I'm stepping back from SLM work
Manish Vaidya
I need to step back from Save Lyon-Martin work soon, so I can give attention to some parts of my life that really need it. I'll be at this Wednesday's meeting and then maybe one more fundraising meeting after that. Then I might need to take myself off the email lists. I can be one of the thon solicitors and I can recruit some friends to be solicitors, but that's probably it.
I'm sorry; I wish I could do more and be in this with you for the long-haul, but I really need to step back.
I wanna tie up loose ends before I go, so please let me know if there's anything missing from my 'to do' list:
Fundraising training:
- extra cultivation for Priscilla (bake & drop-off cupcakes)
- ask fundraising working group if you want Priscilla to do 45-minute "how to ask for major gifts face to face" training at June 8th fundraising meeting
- (if group wants to do training,) ask/confirm training w/ Priscilla
Thon-a-thon:
- compile & send out notes from Nikki's and my call w/ Aspen from POWER (I'll send compiled notes to Nikki tonight for review, then to group hopefully Monday)
- bottom-line recruitment of solicitors (I need to move this off my plate)
Donation processing:
- switch from Paypal to Network for Good: I emailed Kara and melyssa a few days ago about next steps; waiting to hear back from Kara
Donor survey:
- This wasn't part of the working group, but on Friday Pike and I did a draft email survey for LM to send to donors, and Pike sent the draft to Marj for review. The survey should help donors feel like their opinions are valued, which should increase donations; and it should help with board member and volunteer recruitment. I think this is off my plate now.
Strengthen relationships with Marj, Eric:
- I'll call them to let them know I'm stepping back, so it doesn't seem like I just randomly disappeared
If you have any q's or concerns, drop me a line.
thanks!
xo
manish
Nikki
Manish Vaidya
I'm sorry I didn't send these out sooner. Nikki's and my compiled notes from our call w/ Aspen are below.
I'm feeling pretty sick but if I feel better, I'll be at tomorrow's meeting.
xo
manish
Notes from 5/13/11 call with Aspen Branch-Moore re: POWER’s Bowlathon
Nikki, Manish
Income
- last year raised $24,000; netted $20,000
- $6000 from sponsors
- $18,000 from 336 donors to sponsor 110 participants on 22 teams; almost all donations were small; 200 were new
- $1300 registration fees ($12 per person; covered half of cost of space)
Cost was ~17% of gross income
- POWER’s fundraising goal: $150 for individuals, $750 for teams (lower for member-teams)
- Causa Justa::Just Cause’s fundraising goals for individuals: $300 per person
Expenses
- $2400 one-time fee for multi-year use + 5-9% of donations: Kinterasphere bowlathon software - pricey, but no other software had as many needed features for the price
- $3,000 space rental: POWER paid per participant, for shoes, pizza etc. Charged teams a reg fee to help cover overhead
- $200 logo/banner design
- $100 decorations
- $350 very small prize for every person
- total cost $4080 + initial cost of web site
- spent a lot of time soliciting services to donate prizes (for best and worst scores, best costume, etc.)
Why do a thon?
- cost-effective (if we have the right tools & enough volunteers)
- much easier to do than a gala
- POWER never had a base of supporters who had tons of giving capacity, so POWER worked with the base they have and raised as much $ as their most successful gala
Things to keep in mind with thons
- the donors that come in tend to be not directly connected to the org.
- most people give because a friend/family member asked them; it’s a lot of work to connect with those people and retain them as donors after the campaign (so it’s not a good strategy if we want to get donors who are committed to giving over the long-term)
- next year, look at who gave again from the previous year, who gave more, and who gave to multiple people, and focus donor cultivation on that; put a check box on each participant’s reg form: if you’re willing to cultivate your donors after the bowlathon, check this box
- change it up once in a while to bring in major donors (a gala serves that purpose: allows the org. to showcase its work and to do a really great program and recognize major donors who want this type of event. At a gala, everyone who comes is a strong potential repeat donor.)
- every staff member had to lead a team and recruit a few other teams
- Recruit more teams and members than actual goal cuz teams/people drop off
- recruitment takes 1 month to ID prospects, call them to ask them to form a team, follow up, follow up again, get people registered
- recruit teams early and encourage them to meet to start their fundraising asap
- recruit volunteers to help event organizers coordinate the event itself
- do lots of follow-up
- include a short program at the event
- if it’s fun and people care, people generally are down to do it
Other types of thons
- outdoor/subject to weather: basketball, walk
- indoor: dance-a-thon (Aspen liked this for LM, because it’s easier for different teams to interact w/ each other)
- At the Crossroads- recruits tons of people to do personal campaigns where they each set a personal goal for themselves- Jane Kim decided to cook dinner for friends 1x/month- got ppl to donate so she’d accomplish her goal – another person: if I reach my fundraising goal I’ll ask Sarah Silverman out publicly (was really motivating for ppl)- they raised ton of $ from ton of ppl
- multi-thon? NO- When you have a bunch of different activities, you need lots of people to coordinate each one and a small group of people putting the big pieces together. It spreads people too thin. If ppl had to be in charge of staffing an activity, they wouldn’t be able to lead a team as well, cuz too much work
- instead of a multi-thon, have one activity with different roles (eg. bike-a-thon with some people as cheerleaders, others as pit stop attendants, etc.)
Why they chose to do a bowlathon
- FIERCE (LGBTQ youth of color org. in NY) and SAGE (LA) do successful bowlathons
- POWER’s members really liked the idea of doing something indoors that wasn’t dependent on having good weather
What worked
- picking something anyone can do (bowling doesn’t take any real skill)
- adding in really fun elements: having a live dj, announcements and playing trivia during event, participants were dressed in costume
- getting prize solicitations so people who raised most $ etc. got really good prizes)
- refreshing alternative to a gala; multiracial, multigenerational, families came; crunched allies and friends hard to lead a team
- encouraging captains to meet w/ their team asap, so they could create team name, create fundraising plan together- many teams do joint fundraising together; it’s much more successful than individual fundraising
- doing LOTS of follow-up w/ participants and mostly w/ team captains
- because teams were raising $ ahead of time, they weren’t depending on depending on people buying tix at the door or donating at the event (they didn’t do an ask at event)
- doing a really short program so people can get connected to the org.
What was hard for them
- as many skills, tips, support you give, some people just don’t follow-through with their fundraising
- people need lots of follow-up
- many of their Latin@ members had never bowled before; for their African American members, it’s been a really hard sell (they pushed hard for their members to do it)
- is more work for some teams so after a few years, some ally groups cant do it anymore
- bowling isn’t as popular as it once was
- there isn’t a lot of time for people from different teams to interact with each other
- staff were so busy leading teams that they didn’t focus on mingling with the crowd
- their anniversary is next year, so they’ll do something else instead of a bowlathon
Date: Tue, 17 May 2011 18:26:45 -0700
Subject: Re: I'm stepping back from SLM work
From: fila...@gmail.com
To: save-lyon-martin-fund...@googlegroups.com
Nikki
chvaza
| Manish, Yes. We'd very much appreciate Priscilla doing a training session on June 8th. Should we schedule her at 6:15 so we have some meeting time before hand? Get back to us with details when you can. I know you're trying to take some time - so if you'd rather have someone else contact her and set up the details let me know. Cheryl . --- On Sun, 5/15/11, Manish Vaidya <socialju...@hotmail.com> wrote: |
Kara Desiderio
Re: Network for Good - I did some digging. It turns out that our previous development director had intended to use Network for Good but it was never actually purchased. And that makes sense because I have scoured this office looking for anything from Network for Good and haven't found a thing.
I am still exploring our online login with them - I requested to have our password reset. We receive donations through Network for Good because donors are giving through the site or their companies are giving through the site. I want to check our online account just to make sure that we don't in fact have any additional features. But I even checked our vendor files for the past 2 years, and we have nothing for Network for Good, so I'm not super hopeful.
So, just a heads up. Unfortunately, I imagine getting the expense approved will likely be an uphill battle unless we can make a very compelling case why Network for Good would net us significant more money than Paypal is netting us. And as we all know, there is little to no money in the current approved budget for development - actually I think the only approved money is to go toward consultation services. Pike, Melyssa - is that right?
k
chvaza
| Kara, I'm going to forward a WELCOME and thanks for signing up message from Network for Good to Teri and Anne in case it helps you. c . --- On Thu, 5/19/11, Kara Desiderio <karan...@gmail.com> wrote: |
pike on a bike
I actually do not know for certain what the current status is in terms of whether we are able to spend money on development, but I will definitely bring it up at the board meeting on Wednesday. It would also be really helpful if you could somehow work the need for development funds into your reportback on the fundraising training, Kara. I think the more folks we can have saying the same thing, the better.
Incidentally, how much does the Network for Good program cost?
Thank you!
Pike
Do you believe that access to health care is a right, not a privilege? Support our local women's and transgender clinic, Lyon-Martin, to ensure that they will be able to provide health care to our community for many years to come. Please visit www.savelyonmartin.org for more info!
Kara Desiderio
pike on a bike
Thanks,
Pike
Manish Vaidya
Hey Kara,
Happy Friday the 13th!
I'm writing to follow up about switching from Paypal to Network for Good. So Network for Good changed their pricing and features:
- Basic DonateNow (basic fundraising-focused donation processing page at $20 a month charged to LM, + 3% transaction fee which includes all credit card processing, charged to LM or to donor if the donor wants) has turned into DonateNow Lite (no monthly fee, no transaction fees for LM, but 5% transaction fee charged to donor, whether the donor likes it or not)
- Custom DonateNow (customizable page that looks like LM's web site, for $30 a month charged to LM, + 3% transaction fee that donor can choose to pay or taken as a deduction from the gift), has become DonateNow ($50 a month + 3% transaction fee).
Orgs that use DonateNow raise 38% more $ online than orgs that use DonateNow Lite. I think that's mostly cuz the DonateNow page looks like the rest of the org's web site, and you can add testimonials from donors, so people are more likely to give to that kind of page.
So that's more than I thought it would cost.. There are other options than Network for Good, too. But I recommend leaving Paypal 4 sure. What do you want to do?
PS I'm copying Melyssa on this cuz she was gonna do the tech pieces to make it happen.
xo
manish
Date: Tue, 24 May 2011 10:20:57 -0700
Subject: Re: I'm stepping back from SLM work
pike on a bike
ideas?
P
chvaza
| Not to muddy any of this but NFG also offers an email service and platform for creating and delivering newsletters. c . |
--- On Tue, 5/24/11, Manish Vaidya <socialju...@hotmail.com> wrote: |
|
Manish Vaidya
LM might want to move to EmailNow eventually anyway, because EmailNow integrates w/ DonateNow. So eventually LM could track what links, campaigns and messaging gets donors to give the most $, and target specific mailings to specific groups of donors, which should increase the $$ raised by a lot. It ends up being worth the time it takes to manage those lists of donors, but only if there's someone managing those lists over time (like a development director or a super-volunteer). I suggest skipping it for now.
xo
manish
Date: Tue, 24 May 2011 12:58:49 -0700
From: chv...@yahoo.com
Subject: RE: I'm stepping back from SLM work
Manish Vaidya
xo
manish
From: socialju...@hotmail.com
To: save-lyon-martin-fund...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Network for Good/EmailNow
Date: Tue, 24 May 2011 13:38:19 -0700
Manish Vaidya
Priscilla's confirmed to do a "how to ask for (/major) gifts face-to-face" training and practice session at the fundraising working group meeting on June 8th from 6:15-7pm.
Yeah Cheryl, if you're down to be SLM's point person on this, please email Priscilla (pris...@grassrootsfundraising.org) or call her (510-452-4520 x305) to go over the purpose/outcomes/process and the logistics blah blah. She's super busy this week, so pleez follow-up w/ her next week. Thanks!
Ok super!
xo
manish
Date: Wed, 18 May 2011 21:54:12 -0700
From: chv...@yahoo.com
Subject: Priscilla June 8th
To: socialju...@hotmail.com; save-lyon-martin-fund...@googlegroups.com
chvaza
| Thanks for your work on this Manish. I will follow up with Priscilla. c . |
--- On Wed, 5/25/11, Manish Vaidya <socialju...@hotmail.com> wrote: |
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