194 Vote

A Relaxing Donation

It’s summer. Take a vacation. You deserve it. And while you’re enjoying some R&R by the pool, why not help a deserving charity at the same time. You can.

Geronimo is a website that brings together owners of holiday homes, vacationers, and non-profit organizations.

If you own a vacation property, list it on Geronimo, maybe during off-season weeks or for last-minute cancellations. Homes booked through the website allow the owners to keep half the rent and the other half goes to a charity of choice. Simply place a listing on the website for free and Geronimo takes care of promotions, payments and donations.

Is travel a passion for one or more of your fundraising tribes? This would be a neat way to support those passions of your tribe.

Posted on 06/30/2011 by Fahad Martin Pinto
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196 Vote

IDEO’s New Idea

Global design firm IDEO announced it will launch a nonprofit division this fall.  Ideo.org aims to bring product innovation and design consulting to the social sector, working with projects in low-income communities around the world.

We’re excited to see more creativity entering the non-profit sphere. Design thinking is a powerful methodology to help solve challenges of poverty, health and social issues. Whether applied through IDEO’s creative product design, or MWOPA’s innovative fundraising design, the time is now for revolutionary thinking and we’re glad to see more of it in the non-profit sector.

 

Posted on 06/13/2011 by Bill Harper
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182 Vote

Give A Little, Get A Lot

Google is collaborating with acclaimed art museums across the globe to display artwork online. Each museum was able to choose the number of pieces and information to include in The Google Art Project. The high-resolution images are copyright protected, and thus far, 17 museums are participating including MoMA (New York), Tate Britain (London), Van Gogh Museum (Amsterdam) and The State Tretyakov Gallery (Moscow). In its first month, the project recorded 10 million visitors and 90,000 people registered.

The museums are benefitting considerably from displaying their exhibits for free online. Christian Ghiron at Italy’s Ministry of Culture told the New York Times that the Uffizi Gallery, in Florence, has seen its web traffic rise from an average of 5000 visitors a day to  between 30,000 and 40,000 since the project. The more they digitize, the more people want to see it live, he says.

These art galleries are reaching wider to nurture the passions of their Tribe. The Tribe responds.

Think about your organization. How are you supporting, developing and cultivating your Tribes?

 

Posted on 05/16/2011 by Fahad Martin Pinto
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174 Vote

A New Place to Meet

MWO advisor Bill Harper has teamed up with non-profit ED Michelle Halsey, to launch EDLink, a global online resource and gathering place for Executive Directors of nonprofit organizations. Membership in EDLink provides the most senior staff person in non-profit organizations with 7/24 access to education and networking opportunities exclusively tailored to their profession.

A survey of over 100 EDs showed the number one resource EDs rely on is their peers. The second most popular was online resources. EDLink includes unique experiences like real-time virtual peer learning sessions, virtual mentoring, and a private discussion forum supported by expert contributors, as well as access to educational webinars, an article library and e-news created specifically for EDs.

Check it out!

 

Posted on 05/05/2011 by Mike O'Mahoney
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76 Vote

Digital Divide And Conquer

Organizations often recognize their donors by putting their name on something: a wing of the hospital, the university library, bricks of the church, or plaques on an honour wall.  Are you effectively using naming to motivate giving? Are you making it exciting?

These two organizations are divvying it up and raising funds from smaller parts. But they’ve added a heaping dose of creativity and injected some digital vitality to broaden their fundraising efforts.

Greenpeace is retiring their aging ship, the Rainbow Warrior, and replacing it with a $32 million wind-powered vessel fully equipped with a biological sewage treatment plant and satellite communications system onboard. They’ve put every part of their ship up for sponsorship. The amazing digital campaign for A New Warrior highlights every piece of the vessel for donors to pinpoint an exact part of the boat to sponsor.

Ave Maria University in Florida has taken their memorial fundraising campaign online, allowing visitors to pinpoint the exact location of sponsored bricks, flooring, statues and other items in the Ave Maria Oratory. Their Memorial Locator is a simple design that adds a level of visual excitement.

 

Posted on 04/19/2011 by Fahad Martin Pinto
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151 Vote

Google Wants To Help

Last week Google launched Google for Nonprofits. The program allows you to sign-up for the many Google products in one-application. If approved, your organization is given access to products for free or at discounted rates, including:

Included in the offering are resources to connect with other nonprofits. As well, the Google for Nonprofits Marketplace connect nonprofits with certified partners offering services at a free or discounted rate.

Could you use a few Google tools in your organization’s toolbox?

Posted on 03/24/2011 by mwoadmin
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147 Vote

Get Into The Game

We like the creative approach Urban Ministries of Durham is taking to raise awareness of poverty and homelessness. The organization has teamed up with ad agency McKinney and created an interactive online game: Spent.

Down to their last $1000, players must make difficult budgeting decisions, trying to survive to the end of the month. At various levels unexpected costs creep up and participants can connect through the game with friends on Facebook to request assistance. At the end, players are asked to donate, volunteer or play again.

What makes this a success?

It’s educational: Statistics and facts on homelessness inform the player at every level.

It’s built to spread:  Because it’s a game there is a higher chance of challenging your friends. And connecting game levels to Facebook is brilliant.

It engages a new demographic: The organization casts a wider net, employing social media to appeal to a younger Tribe that can donate their time and/or money.

Remember our piece on social gaming?  Well, are you playing yet?

 

 

Posted on 03/02/2011 by mwoadmin
4 Comments
137 Vote

Play With The Box

Thinking outside the box is great. But sometimes you can’t execute your outside-the-box idea because of budgets constraints, lack of resources, or limited manpower.

Here’s a different approach. Rename the box!

The small town of Speed, Australia, raised funds for its Lions Club by teaming up with the state’s Transport Accident Commission (TAC) on an awareness campaign to highlight the dangers associated with speeding. They jointly created a Facebook page, ‘Rename Speed’, promising to change the town’s name to SpeedKills if they received 10,000 ‘likes’. Speed would be renamed for a month and the TAC would donate $10,000 to the local Lions Club.

The Facebook campaign has collected 31,000 ‘likes’ so far. After getting their 20,000th ‘like’ the TAC doubled their donation. And local farmer, Phil Down, has promised to change his name to Phil ‘Slow’ Down for a month. The official renaming ceremonies take place on February 18.

How do you see your box?

Posted on 02/07/2011 by mwoadmin
No Comments
115 Vote

Let’s Talk

We’re calling 2011 the Year of the Conversation. It’s being encouraged everywhere, as it should be, and we want every organization to ride the chatter wave. You’ll learn a lot from speaking with your clients, your employees, and your fans. But most of all, talk to your donors. Use social media (facebook, twitter, etc), email, direct mail and events to really engage in two-way dialogue with your donors. You’ll discover amazing new ideas, you’ll get honest feedback and you’ll build excitement that’s contagious.

Talk to your donors about new ideas
Test if a topic or campaign has potential by asking your donors about it. Ask for feedback. People who support your organization will be the most honest (sometimes brutally). But your donor’s perspective will give you a good feel about the acceptance of an idea. And you may receive better ideas or ways to tweak your own. More importantly, the donor will appreciate your willingness to include them in the idea process and letting them feel more involved with the organization. And involving donors at the early stages of planning builds excitement around the project. Which leads to the next point…

Encourage conversation through special access
When you give someone a sneak peek, they are often eager to tell their friends. After all, they knew it first. Make your donors feel special and let them be the first to know about news and special events. They will be inspired to talk when they feel they’ve got something exclusive or rare to share. Treat them like ambassadors and look for opportunities to connect them with new potential donors.

Don’t make it all about you
Hogging a conversation and making it all about you is rude! Instead, listen and talk about your donors, too. Understand and appreciate the emotions of your donor and introduce them to others with similar passions within the tribe. It’s a simple way to get your donors talking: help them to talk about themselves.

Get your own talkers
Do you have someone in your organization to chat with your donors, especially in the social media sphere? Dell has made listening to their customers a priority. They have launched the Social Media Listening Command Center to manage real-time conversations about Dell. Your organization may not need a team. But why not put one person in charge of listening?

Posted on 01/12/2011 by mwoadmin
No Comments
121 Vote

Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Warmest wishes to you and yours from all of us at MWO Philanthropic Advisors.

We’ve pulled together a short list of recent business publications that have powerful ideas for fundraising success, and thought we’d share these with you in case your holidays allow a few minutes to stretch your mind in preparation for the New Year.


Posted on 12/22/2010 by mwoadmin
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