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Everything needs a well-oiled engine to keep it running at optimum power!  And, nonprofit organizations are no exception. The engine of nonprofit organizations is the invaluable support of its volunteers. No matter what type of nonprofit organization, human services, faith-based, schools, political, or advocacy, they all rely strongly on their core of enthusiastic, dedicated volunteers.

Most volunteers focus their time, energy, talent and passion solely to one group, while many will be involved with several.  According to The Chronicle of Philanthropy, August 7, 2008,  35.7% are involved with religious causes; 26.7 education; 13.3% social services; 8% health; 6% civic; 3.5% sports; and rounding it out with 6.8% involved in other causes.  

As for exactly what they do when they volunteer, Chronicle states 27.9% fund raise, 24.5% collect/distribute food, 21.4% general labor, and 20.5% tutor/teach.  And, when people give of their time, 34% of those volunteers donated more than 100 hours, which was the highest proportion since 2002.  Another interesting misconception is that people are more likely to volunteer when they have more leisure time.  It is the other way around.  Just goes to prove the old saying “ask a busy person to do something, and it will get done”.

Why do people volunteer? Yes, altruism (willingness of people to work on behalf of others without being motivated by financial gain) is the most prevalent reason, but many do so to enhance their social networking, family values, belief in community service, and even to learn new skills!  Most people know how their organizations benefit from their service. However, most volunteers feel that they receive more than they are giving in terms of the ‘feel-good’ they get from providing their time and talents to worthy causes.

As a volunteer it is extremely important, when considering giving of your valuable time and energies, that you check out whether the organization you are about to commit to provides: 
•    Leadership giving clear direction;
•    Functional volunteer job descriptions, including job responsibilities;
•    Training;
•    Team coordination;
•    Mutual agreement of expectations and time commitments;
Without these elements in place, volunteers are often blind-sighted with their enthusiasm stifled, and their continued commitment is short-lived, much to the detriment of the organization.
 

Here's just a few great volunteer opportunities right here in our own backyard:
Habitat for Humanity Rogue Valley and its ReStore, www.roguevalleyhabitat.org,
Hearts With A Mission (homeless youth shelter under construction in Medford), www.heartswithamission.org, WinterSpring Center for Transforming Loss & Grief, www.winterspring.org. Also, check out volunteering organizations and websites via: www.VolunteerMatch.org; www.idealist.org; www.CraigsList.com.

So, if volunteering is something new or you’ve been giving of yourself for years, the world will be, or certainly is, a better place because of your efforts!

Carpe Diem, Joy & Larry

Joy & Larry Marshall are managing directors of Marshall Fundraising Management, www.MarshallFundRaising.com (541-488-3121)

Tags: Doing Well By Doing Good

There is an old saying in fundraising that is absolutely true:  “People don’t give to causes.  People give to people with causes”.  If you think back to the number of times you have been compelled to open your heart and your wallet, it was because someone you respected, or cared about, shared with you their passion about a particular mission or cause.  Fundraising is all about relationships first.

Joy:
When I was working with the Children’s Miracle Network’s, children’s hospital foundations, heading many fundraising and special events programs, we built our “friend-raising” programs (as a prelude to effective “fundraising”) around tours of the hospitals to show them first-hand the medical miracles happening every day. For most people, visiting a hospital didn’t seem like a particularly fun thing to do, especially to see ‘sick kids’!  But, when they saw the smiles on many of their faces, even some terminally-ill who were sometimes spending a good part of their young lives there instead of at home with their families and friends, it was magical! Our visitors also saw the positive enthusiasm of the highly professional, compassionate staff and physicians.  Usually when the tour was finished (many in tears) would exclaim, “Wow, that was amazing, how can I/we help”.

Raising money is the back-bone of a nonprofit organization (NPO); it is the engine that runs their programs, but certainly not the main objective. People in our country truly care about each other, despite what the nightly news sometimes has us believing!  According to Giving USA 2008, a publication of the Giving USA Foundation, American fundraising reached $360 billion in 2007…and, that’s a lot of caring!  Giving is 2.2 percent of our gross domestic product, remaining for another year above the 40-year average of 1.8 percent.  With our world becoming ever smaller due to the Internet and all the other new media, our caring for others has reached global magnitudes as well.

 So, for many, their expression of caring begins with the desire to give…whether it’s of themselves as a volunteer of time, or to open up the ol’ wallet!  But with so many organizations that all seem so worthy, how do you know if you are really making a difference?  There are many ways today that you can check out the NPO’s viability.  Go to their website, review it, are your questions answered there as to their mission and goals?  Go to such NPO donation websites as Guide Star’s Network for Good (www.NetworkforGood.org),  GoodSearch (www.GoodSearch.com) and Charity Navigator (www.CharityNavigator.com), etc.  Call the organization and ask them specifics about how their organization is structured, and the credentials of their staff, and affiliations of members of their Board. They should be very willing to address your questions.   Ask them about their ‘outcomes’…if they are a shelter for stray animals, let’s say, ask them how many animals on a yearly basis they are placing in new homes, etc.  Also, one of the key things to look for is their ‘cost of raising a dollar’.  A good rule of thumb in checking to see if the organization is running a ‘tight ship’ is to check on their revenue to expense ratio.   It should be no more than 25 cents on the dollar, otherwise their expenses are running on the high side indicating a need for better management.

 It’s also interesting to note that when giving to the NPO, individuals make up the biggest percentage of the pie by far at about 78%, with Foundations (grants) around 10%, willed gifts (bequests) and corporate gifts rounding it out with the final 12%.  Are your surprised?  We individuals carry more philanthropic clout than Bill Gates’ or Warren Buffett’s foundations combined!

 As we mentioned in last month’s column, here in the Rogue Valley, we have a very caring community with a proliferation of nonprofit organizations (over 7,700 of them now vs. 950 only 12 years ago!) all needing our assistance…and perhaps, now more than ever, we need to ‘stretch’ our own personal resources, whether it be from our own cache of time or treasure chest, to help those who so desperately need a hand up!  Search your heart for how you would like to make a difference in your world and team with an organization that is worthy of your passion!

 Carpe Diem!  Joy & Larry

 Larry and Joy are the managing directors
Marshall Fundraising Management.
www.MarshallFundraising.com | 488-3121

“Harambee” is Swahili for “Let’s Get Together and Push”

We love this word!  It says so much and whether you’ve ever heard it before or not, this is what the Rogue Valley is all about!  This global concept used here so well in the Rogue Valley, at a grass-roots level, is vital to the enrichment and sustainability of our giving communities. The generosity of its citizens in giving of their money, time and effort, has never ceased to amaze and inspire us.

What is “Fundraising”?   What does it enable nonprofit organizations (NPOs) to do, and what makes some projects/programs successful - - or not, are some of the subjects we’ll be addressing in this monthly column. We’ll discuss how NPOs come about, how they are organized and managed, and how they develop their programs, and then must be supported through funding, including grants, individual donors, and the general public.

This community really cares!  It has fostered the growth of a myriad of NPOs and the number has swelled over the past several years. Dee Anne Everson, Executive Director of the United Way of Jackson County, has told us that there were about 950 NPOs 12 years ago; today there are over 7,700! Obviously, with this many charities vying for the attention and funding of supporters, many, with very noble causes, have been unsuccessful in fulfilling their missions. We are finding that many are more similar than dissimilar and, quite often, it’s very difficult to distinguish their differences. We feel there should be more program and fundraising collaboration, alliances, and possibly even mergers of some of these individual entities to make them more cost-effective and financially stable.

To be successful and credible, NPOs must first, and continually, be building a strong network of supporters in creating ‘friend-raising’ programs first to garner awareness and visibility. You can’t just call someone on a list and ask them for money, just because you feel you have a worthy cause; you could, but most likely they aren’t going to give you any, or it may only be once!  Especially today, with an uncertain economy and ‘donor fatigue’, along with increased competition from other NPOs, now more than ever it’s about creating a long-term and lasting ‘relationship’.  Once you have identified that they share your concerns/beliefs; by staying in contact with them; learning about what is important to them; you can grow this relationship to one that ultimately will garner ‘fund-raising’ opportunities.

We’d like to have a dialogue with our readers, so we welcome your comments, suggestions & questions. Please send them to: info@MarshallFundraising.com
 
- Carpe Diem!     Larry & Joy Marshall

Larry and Joy are the managing diectors
Marshall Fundraising Management.
www.MarshallFundraising.com | 488-3121