All Posts By

Team Welter

Jul 20
0

There’s Power in Numbers – Crowdsource Your Fundraising Efforts

By | Fundraising | No Comments

Have you heard the term “crowdsourcing”? It refers to using the power of groups or crowds for fundraising efforts.

People crowdsource a wide range of activities. Artists have engaged their fans to crowdsource funding to produce CDs and books. People crowdsource funds to help neighbors and friends rebuild after a disaster.

You, too, can use crowdsourcing to raise funds for your nonprofit. To get started, learn the basics of crowdsourcing, then work on your campaign using these tips.

There’s power in numbers … the ability to raise money for your nonprofit.

What is a Crowdsourced Fundraising Campaign and How Does It Work?

Crowdsourced fundraising campaigns engage your nonprofit’s supporters, so they become your fundraising team. Each person who participates in the crowdsourcing campaign works their contact list to raise funds. It’s like having a big crowd of volunteer fundraisers working on your behalf to raise money.

The organization running the crowdfunding campaign establishes channels for accepting donations, provides marketing support, and uses its communication channels to raise awareness.

3 Crowdsource Fundraising Tips for Nonprofits

  1. Establish clear, specific goals

Crowdsourcing is similar to many other fundraising activities. It starts with clear end-goals. Consider the following questions as you develop your fundraising goals.

  • What is the objective of this fundraising activity?
  • What is your financial goal?
  • What will the starting and end dates be of the campaign?
  • How will you measure the success of this activity?
  • How many supporters do you need to engage?
  1. Develop the story

Crowdsourcing campaigns revolve around a compelling story. The hero of the story isn’t you or your organization: it’s the fundraiser. Everyone who chooses to participate in the crowdfunding campaign should be treated as a hero in the story.

Build out the campaign story using classic storytelling elements. Every story has a hero, a villain, an obstacle to overcome, and champions or supporters. Think about a well-known story such as “Star Wars.” The hero is Luke Skywalker; the villain is Darth Vader. The champion is Obi-Wan Kenobi. The obstacle to overcome is for Luke to destroy the Death Star and cripple the Empire. It’s a classic tale with elements examined by mythologists such as Joseph Campbell for its compelling modern spin on time-honored storytelling elements.

The hero of your story is clear: the person participating in the crowdsourcing campaign. The villain? What does your organization combat or overcome: illness, animal cruelty, environmental destruction, illiteracy, homelessness? And the champion is the donor—the people who the crowdfunding person engages in the campaign and encourages to donate.

Weave a spellbinding tale in the marketing materials around these classic storytelling elements for powerful messages that resonate with the target audience.

  1. Build donor materials

Make it easy for people to respond and donate. Build a special landing page to track donations from the crowdsourcing campaign. Create and print paper-based donation forms the volunteers can distribute to their contact list and use a code on the form to track donations back to the campaign. Provide plenty of case studies, stories, and marketing materials to support the campaign. Be generous with your time answering questions, hosting online chats or videos, and using social media to support the campaign’s goals.

Successful Crowdsourcing Makes Participation Easy

The key to successful crowdsourcing your fundraising activities, is to make participation easy. By providing supporters with all the materials and information needed to share the campaign, you’ll encourage greater involvement and higher donations.

Welter Consulting

Welter Consulting bridges people and technology together for effective solutions for nonprofit organizations. We offer software and services that can help you with your accounting needs. Please contact Welter Consulting at 206-605-3113 for more information.

 

 

Jul 01
0

Reopening Requirements in Washington State – What You Need to Know

By | Uncategorized | No Comments

Washington State has recently issued Phase 3 guidelines for business reopening after the spring closures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. If you’re struggling with understanding the nuances of the various guidelines and how to implement them thoughtfully to protect your employees and constituents, you’re not alone. We’ve put together a list of the top three guidelines and an explanation of each to help you keep your employees and constituents healthy and safe.

Phase 3 Business Template

No two businesses are alike, and no two responses to the COVID-19 pandemic will be alike. To assist businesses and meet the needs of residents, state leaders have developed reopening guidelines that allow for flexibility in how individual organizations enact safety plans and respond to the thread of COVID-19.

Each business or entity operating in the state must develop a written safety plan with details on the steps they are taking to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Organizations should complete the plan and file it with their County Public Health Department or state agency and keep a copy on premises. Also, keep in mind that there are specific guidelines for certain industries, so check the industry-specific guidelines for additional safety precautions (if warranted).

Facial Coverings Required

More businesses opening means more people going to and from work and enjoying the products and services that businesses have to offer. With more people out and about, individuals must take responsibility for themselves and others and wear a facial covering.

Cloth facial coverings are required to be worn by all workers and anyone near others. Facial coverings must cover the nose and mouth. The type of covering varies according to workers’ industries, proximity to others, and job.

There are a few exemptions. Individuals working alone need not wear a face covering, and people with certain disabilities may be exempt as well. For example, people who rely on nonverbal language cues such as the deaf or hard of hearing may be exempt. People with medical disabilities may also be exempt. Please see the Washington State guidelines for specific details on exemptions.

Paycheck Protection Program Expands

The Paycheck Protection Flexibility Act provides loans to small businesses affected by the pandemic. Those businesses that can maintain workers on the payroll may qualify for loan forgiveness.

The PPP added $12 million to Washington State’s economy so far, and the fund includes $100 million. If your small business is struggling to stay afloat during the pandemic, now’s the time to apply for a loan from this program. An amendment to the original act reduced the payroll spending requirement from 75% to 60%, so it’s worth investigating again, even if you did not qualify for it before.

For more details or to complete an application, visit the Small Business Administration.

Getting Back to Business – Safely

Although updates about the pandemic may have slowed in the media, the virus remains a threat to all until either a cure or vaccine is found. Organizations that can continue allowing workers to telecommute should do so to enable more people to voluntarily self-isolate and maintain social distancing.

For those who cannot allow workers to remain at home, the state guidelines and safety plan are a good first step to helping everyone stay healthy and protect the vulnerable.

If you need any guidance or assistance during these times, Welter Consulting is here for you. We can be reached by phone (206-605-3113) or through our website.

 

Jun 30
0

Four COVID-19 Employment Laws to Help Your Nonprofit

By | COVID-19, Nonprofit | No Comments

As many small and mid-sized businesses and nonprofits struggle to keep their doors open during the coronavirus pandemic, legislators scrambled to pass bills designed to offer some relief for cash-strapped organizations and workers. Nonprofits should review each of these acts in full with their human resources director to comply with employment laws and ensure that their organization remains in full compliance with the law.

The COVID-19 CARES Act

The four employment laws listed below were amended or launched as part of the 2020 COVID-19 response. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was signed into law by President Trump on March 27, 2020. It provides various tax credits, loans, and other economic assistance to small businesses, including nonprofit organizations.

Employers must read the complete documentation provided by the government very carefully to see if they qualify for a particular relief act.

Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act and Extended FMLA

The U.S. Department of Labor issued the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act and extended the Family Medical Leave Act. The act requires employers with fewer than 500 employees to provide paid sick leave and paid family medical leave. This allows workers to stay home, with pay, if they are ill, and to care for a family member who may also be sick. Since workers are asked to stay at home if they are sick or caring for someone with COVID-19, this act takes the financial burden off of workers that force many to keep working despite ill health.

Paycheck Protection Program

The Paycheck Protection Program, managed by the Small Business Administration, provides small businesses with a loan to continue to fund their payroll. The program, part of the CARES Act, helps small businesses keep employees on their books to avoid increasing the number of people filing for unemployment benefits.

The SBA will forgive loans if all employees are kept on the books for eight weeks, and the money is used solely for payroll, utilities, rent, and mortgage interest.

To apply for a loan, owners may go to any SBA 7 location, an approved federally insured depository institution or credit union, or a Farm Credit System institution participating in it.

The loan also applies to faith-based organizations and nonprofits. For more information related to applying for a loan as a faith-based organization, visit the SBA Q & A.

SOCER Tax Deferral

If your organization is having difficulty paying Social Security taxes, the CARES act allows for the SOCER Tax Deferral. Employers may defer payment of their portion of the Social Security Tax until 2021 and 2022. According to the IRS, 50% of the deferred amount is due by December 31, 2021, and the remaining deferred balance is due on December 31, 2022.

For complete details, please see the IRS information on the SOCER Tax Deferral.

Employee Retention Credit

Another part of the CARES Act is the Employee Retention Credit. It is a tax credit given to eligible employers. The refundable tax credit is equal to 50 percent of qualified wages. This program has precise rules about eligibility and qualified wages, so read the IRS documentation carefully to understand the full ramifications of the credit. When the employer’s credit exceeds the available tax liability, the IRS recommends that form 7200 be used to request the additional credit.

Will the CARES Act Continue?

The CARES Act will likely continue to be in place for most of 2020 as the government seeks relief for small and medium-sized businesses. The situation continues to evolve, so watch this blog as well as local business news for any possible changes.

Welter Consulting

If you’d like some help with nonprofit planning, contact Welter Consulting. Welter Consulting bridges people and technology together for effective solutions for nonprofit organizations. We offer software and services that can help you with your accounting needs. Please contact Welter Consulting at 206-605-3113 for more information.

Jun 26
0

Preparing to Reopen: What You Can Do Now to Re-Establish Your Nonprofit

By | COVID-19, Nonprofit | No Comments

Up until March of 2020, most nonprofits probably felt they had everything in control. Sure, some were struggling, which is natural in any field of endeavor. Most established nonprofits had their budgets in place, their marketing and fundraising campaigns thought out for the year and their grant application deadlines on the calendar. After a robust economic upsurge, donation projects seemed optimistic.

And then, the COVID-19 pandemic. Plans were scrapped. Calendars, revised. Staff learned how to telecommute, and nonprofits learned how to do more with even less than they had before. And somewhere in this mix is the lurking thought: can we survive this?

Organizations everywhere are discovering ways to weather the COVID-19 storm. As your organization continues to operate and looks forward to reopening, it’s time to focus on ways to re-establish your organization once the green light is given by the authorities to resume business as usual (albeit with a mask and plenty of hand sanitizer.)

3 Steps to Organize Your Nonprofit for Re-Opening

  1. Prepare your action plan: What steps will you need to take before, during, and after reopening? If you’ve been keeping in close contact with your leadership team during the pandemic, you’ll already have plenty of ideas for prioritizing the organization’s needs during the reopening. Consider convening a conference call or video call now with your organization’s leadership team to talk through a vision of what the organization will look like during and after reopening. Consider adding the following questions to the meeting agenda:
    • How will you prioritize programs and services?
    • When will you resume in-person events and activities?
    • Will specific precautions be needed if you resume in-person activities?
    • Do you need to review insurance plans to make sure they cover problems due to COVID-19?
    • Will you continue to allow telecommuting after the pandemic ends?
    • What is the organization’s current financial status?
    • Do you need to change fundraising activities, programs, or plans?
    • These are just a few questions to spark the discussion. Give thought to all areas of the organization, including programs and services, grants and fundraising, marketing, human resources, accounting, and finance. What will each need? What changes are necessary for a smooth reopening and the continuation of operations after opening day?
  2. Work with your grant professional: Grant professionals may need additional support right now as they scramble to address shifting deadlines and application processes. Ensure that they have the information they need to accurately and thoroughly complete grant applications. If you have cloud-based systems, you will find it easier to access materials remotely. They may also be the point person to access emergency federal, state, and foundation funds and should be given full support to do so if necessary, for your organization.
  3. Constituent outreach: Planning for reopening is not just about how your organization will handle its business matters. Staff should reach out to constituents and check in with them to assess what they need now and in the future. Their needs may have changed from the services you offered pre-pandemic. A phone call provides a more personal touch than an email or mass mailing. Invite constituents to ask questions and share concerns. Be sure to provide staff with a list of alternative service providers if your organization cannot serve everyone right now. A list of local resources, similar resources, or whatever you feel may be helpful to your constituents should be shared among the staff making outreach phone calls so that they have useful information on hand when they begin making calls.

Remain Responsive and Flexible

Everyone hopes for a swift reopening. The likelihood is that some areas of the country may face stops and starts as sections reopen, causing them to deal with a resurgence of the disease, and to issue new stay-at-home orders until the next wave of the pandemic passes.

Remain flexible and responsive to the changing conditions in your city and community. Keep your team’s focus on how they can achieve the organization’s mission, and you’ll find others respond creatively to any new challenges that arise.

Welter Consulting

If you’d like some help with nonprofit planning, contact Welter Consulting. Welter Consulting bridges people and technology together for effective solutions for nonprofit organizations. We offer software and services that can help you with your accounting needs. Please contact Welter Consulting at 206-605-3113 for more information.