What Can Major Gift Fundraising Learn from this Idea?
I just read a fascinating article in Forbes: Saving Lives, One Rent Check at a Time on Internet philanthropy. As a major gift officer with 30 years of experience, I am still trying to figure out how this new wide web world will impact our fundraising. I’ll tracking these articles for all of us. Please give me feedback if you’re applying some of these strategies
In 2002 Keith Taylor took a website he was using to offer to help out people with small gifts from his $33,000 yearly salary. Now 41, he helps people with their rent by sending a $100 her and there — not to the requester but to their bank or landlord. Last year, ModestNeeds.org, gave away $884,990 a big increase from the $250,000 donated in 2005. Modest Needs has a staff of 5 and gets 2,000 requests a month. They fund 20%. The Herb Alpert Foundation got wind of the project and has matched $1.4 million of gifts so far. It’s interesting to note that only 10% of ModestNeeds.org recipients ask again.
Other related sites include GlobalGiving.com, DonorsChoose.org.
The article notes: “Contributing to a specific project gives donors a sense of control, says Arthur Brooks, a professor at Syracuse University who studies philanthropy, activating what he calls ‘the happy part’ of the brain’s cerebral cortex. ‘It makes giving money a lot more like volunteering.’ Brooks says. ‘Organizations that understand this are going to prosper.’”
Related articles from Brooks: "Can Money Buy Happiness" in The American, "Why Giving Makes You Happy" in The New York Sun, and "Giving Makes Your Rich" in Conde' Nest Portfolio.com.
One implication for major gift officers is setting up a donor selection website for your organization. Let your faculty and staff at your university or physicians and nurses at your hospital write up their needs. Have your staff package them quickly on your donor selection website and encourage people to go shopping for their interests. Let me know what you think.
TomWilsonMajorGiftsGuru@gmail.com
I just read a fascinating article in Forbes: Saving Lives, One Rent Check at a Time on Internet philanthropy. As a major gift officer with 30 years of experience, I am still trying to figure out how this new wide web world will impact our fundraising. I’ll tracking these articles for all of us. Please give me feedback if you’re applying some of these strategies
In 2002 Keith Taylor took a website he was using to offer to help out people with small gifts from his $33,000 yearly salary. Now 41, he helps people with their rent by sending a $100 her and there — not to the requester but to their bank or landlord. Last year, ModestNeeds.org, gave away $884,990 a big increase from the $250,000 donated in 2005. Modest Needs has a staff of 5 and gets 2,000 requests a month. They fund 20%. The Herb Alpert Foundation got wind of the project and has matched $1.4 million of gifts so far. It’s interesting to note that only 10% of ModestNeeds.org recipients ask again.
Other related sites include GlobalGiving.com, DonorsChoose.org.
The article notes: “Contributing to a specific project gives donors a sense of control, says Arthur Brooks, a professor at Syracuse University who studies philanthropy, activating what he calls ‘the happy part’ of the brain’s cerebral cortex. ‘It makes giving money a lot more like volunteering.’ Brooks says. ‘Organizations that understand this are going to prosper.’”
Related articles from Brooks: "Can Money Buy Happiness" in The American, "Why Giving Makes You Happy" in The New York Sun, and "Giving Makes Your Rich" in Conde' Nest Portfolio.com.
One implication for major gift officers is setting up a donor selection website for your organization. Let your faculty and staff at your university or physicians and nurses at your hospital write up their needs. Have your staff package them quickly on your donor selection website and encourage people to go shopping for their interests. Let me know what you think.
TomWilsonMajorGiftsGuru@gmail.com
Permanent Link: Another Internet Fundraising Innovation
http://majorgiftsguru.com/2008/08/another-internet-fundraising-innovation.html
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