Robert L. Weiner: Nonprofit Fundraising Technology Consulting » Nonprofit Management

Predictions for Nonprofit Fundraising Technology in 2012

Robert — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 18:25:00 +0000

NTEN published my somewhat snarky predictions for nonprofits' use of fundraising technologies in 2012. My overall predictions are that most things will be pretty much the same as last year (and 2010 and 2009, etc.): many nonprofits will struggle with out-of-date systems. No surprise -- many will also lack the funding to replace them. But others will fail to see that technology, and people who know how to support and use technology, are necessary investments.

On the other hand, many organizations (and this by no applies just to nonprofits) will throw money and time at trendy projects without thinking about whether they're the right tools, with the right strategy, investment, support, or marketing behind them. By all means, try new things. But do it smartly. Do your homework, test, learn from others, learn from your own failures, and get better at it over time. And don't neglect what's already working for you.

New article: Take Control of your Organization’s Data

Robert — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 23:11:54 +0000

NTEN just published a short piece of mine on data management in their Change magazine. It's in their DIY series -- short tips for implementing something for your organization without extensive tech know-how or extra budget. The topic they gave me was managing decentralized data entry.

Going from Accidental Techie to Technology Leader

Robert — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 22:59:14 +0000

I just wrote a guest blog post for NTEN on the topic of moving from an accidental techie role to a leadership role. Last July, Holly Ross wrote that it was time to retire the phrase "accidental techie". She said, "it's not very nice to call anyone an accidental anything. What's really gotten under my skin lately, though, is that as long as someone is an 'accidental' techie, they're going to have a heck of a time being taken seriously."

I agreed, but only to an extent. On one hand, those who decide that technology will be their vocations need to push for roles and titles that reflect what they really do. They're ready to graduate from their apprenticeships. But many accidental techies don't want to become intentional/professional/full-time techies. And some may love the tech part of their jobs, but it will remain a small, incidental (accidental?) part of what they do.

My article is meant for those who want to stop being accidental and move into a technology leadership role. Here's what I had to say: http://www.nten.org/blog/2011/02/01/going-accidental-techie-technology-leader

The Idealware Research Fund

Robert — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 09:59:03 +0000

My friends at Idealware have created a new fund to support their research. Many of Idealware's reports have been funded by foundations and some have had corporate sponsorship. As you probably know, neither foundation nor corporate support is a reliable funding source these days. In addition, since Idealware must maintain its independence in order to produce their high-quality, unbiased reports and product comparisons, some potential funding sources are simply off limits.

Their goal is to raise $15,000. The fund will allow Idealware "to build on (their) base of more than four years and hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of software research to provide the new resources that nonprofits need most, like information about social media tools, mobile text messaging, constituent databases, and more." If you want to support them as well, you can do so on the Research Fund's fundraising page.

(Full disclosure: I have contributed to some of Idealware's reports, and they have even paid me for advice.)

Taking Advantage of a Crisis

Robert — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 03:59:04 +0000

Although some recent news stories have reported postive economic signs, the outlook for the nonprofit sector still looks bleak. Target Analytics' Index of National Fundraising Performance for the first quarter of 2009 had nothing but bad news.

All key metrics declined for the index as a whole for the first quarter of 2009 as compared to the first quarter of 2008. All of the industry sectors analyzed in the index had revenue declines over this period, and all but one sector had declines in donors as well. For the first time since the index began in 2002, overall revenue per donor declined; revenue per donor declines were experienced by two-thirds of the organizations in the index.

But to paraphrase Rahm Emanuel (who was apparently paraphrasing Stanford economist Paul Romer), "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste." Chip Grizzard of Grizzard Communications Group makes this point in a recent article on AFP's website. Grizzard says that "when others scale back on their fundraising efforts, it presents an opportunity to cut through the clutter for those that stay the course." He advises nonprofits to "embrace integrated marketing, focus on donor retention, increase monthly giving, and ramp up or start a planned giving program." Kevin Johnson of Retriever Development Counsel makes similar points in discussing why nonprofits should not cut back on their fundraising efforts now. He says:

NTEN’s Online CIO Conference in September

Robert — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 03:59:03 +0000

Want to build your IT leadership skills without a travel budget? Our friends at NTEN are launching a 2-day virtual conference for nonprofit IT leaders. I'm thrilled to see this. I think there's a big need for a "mini-MBA" for nonprofit chief information officers (CIOs), particularly those who came up through the ranks.

NTEN describes the conference as follows:

New Survey: America’s Nonprofits in Danger

Robert — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 16:19:38 +0000

The Nonprofit Finance Fund just published a survey on how the economic downturn is affecting nonprofits' current and long-term finances. Their conclusions are scary. According to the executive summary,

Only 12% expect to operate above break-even this year.

Just 16% anticipate being able to cover their operating expenses in both 2009 and 2010.

31% don’t have enough operating cash in hand to cover more that one month of expenses, and another 31% have less than three months’ worth.

52% of respondents expect the recession to have a long-term (2+ years) or permanent negative financial effect on their organizations.

93% of lifeline organizations that provide essential services anticipate an increase in demand in 2009.

The report makes it sounds like a significant number of nonprofits are about to close their doors. That may be true, but after reading the details I was reluctant to jump to that conclusion. Over half of the respondents were from organizations with budgets under $2 million, and 25% had budgets below $500K. I wonder what a a longitudinal study would reveal about questions like "We are concerned about meeting next month's expenses," "We are concerned with meeting expenses for 2009," and "(We only have) enough (reserves) to cover 1 month of expenses." I expect that many of the small organizations they surveyed might have said the same thing in past years as well.

I'm not trying to be a Pollyanna here. I expect that we'll see a lot of closures or mergers, particularly among small nonprofits. But I believe that many of those organizations were unsustainable before the downturn.

A summary of the survey is available at http://www.nonprofitfinancefund.org/content.php?autoID=166

The full results are at http://www.nonprofitfinancefund.org/docs/2009/SurveyResults.pdf