by guest blogger George Crankovic, Senior Writer at TrueSense Marketing.
The 100% model -- the idea that 100% of funds raised will go to programs, none to overhead -- attracts nonprofits as well as donors.
Charity:water is one well-known nonprofit following this course. But is it a good idea for your nonprofit? Let's see...
First of all, if you look at it from the donor's perspective, you have to admit that it's a pretty compelling idea. "Every cent of my gift goes toward doing good" -- not to salaries or other money-wasters like electricity and pencils. Many donors have been trained to think of overhead as bad. The media and the charity watchdogs have encouraged them to think of every penny that's not directly funding programs is "waste."
That's completely wrong, of course. But trying to explain to donors why the dollars that go to overhead are just as important and impactful as those that go to programs would probably be a waste of time. Donors already have it in their heads that overhead is bad.
But if a competing organization is using the 100% model in their fundraising and you're not, you're probably operating at a disadvantage. You or your board might think that having another funding source for overhead shouldn't make a difference to donors. But chances are it does.
To find out for sure, you can test it as an offer to donors. Be up front and tell donors that for this special appeal, the overhead costs are being covered by a major donor, foundation grant, or whatever the case may be, and so 100% of their gifts will do directly to programs.
A good place to test this is acquisition. New donors are most likely the ones with the greatest sensitivity to the overhead issue.
Another good place to test is with your low-dollar individual donors. They're probably also sensitive to the whole overhead issue.
The 100% model may not be right for all donors, but for certain segments, it could be just the thing. It's worth testing to find out.
from Future Fundraising Now http://ift.tt/1P5ep5d
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