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Jewish Fundraising Consultants

Thursday, February 28, 2008

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I was just updating my home page for my marketing and fundraising consulting business, Aliya Marketing Group. I was focusing on finding my top 3 keywords and optimizing my site. On my home page I use a silly example of a page I put up a year or two ago that got me ranked for “The Best Fundraiser in Rhode Island.” Yes, there are more than a dozen of us, but I’m not sure how many more.

On the other hand, I just discovered that I rank #3 for Jewish Fundraising Consultants. Actually I’m the second one ranked as the first one is listed for two pages. There are a few hundred if not a few thousand of us in that category. I can tell you about this because I’m not worried about the competition coming in and targeting me for that keyword, though to be honest, now that I know, I will be gunning for #1.

I suppose it should not be a surpirse. I am doing a good amount of fundraisng for charities in Israel. In fact, there is a great reveiw of my work as a model for raising funds for Israeli charities on Maya Norton’s blog on Jewish Philanthropy here:  Best Practices for Israeli Charities.

There seems to be a pretty strong need in Israel for Jewish fundraising consultants as colleges and not-for-profits continue to expand. I’ll do mybest to keep up with the demand, but I may need to hire an associate or two shortly.

Filed in Internet Marketing, General Fundraising, Marketing | Comments (1)

Powerful Yet Reasonable Goals

Thursday, February 14, 2008

As a consultant I have the privilege of working with executives at many not-for-profits. Like executives in the for-profit world, they often want it all and they want it yesterday. Speaking of which, yesterday was a perfect example in which I spoke to a potential new client about launching a capital campaign for his very young college in Israel.

The goal for the campaign will be between $3 million and $5 million, to be used to renovate two existing historic buildings that currently make up the campus. Can it be done? Of course it can. Can it be done this month? Of course it can’t. This year? Perhaps. Within 3 years? Absolutely.

It is important to set powerful goals that will motivate your volunteer leadership and your donors, not to mention your staff. On of my favorite stories is about my alma mater, Tufts University. Shortly after they hired world reknown nutritionist, Jean Mayer, to be President of the University in the late ’70s, he hired a consulting firm to do a feasibility study. The study showed that with current resources, Tufts could raise $80 million in a 5 year campaign. Mayer promptly announced a $200 million campaign!

The purpose of that story is not to tell you to ignore the consultants. On the contrary, in this story, the consultants were correct. The purpose is to show you the power of big goals and dreams. Although Mayer accepted the resignations of many in is development team, he successfully reached his goal (which, by the way was more than 4 times as large as any previous campaign for the University.)

But wait, didn’t I tell you the consultants were correct?

They were.

And Jean Mayer was also correct.

With its current resources at the beginnning of the campaign, Tufts raised $80 million, just as the feasibility study had shown. Mayer’s bold plans and powerful goals brought new resources, new players, and new donors to the table. He inspired his leadership and his donors and launched Tufts from a small time fundraiser into a major fundraising university. The growth that followed during the next decade was unbelieveble with new buildings, programs, and schools enriching the University.

The difference between dreams and goals is a deadline. You need to dream big, but you also need to set reasonable deadlines to make your goals both powerful and achievable. Because if they aren’t achievable, they won’t be credible. And without credility, there is no power.

Filed in General Fundraising, Major Gifts Fundraising, Fundraising Volunteer Leadership, Leadership for Fundraising Pros, Fundraising Capital Campaigns, Business Values | Comments (1)

New Productivity Tool

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Whether you are working for a charity, or serving one as a consultant, you have an even greater obligation to be productive than those working for a business. Don’t get me wrong, I firmly believe that every employee has an obligation to her employer. But when you are working for or with a charity, you are not only responsible to your employer, but to those who have made charitable donations to fund your work. I think that raises the bar a bit.

As a consultant to charities that profits from service to not-for-profits, I think I have an even greater obligation to be productive. And those who know me or have followed this blog for a while, know that my consulting practice is diverse and includes Internet business as well as charitable fundraising. With the ever presesent allure of the “surfboard”, it is all too easy to spend minutes or hours focused on things other than that which needs to be done now.

Yesterday I found a new tool to help me track my time. As an entrepreneur since college, I’ve known for a long time that that which gets tracked, gets improved. I was always impressed by my attorney friends who could track their time while working on multiple projects. I always found that difficult to do. Now, there is a program that will track everything you do on your computer and allow you to track what you do. It’s appropriately called Rescue Time.

Oh yes, and the best part is that it is free. Of course it is currently in “public beta” whcih means that it might not always be free. But whatever the cost, if your time is worth more than $10 per hour, then it will be worth it. For those in $100-$200 per hour range, this tool is invaluable. Sign up at http://www.rescuetime.com/. I’ve only been using it for a day and a half and already see a difference in my prodcutivity.

If you are a manager, you’ll want your whole team using this program. Rescue Time for Business is in development. Until it is launched you can have everyone on our team use it individually and you can sign up for updates on the program. If I had a team, I’d present it as a great opportunity for each of them to take personal responsibility to become more productive. Anyone you really want on your team is going to be committed to getting better at his job.

I’d love to hear how you are using Rescue Time individually and in your charitable organization.

Filed in Leadership for Fundraising Pros, Business Values, Management | Comments (1)

The Best Fundraising Idea

Monday, January 28, 2008

Jim Rohn said “rarely does a good idea interrupt you,” and anyone who has sat in on the first meeting of a new development committee can vouch for the truth in that statement. Of course I’m not talking about mature fundraising organizations staffed by a team of professionals who have worked closely with volunteer leadership to plan the meeting and the campaign.

Unfortunately young charities or schools that grow out of the vision of one person or a small group too often continnue to think small. Bake sales, wrapping paper sales, and small events all too often pass for fundraising at the immature organization.

Even large or mature organizations can make mistakes in planning events. Last year my syanagogue held a gala to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the senior Rabbi. He is very involved throughout the community, Jewish, interfaith, and secular. I believe there were 400 people there and the temple netted about $40,000. Wow, $100 per head seems good to some of you reading this. I assure you that they could have easily raised more than $100,000 and probably more than $200k had they done it right.

But, to quote Jim Rohn again, “the things that are easy to do are also easy not to do.” Raising major gifts for charity is not rocket science. It can be done with events, like the one described above. But those events need to incorporate the best fundraising idea ever. Here it is:

You need to ask for major gifts.

There you have it. I just gave away the secret that every professional fundraiser knows. I apologize to my colleagues for letting the cat out of the bag. The good news, for professional consultants is that although it is easy, it is also easy not to do.

Having elementary school students sell wrapping paper and candy to family and friends may be a good idea, if you want to engage the kids in the process, build ownership, and teach them important life skills. But if you want to raise major dollars, then you need to sit down with members of your community, identify major gift prospects, cultivate them, and then ask them for major gifts.

What makes a gift major depends on the size of your organization. It could be $1,000, or $10,000 or $100,000. Whatever the level, you need to start taking the process seriously and you need to plan how you are going to start raising real money from your major gifts program. You don’t even need a professional. You could hire one if you want to. But you can do this without us.

If you want to hear more about how to do that, just fill in your name and email to subscribe to this blog and get a notice whenever I post.

Filed in General Fundraising, Major Gifts Fundraising, Events, Board Development | Comments (4)