CharityMatters-NZ Business Giving, Donors, Fundraising, Management, Philanthropy

A: Hell Yes

If that’s the answer, what’s the question – simple “Are Kiwis Givers”.

With over 2.9 billion dollars (2011) given to charities in New Zealand that puts us almost at the top of the global giving index.

This isn’t a small feat for a country the size of New Zealand, the only countries ahead of us in the global giving index are, England, Australia and the USA.

Individual giving is high, but there is also philanthropic trust giving, and anyone who saw Seven Sharp recently would see that Philanthropy New Zealand and trusts like the Todd Foundation are doing extremely well to help causes throughout the country.

Watch the Seven Sharp piece here

But, it’s individual giving that is, and I believe will remain the mainstay of charitable giving in New Zealand.

What are your thoughts?

CharityMatters-NZ Planning

What are your plans for 2014

What are your plans for 2014

I originally wrote this in 2011 after writing What are your plans for 2011 for Socialize Your Cause which was more about what plans charities and non-profits could be doing to help them plan for 2011.

I’ve updated this as the New Year fast approaches. Let’s look at what we as individuals are planning, or could do this year to help others in the community.

There’s many options for us when it comes to charity giving, in New Zealand alone we close on 27,000 registered charities looking for support; this doesn’t count the number of community organisations not registered with Charities Services that are also looking for support. But, being Kiwis we are generous and support many activities, people and organisations in the community.

So, where do we begin when looking at who, what and when to support? I guess one of the things we could do is look at why we support

Perhaps we should look at Not-for-profit – Giving Survey Results and how we handle charity requests both of which give an insight into what and why we support.

If you’re working with/for a non-profit, it’s important to have your plans laid out – spend the time, see it as an investment.

For those in the community that support non-profits, it’s not a bad idea to spend time thinking about your contributions, who and what you give to, the frequency, the amount of money or time given; are there things you want to do differently?

There have been stories over the years of families who sit down, and as a group decide what non-profit/s they will support, how they will do it. Some opt to give any money they would spend as a family on a holiday to a cause in their local community; others will put any money normally spent on children’s birthday parties to causes that benefit children.

No matter what or how you’re able to give – as part of your planning for the year ahead, grab a pad and pen and note what you’re wanting to achieve through your charitable giving.

We plan almost everything in our lives, so why not our giving?

Who or what will you support in 2014?

How will you support organizations in your community?

What if anything are your expectations in return for the support you give?

As a company will you involve your staff in the decision making of what causes/s the company will support?

Can you introduce the cause/s you support to others in your family, circle of friends, business or community associations?

All these and more questions will help you with your charity giving plans for the coming year … so, pick up that pen and paper and start your planning now!

CharityMatters-NZ Uncategorized

What are your plans for 2014

What are your plans for 2014

I originally wrote this in 2011 after writing What are your plans for 2011 for Socialize Your Cause which was more about what plans charities and non-profits could be doing to help them plan for 2011.

I’ve updated this as the New Year fast approaches. Let’s look at what we as individuals are planning, or could do this year to help others in the community.

There’s many options for us when it comes to charity giving, in New Zealand alone we close on 27,000 registered charities looking for support; this doesn’t count the number of community organisations not registered with Charities Services that are also looking for support. But, being Kiwis we are generous and support many activities, people and organisations in the community.

So, where do we begin when looking at who, what and when to support? I guess one of the things we could do is look at why we support

Perhaps we should look at Not-for-profit – Giving Survey Results and how we handle charity requests both of which give an insight into what and why we support.

If you’re working with/for a non-profit, it’s important to have your plans laid out – spend the time, see it as an investment.

For those in the community that support non-profits, it’s not a bad idea to spend time thinking about your contributions, who and what you give to, the frequency, the amount of money or time given; are there things you want to do differently?

There have been stories over the years of families who sit down, and as a group decide what non-profit/s they will support, how they will do it. Some opt to give any money they would spend as a family on a holiday to a cause in their local community; others will put any money normally spent on children’s birthday parties to causes that benefit children.

No matter what or how you’re able to give – as part of your planning for the year ahead, grab a pad and pen and note what you’re wanting to achieve through your charitable giving.

We plan almost everything in our lives, so why not our giving?

Who or what will you support in 2014?

How will you support organizations in your community?

What if anything are your expectations in return for the support you give?

As a company will you involve your staff in the decision making of what causes/s the company will support?

Can you introduce the cause/s you support to others in your family, circle of friends, business or community associations?

All these and more questions will help you with your charity giving plans for the coming year … so, pick up that pen and paper and start your planning now!

CharityMatters-NZ Uncategorized

Impact of the Christchurch Earthquake on fundraising, donor behaviour and charity decision-making

Earthquake imapct on NZ Charities 12MAY11.pdf

A number of charities have made comment recently about concerns they have about the ability of their donors to give post the Christchurch Earthquake – and in looking to see what could be the possible impact on donor contributions I stumbled across What has the impact of the February Christchurch Earthquake been on fundraising, donor behaviour and charity decision-making? – a report from Xponential Philanthropy.

What was the not for profit fundraising sector’s experience post-earthquake? 

“In the beginning of May, Xponential Philanthropy conducted a simple electronic survey to determine the fundraising behaviour of the not for profit sector post-earthquake and to assess if there had been a significant impact. The survey was sent to members of the Fundraising Institute of New Zealand. Fifty four responses were received.

The survey results suggest 71% of the survey respondents made changes to their fundraising plans post-earthquake. The decisions to change fundraising plans were mainly prompted by the Fundraising Department, Board and Management. Donor views were not a major influence; only two responses cite donor feedback as a reason for changing plans.

Direct mail programmes and event based fundraising were the most affected, either by cancellation or postponement. 36.7% postponed their Direct Mail programme to existing donors, whilst 27.8% cancelled the programme altogether. 16.7% cancelled a Direct Mail to non-donors and 13.3% postponed theirs. Event based fundraising was the most affected with 38.9% cancelling and 26.7% postponing a planned event. Based on these changes, it was interesting to note the estimated impact on the annual income of charities. 15% stated that they did not anticipate any loss of income. 33% estimated that they would lose up to 5% of their annual income. 15.4% expect a reduction of 5% – 10% and 20.5% believe that their annual income will reduce by 10% – 20%.” 

An insight from the report is that “Donors don’t stop caring about causes that matter to them, even in the event of a disaster. Organisations are urged to continue to engage and communicate with their donors and supporters, telling them about the urgent needs of those they help and important services they provide in our communities … because donors still care.”

It’s important for charities to communicate with their donors, to let them know how important their support is – it’s also important that charities are transparent, that they show how and where funds are used, all of this will help ensure supporters continue to support.

Download the report “Impact of Christchurch Earthquake on NZ Charities” for more insight.

 

 

 

CharityMatters-NZ Uncategorized

How much is Needed?

Glass_empty

It’s important for any organisation looking for donations to have a clear understanding of what they need the money for, what it will be used – and this need to be conveyed to the giving public. 

When charities are looking at their plans for up coming fundraising campaigns, it would be useful for them (and their donors) if they were to break their needs down into amounts that can easily be asked for. 

When asking for money, it’s generally accepted that if you ask for specific amounts, offer suggestions on giving levels organisations can have a better ‘return’ than those who simply ask for ‘support’. 

$20             will give a child school lunches for x

$50             will allow a child to attend a school activities for x

$100           will give a child school books for x

When people can see that their donation is “earmarked” for a specific purpose they’re more inclined to give – they can “see” a result, a benefit. 

Simply asking someone for a donation without saying what the benefit would be. How people are asked is important, the structure the request will make or break any appeal. 

The suggestions on How To Write The Perfect Fundraising Letter from Sumac make sense, and some of this can be incorporated into almost any appeal. 

What’s important is not to just ask for money, but to ask for specific amounts that can be ‘allocated’ to a specific item, project. 

Most potential donors, those who have warmed to your organisation, will likely be more receptive if they’re asked for a specific amount for a specific purpose. You only have to look at World Vision to see how this works well; sponsor a child for a $x per month = specific, you know how much you’re being asked for, it’s specific in that you know what it will be used for. 

The more charities start using this form of request the better, for them and for their donors – who’ll know what’s being asked of them.

 

MY GLASS IS EMPTY…
© Bsilvia | Dreamstime.com 

 

CharityMatters-NZ Uncategorized

Economic Growth and Charities

Money_-_growth_-_eknarin

Recently I posted Could charities be in for a hard time?, and after reading Charitable giving lags economic growth in USA Today, I wondered whether we could be in for a lag in support to charities due to more than disasters, relief appeals. 

Sure, in some situations giving does have to take a backseat when times get tough, but at what point when the economy starts picking up do people start to get back to their usual giving again?

It would seem from the ‘report’ that giving is picking up 

“67% said they raised more money (43%) or the same amount (24%) in 2010 as they did in 2009. That’s up from 54% in 2009. But it’s well below the “boom years” from 2005 to 2007, when as many as 69% of organizations reported receiving more than the previous year.” 

What’s happening in your area: 

Is giving picking up?

If it is picking up, how so?

What are your expectations for the next 3-6 months? 

It would be interesting to see what your expectations are, yes, depending on where you’re located, the work of your organisation does will have an impact on giving patterns and your expectations of what might or might not happen. 

Some people I’ve spoken to are expecting giving to increase, but maybe not until mid way through the year. Some would expect contributions to be about the same as previous years (before the economic slump) and are working on ways to gain new supporters to help lift their “income” to levels prior to the sump and recent global disasters. 

I suppose we can only wait and see; but if we’re working for an organisation – we can’t sit on our hands, we need to plan, be proactive and hunt out new supporters, new income streams. 

Anyone in the charity sectors knows that when income drops services provided can and do suffer – we need to ensure that all services can be catered for; we can’t let the people, causes supported through the charity sector to suffer too. 

What can we do to help lift charity giving? 


IMAGEL GROWTH OF THE MONEY.
© Eknarin | Dreamstime.com 

 

CharityMatters-NZ Uncategorized

Are you being robbed?

Dont_shoot_1_-_daniel_wiedemann

Sure no one is pointing a loaded gun to your head; but your emotions are being played. A form of emotional blackmail. 

As individuals when we’re asked to make a donation, we’re usually faced with emotional talk, stories that pull the heartstrings. Before we give in to this emotional blackmail we need to ask questions. We need to at least ask “how much does it cost?” – no, not how much they want you to give, but how much of your donation will be absorbed in the operational costs, the admin of the organisation. 

The words, images, stories used to get us to support really draw us in, we will give in, we will support those closest to our hearts – that’s why fundraisers use techniques to pull on our heartstrings to get us to open our wallets; and yes heart. 

With the prevalence of this type of ‘marketing’ of charitable organisations, we  need to be on our toes when giving to charity, and organisations need to be open about how the money they receive is managed, what it costs to raise; being an open book is important for and to everyone. 

Any reputable organisation should be happy to give you this information, those who hesitate or try to fob you off with some ‘excuse’ should be avoided. 

Don’t be afraid to ask, being asked questions is something anyone doing fundraising should be prepared for. 

Also ask the people contacting you, whether it’s by phone, letter or face to face – if they’re employed by the organisation or an external agency. Don’t let them try to hide behind some cloak of ‘privacy’ that’s just a way to fob you off to avoid answering your question. If they can’t or won’t answer – don’t give, and tell them why. 

If you feel you’re being pressured into giving, not getting the answers – end the call, toss the letter. It’s likely those who don’t like to answer questions are those who are an agency fundraising or doing member acquisition on behalf of a charity. If you’re still interested in supporting, go direct to the organisation – and as well as asking them some questions, let them know of your experience. 

There’s no denying that some organisations have to use external agents to help with the funding needs, there’s nothing wring with that, so long as everyone is being open about it. 

External organisations must remember they’re acting on behalf of their ‘client’ – the charity, so must be above board with their activities and actions. 

For organisations looking at using an external fundraiser (agency); it pays for you to ask around. Ask others in the charity sector what they do, who they use – get referrals. 

And when you’ve narrowed down who you’re likely to use, sit down with them, be prepared, ask questions. If you’re looking at a telephone campaign, ask to listen to some calls – and you want to listen to live calls, you want to hear the calls warts and all. 

Why am I raising all this? Simple, if I give $20 to an organisation I want to know that the lions share is being used for the purpose it was given and not to line someone’s pocket. 

I’ve seem some horrendous examples of agents ‘charging’ too much for what they do, yet have the firm belief they’re doing the best they can and can’t trim costs. Unfortunately for charities this can mean that they only get a small percentage of the money actually raised – money they desperately need so feel they aren’t in a position to ask questions of their agent. 

I’ve seen some examples of organisations who only charge enough to cover their immediate costs, anything  over an above their usual costs are ‘given’ as pro bono, or written off as some form of charitable/community giving. Others I’ve seen might only charge a flat percentage of the amount raised – normally around 20%. Yet I’ve seen some where it’s more like 70% of the money ‘raised’ being used to run and administer the campaign leaving only 30 or so percent to be handed to the charity for the work they do. How would you feel if you knew that the organisation you’re giving to is missing out on so much? 

Charities need to also start asking why it’s costing so much to run their campaign. 

Yes, charities are desperate for every cent they can get, and are reluctant to rock the boat, but they owe to the sector as a whole to ask questions of any fundraising agent they’re using. 

For the protection and good of the charity sector – those working in it, the people –the causes , and of course you and me, perhaps there needs to be a clean up in the sector. 

Any change will only start when donors start asking – “where does my money go?” and “what percentage does the charity get?” 

 

 

Image: DON’T SHOOT 1
© Daniel Wiedemann | Dreamstime.com 

 


 

 

CharityMatters-NZ Uncategorized

Giving Cutes

Nice_and_cute_-_sanclemenesdigpro

Wonder how some people give? What about the ways kids give – over the last wee while I’ve been hearing stories about how families are giving, how children are urging their parents to give. 

One story I heard recently was of a brother and sister who said to their parents that they wanted to give $5 of their weekly allowance each week to a charity – but they wanted their parents to match what they were giving. So now the charity is getting $80 a month from this family, and the family are talking about what the money the give means to the charity and its beneficiaries. 

How’s that for cute? 

There’s bound to be many more like that out there, lets find them and share them. 

If even one other family in your street did the same as this family, imagine what it would do for charities if this pattern was adopted by two families in every street. I’m not even going to try and work out a simple scenario for a town with a population of 10,000. But the amount that could be added to the local giving ‘pot’ could be huge. 

I’ve also heard about families, who as a family, have committed to giving what they would normally spend when they eat out at a certain fast food restaurant. They still might go sometimes, but they will give the equal amount as they’ve spent to their usual charity. 

I’ve talked before about Coffee for Charity  aren’t the family who are giving the money they’d normally spend on eating out doing almost the same thing? 

What others ways can people give, what sacrifices could they make to enable them to give something (perhaps something extra) to charity? I guess the ways would only be limited by our imagination.  

Instead of buying that new coat, that you don’t really need you give what you would have spent to a charity. Or, can you round up the purchase price of what you’re buying and give the extra to charity? 

Maybe someone will come up with a programme the same as ASB has with it’s Save the Change with the “rounding up” going to charity. 

One last cute way kids are giving. The children in one family I have heard of have decided that they don’t want birthday parties this year, instead the money their parents would normally give will be going to charity. 

There’s bound to be lots more of these cute ways kids are giving, and in turn inspiring their parents to give – if you know of any, please share them.


Image: NICE AND CUTE
© Sanclemenesdigpro | Dreamstime.com

CharityMatters-NZ Uncategorized

Ongoing Support is Needed

Disaster_kobe_earthquake

As individuals, when disaster strikes we dig deep and give to a relief fund, often having to reduce or put a hold our regular giving. 

For an organisation, there is likely to be occasion when you’re income reduces as supporters divert their giving to a disaster relief fund. 

How can this be managed, can it be managed? 

Some organisations will have a contingency plan in place, others will have to fly by the seat of their pants; and just hope they can ride it out. 

We need to keep in touch with our supporters, we need to perhaps acknowledge that we understand their giving to any relief fund,  and that we look forward to their continued support when they’re able. 

I haven’t done any formal research, but been told by some people that anywhere from 15% to over 30% can be removed from the income of some organisations, when supporters reduce their giving to support a relief fund. 

This must surely cause concern within some organisations;  overheads still have to be met, outgoings for the services provided need to be met. I’d say there’d be some who would need to look at their situation closely. 

How can we manage a contingency, not being an accountant I won’t get into the dollars, cents and percentages; instead I thought I’d look at this from a communication view. 

I’ve already said that it’s important to stay in touch with your supporters. Perhaps you should get in early, within days of a disaster occurring and say let your supporters know that you understand that their support is important to both you, and the people affected by the disaster. That you understand, that they’re likely caught in a catch 22 situation – where do they put their donation money.

It’s by being in touch with supporters; that your message, the importance of their support and the work of the organisation, will be kept in their mind. 

Why have I raised this? Simply I had a conversation with someone recently who talked of the drop in ‘support income’ since the cyclones, flooding, earthquakes and fire that have devastated sizable communities; and cost the local economy, countries affected, many millions, if not billions of dollars in lost income, business that has come to a halt, consumers not spending  – perhaps moving away altogether. 

The major relief organisations do need our support, we can’t disregard that; perhaps as an organisation you could offer assistance to them. Do they have the capacity to field calls? Does your organisation have the capacity to assist? If so offer it. You’d hope someone would offer you the assistance if you needed it. 

It’s important no matter what that you stay in touch with your supporters, your stakeholders; and that you offer support where you can. You can’t afford to sit back and stress that income may have stalled, and worry about how you’ll regain it – you need to act. 

As individuals we need to remember the groups and individuals we normally support, and as soon as possible we must resume our giving to them. 

See also Charities hit as quake gets donor dollars

CharityMatters-NZ Uncategorized

What are your plans for 2011

Pad_and_pen_2

I recently wrote What are your plans for 2011 for SocializeYourCause which was more about what plans charities and non-profits could be doing to help them plan for 2011. Here, let’s look at what we as individuals are planning, or could do this year to help others in the community.

There’s many options for us when it comes to charity giving, in New Zealand alone we have over 25,000 registered charities we could support; this doesn’t count the number of community organisations not registered with the Charities Commission that could do with our support. But, being Kiwis we are generous and support many activities, people and organisations in the community.

So, where do we begin when looking at who, what and when to support? I guess one of the things we could do is look at why we support

Perhaps we should look at Not-for-profit – Giving Survey Results and how we handle charity requests both of which give an insight into what and why we support.

If you’re working with/for a non-profit, it’s important to have your plans layed out – spend the time, see it as an investment.

For those in the community that support non-profits, it’s not a bad idea to spend sometime thinking about your contributions, who and what you give to, the frequency, the amount or time given; are there things you could do differently?

There have been stories over the years of families who sit down, and as a group decide what non-profit/s they will support, how they will do it. Some opt to give any money they would spend as a family on a holiday to a cause in their local community; others will put any money normally spent on children’s birthday parties to causes that benefit children.

No matter what or how you’re able to give – as part of your planning for the year ahead, grab a pad and pen and note what you’re wanting to achieve through your charitable giving.

We plan almost everything in our lives, so why not our giving?

Who or what will you support in 2011?

How will you support them?

What if anything are your expectations in return for the support you give?

As a company will you involve your staff in the decision making of what causes/s the company will support?

Can you introduce the cause/s you support to others in your family, circle of friends, business or community associations?

All these and more questions will help you with your charity giving plans for the coming year … on, pick up that pen and paper and start your planning now!


CHANGE OF PLANS
© Mikko Pitkänen / Studio Foxy | Dreamstime.com