Sausage sizzles

New legislation around the health and safety of food sales has been on the cards for some time - obviously effecting the small scale sale of food, sausage sizzles, bake sales etc. It would appear that the legislation will move through the system this year. The new minister, Kate Wilkinson tells us that small fundraising activities will be exempt from the same requirements that will be placed on profit making ventures.

The thought of sausage sizzles and bake sales reminds me that selling something is an option for any charity fundraising. Although the public knows that they are buying in aid of a cause, some people want something in return, even if it is a humble sausage. The activity is a public event which provides some profile and it is an opportunity for some volunteers to provide their time.

However there is a warning here. Don't forget the purpose of the sale - it's to raise money! It's not an end in itself. I heard the story of a supportive husband who happily volunteered to cook the sausages on a Saturday afternoon. After several hours leaning over the hot coals he asked how much money had been made. Two hundred dollars was the answer.  "What" he answered with horror. "Why didn't you tell me you wanted two hundred dollars. If I'd known that was the objective I would have just given you two hundred dollars!"

So my top tips for the sausage sizzle are:

1. Plan, plan and execute well. You don't want to do this every week!
2. Make sure your volunteers are appropriately allocated according to their skills
3. Maximise profitability with everything donated or sponsored
4. Choose the best location or don't bother
5. Maximise effort by including other fundraising opportunities, raffles, donations, selling donated goods, car washing, gift wrapping, hot coffee or cold drinks, candy floss
6. Beware of hygiene
7. Exploit all the public relations opportunities
8. Make it fun
9. Do it once and do it well

Sponsorship and pricing

Sponsorship is becoming just one of many options for working with corporates but for certain types of organisations it's still a worthwhile type of relationship.
Sponsorship is about mutual benefits, not philanthropy and it's more commonly seen these days in sporting relationships, brand marketing, endorsement  etc.
Arts organisations rely heavily on sponsorship and sell naming rights to events, performances, tours, venues, etc. In return for some form of branding recognition, sponsors will purchase certain rights and opportunities.

Foresee Communications, which specialises in corporate relationships has produced a lot of material about sponsorships over the last 20 years. A commonly asked question about sponsorship is how to put a price on the sponsorship.
There are two common ways of putting a price on a sponsorship. The most common way is to determine how much money you need to make your event or activity work. That becomes the price of the sponsorship. FYI - this is not terribly realistic. The alternate method is to attempt to consider what it's worth to your potential sponsor.

I once ran an exercise for a client to put a starting price on a sponsorship. The potential sponsor was known to the organisation and they had good reason to want to work together. I valued the sponsorship at about a million dollars by looking at similar activities that the sponsor was already involved in, and similar deals that had been signed recently. Coincidentally, within a week of my valuation, the potential sponsor sent an offer to the client - for exactly the same amount of money. Wow, what a result. However the client thought that was too easy and they countered with four million!  You can imagine the gasps at the sponsor's office. For quite a while the deal was halted until reality prevailed. There was no one else in the mix so time was not a factor. In the end both parties came to an agreement to settle with $.15million. The key thing in this relationship was that both parties could offer something of value to each other. They were equally placed in the negotiation. Not too many deals work out like that!

The Habits of Successful Fundraisers

If you are looking for New Year fundraising resolutions that really make a difference here are some of my top recommendations:

1. phone 5 - 10 ten donors every day. Thank them for their support and check their details against your database
2. spend half an hour reviewing the database every day to check for duplications, spelling errors, incorrect or inadequate addresses. Familiarise yourself with your supporters. Every correction saves you money
3. post a tweet, a blog or facebook entry every day to keep your supporters active
4. run a telephone campaign with volunteers to thank all new donors (it will pay off next year)
5. establish or review your systems and processes (saving money by doing it right first time)
6. review and evaluate all fundraising activities. If it doesn't work, do something else

Fundraising blog topics

Had a comment from Mike Kotlyar with a few good ideas for postings. Thanks Mike. Face to face is one that he mentions in particular, along with volunteer strategies, and of course direct mail. That reminded me that telemarketing is another hot topic. If you start to bristle at the thought of those particular fundraising tools, you have to remember that they may not be aimed at your demographic.

This brings to mind a little story that someone shared with me. She had been doing her direct mail letters and of course there were a few addressed to people that she knew. As we do, she scribbled a little message on a post it note to her friends, demonstrating the personal nature of the mailing. When the CEO, who was signing the letter saw the note, she was horrified and said that the letters should be formal and proper, not with little notes stuck on! She obviously hadn't seen a Readers Digest mailing! So we need to ensure that if we have the expertise, we remind the people we work for that our strategy is sound and based on research or evidence.

I also get lots of people who fear that their letters will end up in the rubbish bin. It's okay! You don't need to be too precious about your mailings. They will end up in someone's bin. Don't stress over it. It doesn't mean they don't love you. Just that on this occasion they aren't going to reply.

The same for telemarketing. Some people will reject the call. It's a fact of life. The  important thing is not to get communication nerves. Keep going and don't sweat the small stuff.

Easy peasy fundraising

If you have plenty of supporters with time and enthusiasm on their hands - then ask them to do what they love, in aid of your charity. For some people having fun and fundraising at the same time is more attractive than cooking sausages and baking brownies.

Anyone who is competing in some sort of personal challenge or a team event could fundraise on your behalf. It doesn't have to be a sports event. It could be some kind of marathon - singing for 24 hours, standing up for a month, travelling on a shoe string budget - anything that's relatively newsworthy and attracts an audience will do.

We used to do this sort of "athon" by knocking on doors and seeking support from neighbours. Now we do this through special fundraising websites where participants can write their own blogs, email their updates to friends around the world, and collect pledges and donations electronically via credit card.

Evidence tells us that if you ask someone to collect by door knocking during an appeal week you may get them to collect a few hundred dollars each. If you ask them to collect by what we call personal challenges then they could collect at least several thousand dollars each. And they will have more doing it, than knocking on the neighbours door.

To make this successful the charity itself needs to provide guidance and all the tools necessary to make it work. It's usually easy to subscribe to a fundraising site such as Everyday Hero. But you need to provide some communication training for your participants. They will need words to describe what you do, they will need to understand how to use the website and establish their own blog. They will need to know what works and how other people have done their challenges. They will need media support from you, at least for their local community newspaper. They will need encouragement and congratulations. They will need to be part of the team. They may need tangible stuff like t-shirts, banners, flags etc. They will need you on the finish line!

Make the most of the new supporters that your participants bring along. They are part of your acquisition strategy.  Make sure you have a communication strategy to enlist them into your supporter group (first and foremost they are supporting their friend, but you can convert them to your cause). Thank them directly and make sure they know how their support is making a difference.

Too much communication?

Direct mail is a topic so close to the heart of all fundraisers but when you are starting out on your fundraising path you might ask the question “how many times should I be sending out communications to my stakeholders?”



I think the simple answer is that you send out as many mailings as your donor’s want to receive. So this means asking them!


Some organisations set up systems that allow for once a month pledges. Others communicate only a few times a year, one of which would be around the publication of their annual report. Not all communications needs to be a fundraising ask, once or twice a year it might be a copy of the stakeholder newsletter.

Campaigns are often based on time of the year, tax time or Christmas appeal for example. This might be supplemented with a special appeal for a crisis situation or a response to an emergency.

Some organisations that have multiple mailings each year may segment their database so not everyone gets every single communication. I know of one organisation that gives donors a pass for the next appeal. If they have responded to a particular appeal, they are not mailed for the next appeal.

Writing to regular donors is another contentious area. Some organisations will not send ordinary appeals to regular or recurrent donors. Sometimes this is a deliberate strategy not to over communicate with people who have already demonstrated their loyalty. However this must be balanced with a lack of communication which leaves regular donors thinking you don’t care any more. It’s especially important to build loyalty with recently acquired donors, particularly if you secured them through face to face or telemarketing or even on line. These donors will quickly leave you if you don’t build a more personal relationship with them.

There is no easy answer to “how many times should I communicate?” But my recommendation would be to err on the side of caution. If you communicate too much, the donor will probably tell you, and that’s good because a donor who calls up is one of your most loyal supporters! Communicate too little and the donor will think you don’t care!

Back to fundraising work

Fundraising New Zealand is a
good value publication

The beginning of the working year is a good time to review your memberships, your subscriptions and your professional development plans.

The key conferences you want to consider are those associated with your memberships - the FINZ conference for example is in May. The Australasian Sponsorship Conference is in October. Don't forget that your software supplier may have a conference and your own charitable sector may have a conference. You may want to bone up on a particular knowledge area - social media for example and there may be a relevant conference associated with it. To get a freebie attendance at a privately run conference you simply have to ask. Another way of getting a freebie is to offer yourself as a speaker. Not only does this mean free attendance, it also looks great on your cv.

Memberships are also important for the cv. Always use your memberships on your card, your signature etc. If you are torn between which memberships are most relevant to you, consider which ones your employer will pay for, and which ones you should pay for yourself. Have a look at the benefits and look at value for money. Make the most of all the offerings. Some societies offer free mentoring and coaching. Take advantage of all the benefits.

Subscriptions are often undervalued. Some memberships will include a magazine or access to e-news. Make it a point each month to spend an hour or two refreshing your knowledge by reading a few magazines, subscribing to a few blogs and sharing your own knowledge by reciprocating. If you are planning to undertake the CFRE qualification you will need to show that you are well read in your area of expertise and that you actively share your knowledge with others.

For your professional development, hopefully you have negotiated a budget for this. Firstly consider what you need to achieve, and then have a look at the offerings by reputable providers. The consider the pricing - what works for your budget. Sometimes it can make more sense to get a few hours of one on one coaching rather than a full day course. In some cases you may want to have your whole team trained. Most trainers work on a daily basis. You can hire them for a whole day, and then you can set the agenda.

An hour doing your planning now can ensure you spend your budget wisely. Otherwise you may spend all your budget on one activity only to find the most important conference is being held at the end of the year.