Direct mailers -now it’s easy being green!

Nonprofits want to do the right thing for the environment while demonstrating to constituents that they operate with pro-social values, thrift, and integrity. Clients at McPherson Associates wanting tobe leadersin eco-mailing have inspired the Eco-Campaign, a new package of resources that helps nonprofitsmaketheir mail and their bottom line greener. Options here make the conversion simple, at attractive price points.

The Eco-Campaignprovides environmentally friendly, pro-conservation messaging and mailings that promote sustainability. There’s lots of good news about this alternative, including that as a growing number of organizations sign on, the costs of materials are dropping. Each nonprofit thatjoins this cooperative effort does a good thing for the whole nonprofit community, as bulk purchasing turns the bottom line greener for everyone. Prices from the start are quite competitive, but can end up significantly under the average cost of non-green materials as more buyersjoin this initiative.

Read more here.Discuss your needs, get a quote, or receive a package of green samples. Take a look at consumer-popular premium options that are available, like plant-a-tree and eco-totes. Mail package versions for add gift, acquisition, and lapsed/renewal mailings are among ready-to-customize-and-roll-out packages that are currently available.

Green mail is trendy, but here to stay, and you can still be part of the leading edge. Your prospects and donors now expect you to be green.

Editor’s Note: Watch the Nonprofit Federation website for a nonprofit environmental toolkit coming soon!

Tim Oleary,Vice President, McPherson Associates

According to Dick McPherson’s new book Digital Giving How Technology is Changing Charity, donors are taking over from fundraisers and deciding what gets funded and what doesn’t. Dick says, "People who contribute money expect a say in exactly (I mean exactly) how their money is used. They expect plenty of choices. They expect feedback on the results. And they expect it promptly on their terms."

Nothing is more apparent than in the recent articles covering higher ed fundraising. The Washington Post article "Exacting Donors Reshape College Giving" says the same thing: "Alumni now are far more likely to give to specific projects rather than the operating funds that keep universities running and to expect detailed reports on how the money is spent. Some ask to meet the students who win the scholarships, select the professors who get the chair, scrutinize financial reports, weigh competing construction bids, choose the paintings for the gallery walls." The article goes on to say "But the baby boomers who are giving are well aware of scandals at charities and want to be sure their money isn’t fattening administrators’ salaries or slipping through cracks".

Take my alma mater George Mason University and my spouse’s RPI. Mason communicates in a number of ways; email, postcard, newsletter, phone, and they let me chose how I receive the information. They tell me what they are doing with my self-designated donation as well as what’s going on around the campus. They always send a prompt thank you and at the end of the year a small token of appreciation for my donation. RPI infuriates my husband with nothing more than another appeal. He can’t select where his donation goes nor does he know where it goes once they cash the check. He gets a semi-annual newsletter that gives no information that he can relate to. I think he’s done giving to RPI.

Dick has it right. We have entered a new age of donating. As donors, we want choices, accountability and to be treated as a major giver. As fundraisers we need to make sure we’re communicating with donors in the manner they chose so they keep sending donations.

How is your organization contributing to the Democratizing of Philanthropy?

Jill Murphy, Senior Manager, Member Services, Nonprofit Federation

House Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee Chairman John Lewis (D-GA) held a hearing last week to review whether tax-exempt charitable organizations are serving the needs of diverse communities. The hearing focused on the extent to which philanthropic dollars are being directed toward diverse communities and how those dollars are being used within those communities. Ranking Member Rep. Ramstad (R-MN), Chairman Lewis and Reps. Neal (D-MA), Becerra (D-CA), Tubbs-Jones (D-OH), Pascrell (D-NJ) heard testimony and asked questions.

Chairman Lewis stated, "Charitable organizations play a key role in our country’s ability to respond to the needs of its communities, which have become increasingly diverse. We must do more to serve all Americans no matter where they live and match charitable resources with the needs of diverse communities."

As we all understand, the U.S. population is becoming increasingly diverse. The Subcommittee provided and number of helpful statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau to help frame the discussion including, 36.5 million Americans live in poverty; 100.7 million Americans are identified as minorities; 37 million Americans are age 65 and older; 106.9 million Americans live in urban communities; 116.8 million Americans live in rural communities; 41.2 million Americans have some level of disability; and 37.5 million Americans are foreign born. The Census Bureau further estimates that nearly 10% of the nation’s 3,100 counties have a population that is more than 50 percent minority.

The witnesses on the panel included Julian Wolpert, Ph.D., Bryant Professor of Public Affairs, Emeritus, Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University; Elizabeth T. Boris, Ph.D., Director, Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy, The Urban Institute; Kevin M. Brown, Chief Operating Officer, American Red Cross; Susan V. Berresford, President and CEO, The Ford Foundation; Lesley Grady, Vice President of Community Partnerships, The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta; Byron Laher, Director, Government and Labor Relations and Community Affairs, Greater Twin Cities United Way.

Panelists highlighted their organizations and discussed how they are, or have become more effective in reaching out to more diverse communities. There was discussion about how more affluent communities are more likely to donate financial resources and the challenge of those resources tending to stay within their own communities. While each panelist had their own perspective on how to spread various resources to those in the most need and different communities, there was general consensus that financial support was not all that was needed. Many panelists noted that by fostering a culture of volunteerism among every class of Americans, each community can learn from those relationships and all can be better served.

The Federal Government is increasingly partnering with nonprofit organizations to address the specific needs of individuals and communities. Members of Congress participating in the hearing want to ensure there are adequate partnerships between governments and charitable organizations to reach and serve diverse populations. It was noted that nonprofit organizations often bring an in-depth understanding of a particular geographic area or special population as well as have a greater knowledge and access to underserved populations.

Chairman Lewis asked the panel how to encourage more people to support nonprofit organizations and asked if any groups were looking to actively involve a new generation of donors by educating and involving children. One program that was cited by the panel was Common Cents’ Penny Harvest where elementary school age children collect pennies from individuals and then decide how and where the money should be allocated in the form of grants. In the 2006 a New York City Penny Harvest collected and distributed over $650,000.

Another concern that was mentioned by the panel was that in recent years tax cuts had lowered the incentive to donate money to charities. An Arizona law was discussed that provides higher individual deductions for donations to organizations that provide support for lower income families within their community and how this type of targeted incentives could help more diverse communities.

The House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight will continue to look more closely at charitable organizations in the coming months.

And the Nonprofit Federation will be paying close attention…

Tom Foulkes, VP, Government Affairs, DMA

As we enter a hectic holiday season meant to generate goodwill and generosity, it is important to remember that mailing’s positive glow is being tarnished due to recent efforts by a variety of companies and groups to instill a "do not mail" philosophy.

Such groups include: Greendimes.com, cataloguechoice.com, stopthejunkmail.com, 41Pounds.org, junkbuster.com, junkmailfreeze.com, the Center for a New American Dream, earth911.org and others. Some do not directly target nonprofit mail, but most include it and you need to pay attention!

The groups and companies have been receiving funds from consumers, foundations and private sources that believe this will stop unsolicited mail and lead to less waste. However, the groups and companies must either contact every mailer in the nation to be effective, or send consumers to the Direct Marketing Association’s mail suppression service.

The groups also push for legislation that would create state do not mail lists at the local level that could be very harmful to the Postal Service. Good intentions in this instance (as well as for-profit motives for some of these companies) have led to a highly contradictory and harmful scenario for those that count on mail as an important communications vehicle.

The USPS cannot exist on individual correspondence mail alone. Letters and cards to loved and admired ones do not support the overall revenue needs of the Postal Service and its workforce, and such correspondence is declining due to the Internet and email communications. It must have other lines of business such as advertising mail which provides an important revenue stream to the Postal Service. With adequate revenue, the Postal Service can continue to serve every address across the nation six days a week. It can serve as a key fundraising and communications channel for nonprofits, many of whom are striving for public support through the USPS.

If the Greendimes of the world and others prevail in shutting off this important communications vehicle, or at least carving out advertising/nonprofit solicitation mail, guess who ends up paying higher rates? The nonprofit organizations! Many of whom are moving heaven and earth to resolve some of the most critical and challenging environmental issues of the day and have taken up a "green" philosophy with tremendous courage and success.

Senny Boone, Executive Director, Nonprofit Federation

p>If you missed the launch of Facebook Apps Platform almost two months ago, you’re already way behind the times.  The technology "enables anyone to build any application that…Facebook could build."  The Causes application by Project Agape enables anyone with a Facebook account to support and engage their Facebook networks to support a "Cause" - be it "Save the Seals!," "End Global Warming!," or "Fight Hate".

All of the Causes have to be linked to a Guidestar-verified 501(c) (3).The developers hope to revolutionize the way people give money, using the principles of group fundraising and social networking.

We took a sampling from all of the Causes to get a sense of what the potential is.  There are currently about 8,000 Causes, and we sampled about 10% of them.  Lots of zero dollar donations in that sample (555 out of the 774 we sampled).  Of the 218 causes that actually had donations, the average money earned was about $290, and the average number of supporters was about 6,600 (that was after throwing out all of the zeros).  That works out to an average of about $1.24 per supporter.  The total donations ran from $5 to $22,871.  The members range from 0 to several hundred thousand.  Here are the graphs of the results below.  It’s a pretty long tail.  If you’re a spreadsheet junkee, you can email me and I’ll send you the data.

Perhaps more relevant than the average in this case, however, are the median (36 for Cause members, $0 for donations or $30 if you throw out all the instances of zero donations) and the mode (6 for members and $0 for donations — $10 if you throw out the 555 instances of zero).  Translation:  you’re more likely to get between $0 and $30 per Cause — not the average of $290.

As much as there is potential for "free" money, social networks — and the apps that go with them — are not a silver bullet, yet.  To be fair, though, this particular tool is only about two months old.

If you want to venture into social networks for promoting your org, the same old organizing rules still apply.  The "Field of Dreams" strategy doesn’t usually work anywhere on the web, social networks included.  However, they’re different from other mediums in that they tap into some basic human needs in a new way — the need to be part of a group, need to be creative, need to have a voice heard in a public forum — but it’s tough to get in the middle of that as an organization.  It takes a lot of time and a personal touch.

So for now, we’ll remind you to think like a rock band if you want to spend your time in these mediums.  Seriously, pay attention to what rock bands do to mobilize people on social networks.  And yes, you should be everywhere, but prioritize.

If you want to get down and dirty with the costs and benefits of social network recruiting, we have put together a Social Networks ROI Calculator you can use to help with your decision-making as well as a few how-to articles and case studies .

Justin Perkins, Nonprofit Services Director, Care2
James O’Malley, Chief Blogger, frogloop.com

Dear Nonprofit Federation Members and Friends,

This is our first message to you from our new positions as chair and vice chair. Beginning this month, we assume the leadership of the Nonprofit Federation from Angie Moore and Chris Paradysz.

The Nonprofit Federation exists, pure and simple, to support your ability to raise money, build awareness and support among donors and members through direct marketing channels. This is our core mission, and everything else must stem from this.

Our conferences deliver case studies of new packages with their results, reviews of new technologies, and opportunities to speak with the right people in the hallways, sitting next to you in sessions, or at receptions.

Sometimes inspiration comes tied with a bow in a neat package, other times it comes from seemingly nowhere. One of our goals over the coming two years is to make more coincidences happen for you, to facilitate learning and get you the right information in the right place at the right time.

Because you get out of membership what you put in, we encourage you to do the following:

1. Contact us and pursue volunteer opportunities. We and our colleagues on the Advisory Council are eager to welcome you to become involved in committees that help plan and execute our conferences; advise us on postal issues, regulations, and other policy matters; and to help increase our visibility and effectiveness within the overall community of non-profit fundraising and marketing.
2. Visit the Web site including the content posted in the Members-Only login. Register today to participate in our listserves/online community. For all of us, challenges come daily, and they do so with their own timing. These resources are meant to provide you with 24/7 access to peers and fellow experts willing to share their insight with you.
3. Register for and attend one or more of our conferences. Many of our members attend many events, it is critical to get out of the office, see and hear top notch creative and to learn what you need to learn.

We work in a rapidly changing landscape. Most immediately we’re facing serious threats in the form of rapidly rising postal rates. Often we can conclude that it’s not our jobs to worry about this, but associations exist to defeat this argument. Collectively we ARE stronger than we realize. We represent organizations that account for over $295B in charitable giving. Without us the critical missions of so many organizations in human services, emergency relief, animal welfare, food security would be undersubscribed, underfunded, and go undone. The nonprofit sector is critical to our economy, and we are the backbone of those operations. Perhaps your role is underappreciated, underfunded, even limited by the perceptions of those around you.

On some level, nothing is more frustrating than when we are thought of as the "junk mail" program. We can’t forget the marketing part of what we do. Our role in the Nonprofit Federation is to remind our members of this essential fact and to help you do so within your organization.  We, as fundraisers, are the largest part of marketing, and we are the face of the organization.

There is so much more than mail. Direct response includes text messaging, social marketing sites, people raising money for you from blogs and personal websites. Grassroots fundraising is no longer just bake sales. It’s empowering your donor, providing links to your website, and finding ways to creatively measure their impact outside our traditional direct response models. What are the metrics we can use? What are the ethics of simple things such as email list management? What are the tax implications of gifts from these new activities as the "digital future" becomes today.

We want to be a partner in your organization as we move into this new era. Please let us know the developments you see on the horizon that may challenge you and change the way you fundraise, as well as the traditional impediments that you face daily.

We need to be as effective a resource as possible, between the Nonprofit Federation and the DMA in New York. Our vision is to help you "see around the corner" in mail, online, grassroots and all areas of fundraising.

The transparency of the Nonprofit Federation’s operations matters a great deal to us. We want to reach out and hear your thoughts and concerns, and we will be proactive in sharing what we learn and what we’re thinking. We are looking forward to the next two years serving you!

Jo Sullivan, SVP, ASPCA & Chair, Nonprofit Federation
Kevin Whorton, Principal, Whorton Marketing & Research & Vice-Chair, Nonprofit Federation

Over the past few years, as natural disasters have increased, so, too, has the need for financial aid.

Hurricane Katrina alone caused more than $80 billion in damage, and the Christmas tsunami in 2004 was responsible for nearly $11 billion in rebuilding costs. But these bills weren’t solely the burdens of their respective cash-strapped nations. People from around the world accepted the financial challenges as their own – with an outpouring of unprecedented proportion.

When the call-to-action sounded to assist the tsunami-ravaged southeast Asia, we opened up our wallets to the tune of $13.6 billion. Likewise, through telethons, emergency fundraisers and the like, the general public offered the Gulf Coast more than $4 billion.

These examples are – despite the situations’ abundant images of despair and darkness – shining moments in humanitarian history.

They are also isolated examples. As if the world is without crises until there’s a global headline dominating the news.

Of course, we know the exact opposite is true. There are conflicts and disasters everyday, in every part of the world. Crises in which people starve, have no shelter or medicine, and die. All preventable predicaments – given that there are funds to prevent them from the get-go.

That’s perhaps why CNN has taken a proactive approach to fundraising with its "Impact Your World" initiative directing viewers to charity and relief efforts connected to some of its stories. The news network recently launched this special Web site containing contact information to charities in categories like refugees and homelessness, poverty, children, health, and natural disasters. When CNN reports on relevant stories related to these causes, viewers will be informed about the site.

A statement on CNN’s "Impact Your World" pages states, "As part of an initiative across all CNN networks and platforms, CNN is offering you resources to take action on the news you witness and to impact your world. Beginning with six categories, we highlight some immediate ways you can help. The organizations listed under those categories are composed of some of the highest-rated charities by CharityNavigator.org (an independent and nonprofit organization that evaluates and rates thousands of charity groups based on financial stability)."

In simpler terms, "Impact Your World" encourages random charitable giving, especially in non-emergencies.

Which, unbeknownst to many, is when nonprofits need it the most.

Michael A. Knipp, Copy Chief, Creative Direct Response

Well if you attended our Nonprofit Leadership Summit last week maybe you’d have a better idea of how to do just that! Approximately 110 of your nonprofit colleagues heard from 5 keynote speakers on their ideas of how to see around corners and tackle some really big issues like the importance of innovation in the nonprofit world.

• Tom Harrison from Omnicom spoke about changing language of nonprofit to socially profitable and the use of cultural anthropology in donor communications.
• Ken Burnett of Cascaid Group told us we need to speak to our constituents they way they want to be spoken to. Take time every day to innovate.
• Atul Tandon of WorldVision took us on a tour of how his organization doubled donations, increased visibility and brand awareness in the past five years.
• The ever entertaining Tony Elischer of THINK Consulting Solutions bombarded us with ideas such as: create mantras, 360 degree vision of donors, youniverse, mission innovation and celebrating success.
• Chuck Connor of the American Red Cross gave us insight on how to use public relations to advance our work and combat the bad stuff.
• AARP, Easter Seals and Doctors Without Borders wrapped up the Summit with their organizations stories of how they took on tough situations and continue to lead through ever changing times.

If some of this sounds ‘out there’ then maybe you’re not thinking about seeing around corners. And maybe you should join us next year so you’re not 15 minutes behind, instead of being 15 minutes ahead.

Jill Murphy, Senior Manger, Member Services, Nonprofit Federation

For lots of reasons I’ve come to the conclusion that the Postal Service doesn’t like nonprofits. We begged and pleaded for a slight delay on the implementation of the new "Not Blat Machinable’ rate just so you could test your packages to see what qualifies as a flat or NFM - which I might add, has a highly subjective test – and they said no. We asked for a reduction on the flats category and they said we’ll give you 2¢ back on nonprofit flats. While I suppose that is better than nothing (the Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers stance), it’s only TEMPORARY!

That’s right, folks, you have until September 29, 2007 to get a 2¢ reduction on your flats mailings. Could their timing for the end of the temporary reduction be any better than the beginning of peak holiday mailing season?  Guess they aren’t as dumb as I thought.

So, consider yourselves on notice – get in the mail early this year for those holiday appeals and beat them out of that additional 2¢ per flat! Better yet, give everything to them September 28th.

Oh, and did I mention that even though Congress passed postal reform legislation which was signed by the President in December, it doesn’t kick in until June 2008 so we can expect yet another postal rate case and additional increases.

Now you know why I’ve concluded the postal service doesn’t like nonprofit mailers.

Jill Murphy, Senior Manager, Member Services, DMANF

If you’re in the online marketing biz, chances are you belong to Generation X (born between 1965 and 1980) or even Generation Y. Chances are equally good that your online donors and activists are baby boomers.

Therein lies the rub.

Boomers and Xers have different worldviews, cultural touchstones, and senses of humor. Not surprising given Xers’ tendency to define themselves primarily as "not Boomers." And, while Xers arguably dominate among non-profit fundraisers and marketers, Boomers are undeniably the primary target audience. It’s just demographically the way it is right now.

But you wouldn’t know it from many online marketing campaigns which are designed by Xers to engage other Xers. And therefore miss the mark.

Not long ago a colleague, who by the way is brilliantly funny and creative, developed a biting Flash parody based on the deservedly defunct Ashton Kutcher MTV show Punk’d,. The parody bombed. It was well-produced and cute. Problem was, no one in the email audience had ever watched or heard of Punk’d. The audience didn’t get the joke.

I was born in the peak year of the baby boom. My colleague Mars is dead-center in the Gen-X cohort. My other colleagues Sarah and Alia are young Xers. While we do have common interests and cultural loves (Seinfeld, Borat), the divergences are equally apparent. Xers seem to find Ben Stiller funny, which mystifies me. Animal House is the iconic comedy of my generation; for Xers it’s Austin Powers and Dazed and Confused. I think John Belushi was a genius. Sarah thinks Wes Anderson is a genius.

Xers also seem to have an inexhaustible appetite for reality TV, which I find mostly unwatchable. Another, equally talented, former colleague launched an unsuccessful parody of Operation Runway for a large organization. Same outcome as Punk’d. Same reason. The audience didn’t get the joke.

That you are not your target audience is a truism of good marketing. Given the current need to market across the Boomer-GenX divide, it becomes a major imperative.

Mark Rovner, President and CEO, Sea Change Strategies