Dear Kim Q & A July 2010

Dear Readers: 

Don’t forget to sign up for the Money for our Movements Conference August 12-13! The last day to reigster is August 6th! It is a great place to learn with other social justice activists and long time grassroots fundraising experts.  I’ll see you there!

~Kim

When is it OK to share what others have given to potential donors?

Dear Kim,

I am concerned that the director of the organization where I work may be using questionable fundraising "tactics." For example, he would like to meet with a potential corporate donor and say "We would like you to sponsor five children for one year. Applebee's has sponsored five children for the year, can you?" Is it ethical to tell a potential corporate donor what another corporate donor (such as Applebee's) has already donated?

Thank You,

Looking for Clarity

Dear Looking for,

The tactics you describe are completely “best practice.”   Many things motivate people, foundations and corporations to give, not the least of which is who else is giving.  Many times, corporate donors will ask who else has given and what they have given in order to determine their own gift.  It is customary (and polite) to ask current donors if it is OK to share their gift amount with potential donors, but corporate sponsors never have a problem with others knowing of their giving.  In fact, generally part of the sponsorship package is an agreement on the part of the nonprofit to publicize the corporate gift.  Asking permission to tell someone else about a gift is particularly important when dealing with individuals who sometimes don’t want others to know what they have given, or may want that information shared only selectively. 

Keep in mind that a corporation exists to make money—if it is not profitable, it will cease to exist (or, if big enough, be bailed out by the government, but that is another story).   Therefore, when corporations give away money they do it in part to help make more money.  Consumers prefer to buy from corporations that give away money and corporate giving generally increases employee morale.  So, 99% of corporations are going to want you to spread far and wide the fact of their giving and the amount of it.  Your boss is doing his job. 

~Kim Klein

Is this the wrong time to start a nonprofit?

Dear Kim,

I want to start a nonprofit that teaches young people digital arts.  I have researched and received training on how to do this, and now I'm ready to get things going.  I have board members ready to volunteer and support the vision.

There is no other organization with this focus here in our small city, and there are plenty of teenagers who need a place to go outside of school where they can learn and have fun.  Yet, because of the economy, I'm wondering if this is the wrong time.  Should I wait or just jump in?

Thanks,

Castles in the Air

Dear Castles,

Wait for what?  For the economy to improve?  The young people you want to work with will be long gone before that happens.  You signed your letter “castles in the air.”

You probably know the whole expression, which my dad used to say to my sister who wanted to be an artist, “If you don’t build castles in the air, you’ll never build them anywhere.”

Start right after you answer my questions, listed below.

This is what you say you have done to get ready:

1)    Landscape survey of some kind showing that there is no other organization in your small town doing work that is similar to what you want to do. 

2)    Lined up people to serve on the board of directors who will volunteer and “support” the vision.

3)    You have learned the administrative and fundraising skills needed, and presumably you would serve as staff.   

Here are my questions for you:

A.  In your landscape survey, did you find any organization that you could partner with?  That would be the easiest way to start.  When we create an organization, we need to keep in mind that the WORK of the organization is the point and the organization is simply the container or the place where the work will happen.  Is there any organization you can do YOUR work with, and not have to create a totally new entity?   (You could always spin off later.)

B.  Do the people you have recruited to serve on the board understand that “support the vision” means giving money themselves and raising money from others?  For some reason, this detail sometimes gets left off the recruiting literature, even though it is in the top three most important things a board does.  (Helping the organization stay mission focused, and making sure the organization spends money properly are the other two.)

C.   Do you have a budget and a fundraising plan?  Do you know for sure that a cross section of people in your community agree with the focus you propose?

If you can answer yes to all of the above, there should be nothing to stop you.  If you cannot answer yes to any one of these questions, then you haven’t quite done all that is needed to start a new endeavor, and the economy really doesn’t have that much to do with it.

Good luck!

~Kim Klein

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