Walkathon Maven

Hello September!

Breast Cancer Awareness Month is next month, October, and the shameless-self-promoters of pink have been at it since August. I think they drink the same marketing punch as the Halloween (August rollout) and Christmas (October rollout) folks.

Here’s the latest Pu-Pu platter of pink marketing items that I have come upon during my shopping travels:

Staples display

This is interesting, since Staples has their HQ in Framingham, Massachusetts – yet they are raising $75,000 with these pink pen sales for a hospital in Southern California.   I understand the Staples Center is in LA, maybe there is a tie-in there.

Here is a pink mailer I got from BJs:

BJs is supporting the National Breast Cancer Foundation, and has even created a website describing their Power of Pink promotion. According to their website: “Since its inception in 2005, the BJ’s Charitable Foundation has provided over $17 million in grants to more than 2,000 non profit organizations that provide basic needs to individuals in our communities. This includes over $2.3 million dollars in support of breast cancer research.”

BJs is headquartered in Westborough, Massachusetts and the NBCF has their HQ in Frisco, Texas.   I wonder how they got together.

pick it up!

Great article today in the Wall Street Journal about how we need to get off the computer and pick up the phone if we want to communicate with someone.

So true!  I tell my clients that relationships with constituents – whether they are a walker, team leader or a corporate sponsorship decision-maker, need to be started with a conversation. Ideally a face-to-face is best, but a phone call is a sometimes necessary second.

I’ll continue to preach this until someone tells me that they were able to close a five-figure event sponsorship or a major gift with an email.

If you were a fan of the movie “Flashdance” (I saw this 7 times!) then you may recall how Pittsburgh welder/exotic dancer Alex Owens (played by a terrific Jennifer Beals) was distraught over her relationship status with her boss Nick Hurley (played by foxy Michael Nouri).

Alex was being annoyingly needy while talking to her co-workers about the situation and a patient woman that happen to be sharing the space with them became irate and yelled “just pick up the phone and call the dude!”

Again. So True!  One needs to remember that this movie was released in 1983 and cell phones/texting was not yet invented. However, the old-school-rule still applies when it comes to relationships – personal or business.  You gotta talk to make “The Ask”.

what a feeling!

It’s a new, hyper-secure world for special events. Two articles this week on how new security measures are affecting outdoor events in the Boston area.

The first is kinda sad. A long-standing, 20-year annual celebration that was supposed to be held at the Esplanade in Boston (where the Boston Pops play on July 4th) had to move since they could not afford the new security measures.  The India Day celebration would have had to hire 27 State Police officers and a vendor to do bag checks at the entrance.  They have since moved to another location 25 miles north of Boston to hold the event.

According to David Procopio, the State Police Spokesperson:  “India Day’s security plan called for 27  troopers, including members of the bomb squad, K-9, and marine units, paid for 7½ hours. Because those are specialized units, troopers assigned to work the shift are paid an overtime rate of $73 an hour, rather than the $40 per hour paid for a detail assignment. Increased costs are passed on to event organizers.”

Yikes.  With a  4-hour minimum – these 27 troopers cost $7884.  If they work one minute over 4 hours, they can charge for 8 hours. You can do the math on that one.  If you read my previous post about the 3, budget-busting P’s – then you saw that police is one of the largest expenses you will have.  These new rules for the Esplanade may force many other events to move.

I talked to my pal, who runs the logistics for an event happening at the Esplanade in October, and she said regarding the new security measures: “Yes, definitely an increase. But for us, who use alot of police anyway the jump isn’t as obscene. I probably have to add another 6 troopers, and bomb dogs. Not sure of cost of dogs.. But the added police probably only about 3-4K more than I already pay.”

The second article I read in the Boston Globe is about how fans that want to attend any Patriots events at Gillette Stadium will have some new restrictions with what they can and cannot bring in.  “The only bags allowed in the stadium must be clear and must not exceed 12 inches by 12 inches by 6 inches, said Stacey James, Patriots spokesman. Women’s clutches do not have to be clear, but they must not be larger than 7 inches by 4 inches by 2 inches. One-gallon clear freezer bags are also allowed, as are cameras and binoculars, but not their cases. Blankets, jackets, and coats are subject to searches, James said.”

Here is a graphic on the new policy at Gillette Stadium.

Those two Boston Marathon bomber-JackHoles have really affected the non-profits that need these outdoor events to raise money for their missions.  I think that the lone, surviving bomber-brother should have to do clean-up on the Esplanade after every event as part of his punishment.  Give him a rake, a broom, some gloves and lots of garbage bags – oh, and a bright orange shirt that says “JackHole” on it.

Good reads this Wednesday in the Philanthropy world!  Coincidentally, both are about money.

Several charity groups have asked that we stop worrying so much about their overhead expenses when choosing organizations to support.  The Chronicle of Philanthropy outlines both sides of the debate and suggests that we still need these data points to keep everyone honest.  I feel that there will always be a few bad apples when money is involved and we need some watchdog groups to tell us who is not being a good steward of the donor dollar.  I especially get annoyed with the pu-pu-platter of cancer charity organizations that have a name similar to the larger, more well-known organizations and use that similarity to skim donations from the intended recipients.  Call them out!

In other news, it appears that Komen has ‘replaced’ Nancy Brinker with a new CEO.  According to the Dallas Morning News: Judith Salerno, 61, is executive director and chief operating officer of the Institute of Medicine, a prestigious independent group that advises the government and private sector about health and science.

The NPQ announced the new hire with a snarky headline: Komen Finally Chooses a Successor to Brinker or So They Say 

Apparently, the NPQ does not believe that Nancy Brinker was really replaced, since her new title is Chair of Global Strategy and will be responsible for “revenue creation, strategy and global growth as chair of the Komen Board Executive Committee.”  She will report to the new CEO.

Komen clearly needed to do something bold, since they have been criticized for some bad decisions in the past year – like the Planned Parenthood debacle, the “resignation” but not departure of the CEO, and the dialing-back of their signature events.  I hope this new ‘leader’ can use her health policy experience to get the fundraising back to where it should be so that we can get rid of this nasty disease. 

We will miss you, Kris

I’m a useless trivia lover, and am fascinated with statistics, rankings and lists.  Especially Top Ten lists. David Letterman, the King of the Top Ten list, has the same birthday as me.  Coincidence?

This love of numbers would be surprising to my high school math teachers and college accounting professors, since my grades in their classes did not reflect my adoration of ‘the digits’.

The website Charity Navigator, has oodles of top ten lists. According to their site, Charity Navigator is America’s leading independent charity evaluator, works to advance a more efficient and responsive philanthropic marketplace by evaluating the Financial Health and Accountability and Transparency of  6,000 of America’s largest charities

Below are a few of my faves. Click on the links if you want to read about the deets.

10 Highly-Rated Charities with Low Paid CEOs.  

10 Highly Paid CEOs at Low-Rated Charities.  Lots of 6-figure salaries.

10 Inefficient Fundraisers – These folks spend more than 50 cents of each dollar raised on expenses.  Ick.  Sad to see several Veterans charities on this list.

10 Top-Notch Charities.  Lots of Food Banks on the list.

There are oodles to choose and read about on the CN site.  I was surprised to see that so many low-rated charities were from Veterans and Public Service (fire, police) groups.  I did a search on getting a non-profit 501c3 status – and found that there are websites that will help you apply for the designation for the low-low price of $359.    No wonder there is so much fraud.  I think there needs to be more oversight to have a tax-exempt status and the state AG office should more closely scrutinize the required yearly filings to their office.  It’s sad that a non-profit organization can submit their yearly forms and there is no discipline for having less that 50, or 70 percent of the donations actually make it to the intended recipients.  Boooooooo!

I love the name of this walk!

Memorial Day weekend coming up!  I hope you and your family have a good one!

The fallout continues from the actions of the two JackHoles that ruined the Boston Marathon for thousands on April 15.

There are things you can control, and things you cannot – like Mother Nature and JackHoles who have the will and find a way to be selfish.  The Boston Globe had an article that fundraising events with large gatherings, like walkathons, are suffering financially since people are shy about being in a crowd of people.  And, these participants may raise less money since they may have already given to another, more trendy, cause. Our 24/7 news cycles have helped contribute to Charity Fatigue.

I had a similar experience happen when I was a Walk Manager for an event happening 3 weeks after the September 11 tragedy in 2001.  Many teams cancelled their participation and many calls were coming in asking how we were going to make sure that 40,000 people would be safe at our event.   We were concerned about making our fundraising goal by thinking that our participants would instead give their charitable dollars to The Red Cross to support the 9/11 victims.

We worked with the City and State to make sure we had a beefed-up emergency plan.  It did not change much from our previous emergency plan, except it cost us several thousand more in police detail.

Because we had good relationships with our team leaders in the months prior to September 11, most of the team fundraising was done.  If the walkers did not want to attend the actual event, they could still send in the donations.  Remember, people will attend your walk because they have an interest in your issue and want to support your organization.  These are the folks that support you before and after a tragedy.   They may give a little less one year and a lot more the next.  I write a lot about the relationship you need to have with your walkers and donors, because you need the relationship to keep your organization afloat when a trendy cause temporarily receives some of their charitable giving budget.

In 2001, we took a small hit financially at the event.  Not as big as we thought. Thankfully.  The frequent communication with our team leaders helped to keep us “top of mind” despite all the other fundraisers happening to support the 9/11 victims.  The following year, we had an increase in participants.  I think many of them missed being part of the event community at the 2001 Walk.  They missed being part of the thousands who came together to support the cause they believed in.  It seemed like they were tired of “The Fatigue” and wanted to get back to their normal.

I look forward to everyone getting back to their normal.

why should donors choose you?

It’s been one week since the Boston Marathon tragedy.   It’s been one week – and many are already making money on the merchandising of this horror show.  Many fraudulent charitable organizations have popped up too.  If you know me, then you know how I hate, hate, hate people who profit from diseases, or tragedies.   Shame on you.

The Huffington Post had an article yesterday about the race to trademark the words Boston Strong.

The IRS has made a statement about charitable fraud.

Mayor Menino and Governor Patrick, along with other corporate leaders in Boston, have create the One Fund.

they have a logo, too

The website names all the wonderful people who are involved, yet there is no description of how they will use the donations.  Oh, and the One Fund is not yet a designated 501(c)3.  They have applied, but not been given the designation.  Too soon I suppose.

According to an article in the Non Profit Quarterly, The One Fund was setup within 7 hours of the blast and The fund has been placed under Kenneth Feinberg, the well-known attorney who managed the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund as well as compensation funds for victims of the 2010 BP Gulf Coast oil spill and the mass shootings at Virginia Tech and Aurora, Colorado.

I wonder why people feel the need to start a brand new charitable organization when so many good ones already exist?  Hello!  Red Cross!  They specialize in disaster relief.  Logistics and operations are in place to handle things like this.  Why re-invent the wheel with a new charitable organization that will have administrative over-head and other related costs?  I guess the Red Cross is not sexy enough, or the logo was not acceptable.

4/24/13 edit:  The Boston Globe reports that no administrative costs will be charged to the fund.  Phew!

Speaking of logos –  just like any good severe weather or news event, there are already several logos commemorating the day.

Even the New England Revolution has a logo:

Here is a ribbon logo that has been seen around:

These are $10, and $8 is supposed to go to victims

The custom printing site CafePress even has a page designated for Boston Strong merchandise.  Mouse pads, mugs and tote bags.  I did not see anything about a portion of proceeds or profits being donated to the victims.

I made a purchase at my local CVS and the cashier asked if I wanted to donate to the Boston Marathon victims.  When asked, she could not tell me how the money would be distributed or if the CVS Foundation would be taking care of this.  Ugh.

That home-made-crap site Etsy has stuff too.

I’m annoyed and will continue to call-out all of these shameless self-promoting tragedy-profiteers.  I hope they donate money to the innocent victims. I’ll be watching.

Lots of good reads about philanthropy and non-profits this week online and on paper.  Most of my interesting morsels are found from the iPad app called Zite.  Love it. I can choose which type of things interest me and Zite pulls all the relevant articles for me to read. 

You may know (and be sick of reading) how I write a lot about how it is important to talk to a prospective walker, donor and sponsor.  Here’s an article from Boston Magazine about the art of the ‘ask’.  Notice how many baby steps and hand holding is involved before a building is named after someone. 

Did you know studies have repeatedly shown the people who can least afford to donate are the most generous? Here’s an article from the Non Profit Quarterly that shows the favorite areas of support for those who have, and have not.  The most interesting takeaway for me from this article was that of the top 50 charitable gifts from the wealthy last year, not one went to a charity that primarily serves the poor.  Hmmm.

Here’s another great article from the NPQ that shows trends in online giving.   Photos posts online had the most likes, shares and comments.  No surprise that online giving is up, but you may have seen my previous post noting that another article shows that only 7% of total gifts are made online.

That means 93% are not online gifts.  Please see the first item noted above – The Art of the Ask. 

93% of gifts were given because they were personally asked!

Guess what percent of total fundraising happens online? 5%?  10%?  20%?

How about 7%.  Yep. That’s it.

What does it mean?  To me, it means that most of the charitable contributions happen when a donation is personally solicited. Mail, phone, or in-person.  Interpersonal relationships rule when it comes to asking for money.   Once upon a time I worked on a couple of walkathons in the pre-online-giving days.  We raised over $3 million at each of those walks.  We raised the money by speaking to a person that has an interest in the issue.

During my final years of being a walk manager, online giving was introduced.  Everyone thought that the money would exponentially roll in.  Nope.  We had a small uptick, but nothing to indicate that the online giving was going to significantly replace humans speaking to other humans.  Even now, the walks I once managed have hit a financial plateau.  Online giving is not the financial savior.  I’ve written about this a bunch so I will not bore you with another speech.

I read this article that outlines the Blackbaud 2012 Charitable Giving report.  Blackbaud is the company that created the online giving program that most events use to raise money. Many of the answers are very surprising, especially the amount of money that is donated online.  I was shocked to see it is only 7% of total giving.  Single digit!

Now I’m not poo-pooing online giving.  It is a great tool to acquire new donors, just like a piece of direct mail.  I just hope that the organizations are staffed properly to cultivate the relationships with these online donors.  That way, the usual under-$100 online donations eventually progress to a major gift, a planned gift from the estate or hopefully – a building named after them.

93% of charitable giving DOES NOT happen online. Shocker!

How do you find a wealthy donor that will give you a million, or a billion dollars?

Acquisition mailings?  (Dear Friend….)

I like you

Tweets?  (RT @needabillion if you can help!)

Facebook posts? (Like Me so I know you are interested!)

Telemarketing?  (“I’m hoping you can help me, by directing me to someone that can write a check for one billion dollars”)

I read this article in the NY Times about Mayor Bloomberg.  He is hoping to give away his fortune of $25 billion (with a B) before he dies.  This $25 billion (with a B) is his money that was earned by working hard as an entrepreneur.  Recently, Mayor Bloomberg has given another $350 million to his alma mater, Johns Hopkins. This additional $350 million put him over $1 billion in lifetime donations to his school.  Over one billion dollars to the same place.  How many buildings on that campus do you think are named after him?

I wonder who the lucky Development Officer (or better yet – EVP of Distinguished Giving) is that gets to work with Mayor Bloomberg.  Do you think Mayor Bloomberg donated his hard-earned billion bucks because he responded to a piece of direct mail, or a tweet, or a facebook post, or a telemarketer call?   Er, Doubtful.

Someone from Johns Hopkins has been cultivating a relationship with Mayor Bloomberg for a while.  Years.  Decades.  Donor relationships are successful, and fruitful, because of the time and effort put into the relationship.  Electronic dating works for a while, but if you want to get married – then you should get to know the person, in person, first.

Here is another good article about entrepreneurial philanthropy that will be helpful to those readers that have a few million, or billion to donate.

We are lucky to have people like Mayor Bloomberg in the world.  People who want to donate their wealth to make the world a better place.  Now I just need to find “a Bloomberg” that attended Barbieri Elementary so our PTO can focus on things other than fundraisers.