International Fundraising Cuisine...

For the first time, we exhibited at the International Congress on Fundraising, held around this time of year near Amsterdam, Netherlands. This year they had record breaking attendance, and it was fantastic to get a world view of fundraising that's different from our own.

For example, person to person is BIG in Europe. It works like this: charities hire 18-25 year old solicitors with good looks, put them in uniform, and have them patrol the downtown area of major European cities, especially in the UK and Scandinavian countries. In fact, people now have a word for it- they call them "Chuggers", as in Charity Muggers!

Despite what they are called, the programs are indeed successful. It's my understanding an average Chugger will sign up a new donor once per hour. In addition, they don't ask for a one time gift- oh no, they are going much higher. They are actually able to persuade strangers to sign up for a monthly giving program, with an average monthly gift of $10 US.

As one can expect, attrition rates can be high- but they are actually very comparable to traditional pledge non-electronic programs and averages about 15-20% / year (Meaning the renewal rate is about 80-85%).

However, once a donor lasts into the second year, then their behavior matches that of a more reliable donor, and the attrition rate drops into the single digits.

Recurring revenue is critical for any organization, and it's one of the main reasons why these programs (at least from the non profit's perspective) are very popular. While 'Chugger' fundraising hasn't taken off in the US (and it might never), monthly giving programs can still be established through traditional solicitation requests, including direct mail and on-line fundraising.

In these uncertain economic times, organizations that rely on this type of recurring revenue certainly sleep easier at night as they know, with laser like precision, their future revenue stream.

Tales from the Road

I just finished exhibiting at the National Catholic Development Conference, held this year in Orlando. Typically referred to as NCDC, this conference hosts over 700 development professionals from about 500 catholic organizations across the US.

It's our fifth year exhibiting at the conference, and our first, in at least 10 years, that our booth and materials did not make the flight. Apparantly, they were hijacked to Texas instead, and we had to activate "Operation Conference Backup". Luckily, after a quick infiltration of a local 24 hour Kinkos shop and with help from our marketing gurus, we whipped up some materials and booth in

Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales"

just a few hours. Special thanks goes to both Chad Kashub and Sam Goldenberg for stepping up to the plate and helping out over the weekend.

The conference proved to be a major success as we were able to demonstrate our latest version of DonorPerfect, Version 10. Version 10 sports some new features, including a completely integrated Special Events module that makes it easy to plan, coordinate, and execute almost any kind of special event.

It's easy to record event details, such as venue information, expenses, and even auction items. Invite groups of constituents at a click of a button, and record responses just as easily. The module even tracks teams or tables in a drop-and-drag interface, making these assignments painless. Finally, over a dozen reports track the progress of the event, and comparison reports make it easy to evaluate one event against another. It's simply awesome!

Surely, the chief buzz at the conference was the state of the economy and its effect on giving. Though there were some exceptions, most people were resigned to the fact that this year would be tough and they were preparing for a decline in most revenue categories as compared to last year. An exception seemed to occur in major gifts and planned giving, which at least anecdotally, seemed to be on the rise.

The next several weeks will be very busy for us as we release Version 10- it's going to be very exciting!