The NonProfit Times - August 15, 2008 - (Page 12) Atlanta Luring Major Charities International airport, educated workforce, comparative costs are cited BY NATALIE GHIDOTTI ome are dubbing it the new nonprofit Mecca, and Atlanta’s civic leaders are just fine with that label. Atlanta has always been a draw for nonprofits. There are 7,500 nonprofits in the metro Atlanta area, according to the Georgia Center for Nonprofits.And during the past 15 years a number of national nonprofits moved headquarters operations to the city. Points of Light & Hands On Network announced at the end of January that the newly merged organization would locate its headquarters in Atlanta, the original home of the Hands On Network. Habitat for Humanity International, which has always been based in Americus, Ga., about three hours south of Atlanta, announced in 2006 that the nonprofit would move its administrative headquarters to the big city. Other mega nonprofits have made their home in Atlanta for years: the Arthritis Foundation moved to Atlanta in 1977, the American Cancer Society in 1987, CARE in 1993 and the Boys & Girls Clubs of America in 1994. “Clearly, Washington (D.C.) has been headquarters for many. But to see other national nonprofits making their home here in Atlanta -- that made it a logical opportunity for us,” said Michelle Nunn, CEO of the Points of Light & Hands On Network, of the organization’s recent decision to operate the merged staff in Atlanta -- Points of Light had been in Washington, D.C. City representatives and nonprofit executives who have made the move to Atlanta list many of the same reasons for the attraction.The highest on the list was quick and easy access to the country’s S busiest airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. For those nonprofits doing global business, access to direct flights to Europe, South America and Asia was cited as a motivation to move. “Ten years ago, the airport offered only a handful of direct flights to Latin America,” said Hans Gant, senior vice president of economic development for the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce. “Now, there are more than 35 direct flights to that area. And the direct flights to Africa have really picked up during the past two years. Nonprofits can now reach their constituents anywhere in the world quickly.That’s a huge perk.” Duane Bates, director of public and media relations for Habitat for Humanity International, agreed that Atlanta as a transportation hub is a huge selling point for national nonprofits. “We have established offices around the world. Having immediate access to such a large airport allows us to facilitate meetings with those offices much more efficiently and economically.” Atlanta’s crime issues, which according to Sperling’s Best Places outpaced New York City’s, haven’t detracted nonprofits from seeking out the Southern city. For example, on a scale of one to 10 for violent crime, New York City rates a six while Atlanta gets a nine from Sperling’s. Greg Donaldson, national vice president for corporate communications with the American Cancer Society, said the crime rates were considered a wash compared to the many benefits of moving from New York City to Atlanta during the late 1980s. “The key criteria were that the city chosen have Atlanta Luring Major Charities, page 14 Atlanta officials gave the American Cancer Society a variance so it could build one story taller, six stories total, than permitted in a section of the city. ‘DONATE NOW’ PROCESSING Continued from page 11 ended June 30, by contrast, online contributions had fallen to $4.3 million of the $117 million the flowed from private sources.Vice President of Marketing and Communications Adam Hicks said, however, that online giving has risen about 50 percent annually in recent years when extraordinary events are excluded. Other groups got the message.“For us, the tsunami was a wakeup call,” said Carolyn O’Brien, senior vice president of the medical relief agency AmeriCares in Stamford, Conn. “Until then, the Web was not used purposely as a fundraising tool.” Last year, about $1 million of the $20 million in cash contributions -- the large majority of its total budget comes as in-kind donations – was generated from the Web, about 80 percent of it from people who previously mailed in checks. O’Brien said AmeriCares is now experimenting with different ways to ramp up the total.“At a minimum, you want people to think of you during the next disaster,”she said.” Due to the immediacy factor alone, Wisconsin Public Television has seen year-end giving grow “from a bump to a spike,” said Miskowski. For those willing to take the plunge, dozens of vendors have sales pitches warmed up and ready to put in gear. Some, notably Blackbaud, Kin- tera and Convio, sell online donation capability only as part of a larger donor management software package and not separately. Others list different features and widely divergent price lists. With dozens of vendors in the field, competition has sharpened. Google, for example, offers its Checkout system free for nonprofits through the end of this year. PayPal, a division of eBay, made donations to organizations under certain conditions. “Negotiate the terms, especially as your volume grows,” said Hall of the Alzheimer’s Foundation. Quinn cited a list of factors to consuder in her widely quoted Donate Now buying guide written in October 2005 for Idealware, including: • Merchant bank fees. Although a somewhat esoteric detail, Quinn said this makes a good starting point for comparison shopping because some vendors require you to use their accounts while others require you to open your own. Some go both ways. Vendors handle the paperwork and customer service questions for their own accounts, and could be cheaper for smaller organizations. With inhouse accounts, organizations receive their money within five days rather than in batch payments once or twice a month, capturing that extra interest income due to the shorter float. The nonprofit’s name also goes on the donor’s credit card statement. Either way, there will be flat or percentage transaction fees. • Start up charges. These can range from nothing to tens of thousands of dollars for some of the full donor management software package providers.As a related issue, some systems are do-it-yourself simple, some require outside help. • Monthly fees. These usually run less than $100. • Transaction fees. These are calculated either as a percentage of each donation amount, or a flat fee per transaction or both. This is where it becomes especially important to understand donation patterns, because the best vendor for a few donations at high dollar amounts might be the worst for a lot of small donations. • Reliability. Although hard to measure objectively, it is widely recommended that nonprofits ask for a vendor’s financial results and client list. Next, independently check at least the client list. Experts suggest requiring daily updates of contribution lists so that the nonprofit does not lose valuable information in the event the vendor shuts down or drops the business suddenly. Five years ago, nonprofits were initially out $17.7 million when the San Francisco payment processor PipeVine collapsed. Although the losses were largely eliminated later, experts say this situation would not likely recur because it controlled the funds more than vendors in the market today. • Personality. Most vendors will design a payment page to look like it is a part of the organization’s Web site, even if the vendor is hosting it on its own servers. Development officials strongly endorse this feature, rather than dumping a donor on a different looking page to fill in the credit card information. • Security. Everybody offers it, yet fundraisers say this is still the largest concern donors have about giving online. “This is not an area you should skimp on,” said Hall of the Alzheimer’s Foundation. Once the online capability is put in place, the experience has varied among those drawing new donors compared to moving donors from paper to the Web. Further, said Hicks of CARE, “There is a phenomenon in the nonprofit world not talked about much of people making their first gift online, then subsequent gifts by check.” For that reason, he said CARE has pursued a strategy of making the online option available as one of several donation avenues, rather than trying to herd donors in that direction. NPT AUGUST 15, 2008 THE NONPROFIT TIMES www.nptimes.com http://www.nptimes.com
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.