Just as we have seen in Chicago these past few weeks, sometimes when it rains, it pours. Here at GiveForward, we were deeply saddened to hear the story of Zoe Hazlett, a 15-year-old girl who has been through an unthinkable tragedy. Over Father’s Day weekend, Zoe’s father and two younger siblings, Olivia and Roan, were killed instantly in a head-on car crash. Zoe was the lone survivor of the crash, and was transported to a local hospital for testing and treatment of her injuries. What happened next was inconceivable.

While in the hospital, doctors discovered through routine testing that Zoe has cancer. On top of losing half of her family, Zoe must now find the strength to fight the disease by undergoing six rounds of chemotherapy. Luckily, she has a large network of love and support, including her mother, Sang, her younger sister, Jude, and the one and only Kim Kardashian.

As a bright spot in the clouds, Kim and her fiancee Kris Humphries heard Zoe’s story and decided to surprise her in the hospital. Aside from bringing her lots of encouragement and hugs, Kim featured Zoe’s story and pictures of the visit on her blog. She also asked all of her followers to donate to the GiveForward page set up in Zoe’s honor to help cover her medical expenses. Over 5,000 people “liked” the post, and this added publicity has helped raise over $6,300 of the fundraiser’s $25,000 goal in just 2 ½ weeks.

Zoe and her family have a long way to go as far as recovery. Though the future is always uncertain, with the help of mega-stars like Kim, we can begin to see the sun peeking over the clouds. Kim’s blog post dedicated to Zoe is titled “One Of The Bravest Girls I’ve Ever Met.” One thing is for sure — we couldn’t agree with you more, Kim.

Patrick Sallee, a fundraising professional from Kansas City with a blog full of killer posts on fundraising and nonprofits, generously offered to write a guest post for us this week! Patrick says “I believe in hard work mixed with a little luck. I think things happen for a reason and timing is everything. My experience tells me a couple of things about fundraising. One, its not that complicated. Two, experience doesn’t always pay. My blog is to share some of those thoughts.”

You can e-mail him at patrick@patricksallee.com. Thanks again, Patrick!

__________________________________________________

Last year, Bank of America and the Center on Philanthropy released a study of high net worth donors from across the country.  It is a lengthy and in-depth look at where donors give, why they give, what they expect from the nonprofit organization and what influences their giving.  Personally, there were a few facts that stood out to me that nonprofits should take into account as we work with volunteers that are out raising funds on our behalf.

1. This shouldn’t come as a surprise, but donors that volunteer give almost 4 times as much as those that don’t.  Also, those that volunteer give to more organizations, 7, than those that don’t, 5.  For me, this reinforces a couple of thoughts.  First, it is important to continue cultivation of those closest to you, your board, your committee members, your long time friends. Second, it means that as a fundraiser I should continue to learn what agencies my future prospects are currently involved with.  If they are currently on a board they likely are more generous with their support.  Finally, it could simply mean that those high net worth families who serve on boards, etc. are more likely to be seen by other agencies and solicited more often.

2. One of the statistics that came out in this research bothered me as a fundraiser.  When asked about the motivation behind their giving, high net worth households identified the expected reasons: giving back, support the same causes annually, social beliefs, etc.  The fourth one on the list at 67% was that they were “moved at how the gift can make a difference.” This fact I was excited about.  From a volunteer, peer to peer fundraising effort, continue to stress that the story attached to the campaign is the crucial piece.  People are giving to change lives.

The downside though, just under 20% said they feel the donations they are making have a major impact on the nonprofit recipient.  How is this possible?  If we are sharing the possible impact when asking, this says to me we need to improve at sharing the impact we are seeing. Even thought your volunteers are doing the asking, don’t forget it is our jobs to share the impact.

As I mentioned before, most major donors are giving on average to 7 organizations annually.  Nearly 40% stopped giving to at least one organization in 2007 and their reasoning was, “No longer felt personally connected.”

Our major donors aren’t feeling the impact of their giving because we aren’t showing them! and this is why they leave.

3. Online giving continues to rise (up 15% from 10% three years before). Yes, this is a statement I’m sure we are all aware of, but when you factor in other statistics, like donors giving 19% more to a charity when asked by someone they know.  How does that change your online approach?  At Big Brothers Big Sisters in KC, people aren’t finding our website and donating because it looks great and tells a great story.  People are donating to us online because a mutual friend asked them to.  We raise over $300,000 a year through an event that involved peer to peer fundraising, primarily online. This accounts for over 90% of our online gifts.  The absolute best people all of us can use our volunteers that already care about us and have a story of their own experience to tell.

This week’s fundraising tips come from Connie Stofko of Fundraising Assets. Fundraising Assets provides fundraising clients with services such as newsletters, websites, e-mail campaigns, print campaigns, etc.—whatever they need. Connie writes appeal letters, press releases, and a variety of other materials for nonprofit organizations. She’s an award-winning writer with over 25 years experience, and she graciously took the time to give us some great ideas!

________________________________________________

When you’re asking for donations, you need to do two things:

1. Tell an emotional story.

2. Tell people how the money they donate will be used.

This is no different from what nonprofit organizations must do in their fundraising appeal letters. However, for personal fundraisers, the storytelling may  be easier. You’re raising money because someone you know needs help, or because you’re personally excited about the work of a charity. Make sure you tell people that emotional, personal story.

Here is an example of how a nonprofit organization, Friends of Night People did a good job telling a personal story:

Lynn came to us on a Sunday evening. She had no food or money, just one bag of clothing. She had no place to stay. Lynn was depressed after having spent the previous night in what she described as ‘terrible conditions.’ She felt alone.

The first thing we did was feed her and let her know we care. Then we found Lynn a safe place to stay until Monday morning. On Monday other human service agencies would be open and we could put her in touch with people who could also help her. We did not leave that evening until we were assured she would be able to begin her tomorrow with strength and hope.

And another good example from the Ronald McDonald House of Buffalo:

“If Alyssa didn’t get the surgery, she could die,”  said her mother, Crystal Arnold. “If the Ronald McDonald House wasn’t here, we couldn’t afford to come to Buffalo.”

The letter continues to tell in detail how the Ronald McDonald House of Buffalo helped the out-of-town family during their visits to Buffalo to get treatment for their little girl’s medical condition.

There are a couple of things to notice here:

1. We tell a personal story.

We didn’t say, “Many people come to Friends of Night People because they are poor and hungry.” We told the story of Lynn and put a face on the problem.

2. We explain the solution.

For the family with the little girl who needed medical treatment, the solution was staying at the Ronald McDonald House. While we do address the girl’s health problems, that’s not the focus of the story. The focus of the story is how the Ronald McDonald House helped the family.

Make sure you tell your audience how  the money they donate will help the problem you have outlined. Sometimes it’s easy to explain. For example, the money may be used to buy a motorized wheelchair for Alysha Jones. In other cases it might not be as clear.  For example, you may be raising money in the name of someone who has died. You might have to explain that the money is going for research into a cure for people who, like your late friend Jimmi Adams, have been diagnosed with cancer.

To tell a good story, make sure you “put a face on the problem.” And don’t forget to tell your audience how their donation will help the person in your story (or people like that person).

This week we have a special fundraising tip of the week.  We asked one of our users, Amy Cowin, who raised $30,000 on GiveForward for her sister’s kidney transplant to write about her experience and share with everyone how she did it.  Here’s what she had to say:

On April 2, 2009, I donated my left kidney to my one and only sister to save her life. Jessica was in renal failure, also known as kidney failure and needed a transplant. Upon completion of testing, Jessica was cleared for surgery and listed on the transplant list. In hopes that I would be a match to donate one of my kidneys, the hospital did some testing on me. Most of the testing was done, when the hospital called Jessica to let her know that the transplant process was going to be stopped. This meant that until Jessica received Medicaid, which could take at least three months to get or until we could pay for the transplant up front there would be no kidney transplant any time soon. Upon hearing this discouraging news, I jumped into action to start raising some money for the transplant.

Not knowing exactly what to do or where to go to get started raising money, I turned to Facebook. I wrote a somewhat frantic message to a small group of close friends and confidants, specifically chosen based on their various capabilities, knowledge and connections to different facets of the business world. Original message sent on Facebook:

Subject: “NEED HELP ASAP”

“Hi,
I’m sure most of you know that Jessica needs a kidney transplant and she will be taking one of mine. Unfortunately we have had some major problems with insurance and have hit another bump in the road. I need to figure out how to raise some money asap. If any of you know how to do this through Facebook or know of someone who knows how to do this let me know. The insurance will only cover $30,000 and the whole transplant will cost over $100,000. The rest we will have to pay out of pocket, which we definitely do not have. The hospital will not move forward if they don’t think we can pay for the transplant. She cannot wait another 3 months for a kidney.
PLEASE let me know!
Thanks so much,
Amy”

Within three hours I had responses from my friends, some were how they wanted to help me, times we could meet up to figure out ideas and websites to look at, including the one I chose to host my fundraiser, www.giveforward.org. The GiveForward website had everything I needed to start fundraising almost immediately. I spent three intense hours on Give Forward to make sure I had all of the information that the website required, such as a description of why I was fundraising, pictures, where the money would be going, a timeline, and much more. This process helped me strategize, organize and get excited about fundraising; because fundraising is a daunting task, especially for medical purposes.

I wanted to raise up to $100,000 in less than 90 days. In three hours of having the fundraiser published online, I had over $5,000 in donations. I didn’t raise the $100K like I set out to do, but I did raise $30,000 in less than 30 Days. Here are a few of the strategies that helped me raise $30K in 30 Days.

read more…

This week’s post is from Morrie Warshawski, author of The Fundraising Houseparty: How to Party with a Purpose and Raise Money for Your Cause – 2nd Edition.

PARTY PARTY PARTY!

Forward thinking GiveForward members realize that online fundraising is just one part of a comprehensive fundraising effort. One other very flexible and powerful tool for soliciting support from individuals is the increasingly popular fundraising houseparty. Houseparties are a perfect way to get people excited and energized around your project/cause, and often form the beginning of relationships with individuals who you hope will become major donors online and/or offline.

Politicians like Barak Obama and Howard Dean used houseparties to raise millions of dollars for their campaigns. Filmmaker Robert Greenwald harnessed the power of houseparties to have his supporters host thousands of them across the US to fund his social issue documentaries on Wal-Mart, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

You can organize a houseparty with just six weeks of lead time, and you can have them take place in your neighborhood, or in communities anywhere around the globe where someone believes in you and your cause. Begin by finding a host who is willing to provide her house for the party, and will open up her address book to invite her friends. Encourage the host to put together a host committee. This spreads out the work load and adds a few more address books to your resources.

Have fun with the process. Design invitations that can be sent by regular mail and/or as e-vites. On all the invitations, give people the option of donating to your project on your GiveForward page if they can’t come. You’ll make some money before the event even happens!

After people have arrived and had a chance to mingle and eat some finger food for a while, gather everyone into a room and make a formal presentation:

• The host welcomes everyone and talks about why she is committed to your project.
• You get up and talk about your cause. Ideally you show a DVD clip, or some photos – anything that will get participants emotionally engaged with your cause. Take a little time to answer any questions people have and engage in a dialogue.
• Someone – the host or a peer of people in the room – then stands up and makes a very direct, and heartfelt ask for support.

Be sure to have pledge cards ready for everyone to fill out. By all means have a computer or two available with your GiveForward page displayed so that people can make credit card donations right on the spot. You’ll find that having a face-to-face contact with donors is a satisfying, powerful, and effective way to solicit new support and deepen commitment to your cause.

MORRIE WARSHAWSKI is a consultant specializing in working with nonprofits on strategic planning. He is the author of THE FUNDRAISING HOUSEPARTY: HOW TO PARTY WITH A PURPOSE AND RAISE MONEY FOR YOUR CAUSE – 2^nd edition, available at his website: www.warshawski.com. SPECIAL OFFER: Readers who mention GiveForward can receive a $5 discount off the cover price of the book for as many copies as they like until July 31^st.

I met Heather two years ago. About 5 months after she was diagnosed with breast cancer, at 29 years of age. We became fast friends in an instant, and though she was sick, and fighting for her life, our friendship was never about the cancer. 5 months ago Heather woke up paralyzed on her left side. What the doctors thought was a stroke turned out to be a brain tumor. Another day, another battle. Heather simply stepped up to the plate to do what she needed. Brain surgery, intense physical therapy to get the left side if her body working again, radiation, more chemo. And not one complaint. And like many friends and family members of loved ones who are very ill, I felt helpless.

I live 2000 miles away and have an extremely crazy and unpredictable job where I am constantly traveling. I wanted to do something, and the only thing I could think of doing was to call upon my circle of friends to donate money to help ease the burden of the fact that Heather would be out of work for quite some time.

So I sent out an email to a bunch of friends back home in KC. Problem was that I was in Houston- so I had to ask people to either mail checks to my home, or to my hotel, or to drop it off on the desk of a friend back home. Lil’ complicated. That is when one of my friends sent me information on setting up a giving site on GiveForward.org. Genius! read more…

Water is the gift of life.  We hear that often – but ask anyone who has suffered months of drought and they will tell you, indeed, this truth is more powerful than we might ever imagine.

Every day we are bombarded with statistics about how many people in the world are experiencing certain hardships; twelve million are refugees, over a billion live below the poverty line and countless others are deprived of adequate health care.  But without putting a face to the statistic, we often experience a sense of resignation in the face of such unsettling facts. read more…

Every day at GiveForward we come up with new ways that we can help our users. We love bake sales, raffles, and car washes and consider them a right of passage. In addition to these tried and true fundraising methods, GiveForward can be a great tool for parents and students especially when it comes to raising larger amounts of money.

Through Give Forward, parents and students can use their online network of family, friends and colleagues to raise awareness and money for a particular cause. We make it easy for you to provide donors with plenty of information, photos, videos, and links. Generally, the more information a potential donor has about a cause, the greater the amount of money they are willing to give.

In addition, unlike many of the traditional fundraising methods, GiveForward makes it easy for donors to use their credit card, often the preferred method of payment for larger amounts of money. By posting your fundraiser on GiveForward, you open yourself up to receiving funds from strangers, which happens more often than you’d expect!

So next time you buy a cookie at a bake sale, remember check out the latest projects at GiveForward and give a small amount of yourself to a worthy cause.