Posts Tagged ‘website’

Boo!

Halloween is upon us…and there is no more appropriate topic that we could cover than how to effectively scare away donors.  In the, um, spirit of the season, let’s look at six ways to guarantee donors will want nothing to do with you!

Be undefinable. Keep ‘em guessing, we say.  Why box yourself into a specific purpose when you can be fluid and flexible…you know, all things to all people.  You need the freedom to pounce on whatever new cause-de-jour comes along.  Let those other nonprofits label themselves.  Not you, though…you be a chameleon.  Keep changing it up.

Be ineffective. Boy, this one gets them every time.  If you want to make a really bad impression, just refuse to accomplish anything measurable.  Rely on grand platitudes and empty rhetoric.  Plan constantly, but never, ever get anything done.  That’s waaaay too much work.  Hey, I know…just pretend you are a congressman!  Talk the talk, then talk some more!  With a little practice, you’ll be a pro at kicking the can down the street.

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So, you want new donors?  You want to make sure that you keep getting funds from the donors you currently have?  What are you doing to make sure that both of these things are happening?  If you lack a strategy and purposeful intent to cultivate and maintain a donor base, you will certainly have money troubles.  “Form it and they will give” doesn’t work well for many nonprofits.  Here are three things to consider to cultivate and maintain an active donor base:

1)  A Compelling Purpose.

You need a compelling purpose.  Are you doing anything that a donor might want to support financially?  Are you providing your community with services that are indeed needed?  If a donor can relate to, or is interested in, the services your nonprofit provides, the donor is more likely to be happy giving to that cause.  If there are many other nonprofits in your community that are providing the same services, you will have to try harder to differentiate your organization from the other nonprofits.

Maybe your purpose IS compelling…to you.   You understand things about the need for your program that the public doesn’t easily grasp.  For example, the need being met by a homeless shelter is pretty obvious.  If, on the other hand, your organization’s purpose is to research treatments for dry-eye syndrome, you are going to be challenged trying to garner wide monetary support for your efforts.  Those with the problem will jump on board, but your work is cut out for you with everyone else.  You need to understand #3 below:  communication.  But don’t skip #2.  It’s big.

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Once upon a time, there were two websites, each belonging to a different charity.  Our tale follows the adventures of these websites.

The first website…we’ll call it “the good site”…was considered a real asset to its owner.  While not fancy or flashy, it was nice to look at and was obviously well taken care of.  The content of the good site talked about the charity, the charity’s mission, its programs…it even had nice pictures of some of the volunteers helping the charity’s beneficiaries.  And, everything was correct and up to date.  The good site was very good indeed.

The other website…we’ll call it “the bad site”…was also considered a real asset to its owner.  It was fancy and flashy and quite beautiful to behold.  The content of the bad site talked a little about the charity, the charity’s mission, its programs…but, it talked a lot more about the charity’s president, John, and John’s for-profit business.  In fact, it was kind-of hard to tell who the website was supposed to be promoting, John or the charity.  There were some nice pictures of John, John’s family…even John’s dog…plus lots of conveniently placed “Buy Now” buttons for website visitors to snap up John’s new book.  The bad site was very bad indeed.

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