The post below is a chapter from my book on using the CFC as one of the revenue streams for your non-profit. It is longer than most blog posts, and I will be glad to send you the 5 page .pdf of it if you request it via a comment in the blog, or by simply sending me an e-mail at BillHuddleston@verizon.net. This is the pre-publication version of the chapter, and I welcome any suggestions or comments. Thanks!

“Growing the Pie”
How to Use the GROWTH™ System of Non-profit Fundraising to Increase Unrestricted Funds
by Bill Huddleston
The habit of giving only enhances the desire to give.
— Walt Whitman, poet (1819-1892)

The word philanthropy has its roots in the Greek language meaning “love for mankind.” It was never meant to apply only to donors of thousands or millions of dollars.
— Arthur Frantzre

The GROWTH System of Fundraising is not a get rich quick scheme for non-profits, but if you follow the steps in the GROWTH System of Fundraising, you will end up with reliable streams of income for your non-profit, and in a manner that reduces the risk to your non-profit. The GROWTH method also uses the principles of leverage, which in this case has the effect of reducing the risk to your non-profit.
The term GROWTH is an acronym and stands for:
Group and Growing the Pie
unRestricted
Open
Workplace giving
Thank You
Habitual
By using the GROWTH method, your non-profit will benefit from:
● The power of groups.
● Monies raised will be unrestricted.
● You will not be constrained by some “expert” opinion about the value of your non-profit’s mission.
● You will participate in the most donor friendly method of donating to non-profits: workplace giving by designation and through payroll deduction.
● You will learn how to “grow givers” and how to “grow the pie” by promoting and recognizing giving as a positive habit for your non-profit and your supporters.
Fallacy of Focusing Only on the “Biggest”
Bill and Melinda Gates are two of the most generous people the world has ever seen, and I absolutely commend them and say “thank you” to them for their generosity and the good works that are performed through the Gates Foundation.
I do think that we as a society pay too much attention to the monies donated at the top of the giving pyramid, and not enough attention to the contributions millions of Americans make every day, including not just financial contributions, but contributions of time, energy, and brain power as well.
As generous as Bill and Melinda Gates are, I am willing to predict that you will never see them walking up your neighbor’s sidewalk delivering for Meals on Wheels, even if you live in the Seattle area. Rather, there are thousands of volunteers across the country who do see that people who are unable to prepare a meal receive at least one nutritional meal a day.
In The Wisdom of Crowds: Why the Many Are Smarter Than the Few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economies, Societies and Nations, James Surowiecki describes the phenomenon that is created when a large group of people are asked to solve a particular problem—they come up with a better answer than any one individual alone does. According to Surowiecki, there are certain conditions that must be in place, including: diversity of opinion; independence; decentralization; and a means of aggregation.
These characteristics actually describe the nature of donations made through CFC campaigns, using the dollars donated as a proxy for a “vote.” There is a wide diversity of choices, and Federal public servants can support the CFC charities that they most identify with. CFC donors are free to support whatever charities they wish, and there are extensive safeguards in place to prevent any hint of coercion. The CFC is a decentralized program; there are hundreds of individual CFC campaigns in every CFC region, rather than “one big campaign.” Adding up the totals at the end of the campaign provides a mechanism of aggregating the support received.
By using the GROWTH System of Fundraising you expand your non-profit’s reach, you develop a revenue stream that produces unrestricted funds, and you do this all while decreasing the risk to your non-profit.
What do I mean by “decreasing the risk” to your non-profit? Here is a simple example. Let’s say that one of your major annual fundraising events is a special dinner, which can be a wonderful way to raise money and provide for recognition of donors and volunteers.
Special events do carry with them significant risks:
● The location (hotel or banquet hall) needs to be paid, regardless of whether you get the attendance you want.
● Weather can have a negative impact. If it’s an outdoor event it can rain or be stifling hot, or it can snow, depending upon the time of year, all of which serve to keep people away.
● A power failure affecting the hotel or the entire neighborhood.
● Competing events you were unaware of when the event was planned.
I am certainly not saying “do not hold a fundraising dinner,” special auction, benefit concert, or other event, because they can be great events, are lots of fun for participants and volunteers, and can produce serious revenue and recognition for your organization. I just want you to be aware of the risks that they entail. (Do make sure you get event insurance for any large special event).
I do want you to consider developing the CFC as one of the revenue streams for your non-profit, if it makes sense for your non-profit and if it makes sense in your region of the country.
If you are a small national or international non-profit, the CFC can dramatically increase your leverage, if you have a mission that you believe will resonate with the Federal workforce. This is because as a national or international charity, with one application you are automatically in the more than 250 CFCs that exist in both the United States and around the world. There is a CFC anywhere the U.S. has a significant Federal presence, including in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
Compared to the risks outlined above about special events, consider the benefits of a CFC campaign:

GROWTH™ System of Fundraising
CFC Campaign Benefits for CFC Non-profits
● There are minimal upfront costs (other than items you choose to provide at charity fairs; at a minimum this would include additional brochures).

● The CFC solicitations are done on behalf of all CFC charities, by Federal public servants who have volunteered to be “CFC Keyworkers.” Your staff is not tied up with making solicitations. This is the power of the Group in the GROWTH System.

● By focusing on the multiple benefits that participating in the CFC provides to all non-profits, it has the effect of “Growing the Pie.” The G in the GROWTH System stands for both Grow The Pie and Group.

● Funds received are Unrestricted, and if you’re new to the non-profit world, the formula is: Unrestricted Funds = Twice as Valuable as Restricted Funds. This is the R for unRestricted in the GROWTH System.

● The CFC is an Open system, which means that if you meet the eligibility requirements, you are enrolled in the system. No one is saying “We have too many of X type of charities, we are not letting anyone else in.” This is the O in the GROWTH System.

● Workplace giving is where donors are grown, and the CFC is by far the most donor friendly means in the world of donating to charities that the Federal CFC donor cares about (when the charity participates in the CFC). Participating in workplace giving does not take away from any other means of fundraising, and in fact, provides a “nursery to grow donors.”
● Workplace giving also has the advantage that, since the solicitations take place by peers, during the workday, there are no calendar conflicts, such as those that can happen with special events.

● Workplace giving provides your non-profit with extensive leverage. Every fall, there are literally thousands of CFC volunteers helping to raise money for all of the CFC non-profits.

● “Thank Yous.” In the GROWTH System, the multitude of stakeholders who actually produce benefits for your non-profit are identified, and inexpensive and effective ways of saying ”thank you” are shown to you and your non-profit. “Thank yous” are the T in the GROWTH System.

● By using the GROWTH System, your non-profit will learn the habits of workplace giving and how to grow donors and other resources for your non-profit. Habits can either be good or bad; the H in the GROWTH System shows you how to develop good habits for donor cultivation and success in the CFC.

More information about the CFC is available at the www.cfcfundraising.com website. Please go there and request your copy of my special report on the CFC – Subsidized, Low-Risk, High Leverage Non-profit Fundraising.

“Growing the Pie”
Copyright 2010, Bill Huddleston, All Rights Reserved

I welcome any comments or suggestions on how to improve this chapter, including any success stories about your non-profit’s experience with the CFC. Please send them to BillHuddleston@verizon.net. Thanks!

One question I’m asked a lot by non-profit professionals is “How exactly does the CFC work?” Part of the answer can be found in the letter below, that is from the CFC lead for a combined military installation command in southern New Jersey.

This CFC appeal is from the Joint Base, McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst newspaper, located in Southern New Jersey (McGuire AFB, Fort Dix, and Lakehurst Naval Air Station).

The Air Force major who wrote this letter presents a great example of the type of appeals that potential donors in the Combined Federal Campaign see each year. She has a personal story about the impact of CFC donors’ gifts, (to children in Iraq) but that no specific charities are identified (which would be against CFC regulations). Some of the typical objections are addressed, and Federal public servants, including both uniformed and civilians are encouraged to donate to CFC charities that have missions dealing with issues that are important to the donor.

Pledge to the CFC, make a difference

The 2009 South Jersey CFC ends Nov. 30. Contact the JB MDL key worker in your office for copies of the directory and pledge cards. Visit www.cfcsnj.org for more information.
by Maj. Karen Cosgrove
Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst Combined Federal Campaign Lead

In 2008, the southern New Jersey regional CFC raised $896,198 for local, national and international charities.

Bill Huddleston
www.cfcfundraising.com
Blog: www.cfctreasures.wordpress.com

If you have ever had any sales or leadership training, you probably have heard the phrase “Face Time Counts.” You may have heard it so many times that you think it’s a cliché or at least a hackneyed phrase. It may be both, but it’s also true.

I was at a workplace giving charity fair today, this one happened to be at the main campus of George Mason University, which is now the largest university in Virginia. It was part of their faculty-staff enrichment day, and there were 54 booths of different vendors, including non-profits in the state workplace giving campaign, other vendors such as health and nutrition concerns, financial institutions, etc.

Given all the hype about electronic media, what struck me was that of the 54 booths, only 3 booths had videos playing on laptops, and this is what’s interesting — NO ONE was watching the videos! Look you need to have all the audio and video content you can, in order to augment information about your non-profit, and I’m a big advocate of multiple channels of information. But, don’t throw the baby out with the bath water by going all electronic. People like talking to people, and if you have the opportunity to engage in face to face conversation about how your non-profit is making the world a better place, do it, it will make a better impression than just print or just electronic media.

Workplace giving charity fairs are just one of the ways your non-profit can have face to face conversations with members of your community.

Face Time Counts!

Blog: www.cfctreasures.wordpress.com
www.cfcfundraising.com

Bullfeathers – Donors are Donors

Fundraising for non-profits is hard enough, without non-profit professionals trying to make it harder. “Bullfeathers” to quote Teddy Roosevelt is my reaction to the post about givers not having “earned the right” to be called “donors” in the Donor Power Blog.

The blog that used to written by Jeff Brooks, DonorPowerBlog, is now written by Greg Fox who managed to insult millions of Americans in new position as the Donor Power blogger with his self proclaimed mission to use the term “donors” only for people who give ten percent or more of their family income to non-profits. This post is actually one of the more insulting blog posts I have ever read, and given that I read a fair number of blog posts, this was not an easy accomplishment.

What an asinine (or in plain English, utterly foolish) idea. It’s tough enough to find and keep donors; Mr. Fox now wants you to insult them as part of the process of them giving your organization their money, instead of thanking them for being a donor. Unless you have given more than 10% of your income to a charity (or maybe just a few), or have contributed money for more than 3 years, (2 years, 11 months apparently doesn’t count), you’re not a “donor” – yet. To Mr. King, the term donor is a reserved term, only for the truly honorable. I guess maybe “schmuck” is what he wants you to call until you reach “donor” status by his criteria. He never says what the term is for someone who gives money to your non-profit, but not at a sufficient level to be called a “donor.”

To me this is the antithesis of what community building and fundraising is all about. Regardless of the amount, you thank the donor for their contribution to your non-profit, and you do things to help them want to continue an association with your non-profit for multiple years. Insulting them as the first communication doesn’t strike me as the smartest tactic. “Thanks for sending us your money, if you send more, maybe we will be able to call you a donor, and by the way is this 10% of your income or not?

I understand and get the principle of the fundraising pyramid, but the point is that all givers are donors, and it’s fine to have leadership levels, which certainly many non-profits use to bring more attention to higher value donors, but what a waste of brain power and energy to try and convince the non-profit world not to call donors, donors.

Regards,
Bill Huddleston
www.cfcfundraising.com
Blog:www.cfctreasures.wordpress.com

Oct. 27: TEXT HAS BEEN CORRECTED TO SHOW CORRECT NAME, JEFF BROOKS IS THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR OF THE DONOR POWER BLOG, NOW BLOGGING AT www.futurefundraisingnow.com.

Thanks to Franklin for the heads-up.

The discussion about “What is a volunteer” resurfaces every few months in the non-profit sector. Here’s my take on it:

What is a volunteer? Kernerman English Learner’s Dictionary offers the best on-line definition according to the Friends of the Reston (VA) Library Association:

Volunteer – to offer oneself for a particular task, of one’s own free will

Notice that it doesn’t indicate whether or not there is any compensation involved. The example of “How many angels can dance of the point of a needle?” which may be an interesting math problem, is usually used as an indication of good brain power being used in not the most productive ways. (I plead guilty to participating as well).

There are multiple definitions of the word volunteer, sometimes meaning absolutely no compensation, and sometimes meaning taking on an additional project or assignment, while continuing to be paid at the same base salary.

Why does this matter? It doesn’t! Other words have multiple definitions, is the non-profit community so set upon lexicographical purity that it can’t stand a word and world with multiple definitions? That doesn’t sound like the non-profit world I’m familiar with.

Depending upon the business model of a non-profit, they may be able to use unpaid volunteers or paid volunteers, licensed professionals, or some combination of all:

* The prototypical example of someone serving meals at a soup kitchen.

* For youth sports organizations, many of them waive the registration fee for the child participant if the parent volunteers to be the coach. Is the coach being “compensated” or “volunteering?” BTW, I’ve never seen a non-parent coach in this type or organization, so the $100 bucks waived as the fee is certainly not viewed as “market-rate” compensation by others.

* Professional Medical volunteers – the free clinic may have men and women who volunteer to serve their populations, but they still need to be licensed doctors and nurses in order to actually deliver the services.

* Workplace giving volunteers – The employees who plan, organize, and solicit their colleagues are paid there usual salary, but they have volunteered to take on this additional assignment. BTW, if your non-profit has a small shop development office, there is no greater leverage available than workplace giving as a means of increasing your development staff.

* Corporate volunteers in schools – The Fairfax, Virginia school system has a number of partnerships with companies and other organizations that send volunteers to a particular school once a week, or bi-weekly. One example is that the Capital One headquarters is a few miles away from a Title I school and their volunteers come for an hour a week, so the employees are away from their desk for about 2 hours. According to the purists on this discussion, they would not be considered volunteers because they’re being paid. If you ask the students or the school principal, you’ll get a different answer.

Regards,

Bill Huddleston
CFC = Combined Federal Campaign
Workplace giving is subsidized, high Leverage, low Risk non-profit fundraising.

Blog: www.cfctreasures.wordpress.com
www.cfcfundraising.com

Words matter.

The order of the words (and sentences) matter.

I went to the Redskins football game yesterday (Sunday, October 18, 2009) because I had an opportunity to buy three face value tickets, and my sons (age 9 and 10) had never been to an NFL game before.

For the uninitiated the Washington Redskins have a proud football tradition, and during the glory days at RFK Stadium I was able to go to about one game per season and loved it. Several decades and several owners later, Dan Snyder is now the owner of the Redskins and while a very successful businessman, the new FedEx stadium is known for outrageous fees for almost everything.

Getting back to my point about the order of words, this is what the coolers that the vendors carry have written on them:

BEER $8:00 Welcome to FedEx Field

Which seems to speak volumes about the “gouge them” attitude of the owner. Just think, even the simple step of putting the welcome first, would change the tone at least a little bit:

Welcome to FedEx Field
Beer $8.00

I think organizations often forget that people are people first, they’re not cash machines for either non-profit fundraising or for sports owners to get even wealthier, and the organizations that forgot that, are doomed to failure. It may not happen right away, but over time the trust that has been established between the organization and the donor or the fan erodes, and it takes a long long time to restore it.

Regards,

Bill Huddleston

P.S. This is the game where the Redskins lost to the Kansas City Chiefs 14 to 6, and after the game Coach Zorn had his play calling duties taken away from him.

The Seven Keys to Success for a CFC Nonprofit are:

1) Work from your strengths.

2) Learn the CFC game – what the rules are, and how to play.

3) Use all 12 months of the year.

4) Understand why the CFC is the most donor friendly means of contributing in the world, and how to use that fact to help your nonprofit to both “grow givers” and “grow the pie.”

5) Learn how to get maximum benefit from the “Resource Pyramid Tetrahedron™ – (3 sided pyramid).
Use the CFC to generate other resources in addition to money: volunteers, information, market research, etc. Use your nonprofit’s CFC program as part of your nonprofit’s leadership development program.

6) Use the Tools of 21st Century.

7) Say Thank You Early and Often.

All these points are important, but number 7 is probably the most important. In workplace giving there are multiple people to thank, not just the donors. Thank the volunteers who plan, manage and conduct the campaigns, as well as the head of the sponsoring organizations.

Thank yous are appropriate at any time, and in multiple venues including newsletters, annual reports, in person at special events, etc.
When you thank your direct volunteers during National Volunteer week, also thank your workplace giving volunteers. Even though you will never know their names you can still tell them “Thank You!”

Regards,
Bill Huddleston
www.cfcfundraising.com

Much of the non-profit world has forgotten about the many benefits of workplace giving. It is still the only means of non-profit fundraising that is subsidized, high leverage and low risk. One way that it is subsidized is the fact that the people performing the actual solicitations are the colleagues of those being asked, and there is nothing more effective than peer to peer fundraising. People asking people, or rather colleagues asking colleagues is one of the secrets in workplace giving, including the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC). Campaigns that have tried a website only approach have had mixed success, and campaigns that include a face to face component, almost always do better.

Todd Cohen, editor of Philanthropy Journal has a post on his blog about the reluctance of non-profit professionals to ask directly for funds, and on the effectiveness of face to face asking. Here’s the link:
http://philanthropyjournal.blogspot.com/2009/10/personally-asking-givers-matters.html

What’s different about workplace giving is that the solicitors are not asking their colleagues to support the solicitors’ favorite cause; rather they are asking the colleague to use workplace giving to support the colleague’s favorite cause(s).

My particular expertise is the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC), and through the CFC Federal public servants have donated more than $1 billion of unrestricted funds to thousands of local, national and international non-profits over the past five years. More than 95% of the fIf someone can name another type of non-profit fundraising that is subsidized, low risk and high leverage, I’d be glad to learn about it.

Thanks,
Bill Huddleston
Blog: www.cfctreasures.wordpress.com
www.cfcfundraising.com

There are really at least three different issues going on in the threads of the discussion about United Ways on the Chronicle of Philanthropy website, and I do think that it’s worthwhile to separate and identify them, because they are separate and distinct.

The three issues are:
1. Workplace giving as a viable means of non-profit fundraising.
2. The strategic change in direction undertaken by United Way six years ago.
3. How United Ways are perceived by others in the non-profit community.

Viability of Workplace Giving

Some of the discussion threads insinuate that workplace giving is a dinosaur and has no business in the current mix of non-profit fundraising vehicles. I vehemently disagree with that statement, because workplace giving when done well, such as with the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) has continued to grow, and is and remains, the most donor friendly way for givers to contribute to charities they care about. Most non-profits profess being donor-centric, but what they really are: is non-profit (their own) centric. If you think about it, most of us who give, care about more than one issue, and using the CFC as the model:

CFC – The Most Donor Friendly Means of Donating to your Non-profit
If you stop and truly consider the charitable giving process from the donor’s perspective, not just the non-profit’s perspective, the CFC is the most donor friendly means of donating to any non-profit. The Federal public servant donor, with one pledge card and one transaction:
● Can donate to multiple charities with just one pledge.
● Gives money to the non-profit before it ever hits their checkbook.
● Accrues no interest charges from credit card donations.
● Makes a secure donation —their personal information is never on the Web, and government payroll systems are secure.
● Donors may remain anonymous if they wish — CFC anonymous donors are some of a nonprofits best supporters, and a majority of the CFC donors choose this option.

One of the unique features of workplace giving is the fact that it occurs in the workplace. This sounds rather obvious but what much of the non-profit sector has forgotten, (or never learned) is that this means that workplace giving is the only type of non-profit fundraising that is subsidized, high leverage, low risk fundraising. As an added bonus, the monies generated are unrestricted, reliable and predictable.

Given the intense interest in the non-profit sector about leadership development, there are other hidden benefits to workplace giving, namely that it provides the perfect training ground for actually developing leadership skills.

I will address the other two issues in subsequent posts.

United Workers for the Untied Way (not United – Un Tied)

There is a heated discussion taking place on the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s website under the article “Majority of Local United Ways Report Declines in Donations.” http://philanthropy.com/news/updates/index.php?id=9689

The gist of many of the comments are opinions expressed that the United Ways have been detrimental to many smaller non-profits by declining to fund agencies that have previously received funds.

The purpose of this post is to point out one non-profit that does make the argument that United Way does discourage freedom of choice in giving is the United Workers for the Untied Way, and their website is at http://www.theuntiedway.org/aboutus.asp

From their home page, their “About Us” statement is:

We are a group of volunteers working nationwide to protect your right to give at work to the charities of your own choice and not those dictated to you by United Way. We are organized as an IRS-recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation to which tax-deductible contributions may be made. We have no paid staff. Our office space and administration is provided pro bono. Contributions go 100 percent to our programs.

Take a look at their website and see what you think. I have no connection to this website, but thought that in the interest of this discussion, people should know about it.

Regards,

Bill Huddleston
www.cfcfundraising.com