-mobile-technology-better-for-communication-than-fund-raising/28867

-Stephanie Barnes

Favorite Things

As we all are aware, America and the world said farewell to a famed philanthropic television show this year. Following its 25^th season, the Oprah Show concluded this year. Both she and her show will be remembered for many things over its lifetime, but probably the largest thing that it will be remembered for was the philanthropy and donations that she made over the years. For many seasons, she secretly aired and filmed “Favorite Things” episodes.  When purchasing tickets, the public had no idea what show they were going to see, and if you happened to be a lucky audience member, once per season you purchased a ticket to Christmas in Chicago, also known as Oprah’s Favorite Things. There were several seasons in which I remember her “profiling” ticket purchasers for things like race, whether or not they were a single parent, their age and race, and audience member’s occupation. There has been much debate as to whether these shows were a mere publicity stunt to show off her riches, or if it was an act of philanthropy, no one will know.  One season it was single working mothers, another it was Americas Educators, and another it was War on Terror vets and their families. Millions of dollars’ worth of electronics, automobiles, computers, books, movies, vacations, etc. was given over the 25 year period. Among “Favorite Things,” in 2006 Oprah donated $40 million to start a school in Africa to educate African young women about leadership and global opportunity. Not to mention all of the millions of dollars she has donated to charity anonymously to avoid hype and public opinion. While there are many varying opinions regarding Ms. Winfrey, there is one thing we cannot deny-she has money and she isn’t afraid to do something good to show it.

MESI Major Case Study

I just wanted to mention a few things about the Manhattan Emergency Shelter, Inc. (MESI) who I did my major case study on.

Quick facts:

MESI can house 26 people in their location in Manhattan, where they provide temporary housing (6-10 weeks, but it’s circumstantial), and any sort of aide toward obtaining jobs, etc. Basically, they try to help their clients get to the root of why they are temporarily homeless and make sure that they can get back up on their feet.

Mandy Chapman Semple, executive director, believes that the poverty rate in Manhattan, Kan. is up to about 40%….which means that many times K-State students don’t see the amount of poverty that is all around them. Along with Semple, there are only about 5 people on staff at MESI. 

Much of how MESI survives in the community is by federal grants (local and state). Fundraising & contributions also make up a huge chunk in their operational fees. Semple does much of the fund-seeking for the organization, but it is hard to do when she is so busy and doesn’t have a large staff to assist her.

Upcoming events:

MESI is moving into a larger house: will be able to serve more clients and hopefully hire more staff (if there are enough funds).

Goal: raise $100,000 in the next two years.

I have a LOT more info. on MESI but I don’t want to bore everyone with a long LONG report, so if you have any questions or want more info. just ask!

K-State Proud

I’m a little disappointed with the K-State Proud campaign this year. Don’t misunderstand me, I think it’s a great idea. I’ve donated both years and I think that t-shirts really entice students to donate. I also think it’s a great idea that it’s students helping students. Overall, it’s a great campaign and helps a lot of students in need.

However, this year I don’t think it was a good idea to put those huge banners all over campus. They could have told us how great the campaign did by putting it in the collegian or maybe putting posters all over campus. Instead, they put HUGE banners on several buildings on campus. In the last two weeks I’ve noticed a few more as I’ve been on campus. While this is a great idea for letting us know how well the campaign did, I don’t agree with it. I know those banners couldn’t have been cheap and I don’t think that it was a good idea to spend the money on them. I don’t think that getting the message out that way is the best route. Even if the banners were donated I think the money from those donations should have gone towards the cause instead of advertising how well the campaign did. I know I’m not the only one who thinks this because last week I saw a message in the fourum asking how much the banners cost the campaign. Obviously, at least one other student thinks the banners were a waste of funds. I know that when I saw them my first thought was how much money it took from the scholarships for students. I know the campaign is new and getting the message out is important but I don’t think this helped the campaign for those people who are wondering where the money went to. The banners say where the money went but they don’t say how much was spent on advertising and things like that. Now I’m wondering how much money was really raised and where ALL of it went?

Baby Boomers

I found an article the other day while working on my management dilemma and thought it was pretty interesting.  The ‘transfer of wealth’ has been something that we have discussed as a class often.  With the huge amount of money there it is no wonder why  we see it as so important to fundraising.  However, the article I came across, Fund Raisers Urged to Focus on Young Donors and Owners of Real Estate, noted that oldest baby boomers are now in the 60’s and that people live longer these days.  Many baby boomers will live until the 2030’s or 2040’s.  I certainly see how these prospects are important, however, I believe that fundraisers must not focus exclusively on them.  30 or 40 years is a long way off, and nonprofits must bring in income other ways until that time.

Celebrities in fundraising

It seems like television is going to all extremes to increase viewership. After creating identical reality tv shows, they are now tapping into human interest shows that focus on helping others. I found it ironic after reading some of the posts about the comedy show to find an article that disagreed. The articles stated that few americans give in response to celebrity pitches.The Harris Poll reported that only 15 percent of respondents in the survey said they had supported a cause or requested more information about it because of something they heard a celebrity say or do. What’s more, 51 percent said that celebrities make little or no “positive difference” on the charitable issues they promote.

I found these numbers striking, because someone MUST be giving to these organizations promoted by celebrities or they wouldn’t be doing it. Of course a little publicity never hurts anyone.
And get excited, NBC is now planning on airing a show about a billionaire philanthropist dedicated to helping others in need. Man, I can’ t wait until Grey’s Anatomy is back on…..

Blogging

I found the current event presentation on Monday concerning blogging and fundraising very interesting. Before taking Harvey’s PR techniques class, I had thought of blogging as a type of unprofessional, tell all of your stupid problems online diary type of thing. Obviously, I was not exposed to all of the benefits a blog can make in a professional setting. Thankfully, after writing my own blog about public relations and now in our philanthropy course, I have learned how much easier it is to share ideas and conversations with one another.
This same idea is being used towards fundraising and getting the word out about a certain cause that needs financial assistance. The best thing about blogs is their ability to be updated timely, at the hands of anyone with internet connection and most importantly, free.
Another point that surprised me during the presentation was the average high dollar amount of blog users. These are a key public that should definitely have the funds to help out a non profit. And with fundraising available online now, the changing times of technology have made it within their fingertips.

Case Statement

I found a case statement for The University of North Carolina’s Social Work Program. The url for this is:

They wrote this case statement because, they were trying to get alumni donations to : recruit more teachers, more scholarship and to maintain nice facilities.

I thought this was a good case statement and would have prob. gave it an 80% on the grading scale.   They did a good job on the visual aspects, which is good for today’s young generation.  It expressed the mission at the beginning and said the purpose of the case statement. It was a very professional presentation and I like how it broke it down into donor categories. Ex: If you donate 500 you are a Golden Teacher donor, and your money Will go towards…. If you donate 1,000 you are a Ford Hall donor and your money will go towards….

They also included personal stories in the case statement which made it more personal.  I have not seen A LOT of case statements but this one seemed to be trendy and infomational.It also talked about different ways to give BESIDES donating money.

Oprah’s Big Give??

I’m jumping on the bandwagon again and going with the popular post for this week: Oprah’s Big Give

I’ve never been sure what to think about Oprah.  She uses her fame to do a lot of good things but I also think she’s a little too influential/powerful.  I like that she encourages people to read through her book of the month, but if I find out a certain book is on her list I’m less likely to read it because she’s endorsed it.  I feel like it takes away from things when Oprah steps in.  I think she’s encouraging fads and I’m completely against fads of any type.

Her new show follows her old trends.  Oprah comes up with an idea and slaps her name on it, and guess what, it’s a big hit and everyone wants to watch.  I like how people who are in need are benefiting from the money raised on the show.  However, I don’t like that it’s a reality show and people have to be kicked off.  Instead, everyone would benefit if they could stay on and learn more.  That would encourage viewers not to give up just because someone else does a better job at raising money.  I also don’t like that the winner receives money.  I think the show should have kept with its theme and instead they could make a major donation in that person’s name to any charity that person wants.  That way the person is still rewarded and they continue to give.  Because of the theme of the show, I hope the winner spends the money on helping others rather than spending on his/herself.  My last problem with the show is that it has Oprah’s name on it.  I haven’t seen it and I’m sure she makes appearances but I feel that if it was just called The Big Give it would encourage viewers to go out and do the same.  Her name on their is like an endorsement that really doesn’t help the cause.  I think being on TV alone is enough of an endorsement and all the stars making appearances will help with donations.  Oprah didn’t need to slap her name on there.  I’m sure she felt she had to since she’s sponsoring all of it but I think it takes away from the theme of giving.

Oprah’s Big Give…Just another reality show?

I saw that a few other people posted to the blog this week about the Oprah’s Big Give television series. This subject has come up several times this week in my own personal conversations, so I thought I would put my two cents in.

I think the idea of the show has good intentions at heart, but is not necessarily a good thing. I think that it is awesome that you someone had the idea to make a show about giving to others, when you see so many shows on today that are about people winning big money for themselves. Personally, I am tired or reality television, and I think it is time for networks to go in a different direction. Shows about people doing good are refreshing once in awhile.

However, I think that this is still a reality style show. It doesn’t show people doing a fundraising project over a long period of time. It is focused on the quick fix, here and now solution. Five days is a very short amount of time, and I think it cheapens the idea of the show because people are under such a big time crunch. What about the people that need the help? I feel they are kind of being exploited for the good of the show. Also, if someone fails to raise money to help the people in need, such as with the fashion show idea that didn’t raise any money, then is the show just going to forget about them? I just think it kind of makes fund raising out to be something it’s not. It should not be about the quick, right now, solutions, but about fixing the reason the problem happened in the first place.