Ideas that work

Establishing a Successful Game Plan

"To everything there is a season.."

Summertime is the season for planning a successful development campaign for the Learning Centers. Over that past few weeks we've discussed prospect identification and review. The next important stage of our development strategy is timing. For this we use a resource known as a gift table.

For those who have not used a gift table it is a road map to successful fund raising. It highlights the number and size of donations/event receipts you will need to meet your annual fund raising goal. This vital tool is the companion to the Prospect Review Matrix insofar as it allows you to translate broad levels of capacity to specific amounts of money you will solicit.

To demonstrate this I have posted a .pdf example. In this example, the financial goal of the XYZ Learning Center is $60,000, which should approximate the goals of many of the allocated LCs this year. To make this goal, the LC must seek gifts of adequate numbers and amounts, remembering that donors do not give equally, rather they should be asked to support the LC in proportion to their interest and ability.

In this case, the highest gift sought on chart 1, and ratified by the review process is $15,000, 25% of the goal for this campaign. The top 10 gifts in this first example make up 83% of the goal, with the remainder coming from gifts from $500 or less.

Now a second option, also included, might fit ABC Learning Center, which has not uncovered as many strong prospects. The top 10 donors in this case only amount to 59% of their goal. As you can imagine, a lack of big donations requires more work for the smaller ones. Thus this table demands a lot more work at raising those gifts.

Neither strategy is wrong, there are infinite combinations of donations to meet your goal. The one immutable truth is that you are best assured of success if you have a plan based on attainable objectives.

I've posted a worksheet for your use here.

News You Can Use

It's not worth getting animated over it

One of the continual challenges we face is raising community awareness about dyslexia and our Learning Centers. For this reason the ubiquitous PowerPoint presentation has become an important tool.

Many of us put significant time into developing presentations that convey our message and maintain the attention of our audiences. But a recent study suggests some of us may be overdoing it.

A fascinating study has been released in the International Journal of Innovation and Learning. This study tested the rates of information retention of PowerPoint presentations with and without animations. The animations they tested were those where each point came up one at a time. Groups were show automated presentations similar in every way except one included these animations.

The result - while both groups increased knowledge after viewing the two presentations, the presentations without animations garnered a 35% higher rate of information retention. It seems the mind had more time to absorb all the points if they were on the screen longer (a summary of the study is on the arstechnica site).

Conclusion - if you want people to better remember the story you're telling, hold off on the PowerPoint animations!

(If you come across any news you’d like us to share, please email me or send it along.)

Inspiration

“A champion is someone who gets up when he can't."

-Jack Dempsey

Although this quote is not particularly polished, you can grasp the intent of Dempsey, one of the greatest boxers of all time (who was born on this date in 1895).

Champions don't stay down on the mat, they get up time and again to face the challenges before them. With the hard economy and whatnot this year, we who serve the kids and tutors at our Learning Centers are battling too. As long as we keep getting up, we're still in it.

To learn more about Jack Dempsey, visit his official website.

Ideas that work

Prospecting for Gold

This posting I want to spend a little more time discussing the merits of donor prospecting and suggest some new-found advice about how to get started. On June 2 I introduced you to that concept of the prospect review matrix. Today I want to address the most burning question, "Who are my prospects?"

Of course, to reiterate, the best prospects are a combination of those with the greatest financial capacity to assist the Learning Center program as well as those who are most apt to financially support it. These two groups are not one and the same, although some names should be on both lists. As you consider what to do first, you should spend your attention on those who are on both lists first, then approach those closest to you, followed by those without strong connection, but financial capacity.

The process of review can either be conducted as a subcommittee or a group, but first, you have to prime the pump with names. How do you brainstorm those?

Recent psychology research provides helpful advice. While we often think the best suggestions come from group brainstorming, Adrian Furnham reports in "The Brainstorming Myth" in Business Strategy Review that you can get more and better suggestions by assigning your entire board to develop a list of 30 prospects each and then coming together to review the names.

Brainstorming is valuable, but a group process that begins at square one will allow for group "loafers" or people inhibited by the group. This process offers each member of your team their best opportunity to contribute, resulting in a more comprehensive list of prospects for your group to review.

I've posted a form for your use here.

Prospect review is a great tool for focusing the board on the actions that matter most.

News You Can Use

Charity Declines Less Dire Than Feared

This optimistic headline is from a recent post of the Wall Street Journal blog The Wallet. In this posting, WSJ Newswire's Shelly Banjo reports that the dire predictions for charitable giving may have been quite overstated.

Her analysis concludes that, yes, giving was down in 2008 for the first time in more than two decades. However, giving declined overall by about 6% which is far less than the 10-30% predicted in the panic days of late last year. Some sectors, such as religious causes even saw a rise in giving. And while she warns the full effect on giving of the economic downturn has yet to be seen - the worst really began in the 4th quarter and continued into 2009 - it is clearly not the bloodbath predicted. One thing the article highlighted was the observation that when people are worried about the economy and their security, they pull back on giving. It isn't that they stop giving, however, they just tend to give less and get more picky.

Lisa Philp, head of philanthropic services at JPMorgan Private Bank put it this way: Families are realizing these are no longer “flush times where they can haphazardly give a little here and there” if they’re going to make an impact–they’re seeing it’s time to get focused and do some planning.

What can we take from this relatively good news?

• First, don't be shy about asking for money in this economy, people are still giving where they believe it matters.
• People are becoming more discerning and want to make sure their giving makes an impact. We must emphasize our remarkable success rate and life-changing results at modest cost. Our strengths can help us overcome the tough economy of this fiscal year.

You can read the article at this address. (subscription may be required)

(If you come across any news you’d like us to share, please email me or send it along.)

Inspiration

“You were born with wings. Why prefer to crawl through life?"

Jalal ad-Din Rumi

With all the turmoil and strife currently in Iran, it bears remembering that Iran/Persia has been a cradle of great learning and beauty. Take for instance this thought by Rumi, often considered chief exponent of Sufi Islam in the thirteenth century. Rumi was known for his frantic artistic gyrations, spawning the phrase, "whirling dervish." He was a passionate and prolific writer of poetry.

This inspiration captures what we believe is within all the children we help.

To learn more about Rumi, please check this site.

Ride to Fight Dyslexia

Vic Frederick and friends ride through 50 states to raise money for Learning Centers


If you want to follow Vic on his journey, support the Ride and raise money for your Learning Center, you can find him here.

For Ride schwag, visit the Lucky7 logowear storefront here.