Board Retreats: Necessary, But Fun 

Making the Most of Your Board and Its Members   

Letter to the Editor: From the Eyes of the Volunteer

The Top Ten Ways to Impress Your Volunteers 

Letter to the Editor: From the Eyes of the Executive Director 

Strategic Planning: Planning for Success 

Preparing the Board for Your Next Capital Campaign 

GAP Analysis: Taking You from Current Practice to Industry Best Practice

Ten Things Every Development Oficer Should Do Before the End of 2011

Building the Case Statement

Right-Sourcing: Is It in Your Development Office Future?

Letter to the Editor: My New Year's Resolution

Annual Fund Letters: 

Are You Putting Your Bestest Foot Forward?

How many of you have ever received correspondence from your favorite charities that made you cringe – misspelled words, poor grammar, big words, run-on sentences, etc.?  Is there a quicker way to turn off your donors and prospects than to send out unprofessional materials?  Whether these materials are annual fund letters, acknowledgement letters, or personal/business correspondence, poor grammar will leave a negative impression on the recipient.

Let's assume your annual fund program is now organized, efficient, and most importantly, on schedule.  The copy for your first annual fund letter is due next week.  As you begin to overcome writers-block and the words begin to flow about your newest funding project, let's not forget one very important thing:  how you say it is just as important as what you say.

Unfortunately, most people do not use the English language correctly.  Briefly, let's examine some of the most common errors and suggestions for correction.

STATEMENTS/WORDS TO AVOID

• "As per your request" Instead, say thank you for your interest.
• "Enclosed please find" Be forceful, and say "I have enclosed . . ."
• "It has come to my attention" Instead, use "I have seen"
• "I would like to take this opportunity" Get right to the point of your letter - "You can help solve world hunger by . . . "
• "I look forward to hearing from you" Make the reader understand that their response is urgent. Set a time deadline: "Please reply before April 1 so that this program can begin (or continue)"
• "I can meet with you to discuss this at any time" Do you really mean you will meet at 5 a.m.?
• "Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have." Instead, "I will call you to answer any questions you may have."
• "Honestly or Frankly" PLEASE DELETE THESE WORDS FROM YOUR VOCABULARY. Every time you use HONESTLY or FRANKLY, your reader will feel as if you have not been honest up to that point!

COMMON ERRORS IN WRITING

The Associated Press Writing and Editing Committee offers some advice on the use of words commonly used incorrectly:

• Affect, effect.  Generally you would use AFFECT as the verb; EFFECT is the noun.  "This program will affect the homeless shelter."  "This program had a positive effect on the homeless shelter."  But EFFECT is also a verb meaning to bring something about.  "It is possible to effect change with this annual fund letter."  However, it is preferable to substitute "make" for EFFECT.
• Afterward, afterwards. Use AFTERWARD.
• Annual. Do not use the word "first" with this. If it is the first function ever held, it cannot yet be ANNUAL!
• Couple of. You must use "of." It is never " a couple children can be saved.
• Demolish, destroy. Each of these words means to do away with completely. You do not partially demolish or destroy anything. Also, saying "the earthquake totally destroyed the village" is redundant.
• Due to, because of. It is preferable to use because of. "The charity golf tournament was cancelled because of rain."
• Either. It means one or the other, not both. Instead of saying "Your gift helps fund either program," say "Your gift helps fund each program."
• Funeral service.  From the Department of Redundancy Department.  A Funeral is a service.  Beware of common redundancies in everyday speech.  If you are giving away premiums to donors, do not advertise it as a "free gift."  If it isn't free, it isn't a gift!
• Mean, average, median. MEAN is synonymous with AVERAGE. "The average (mean) gift for this appeal was $25. The median gift for this appeal was $20 (meaning there were an equal number of gifts below $20 as there were above $20).
• Over, more than. OVER refers to spatial relationships: "The tornado touched down over a wide area of farmland: MORE THAN is used with numbers: "The tornado touched down on more than 100 farms."
• Toward, towards. Use TOWARD.
• Unique. If your program is UNIQUE it is the only one in the world. Do not say "The new shelter we are building is rather unique" - it is either unique or not unique.

SPELLING ERRORS

Use the spellcheck function on your word processor program.  However, beware! Software does not catch every error and is not a substitution for good, old fashioned proof reading.

FINAL TIPS

Studies have shown that mistakes are most likely in the latter half of a long line and in the middle of longer words.  Pay special attention to the obvious (headlines, numbers) and the mundane (periods, commas, quotation marks).

In most cases, writers who are brief and to the point are considered to be very confident and decisive.  A short document is more likely to be read than a longer one, and it is easier to understand and remember the points being made.  However, some direct mail gurus will argue that a long letter does not hurt fund raising efforts, especially if the case for support is long and complicated.  What we are saying is avoid being wordy, no matter how much needs to be said.  Make sure that every bit of information given to the prospective donor is necessary, and most importantly, that it uses appropriate grammar, spelling and writing style!

For additional tips and techniques, plan on attending our webinar “Creating a Successful Annual Fund Plan for 2012” scheduled on Thursday, January 26^th at 1:00pm.  Registration is available online at our webinar link at the top of the page.  

Letter to the Editor: My New Year's Resolution

We are in the throes of 2012 and of course everyone has begun implementation of their New Year’s resolutions.  We make the assumption that development professionals are different than most people in that they actually follow through and successfully meet all resolutions.  After all, we are taskmasters and extremely goal oriented!

What type of professional resolutions have you made to make your life at the office easier and more rewarding?  Let me share with you, some of mine:

• Complete that written annual fund plan and begin implementation.  The quickest and easiest way to ensure a successful annual fund is to plan for it and document the program with appropriate timetables.  Define your constituencies, themes, case for support, and ask amount categories. 
• Plan to take all of your vacation time.  A well-rested development officer is most effective at raising funds.  Along the same lines, try not to bring work home for evenings.  After work time needs to be for family, physical activity, hobbies, or just relaxing.
• Identify your top 50 and next 100 prospects.  Have a detailed plan for cultivating them and soliciting them for your organization.  I have a specific program or project pre-determined for each prospect, with the hope that they will help fund it.  Of course, they sometimes decline and ask for other funding opportunities, but that is still great.  The important point here is not to approach prospects without a plan.
• Join AHP, AFP, PPP and/or other organizations for development professionals.   Do not underestimate the opportunities created by networking with your colleagues.  Additionally, schedule a quarterly lunch with an individual whom you wish to get to know better.  How do they run their office?  What skills do they use that leads to their success? 
• Make a financial commitment to your organization and encourage your staff and colleagues to do the same.  Support the institution for which you work and it becomes easier to sell it to other prospects and donors.

Of course, the hardest part is encouraging your staff to give an appropriate size gift.  If your CEO is supportive and requests that all other executive staff members participate, your job becomes easier.

• Treat your volunteers fairly and they will keep coming back for more.  Respect their time commitments and be clear in defining their roles and responsibilities.  And, if you ask expect some volunteers to ask for money, ensure that they are well trained in how to make the ask.
• Join other civic organizations and meet the movers and shakers in your community.  What a great way to prospect for new volunteers and donors, and perhaps even to get a new job!  Many not-for-profits encourage their development officers to get involved with Rotary, Kiwanis, and other service organizations, and in most instances will offer some type of assistance with dues and membership costs.
• Exercise regularly.  A fit body makes for a fit mind, which makes you successful. At the very least, take the stairs instead of the elevator and take a quick 15-minute walk during each workday.
• Don’t take yourself too seriously!  Laugh at yourself and others and remember that humor releases endorphins in the brain that make us feel better.
• Make your CEO an integral part of your development office.  Request their presence at key solicitations and let them see how much fun it is to raise money.
• Regularly review your goals and objectives for the year.  See where you are making progress and adjust your implementation strategies accordingly.
• I promise to spend more time with my family enjoying life around me.  The piles of paper on my desk will be there when I get back!
• I will attend at least 2 fundraising seminars presented by consulting companies (Sinclair, Townes & Company has multiple seminars available!), other community not-for-profits, or providers, etc.  Staying on the cutting-edge in development is my goal.
• I will consider investing in an internal ‘development office audit” to ensure that we are being as efficient and effective as possible.  Always room for improvement is my motto!
• I will encourage my staff to become the best that they can be.  Sometimes all it takes is a kind word or occasional congratulations on a job well done.  Or, sometimes I can send them to seminars to help them learn more about development and latest techniques available.
• I will secure the largest gift in the history of my institution and my career.  This takes a lot of planning and cultivation, so some cultivation this year may lead to the largest gift ever for next year, or the year after that.  I will always keep the prospect with the ultimate gift in the pipeline.
• I will increase spending for our planned giving program to include quarterly newsletters and publications designed to educate our constituents about the benefit of planned gifts to themselves, their family and their favorite charities.  Long-term, this is the most cost-effective fundraising vehicle available.
• I will rededicate my efforts to creating a more effective recognition program.  Permanent recognition plaques need to be replaced and publications need to be more proactive in recognizing our donors.

These are some of my New Year’s resolutions.  I have already achieved several, and plan to successfully complete the remainder before year-end.  I challenge your readers to do the same with theirs.  Best of luck for a very successful 2012, both personally and professionally!