We’re ecstatic to announce the addition of Viking Capital Management to the NPcatalyst family of corporate clients. Based in Westlake Village, California, Viking offers its clients the utmost in service, cash flow, and cost saving solutions. The NPcatalyst team is providing creative strategies and active management services for the company’s Viking Cares program.

The goal of company’s Viking Cares program is to implement a stream of continual income to deserving charitable organizations. “Viking Cares allows businesses to support their favorite charities through an innovative giving platform, which won’t adversely affect their bottom line”, according to Pete Parker, managing partner of NPcatalyst. “It’s a great fit to our mission of connecting donors and leaders to charities through innovative synergy”.

The Viking Cares process is simple and everyone wins. Every time that a business accepts a credit card from a customer, a sales representative gets paid a commission. In most cases this commission is 50% of net fees.  Through Viking Cares, the company will match each client’s current credit card rates and fees penny for penny but re‐direct the funds that are generally paid as a commission every month to the charity of its choice. This passive charitable donation will continue as long as each client continues to process with Viking.  It’s that simple.

“Businesses can increase their philanthropic endeavors with no advertising out of pocket expense; and every time a credit card is used, our partner charities or local schools will benefit”, says Gregory Augustine, partner of Viking Capital Company. “Simply coined, it’s passive to business, perpetual to charity”.

To learn more about how Viking’s services can benefit businesses and charities, please visit…

• www.VikingCares.com
• http://www.vikingcares.com/choc/ – special webpage created for Children’s Hospital of Orange County

Additional information can be gathered by calling 949-355-5145. You can also call us at NPcatalyst, as we’re happy to answer any questions. We can be reached at info@NPcatalyst.com and 775-333-9444.

It seems that most nonprofits have more needs than they have resources to fill. By creating a “wish list”, organizations present donors, volunteers, and prospects with specific ways they can engage. Typically, some items on a wish list can be fulfilled with a monetary gift, but most are usually items that are needed.

According to noted non-profit professional, Deane Brengle (blog), “Wish lists are not unheard of within the fundraising community. They are, however, an under-utilized resource available to all nonprofit organizations no matter what the size.”

Charities post wish lists and hope the items are hand-delivered to their doorsteps. While this may happen on occasion, it doesn’t happen as often as they’d wish.  Increasing the likelihood of this happening, these organizations can provide additional, specific information. This includes a detailed description of the items in need, the number needed, and its value to the organization or beneficiary. By providing descriptive information, prospective supporters will have a distinct idea in mind of what to purchase.

Fundraising expert Sandy Rees (blog) believes “You can include literally anything on a Wish List – everything from cleaning products to refrigerators, vans, and forklifts! I would suggest including a range of items from toilet paper and copy paper on the low end to whatever you need on the high end. Nothing is too strange because you never know when someone reading your list will have just what you need.”

Customarily, donors go out and purchase, then deliver wish list items to the charities they choose to support. This will always be an opportunity. But that’s not the only way to transact wish list giving.

Perhaps the charitable organization would accept funds for the necessary items but, rather than the donor purchasing and delivering, the organization’s staff or volunteers could go out and purchase them on their own. While this takes time away from their daily routine, by doing their own purchasing, charity leaders are benefiting in other ways. At a minimum, this presents an opportunity to begin building sustainable relationships with merchants, likely discussing (or receiving) items at further discounted prices, and purchasing exactly what they need (as opposed to using what the donor delivers).

According to Sandy, “The easier you make it for a donor to act, the more likely they will.”

Fundraising through wish lists is not a new concept within the non-profit sector. However, if properly utilized, leveraged, and promoted, it can become an integral part of an organization’s private funding model.

For more information about wish list giving, contact NPcatalyst at 775-333-9444 or info@npcatalyst.com.

Whether you’re raising funds for a local community-benefit organization or a chapter of a college fraternity, there’s one approach to generating donations that’s sure to prove successful. Consider how much time and effort goes into planning small and major special events.  Now, imagine that same effort strategically targeted toward cultivating a lifetime donor…a fan who loves and supports your organization and its mission over the long term.  This single concept, so often ignored, can make the difference between surviving from event to event and having a steady stream of program-sustaining money coming into your nonprofit.  Nothing will net rewards with your donors like relationship building.

The following Five Rs of Fundraising, was created by Fraternity Management Group, many years ago, and used when managing each of its clients. Its application, however, can be used by all non-profit organizations. While many organizations believe that coordinating special events is the ideal method for raising funds, building relationships with current and prospective donors generates far greater sustainability.

Consider the Five Rs of fundraising:

Research
This forms a solid basis of understanding of your chapter’s or organization’s fundraising endeavors, not to mention its individual alumnus and/or constituent relations. From basic records management to in-depth interviews, information is key to success. With proper research, the interests, needs, charitable backgrounds, professional experiences, personal connections and links to your chapter/organization are identified and recorded.

Recruiting
This phase is going on constantly, but primarily during the same time frame as heavy research. Volunteer leaders, including initiation/graduating class representatives, development committee members, and campaign steering chairpersons play integral roles in successful fundraising campaigns. The amount of work involved and the number of prospective contributors and volunteers connected with the chapter or organization, who must be contacted, requires proper recruitment and management.

Romance
Commonly called cultivation, this is perhaps the most important part of the process. All contact with prospective contributors is a form of cultivation. Every newsletter, email, phone call, tweet or Facebook message, event, and publicity item serves to inform and pique the interest your organization’s potential supporters. Romancing these alumni, parent, volunteer, and community leaders occurs on a regular basis leads to strategic and successful solicitations. The goal is to encourage prospects to become actively engaged and connected. 

Request
This is the good part, where individual prospects are asked, or invited, to invest in the chapter or organization. It’s important to note that the levels of gift size and donor satisfaction are increased with proper romancing or cultivation. Actual soliciting of contributions is carried out by key organization leaders and volunteers who are personally engaged in the organization and connected to the person(s) being solicited. 

Recognition
Early, frequent, and creative ways to thank volunteers and donors will insure that they stay involved and invested in your chapter or organization. It breeds proper stewardship of future donations of time and dollar. It also sets a pattern which other prospects will notice, which be a determining factor when they’re asked to contribute funds.

Every contact, with every individual prospect, involves one or more of the Five R’s. Planning ahead and maximizing the effectiveness of those contacts is what will drive your chapter or organizations closer to its fundraising goal.

This blog was crafted for Fraternity Management Group, a leader in college fraternity alumni/parent relations and fundraising. However, it can easily be integrated into non-profit fund development programs. For more information about Fraternity Management Group, feel free to contact them at 800-228-7326 and info@fmgtucson.com.

At the root of effective fund development is the identification, cultivation, and solicitation of prospective contributors. This simple process affects all areas of each community-benefit (or non-profit) organization and, when properly managed, creates incredible effects on the organization’s growth, sustainability, and beneficiary impact.

In the hundreds of board meetings which NPcatalyst leaders have facilitated, participated, or simply visited as a guest, there’s been one overwhelming topic address – fundraising. In most cases, the question of “how do we (or where do we) raise more funds?” has been raised. Typical answers are special events, direct mail, and grantwriting. Very seldom do boards discuss relationship building and, more specifically, the board’s role in facilitating new donor relationships.

On Tuesday, September 27, we will be conducting a webinar on the role of board members in the donor solicitation process. The training session is designed for all board members, and will be great for executive directors, development staff, and marketing/public relations staff. The presentation will include tips related to:

• How to identify prospective donors
• How to address potential supporters
• What to say when you have their attention
• How to properly represent the organization
• How to gather and record information
• The interaction with staff members

We’ll even spend a moment on how to raise funds without “making the ask”.

But wait…there’s more. We’ll give each webinar participant copies of documents we regularly use to identify, cultivate, and solicit major gifts.

Here are the webinar details:

NPcatalyst – Board fundraising webinar training session

www.npcatalyst.com/webinars

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

10:30am-11:30am (PST)

$70.00

 Register Now

The webinar is designed for all 501c3 organizations, whether they’re large or small;  weak or strong development programs; active or inactive board members; and, located in Nevada, the west coast or elsewhere – but all seeking growth and greater impact. 

Please note that the webinar will be taped and may be purchased for viewing immediately after the actual webinar date/time. For more information, contact NPcatayst at 775-333-9444 or info@NPcatalyst.com.

Non-profit organizations (regardless of size, scope, sector, or location) are invited to participate in the innovative campaign, but need to enlist with NPcatalyst prior to November 1st. Through a small participation fee, each organization will receive:

• an organizational assessment (charity rating) and best practices solutions guide;
• invitation to participate in up to three fundraising-driven webinar training sessions;
• inclusion in NPcatalyst’s social media and traditional media messaging;
• direct positioning with NPcatalyst’s expanding roster of corporate, foundation, and philanthropic influencers;
• an online profile, featured on the NPcatalyst website; and,
• a special contributions-tailored profile on a soon-to-be-announced Campaign website.

Signing up well in advance enables the participating organizations to address areas deemed as weak or needing improvement, based on the charity rating score determined by NPcatalyst’s HealthCheck tool. It’s an organization assessment (or charity rating) tool, which analyzes each organization in five different categories, then provides a best practices solutions guide for improvement in each area. Click the following link – www.npcatalyst.com/healthcheck/ – and learn more about the HealthCheck tool which the NPcatalyst team created. Best of all, it’s a great revenue-generating tool. In fact, here’s a testimonial:
“What I’m coming to understand about the value of this HealthCheck process is not necessarily the rating itself (though that’s important), but the best-practices it ends up prompting. To that end NPcatalyst is doing great work ensuring that we’re adhering to those best practices.” – Jonathan Mueller, executive director of Sierra Nevada Journeys

NPcatalyst was founded to provide philanthropic solutions to both donors and the charitable organizations they support. Pete Parker, managing partner of the firm, has helped non-profit organizations raise over $30,000,000 through appealing and innovative annual, major, capital, and online giving campaigns. Most recently, the firm create a corporate engagement campaign which connected community residents in throughout northern Nevada with over 15,000 volunteer opportunities.

The year-end giving campaign is an opportunity non-profit organizations should seriously consider. To sweeten the invitation, NPcatalyst is offering the charity rating, best practices guide, public relations messaging, and year-end fundraising campaign at $375, a heavily-discounted rate from the $450 base price. With a targeted fundraising goal of $5,000 per organization, it’s an incredible opportunity. Taking advantage of this two-week offer, which ends on August 31st, requires each organization to send an email to info@npcatalyst.com or call 775-333-9444.

Click here to register

One of the biggest fears shared by charitable board members is the fear of asking for money. For most charities, raising funds through board members is a duty and, quite frankly, an obligation. But, when push comes to shove, few board members enjoy tapping their friends, coworkers, and other community leaders for financial support. Serving on several boards and directly working with many more, I can readily sense board members who dislike soliciting donations.

But why does there need to be such a fear about raising funds?

Board members are typically recruited to non-profit organizations because of their professional or community influence and affluence. They bring significant experience, knowledge, and connections…the ingredients necessary to represent, govern and generate support for the organizations they serve.

When asked about the sources of resistance, the responses I repeatedly receive include the fear of being asked to return the favor to support a different organization; or fear in receiving a negative response; or, fear of potentially impairing a relationship with a co-worker, client, or vendor. These are tough situations for a board member and, quite honestly, future board members.

Here’s my advice to board members who are hesitant or concerned about asking others for charitable donations.

Work with the charity’s staff leadership, specifically the executive and/or development director, to identify prospective donors with whom you have connections. These can be individuals, businesses, and foundations.

Take it a step further by helping them craft a solicitation strategy for each prospect. While each prospective donor may require a different approach, an appropriate amount of cultivation will advance the relationship-building process between the charity and the potential donor.

You might even consider scheduling an initial meeting between the organization (represented by a lead staff or board member) and the prospect.

Creating the opportunity for the organization to identify and cultivate potential “investors” is what non-profit organizations would love to see from their board leaders. It’s quite possible that by taking these simple, yet effective, steps may influence the raising of more money than anticipated!

For more information or to have NPcatalyst work with your favorite charity and its board members on charitable fundraising, dial 775-333-9444 or send an email to info@npcatalyst.com.

Every community organization approaching our company for assistance has the same issue – the need for funding support. While each organization’s situation is different, the common theme has been the search for revenue using new vehicles and/or from new target audiences. We’ve noticed, however, that very few utilize robust or even strategic online giving models.

“Studies have shown that online giving increased 35% in 2010”, says Pete Parker, managing partner of NPcatalyst. “Rather than allow non-profit organizations to stand on the sidelines hoping for new contributors to magically visit their websites to make donations, our strategies are tailored to proactively reach out to prospective donors.”

NPcatalyst works with non-profit organizations to design online giving campaigns directly aligned with their annual giving, major campaign, and special event goals. Using an infusion of e-communications capacities, social media tools and mobile giving, the online giving strategies increase public awareness and direct giving successes. The design of each strategy is rooted in a campaign model featuring measurable benchmarks, network connections, and appealing promotional messages.

For a minimal investment, a tailor-made online giving campaign can be designed and generating contributions within one week.

The NPcatalyst online giving solution works for all organizations, regardless of their online giving and social media readiness or that they’ve had a “donate now” button featured on their website for some time. The firm offers solutions for every non-profit organization seeking to generate online gifts and expand their internet-based presence and reach.

To learn more about the NPcatalyst online giving solution, call 775-333-9444 or email info@npcatalyst.com.

The following are suggestions for taking the best photos.

Point the photographer in the right direction.

Depending on your relationship with the photographer and his/her knowledge of the event and community, identify the key people you want in the photos. This may include a list of names or by pointing out the individuals, so the photographer can eyeball the preferred subjects. This includes board members, honored guests, major donors, and community leaders. Providing the photographer with an assistant will make locating your VIPs much easier and quicker.

Provide an agenda of the event’s activities

When you are hoisting a big check, presenting an award, or introducing a speaker, you don’t want your photographer to be wandering around the silent auction display. Provide an agenda with the times of important events during the evening and highlight the things you definitely need photographed.

Limit the food and drink shots

If people are eating, reaching for, holding, looking at, smelling or touching food – don’t take the picture. Nobody is going to use it unless what’s in the photo is a married couple. Think to yourself, would this scene be published in an annual report or newspaper? If it’s your Executive Director smearing butter on a bagel, chances are, no!

Both posed photos and candids work

If it looks like it could be stock photography, go for it. Don’t be afraid to ask a group of individual to pose for a quick photo. You’ll get the best bang for your buck by choosing your shots and posing people deliberately.

From event to event, candid photos are very similar. The ideal candid photos are taken at the right moments, such as people applauding, shaking hands, or listening, smiling at a podium, hugging, and giving flowers to a speaker.

Look for natural groups of three

Three is a great number for a picture, and you’ll notice that at events, people tend to group in twos and threes to chat. Whenever a group of three is found talking, it presents an ideal time to invite for a group photo, by simply asking “Can I take a picture?”

Asking people to pose for pictures helps photographers of all abilities get more reliable shots than relying on candid snaps. Never be afraid to just ask people for pictures. You’ll get your shot list completed and you’ll be able to control how the shot is framed.

Track the names of people in the photos

This can be handled by the assistant or post-event by people who are very familiar with the audience and local community. Not only can the photos be used with acknowledgement letters, adding captions to photos is particularly helpful if you place them on your website, Facebook or if you send to local newspapers and magazines.

Don’t let your event pass without capturing the many moments with photography. While volunteer photographers “can get the job done”, professional photographers will ensure you take the most ideal and highest quality photos.

If you’re coordinating an event in Northern Nevada, check out our “endorsements” page to see our recommendation!

In an article, written by Forbes magazine columnist Matt Brady, last September, he wrote, “Since wealthy donors want greater impact and demonstrable results from their giving, the onus is increasingly on charities to provide greater transparency in how they are spending their money and more evidence of the effect of their efforts. Smaller, nimbler and more accountable charities are becoming increasingly attractive to donors vs. large, traditional ones.”

In our many conversations with donors and volunteers, they gain the most satisfaction when supporting efficient, well-operated organizations. When asked what they look for when determining their charitable support, the answers have fallen within the following five predominant categories:

Data & Efficiency

A review of financial information, such as figures found on IRS Forms, enables the donor to analyze a non-profit organization’s financial information. The donor can then determine organization’s efficiency, capacity, and overall financial health.

Finance & Fund Development

Non-profits have an obligation to act as responsible stewards in managing their financial resources. They must comply with all legal financial requirements and adhere to sound accounting principles that produce reliable financial information, ensure fiscal responsibility and build public trust. In addition, non-profits act as the intermediary between donors and beneficiaries and have an ethical obligation to ensure proper handling of funds to carry out their missions.

Governance

A non-profit’s leadership, represented by its staff and board of directors is responsible for defining the organization’s mission and for providing overall leadership and strategic direction to the organization. Each non-profit board should: ensure that the organization has adequate resources to carry out its mission and provide direction for the executive director and key staff; and evaluate its own effectiveness as a governing body and as representatives of the community in upholding the public interest served by the organization.

Human Resources

The ability of an organization to make effective use of the energy, time and talents of its employees and volunteers is essential to accomplish the organization’s mission. Non-profit organizations should place a high priority on exercising fair and equitable practices that attract and retain qualified volunteers and employees. Nonprofits have an obligation to adhere to all applicable employment laws and to provide a safe and productive work environment.

Public Information

Non-profits that provide information to prospective donors and other constituents promote informed and responsible philanthropy. Donors are better able to make decisions when they can learn a nonprofit’s purpose, who governs it, how it manages its financial resources, whom the nonprofit serves, and what progress it has made toward achieving its mission.

We’re excited by this movement, as I believe we’ll see increases in financial and voluntary support as well as stronger organizations which receive the support. In fact, NPcatalyst has created a tool designed to drive support to non-profit organizations while, at the same time, rating each organization according to the various performance indicators. It’s called NPHealthCheck and can be found at www.npcatalyst.com.

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