Volunteer Screening Blog

As if charities needed another one, a change in the estate tax could prove to be a possible roadblock to fundraising.

Here’s why: the estate tax meant that wealthy Americans, upon their demise, could leave their money to their children or to charity. When left to their heirs, the US Government took 45% and the heirs got 55%. If left to charity, the full amount of their pretax estate could be donated.

As of January 1, 2010, the estate tax is repealed for a full year. Now, that giving to heirs choice looks better—because the 45% tax has vanished—disappeared—poof!  Whether or not wealthy will continue to give, it’s clear that a reason for them to do so has been eliminated.

The impact on nonprofit organizations might depend on a philosophical question: is philanthropy based in goodness, or in tax savings?

The opportunity for charities is to make a real connection with their donors—all of them, but especially the wealthy. Give donors a reason to feel that the money is secondary to the benefits they will receive. Help them feel a part of your organization, of something bigger than themselves.

But how?

• Stay in touch with well-written newsletters.
• Produce a simple video and post in on your website. Feature clients if possible. Show, rather than tell, what good your organization is doing.
• Show the video at your next fundraising event.
• Introduce donors to the people your organization serves, and tell the success stories they are helping to make happen.

Stay tuned for updates on this issue; Congress can decide to reinstate the estate tax and make it retroactive to January 1. We’ll keep you posted!

Nonprofit volunteer managers are sometimes inundated with offers from corporations—especially around volunteer “holidays” like The National Day of Service and Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. While no NPOs we know would turn down volunteers who are willing and qualified to help, sometimes too much of a good thing can make for headaches.

Every volunteer manager has had unusual requests from corporations. From custom-designing a volunteer opportunity just for them, to dictating who will show up and when, and what their employees will and will not do, companies can be “overeager” with their requests.

Some companies want only group activities—are they working on their team-building? What if you have more tasks that require only one person or two-people teams to complete?

Other companies want opportunities that will teach their employees a skill, or enhance their existing skills. What if your needs do not match this desire?

NPO managers are not required to satisfy their corporate volunteer programs’ needs. NPOs do not have to invest tasks and projects to meet their requirements. If you have work that matches what a company wants for their employee volunteers, then great. Let them go get it done! If not, offer an alternative.

You’re in charge—there’s no need to fill someone’s made-to-order volunteer desires. Ask for their help in getting your goals met. Offer alternatives that might make both sides happy. Break up large projects into smaller ones that can work over a longer term. Alternatively, group smaller projects into a work day that a corporate team can attend together.

Finding ways to fulfill both sides’ needs is important when corporate volunteer programs come calling. NPOs can’t alienate supporters, but they also shouldn’t let them dictate the terms of engagement.

Budget cuts at the state and local levels are having a huge adverse effect on nonprofits all over the country. Couple budget cuts with the reality that grant makers expect to give fewer grants in 2010, and you have a recipe for another difficult year for nonprofits.

Fundraisers and nonprofit directors need to look at alternative income streams to replace traditional sources operating funds like grants, individual donations, and state funding.

Here are a few ideas for alternative income sources:

1. Earned revenue. The profits from a product or service that people will pay for is a great way to raise needed funds.  A separate, for-profit company is sometimes needed to do this. Some nonprofits open coffee or ice cream shops. Arts organizations set up historic-area or architecture tours in their cities to earn tourist dollars. Others publish books, print t-shirts and mugs, or open thrift stores. The possibilities are endless, with a little imagination.

2. Major gifts. Developing relationships with philanthropic organizations or community groups is crucial. Find out who has money to give and make sure they know your organization’s mission and needs.

3. Rent out empty space. If there are empty offices in your building, offer them to entrepreneurs, other nonprofits, or professionals.

4. Sell assets. Are there assets you own that are not increasing in value or earning a return? If your NPO has not already done its spring cleaning, it may be time to look at what assets you can sell. Vehicles, parking lots, vacant lots, buildings–they should all be considered.

5. Diversifying your outreach. Social media is the answer to getting your organization’s message out to the masses. Smart phones are the new information delivery system, but consumers will only let in information they want or trust. Make friends and fans by setting up Facebook and Twitter accounts, and gather your supporters’ cell phone numbers as a way of mobilizing them when you need to.

6. Diversify your fundraising. Try sponsoring a fun run, a 5K or even a long-distance run. Get a booth at a community event and sell something: t-shirts, hand-crafted items, or food (cupcakes, candy, brownies, or ice cream.)

Creativity and diversifying will be the keys to increasing your nonprofit’s income in  2010!

The recession has been extremely difficult on charitable organizations, and many have not survived. To avoid shutting their doors, many are opening their minds to new possibilities—also known as “survival tactics.” Reports show that increasingly, nonprofits around the country are turning to collaborations, partnerships, and mergers.

One California program that helps special needs individuals through horseback riding thrived for fifteen years—until the economy tanked. Instead of shutting down, they found a sister organization the works with children and adults with disabilities, and after many, many hours of talking and planning, they merged into one new streamlined organization.

In Washington State, a youth-services organization faced extreme cuts in state funding that threatened to close its doors forever. The outlook was dire for the young people who counted on the services it provided, including a homeless youth shelter, foster program, and family counseling services. Luckily, a financially stable family-service organization stepped in. By taking over half of the youth service organization’s programs, the cash-strapped organization bought some time to reorganize and survive—without loss of services.

Whether it’s to improve finances, gain a wider range of services or additional expertise, mergers can be an ideal solution for nonprofit organizations. But mergers take a great deal of focus, planning, and dedication on the part of board members, staff, management, and volunteers.

Nonprofits collaborate in other money-saving ways these days—like sharing space. As budgets are slashed, personnel is often the first area targeting when cutting expenses. Fewer staff means less space needed. And that extra space is being filled by sister organizations.

Sharing rent, utility bills and administrative staff is a great way for nonprofits to reduce expenses. Plus, there’s the spark of new energy and ideas, a broadening of service offerings, and one-stop shopping for clients needing more services that make collaboration a great way to survive the down economy for nonprofits.

The top ten rated U.S. cites for volunteering are: Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN; Portland, OR; Salt Lake City, UT; Seattle, WA; Kansas City, MO; Columbus, OH; Oklahoma City, OK; Hartford, CT; Denver, CO; and Washington, DC.

Numbers range from 38.4% of all residents volunteering in Minneapolis-St. Paul (908,900 volunteers) to 30.9% of residents (1.3 million volunteers) in Washington.

The top ten rated US states for volunteering are: Utah, Nebraska, Minnesota, Alaska, Iowa, Montana, South Dakota, Kansas, Vermont, and North Dakota.

Here’s how the state numbers break down: from Utah, with an average annual volunteer rate of 43.5% and 817,200 volunteers to North Dakota, with an average volunteer rate of 35% and 174,800 volunteers.

The top activities performed by volunteers were fundraising, collecting and distributing food, general labor, tutoring and teaching, mentoring youth, and management.

The bottom five states? Mississippi, Louisiana, Florida, Nevada, and New York. Their numbers range from 20.9% to 18.7% of their residents volunteering.

National trends show 60.8 million volunteers, for a rate of 26.2%. The total number of hours volunteered is estimated at 8.1 billion. The places with the highest number of volunteers are religious organizations (35.7%) and educational or youth service organizations (26.7%).

As the economy continues its climb out of recession, volunteers will continue to serve a vital role in the work and success of U.S. non profit organizations.

Source: Volunteering In America

Volunteering appears to prove the saying, “’tis better to give than to receive.” While most volunteers’ intentions are solely to help others, researchers say that the benefits to the volunteers are also numerous.

Studies indicate a high correlation between health and volunteering. Volunteers have lower mortality rates, greater functional ability and lower rates of late-life depression than individuals who do not volunteer.

Older volunteers seem to receive the most benefit, likely because they are more likely to suffer health problems in the first place. Volunteering provides physical and social activity, as well as a sense of purpose. This is imperative to seniors, because those aspects of their lives tend to wane as we age. And the more one volunteers, the higher the level of benefit!

This is important to non profit managers and volunteer recruiters because the Baby Boomer generation is now reaching retirement age. This group is all about staying healthy and living a full life. So, advertising the fact that volunteering has numerous benefits could help in recruiting volunteers—especially in the Baby Boomer group.

The study even showed that chronic pain sufferers experienced lower levels of pain and depression when they began to serve as peer volunteers for other chronic pain sufferers.

Better health leads to higher rates of volunteerism; volunteering leads to better health. The cycle continues and sustains itself—good news for non profit organizations that need volunteers!

The study also indicates that the benefits of volunteering do not start to kick in until a threshold of one to two hours per week is reached. So, tout the health benefits of volunteering in your outreach efforts—and be ready for your phone to start ringing!

Tap into a group you might not have considered for volunteers: kids! Many parents and guardians are encouraging their children to volunteer during their downtime. More and more high schools require volunteer projects to graduate. Community giving days and National Volunteer Week focus attention on nonprofits. Is yours ready to take advantage of the increase in younger volunteers?

Nearly any charity can use the skills and time of young people. Certainly, if your nonprofit’s mission is driving seniors to appointments or delivering furniture to the needy, you won’t naturally think of using kids to perform your routine tasks. But thinking outside the box can spur ideas to involve kids. And the more ways you find to teach kids to give of themselves, the more ways your nonprofit can benefit.

What are some ways younger people can help? Basic tasks are best for the smallest children. Older kids can take on more responsibility. Here are a few ideas:

Sorting: most kids can handle sorting at an early age. Do you have donations from a clothing or coat drive sitting in piles? Ask kids to group them in whatever way you need: size, season, gender. Look around your offices and warehouse areas to see what needs organizaing, and have a kid sort it out for you.

Boxing: Kids can handle boxing up food from a food drive, supplies for the homeless shelter, or even stacks of paperwork for year-end storage.

Light cleaning: Put a broom in a child’s hand and let him or her go to it. Have a youngster clean the glass door to your facility. Hand a kid a dust cloth and ask them to wipe down the common areas of your office. Keep things safe: no lifting, ladders, or use of chemical cleaners. Kids might not do as thorough a job as you would like—but the idea is to encourage them to give of their time and use up some energy.

Serving clients: kids can bring smiles to your clientele and other volunteers, just by offering to help. Older kids can help serve meals; baking cookies is a great way to involve the little ones.

Reading: if your charity serves youth, perhaps you can arrange for older kids to read to groups of your kids. Conversely, older folks enjoy visits and reading from kids, too.

Everyone benefits when young people catch the volunteer bug. And just knowing they’ve helped out can be a huge boost to a kid’s confidence. You never know how many lives you can change by reaching out to younger volunteers!

Last week we reported on the year-end picture for charitable giving: traditional holiday gifts to non profits are likely to be way down in 2009 over 2008. But the study revealed some other interesting statistics, too. Using the data wisely to change your non profit’s year end strategy could be an effective way to boost income.

This year, successful non profits are using the recession as a starting point to re-establish relationships and appeal to new and existing donors. The difference is in the message: avoiding the same, stale, year-end letter is essential. Donors and potential supporters are weary and wary this time of year. Everyone knows that non profits need help more than ever—but most people cannot give to every one of the dozens of appeals they receive this time of year.

So here’s some statistics you can use in your year-end holiday appeal: the same charitable giving study reveals that fully three-quarters of Americans surveyed would prefer to receive gifts that help others, rather than traditional holiday clothing, and electronics. And, an overwhelming majority—95%—want the nation’s holiday focus to be on helping children. A message that speaks to the heart of the recipient could go a long way to standing out from the crowd—and being more effective. The fact is that your donors might not know that most of the folks on their holiday gift list would rather see them give a needy organization a donation than give them a present.

So don’t send out the same message this year to your supporters and donors. You can help make gift-giving much easier—and maybe even increase your donations—simply by pointing out that giving gifts of charity and helping children in need is what everyone on their list really wants this year.

2009 has been a tough year for non profits and charities all over the United States. And unfortunately, the traditional year-end bump that most receive will not likely happen this year.

As the economy sputters back to life, unemployment is higher than ever—and wallets are snapping shut. Doing without is the new trend, and giving to charities is just not possible for countless Americans.  For those whose incomes have been slashed and are out of work, the incentive of a tax deduction for charitable giving is not at all important.

Giving to a charity as an alternative to buying a gift is not as widespread as last year. A new report commissioned by World Vision says that only 38% of Americans are more likely to give to charity as a gift to another this year—in 2008, that figure was 49%.

Practicality has replaced philanthropy, as holiday gift-givers focus on providing treats to those who have done without them all year, or on giving basic necessities to friends and family who have not been able to afford them.

The good news is that most of those surveyed  for the report plan to increase giving when they can—a full 74% said “yes” when asked if they would increase charitable contributions when the economy improves.

In this economic downturn, non profits have experienced a double-whammy: the need for their services has increased while donors’ ability to give has been significantly cut. The same number of people are donating to charity, but they are giving fewer dollars. Even the nation’s most successful charities expect a 9% decline in income for 2009.  The American Heart Association ended its fiscal year on June 30 with donations down by almost 12%.

Luckily, the AHA saw an increase in both  the number of individual donors and the number of volunteers—a sign that folks still want to help, even if they can only give small amounts of cash or their time.

As non profits climb out of the deep hole created by the recession, volunteer managers and fundraisers are more than a little weary. But some have used the recession to get creative when asking donors for help.

In Virginia, an art museum asked its top donors to give even more so it could eliminate its entry fee and open the museum to everyone, regardless of ability to pay. Believing that the economic situation was exactly the time when folks needed access to art, four donors gave $150,000—and the fee was eliminated.

But free admission created another issue: how to appease the members whose annual fees give them the important perk of unlimited entry? The museum approached the problem with a creative solution: they changed their marketing message to help members understand all the other benefits they receive, such as invitations to special exhibits and events, and to point out that it is their membership fees that are helping others enjoy the museum.  The museum also instituted an entry fee for four special exhibitions per year, which members could still attend for free.

How is it working? The first week of September, when free admission began, saw three times the usual attendance and double the voluntary donations at the museum’s door.

Other non profit organizations are polishing up their donor and volunteer relationships. The head of a youth services foundation in Washington decided that the economic slump was not the time to do just an annual report or stage the same tired annual fundraising event. Personal cards and more frequent updates kept the charity’s name top of mind throughout the year. And when it was time for the annual fundraising event, she took a bold step by ramping it up into an elegant affair—a big change from the simple thank-you dinner of years past.

Instead of charging nothing to attend and hoping for donations at the event, the organization hired an exclusive caterer and held the function in the nicest ballroom in town. They charged $75 per ticket, and quickly sold out. Additional fundraisers at the event brought in even more cash. And, she had more volunteers than ever before, because the event was more fun than ever before!

The lesson as we come through the end (hopefully) of the recession is to be bold, come up with new ideas, and go big! Put your non profit ahead by giving people something to talk about.