Two Charities Test $25 Cellphone Contributions

This week, I chose this article, Two Charities Test $25 Cellphone Contributions, by Nicole Wallace, from the Chronicle of Philanthrophy:
http://philanthropy.com/blogs/prospecting/two-charities-test-25-cellphone-contributions/27837

The article initially caught my eye because $25 is the amount of money that the Church Health Center is attempting to get people to donate each month through their new donation initiative that my PR Research group is specifically helping to research.

Previously, cell phone users could only donate $5 or $10 to non-profits via text messages. Two unnamed charities are testing the possibility of $25 text message donations. The article suggests that campaigns based on text message donations often result in significant numbers of donors, but the donation limit is often a setback. Although, when we visited the Red Cross on Tuesday, they told us that the popular $10 text messages for relief efforts in Haiti were hugely successful. This probably has a lot to do with the numerous national commercials featuring celebrities and the fact that the Red Cross is widely known as being a reputable organization.

I talked to a friend yesterday about the Church Health Center's "I Give $25" campaign. She thinks that people are likely to give $25, as long as they have been informed about the need. She also thinks making donating easier, such as through automatic draft, is a great idea and makes people more likely to donate. I think the convenience of donating via text message is also effective in encouraging donations, possibly even more than automatic draft, since donors can choose to give when they know for sure that they have the money available.

Although, I think some people might not fully understand how text message donations work. This article made me think of a Facebook status update I saw on failbooking.com once. A teen girl encouraged her friends to text the Red Cross's Haiti donation number, saying that she had already texted the number several times. One of her friends had to inform her that, every time she texted the number, SHE had to donate $10, not some other organization.

Charities Around the World Struggle to Raise Sufficient Money as Demand for Services Rises

For my article this week, I chose this one by Hall Hall:
http://philanthropy.com/article/Charities-Around-the-World/125041/

The article describes donation patterns for non-profits around the world. When comparing any sort of business or non-profit's trends, it's important to look not only at similar organizations locally but also worldwide. According to this article, charities around the world use face many of the same issues as American charities but often incorporate different strategies. For instance, non-profits in all ten countries surveyed feel that attracting new donors is important. Some contacted donors through direct mail; others use special events and personal relationships with potential individual donors.

Trends amond donor demands also differed among countries. In some places, donors are more likely to earmark donations to specific projects and request updates on how their money is being used, while in others, donors usually make general donations without specifying what they want them used for.

I think another thing to consider, that the article doesn't mention, when comparing donation trends across countries, is the always important why factor. Cultural values and practices can have a huge influence on the ways people donate, and it is often difficult to culturally different places without that backgorund information.

As Pledges Fall Short, Colleges Face the Music

Being a college student, I think it's important to know where my school is getting money, how much money it is getting, and what it's spending money on. That's why this week I chose this article from the Chronicle of Philanthropy by Kathryn Masterson:

http://philanthropy.com/article/As-Pledges-Fall-Short/124873/

The article describes what happens to colleges when donors fail to contribute all of the money they pledged. In most of these cases, the pledges are large amounts that are intended for building projects. Colleges have a few options when accepting large pledges. They can borrow money to begin the project before the entire pledge is fulfilled and use the donor's contribution to pay off the loan. They can also delay starting the project until a certain percentage of the pledge has been received. I think that, unless the project is of extreme importance, the second option is the better one.

For instance, say an alumnus of a college pledges several million dollars to build a new athletic building on campus. If the college begins the project after only receiving 10% of the pledge, the school can take a huge hit if the donor is unable to contribute any more money. Also, other important project may be pushed back even farther. Let's say that this school's current biggest concern is constructing two new buildings: one athletic and one academic. The donor in question happens to have been on the school's football team and is very interested in seeing the new athletic building become a reality. If the school begins the project and then receives only a small percentage of the pledge, it is forced to reallocate funds to finish the project, funds that might have otherwise gone to the construction of the academic building. The construction of the academic building is then delayed until it can receive further financial support.

However, if the school holds off on the project until 50% of the pledge is received, it faces less of a burden if the donor can't fulfill his committment.

No school is ever going to receive 100% of its pledges 100% of the time. It's a fact of life. But by delaying the beginning of pledge-supported projects, schools can essentially create their own safety nets and decrease potential financial burden on itself. I think this is the smartest option when dealing with large pledges that are supposed to extend over long periods of time.

Donors plan to give the same or less this year

Since my client for my research class wants to recruit younger donors, I thought it might be interesting to look at this article by Raymund Flandez about how much current donors plan to donate next year:

http://philanthropy.com/article/Donors-Plan-to-Give-the-Same/124780/

The poll found that most donors plan to give either the same amount of money they currently give or less next year. It also found that confidence levels among donors to all types of charities had dropped. Donors cited the economy and unexpected personal expenses as their main reasons for not increasing donations.

Even though the recession has officially ended, it will take time for the economy to fully recover. Most donors predict that it will take about two years. It will also take time for individuals' bank accounts to recover, so it seems logical that charitable donations will be slow to increase. This puts exrta pressure on non-profit organizations to increase donor confidence.

Even though the article doesn't mention anything about whether or not people who don't donate money plan to start this year, this article makes me think a lot about my client for my PR Research class, the Church Health Center. If the majority of current donors don't plan to give more, it's unlikely that most non-donors will start giving. It makes me wonder if the Church Health Center will be able to recruit the new young donors it wants.

This whole article doesn't make me very optimistic, but I'm sure if the right tactics are used, any charity can increase donor confidence and donations, even in the aftermath of a recession.

Facebook creator donates to New Jersey schools

The latest article I read from the Chronicle of Philanthropy is this article by Maria Di Mento about a donation made by Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg:

http://philanthropy.com/article/Facebook-s-CEO-Gives/124580/

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder and CEO, will donate $100 million of his Facebook stock holdings to improve the Newark, New Jersey public school system. The author of the article points out that the donation may be in response to negative criticism Zuckerberg has received lately. Apparently the new movie "The Social Network" which will portray the founding of Facebook does not cast favorable light on Zuckerberg. Likewise, comments made by Zuckerberg about the effectiveness of companies versus nonprofits in solving society's problems were also not well received. The donation seems admirable but one must question the CEO's motives. Is Zuckerberg genuinely interested in investing in public education, or is he simply attempting to create a more postive image for himself?

I chose this article because I am a self-admitted Facebook addict. Normally I only log into the website to keep track of friends and post things relevant to my own personal life. I do not spend too much time worrying about Facebook's creator or what the company is doing other than changing the website's layout for the millionth time. When I am given information, though, about the inner workings of Facebook, I often find it surprising. I can spend hours on this website without caring about what sort of company I am indirectly supporting. The same goes for stores, restaurants and other companies I do business with regularly. I may get that warm fuzzy feeling when I hear that my favorite restaurant is donating money to a local hospital by selling one dollar pieces of paper to hang on the wall with my name on it, but I do think now that a little further investigation is necessary in some cases. Does this company truly care about this cause, or do they just need to fix a bad reputation? As someone who has an interest in nonprofits and many different causes, I do not want to be blindsighted into donating money simply to help improve a company's image. I am curious to find out what exactly Mark Zuckerberg's motives are.

For my latest article from The Chronicle of Philanthropy, I chose this article titled "Mothers and Young People Are Most Likely to Buy Products Tied to a Cause."

http://philanthropy.com/blogPost/MothersYoung-People-Are/26986/

The article reports the findings of a survey done by a marketing firm in Boston which concluded that the people most likely to buy products that benefit a cause are mothers and young adults ages 18 to 24. The survey also asked which causes consumers would most like to support, what other information they would like to learn about the cause when buying the product and whether or not their giving habits changed as a result of buying cause-related products.

I chose this article because I personally buy a lot of cause-related products. If I'm shopping for something such as contact solution, toilet paper or toothpaste, and I see a particular brand offering a pink version of the product, with some of my money benefitting breast cancer research, I am more likely to buy that brand instead of the one I normally purchase, especially if they are the same price. Products supporting breast cancer research are usually the ones that attract me most because I think it's a great cause and I'm a sucker for anything pink, but I'm likely to switch brands for just about any cause. Since I fall in the 18-24 year old range, it makes sense to me that other consumers my age probably have similar buying habits.

I also think it makes sense that donations do not usually decrease when a cause gains support from a product. Most people who give to charities usually have an amount set aside for that in their budget, as well money set aside for shopping. Since the price of the product often doesn't change much when the company supports a cause, the consumer is able to spend their regular amount on shopping, in addition to givng their regular donation.

When a company decides to support a cause through a product, everyone essentially wins. The cause supported receives additional financial support. The company receives new customers. A long-term commitment to a cause may drive consumers to replace their old brand with the new one that supports the cause. The company then gains additional regular customers. In addition, the consumer gains a sense of personal satisfaction.

OK, here goes! :)

For my first assignment, I searched through The Chronicle of Philanthropy's website, looking for an article that caught my attention. It was kind of overwhelming. I looked at several articles and wondered if each was too old or too short. The longer articles, which looked the most relevant, were all only available through a subscription. I might have to look into a subscription, if it's free, but for the mean time, I chose this article by Holly Hall on how the MDA's Labor Day telethon might be an indicator for other nonprofits on how much they can expect to raise this fall.

Here's the link:
http://philanthropy.com/blogPost/Labor-Day-Telethon-Offers/26753/

I'm hoping that it's not too short!

The title of the article is what jumped out at me. "Labor Day Telethon" immediately brought to mind Jerry Lewis and the Muscular Dystrophy Association. I've always loved the MDA ever since I saw Mattie Stepanek on TV for the first time. In years past, I've actually sat down and watched the telethon, hours at a time.

The author says that some fundraisers use the event to forecast the "crucial fund-raising season" which is about to start. I didn't know that there wa a crucial period for fund-raising. I guess it is logical, though, that nonprofits would want to focus on fund-raising in the months before the winter holidays, when people have less money to give away.

Seeing the overall amount of donations to the MDA decrease from last year's amount is a little disheartening, but after all, there is a recession going on. I know that the organization had trouble in the past, particularly in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The telethon took place shortly after the hurricane, and donations to the MDA sort of took a backseat to relief efforts that year.

I hope that this doesn't affect contributions to some of my favorite charities too negatively. I am a big fan of many different charities, and, even when I can't contribute financially myself, I always try to encourage others to. Hopefully the economy will pick up soon so that charities will not miss out on important donations.



(I'll update the layout and colors of this old blog and make it prettier soon!)