Bright Nonprofit

Inspiration can occur most anywhere. For Nicolette Holferty it struck while she was knitting a hat for a friend. But getting over the resistance and self-doubt of pursuing her idea seemed to challenge her around each corner. Note... I said "challenge", not "stop".

Armed with passion and "The War of Art" - a book Nicolette carries with here everywhere - she pushed through her resistance and her fear, and made a beautifully inspired nonprofit a reality.

This is her story. It may seem simple in the telling, but it is inspiring in the action.

Nicolette's Website: http://xoxohats.org/

XOXO Hats Facebook: facebook.com/XoxoHatsForStrength

Book: The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles" target="_blank">The War of Art

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Finding the right software for your nonprofit can be as simple as buying Microsoft Office or as complex as finding a donor management system that integrates with your accounting software. This is where Janna Finch comes in. Janna is a software market research associate at softwareadvice.com. Her job is to measure and track what types of software and features nonprofits are needing and looking to buy.

Janna recently wrote and article for Nonprofit Ally and included links to some key findings about the software needs and want of nonprofits. Here is some of what she revealed:

Now, for those of you who may be techno-phobes, Janna has some advice for you.

Contact Janna at: [email protected]

Visit the website: softwareadvice.com

The software advice, nonprofit software review page (really awesome): softwareadvice.com/nonprofit/

Affordable software for nonprofits: techsoup.com

Call SoftwareAdvice.com: 888-234-5132

Finding the right software for your nonprofit can be as simple as buying Microsoft Office or as complex as finding a donor management system that integrates with your accounting software. This is where Janna Finch comes in. Janna is a software market research associate at softwareadvice.com. Her job is to measure and track what types of software and features nonprofits are needing and looking to buy.

Janna recently wrote and article for Nonprofit Ally and included links to some key findings about the software needs and want of nonprofits. Here is some of what she revealed:

1. Buyers’ top software purchase drivers include a need for more functionality (27 percent) and changes to, or the expiration of, an existing contract (22 percent).
2. Built-in email marketing and outreach tools are a “must-have” for 42 percent of buyers: a 133 percent increase from 18 percent last year.
3. In a sub-sample of buyers who seek fundraising software that integrates with another application, 57 percent want accounting integration.

Now, for those of you who may be techno-phobes, Janna has some advice for you.

• Software can save you time by automating regular processes. So the time it takes to learn something new will save you time in the end.
• Delegate the responsibility to staff, volunteer or board member.
• Spend time to find the right solution (there are plenty of user friendly solutions).

Contact Janna at: [email protected]

Visit the website: softwareadvice.com

The software advice, nonprofit software review page (really awesome): softwareadvice.com/nonprofit/

Affordable software for nonprofits: techsoup.com

Getting your nonprofit to a state of financial sustainability is a goal for all of us. But just how do you get there and is there a "quick" way to do it? Patrick Renn, from The Renn Wealth Management Group, joins us to talk about setting up your nonprofits finances so you can naturally attracted long term donors and investors, and reach your sustainable goal.

Patrick talks about the importance of having a financial plan that covers short (one year), medium (three year) and long term (5 or more years) goals.

He also talks about the need to be transparent. People like to donate to success and the best way to show your success is to share it with your current and potential donors. So don't hide your financial statements - share them. This could be done by sharing your budget, your profit and loss statement, your business plan and/or your annual report with your supporters.

Patrick goes on to tell us how we can best attract and retain investors in our nonprofits. And you may be surprised... but one of the best ways to do this is through story telling. The return on investment (ROI) for a nonprofit donor is knowing their donation is making a difference. So by simply sharing your stories with your donors can help them feel like they are getting a good ROI.

Patrick also wrote the Planned Giving Special Report: The 7 Most Influential Giving Trends which outlines some key points in the planned giving arena. So, if you want to get on the road to financial sustainability for your nonprofit, then this podcast is the one to listen to.

Patrick's website: RennWealth.com

Patrick's new book:

Starting a religious based nonprofit can seem confusing. A church is already considered to be tax deductible, even without becoming a 501.c.3. So why would you want to apply for 501.c.3 status? Is there a benefit? (Hint: the answer is YES).

And what about ministries and religious based after school programs? Are they tax exempt too? If not, what do they need to do to be tax deductible? And what if they want to operate over seas?

These are questions that Nonprofit Ally Podcasts listeners have been asking for a while. And to be honest... I just didn't know the answers. So, I thought I'd ask someone who knew the answers. So I called Thomas Wrobel. Thom has been on the podcast before (NPA 015: Tips on How to Apply for 501.c.3 Tax Exempt Status). He is the founder of nonprofitlegalcenter.com and specializes in helping new nonprofits get their 501.c.3 charitable status.

Thom answers all the questions above with great detail and clarity. This is a must-listen podcast for any religious organization who is working towards becoming a 501.c.3 charitable nonprofit.

You can contact Thom on his website at: nonprofitlegalcenter.com

Also mentioned on the podcast: nonprofitebooks.com

Bobby Gill wanted to have an event to raise money for neurofibromatosis (NF). The criteria for the event was 1) it’d have to be fun 2) it’d have to be something he would want to do himself and 3) it would obviously have to raise money. Enter “Cupid’s Undie Run“. A mile long run, held in the winter time and run in your underwear.

Bobby will be the first to admit that this is not your typical fundraiser. “It’s a very nontraditional idea of what a fundraiser should look like. But to us… it just seemed like a fun idea and something we would want to do ourselves.”

In this podcast, Bobby talks about organizing the first run and how it grew into an international event that has raised over $8M in the past five years. Part of the secret to the events success is simple networking. Bobby explains how, with just five weeks to prepare for the first Cupid’s Undie Run, they were able to get over 600 runners to participate in the event. That is not a typo… 600+ people participated in an event that was planned with barely a months notice.

After a couple years, the run became its own nonprofit. And Bobby is now the COO. This is truly a fun and inspiring story. And lots of lessons to be learned for nonprofits of all sizes.

Resources

Check out the website at: Cupid’s Undie Run

Bobby Gill wanted to have an event to raise money for neurofibromatosis (NF). The criteria for the event was 1) it'd have to be fun 2) it'd have to be something he would want to do himself and 3) it would obviously have to raise money. Enter "Cupid's Undie Run". A mile long run, held in the winter time and run in your underwear.

Bobby will be the first to admit that this is not your typical fundraiser. "It's a very nontraditional idea of what a fundraiser should look like. But to us... it just seemed like a fun idea and something we would want to do ourselves."

In this podcast, Bobby talks about organizing the first run and how it grew into an international event that has raised over $8M in the past five years. Part of the secret to the events success is simple networking.

Bobby explains how, with just five weeks to prepare for the first Cupid's Undie Run, they were able to get over 600 runners to participate in the event. That is not a typo... 600+ people participated in an event that was planned with barely a months notice.

After a couple years, the run became it's own nonprofit. And Bobby is now the COO. This is truly a fun and inspiring story. And lots of lessons to be learned for nonprofits of all sizes.

Resources

Check out the website at: Cupid's Undie Run

When it comes to raising money with crowdfund, there is one thing all successful campaigns have in common... they all have a compelling video. This video tells the story of their organization. But it is not a historical type video that talks about "why" they do what they do. It is a story of "how" they do what they do. In the episode, we talk with Mauricio Belgrano, owner of Name Sake Pictures. He shares with us tips and ideas on how to create the best video possible for your nonprofit. He does this by critiquing an already made video (below) and giving suggestions on how to make it better. So, first, watch this video. Then site back and enjoy the podcast. See the video at: https://youtu.be/qGdqBHFWn78

Mauricio's Website: NameSakePictures.com Nonprofit Ally Articles by Maurico

The Ultimate Guide to Nonprofit Fundraising with Crowdfunding Nonprofit Bylaws Made Easy

In just a few years, Giving Tuesday has turn in to a world wide event. In this episode, we talk with Kait Sheridan, from 92y.org and GivingTuesday.org, about how to prepare for and run a successful Giving Tuesday fundraiser. Kait talks about the importance of reaching your audience and shares a variety of useful ways to accomplish this. This includes:

• Phone calls
• Using your email list
• Writing letters
• Using social media
• Creating Videos

But finding them is just part of the job. Getting your followers to pay attention, follow your campaign and actually donate is another story. In fact, doing it successfully, involves just that... a story. Kait talks to us about how story telling can help you convert your followers to donors. And to wrap it up, Kait goes in to detail on how to set up a successful strategic plan for your Giving Tuesday event. It may just be a one-day fundraiser but it can take months to prepare for and dove tail into larger fundraising efforts.

You can learn more about Giving Tuesday at: givingtuesday.org

To learn more about 92nd Y, go to: 92y.org

Contact Kait at: [email protected] | [email protected]

What if I were to tell you that what your nonprofit does — doesn't matter.

Now, give me a second to clarify: the point here is that "what" is the wrong place to put your focus when it comes to fundraising writing. Potential donors and supporters aren't really interested in information about your programs or what you hope to do — they need information about the, "Why."

It's really important to uncover the people behind what your organization does (Especially when creating content for a crowdfunding campaign): the social impact, the emotional hook, the people who remind you every day why your organization does what it does.

Your nonprofit organization can create this human connectivity by fusing story-telling into your crowdfunding campaign strategy. Here are a few things to consider as you prepare your writing strategy for a crowdfunding campaign.

How will your organization create its content?

Quality content is an essential piece of any successful crowdfunding campaign. This means if you're putting any effort at all into this type of fundraising campaign, is vital that your organization find the write person to create this content — whether it be a professional writer, an active supporter or volunteer with strong writing experience.

How do you know if someone inside your organization is fit to do the job? You need to be confident that a volunteers' work is going to be effective for your campaign, so start by considering two factors:

• Does the person actually enjoy writing? If not, writing all the content for this campaign will become a chore. And, there's a lot of writing to be done — the last thing you want to do is slow down the momentum of your campaign because creating great stories seemed like too much work.
• Does the person have strong interviewing skills? While you can prepare a standard list of questions to use in interviews about the "why" of your organization, when it comes time to actually do the interview your writer better be able to think on his or her feet and get the real, emotional conversations started.

What are the essential "ingredients" to a successfully written crowdfunding pitch?

While there isn't a black and white answer for the set number of paragraphs your writing needs, which paragraph should talk about what, and so forth — there are some general guidelines to follow as to the flow of your story-focused campaign pitch.

• Start with an emotional hook. Bring your readers to tears, or evoke belly laughs so vigorous they bounce off their chairs and climb back up looking for more. The point is, you want potential donors reading your campaign to be interested from the start — and that starts with an emotionally captivating human story.
• Give brief details about how your organization helps. Make the transition natural by explaining, in generic terms, how your nonprofit helped the person in the emotional hook.
• Explain that the problem still exists. Just because your organization helped the person in the first example, doesn't mean your work is done. Use statistics that showcase how many more people are still in need, or other data or information that truly showcases the societal need for your nonprofit.
• Call to action/the ask. Tell people what you need them to do, and be specific.

Now, that you have all the right ingredients, it's time to be sure your mixing it in with the essential characteristics of writing that will truly captivate your audience: here, study up on the 5 essential elements of any successful crowdfunding campaign here.

The best way to learn more about Lyssa is to visit her website: lyssaschmidt.com

Twitter: TipsOnPurpose

Note: these show notes were written by Lyssa herself. How cool is that?!

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