125 Best Practices and Great Ideas - Page Three

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• There are a lot of elderly citizens on the Web. Assume they're online, looking for information when terminal illness strikes. Don't forget to communication through the Internet with seniors.
  -Robert Mueller, Hospice of Louisville (Louisville, KY)
  
  
• Use games as a teaching tool.
  -Sue Noakes, Girl Scouts (Springfield, MO)
  
  
• We have 36,000 students and 250,000 alumni...yet had never taken care of our database. We only had 20,000 records. We also had no experience within our people for building a database. It was a big challenge. We put ads in magazines and newspapers around the country saying, "we're looking for you." We sent letters to their last known address. We used e-mail and the Internet and outdoor advertising, asking people to contact us.
  -Custodio Pereira, MacKenzie University (Sao Palo, Brazil)
  
  
• We send donors a jar of honey each year. Our president raises bees, so the connection between the organization and leadership makes a strong statement and serves as a great reinforcer.
  -Matthew Ruffner, The Leadership Institute (Arlington, VA)
  
  
• I had my volunteers communicate on e-mail with each other then they forwarded me the whole chain. That gives me good information about their interests and their philosophy. And when the donor hears from me, they begin to see me on the same level as their board members.
  -Yezdyar Kaoosji, Friends of the Indian School (Los Angeles, CA)
  
  
• Incorporate flash macromedia into e-mails so PowerPoint presentations have sound, movement, etc.
  -Ronald Oyer, American Heart Association (St. Louis, MO)
  
  
• Send a memo briefing for volunteers: strategy for gift solicitation they can use during rehearsal.
  -Ginger Bower, YWCA of Metropolitan Washington (Washington, DC)
  
  
• We tell volunteer fundraisers to keep a smile on their face, that it's OK to ask for money. Fundraising is not a bad word. If a volunteer doesn't like to ask, tell them you'll put them somewhere else so they don't have to ask. We had a lawyer who said, 'you don't want me asking anybody for money. I've lived in this town all my life. I've probably sued everybody at least once!'" We found something else for him to do.
  -Carole Wright, CFRE, Resurrection Catholic Missions (Montgomery, AL)
  
  
• Be transparent and honest with donors, volunteers and partners.
  -Unsigned
  
  
• Make a personal telephone call of thanks to all donors of $25 or more.
  -Chris McCormick, CFRE, Wesleyan Homes (Georgetown, TX)
  
  
• During nomination process for the board…bring in prospective board members for a tour of the organization before asking them to join. Given them a formal orientation and tell them how much they are expected to give annually.
  -Susan Corrinton, CFRE, LCSW, Edgewood Children's Center (St. Louis, MO)
  
  
• With capital campaigns, we create a leadership committee outside of the typical campaign cabinet to identify bright people for cabinet and leadership roles. Set them apart and start the process. It especially works for organizations that don't have strong or experienced boards.
  -Jeanne Schmelzer CFRE, Netzel (San Jose, CA)
  
  
• To foster nonprofit collaboration and share overhead costs, our organization moved into the offices of another nonprofit. We share some functions and referrals.
  -John Feller, Habitat for Humanity of the West Valley (El Mirage, AZ)
  
  
• When grant writing…follow the instructions! Make sure your proposal budget is accurate. If you need more room, play with your margins or most forms are available online. Employ succinct, tight writing.
  -Kathy Rogers, CFRE, grant writer (Golden Eagle, IL)
  
  
• Create Young Philanthropist Awards to encourage gifts of time, talent and treasure among the younger generation.
  -Sue Watts, St. Vincent Hospital (Green Bay, WI)
  
  
• Ensure your board has how-to books; continue to provide them training tips on a variety of topics. This builds your current board and mentors for new board members as they arrive.
  -Marci Bowling, Development Center of the Ozarks (Springfield, MO)
  
  
• Use student successes in newsletter, some of it autobiographical, to build interest, value and awareness.
  -Dawn Finley, Bynum School (Midland, TX)
  
  
• We've made an effort to invite all our capital campaign major donors in to see the completed building. Our invitation was a plastic hardhat, mailed in a box, which invited them in a month before the building was done. They thought the invitation creative enough that it piqued their interest and came in record numbers.
  -Unsigned
  
  
• We send out action alerts to our members via broadcast e-mail regarding advocacy action at the state level. That is a member service that helps people think of us, so when we ask for money, they'll feel good.
  -Brad Collins, American Solar Energy Society (Boulder, CO)
  
  
• Every month we circulate to our board a set of donor sheets: each individual who has given $250 or more. The members call the donor and say, "Hi, I'm a volunteer board member…and thank you." Then they listen to donors, and hear why they the donors care about our organization. Donors love it. The board loves it. Each board member hears five to 10 times a month how wonderful we are. That gives them great confidence when they ask for funds or represent our organization.
  -Gordon Durnan, South Muskoka Hospital Foundation (Bracebridge, Ontario)
  
  
• The VP of development kames personal calls to donors over $100. The executive director makes personal calls to donors over $500. We invite them to tour our facility.
  -Janet Arena Burns, CFRE, Clovernook Center for the Blind (Cincinnati, OH)
  
  
• Meet with all committees once a month. It helps me to keep them engaged in the process so they're empowered.
  -Nancy Coffee, Greater Memphis Arts Council (Memphis, TN)
  
  
• Plan. Remember. It's "ready, aim, fire!" not "ready, fire, aim."
  -Arlene Snyder, CFRE, Western Pennsylvania Allegheny Hospital Foundation (Pittsburgh, PA)
  
  
• Stay in touch with donors every month.
  -Rosalea Maher, Youth Emergency Services, Inc. (Omaha, NE)
  
  
• We started giving away chocolate at our annual dinner. It really put a stamp on our event.
  -Bryon S. Johnson, East Bay Local Asian Development Corporation (Oakland, CA)
  

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To read Hartsook Companies' Best Practices monograph from the Association of Fundraising Professionals' 39th International Conference, visit ASR Publishing.

To contribute your own best practice, please e-mail tami@hartsookcompanies.com.