News and Resources
Hospital and Health System Philanthropy E-Newsletter
Despite significant changes in the healthcare environment, philanthropists continue to invest in quality organizations and the health of their communities. The hard work of our community hospitals and health systems to balance special events, annual giving, as...
Long Tail of Giving Follows Short Online Fundraising Campaigns
A new trend is starting to emerge that provides nonprofits with yet another reason to ramp up their online and social media giving efforts – the “long tail” of giving that follows those short-burst online fundraising campaigns. The roughly 24- to 72-hour, mostly-online or online-only campaigns have already proven themselves to be excellent tools for … Continue reading »
"Shopping Cart" Approach to Online Giving
The average gift made online is more than $100 higher than the average direct mail gift and $150 higher than the average gift given via telemarketing. So it’s no surprise that colleges and universities are redoing their online giving websites to be more engaging and donor friendly. One method of achieving a more donor-friendly approach, is by mimicking the process that so many online consumers have grown accustomed to in the past decade – the online shopping cart.
Attacking Social Media “Slacktivists”
UNICEF Sweden is taking shots at its online supporters who, for example, “like” activity the organization posts on Facebook. A recent ad campaign from the Sweden branch of UNICEF is rather bluntly telling its supporters that so-called vanity actions on social networks – the likes, shares, pins, retweets, etc. – do nothing to further the … Continue reading »
Must read for our industry
Have you read Daniel Pink’s “To Sell is Human”? It is a great, quick read about the sociology, psychology, and mechanics of selling (defined by Pink as persuasion, rather than pure sales, per se). The book (check it out here) presents some terrific tactics for increasing effectiveness of moving others. This book is especially valuable […]
Emails That Don’t Ask – Online Fundraising Done Right
When producing an email for donors, the following are a couple tips for grabbing your supporters’ attention: Keep it short. Provide engaging content (like a video or an awesome picture). As often as possible, make it about the donor. Avoid making an ask in every email. As is often the case, the online team at … Continue reading »
Growing Pains in Community College Alumni Relations, and other Alumni Engagement News
CASE Study Reveals Growing Pains at Community College Alumni Relations Programs A recent CASE survey found that community colleges are likely to see an increase in giving when they track and engage their alumni. However, data indicate that two-year institutions have made minimal investments in staffing and resources to develop alumni relations programs. Other findings from the study […]
BWF Children's Healthcare Philanthropy E-Newsletter
Bentz Whaley Flessner is pleased to partner with many leading Children’s Hospitals. For more information on our work with Children’s Hospitals, please contact Healthcare Practice Leader Mark J. Marshall Best Children's Hospitals: Doctor Survey Ends The Best Children's...
The 3 Ps of Philanthropy
Judy Kirk, Senior Associate at Bentz Whaley Flessner, focuses on helping clients build stronger development programs and prepare for successful campaigns. She advises clients that a winning formula for success includes the Three Ps of Philanthropy: Passion, Planning,...
3 Quick Tips for Campaign Planning
Dennis Prescott, Senior Associate at Bentz Whaley Flessner, offers these 3 quick tips for clients planning a campaign: Prepare Well. Preparing well for a campaign starts with a sound feasibility study. Invest in Leadership. Create leadership structures with...
Why Investing in Social Media is Smart
Nowadays, when I’m asked “what’s the ROI on social media for fundraising?” I often respond with my own question – “that depends, what’s your investment?” Too often, organizations put a low-level employee or intern in charge of managing a Facebook page or Twitter account and claim that they’re active on social media. If that’s the … Continue reading »
Keep Calm
Some simple advice that has served the world well!
Smart, High-quality Content Leads to More Engaged Supporters
For years I’ve been preaching to audiences far and wide that “quality counts!” when producing online video. And for years, audiences have been pointing me toward videos that are grainy, hard to see, and even more difficult to comprehend …and those videos often earn tens of millions of YouTube views. Case in point, is the … Continue reading »
3 Tips for Producing Visual Facebook Content for Your Nonprofit’s Page
With the new Facebook News Feed, not having an image associated with your post means not being seen. Not being seen, means not being clicked on, and not being clicked on means EdgeRank will make it so few eyes other than your own ever experience the content you post to your organization’s Facebook page. So, … Continue reading »
Donors Augment University Hospitals' Profile
Health system has transformed itself into a fundraising behemoth that is almost on par with the Cleveland Clinic By TIMOTHY MAGAW Over the last decade, University Hospitals has built up not only its physical footprint but also its philanthropic muscle, morphing from a...