Team-Based Fundraising Step by Step: A Practical Guide to Improving Results Through Teamwork

Team-Based Fundraising Step by Step: A Practical Guide to Improving Results Through Teamwork - Kindle edition by Mim Carlson, Cheryl A. Clarke. Download .
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Whoever has met your goal by the time the lock-in rolls around will gain admittance to an unforgettable night of fun! Decorate areas of the school with creepy paraphernalia like cobwebs, Jack-O-Lanterns, and spooky spiders. Pump the hallways with dry ice for an extra creepy effect. To make this event as cost-effective as possible, see if you can get parents or a local party store to donate your decorations. Recruit some willing students and alumni to act in your haunted house. If your school has one, the drama club is an excellent place to start.

The night of the haunted house, have volunteers dress up in scary garb and then position them strategically around the school to provoke the most screams. Fundraise by charging a small admittance fee. You can either host the event once or make it a weekly attraction during the month of October to raise even more. Partner with a local bar, preferably a student favorite, and host a happy hour for your alumni. You can host it as part of alumni weekend or as its own event for graduates who have stayed in the area.

They might even be willing to do a profit share during the hours of the event. Hire a DJ, run a raffle, and award prizes to those who can answer campus trivia questions that they probably learned during orientation. Make sure that your event facilitates actual conversation. With the right planning, your event will stretch way past the confines of happy hour. Your guests will feel like they are 22 again, and your school will have raised a good amount of money.

Take Vegas to your university with a campus casino night. Pack the guest list with students, alumni, staff, and faculty. It has a nice ring to it. Make sure that every ticket holder gets a set amount of chips and then sell extra chips in exchange for donations throughout the night. Secure a small group of prizes for the attendees with the biggest winnings for the night. The night can be formal or casual depending on the attendees that you want to attract. If this fundraiser needs to draw money from some of your wealthier alumni, go black tie.

However, if you want this to largely be a social fundraiser for your student body, keep it casual and go with a quirky theme instead. Have students volunteer as servers and look into hiring professional dealers for your card tables. If money is tight, you can always just hire the professionals for the more complicated games. Find the financial balance that works for your university. If alumni are your target prospects, host an alumni networking dinner, or possibly a luncheon.

As much as some love to scoff at the overuse of the term, networking is such an important practice for people of all ages, but especially for those that are newer to the workforce. Use the event to help connect your various alumni in similar fields and raise money for your organization. To encourage attendance, book a guest speaker.

You could ask a faculty member who teaches in the field that the event is focusing on or a distinguished alumnus. Frame the event around a hot topic to best grab the attention of potential attendees. Charge per seat at the meal and serve drinks beforehand if you go for an evening event over a luncheon. To bring in serious donations, consider running an educational series, with numerous events and speakers over multiple months.

Send out promotions to your entire alumni network and post the event on your social media accounts. These meals provide ample opportunity to build early alumni-university bonds with recent graduates who will be able to make major contributions at later stages in their careers.

Let your talented student body show off their serious skills with a variety show entirely produced and populated by volunteering students. Appoint a group of students to organize the show and put out an open casting call for talent. Luckily, your college is sure to be bursting with gifted performers. Make it a night for the creative arts. Have your graphic designers put together collectible programs to sell.

First, find the comfiest sofa you can. Depending on your level of funds, you can either buy a cheap one somewhere or asks students, alumni, professors, or a local store to donate one. Then, scope out the spot with the best view in the stadium. Sell raffle tickets at two or three games leading up to the event. To maximize your fundraising efforts, let each person purchase as many tickets as they want. During the big game, the winner and a friend or two will get to sit on the couch.

To really give them the royal treatment, provide the winner and friends halftime dinner or drinks throughout the game. Just look at popular websites for year olds. Tap into the popularity of throwbackthursday and hold a 90s dance. Charge a small fee for admission and really lean into the theme. Have everyone dress in their 90s best, from high-waisted jeans to oversized flannels to overalls. In honor of your hashtag inspired title, have attendees bring their most quintessentially 90s photos and display them on a wall.

Let your partiers vote on the best pictures and give the winners small prizes. Remember that with theme parties like this, the more committed you are to the references, the better. Ladies and gentlemen, sisters and brothers, step right up to your next major fundraising event — a campus carnival!

To help disperse responsibilities, partner with a few other sororities and fraternities and make it a team effort. Put together a planning committee with representatives from all participating Greek organizations to ensure that all parties have a voice and the carnival goes off without a hitch. Try to get permission from your university to host the carnival on the campus green so that the entire student body will see it and attend.

Divvy up the booths according to individual organizations and have members take shifts managing them. Try to keep the initial expenses as low as possible, so that you can make a big fundraising profit on the day of. The time and effort will be worth it! For more expert advice on fraternity fundraising, check out this helpful resource put together by OmegaFi.

Members get to enjoy a great night out on the town together while raising money. The crawl is all upside. For an animal shelter fundraiser, have everyone dress up like their favorite animal. Map out your route ahead of time and call the bars to let them know about your plan. Appoint a few members to man the donation buckets. Place the buckets on the bar at every pub and see if the servers will let other patrons know about the fundraiser. Make sure your donation buckets are attention grabbing and on theme. Bar patrons that are considering donating should be able to quickly discern the cause and make a donation.

With dating apps and online sites, very few couples are meeting the old-fashioned way…in a large room, with a bunch of strangers, at 10 minute intervals. Throw in fundraising for a good cause and who could turn it down? Your sorority or fraternity likely has a large pool of eligible bachelorettes and bachelors that are the perfect candidates for a speed dating fundraiser. Plan the event and get your single brothers or sisters to volunteer their time for the night.

Make sure you post about it on social media and put up flyers around campus and in the student center. You want participants from all walks of campus life. As hosts, those from your organization can stake out the seats they want, and the visitors will rotate. Afterwards, give people time to mingle and reconnect with anyone that they enjoyed from their dates.

Ensure that the charity that the proceeds are going to is promoted front and center. Date night auctions are an excellent fundraising strategy, because they give you multiple opportunities to make money. First, have each fraternity and sorority that wants to participate nominate one or two brave volunteers to be the auction prize. Next, get each group to pick a charity. In the weeks leading up to the event, have each dater create a fundraising page that features a brief personal profile, as well as a description of their charity and a form where people can donate online.

Although you can up the ante by offering a prize to the organization who raises the most money, at the end of the auction each fraternity or sorority will donate their proceeds to the charity of their choice. Start by recruiting some bold fraternity or sorority members to be your models. You can either request that they bring their own outfits to show off or see if a local boutique will donate some clothes.

Some organizations will even take this event a step further by having their models make outfits out of unconventional materials like duct tape or newspaper! The hardest part of planning this event will be finding a venue with a catwalk for your models to walk down. University theaters and auditoriums work well, or you can mimic a runway by making a long aisle down a cafeteria or gymnasium floor and placing chairs on either side. Raise money by charging admittance and getting attendees to vote for their favorite outfit with their dollars.

You can either put out buckets to collect donations or have people text their donations through a mobile giving platform. Online petitions are a great way to encourage your supporters to take action to help you reach your goals. They can be just the jolt of energy your organization needs to reinvigorate your work and better serve your mission. The use of online petitions has grown steadily and continues to do so.

Whether you want to re-engage your supporters through new avenues of participation, garner media attention, or establish your organization as an authority, a successful online petition can help you do that.


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That assistance will in turn enable you to collect more and more donations. Your online petition will need a clear action. In other words, you want to demonstrate a clear theory of change. Once you have the petition in place, promote it across your communications channels and in conjunction with your donation requests.

Supporters are going to willingly volunteer to be arrested. For the event itself, the volunteer criminals get arrested for various silly, cause-themed crimes. Prior to the event, your arrestees will have set up online fundraising pages and promote them and the event itself. Detain your criminals with only the items they need to raise the funds to pay bail. There has to be a time limit to prevent people from remaining jailed indefinitely and to incentivize donors to act swiftly. Up until recently, the only downside to fundraising through runs and walks was that the events were limited to locals only.

The internet solved that problem. Participants are still encouraged to crowdfund ahead of time and secure pledges. Racers still pay a registration fee and get event t-shirts mailed, instead of picked up. Competitors cover the same distance. It just happens in dozens of parts of the country. After they have gone the distance, runners report their times. Runners are held to an honor system for telling the truth about their race times.

Fundraising events bring like-minded people together. Strive for the bonding experience no matter the event, virtual ones included. The sale happens virtually, but the baked goods are very much real. Bake sales are the comfort food of the fundraising world, organized year after year, all over the country. Taking a bake sale online infuses the event with modern flair.

Post a bake sale menu and donation page that interested parties can browse. As they make donations, they can also put in their order information and your bakers will ship off the requested goods. Check out popular food bloggers and food-centric social media accounts to learn about food presentation and photography. That way, when you take pictures of the various baked goods for the fundraising page, the items will look irresistible. Each menu item needs its own enticing description, in addition to its appetizing photo. Bake apple pie over apple crumbles, for example.

Pie delivered to your door. The same rule applies to all the goodies and sweets that your chefs will whip up. People buy most things online now, so why should bake sale treats be any different? Viral video challenges are an excellent way to bring pledge-based fundraising events to the digital age. First, start by setting the challenge. The best challenges, however, have something to do with your cause. The total pledge amount will be donated after your volunteers have carried out the challenge. At the end of the fundraising period, your volunteers will record themselves completing whatever activity you requested.

They also must share the video on all of their social media pages to raise awareness of the cause and encourage others to participate. Request that they volunteer a willing friend at the end of the video. The goal is to establish a chain of video challenges that will blow up the web—and your fundraising! For example, with soccer, divide your team up between defenders plus goalies , midfielders, and forwards. Group the kids attending camp and have them rotate through mini lessons for each position. Each mini lesson should focus on fundamentals, in addition to position specifics.

Have everyone play in scrimmages for the second half of the day, with the clinicians partly coaching and partly playing alongside the kids. Rather than a normal road race, competitors have to tackle various obstacles as they traverse diverse terrain. Mud pits, rope courses, climbing walls, and much more make these races exhilarating. The events are great fun and great exercise, but not designed for the faint of heart.

Interested members of your sports club can sign up for an event and crowdfund to raise money. Participating teammates can train together. Wear matching outfits on race day and stick together. Help one another through the more challenging obstacles. Everyone will have their strengths. One person might soar up the climbing wall and another might crawl through tunnels with ease.

Use teamwork to support one another through the more difficult moments. Your team is full of young and capable athletes. Put your skills to great use in the community. Elderly citizens in your area need help with daily tasks that would never even faze a high schooler. Offer your lifting, moving, opening, and carrying services for a day, weekend, or series of weekends. Your team will be able to assist countless people. Bowling for bucks is another way of saying bowl-a-thon. Both ends of the spectrum and any level in between will enjoy your bowl-a-thon. The funds will partly be made up of donations via entrance fees and other miscellaneous contributions, as well as money raised through the participants themselves.

Like with any a-thon, have competitors collect donations and pledges up until the event using the peer-to-peer, or crowdfunding, fundraising method. Participants can set up their own crowdfunding pages to keep track of all of their donations in one singular location that easily feeds back into the main fundraising pool for your club. On top of the functionality, the page is shareable via social media and email to maximize awareness through seamless promotion. Donors can give a set amount prior to the event or they can pledge a certain amount per game bowled or games with scores over a certain number, whatever arrangement the participant is comfortable with.

Why not capitalize on that passion for your fundraising efforts? The event will appeal to their competitive natures and allow them to use their athletic abilities in a novel way. The first step to pulling this one off is to make sure you have all the right equipment to play the game. For example, if you were hosting a Quidditch match, you would need broomsticks and athletic balls of varying types and sizes.

To increase your efforts, put out donation buckets where spectators can make bets on the winning team. Reward the team who gets the most donations with a pizza party after the tournament. With hoops for hope, your supporters can show off their basketball skills all while raising money for a good cause! In the two or three weeks leading up to the event, individuals can share their personal donation pages on their social media sites.

Friends, families, and other peers will donate by pledging a monetary amount for each basket made. During the event, each supporter will have a set time limit to make as many baskets as possible. If you want to heighten the friendly competition and incentivize your participants even further, offer a prize to the person who makes the most baskets. Have the young people from your organization offer to help finish odd jobs for those in the community.

You can host the event as a one-time only day where all the volunteers are available, or make it a fundraising event series and offer up workers every Saturday for a month, for example. Speaking of pools—pool cleaning is big in the summer work-a-thon market! Have your volunteering workers not only collect donations on behalf of their services, but also seek out pledges for hours worked. Do you pick up fast food on the way home? Stop in at the local pizza shop? What if you could pick up a home cooked meal and help your church raise money at the same time?

The meals can either be premade and easy-to-heat, like roasts and casseroles or freshly made and ready for serving, like hamburgers. Cook meals that a 75 year old and a 12 year old would be glad to eat. Think home-style and traditional. People will be lining up to have dinner taken off their hands! And with these events, you can host them over and over again with new food each time. Santa has his elves, and your community will have your volunteers.

Set up shop outside popular stores during the holiday season and offer your wrapping services. To put the icing on the gingerbread house, sell wreaths as well. The "I'm a G: Crowd Control CURRENTS Article A small but growing number of institutions have launched centralized, full-service crowdfunding programs that lend know-how to students, faculty, and even alumni running their own campaigns. Corporate Giving Corporate Giving.

Samples include reports, strategic plans, landing pages, brochures and case statements. Whether communicating about a deadly virus, cultivating entrepreneurs, engaging alumni with advanced degrees, or sharing the inspiring story of a college student whose life was cut short by illness, institutions dug deeply into their creative toolboxes-though not necessarily into their budgets.

They also had fun courting prospective students and welcoming new admits to the family. Such programs benefit them and signal that your institution is a welcoming, inclusive place. Nearly 1, CASE members provided feedback on their use of social media. Featured is advice on how to hold an effective giving day or crowdfunding campaign, including examples from CASE member institutions. Here's what Jerold Panas learned in plus years of fundraising about donor motivation, characteristics of effective gift officers, timeless strategies for securing gifts, and leveraging trustee support.

That's according to Ronald A. Cohen, vice president of University Relations at Susquehanna University and a recent webinar presenter on student phonathons. Especially if it's fueled by cookies. APAC17 Conference APAC is the annual signature event in Asia-Pacific for advancement professionals from educational institutions working in alumni relations, fundraising, marketing and communications.

Do Your Funds Need a Checkup? CURRENTS Article Compliance checkups expose problematic spending restrictions, educate new employees on fund limitations, and ensure that fund usage reflects donor intent. They're a way to assess the fitness of funds—particularly your oldest restricted income accounts, endowed funds, and pending planned gift assets—that are key to the institution's long-term financial health. Are You Leaving Money on the Table? Let's banish planned giving from our vocabulary and embrace gift planning. CURRENTS Article Institutions that have opened an advancement office overseas report intangible benefits, while others find it more economical to rack up frequent flier miles.

Others do a combination of both. Here's how four institutions found success. Here are some practical steps for managing the relationship, from the infatuation stage to "where is this going? Introduction to Fundraising and Alumni Relations Conference The Introduction to Fundraising and Alumni Relations is designed for new or junior fundraising and alumni relations practitioners in the education sector.

It will be the best place to strengthen your advancement knowledge, and make connections with seasoned professionals and peers alike. You will take home essential and innovative ideas for your role within your institution. Giving to education increased 4. An overview of charitable giving in the UK during Charities Aid Foundation and National Council for Voluntary Organisations Report UK Giving provides an update for the annual survey, which presents the latest research on individuals' giving to charity — what social actions people do, how much is given, who donors give to and how they give.

He starts when they are 11 years old. The cords raise awareness about giving and recognize student donors as leaders. Handling these situations isn't easy, especially when the decisions can jeopardize gifts. Here are four case studies, based on real-life experiences, with advice on how to handle ethical issues, from inappropriate gifts to sexual advances.

Foundation Giving Foundation Giving. Relationship Cultivation Relationship Cultivation. Major Gifts Major Gifts. Matching Gifts Matching Gifts. Corporate Sponsorship Corporate Sponsorship. International Fundraising International Fundraising. Friends Groups Friends Groups. Student Giving Student Giving. Class Giving Class Giving. Constituency Giving Constituency Giving. Case Statements Case Statements. Let's look at ways your university can dust the stuffiness off of its giving campaigns and attract the attention of long-lost alumni.

The program helps our professional alumni do business together—while helping us identify donor prospects. The Upside of Turnover CURRENTS Article Turnover presents an opportunity to shake things up, reinvent the conversation about the college's philanthropic mission, and redefine engagement options for your alumni and donors. Report Predicts Growth Rates for U. This is the highest estimated growth in donations reported to the CASE Fundraising Index since the year prior to the economic downturn in late We are starting an international fundraising program and will be asking foreign alumni for gifts.

Can donors in other countries receive tax benefits or deductions for gifts to our institution? Direct to the Heart CURRENTS Article At the University of Leeds, we were beginning to wonder whether direct mail would ever work for us or whether the telephone would always be our annual giving program's primary source of donors and income. Then we tried a new strategy: We stopped talking about ourselves all the time. We talked to alumni and donors about their experiences instead. CURRENTS Article Offering donor-advised funds can strengthen bonds with longtime donors interested in alternative giving vehicles, but they can put institutions in a tricky place in terms of how they relate to their supporters.

Our Favorite Event Fundraising Ideas For Nonprofit Organizations

Yet the process isn't as simple as it seems. The do-not-solicit policy at many colleges and universities is imprecise and can undermine your institution's culture of giving—and lead to the loss of big gifts. It's time to rethink the do-not-solicit policy: Does it refer to all communications or just some? Is it temporary or permanent? Who has the authority to classify alumni that way? When do we re-engage alumni, and how?

The Foundation for Engagement as Lifelong Donors White Paper This groundbreaking research provides baseline data and analysis on student philanthropy programs in higher education around the world. Best practices as well as staffing and budgeting trends in student philanthropy are highlighted. A key finding from the survey of institutions: Other countries featured in the top 10 include Australia, Malaysia and the United Kingdom.

Education Top Priority for U. Here are several strategies for success. Are educational institutions prepared? World Giving Index Asia-Pacific International Fundraising Study Tour Conference A training program that offers delegate a comprehensive overview of institutional advancement.

Each year, the committee surveys companies using the Corporate Giving Standard, then publishes a report on corporate giving initiatives and amounts, beneficiary categories, corporate philanthropy program staffing, grant approval policies and volunteer hours. The Giving in Numbers report is available, along with earlier editions from to the present. Free registration required to download the reports. Here's how you, too, can create a successful giving day. By , that number had been cut in half to less than 9 percent—a record low and a culmination of a trend that has persisted for more than two decades.

The implications of this trend cannot be ignored. It's time to ask some new questions and set better goals for our institutions. It's time to examine what is and isn't working in our advancement practices and to look at how we can provide the best service to our alumni base.

Learning to Lose Control CURRENTS Article As alumni and other audiences find new ways to connect, network, and give, our roles as the essential interfaces between our institutions and their various external audiences are becoming more unstable. To understand the problem, and to address this challenge proactively instead of reactively, we need to understand the concept of disintermediation: Also, learn some creative ways to motivate students callers. The realization that what works in the U. But much can happen between bequest intention and realization. That's why thoughtful strategies to retain bequest donors over extended periods are increasingly important.

More development officers should take on this advising role, but it's important to follow some essential principles to protect you and your institution. He also talks about how advancement professionals can become more culturally competent and responsive in their work. That year saw the formation of the a cappella group the Gentlemen Callers, which played a practical and symbolic role in Wheaton's transition.

The group still exists today and has added fundraising success to its achievements. Giving to education increased an estimated 8. Online Fundraising at Large Charities Chronicle of Philanthropy Article The Chronicle of Philanthropy maintains a database of online fundraising data that can be searched by year, category including colleges and universities , state or organization name keyword. The page also links to articles on the topic.

Conducted in January, the survey of development and alumni relations professionals at higher education institutions of every type—public and private, two- and four-year, large and small—uncovered some promising strategies in the critical but often neglected area of student philanthropy. Beyond the Classroom CURRENTS Article In the past decade, as states slashed postsecondary education appropriations, and college presidents responded by prioritizing academics over cocurricular programming, hundreds of large and midsize universities began fundraising for everything from new student union facilities to transportation to off-campus cultural excursions.

Student affairs fundraisers face many hurdles, among them educating campus constituents about the importance of their work, finding prospects amid scant student records, and getting donors to support areas not directly related to attaining a degree. Annual Giving Good Question Do you have any best practices on annual giving or any sample annual fund campaigns? The free report is available for download registration required. The coming wave of retirements could be good news for advancement as faculty and staff members still dedicated to their institutional missions continue working as university ambassadors.

This growth is causing the sector to more closely scrutinize its business practices. CURRENTS examines how certain trends, including the rising role of women in philanthropy and the integration of corporate and social goals, are shaping the future direction of the field and what that means for educational advancement. This story provides a how-to plan for institutions interested in creating a similar program on their campuses.

CASE - Fundraising

Burk's research and experience backs up her strong opinions—delivered with a healthy dose of humor—on issues such as unrestricted giving and unnecessary donor recognition, topics that are covered in this interview. An Update Charities Aid Foundation Report This March report updates an annual survey providing the latest research on individuals' giving to charity, including how much is given, who the donors are, where the donations go, trends and seasonal variations in giving.

Twelve major fundraising practices are assessed via survey research, and a significant relationship is found between development officer qualifications and donation revenue. The tween students have embraced the message with stunning success. When you ask someone to partner with you in a concrete way—whether by donating funds or volunteering—you raise the quality of the dialogue and elevate both the relationship and the work you will do together.

The sooner you make this happen, the better it is for both parties. The program has been wildly successful. It also explores how institutions use the data that these services generate, the accuracy of the data they produce, and whether they are worth the price. Other countries featured in the top 10 include Ireland 5 , the United Kingdom 6 and Australia 7.

Campus communications officers usually play key roles in these partnerships. A sidebar provides a glossary of corporate sponsorship terms. So the Powhatan School injected some creativity, in the form of playfully kitschy videos, into explaining why the fund is important. How can they best identify annual fund and major gift trends? One expert in benchmarking answered these and other questions during a recent CASE webinar. It helps educate donors about what independent schools achieve with the annual fund while satisfying both their desire to allocate their gifts and the schools' need for flexible donations.

Key Facts on U. Foundations Foundation Center Report This study, released October , is the Foundation Center's new annual research study and the primary publication in which the Foundation Center documents the overall size of the U. The outlook for is for continued modest growth overall. Modern Family CURRENTS Article Institutions can do more to make legacy gifts happen—through planned giving campaigns, innovative marketing, and estate planning education programs and by incorporating the planned giving ask into routine visits with major gift prospects.

Largest Campaigns CASE File This page presents lists of the largest campaigns undertaken by higher education institutions in descending order from largest goal size. Information was compiled from press releases, articles, websites and databases. Citations for selected sources can be found in the bibliography. Also, discover how to encourage these individuals to give. How do you make the case for a consultant? What can you expect from a good consultant? A former development chief and now consultant, Laurel Price Jones answers all of your questions about hiring an outside advisor.

Are Men More Generous than Women? Inside the Minds of Donors CURRENTS Article A former adult educator turned development leader discusses how she adapts an online assessment instrument used in adult education to better understand her donors by discovering how they prefer to learn and process information.

She also explains how she has used the tool—Assessing The Learning Strategies of AdultS—to gauge her own strengths and learning style as well as those of her staff, colleagues, and board members. The author offers insight into a period of intense debate over the nature of gift planning. Successful Social Media Fundraising: This short story covers that and other findings from a survey of nonprofits. It's advisable to use a variety of metrics to get a holistic picture of performance, development leaders say. Eduventures Article This post explores issues related to productivity and ROI caused by turnover and short tenure among gift officers.

Questions are offered to assess short tenure trends. Also, discover the best strategy for engaging with female donors. This article explores how educational institutions are using this online platform and to what effect. Gift Officer Metrics Good Question Do you have any samples of metrics used to evaluate the performance of fundraisers, especially major gift officers? If not, do you have information that can help us develop metrics? The Barriers to Building a Culture of Philanthropy Podcast Fresno State's Peter Smits discusses some roadblocks that institutions hit when attempting to grow a culture of philanthropy on their campus.

A New View on Fundraising CURRENTS Article With public funding for community colleges dwindling, the leaders of these two-year institutions will be increasingly focused on raising philanthropic support, necessitating a change in their traditional campus roles. Martin's Episcopal School's recent capital campaign reflects its brand and visual identity system.

Top 5 Fundraising Ideas

In addition to featuring colors and shapes used in the independent school's communications, marketing, and fundraising materials, the donor wall also doubles as a piece of art that blends in with the building. Can an institution claim to have a philanthropic culture if staff giving is low? Does an institution have to demonstrate need? Does athletic success promote generosity among constituents? In a survey, advancement leaders say they struggle to identify and develop the characteristics of a philanthropic campus. In doing so, we shouldn't overlook college and university faculty members, who not only are some of our best prospects but also are essential participants in creating a culture of giving at our institutions.

This article explores the benefits of P3s for institutions, businesses, and the surrounding community. This article explores four common objections that foundations make with regard to supporting endowments and four arguments that respond to those objections. Maximizing Alumni Relations in a Major Campaign Podcast Hear Donna Arbide from the University of Miami talk about what campaign goals alumni relations offices should set and how they should be measured.

Also, hear her discuss how playing a key role in a major campaign can bolster the position of the alumni relations office within advancement. Owning Overhead CURRENTS Article In this Q-and-A interview with Dan Pallotta, the social entrepreneur and author discusses why overhead is the wrong metric by which to judge a charity; some changes that nonprofit boards need to make; and his advocacy for the nonprofit sector, including the Charity Defense Council organization he started.

Examining Assumptions About Fundraising Portfolios: Insights from Sales Force Management White Paper This white paper looks at sales force management techniques as a way to help development offices assign major donors to development officers in order to minimize costs and maximize revenue.

The paper considers four common fundraising models—constituency based, geographic, capacity based and the Mayo Clinic model—in relation to criteria used in sales-force strategies: It discusses how institutions are using websites and microsites, video, and traditional communication channels to engage and inform stakeholders and donors. Prime Time CURRENTS Article This column discusses how and why annual giving has grown more sophisticated and more important at higher education institutions in the past couple of decades as well as the challenge of engaging alumni in a weak economy amid rising college costs and student loan debt.

Several universities have established awards to recognize faculty fundraisers. Asia-Pacific Institute in Educational Fundraising Conference This week-long institute brings you world-class training designed specifically for Asia-Pacific based fundraisers. Do fundraisers believe that their CEOs understand their roles in fundraising success?

In summer , CASE conducted parallel surveys of community college CEOs and chief development officers to gather their perspectives on their roles and relationship. The surveys and a presentation of the findings are included. Tactics described here range from tapping into existing international relationships forged by faculty through academic programs to having an international presence on governing and advising boards.

Phillips and Brian Dowling share this page report with results of an annual survey of matching gift program practices. It identifies the progress made across the sector over recent years; highlights the opportunities that will benefit students and further knowledge, through increased engagement between institutions and donors; and addresses its recommendations to donors, institutions and government. The review and appendices are available in PDF and Word. Emerging Fundraising Opportunities in Asia Podcast Hear Marc Weinstein from McGill University explain why it takes a substantial commitment for a western institution to successfully enter and stay in the Asia-Pacific market.

Also, hear his advice on how to make personal connections with potential donors in the region. What can advancement do to address this burgeoning problem? There is a possible risk to advancement offices—and their institutions—that do not embrace this opportunity. Looking ahead, they predict further growth of 5.

Their adjustment depends on various factors, says one expert who recently made the move. Just ask three award-winning institutions from Kentucky, New York and Virginia. Fundraising Fundamentals, Section 3. Fundraising Fundamentals, Section 2. That is according to a new study on millennials. Direct mail, however, still generates the most donations. The report also looks at trends since the first study was conducted in and offers advice for dealing with technology-related advancement challenges. The Next Phase CURRENTS Article Whether through growth, reorganization, or makeshift strategies, a steadily increasing number of minority-serving institutions, particularly historically black colleges and universities and Hispanic-serving institutions, are starting their first campaigns.

Institutions that already have their first campaign under their belt are shifting into a higher gear for the next. Many colleges and universities are trying new approaches, such as meaningful engagement of minority communities and business groups in their areas or a rethinking of race-based affinity groups. The list is organized in order from largest to smallest gift. The dollar amounts do not represent a donor's cumulative giving to a recipient institution. Full citations for sources can be found in the bibliography.

Health Fundraising Gains Traction in the U. Major Gift Strategies in a Changing Philanthropic Landscape Podcast Hear Debra Pemstein from Bard College discuss some of the cultivation strategies her institution uses to help ensure that its donors remain engaged and active.

Also, listen to what Pemstein says her major gift donors expect from the institution that they never did before the recent economic downturn. Should you accept the luxury upgrade when the rental car company offers it? Veteran fundraisers answer these questions and more while sharing their tips from getting to Donor A to Donor B with one's sanity intact. Online Giving Grows Steadily for U. Still, the Institute of Education at the University of London has run a successful staff fundraising campaign for five years—with about 15 percent of its staff members making a gift last year. Most gifts were accepted by the recipient institution, though a few were declined.

What can we offer them? What value will they get from giving? The benefits of such a move include better engagement of donors and alumni in development work, but transitioning the staff can be challenging. CASE surveyed institutions for a benchmarking study on advancement investments and return. Campaigns that have recently launched are part of an evolution in which campaigns have become more donor-centric.

Driven by the need to fill budget gaps caused by reduced public funding, these colleges also have strong leaders championing their fundraising cause and newfound confidence that they are worthy of investment. Benchmarking Investments in Advancement: Results of the Inaugural CASE Advancement Investment Metrics Study White Paper The Advancement Investment Metrics Study, or AIMS, benchmarked investments and staffing in each of the advancement disciplines advancement services, alumni relations, communications and marketing, fundraising, and advancement management as well as the return on the investment in fundraising specifically.

This CASE white paper reports on the study's results by institution type, campaign status and other factors. The formulas and definitions used in the study are also included. Return on Investment for Fundraising Good Question How do we determine the return on investment in our fundraising operation?

Are staff salaries typically included in calculations? Instead, the biggest challenge is in determining how to organize efforts to cultivate those prospects to fill the short- and long-term giving pipeline. The president applauded the effort and called on more two-year institutions and private businesses around the country to engage in similar job-creating partnerships.

Findings from the Field: The Donor Motivation Study in Practice, an inside look at the attitudes and preferences of more than 50, champions, friends and acquaintances Converge Consulting in Alliance with CASE White Paper This white paper, the second in a three-part series produced by Converge Consulting in alliance with CASE, explores the results of a study of how alumni attitudes relate to the motivation to give. Do fundraisers believe that their school heads understand their roles in fundraising success? In fall , CASE conducted parallel surveys of independent school heads and chief development officers to gather their perspectives on their roles and relationship.

Cultivating Student Philanthropy Podcast Listen to Meg Petersen from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill explain why engaging potential donors while they're still students allows you to frame a more meaningful message. Also, hear why her experience as a student in a philanthropy program changed her life. The True Measure of Loyalty CURRENTS Article This article looks at the importance of benchmarking and assessing your annual fund program in order to improve your rate of donor retention and to create true donor loyalty, not just participation, by getting and keeping donors engaged in meaningful ways with your institution.

The new system, which included changes designed to improve accountability, forced the development office to prioritize the prospect pool more effectively. The department has seen increases in both the volume of gifts and amount raised. A successful leadership transition requires, among other things, constant, honest communication with key donors. Higher Education" White Paper This white paper, a snapshot of the author's dissertation research, explores donor motivations among Chinese Americans and looks at fundraising strategies that higher education institutions might use to exploit those motivations.

This paper will be useful for fundraising professionals who wish to develop culturally sensitive fundraising strategies. A new report, based on an analysis of survey data from a cross-section of institutions in the United States, identifies 10 of the best practices used by high-performing fundraising programs.

Reeher, CEO of Reeher LLC, offers advice on how colleges and universities can make better investments of time and money in their fundraising operations. Young alumni are also giving to a fewer number of charities. And yet, these young alumni now make up a significant and growing share of many institutions' donor databases.

Great Expectations: How Executive Directors Can Create Powerful Fundraising Partnerships

This is a make-or-break moment for alumni relations professionals hoping to cultivate student philanthropy and turn these future young alumni into future donors, say faculty who are presenting at a CASE conference this spring. And though the focus of the investigation, including its recommendations for reform, concern but one British institution, the executive director of CASE Europe says there are lessons for those in higher education around the globe. Foundation Growth and Giving Estimates, Edition Foundation Center Report Part of the annual Foundations Today Series on foundation growth and trends in foundation giving, this report provides a first look at giving and directions for and , together with aggregated actual giving and asset figures for more than 76, grantmaking U.

Community colleges, however, have been unable to benefit from such tactics because a profile of their alumni donors did not exist. Now, thanks to groundbreaking research, some characteristics of community college alumni donors have been revealed—and are sure to provide new direction for two-year college administrators, fundraisers and alumni professionals.

Great Examples of Year-End Outreach Article This post includes a sampling of video and Flash e-cards and tips for effective year-end communications. It links to a compilation of samples on the College Web Editor blog, where readers shared links to greetings from their institutions in the comments. The Whites have encouraged other higher education leaders to develop the program at their institutions as well. Eight of those grand gold and gold award winners are profiled here. The Family and Friends Plan CURRENTS Article Growing numbers of colleges, universities, and independent schools have found fundraising success targeting parents, grandparents, and other nonalumni friends for gifts to meet institutional needs and, at many public institutions, replace appropriations lost to state cuts.

New student philanthropy programs are cropping up and old ones updated to educate students about the role philanthropy plays at an institution, engage them, and instill in them a habit of giving. This October white paper, the first in a series of three, explores the results of a study on the relation of alumni attitudes to the motivation to give.

Aligning Donor Vision with Institutional Needs Podcast Learn what "painfully and embarrassingly obvious" maxim Chris Cox from the University of Manchester believes every development officer should remember before courting a donor. Also, catch what Cox calls a "soul-destroying" method of approaching institutional fundraising.

Now, development officers' work increasingly involves devising a strategy for aligning the donor's desires with the mission, goals, and needs of their institution. Pero hay formas de minimizar los riesgos y problemas que esto puede causar. Several two-year institutions have reaped the benefits of teaching their students, faculty and staff the ins and outs of fundraising. Developed by the author of those articles, Bernice Thieblot, and the team at NCSDO, this interactive tool helps you select components that could lead to the perfect name for your campaign. Even if none of these combinations work for your unique campaign, the tool provides inspiration for campaign name brainstorming sessions.

Play Name That Campaign! Passing the Hat 2. That was not in , but in the s. More than a century later, the university's experiences offer lessons on fundraising during a fiscal crisis. Clear and Present Danger CURRENTS Article Gifts gone bad, whether they are donations from once-friendly foreign governments now scorned or from famous entrepreneurs subsequently convicted of fraud, can happen to any institution at any time. But, there are ways to minimize risks and limit any fallout if a gift sours. Officials behind the campaign blitz say their formula for success is tailor-made for two-year and four-year institutions with limited staff and resources.

Student Philanthropy Sample Collection The Library maintains this collection of samples to help members develop programming to teach students about the importance of private support for their institutions and encourage contributions from the students themselves. Please log in to access the collection. In October , officials behind the campaign will host a webinar on how to launch a similar campaign with limited staff and resources.

Fundraising Community

July CFI Reports 4. Looking ahead, fundraisers predict further growth of 5. Giving to education rose 5. And while younger Americans are also more likely to use social media to support causes, more than 40 percent still get information about causes through family, friends and television. Faith plays an important though usually subtle role in these institutions' advancement efforts because it is often important to the donors they seek out.

Expect a board to be exactly the board you recruited. If you did not recruit your current board members with a clear understanding of their commitment to and skills in fundraising, hiring a strong development director cannot change that. Indeed, during the hiring process, a good development director asks about board engagement to understand who—if anyone—is her partner in fundraising efforts. Certainly, through excellent planning and coordination of effort, an effective development director can and should increase the fundraising impact of your board. But she cannot reset fundamental board expectations for fundraising.

Expect to spend money. Still, a development director needs a satisfactory budget to develop and maintain effective fundraising strategies and systems. Particularly if an organization has never had a development director or the previous one was not a good systems person, expect to make early and large investments in a new development director.

Moreover, recognize that entering a new fundraising channel—say, direct mail or special events—requires initial and ongoing capital investment. Typical investments are software, channel-specific consultants, list rentals, graphic design, and printing. Expect a good plan. An effective development director plans thoroughly and works the plan with discipline. Ask prospective development directors to share their annual development plans from their prior work at nonprofits.

Clearly the investment in a strong development director should produce an excellent return. But in this case, how do we define return on investment? First, in your calculations of ROI, include more than annual amounts raised. While dollars are the most obvious metric, also consider the value added by a good development director in training and mentoring less-experienced fundraisers on staff and board;? It is critical that upon hire, and then annually, you work with the development director to develop and monitor detailed fundraising performance metrics.

These metrics should flow from the aforementioned development plan and annual budget. Note that each fundraising channel has a unique ROI. Direct mail may return much less per dollar spent than grantwriting, for instance. And further, the recession and shifts in giving patterns affect each channel differently. Understanding your fundraising investment and ROI is a critical executive responsibility.

Great Expectations: How Executive Directors Can Create Powerful Fundraising Partnerships

The executive director and development director who work together to make meaning of their development data will be a more focused and effective fundraising team. Whichever metrics you choose together, the critical point is that you and the development director share an understanding of what success looks like and the roles each of you has in getting there. Without clear, measurable targets the ROI on your investment in a development director can never be accurately calculated.