By Thomas R. Reich

1)      Always upload a professional looking picture.  LinkedIn represents an organization’s founder or director, not the organization itself, so a logo or picture of volunteers or victims is not acceptable.  Not having a picture if the LinkedIn site owner is a definite drawback to being a well represented nonprofit LinkedIn site.  Create an accurate and quality representation of yourself. It is not necessary for you to be in executive clothing. For example, if you run a food bank, a good picture of you would include you in typical workplace attire. Make adjustments to what is needed for your specific field.

2)      It is important, at least in the beginning, to contact only those people you know on LinkedIn.  LinkedIn closely monitors the first few months and you should only ask for connections with those you know personally to be a well represented nonprofit LinkedIn site.  Later, you can grow your network to those that are in similar positions or positions you would like to know more about.  However, do not over follow. You want your network to stand for what you stand for in order to have a well represented LinkedIn site.

3)      It is important to update your profile at least once a week.  First of all, you want your LinkedIn to be fully up to date at all times. This is your living online résumé; potential donors as well as volunteers and even corporate sponsors will expect it to be fully up to date.  Secondly, anything you have updated on a well represented nonprofit LinkedIn site is sent to all of your connections weekly. This is a sort of free email news letter if you plan it correctly.

4)      If you get constant messages or spam from one LinkedIn member, delete them.  LinkedIn, just like any social media site, has its share of those who abuse the system. But LinkedIn gives you the tools to cut off spammers; take advantage of those tools.

5)      Your summary is your elevator speech. It is your response to someone virtually asking, “Tell me about yourself.”  Spend some real time on this summary, work on the title, and be concise without rambling.  It is best to review this summary with several professional friends until you get a great one.  A well represented nonprofit LinkedIn site will tell me about your professional life.

6)      Remember, LinkedIn is definitely not Facebook or Twitter. Do not relate personal updates about your private life.  If it is appropriate news to talk about over a cubical wall in a crowded office, then it is appropriate for LinkedIn.  A well represented nonprofit LinkedIn site is all about professionalism and why you are the best at what you do; do not complicate things with personal data.

7)      Do not use the tools Twitter gives you to connect to LinkedIn. You do not want to post every twitter post to your LinkedIn updates.  However, connecting LinkedIn to Twitter can be good since Twitter likes an overload of information.  A successful and well represented nonprofit LinkedIn site does not overload your connections with every Tweet of the day. A properly run LinkedIn site gives just enough information to highlight you and your organization.

8)      Be very careful when declining an invitation as it could come back to haunt you later.  If the request is from someone in a similar business or in a position of respect, you should either accept or archive the invite for later when you may run across the person and want to connect.  A well represented nonprofit LinkedIn site will become popular; accept the complement in most cases and grow your network.

9)      Do not ask everyone for a recommendation. Make sure the recommendation is coming from someone who knows you and will give a positive and glowing review.  Remember, in order for your well represented nonprofit LinkedIn site to become 100% complete, you must have at least 2 recommendations.  The more quality recommendations built over time, the better, but get 2 right away. Your LinkedIn site must reach 100% to be able to fully take advantage of all LinkedIn advantages.

10)  Spell check is not enough.  Many individuals have spelling errors in almost every email they send; even the NY Times has several spelling errors a day, but not on LinkedIn.  Have everything you post on LinkedIn checked and rechecked. LinkedIn is all professional; spelling and grammar matter.  A well represented nonprofit LinkedIn site is letter-perfect.

The post 10 Essentials for a Successful, Well Represented Nonprofit LinkedIn Site appeared first on CharityNetUSA Blog.

All Nonprofits Organizations Must File 990 Tax Returns. Don’t Be Left Behind.

You know that tax-exempt nonprofits do not pay federal taxes, but did you know they do have to file an information 990 form with the IRS?

What is a 990?

IRS Form 990 is the tax document that tax-exempt nonprofit organizations file each year with the IRS. The 990 allows the IRS and the public to evaluate nonprofit organizations and how they operate.

Beginning with tax returns filed in 2009 for 2008, nonprofits must file the new Form 990 that requires more disclosure of potential conflicts of interest, compensation of board members and staff, and other details having to do with financial accountability and avoidance of fraud.

Nonprofit Does Not Mean Tax Exempt.

A common misconception is the notion that an organization is exempt from paying taxes simply because it has been organized as a nonprofit. Unfortunately, this particular misunderstanding could leave an organization facing tax debt with both the IRS and their state franchise tax board.

Who Files 990 Tax Returns?

1)      Private foundations must file a form 990-PF.

2)      Larger nonprofits with gross receipts of more than $50,000 must file a form 990 or 990-EZ.

3)      Smaller nonprofits with gross receipts of less than $50,000 must file 990-N.

When is the 990 filed?

You must file your 990, 990-EZ, 990-N, or 990-PF by the 15th day of the 5th month after your accounting period ends. Therefore, if your fiscal year ends on December 31, the 990 is due on May 15 of the following year.
All of this detailed and intricate information can easily create confusion. Your friends at CharityNet USA are the experts you know and trust, and assisting you in preparing the right 990 forms is among the fine services we provide.

Do not risk problems with the IRS, let CharityNet USA help you today, before the deadline approaches.  Our prices are reasonable, our knowledge of the 990 tax laws is unsurpassed and your 990 form must be filed soon.  Call us today 407.857.9002 or send us an email info@bizcentralusa.com.

n with one of our Nonprofit Consultants.  Let us help you make a splash in today’s ocean of marketing opportunities

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CharityNet USA Announces Capacity Building Program for Struggling Nonprofits

CharityNet USA has created a new program, capacity building, to help nonprofit organizations effectively contact more potential donors and grow volunteer rosters despite the hardships created by today’s economy.

The struggle for recognition and new revenue for nonprofits is becoming harder and harder. The economy has been tough for businesses over the past 6 years, with lower reviews and lower average pay impacting the business community significantly.  The ripple effect of this stagnation has damaged the nonprofit world to the extent that many smaller nonprofits have struggled to find viable contributors.

The new capacity building program includes a new approach to increase donations and community outreach by encouraging partnerships on outreach events with businesses and organizations in the struggling private sector.

Private sector businesses often lack the exposure they once had through free spending advertising due to today’s economic restrictions.  The answer is for nonprofit organizations and private sector businesses to find synergy, working together on community projects for mutual advantage.

The capacity building program teaches nonprofits how to work with willing private sector companies to bolster the community presence of both entities.  The program provides a new way to look at donation letters.  The service develops a custom sponsorship request letter, delivers an extensive fundraising toolkit, and provides a strong look at the development of cause marketing. Additionally, the inclusion of a cause marketing toolkit and a custom developed corporate sponsorship campaign gives CharityNet USA’s capacity building program a unique distinction as a thorough and effective nonprofit tool.

CharityNet USA will work with nonprofit organizations, helping nonprofits develop relationships benefitting organizations in both the nonprofit and private sector.  Efrain Rodriguez, CEO of CharityNet USA said, “We hope to stimulate new relationships for our nonprofit clients and help them grow in the process; healthy nonprofit organizations help the American economy on many levels.”

CharityNet USA a subsidiary of BizCentral USA. Based in Orlando, Florida and reaching a nation-wide audience of nonprofit and private organizations, BizCentral USA has served over 13,000 customers since 2004.  BizCentral USA is a significant player in the nonprofit services field. Special services like the capacity building program have helped many nonprofit organizations facilitate outreach to communities throughout the United States.

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By Thomas R. Reich PhD

In 2013, nonprofit organizations need all the help they can get to drive donations to their cause.  To not look to social media is a big mistake, with a well organized social media network you can see amazing results, let’s look at some examples.

1)      TWITTER:  You need to get in the habit of tweeting fun facts about your organization and its activities.  Make sure to include a link to you site and on that page have a donate now button for potential donors!

2)      FACEBOOK: FaceBook is a place to tell a longer version of your mission, what you are doing about it and how your potential donors can help.  You can have entire pages dedicated to events and projects.  But the ultimate goal is the same as with Twitter, deliver a link and get potential donors back to your website where you can show them what you do, how they can help and ask for a donation.

3)      Pinterest:  A great visual site where you can pump up donors with great pictures that relate to your mission and get potential donors back to your website where they can find out more about your mission and how they can help!

4)      YouTube:  Everyone talks about the power of video, and rightfully so.  But with a nonprofit organization, the power of video images is extremely powerful.  Video helps get your message across, pulls at the heart strings, and encourages potential donors to click on a link back to your website where more videos should be available, more information about your mission and how a potential donor can help and of course a donate now button!

5)      Webinars:  Great, well produced webinars are the wave of the future in donor response.  With a great well produced webinar, potential donors can be shown aspects of your mission and ways that they can help like never before.  Potential donors from around the world can be influenced by just one broadcast, and they can be attracted to the webinar by the social media branches listed above!

6)      LinkedIn:  This social media site is not used in nonprofit organizations as much as it should be.  Known as the business social media site, LinkedIn can help influence a higher level of potential donors.  Use a business page to inform business people about your mission and how they can help, use postings, updates and group links to expose potential donors to interesting facts about your mission and its ongoing successes through your organizations!

7)      Blogs:  Use your website blog as an ongoing information beacon for your mission!  Update at least once a week with new information or case study on your mission.  Present a success story, showcase a volunteer or donor, it all attracts good feelings and points to that donate now button!

8)      Contests:  People love contests, and as a nonprofit you can give an award, a special trophy as a prize.  Run a contest for the vest picture or video that relates to your cause, then post the entries to all your social media outlets and ask for help picking the winner.  The entire event acts as a giant funnel to get people to your website and that donate now button!

Want to learn more, join me for a great free webinar this Wednesday, February 27. 2013, “Making Social Media Work for Nonprofit Organizations”.  You will learn lots more about each of the items we touched on above.  It is a great presentation and I believe you will learn a lot, join us!

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7 secrets of Marketing

Top Experts Reveal 7 Secrets of Marketing Online

Written and Compiled by:  Thomas R. Reich PhD

Today we explore the secrets of marketing; we talk with 7 marketing experts.  What each one thinks will help your organization grow and develop in your marketing efforts.  Each secret is a great piece of advice from a unique marketing expert.  Secrets of marketing are advice that, if you add it to your marketing program, will help the internet work for you.  Become a marketing mogul, a publisher and an expert in your field!  Want to know how to start doing it right now? Read on.

Tip # 1 – To market effectively, you must become an expert in your field.  In the world of today’s internet, this is easily accomplished.  It is important that you don’t try to be a jack of all trades.  One secret of marketing is to concentrate your total efforts throughout your entire network on one area of expertise that highlights your organization in a positive way!

Jennifer Bourn of Born Creative wrote “Don’t waste your time being good at lots of things. These days, people don’t want to work with some who is good. Consumer expectations have risen and consumers want to work with people who are great. They want to work with brilliant experts!”

Tip # 2 – Bring your marketing programs into 2013, forget about any marketing guides old enough to talk about Yellow Pages and Industry Journal adds.

Jim Connolly, London Marketing Expert  wrote:  “If you want to avoid wasting stacks of money and missing countless sales opportunities, throw your old marketing guides and audio programs in the recycling bin!

You need to know what works today; where even the smallest business can advertise itself to millions online for less than the cost of a one-off trade journal advert – AND – where you can mail a million potential clients in a few hours for just pennies.”

Tip # 3 – Spend some time learning the way social media works and how it can benefit your company.  Learning the difference between using social media for fun and using it for business is a big secret of marketing.

Thomas R. Reich of BizCentral USA wrote:  “Using a properly designed social media network and a functional nonprofit website can replace the old fashioned Yellow Pages.”

Tip # 4 – You must set yourself up for success by creating good quality content, the tricks and tips are nice to help good content get more exposure, but one of the biggest secrets of marketing here is that good content is the key.

Brad Smith of Fix Course Marketing wrote:  “Be a Publisher First: Online marketing can’t exist without content. No SEO. No email marketing. No social media. That means you’re in the media business. So you better start learning how to create valuable content. Check out Red Bull, American Express and Lowe’s for good examples.”

Tip # 5 – One of the big secrets of marketing to create great content, and use that content to increase your status as an expert is to do customer case studies or spotlights.  Doing a story on your best customers makes you and your business look great and gives them some positive exposure at the same time.

Neil Patel of Quick Sprout wrote:  “If you already have happy customers, why not get a case study from them? Get them to talk about your product or service, how they used it, and the results they got.  Case studies can help build credibility for your company, and get you new customers. One company that is notoriously known for creating case studies is Conversion Rate Experts, and through them they have been able to lock in a handful of customers.”

Tip # 6 – Don’t miss out on all the free advertising available to you in your local market.  There are any number for free local directories on line in your area and if you do not go online and fully sign up with a complete profile of your business, you are tossing money out the window.

Janet Attard of Business Know-How wrote:  “Set up a free listing for your business in search engine local directories. You can do this at Google.com/local/; Bing.com/local/; and listings.local.yahoo.com/ Be sure to include your website link and business description.”

Tip # 7 – Another of the biggest secrets of marketing is information and information that is interesting enough for your readers to pass it on can drastically increase your marketing reach.

Davis Searns of Haley Marketing wrote:  “An Idea Virus is a marketing message that spreads from one person to another without your intervention. Some idea viruses are entertaining while others reward people for sharing. They may be based on humor, contain intriguing information, or in some other way engage the recipient. Examples include: Refer a friend options on e-mail newsletters, online contests, Blog content that creates, Engaging twitter followers, Using social networking groups, Jokes and photos on Facebook”

One final tip: Here is my #1 of the secrets of marketing as of today, do yourself a favor and read up on the Pinterest blogs here in this website and the many available in the vast world of internet search.  Pinterest is the single most important thing you can do on the internet right now.

Thomas R. Reich of TroblinReich.com wrote:  “I was asked what I thought was the 1 most important thing I could do today to increase traffic to all my marketing efforts on the internet.  There are many answers to that questions but, I would have to say Pinterest.   A well set up and active Pinterest, properly linked and completely SEO Optimized can bring more marketing traffic to your website than anything out there today!”

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Top 7 Pinterest Tips and Tricks:  

Improve Backlinks, SEO and Keyword Results!

By Thomas R. Reich PhD

Pinterest has become one of the most important parts of social media.  However, it has become one of the most misunderstood social media sites at the same time.  Today let’s look at how your organization can benefit from Pinterest  tips for a site which has more hits per day than Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook combined.

You may have heard that Pinterest is a site built for women, or that Pinterest is all about hobbies.  I wonder if you have heard the truth about Pinterest, that is, did you know it is the hottest visual search engine on earth, or that more and more people use it for product and service comparisons.  There is more too; Pinterest can link you to anything from videos to blogs to website pages and yes even Facebook pages!

So let’s look at some great Pinterest tips to help your organization with backlinks, SEO and Keyword exposure and help you integrate Pinterest into your social media network:

1)      The first of the Pinterest tips is to pin as many pictures that relate to your website and your product, service or mission as possible.  The more pictures you pin that relate to your ideas and your organization in a way that more people will be attracted to your Pinterest boards.

2)      The second of the Pinterest tips is to link the URL of each picture you pin to your Pinterest boards to a page in your website, or a particular cause report page or a video, even a Facebook landing page.  It is the URL link that makes Pinterest an effective marketing tool.

3)      Any list of Pinterest tips would be incomplete if it did not mention SEO.  You can SEO each picture within the world of Pinterest by captioning each picture with Keywords and Pinterest even allows hash tags (#) for increased search results within Pinterest.

4)      Another of the Pinterest tips is to SEO each board.  Under the board description itself, you should fully explain the boards, making sure to pay attention to SEO within the explanation, then list the keywords at the end of the explanation with hash marks (#) for maximum exposure to both Pinterest search engines and outside search engines as well.

5)      Pinterest tips to further promote SEO can go even deeper in to your website SEO strategy.  Using the data from each page in your website, create a board on your Pinterest site with description and keywords that match, and link each picture on each board to the page with corresponding data in your website.

6)      One of my favorite Pinterest tips is built right into the Pinterest basic commands.  It is a tip that helps coordinate your entire social media network into a click generating machine.  Each time you pin a new picture you are given the opportunity to tweet about it directly.  Click yes tweet, and then insert a custom message before the link Pinterest pre-generates for you.  This will encourage your Twitter followers to visit your new pin and your Pinterest boards and site by default!

7)      My favorite Pinterest tips of all is another one Pinterest offers as a basic tool, the Pin It button.  Install this Pin It button on your Chrome Tool Bar and you can automatically pin any picture on any site you are visiting.  If you see a picture you like on a site you are visiting click the Pin It button and all available pictures on that site come up, pick the picture you want and click the Pin It symbol.  Then Pinterest gives you the option to pin that picture to whichever of your boards you want.  Later you can optimize the pin with the methods listed above.

Bonus:  Make sure to install a Pin It button on your website to make it as simple as possible for others to pin pictures from your website to their Pinterest Boards.  If they have not read the tips above, and they are among the 99% who simply pin pictures they like to their boards, the picture they pin from your website will be URL back linked to your website!

Please, help us all. Pinterest is very new, if you have learned more Pinterest tips and tricks, then list them in the comments below and help us all!   As this amazing marking tool, Pinterest, grows and shapes the marketing landscape of the Internet, let’s all grow our knoledge together!

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Donors are earned: 9 Secrets of Donor Lead Generation

By: Thomas R. Reich PhD

1) Have a Clear Campaign Objectives - As with any marketing activities, nonprofit organizations should first develop a clear objective for their donor lead generation campaign. This gives the campaign direction, against which you will be able to gauge progress throughout its duration.

2) Contact all Donor Leads Directly - A potential donor must be contacted as soon as possible, but an organization will derive great value from nurturing leads long after the donor lead generation process and the initial contact phase is complete.  Keep in mind that each donor will be at various stages of the purchase cycle when they submit their details.

3) Cheap Leads are not Always the Best Donor Lead Generation - We believe that not all leads contribute equal value for a company. 1,000 leads from one event or canpaign might be totally different in origination, method and quality to another. While it is human nature to want more for less, it is better to generate one lead that converts into an ongoing donor than one million leads that don’t generate any revenue at all!

4) Offering the Lead too much to Respond is not good Donor Lead Generation Policy - An incentive is often required at the ‘lead capture phase’ to entice the potential donor to provide their correct contact information. While they are sometimes necessary, those undertaking a donor lead generation strategy need to find the right balance between donors who are interested only in the incentive and those that actually want to engage with your cause.  A news letter or white paper should be all you need for donor lead generation.

5) Develop a Follow-Up Campaign in Your Donor Lead Generation Strategy - By nature the modern consumer is time-poor and expects a response in a mere few minutes, not hours. The time from when the lead is captured to when the organization makes first contact could be the difference between a lost or converted lead.

6) Donor Lead Generation Requires that You Understand the Value of Your Leads - The value of each lead captured through your donor lead generation campaign varies greatly depending on the marketing message and origination method. There is a place for leads at both ends of the spectrum but you need to know which is which in order to prioritize the amount of time you spend on each lead.

7) Don’t Waist Your Budget on Donor Lead Generation of Duplicate Leads - To ensure that organizations are not paying to communicate with the same lead twice, there are various platforms that ‘dedupe’ lead supply in real time. This means that duplicate contacts are removed so that your organization is not wasting budget on a lead that has already been contacted.

8) When Using Donor Lead Generation; Perceive Leads as Opportunities - Instead of possessing a ‘shortsighted view’ that a lead equates to one donor, perceive every lead as possible of providing multiple donation opportunities to your organization. These opportunities could include cross project donations, repeat donations or even donor referrals.

9) Support Donor Lead Generation with High Quality Content – Quality, relevant searchable content, supports SEO rankings, which increases online visibility and consequently improves the number of visitors to your website. Once on your website, engaging content can serve as your key advantage point between you and your competitors. This basically means that engaging, informative and interesting content is likely to enhance your credibility within your field and consequently improve your chances of gaining leads and turning your website into a donor lead

donor lead generation

generation machine.

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9 Hidden Secrets of Lead Generation:

Using Your Social Media Network as a Lead Generating Machine

By: Thomas R. Reich PhD

1) Have a clear CAMPAIGN OBJECTIVE – As with any marketing activities, companies should first develop a clear objective for their lead generation campaign. This gives the campaign direction, against which you will be able to gauge progress throughout its duration.

2) Contact all LEADS Directly – A lead must be contacted as soon as possible, but a business will derive great value from nurturing leads long after the lead generation process and the initial contact phase is complete.  Keep in mind that each consumer will be at various stages of the purchase cycle when they submit their details.

3) CHEAP LEADS ARE NOT ALWAYS the BEST Lead generation – We believe that not all leads contribute equal value for a company. 1,000 leads from one supplier might be totally different in origination, method and quality to another. While it is human nature to want more for less, it is better to generate one lead that converts into a sale than one million leads that don’t generate any revenue at all!

4) OFFERING THE LEAD TOO MUCH to respond is not good Lead generation – An incentive is often required at the ‘lead capture phase’ to entice the lead to provide their correct contact information. While they are sometimes necessary, those undertaking a lead generation strategy need to find the right balance between consumers who are interested only in the incentive and those that actually want to engage with your product.  A news letter or white paper should be all you need for lead generation.

5) DEVELOP A FOLLOW-UP campaign in your lead generation STRATEGY – By nature the modern consumer is time-poor and expects a response in merely a few minutes not hours. The time from when the lead is captured to when the company makes first contact could be the difference between a lost or converted lead.

6) lead generation Requires that you UNDERSTAND THE VALUE OF YOUR LEADS – The value of each lead captured through your lead generation campaign varies greatly depending on the marketing message and origination method. There is a place for leads at both ends of the spectrum but you need to know which is which in order to prioritize your spend.

7) DON’T WASTE BUDGET ON lead generation of DUPLICATE LEADS – To ensure that companies are not paying to communicate with the same lead twice, there are various platforms that ‘dedupe’ lead supply in real time. This means that duplicate contacts are removed so that your company is not wasting budget on a lead that has already been contacted.

8) When using lead generation PERCEIVE LEADS AS OPPORTUNITIES – Instead of possessing a ‘shortsighted view’ that a lead equates to one sale, perceive every lead as possible of providing multiple opportunities to your business. These opportunities could include cross selling, repeat sales or even business referrals.

9) SUPPORT LEAD GENERATION with HIGH QUALITY CONTENT – Quality, relevant sharable content supports SEO rankings which increases online visibility and consequently improves the number of visitors to your website. Once on your website engaging content can serve as your key advantage point between you and your competitors. This basically means that engaging, informative and interesting content is likely to enhance your credibility within your field and consequently improve your chances of gaining leads through your website.

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11 Easy Nonprofit Fundraisers, New Ideas for Great Results!

by Thomas R. Reich PhD

1)      Super Healthy Smoothie Event – Get a table or stand at the local fair, farmers market, church bazaar or flea market and sell fresh in-season fruit smoothies.  Have the fruit and other ingredients donated and have all your members and volunteers bring blenders.  You can even have local celebrities volunteer as super smoothie makers for an easy nonprofit fundraiser!

2)      Embarrass the Director Event! – Have donors and staff pay a dollar a vote, with no limit on the number of votes they can buy, to decide from a list of 5 embarrassing fates for your good natured director.  Their fate could be shaving all facial hair, die hair an embarrassing color, wear a clown suit for a day, trade jobs for a day with volunteers, clean the floor of the local city hall, etc.  The possibilities are endless for this easy nonprofit fundraiser and only you know what can bring in the most votes.

3)      50/50 Raffle – This is a no brainier  You get a local printer to donate professional looking raffle tickets and sell chances to win for, say $1 each, with no limit to the number of tickets that can be purchased.  Here is the hook, the prize is ½ the total intake of funds on this easy nonprofit fundraiser.  This way you can periodically announce the size of the prize as it grows, and there is no chance of your organization losing money or insulting a donor because of low ticket sales for the prize they donated!

4)      A Seasonal Gift Wrap – The hook here is to set up gift wrapping tables for events other than Christmas in local high traffic shopping centers and malls.  Examples of events for this easy nonprofit fundraiser are Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, and Secretary’s Day.  Again, the possibilities are endless and the free advertising you may get from the mall or shopping center could be stellar!

5)      Holiday Email Fun! – In the past, Western Union would send special messages for a fee to loved ones at various events and holidays.  This elegant luxury is mostly lost today, but with this easy nonprofit fundraiser you can sell donors the chance for a personalized card to be sent to a loved one with an added gift that the donation made to send the E-card is credited to the recipient as a donation to your organization made by the sender in the receivers name.

6)      Mystery Admirer- This event can be a lot of fun. Each donor has a personal note delivered to someone they secretly admire, or someone they openly admire.  Here is the catch in this easy nonprofit fundraiser, the one who is delivered the anonymous note must make a set donation to find out who the admirer is, this donation includes a return message; it could go on all day!

7)      Mile of Change – In this vary easy nonprofit fundraiser, the organization buys many roles of masking tape and presents the tape in varying lengths to local businesses.  The idea is to stick coins of 1 cent up to 50 cents to the tape – end to end.  The business that makes the longest strip of tape full of coins wins a nice donated prize. As an added option, have 3 or 4 prizes available, but only if the prizes are donated.

8)      Skip a Meal for Hunger – Donors agree to donate at least the value of 1 nice meal and in exchange they skip the meal to demonstrate their solidarity to stamp out hunger in this easy nonprofit fundraiser.

9)      Sell Casual Day! – Work with local businesses to get donations from their employees and get the sponsor companies involved to make it a competition for the highest level of donations.  The winning companies get an unscheduled casual day, possibly all participating sponsor companies will win if a high enough funds are gathered.  This easy nonprofit fundraiser costs nothing, encourages friendly competition, and gets the most dedicated employees a fun cost free brake; win/win!

10)  Give to Give it up! – Sponsors donate a minimum amount that can be put up to encourage the victim to participate, to have a friend or boss give up an annoying habit. In this easy nonprofit fundraiser, wives can donate to have husbands agree to not smoke, employees to have a boss shave or weir a T-shirt, the possibilities are endless.

11)  Helicopter golf! -  Sell Golf balls for $10 each with a unique number, then, send them all up in a helicopter which will then hover over a hole on a local golf course.  All the balls are dropped from 500 ft and the one closest to the whole wins. Alternatively, have 3 or even 10 prizes, but all prizes must be donated.  If you don’t have access to a helicopter, you can get the local fire department to hover the tall cage over the hole, it is all just good fun after all.  This may not be a really easy nonprofit fundraiser, but remember, this kind of event does not happen every day, milk as much publicity for your cause and the donor golf course as possible, maybe even organize a golf tournament around it, but that is a different blog!

Come back in a few days for part 2: 9 Ways to Improve Results from Fundraising Events!tp://troblinreich.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/367324913327263807_bRwwGjiW_c.jpg”>11 Easy Nonprofit Fundraisers, New Ideas for Great Results!

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21 Super Nonprofit Marketing Tips:  

Things Every Nonprofit Organization Needs and the Donor Want!

By Thomas R. Reich PhD

1. Let’s start with an old adage: the most important donation you ever get from a donor is the second donation. Do not forget to market to your base as well as new prospects.

2. With Internet marketing, spend 10 percent of your time or more on testing; make sure your great marketing idea reads through to the donors.

3. Knowing your competition and adapting to donor motivation and behavior is not an option. It is an absolute necessity for competitive survival.

4. A well-designed Pinterest site can hold all your videos, testimonials, blogs and inspirational pictures in one place all leading back to your website.

5. Using a properly designed social media network and a functional nonprofit website can replace the old fashioned Yellow Pages.

6. Be ever alert of your nonprofit organization’s internet reputation.  Know the power of repetition. Be sure your message is consistent. Employ reputation management.

7. The two most common mistakes nonprofit organizations make in using the phone is failing to track results and tracking the wrong thing. Involve your CRM and website in all outreach calls.

8. Internet marketing activities should be efficient, consistent and not just a cry for funds. Build your nonprofit organization’s reputation and trust while fishing for prospects.

9. It costs five times as much to sell a new donor as an existing donor. Nurture your member base with consistent updates, newsletters, and offers.

10. Selling 100 percent of the time in all things marketing can gradually lead to low open rates of your nonprofit organization’s emails, web promotions, and webinars.  Remember, give your members something first; become an information source. Then they are your friend and outreach for funds becomes secondary.

11. You must entice your prospects to enter your website and then be prepared to wow them!  Don’t think that mission superiority, technology, innovation, or nonprofit organization size will sell itself.

12. New prospects are great, but they are not members of your cause until they donate to you or sponcer you.  You must pay attention to your present member base, in order to build new donors; a happy donor base will help you build you nonprofit organization’s reputation, trust and new prospects.

13. Remember, when you build your social media branches and the information parts of your website, stress how you can improve a situation or problem. People don’t donate to a logo, they donate to a cause they believe in.

14. Direct mail campaign can cost $1.25 per piece or more and give less than 1% results.  Putting that same campaign cost into a great social media campaign and a consistant email newsletter will reach far more people with far less cost per hit.

15. The average nonprofit organization never hears from 96 percent of its unsatisfied donors.  Actively look for unsatisfied members and become a problem solver. 40 percent of unsatisfied donors note no one ever contacted them after the initial pitch for donations.

16. 50 percent of those donors who complain would be involved with the nonprofit organization again if their complaints were handled satisfactorily.  Pay attention to your donor base.

17. You love to get those testimonials and compliments; we all do. But it is estimated that donors are twice as likely to talk about their bad experiences as their good ones, make sure to take positive action on these as well, don’t ignore the negative, turn to positive if you can.

18. Have a talk with your staff, building a good member base is a gallant cause and will increase business.  However, marketing is everyone’s business, regardless of title or position in the organization.

19. If your misssion is a great answer to a hunger concern, don’t claim it will sharpen the pencils too. Exaggerated claims can produce inflated expectations that the nonprofit organization or its service cannot live up to, thereby resulting in dissatisfied donors.

20. Target marketing is the key and will lead to much greater results.  Get to know your prime donor type—the 20 percent of donors account for 80 percent of your budget.

21. Bonus: Remember that good marketing is bringing your mission or service to light with potential donors to your nonprofit organization.  If you over sell in the mission, sales has nowhere to go.  Marketing’s job is to excite prospects about the virtues of the actual solution you provide.

href=”http://troblinreich.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/npmarketing-2.jpg”>21 Super Marketing Tips Every Nonprofit Organization Needs and the Donor Want!

By Thomas R. Reich PhD

1. Let’s start with an old adage: the most important donation you ever get from a donor is the second donation. Do not forget to market to your base as well as new prospects.

2. With Internet marketing, spend 10 percent of your time or more on testing; make sure your great marketing idea reads through to the donors.

3. Knowing your competition and adapting to donor motivation and behavior is not an option. It is an absolute necessity for competitive survival.

4. A well-designed Pinterest site can hold all your videos, testimonials, blogs and inspirational pictures in one place all leading back to your website.

5. Using a properly designed social media network and a functional nonprofit website can replace the old fashioned Yellow Pages.

6. Be ever alert of your internet reputation.  Know the power of repetition. Be sure your message is consistent. Employ reputation management.

7. The two most common mistakes nonprofit organizations make in using the phone is failing to track results and tracking the wrong thing. Involve your CRM and website in all outreach calls.

8. Internet marketing activities should be efficient, consistent and not just a cry for funds. Build your reputation and trust while fishing for prospects.

9. It costs five times as much to sell a new donor as an existing donor. Nurture your member base with consistent updates, newsletters, and offers.

10. Selling 100 percent of the time in all things marketing can gradually lead to low open rates of your emails, web promotions, and webinars.  Remember, give your members something first; become an information source. Then they are your friend and outreach for funds becomes secondary.

11. You must entice your prospects to enter your website and then be prepared to wow them!  Don’t think that mission superiority, technology, innovation, or organization size will sell itself.

12. New prospects are great, but they are not members of your cause until they donate to you or sponcer you.  You must pay attention to your present member base, in order to build new donors; a happy donor base will help you build reputation, trust and new prospects.

13. Remember, when you build your social media branches and the information parts of your website, stress how you can improve a situation or problem. People don’t donate to a logo, they donate to a cause they believe in.

14. Direct mail campaign can cost $1.25 per piece or more and give less than 1% results.  Putting that same campaign cost into a great social media campaign and a consistant email newsletter will reach far more people with far less cost per hit.

15. The average nonprofit organization never hears from 96 percent of its unsatisfied donors.  Actively look for unsatisfied members and become a problem solver. 40 percent of unsatisfied donors note no one ever contacted them after the initial pitch for donations.

16. 50 percent of those donors who complain would be involved with the organization again if their complaints were handled satisfactorily.  Pay attention to your donor base.

17. You love to get those testimonials and compliments; we all do. But it is estimated that donors are twice as likely to talk about their bad experiences as their good ones.

18. Have a talk with your staff, building a good member base is a gallant cause and will increase business.  However, marketing is everyone’s business, regardless of title or position in the organization.

19. If your misssion is a great answer to a hunger concern, don’t claim it will sharpen the pencils too. Exaggerated claims can produce inflated expectations that the causet or service cannot live up to, thereby resulting in dissatisfied donors.

20. Target marketing is the key and will lead to much greater results.  Get to know your prime donor type—the 20 percent of donors account for 80 percent of your budget.

21. Bonus: Remember that good marketing is bringing your mission or service to light with potential donors.  If you over sell in the mission, sales has nowhere to go.  Marketing’s job is to excite prospects about the virtues of the actual solution you provide.

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