Question: Why is it that all nonprofits surge to the year-end final quarter like the finish line in a horse race trying to glean ‘end of year tax deductions’ and ‘year end recaps of good deeds’…(other than the obvious bank book juggling)
Personally, I’m a bit tapped and spent by years’ end…and the competition is fierce so this doesn’t make much sense to me. But what do I know? Evidently, Network for Good earns 40% of their revenue at this time…
I’ve heard this is ‘common practice’ with all nonprofits targeting the same pockets like vultures circling roadkill. Bleh. No carrion for me. But I’ll no doubt ‘live and learn.’ As a newbie nonprofit that hasn’t started the hand-extended give push yet (I hate that stuff) I figure if I plop a paypal ‘donate’ button on this blog in 2008 and send out an e-blast that we’re seeking support, we’ll simply see what comes of it to add into the private donor and grant mix…
If it’s nada, I’ll continue to pay myself through my own creative endeavors until we get our rev gen efforts stabilized for all of these programs, and selective/ethical sponsor traction, since most are opportunistically inclined…Translated?
They may be big and bold ‘players’ but they’re not necessarily the partnerships I’M seeking…sigh.
Yeah, ok, I know, dear angel investors, I’m a stubborn soul, but you still love me for my integrity, yes? (please say yes?)
Anyway, I just received this one (visual above) from the American Lung Assn., with the headline, “one more tax deduction for 2007”…
Um…gosh…Is that what having a 501c3 is ALL about? Not exactly a purposeful passionista plea. Fell flat with me…
Maybe that’s for the high rollers who need the write-off in a big way.
Sheesh. They sure didn’t ‘target market’ me properly as a prior donor with personal family history in the lung cancer/donor driven breathing front…
You’d think they’d tap into a specialized filter there in some manner tabbing me as a high end ‘likely’ bracket…
Instead, it seemed so ‘corporate shill’ and bureaucratic that I ended up giving to my animal causes instead…
Sure, they gave the standard ‘why to buy’ (the need for ‘better breathing’ in 2008) with a four-point bullet list of where the donor dollars will go, and a techie-programmed personalized plea…but it was just so…sterile and contrived.
“Amy, please make your tax-deductible gift online before midnight on December 31.”
Um…so if it’s 12:01 do you NOT want my donation?
Ok, I’m a copywriter, I get testy on these things…
PLUS, Shaping Youth just received our ‘official 501c3 status’ to segue out of being a ‘fiscal agency/nonprofit’ and acquired our own fed tax i.d. # as a corporation…so I’m a bit sensitive.
After all, I realize the gist of it for some folks is to give carte blanche to a cause, declare the donation, and have the recipient take the money and run.
But…Bleh. How crass…
Ok, I know, I veer toward the ‘have fun, do good’ camp where you can SEE the solutions coming to pass by enrolling people in a movement rather than just tap those swift clicks of a pen.
To paraphrase a task/accomplishment strategy, managers say ‘GO’ true leaders say ‘Let’s Go’…It’s about creating meaningful alliances that engage people in your work so they WANT to help you…After all, mobilization and leadership are much like persuasive marketing.
It’s why you can sniff out a PR flak spinning headlines into an empty vessel of nothingness, as opposed to the quantifiable engagement that many of the animal cause sites have pinged me with repeatedly showing creativity, good use of funding and value/fun…
For example, the HSUS “chimpanality” quiz was a brilliant use of social media for youth outreach and personalization enabling people to care and learn about the cause at a more intimate, personal level…
So…I reiterate…”Rule #1…know your audience.” Therefore:
Who are you out there? Who’s reading this?
We’ve found our readers are all over the board from parents and academics/educators to marketers, corporate techie innovation gurus and nonprofits, collegiate students starting out…gamers, media pros, teens…
C’mon reveal yourself!
Help us out here…Tell us…Why do YOU read Shaping Youth?
What are your favorite topics?
What would you like to see more of?
What do you wish would go away?
Keep in mind we’re striving to be solutions-driven rather than just carping and complaining, so we see every negative as a positive…positioning for future ideas and subject matter that will attract, engage, and inspire.
Weigh in here!
It’s YOUR voice and vision that we’re building upon to meld into action-based programs! What are your concerns? Youth conundrums? Media and marketing bugaboos that you wish would channel more productively?
We’re anxious to hear…
Thanks for tuning in throughout 2007, we’re notably excited about all we have to offer in the coming year ahead…even slightly delayed in launching some of our main programs to the public due to all the USPTO/patent/trademark bureaucratic garbagà¨.
We’ll do it…
As pundit Paul Sweeney said, “How can a society that exists on instant mashed potatoes, packaged cake mixes, frozen dinners, and instant cameras teach patience to its young?”
I dunno. Let’s find out…Patience, dear readers, patience.
As Rufus/Chaka Khan would say, “Tell me somethin’ good…”
Or bad. Or not. Any feedback will do. Happy New Year, world. Talk to me…
Just found your blog through Beth’s blog. I love your attitude about donations. As an ’emerging non-profit’, we really dislike the industry surrounding doing good. It seems to us that too many resources are wasted on the formulas for getting money. We would like figure out how to accomplish our mission without paying to attend seminars on writing a good fund raising letter.
I’ll be reading your blog regularly. Thank you!
And I’ll be surfing on over to yours!
Gosh, thank you, Jeanne…I thought I was the only one that felt this way…
I KNOW $$ is a ‘necessary evil’ and all that, but your point about seminars is SPOT ON…For example:
I wanted to send an eager media volunteer to a grant writing seminar and it was almost $1000 which I can’t afford!
Instead, we’ll whittle down to a one-day snapshot/overview seminar for her, allocate some basic funds, and go back to the grind of outreach to those who ‘already are in the know’ so we don’t have to scrounge from scratch.
See why as a nonprofit I’ve bypassed most of the ‘traditional’ channels except a mini-grant here and there?
Too bureaucratic, too ‘thread the needle’-focused.
Seems I’ve wasted TONS of time/hope/effort and people power to write a bang-up grant only to receive some lame excuse like, “you’re too new” or an oopsie like “we’ve already given one grant to your city this year” as a lame obfuscation & dismissal that has nothing to do with merit.
Argh. Don’t get me started…