During these tough times it is easy to get discouraged and wonder if anything good is happening in our economy. We hear about businesses struggling to survive and many doing all kinds of layoffs. In fact the unemployment is higher than it has ever been in years. It is easy to get caught up in all of the negative things happening in the economy and forget that there are good things happening in the world.

The good news is that there are several great things happening in our economy. The great news is that there are companies that, no matter what the status of the economy, are still giving back. There are so many good things happening that it gives you hope that good things will continue to happen and the economy will get better.

There is a project called Malawi Seeds of Hope. This is where twenty five cents from every sale of every Epoch Baobab Body Butter is donated to a foundation that will be used to purchase and plant a variety of important and useful trees for the people of Malawi. In 2009 over 100,000 trees are being donated to villages in Malawi already. The trees are a renewable resource that will continue to benefit the people of Malawi. The short term is that the trees will provide food and raw materials.

Another project is the Build a Village Project in Malawi. There were two goals set out in 2006 and they were to first build an actual village. The other was to make the village a living classroom where 40 - 50 farmers and their families would be able to be educated. These people of Malawi are some of the poorest countries in the world and the majority of the people live on less than a dollar a day. They have accomplished the first goal of building a village. There are about 30 families thriving on the fruit of their labors. Now they are working on constructing a day care center for children and a dormitory for volunteers who help in the village.

One of the latest projects that they are working on is the China Children’s Heart Fund. This is created to help children suffering from congenital heart disease. They have already been able to save 35 children. In addition to focusing on China they are focusing on Southeast Asia and helping children there.

The list goes on and it is exciting to see the differences that companies can make when they are willing to share what they have been given. There is hope and with these positive stories we can take faith that the economy is going to get better, even if it is in our hearts.

Nu Skin (http://www.nuskin.com/) offers great smelling beauty products from lotions to fragrances to cosmetics. Art Gib is a freelance writer.

[tags]Nu Skin[/tags]

Charities and fundraising companies have found online fundraising to be a lucrative source of donations. Managing online charity giving requires specialized software, so how do you decide which online fundraising software package is best for your organization?

Data Security

Properly managed, online financial transactions are safe and effectively impossible to break. Improperly managed, online transactions can be an easy target for cybercriminals. For the protection of your donors and your own organization, you should use only online fundraising software that includes strong data security.

Look for software which is PCI/CISP certified. These are a set of guidelines developed by Visa and MasterCard designed to protect credit card information for both online and offline transactions. Part of the certification process requires regular audits by certified professionals to ensure the system security remains strong.

Security for online fundraising software extends to other kinds of data protection. Information should be stored on redundant servers to prevent equipment failure from inhibiting access or even destroying your valuable data. Access should be limited only to authorized users.

Social Networking Capabilities

Most software for fundraising provides website building capabilities, but there is more to an internet presence than having a site which can accept donations. If your online fundraising software also manages your internet social network, it is easier to find contacts and to turn those contacts into donors.

Software that integrates the use of popular social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter opens new avenues reaching potential donors or volunteers. It expands your available pool of donors so you can reach new sources of funding. It reaches your existing contributors as well. When you create an online community, your benefactors feel part of something bigger. It gives them a greater reward for their contributions and inspires them to do more for your organization.

Customization Options

Your needs may not be the same as another nonprofit’s and software features critical to them may not matter to you. Not only that, but as your charity evolves your requirements are going to change. You need online fundraising software which can be customized to fit your organization.

For example, if you use a fundraising website that looks like everyone else’s it’s going to be hard to stand out from the crowd. Templates are nice for quick launches, but you should be able to customize the site as desired. If you have an existing website, the online fundraising software should integrate into it seamlessly.

Custom reports allow you to track your online fundraising activities more accurately. The ability to focus in on any aspect of the giving community is critical for correctly managing your revenue sources. Data should be exportable into standard formats such as CSV so they can be analyzed by third party software.

The right software for fundraising will make a big difference in the effectiveness of your online fundraising activities.

Author is a freelance copywriter. For more information on Online Fundraising Software, visit http://clickandpledge.com/.

[tags]Online Fundraising Software[/tags]

In a famous advertising campaign for Communications company British Telecom in the UK, actor Bob Hoskins proclaimed that it was good to talk. And with the explosion of mobile phone technology in the past decade or so, it seems many parts of the world have become communication addicts. From paging and texting to emailing and twittering, the way in which we communicate with family, friends and business to business has changed dramatically.

This combined with the financial turmoil we have seen in the past couple of years means that businesses of all types are having to think of different ways to communicate with existing and potential clients. Not only as a way to reduce expenditure but also as a way to reach new customers. The not for profit sector and charities are no different in this respect as due to reduced funding, they are having to communicate with a new breed of donor and potential donor.

Emailing marketing has had a bad press recently due to the issue of SPAM and with the new telephone regulations, many consumers are adverse to receiving marketing text messages on their mobile phones or unsolicited cold calls. So what is the best way for charities to promote their cause and get their message in front of potential donors?

Television advertising, radio advertising and direct mail are all great but equally, they can all be expensive. And at a time when charities are looking to cut costs, they probably are not the wisest way to spend their time and money. One way which some charities are looking to get across their message is by using social networking sites like facebook and more recently, twitter.

Very often their message can be seen by hundreds and thousands of people for minimal cost or even no cost and equally as good is that the message could be seen when potential customers are relaxed at home on their computers and with their credit card and bank details close to home.

The truth is, charities need to cut costs and whilst they could do this by using a charity insurance broker for their charity liability insurance or by negotiating with other service providers, smarter spending of their marketing budget could help them out and make sure they become twitters and not twits. The way in which we all communicate has changed forever and the businesses and charities who look set to survive and go realise this and are now taking action.

NCi Charity are Charity Insurance Specialists and for details of their Charities Insurance facilities or to get a charity liability insurance quote, simply visit the Insurance for Charities Experts

[tags]charity,marketing,volunteers,donors,credit crunch,charities,insurance,internet,email,not for profit[/tags]

Recognizing volunteers supporting your charity walks is critical. Appropriate volunteer recognition will help keep your volunteers motivated and interested in supporting your organization for many years to come.

Are you ready to kick up your volunteer recognition program and notch? Try some of the following unique ways to thank your volunteers:

1. Write a thank you note to the volunteer’s spouse or parents. A volunteer sacrifices has are her time in support of your nonprofit organization. The volunteer is typically not the only one making a sacrifice. A spouse may have to pick up extra duties. A parent may have to drive the child to and from each meeting and event. Think about others who are inconvenienced are providing support to a volunteer “behind the scenes” and send them a thank you note.

2. Write a letter of recognition to the volunteer’s supervisor or school. Businesses and schools consider community service important. Volunteering can aid a person in pursuing a career. Volunteering can also a student when being considered for certain classes and also what it comes time to apply for college or a job. Make sure you notify the volunteers’ supervisors and schools regarding the great support you’re receiving and the impact that it is making.

3. Track the volunteer’s hours of service and submit for the President’s Volunteer Service Award. It doesn’t take as many volunteer hours as you might think to qualify for the award.

4. Create a volunteer photo wall. And a space to display photos of your volunteers. They can be studio shots or captured in action. Volunteers will be scrambling to find their photo on the wall every time they see it.

5. Invite volunteers to observe or participate in organization meetings and training events. Volunteers should be considered an extension of the nonprofit organization staff. By allowing them to participate in some of the organization’s other activities, they create a stronger bond with the organization and water and more about the impact the organization is making. This in turn results in a more dedicated (and appreciative) volunteer.

6. Send handwritten thank you notes from individuals who have been directly helped by the organization. My most prized thank you came in the form of a handwritten note from a young girl who was helped by the organization I supported. This is a powerful way to show their appreciation to volunteers.

7. Nominate volunteers for community service awards. Search for community service awards in your area and nominate deserving volunteers who support your efforts. United Way is what organization that has such awards. You should also consider creating your own volunteer awards that can be presented annually to your most capable and dedicated volunteers.

Your charity walks would not be successful without motivated volunteers. Regularly find ways to let your volunteers know that you are grateful for the time and energy they contribute to your cause.

And now I would like to invite you to discover more tips and resources to help make your charity walks successful when you visit http://www.CharityWalksBlog.com

From Roger Carr - Mentor to the Rich of Heart

[tags]charity walks, nonprofit organization, recognizing volunteers, volunteer recognition program[/tags]

Most charities and not for profit organisations rely on the good will of donors and volunteers in order to carry out their work. The financial turmoil that much of the world has been hit by in recent times has had a dramatic effect on charities who rely on donations as donors often see cutting back on giving to charities as a way to cut their own expenditure. Donors and supporters of charities are also being more demanding when it comes to questioning voluntary organisations on how their donations are being spent.

Donors support charities for many reasons including wanting to help a good cause to the feeling of good will they get by helping out. There is clearly nothing wrong with either of these reasons for supporting a voluntary organisation but many consumers and donors now also want to know that their money is not being wasted.

An example of how charities can address this issue is when they are marketing their cause. Traditionally, receiving a letter in the post along with a free pen highlighting a particular cause was one of the most effective ways for a charity to reach their donors and prospective supporters. However, many consumers now see direct mail as an inconvenience. In fact, many object to receive such mailings in the post as they feel they are a waste of both money and natural resources.

Charities therefore have to become more savvy when it comes to promoting themselves and this very much includes utilising technology. Just two ways they can do this is by internet marketing and email marketing. For the cost of a few thousand or even hundred letters and leaflets, they could easily set up their own website and use online marketing to promote their cause. With social networking sites like Facebook now extremely popular with young and old, promoting a charity online is now easier than ever before as more and more people use the internet to communicate with one another.

And when people are sat at their computer discussing their lives with friends and family online, a perfect opportunity exists for charities to reach these same people by using email marketing. This form of marketing has suffered greatly in recent times due to the vast amount of spam that we all receive. However, if you treat email marketing as a communication tool rather than a selling tool, then providing what you have to say is of interest, it can be a highly effective way to reach tens of thousands of potential donors for a fraction of the cost of direct mail.

A charity would not think twice in using the internet to source their charity insurance or for getting a charity liability insurance quote but many still seem reluctant to use it as a way to tell donors what they are doing, how they are doing and how donors can help them.

If you run, manage or are involved in a charity and want to grow even when times are tough, get online and start marketing your charity in the most effective way possible.

NCi Charity are Charity Insurance Specialists and for details of their Charities Insurance facilities or to get a charity insurance quote, simply visit the Insurance for Charities Experts

[tags]charity,marketing,volunteers,donors,credit crunch,charities,insurance,internet,email,not for profit[/tags]

Charity fundraising is the lifeblood of your organization and your donors are critical to ongoing operations. Finding new donors and maintaining existing donor relationships can be made easier by using dedicated donor management software.

Challenges of Donor Management

It’s easy to understand the value of donors to non-profit organizations, but locating and cultivating donors can be a difficult process if you’re not tapping into the right resources.

Non-profits can leverage the strategies that for-profit marketers have used for years — a highly targeted marketing campaign allows you to generate higher quality needs. When you focus your message on contacts that have already shown interest in similar causes, you are more likely to turn those contacts into people who can help your organization. Analysis of your marketing efforts can show you which techniques work and which don’t.

Once you find people willing to donate to your cause, your efforts are not finished. Successful charities track donation patterns so they can see which donors are the greatest help. Continued cultivation of your family of patrons will keep the contributions coming.

Benefits of Donor Management Software

Tracking all of the information on benefactors and contributions is a big job and more organizations are turning to donor management software to keep it all straight.

The software organizes your contacts, letting you build a profile for each person you meet so you can better evaluate how they can help your efforts. Build your marketing efforts around these profiles and generate reports to see how successful your efforts are. You can spot trends such as an upswing in conversions after attending conferences or following the publication of related stories in the newspaper.

Other reports make it easy to manage contribution sources. Although gratitude should be expressed for even the smallest donation, your largest benefactors should receive extra recognition. If you see donations fall, reports allow you to quickly recognize patterns so you can correct the problems quickly.

It’s Not All About the Software

Donor management software improves an organization’s ability to develop and preserve donor relationships. However the software is only an organizational tool. Old fashioned human elements are still keys to successful non-profit fundraising.

Organizations that treat donors like ATM machines soon have no donors. Contributors must feel you value them more than their money. Make every supporter feel special. If donors have questions, answer them promptly. If they give you advice, genuinely listen.

Show donors your accomplishments. For some this means detailed financial reports while others want to hear personal stories of your successes and meet the people you help.

If you’re not doing so already, host donor appreciation events for your largest contributors. It gives the opportunity to express your gratitude and also allows you to network. Through your existing family of patrons you can find leads to others and expand your funding sources.

Basic business acumen, donor management software and traditional customer service are the core to any successful non-profit organization.

Author is a freelance copywriter. For more information on donor
management software, visit http://clickandpledge.com/.

[tags]donor management software, fundraising, charity[/tags]

The most important job for a non-profit organization is making money. It may sound counter-intuitive, but without a steady source of funding a charity can’t offer services and won’t stay open for long. For the new non-profit, fundraising can be a real challenge. Most new charities fail due to a lack of understanding of charity fundraising principles.

The Grant Dilemma

A common mistake new charities make is assuming most funding comes from grants. Once they investigate this source of revenue, they discover granting organizations consider only non-profits in operation for five years or longer and showing a stable financial profile. In other words, it seems like they give money only to operations that don’t need it.

This attitude makes sense if you look at it from the grantor’s point of view. Grantors make investments and they want to make financial decisions that pay off, not in profits but in the amount of good done for the community. Imagine having a choice between investing your retirement savings in a startup company with no financial history or an established corporation with a long record of strong profits. Most people would take the latter, safer option.

Building a Non-Profit Fundraising Network

In the US, less than 20% of non-profit fundraising comes from grants. Most charity funding comes from private donations given by families and small businesses. While grants are an important element in a fundraising plan, they don’t have the importance many people think.

Startup charities accept donations from the public to get started. They spend their first years building relationships in the community and establishing stable financing. Once they have proven their business abilities, then grants are a possible source of funding. However private donations will always be the major source of their non-profit fundraising efforts.

Non-profit organizations must constantly market their services. They want to reach not only the people they are prepared to help, but also potential donors. Charities too often don’t put enough effort into marketing and suffer for it when their donations are low.

Online Fundraising Software

The internet has made it easy for non-profit funding efforts to go global, easily reaching potential donors that would have been out of reach before. For regional charities, online fundraising efforts can be targeted to websites or social networks serving the local community.

Online fundraising makes it easier for people to contribute. Once interest has been piqued by internet marketing efforts, simple and secure interfaces allow donors to make payments easily. The more transparent the donation process, the more likely an interested party will be converted to a donor.

Charities can use the software to set up online shops. People like to receive some tangible reward for their contributions. T-shirts, tote bags and other merchandise increase contributions plus act as passive advertising for the organization.

While new charities want to focus on providing help, it is important they focus on fundraising first so they can give more help in the future.

Author is a freelance copywriter. For more information on non profit
fundraising, visit http://clickandpledge.com/.

[tags]non profit fundraising, online donor software[/tags]

Successful charity walks depend on the unselfish contributions of many volunteers. That should be enough of a reason for a nonprofit organization to identify as many ways as possible to thank their volunteers. Expressing appreciation to volunteers does not have to be difficult.

There are many easy ways you can show your volunteers that you care about them and are grateful for their hard work. This list should get you started:

Present each volunteer with a certificate of appreciation. These certificates can be designed, personalized and printed from your computer. To make the task easy, use a template. Search online for “certificate of appreciation template” for many to choose from. Consider displaying the certificate in an inexpensive frame prior to presenting it to your volunteer.

Send each volunteer a note or letter recognizing their contributions. A surprise thank you note arriving in the mail can be a real treat for your volunteers. To make the note extra special, be sure the note is handwritten.

Thank volunteers publicly for their service at the charity walk and other related events. Make sure your volunteers are recognized at the charity walk. You can provide them special shirts to wear. You should also recognize them when you are making announcements to the walkers.

List your volunteers in an email and/or newsletter and express your thanks. Use your organization’s e-mail list and newsletters to thank your volunteers. You could even write features on individual volunteers who have made significant contributions.

Privately tell each volunteer you appreciate him or her every chance you get. Some volunteers will not feel as comfortable as others with public expressed gratitude. However, a reminder in private about how important they are to you and to the cause may be just what they need.

Express your gratitude with an inexpensive gift. Care should be used if using a tangible gift to thank some or all of your volunteers. The gift needs to be inexpensive. An expensive gift will signal that time provided at no cost is not valued.

Provide opportunities for new and expanded responsibilities. Some of your volunteers may be seeking new ways to contribute to your organization and a larger way. For these individuals, a request for them to participate in your organization with additional responsibilities can be a great way to demonstrate your appreciation for their volunteering efforts.

Demonstrating your thanks will not only motivate your volunteers to continually improve. It will also ensure these volunteers will be excited about supporting your future charity walks. Get started today.

You are invited to discover more tips and resources to help make your charity walks successful when you visit http://www.CharityWalksBlog.com.

From Roger Carr - Mentor to the Rich of Heart

[tags]charity walks, volunteers, volunteering[/tags]

Small non-profit organizations, and even some larger ones, often use simple home made systems for important tasks such as tracking donations. Non-profit fundraising can be far more successful when using specifically designed fundraising software rather than Excel sheets and finance programs that have been adapted to meet the unique needs of fundraising.

Software for Fundraising Gives Better Organization

Any kind of financial software will provide better organization and tracking of financial information than systems of paper records or spreadsheet programs. The ability to generate customized reports, budget analyses and financial projections means fewer financial surprises. However there are needs unique to charity fundraising that these applications can’t satisfy.

For example, while contacts can be managed by other customer database applications, donor management software gives the tools needed by the non-profit world. Donors are different than the “customers” of for-profit organizations and the tracking and marketing tools right for one won’t be quite the right fit for the other.

Software for fundraising allows a non-profit to focus efforts on lucrative donors while tracking other contacts who may become donors in the future.

Convenience Leads to More Donations

A non-profit business is still a business and maintaining a steady revenue stream is vital. Implementing software for fundraising makes donation easier for supporters and easier donations means more revenue.

Adding the capability to accept online donations can make a huge difference to a charity’s bottom line. When donation is a mere click away, benefactors are more likely to contribute on impulse. Online fundraising is much faster than depositing checks and the non-profit can use the donations that much sooner.

Software for fundraising allows donors to set up recurring donations. Charities don’t have to keep nagging donors for more contributions. Instead, supporters can set up regular donations. The non-profit has a steady and more predictable stream of income.

Enhanced Security

When it comes to data security, there are two areas that need to be addressed: theft and disaster.

Any organization handling large amounts of money is a target for thieves. While we’d all like to live in a world where the non-profit industry was safe from crime, the sad fact is people will steal from charities just like they steal from banks or other corporations. Software for fundraising encrypts financial transactions, protecting both the non-profit organization and their community of valued benefactors.

Data should be protected against catastrophes such as fires or natural disasters. Paper records are very difficult to back up without laborious copying. Electronic records can be duplicated more easily, but if stored locally are still subject to loss from disaster. Software for fundraising run from a central server provides data redundancy and automatic backup. Critical information such as donor lists and financial records can be quickly restored even if the entire office is lost.

Software options for fundraising management are inexpensive and easy to use. With all the features offered, there is no reason for non-profit organizations not to be using them.

Author is a freelance copywriter. For more information on a software for fundraising, visit http://clickandpledge.com/trio/index.asp.

[tags]software for fundraising[/tags]

The core of any thriving charity is a robust fundraising system. The concepts behind successful non-profit fundraising are similar to marketing concepts in the world of big business. For-profit companies are embracing online promotional techniques and the non-profit world must join them. Programs such as online fundraising are vital for success in today’s interconnected world.

Keep Donors Informed with Newsletters

Charities have long known the power of newsletters. They keep donors and potential donors informed of the good works your organizations does. People see your successes and better identify with personal stories of the people you’ve helped.

Newsletters also remind people in a non-intrusive way to donate. While direct appeals for contributions are still important, newsletters provide a subtler giving message. People who have become inured to ignoring organizations with their hands out are open to the messages in informational newsletters.

Both emailed and printed newsletters are valuable. Email is generally cheaper to distribute but also easier to ignore. They have to run the gauntlet of anti-spam software that may toss them in the garbage before donors see them. Printed newsletters make a stronger impression at a higher cost.

Build a Web Presence

A professionally designed website is an essential part of online fundraising. Even a simple site of a few pages allows people to find out about your organization any time of the day or night. Advocates of your cause are better able to inform others of your positive actions when they can refer people to your site for more information.

Ideally, your site should accept online donations. You want to make the giving process as easy and transparent as possible. If a donor has to take time to write a check, put it in an envelope then search for a stamp it becomes easy to get distracted or find other uses for the money. An online donation made with a simple click and a credit card number allows the “impulse purchase” that leads to greater donations.

The Importance of Social Networking

Today’s online fundraising strategies are nothing like they were ten years ago. New technologies have turned the internet from a collection of static pages to a dynamic communication medium. The best online charity fundraising plan does more than just accept donations at a website.

The traditional online fundraising strategy is limited. The non-profit sends information to donors and donors send money back. Communication is limited and often the donors don’t get any sense of what their donations are doing.

Social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter change the relationship between charity and donor. The two-way dialogue these technologies allow does more than connect charities with the funds they need. It builds an enthusiastic community of interested members and makes it easy to expand that community to populations that may not be familiar with your work.

A comprehensive online fundraising program can be a lot of work but can also send a charity’s funds through the roof.

Author is a freelance copywriter. For more information on online fundraising, visit http://clickandpledge.com/.

[tags]online fundraising[/tags]