Walkathon Maven

universally expensive

February school vacation.  Time to get outta the snow in New England and head to warmer places.  We took the family to Universal Orlando, so our kids would have the opportunity to complain about their crappy life in a different location.

Before stepping foot in Florida, we had already shelled out some serious money to secure flights, hotel and park tickets.  So what was left to pay for?  Food and a few trinkets, I thought.  I hoped.  Not so.  Universal made it VERY easy to leave my money at their amusement park.

I counted more stores than actual rides.  I counted more places to eat than actual rides.  So smahhht!

Once you disembark from a ride, you must follow the exit signs to get out.  The exit signs lead you to the ‘gift shop’ of theme merchandise matching the ride you just exited.

Shrek show – meet the Shrek shop.  Minion Mayhem – meet the Despicable department store:

ET.  Phone your credit card company and raise your spending limit:

ET. Extra Tchotchkes.

So how does my expensive vacation relate to your walkathon?  Many of you will sell tshirts or hats or bears or bracelets to raise some extra cash at your event.  You may remember my previous post about Tchotchkes.  I always liked to make sure that my walkers had to walk by my merchandise tent to get to registration or the start line.   Now I’m not suggesting that you have the same, gigantic selection that these apres-ride stores have.  I’m suggesting that your walkers and volunteers should have another opportunity to leave more of their money with you by strategically placing your merchandise tent in their path.

Just like the amusement parks do.

Here is a photo of Fire and Gasoline during a rare moment of affection:

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!

bye bye saturday mail

This August,  the USPS will no longer deliver mail on Saturdays.  Will this affect your walkathon mailings?  It shouldn’t.

Why?  Hopefully most of your walkers are coming from companies – and they usually do not work on weekends.  Ideally, you want mailings to arrive on their desks on Tuesdays, Wednesday or Thursdays.   So, the Saturday stoppage should not affect you.

What will affect you is the latest price increase on mail.   Here is an article in the NonProfit Times about how nonprofits will be hurt with the new postal rules.

I asked Adam Lewenberg, President of Postal Advocate, Inc., what he thinks about the new changes:

“I think that the change will not impact many people and after the initial shock they will just get used to it.  The major news agencies have done polls and about 70% of the respondandants are for the change if it helps the USPS be financially stable.  People will still be able to access counter service and packages will still be delivered.  The ones that will be the most effected are the following:

1. Organizations that are trying to get solicitations open on weekends when people are home and have time to respond.
2. Organizations trying to get paid because it will slow mail getting delivered until the following Monday.
3. Periodicals who will now have to wait until Monday.

Overall, I expect us all to get used to the change and find ways to work around it.”

Personally, I’m OK with the changes as long as I still receive my People magazine on Fridays!

we had 30 inches of snow and our mailman still delivered!

Oh what a night!  The Super Bowl had many memorable moments.  I was amused to see that every aspect of the Big Game was ‘brought to you by” or “sponsored by” or “presented by” a company paying millions for the privilege.

What’s the diff?  What does it mean to be “a sponsor of the Super Bowl”?

There is allotta money to be made that day, and allotta layers of sponsorship to accomodate all the companies that want to open their wallets.

I found a bunch of good stuff on the official NOLA Superbowl website page on sponsorships.  They had 37 corporate sponsors raise $6 million (The Louisiana government kicked in another $6M+) to help pay for all the hosting responsibilites.

In addition to the 37 Host Committee Sponsorships, the CBS Network sold several broadcast-related sponsorships (The Half-time report brought to you by…). Here are some other sponsorships that the Host Committee sold:

Volunteer Program Title Sponsorship   FYI: The Super Bowl needed 8,500 volunteers for the ramp-up. Under the FAQ page it was noted that volunteers should not bother to come to the Mercedes Benz Superdome on game day.  Did they really think they would be attending the game?  Volunteers were given a commemorative shirt and hat.

Environmental Title Sponsorship .  This lucky sponsor gets to figure out how to manage all of the trash and recycling efforts.  I wonder if they really had to pay to have their company logo on all the trash receptacles.

Host Committee Sponsorship  Cash only.

They did not list the prices, but it appears that if the sponsors wanted tickets to the game, then the package would be customized. (Read:  Alot more money).

The 2014 Super Bowl Host committee already have their sponsors  lined up for the Meadowlands.

How about that blackout?  What happens if you lose power at your event? So many logitical questions were mowing thru my mind while watching.  I also want to know how all those kids wearing credentials got on the field and who they belong to.  Good genes.

I doubt that Beyonce and her fabulousness will be invited back.  Unless, of course, they bring their own power supply.

Sasha Fierce shut it down!

New York City. A logistics wonderland. We took the kids for the MLK Holiday weekend and I was able to take some fun photos during our travels.

TKTS Time Square

Pockets full of money and no one to give it to

All of these people are waiting for hours to exchange their money for a discounted theater ticket. Hours in line!!  I will never understand why anyone would make a customer wait in line to give them money. Perhaps they could get more ticket agents down there so the line goes more quickly.

Remember this when setting up your registration tent.  Have plenty of volunteers so that your walkers do not have to wait a long time to give you their hard-earned donations. It is not good customer service to make some one wait to give you money. Ever. EVER!

CALLAHEAD
If you saw my previous post about fave porta-pottie names, then you know I am a fan.  Here is one I have never seen before:

Call A Head. Get it?

This was placed in the South Street Seaport area.  We went to walk around and found that the area was devastated by Hurricane Sandy and most of the shops are closed.  The area is desolate.   Many store fronts had tape on the windows and construction permits indicating water damage. So sad.

Elevated police station Times Square
I was intrigued to see this 4′ x 4′ box about 20 feet above the ground.  How do they get up there?

How do they get up there?

I took some photos while waiting on the top of our double-decker tour bus.  One of of the cops waiting to board was holding a verrrrry large coffee cup.  I doubt he was wearing a catheter, so
I’ll leave the pottie situation up to your imagination.

Ahhhhh, the off-season.  Miller Time – yes?  Your walk is over and you have 364 days to prepare for the next one.  What to do?

Here is a list of 5 things to keep on your radar as you prepare for the next walk:

1. Database

Clean it up!  Junk-in means junk-out.  You need clean data to run the reports indicating your top walkers, teams and companies.  Go thru the database to de-dupe it and delete the dead weight.

2. Thank-yous

You may have seen my previous post about thanking the walkers, donors and sponsors. Do it in a timely manner so you have time to properly organize your pitch to have them join you again.

3. Expenses

How much did it cost to operate your walkathon?  It is hopefully under 20%, and you can identify ways to bring the costs down for next year.   Plan a date with your Accounts Payable person to check things out.  Perhaps you can get discounts if you order some of the non-negotiable stuff early.

4. Permits

If you liked your location, and it worked well – LOCK IT DOWN for next year.  See if there is a discounted fee for paying early.  Same thing for potties, tents and toilets.

5. Inventory

When the boxes came flying off the truck and you took the junk out of the trunks – where did it go?  Did you go thru it first to make sure you did not misplace a registration form or a check? Time to make sure you are not be storing any food (now moldy) for the next walk.   Sort it, clean it, count it, box-it-up and tape-it-closed.  Write the quantity of each item on the outside of the box. Boom!

Did you really think you were going to be able to relax when the walkathon was over?   Plant the seeds now so that they bloom in time for the walk!

Another great debate regarding charitable contributions.

Some think that eliminating the deduction will deter future gifts.

Some think that the deduction is not a motivating factor in making a gift.

What do you think?

I read a good article today in the WSJ about two viewpoints regarding the possible elimination of the charitable contribution deduction.   Why do people make charitable contributions?

My opinion is two-pronged:

1. People give because they were asked and

2. People give because they support the mission of the cause.

My opinion is mostly based on the fact that I do not know anyone in my social circle that makes big-honkin’ charitable contributions simply for the tax deduction.

If you receive an invitation to a black-tie fundraising gala in Palm Beach in February, or have recently had a building named after you – then you probably have allotta money to share.   I think they are the folks that care about the tax deduction.

So, I ask my readers:

Why do YOU make a charitable contribution?

I quote my fave song from C&C Music Factory – “Things that make you go Hmmmmm”

How does a walkathon come to decide what the event goal should be?

Do they play the coulda-shoulda-woulda game while sitting around a table?

Do they look at what they MUST raise financially to keep the organization afloat?

Do they just jack-up the numbers from last year by a small percentage?

Hopefully the answer is NO to all of the above.

An event goal should be determined by deciding on the number of walkers first.  If you bring the people and they bring a team, the money will follow.  People first.

A good, solid event goal should start by first looking around the table at all the decision-makers attending this meeting.  They are sitting there for a reason.  How many teams will they be able to bring to the event?  Whoa – What?  Yep, everyone must pitch-in by recruiting teams for the event.  Top-down.  Board members, three-letter executives, all the six-figure salaries, all the way down to the person answering the phones.  Everyone should have a team recruitment goal.

If you hire an event manager and think they will be the sole recruiter of teams, then you are missing out on the potential of a larger event.  One person has a finite amount of time that they can be on the phones or at a meeting cultivating relationships.  Adding more human resources to the team recruiting efforts exponentially increases the goal possibility.

It really does take a village to have a successful walkathon!

Why do organizations have a walkathon?

Several reasons, but foremost is the opportunity to be part of a community that wants to raise awareness and money for an important cause.

The “cause” may be a research fund, a disease, a building or a school.  Anything important to you.

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to attend a walkathon for a parent at our elementary school. A member of our community that needs help.

Her name is Kris Burke and her family needed some emotional, motivational and financial support.  You can read about the Birthday Friendraiser Walk here.  We walked around the backyard of our school on a snowy course created with borrowed orange cones.  Not a 5K or a 5-mile route.  Maybe 500 yards total.

The focus of the walk was not for any of the traditional “causes” listed above, but to celebrate her birthday.  We wanted to take the focus off of her Stage 4 cancer for a few hours last Saturday to celebrate her life.   We also raised some much needed money to help pay for the upcoming medical bills that forced her into bankruptcy earlier this year.

This walk was not a huge, logistical operation.   It was the work of a few mommies that pieced together some publicity, supplies and activities to make it a fun few hours for about 50 parents and their kids.   We had snow.  We had birthday cake. We had hot cocoa.  We had a busted CD player that kept shredding the song Gangnam Style. (The kids still danced to it anyway!) Kris and her family had smiles and memories that allowed them to hopefully forget their troubles and enjoy a birthday party in the snow.

This is why we walk.

If you would like to learn more about Kris and possibly help out her family, please visit KeepingKrisStrong.org

I love a good quote.

I was given the Bartletts Book of Quotations by a pal in college and I love to poke thru it for inspiration.

These are my fave for this post – guess who said these:

“Good intentions work better with good planning” and

“Mo’ money, Mo’ problems”.

There are oodles of fundraisers out there that want to raise money for fantastic causes like a family in need, an organization, club or program.

Many large-scale special events raise millions to support programs, services and educational materials for specific diseases.

So, you wanna do a walkathon to raise awareness and money?

My previous post provided information about obtaining the proper documents to become an official charity so you can receive tax-deductible donations.

There’s still some things that need to be done before arranging for the sexy stuff – like tents. toilets and tables.

You need to figure out how, and why, you will spend the donations.  The money.

Are there current programs you want to support?

Is it a one-time gift or annual contribution?

Are you starting your own program or service?

Will you provide support for a tangible resource?

Is there an end-date to the financial support?

Will the program or service always depend on you financially?

What happens when you stop financially supporting a service or program?

Lot’s of questions to help you figure out what you will do with the money, honey.

You can read about the Komen debacle when they stopped supporting Planned Parenthood.

As you will see, things can get nasty in a relationship when the financial support ends.

I’ve had discussions with sponsors that clearly state that they plan to support the event one year only, so that the walk

does not depend on the corporate sponsorship to raise money year to year.  Looking back, it makes sense to be up-front with the financial intentions so the expectations have been declared.

Raising money for a cause is a good deed, indeed.

You should be prepared to answer the questions about where, specifically, the money goes before asking for donations.

Rest in Peace, Biggie.