We all know we’re in the midst of significant change propelled by new technologies.

We’re living the change every day – with our smart phones and flat screen TVs, our Facebook and Skype accounts.

If you doubt the rapid changes in technology watch this video of Steve Jobs unveiling the Macintosh computer – it makes 26 years seem like ancient history.

So how are all of these changes affecting Philanthropy? Check out the new white paper, Disrupting Philanthropy, for a comprehensive summary of how our access to instant information and capacity for networking online is transforming philanthropy. For a quick synopsis read Working Wikily’s review.

The authors of Disrupting Philanthropy, Bernholz, Skloot and Varela, offer some advice for us on how to deal with all of this rapid change: be flexible, scalable and portable.

“Th(e) institutional structure has remained the predominant model for organized philanthropy for almost a century. Today, peer-supported, data-informed, passion-activated, and technology-enabled networks represent a new structural form in philanthropy, and the institutions that support them will need to be as flexible, scalable, and portable as the networks they serve.”

We often talk in fundraising about donor prospecting, cultivation and the all important “ask” – but equally significant for successful relationship building with our supporters is donor stewardship.

Stewardship is defined as “the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one’s care.”

Every gift that we receive from a donor, large or small is an act of trust.

Donors are trusting that we will use their money in the ways we’ve said that we will. And in a world where financial scandals are reported daily and faith in systems and the people who run them is weaker than ever, this part of our job is even more crucial.

What are the key aspects of good donor stewardship?

1. Honor the intent – Did you receive the gift in response to a targeted appeal? Did the donor send in a note with their gift expressing interest in a specific program? Then that’s where their money needs to go. Talk with the donor about why they are choosing to give to you. Record and respond to their interest.

2. Be Transparent and Honest – Every donor wants to know, “How will my money be spent?” Don’t use fancy marketing or vague lawyer speak to answer this question. We all feel suspicious of that sort of thing. Instead be explicit about organizational costs and expenses using simple language and terms that are easy to understand.

3. Report on successes and challenges – Donors want to hear from us about how their money was used. Did their contribution make a difference? The stories we share about what is made possible because of donor generosity is the pulsing heart that keeps our organizations alive and thriving.

4. Remember where the money comes from – We are simply intermediaries between the donor and their passion. We are helping them do what they want to do in the world. So the money might change bank accounts but it’s never ours.

5. Be your donor’s best friend - Don’t take your donors for granted. No relationship is static. Donors literally have thousands of choices of where to give their money. What will keep them giving to you is the relationship you nurture and build with them.

As passionate crusaders for our cause we can easily slip into the belief that we “deserve this money” and forget how important donor stewardship is.

But as the charities who’ve had to close their doors in the past two years know, without our donors our organizations will not survive. So follow these five basics of donor stewardship and honor the trust your donors place in you each time they make a gift.

(Happy Monday! Today’s post is from Sande Smith, our communications expert.)

One of my favorite quotes by Martin Luther King says anyone can be great, because any of us can serve.

He reminds us that you don’t have to be incredibly bright or skilled, “you don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. . . you only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”

Growing up, I knew incredibly generous Black women who embodied that meaning of greatness. One of them was my grandmother, who in her 60’s, adopted the 5-year old daughter of a friend.

Hit by a car, the young girl was paralyzed from the waist down. My grandmother’s friend said that she couldn’t do it – she couldn’t take care of her own daughter. So my grandmother did it. For the next 25 years, my grandmother raised her, provided for her, and helped her to grow into an independent woman who would choose a partner and raise two children of her own.

I was reminded of the greatness of the unsung heroines and heroes who commit their lives to service when I listened to the Oakland-born Malaak Compton Rock (at the recent Madam CJ Walker Luncheon) describe her story and personal journey from the time she was a young girl watching her mother engage with social causes. Her mother, Gayle Fleming, included the young Malaak in her activities, whether that be attending a rally, meeting with a nonprofit, or door-to-door canvassing for a political candidate.

Commitment to serving others became integral to Malaak’s life, personal mission and employment, and she went on to work for the US Fund for UNICEF, then started her own organizations: Styleworks, providing image consulting to women moving from welfare to work and then Journey for Change: Empowering Youth Through Global Service, which takes NY teens (many of whom have never left NY before) to South Africa to meet and learn from their young counterparts.

Of Journey for Change, Malaak says, “Ultimately we want them to return to the US encompassing a greater sense of understanding for their blessings, to dream big, and to challenge themselves to become the best young people they can be.”

Malaak’s new book, If It Takes a Village, Build One: How I Found Meaning Through a Life of Service, and 100+ Ways You Can Too, is a rallying call for action, engagement and service. The book blends personal stories from ordinary people who’ve gotten involved with causes that touch their hearts with how-to tips on choosing organizations to support – whether through donations, volunteering, or promotions.

She also talks about how to start your own organization, how to reach out to and engage celebrities, and ultimately how each of us can tap our passions in order to improve our communities and ultimately, the world.

This message of whole-hearted engagement is one that those of us who communicate and fundraise on behalf of good causes simply can’t afford to miss. We can’t afford to think only in terms of raising donations for our organizations, because while money is important, it’s not enough.

We need to make sure that we’re inspiring and moving people to get involved by tapping into their passions, encouraging them to make connections between what they care about personally and what they see going on in the world outside of themselves.

To realize a better world, we have to encourage all of us to realize our greatness, our unlimited capacity to serve with love and grace.

(Today’s post is from Elizabeth Husserl, our money expert.)

As fund raisers we can often feel the awkwardness that comes with asking for money.

We know that our donors want to support our causes and are willing to put their checkbook forward when we do our yearly appeals. Yet, even knowing that we are channeling money to something worthwhile does not make the awkwardness go away.

What would money say? “Don’t be afraid to ask for me”. The more clarity you have on what you need, the more you can accurately communicate that to the world around you and the more you can relax into knowing that there is enough.

In the work I do with individuals and groups, the scariest moment often comes when I ask people to look at their money flow- how exactly does money flow into and out of their lives? This feels terrifying at first because it means looking, it means knowing, and it means facing up to any discrepancies that arise.

But when we go through the exercise and put the numbers down on paper we see that the numbers really just want to talk- they tell us what we need to make our projects and lives a reality. They give us a cornerstone on which to base our plans.

By looking at numbers and doing the “budgets” (or what I prefer to call conscious spending plans) we can then take a deeper step into our projects, our organizations and our lives. We can move beyond the fogginess of “not knowing” into a place of clarity and empowerment where asking becomes more of a spiritual practice of communicating to life that you do know what you need in life.

The question then becomes- how can the flow of abundance provide? (The trick here is then to let abundance flow to you without being attached to what that looks like.)

Ask money to come to you. Look at the dialogue you are currently having with it. Don’t be afraid to invite more into your life- you are big enough to hold it.

Happy Monday!
- Elizabeth

In less than one week, millions have been raised from individuals, corporations, governments, foundations and religions institutions around the world.

Everyone is giving.

Over $500 million pledged from Europe, $100 million from the U.S., $5 million from Canada, $1 million from India and China. And the list of government support keeps growing.

Corporations have also been pledging millions of dollars: JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanely, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Google, McDonalds, Comcast and many others.

More millions are coming from the NFL, Hollywood stars and from individuals worldwide who have made donations to various charities. The Red Cross has raised $20 million through text message donations alone -  a new trend that fundraisers are sure to be talking about for months to come.

Seeing how quickly we can mobilize to help each other on a global scale - setting aside our national and business interests, our politics, our racism and classism and our obsession with ourselves – is truly inspiring.

A week ago we were focused on what we didn’t have: a robust economy. Today we are all focused on what we can give and how we can help.

Do we have to wait for tragedy to work together in this way? Is there another impetus besides catastrophe to activate the power of our collective compassion and to motivate us to stand unified in our efforts to end human suffering and help those in need?

Where is all this money coming from? What were we spending these millions of dollars on before the earthquake in Haiti?

So what’s on your “to do” list this week? Planning meetings? Paperwork? Data entry? Responding to emails?

What about meeting with donors? Does that show up on your daily calendar anywhere?

If not, you need to rearrange your schedule.

It’s easy to get caught up in office tasks and loose sight of the most important aspect of our job: building relationships with the people who are supporting our work.

The 2009 study Significant Gifts: Where Donors Direct Their Largest Gifts and Why conducted by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University confirms that, “Donors to charitable organizations give more when they are asked in person and when someone they know makes the request.”

and “People give to people, and especially to people they know.”

But it’s not just about us initiating face-to-face meetings – we also need to be available.

A longtime supporter emailed recently to say she’d be stopping by the office and “hope to see you for a few minutes at least.” I suggested we go out for lunch and she replied that she already had plans and said, “I never think of trying to have lunch with you guys anymore because you all seem so busy.”

Later that week another donor sent an email asking if we “might be available for a bite of lunch or cup of coffee…I know you are busy, busy people, so just let me know what might work for you.”

Both of these messages were stop signs for me. What kind of relationship can we have with our donors if they think we’re too busy to meet with them?

What’s the most important part of our job as fundraisers?

You know what it is, so get out of the office this week. Go enjoy conversations with people who are passionate about supporting your work. Be available.

I admit it. I’ve got Flip fever.

And the fever’s growing now that I’ve won one of those slim Flip cameras! It happened at the recent Pink Magazine Empowerment Conference.

There was a session on social media and meaningful engagement, and because that’s my latest obsession, I went.

Jeannette Gibson, the speaker, was terrific. She’s Cisco’s Director of New Media, and showed some very simple examples of how Cisco has integrated mini-videos – made with the flip – into their communications plans and interactions with customers. (In March 2009, Cisco bought the maker of Flip video, Pure Digital.)

Some examples:

• John Chambers, Cisco’s CEO, answered questions on the future of the company, his vision & goals. The questions were sent through Twitter, and the result was a 4 minute video.
• A product manager sits next to a Cisco switch and talks about the product – an alternative to the printed fact sheet).
• And my personal favorite because it’s silly, surprising and gives you insight in the CEO’s character – John Chambers showing his team how to do duck calls. That video has 23,415 views!

At the Global Fund for Women, we recently made our own simple Flip video. After Christine Ahn, a Progressive Women’s Media Resource Center fellow and Global Fund colleague, came back fired up from a weekend training where she learned to make Flip videos, she and another Global Fundie, Preeti Shekar, held up the camera and asked staff one simple question.

Why do you care about violence against women?

The result is a simple, moving 4-minute video that helps viewers learn more about the people behind the Global Fund and the reasons we do the work we do. It accompanied our campaign for the 16 Days of Activism Against Violence Against Women, and has almost 200 views.

Of course, you don’t have to use a Flip to create simple videos. The Women’s Foundation of Minnesota created a series of simple videos using a Sony camera (with video capacity) on a tripod. With these fun Happy Birthday videos as the basis, the foundation raised almost $5,000 for their girlsBest (girls Building Economic Success Together) Fund – in less than a week! How did they do it? I called their Communications Director, Mary Beth Hanson, to find out.

“With our 26th anniversary as the basis for our online campaign, I really wanted to expand our social-media tool chest to include video,” said Mary Beth. After watching the carefully crafted and scripted videos of other nonprofits on YouTube, she realized that most were too long and not very interesting.

“So, I decided that our videos had to be short and celebratory with surprising content that would get folks interested enough to return daily – for the duration of the campaign. And hopefully donate at some point along the way.”

To distribute the videos and promote the campaign, the Foundation used a daily combination of its nonprofit YouTube channel, Facebook page, website and email blasts. Not only did the Foundation nearly reach its $5,000 goal, it attracted many new donors, recharged lapsed ones, and inspired current ones. The campaign was a resounding success.

The lessons? “Short is better, fun is great! While the issues we’re working on are serious, we don’t always have to be serious in our communications. It’s really important to provide ways for people to celebrate with you.”

Instead of thinking about how hard it is to make videos and engage in social media, ask yourself what can I share? What moves me? What’s fun?

(Happy Monday! Today’s post is from Sande Smith, our communications expert.)

This spring, I attended a talk by Kay Sprinkel Grace called, There’s Got to Be a Pony in there Somewhere: Finding Abundance in a Time of Change.

It was one of my favorite talks that I heard at the time – when so many of us in the nonprofit sector were trying to make sense of what the economic collapse would mean for our organizations and the people we serve. Grace retold the story of the boy who digs with gusto through a huge pile of manure in the barn. Why? Because, he said, with so much s**, there’s got to be a pony in there somewhere!

She did a great job of reminding fundraisers that one of the most important things we can do is to hold and convey the vision of what we’re trying to accomplish, and build relationships with donors that are based on shared values. She also called upon us to not forget to ask our supporters what they think about what we’re doing.

The talk inspired me in a number of ways. . . one of which was to work with my team to make the Global Fund for Women’s donor appreciation lunch more interactive so that donors could share with us and one another what inspired their passion for women’s rights.

Kay’s talk also inspired some radical changes in the production of our annual report. A very important vehicle for thanking our supporters and describing the work of women’s organizations around the world, our annual report tends to be 70 pages plus.

Last year’s annual report was no exception. A combined 20th anniversary book and annual report, it featured a 20 year timeline acknowledging achievements of the women’s movement, highlights of our 5-year strategic plan, and case studies of long-time grantees, which showed the impact of our combined partnership.

This year, in response to the financial crisis, we cut our budget by 6 percent, while maintaining grantmaking at 2008 levels. That meant that I had a lot less to spend on this years’ communications. Looking for the pony, I decided to radically transform this year’s annual report. But how?

The notion of streamlining annual reports isn’t new. A lot of organizations are asking themselves, and their donors, whether anyone really reads the annual report. And if they do, what format do they prefer? Print, online, a cd, a dvd video documentary?

The Communications Network has been a vocal advocate for streamlining annual reports. And the Lumina Foundation recently surveyed their donors to ask preferences and learned that many supporters do still want a print annual report.

Furthermore, a survey of Global Fund for Women donors who read our print newsletter revealed that many of our print readers are not active online. So I knew that making this a web publication alone wasn’t the answer. So, fueled by my work with tompertdesign, and sparked by other annual reports that I’ve gotten over the years, my team decided to center this year’s annual report around a poster!

Instead of 70 pages, I had 16 pages to tell our story, 8 of which would comprise the poster. Through brainstorming and strategizing conversations, we found a way to feature women’s organizations from each region, share reflections from our Board chair and CEO and thank our international network of supporters, advisors, grantees and board. Everything else would be available on our website.

We’re already receiving feedback from donors that they’re thrilled with our decision to save resources and still tell a compelling story. Plus they have a gorgeous poster to remind them throughout the year that Women Hold the Solutions to solving some of our most pressing problems!

I went hiking with some friends on Saturday. Two of us were ahead of our small group on the trail and I said, “Let’s stop a minute and wait for the others.”

My companion replied earnestly, “Waiting is a waste of time!”

She’s five years old and already worried about wasting time. What does “wasting time,” mean to a five-year-old?

In this case, she was focused on getting where she wanted to be and that was all that mattered. She was on a mission. She had a vision of herself playing by the lake and she didn’t want to wait for anyone or anything on her way to her goal.

She especially didn’t want to waste time on a dusty, hot trail when she could be by the lake we were hoping was just around the next bend.

Sounds familiar doesn’t it? Really, who likes to wait at any age? Yet our lives are full of waiting. How do we teach ourselves (so often like five-year-olds in our thinking and behavior) to appreciate waiting?

We start by noticing what is happening while we are waiting.

In this case: sunlight and shadows, tree leaves moving in the wind, dragonflies swooping by, birds playing hide and seek in the bushes, a lizard sunning, a panoramic view of the lake, being together on a summer day.

Or for another example take major donor fundraising. Sure we love those first time donors who make a surprise major gift but those are rare. Most large gifts are a result of respectful donor cultivation and relationship building. This process inherently includes waiting. The donor chooses the pace and decides when the time is right to make a gift.

We ask. We wait for an answer. What is happening while we wait? We provide information and opportunities for meaningful engagement. We build trust in the vision, mission and financial stability of our organizations. We get to know the passions and interests of the people who care about the work we are doing.

The space of waiting is dynamically alive – don’t miss seeing and appreciating this by becoming overly focused on your end goal.

p.s. Another reason to love waiting: Have you ever sent an email or said or done something that, if you had waited a bit to allow yourself a little distance from your initial emotions and thoughts, you might not have said or done? Waiting offers time for reflection and perspective. Take it.

Happy Monday!

Some of the best fundraising advice I’ve received over the years came from Mwosi Swenson at Mal Warwick & Associates.

I was working with the Global Fund for Women at the time and we were brainstorming ideas for a new direct mail package.

My team and I were excited about the possibility of creating a mailing to reach a wider audience – perhaps a letter geared toward men or immigrants in the U.S.

Mwosi said, “You can’t get someone to support something they don’t believe in through the mail. You can only convince someone to support what they already believe.”

Oh. Yeah. Right.

Fundraising is about connecting with people who believe in our mission.

Fundraising is our tool to build partnerships with like-minded individuals, organizations and businesses who “get” what we are trying to accomplish.

Through fundraising we actively engage with people who already care about the issues we are working on.

When you are passionate about your work it’s easy to think that your organization is the answer – and that everyone should know about it, believe in it, fund it. Of course, we all want the broadest possible reach for our cause.

But fundraising is not a public awareness campaign.

Don’t deplete your fundraising energy and budget trying to convince someone to support something they don’t already believe in. Find your choir and preach to them. (Or better yet, start a conversation.)

Then you’ll have money and people power to raise awareness and wider support for your cause.