Many people have asked me, "How will the tough economy affect the 2008 Community Giving Campaign?" Unfortunately, increased consumer costs have a compounding factor on most nonprofit organizations - the need for their services increases despite flat or decreased funding. However, I am able to tell people Community Shares' workplace donors have remained rock steady in their support of local giving over the years. When times are tough, our workplace donors continue to support the charities and causes they care about most.
A recent post on Newsweek.com titled, "The Coming Charity Crisis" quoted a fundraising consultant who stated, "...in the minds of some, philanthropy is a luxury. You pay your bills first and then start making charitable gifts."
The idea of philanthropy as a luxury made me stop and think. Where does my personal giving rank on my list of spending priorities? Do I count my giving dollars as discretionary or as a fixed cost in my budget? Am I a person who gives when it is convenient? Or do I consider myself a "community shareholder" who knows my investment matters most during difficult times?
Giving through paycheck contributions allows me to give on a budget and invest in my community when it needs my support most. Thanks to the innovative work of our member agencies, I know my contributions will pay dividends. Join me and become a community shareholder!
Microgiving Your Way Through Rough Times Even small donations can make a huge difference
+ Can you feel it? Apprehension is in the air and with each day I feel an uptick in societal uncertainty and acrimony.
+ The current economic climate of high energy prices, deflating home values, and as violatile of a financial market as many have ever seen, can be described, at least by this Community Shareholder, as a perfect storm for the nonprofit sector as we begin a fall to remember.
+ Why does that matter? Remember Shareholders, bad economic times affect us all. The real kicker though is that those who are the most affected are often those who can afford it least. Unless we maintain our support in good times and bad we're in for a harsh winter.
+ Many of our most successful community programs are dependant upon transportation to continue delivering. The Denver Hospice and Project Angel Heart are two that have seen expenses jump through the roof.
+ Where do we go from here? It's easy to think that this situation is out of our collective control, but that couldn't be further from the truth. You can't control the stock market or the price of gas, but you can control your actions and your attitude and that means a lot when multiplied by togetherness.
+ The best way out of this hole is to stop digging, and fair-weather philanthropy doesn't help the community to stop digging.
+ In the world of community services, Microgiving is the hot new fundraising method. It's based on the concept that we can do more together than we can alone. You see examples of it every day when you look at the yellow wristbands of those united to fight cancer. Over 70 million of those puppies have been sold in 4 years for $1 a piece.
+ What is it? It's simple - incremental giving makes a monumental difference and Community Shares is proof positve of this. Last year, Community Shares raised over $1.5 million for the community. All of this was with an average donation of less than a dollar a day. That's some serious community-rallying!
+ A simple donation of $5 a paycheck adds up to a heck of a lot when multiplied annually and combined with your friends, family, and co-workers. Microgiving typically allows participants to give 40% more than through a one-time gift and quite simply, it allows you to give easily in a tougher economic climate and doesn't force you to make a sacrifice outside of your means.
+ But, we ALL need to throw in. Give up a latte a week -- that's all we're asking.
+ Microgiving feels new and is definitely an exciting trend, but the truth is that it has been around for nearly a century. This fall workplace giving campaigns all over Colorado will kick off. Workplace giving is one of the original forms of Microgiving.
+ Hey, the message ain't pretty, and I'm not going to sugarcoat it. Times are tough and without you many of our nonprofits and community programs are in for a hard 4th quarter. Can you handle the truth?
+ We're looking at an uphill climb from here and our mood as a community dictates our success in moving forward.Think before acting, breathe before snapping, and be good to your fellow Shareholders. Let's put on the rally cap and make this a season of giving we'll remember for all the right reasons!
+ You can make the difference when it counts most.
I have to start with a disclaimer: I am disappointed I cannot list Community Shares’ website as one of my favorites and I hope our upcoming reboot and public launch of the My Colorado Project will bump us to the top.
Our website includes some classic nonprofit mistakes: too many pages (mostly due to sub pages) which prevent information being kept up to date; a fairly static look that contradicts our dynamic organization; and, it doesn’t put our best attributes first – the people who make up our community giving fund.I would compare it to meeting someone on Match.com and then they show up for a face-to-face date, they look nothing like they sounded like.In this case, it is the opposite – we look and sound great but you meet us online and it is like meeting a different person.
We’ve been doings some fun work on our branding with board member Rich Jones (thanks!) that has made me take a look around and seek nonprofit or community-focused organizations that have websites that reflect their personality and attributes.
Here are a few of my favorite community change and nonprofit organization websites and why I love them. [Second disclaimer: In some cases, I may love a site while knowing little about the organization.] Of course, these are my opinions as an individual combined with my nonprofit executive eyes.Definitely respond with your favorite sites.
Why I Love It: Awesome site upgrade!First off, the look of the site does a great job inviting you in and puts the product first.(For most nonprofits, the product is the change created.For WBP, they have two products – the women and the beans.)The video on the home page automatically loads which grabs your attention and makes you want to learn more.The shopping feature is super clean and easy to use.This is also a great example of not sending your site visitor to a third party to shop or donate.All in all, it’s great site.
Why I Love It: It puts the animals first.My two favorite features on the site are the header that flashes through the animal pics (and they aren’t afraid to use white space!) and the adoption area of the site is genius.I love that they are adding videos of the dogs and the email function is diabolical (if you are trying to resist your partner’s efforts in adopting a cat).I think they could upgrade some other areas of the site (especially the donation options) but they do right what matters most.
Why I Love It: Planned Parenthood has to balance the purpose of their site because the two primary reasons people visit require different messaging and voice.For those looking for services, they use straightforward, clear language and the ability to find a location near you follows you throughout the site when you are pages related to health topics.For those who want to learn about issues and action, the language changes and you are given very easy options to get involved locally.It strikes a nice balance and exudes support, authority, and a clear point of view.
(Okay, I must admit that one of my least favorite beginnings of a sentence is, “I was listening to NPR…”And, if anyone who knows me in my personal life is reading this, you know exactly why.In addition, I wish they would do more work giving the public the microphone instead of talking about what the public is doing.However…)
Why I Love It: The NPR site is a great example of using multiple media to share your product.Their streaming quality has greatly improved and they have podcasts, RSS, desktop widgets (Google Gadget in this case), mobile alerts and trivia quizzes, and a wide variety of options for their electronic newsletter service.If you don’t know what any of those things are, email me for more information or go check out the options on the NPR site.
This site is labeled “inspired thoughts by the world’s greatest thinkers and doers”.It features videos from the annual TED conferences.TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds.
Why I Love It: It uses some of the greatest attributes of social media.Think about reading about TED in a magazine and thinking, “I wish I could be there.”Thanks to the internet, you can be.Easy to watch, easy to share, easy to search.
Changemakers.net is a project of Ashoka and it aims to “open source social solutions”.Changemakers is building the world's first global online "open source" community that competes to surface the best social solutions, and then collaborates to refine, enrich, and implement those solutions. Changemakers begins by providing an overarching intellectual framework for collaborative competitions that bring together individual social change initiatives into a more powerful whole.
Why I Love It: This truly is using social media for social change – it’s two paradigm shifts beyond where the sector is on social media.Talk about using collective knowledge and innovation to solve problems!This is a great model for nonprofits – instead of sending a fundraising letter asking constituents for money to solve a problem, what if you asked them all to weigh in first on the best way to do it.Engage your donors in real change.This site boggles my mind with potential.
This topic is of great interest to me and I will be sure to put out updates to this list quarterly.I also look forward to putting Community Shares at the top of the list soon.
Don’t forget to respond and let me know your favorite sites!
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