The NonProfit Times - December 15, 2008 - (Page 22) FACE TIME Continued from page 18 and unfortunately, our touch points are limited,” said O'Neill. Since she also manages a portfolio of major gift prospects and donors ($25,000+), smaller gifts such as those made via Causes “often don’t get as much time spent on the follow-up as we would like,” she said.The development office has a staff of almost 60 and aims to raise $80 million this fiscal year. O’Neill estimated that a majority of the donations through Causes come in without donor information. When larger donations are received with donor information -- usually $750 to $1,000 -- she replies with a personal email.“Everyone gets the tax receipt and a couple of sentences [from Network For Good], but I would love to develop something more personalized,”she said.Developing a more strategic standard system for handling Causes donations, including thank you and acknowledgements, is on the agenda for this year, O’Neill said. While it would be nice to get donor information, O’Neill said it’s not unlike an anonymous donation. “We’re grateful to even have this source of support because it’s not something we thought would be as successful as it has been,” she said. Causes donors are not added to a house list, O’Neill said, as the organization believes the best way to connect with them is electronically, rather than conventional direct mail.“We also feel that this is a relationship where solicitation isn’t something that we want to be heavy handed about with this group, though we would like to maybe excite donors to make gifts again by providing them updates on our progress,” she said.“We clearly think the online/e-communications is just the best way to communicate with this group.This is a very unique group, we wouldn’t want to have any type of outside solicitation or seem less personal or less project-oriented,” she said. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), which benefits from the third largest Cause (“Animal Rights”), has a huge social networking presence and a fairly wired population but no specific strategy for Facebook just yet because it’s so new, said Paul Phillips, online fundraising manager. He described as “in flux” how Causes fits within PETA’s “online toolbag.” Donations through the organization’s own Web site are always preferable to a third party so that will remain a priority, said Phillips. As a result, Causes ends up being a secondary way to get donations and probably won’t turn into a primary avenue. “I don’t think we’re alone in that boat,” he said. For PETA, Facebook is part of general outreach efforts so it’s not leveraged into a branch of online fundraising, Phillips said, but instead usually points back to its Web site for a more traditional fundraising channel. “We’re really at our infancy in taking full advantage of it,” he said. Phillips isn’t sure how Causes fits because PETA has a large online presence while it’s such a “new piece in the fundraising equation that it isn’t one that we would end up having as much control over” as a standard donation page or email, or any other donation channel. Even with a large Cause, there hasn’t been the quantity of donations to make a determination.“I imagine we’ll be able to answer that as time goes on. This time next year, we’ll have a clearer picture,” he said. Some nonprofits have a difficult enough time keeping a Webmaster, Phillips said, so they might not be able to take advantage for awhile. PETA is clearly one of the few most Web-savvy nonprofits, Christ said, and if they put Causes on a second tier of priority,“I wouldn’t argue with them.” He isn’t ready to take money out of a search optimization marketing campaign and put it into Facebook, but the $2.5 million Causes raised in its first year is a good start. “It’s small but how many nonprofits don’t have a budget of $2.5 million? The growth potential of that is not like a direct mail campaign. It’s not 10 to 20 percent, it could grow by ten- to twenty-fold in the current year, it has that potential,” he said. Christ expects the figure might be greater if you consider donors who visited the Cause but then perhaps donated directly by mail or through the organization’s site. Too many organizations are flirting with cool, fun things online and not focusing on fundamentals, Christ said, such as opening a PayPal account and compiling their donor information. Donors who go to the American Red Cross via Causes are entered into the organization’s e-communications strategy, receiving cultivation pieces like newsletters and appeals, as well as disaster alerts and information about store products.“We just start educating them and stewarding them with reports and all of the lines of service we do here within the Red Cross…to build their loyalty and build that relationship,” said Kimberly Reckner, manager, online fundraising unit, for the Red Cross. Typically, the Red Cross gathers donor data from Network For Good once a month. So within 30 days -- but no more than 60 -- a Causes donor could expect a response directly from the Red Cross, Reckner said. Donor data could be obtained more frequently if there’s a major disaster or if the organization knows more consistent data might be coming through. “We might balance it out with the traffic on that site,” she said. Reckner said the Red Cross is looking to integrate online and offline marketing, including testing offline mail pieces that aim to drive offline constituents to the Web, ultimately making them online donors. “We’re focusing on some constituent engagement and how we can integrate online and offline so we make sure we offer all options, however the donor would prefer to give to us,” she said. “Overall, the Facebook Causes application has been a wonderful vehicle, allowing us to connect with a population who we wouldn’t reach or make aware of our work through conventional measures,” said O’Neill, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital.“The support has been amazing, and truly represents the smart, well-informed, motivated, 20-something who wants to be part of an important cause that he or she feels strongly about.” NPT www.nptjobs.com EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING SOCIETY The Board of Directors of the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES), the leading professional society representing the field of biomedical engineering, is recruiting for the position of Executive Director in their headquarters in Landover, MD. The Executive Director serves as the chief executive officer of this 3,500 member professional society with total assets of ~$1.5M, an annual operations budget of approximately $1M, and a staff of six. Responsibilities include administrative leadership of the Society, membership development, interaction with a volunteer board of directors and several committees, executing an annual scientific meeting, managing publications, working to build collaborative relationships with other societies and non-profit entities, and fundraising. The successful candidate should have a minimum of five years of senior level management experience in a professional society association, or non-profit organization and superior organizational, communications, meeting planning, and financial management skills. Experience working in a related field or industry would be a plus. BMES is experiencing rapid growth and expects the new Director to provide organizational and managerial leadership to enable to organization to grow and expand its scope. Candidates should send an electronic resume and cover letter, including salary requirements, to: Richard Waugh waugh@bme.rochester.edu with a copy to Gayle Hurlbutt hurlbutt@bme.rochester.edu Additional information regarding the Society and a detailed job description can be found at www.bmes.org. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR THE CENTER ON PHILANTHROPY AT INDIANA UNIVERSITY INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University is a leading academic, research, and public service program dedicated to increasing the understanding of philanthropy and improving its practice worldwide. Now in its 20th year, the Center continues to play a pivotal role in advancing philanthropy and the not-for-profit sector within the United States and internationally. With its unique ability to convene philanthropists, educators, and practitioners, the Center facilitates cooperation, codifies knowledge, and sends an ever-impressive pool of wellinformed graduates into the not-forprofit workforce. (Consult www.philanthropy.iupui.edu) The Center seeks an accomplished leader to serve as the Executive Director. As the chief executive officer, the Executive Director is responsible for developing and implementing a broad range of interdisciplinary activities throughout the University and in cooperation with other colleges, universities, professional organizations, and scholarly associations. Candidates may present an array of credentials and experience. We expect to receive applications from people who have led executive careers within the philanthropic sector as well as from those whose careers have been mainly academic. The Search Committee is quite open with regard to the applicants’ career paths and will judge the quality of the credentials accordingly. At a minimum, however, the Search Committee will expect to see doctorates from those who have led academic careers and master’s degrees from those who have led executive careers. The Search Committee will be accepting applications, recommendations, and inquiries until the new Executive Director is appointed. The review of applications will begin in mid-January 2009; the successful candidate is anticipated to begin his/her appointment on July 1. Women and minorities are encouraged to apply. Nominations and applications to: Professor Roger W. Schmenner Chair, Executive Director Search Committee Chief of Staff, Office of the Chancellor IUPUI Campus of Indiana University 355 N. Lansing Street Indianapolis, IN 46202 Indiana University is an AA/EOE Employer,Educator & Contractor,M/F/D DIRECT http://www.nptjobs.com http://www.nptjobs.com http://www.philanthropy.iupui.edu http://www.philanthropy.iupui.edu http://www.bmes.org http://www.nptimes.com
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