Should You Have Your Own Fundraising Professional on Board?

Many nonprofits simply rely on their existing board members to develop their fundraising goals and strategic marketing plans. It's common for boards to turn the oversight of their fundraising over to the treasurer or even to someone else on the board that may have some experience with finances in their private life. In general this is usually a volunteer board member that works in banking or accounting, or other position that involves marketing.

As with most endeavours, board members will find that they can likely improve the results of their fundraising efforts if they enlist the services and experience of a professional. Just as you wouldn't turn to an amateur if you were facing a serious illness and would likely seek out the services of a professionally trained physician, nonprofit boards can benefit from having a fundraising professional on board.

A fundraising professional can help give direction and provide insight to the board when creating a fundraising campaign as well as be able to design one that will increase the amount of funds that are raised. This is critically important for most nonprofits given the fact that fundraising is often a nonprofit's greatest source of funding. Being able to have a reliable professional to turn to can not only improve your nonprofit's ability to achieve its service level goals; it can also increase your ability to continue daily operating in a sustainable manner.  

Because of their training and experience, a fundraising professional is able to help unify your nonprofit's approach to fundraising. They also usually take on the responsibility of doing the hard work that is necessary to keep up with communications that build and strengthen relationships. This helps nonprofits to be able to keep their current donors involved and emotionally connected to the nonprofit's goals while seeking out new donors in ways that are the most cost effective.

Increasing the amount of monies that your nonprofit receives from fundraising is about more than simply asking for more money from your existing network of donors. The most successful fundraising campaigns are usually part of a multi-year fundraising strategy. A professional fundraiser is especially beneficial when it comes time to develop these long range fundraising plans for your nonprofit's organisation as their experience enables them to be able to provide realistic targets for your fundraising goals and likely costs from year to year. This allows your nonprofit to be able to take swift action should circumstances and needs change.

In short, while your nonprofit will likely have to pay to hire a fundraising professional, this cost will probably be more than offset by the increase in the amount of donations that you normally receive while reducing your fundraising costs by providing plans that result in greater focus and less waste during the actual fundraising process. 

What We Can Learn From Australia’s Top Reputable Charities

To be named Australia’s most reputable not for profit organisation is an honour; to be named most reputable 3 years in a row is definitely a great achievement indeed.  Australia’s Royal Flying Doctor Service has been given this honour ranking highest again in the 2013 AMR Charity Reputation Index.

The AMR survey measures across many facets of a non-profit organisation including innovation, workplace, citizenship, governance, leadership and cost management.

AMR’s Managing Director Oliver Freedman said that the Royal Flying Doctors had in particular built a strong reputation across this broad base. 

Freedman commented, “The research demonstrates that for a charity to have a strong reputation, it is not enough simply to be supporting a good cause.  These organisations also need to be innovative, strong community leaders, demonstrate appropriate cost management, be transparent in their governance and provide a good workplace for employees.  The Royal Flying Doctors came up well in all these dimensions, and their overall reputation ranking reflects this community view.”

Coming in a very notable second is the McGrath Foundation which managed to rise a whole eight places from last year to achieve this astounding result.

The Foundation communicates clearly about what it is raising money for, and where it will go,” Freedman said.  “This has contributed to its overall reputation in the eyes of Australians because they understand what the charity stands for and can see the work it is undertaking out in the community.”

These two charities are certainly a great act for all not for profits to follow and it just goes to show how much transparency, innovation and reputation play a part in an organisation's success.

To learn more about the charities and the AMR Charity Reputation Index visit the original article.

Interview With A Treasurer

We recently spoke to the treasurer of a community group about their role in the organisation and the challenges they face.

1. What do you love about the role of treasurer?

I know that people tend to think of small not-for-profit organisations as casual and with no real budget to worry about. That couldn’t be further from the truth. We are not-for-profit, yes, but we have a budget of hundreds of thousands of dollars to manage. We have all the demands of a regular workplace – salaries, overheads, budget limitations and the lot. You can’t just leave it to anyone to manage the budget. You have to know what you are doing. That’s why I took on the role.

2. What has been the hardest part of your job?

Well, when I first took over this role there was a big mess that I had to clean up. The previous treasurer had done some account fiddling and there was money missing. I had to go back through our financial history and look for irregularities and make sure that we were still financially viable as an organisation.

It was very fiddly and detailed work and even worse, there were a lot of people in the organisation who were quite upset at being duped. They blamed themselves for not keeping an eye on the accounts, too. And they should have.

3. So should the treasurer be accountable to someone?

Of course. For the safety of the individual as much as the safety of the organisation, the finances should never be left to one person to manage. I report to a board of management but even so, they don’t quite understand the accounts fully. Part of my job is to teach them so that they get the whole picture and not just what the treasurer tells them.

4. What would you like to change?

I’d like to change the attitude to the role. Everyone thinks that treasurers have a boring job but really it’s dynamic and involving. It’s strategic, too, not just about counting the numbers. It’s about long term planning so that the organisation can stay in business.

Without good monetary control that goes beyond keeping track of your bills, no committee or organisation will be able to function.

Is Social Influence Important?

Once upon a time fundraising was all about knocking on doors, making hundreds of lamingtons or selling raffle tickets. These days with the rise in popularity of social media comes a new way to raise money; through online social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, blogs or LinkedIn. Not only are these methods free to use, the potential audience reach can mean a very successful campaign for a non-profit organisation.

Facebook

Aside from creating a page for your campaign and starting a fundraiser via a Facebook page, one of the most well-known social fundraising tools is called Facebook Causes.

Twitter

Also has a special platform called Twitplay. Twitplay works especially well because of the viral nature of Twitter – donations are created based on re-tweets which means more visibility and in turn, more donations.

Blog

Create a blog post, or series of blog posts on your fundraising campaign, your organisation, personal testimonials or stories using photos, videos and guest bloggers. This will create a more personal side to your non-profit organisation instead of just being seen as a large organisation.

You can also add a PayPal button at the end of the post (or posts) which will encourage and motivate people to donate.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn gets far less attention than other social networking sites but if used cleverly, it can really generate big business for non-profits by building on connections. LinkedIn also has search tools which will enable you to locate and find excellent prospects. You can target your search geographically, by industry or by keywords.

If you want to know more about LinkedIn and the first steps you should take, there is an excellent blog post entitled Getting to know LinkedIn written by Gayle Roberts.

So, back to the question – is social influence important? Without a doubt, yes. It is an essential way to raise money and awareness of a campaign in modern times and without it your non-profit organisation is not only missing out on potential sources for raising funds, but also awareness for your cause.