May 05
0

Communicating During COVID-19: What Nonprofits Need to Know

By | Nonprofit | No Comments

During the initial days of the COVID-19 pandemic, many nonprofits halted their communications activities. Many were uncertain if they should continue their usual activities. Would it be misconstrued if they sent out a fundraising campaign? What about the quarterly magazine—should it be put on hold? Would it seem in poor taste to send press releases out to the local papers about recent activities in the community?

These are great questions, and no two nonprofits will answer them the same. What remains consistent during this time of uncertainty is the knowledge that constituents both want and need to hear from their favorite nonprofits.

It’s easy to let communications slide when there’s so much to manage right now. Transitioning everyone to remote work, figuring out how to continue providing services to the public during social distancing, are all pressing needs. But communications must be part of the immediate response to the COVID-19 crisis, or you run the risk of becoming invisible.

Stay Connected

If your organization doesn’t have a marketing or communications manager, appoint someone to take on the task during the pandemic. It’s essential to have a consistent and meaningful communications strategy. Discuss among crucial team members what messages you believe the public needs to hear during this time, and then develop a strategy and outreach program to share those messages.

Connect with key internal and external stakeholders:

  • Employees and volunteers: Use instant messenger, email, video conferencing, and phone calls to stay in touch. Make sure that your teams feel connected even though everyone works from home.
  • Donors and supporters: Send periodic messages to donors and supporters assuring them that your organization continues its work during the pandemic: update blog posts, social media, and other channels.

Tips for Sharing Information

During times of crisis, it’s essential to remain calm and focused. A sound communications strategy should be:

  • Focused: Stay on message. Don’t rush messages out without ensuring that they are accurate and verifiable.
  • Transparent: Keep key internal stakeholders updated on the messaging strategy and ensure they’ve reviewed messages before they go out. They may have advice or feedback to improve messages.
  • Multichannel: Don’t rely on one channel, such as email. Utilize all of the communications channels at your disposal, including social media, blogs, and snail-mail, if appropriate.

Tell People What You Are Doing Now to Help

Supporters of your organization want to know how you’re continuing to offer services during this time of crisis. Consider the many ways in which your organization is helping during the COVID-19 pandemic. These may be direct help (such as donating supplies to first-response workers) or they may be indirect help (such as working from home).

A few ways in which your organization may be helping to combat the COVID-19 epidemic:

  • Keeping employees and volunteers safe by asking everyone to work from home
  • Ensuring all employees keep their benefits even if you have to cut back on pay
  • Maintaining sanitary and clean conditions in offices and other spaces
  • Offering online resources, programs, and other virtual services
  • Other facts unique to your organization

Remember, share only what is relevant, verifiable, and factual. Avoid speculation and wishful thinking and stick to specifics.

During the COVID-19 epidemic, remaining silent or hesitating to communicate means losing valuable supporters. People do want to hear good news now. They want to know that their favorite nonprofits are still active and supporting the work that’s meaningful to them. For your good, and the good of others, communicate now with precision, accuracy, and thoughtfulness, and remain top of mind among your supporters.

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.

May 01
0

Fundraising During COVID-19

By | Fundraising | No Comments

If you’ve been hesitant to restart fundraising activities during COVID-19, there’s good and bad news. The good news is that it’s not in poor taste or tone-deaf to restart your organization’s fundraising activities during the pandemic. Although their attention is elsewhere, most people recognize that nonprofits still need money to continue their good work.

The bad news? In-person fundraising activities are canceled, at least for the foreseeable future, until scientists provide us with a vaccine, a cure, or both for COVID-19.

But take heart—even if you count on the annual silent auction or dinner-dance for most of your funds, you can switch to fundraising online. And, if your organization is also using technology to support its fundraising activities, you’re in an excellent position to continue operations.

What Do Donors Want?

Donors want two things: transparency and accountability.

According to the National Center for Charitable Statistics, there are over 1.5 million charitable organizations registered in the U.S. with the IRS. Nonprofits must work hard to secure donations when donors have so many choices.

Take steps to ensure that your organization’s activities are visible. Keep your website up to date as well as your social media channels. Use stories, case studies, and data to illustrate the work that you’re doing. A donor-centric approach to fundraising means putting your donor’s needs front and center. When you do this, all of your digital communications will be both accountable and transparent.

Keep in Touch Regularly

Some nonprofits fear that they send too many messages. In their quest for both transparency and accountability, their communications manager sends emails, newsletters, and direct mail to donors. How much is too much?

According to the Network for Good, 28% of recurring donors say that the best thing a nonprofit can do to keep them engaged is to send plenty of success stories and communications. Only 4% of respondents to their survey said that nonprofits send too much information. The same study says that 40% would like communications from their favorite nonprofits once or twice a month.

Keep the good news coming. Donors want to know what their favorite organizations have accomplished!

Doing Digital Donor Relations Right: 5 Must-Have Tools

There are many ways to keep in touch with donors. The following five digital communication tools can be used to support donor communications and outreach and ensure fundraising efforts remain consistent. You’re probably using many of these digital communication tools right now. Track, monitor, and measure the response to each, and use more of what works to improve digital fundraising and donor relations.

  1. Email: Emails are the most popular digital fundraising tool in use. Email ‘blasts’ or messages sent to your entire list with a fundraising appeal can be easily tracked and measured. A clear call to action or request to donate positioned prominently within the email can improve response rates.
  2. Blogs: A blog can be used to share stories and updates. Tools added to blogs can automatically send links from new posts out to your social media sites. Blogs are also useful for SEO or search engine optimization. Each time you publish a piece on your blog, it adds one more way for search engines to help people find your nonprofit, so consider the topics of your blog posts and the keyword phrases you select for the issue very carefully; and use free tools like Google Keyword Planner to assess potential traffic for a keyword phrase.
  3. Social media: Social media remains a popular medium to connect with the public. Use plenty of photos and keep profiles updated. Monitor social media channels for questions and respond promptly.
  4. Online giving pages: Specific pages on your site dedicated to encouraging online giving are a great way to use your site for fundraising.
  5. Mobile giving: Mobile giving is a text-to-donate method that enables people to text donations to your organization. The 2019 M + R Benchmarks Survey states that mobile fundraising has a 13% click-through rate, which is noticeably higher than other channels.

These are just a few ideas of how your organization can continue its fundraising activities right now. If you’ve been hesitant to ask for donations during the pandemic, when so many people are out of work or on partial pay due to social distancing, hesitate no longer. Many people remain employed, and loyal supporters want to hear from their favorite nonprofits. To remain silent is to be forgotten; stay top of mind by using digital technology.

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.

Apr 13
0

Building a Financial Framework: The Importance of a Strong Operational Core

By | Uncategorized | No Comments

In our last article, we talked about the importance of building a financial framework or stabilizing your existing one to ensure your nonprofit continues to operate during this time of increasing uncertainty. The COVID-19 pandemic has created an economic upheaval that may make it harder for nonprofits to secure funds. While it’s normal to worry about finances, worrying doesn’t change the situation. Instead, focus that energy on building a financial framework and enacting operational strategies to protect and stabilize your current assets while minimizing expenses. A strong operational core protects the major assets of a nonprofit to enable it to continue its work in the future.

Stabilize the Operational Core

Many nonprofits focus on funding their programs but neglect the operational core. What is the operational core?

Imagine an apple tree. The roots grow deep into the ground while the trunk supports the branches laden with apples. If your programs are the apples, the operational core is the tree trunk. Without a strong trunk or core, the trunk can’t support the branches, the branches can’t support the apples, and the tree dies. A nonprofit’s operational core is the trunk and roots. The branches are its programs, and its work, the apples or the fruit of those programs.

If you cut a tree’s trunk, the whole tree dies or is stunted for many years as it recovers. Cutting back on operating expenses while fully funding programs can slowly starve a nonprofit to death.

What does the operational core include?

  1. Strategy development
  2. Financial management
  3. Human resources management
  4. Supervisory practice
  5. IT and data management
  6. Systems management
  7. Administrative support
  8. Infrastructure

Nonprofits with a strong core can build programs to serve their constituents. Organizations that focus financial resources exclusively on programs starve the core. Yes, it’s possible for nonprofits to “starve to death.” Programs may be well-funded, but the operating core cannot continue without an influx of capital.

To continue operating during and after the COVID-19 crisis, you’ve got to concentrate on funding the core.

Establish Essential Financial Goals

One of the first steps to building a healthy core is to establish essential financial goals. There are four financial goals every organization should strive towards:

  1. Correction of structural deficit
  2. An annual operating surplus (2-5% is recommended)
  3. Developing a 6-12 month reserve to cover expenses during downturns
  4. Diversifying the revenue mix

Correcting structural deficits, ensuring an operating surplus, and maintaining an emergency capital reserve are all positive steps to take to secure the core against uncertain times and economic upheavals.

Diversifying the Revenue Mix

The majority of nonprofits fund activities through a mix of revenues. Revenues may come from membership dues, sales of products or services, grants, donations, or other sources.

Nonprofits run into problems when their revenues depend heavily on one or two sources: the food pantry funded almost solely through community donations; the environment nonprofit funded by government grants. When the economy gets shaky, funds may become uncertain in one area but better in another. Those who put all their funding ‘eggs’ in one basket may find it harder to recover from economic upheavals such as we’re experiencing now.

Diversifying revenues also helps to build a strong financial core. Some organizations find their programs well-funded while their core struggles. This is due in part to restricted funds, which may be applied to specific ‘branches’ of the nonprofit such as programs or activities. A diverse revenue stream that includes unrestricted funds enables you to put income towards infrastructure, for example, an essential aspect of building a strong core or setting aside 6-12 months of operating expenses, another component of building a strong financial foundation.

Embrace the Future – Build a Solid Foundation

The future is uncertain, but when was it ever certain? Nonprofits have gone through rough times before. Now, more than ever is the time to act calmly and logically. Build a solid financial foundation. Manage the resources that you have. Focus on your mission. Make prudent judgments about what you need, what you can delay, and what must go. With the right data, honest discussions among your team, discipline, and resilience, you can survive and thrive in this era of financial uncertainty.

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.

 

 

 

 

 

Apr 13
0

Addressing the Financial Stress of COVID-19

By | Uncategorized | No Comments

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, nonprofits worldwide are facing an uncertain future. Many, funded by restricted grants, find themselves in the predicament of having programs funded but core infrastructure lacking the funds to continue. Others face high demand and strained resources. Some organizations, which may be paid for services rendered in person, are scrambling to think of new ways to serve their constituents while maintaining social distancing.

It’s exhausting, it’s exhilarating, and it’s forcing us all to draw from our well of creativity and ingenuity to get through these times.

Navigating the Current Crisis

Nonprofits may feel like they’re on a raft paddling down a swift river. The rapids shoot them towards rocks, and they feel they must avoid the rocks at all costs.

COVID-19 is like the rocks in the river. Hitting the rocks is inevitable, but how well your organization works together will affect the outcome. With the right planning and organization, and everyone working together, your nonprofit can minimize the financial impacts of the COVID-19 crisis, move past it, and thrive.

Financial Discipline, Financial Framework

Financial discipline is a critical practice even when times are good, but especially vital when times are challenging. Fiscal discipline begins by building a robust financial framework.

Such a framework consists of:

  1. Correction of any deficits, for example, secure unrestricted funds to compensate for restricted funds that leave core administrative functions underfunded while programs are well funded. You need capital for overhead and infrastructure just as much, if not more than you do to keep programs running.
  2. An annual operating surplus that can be carried over to smooth “lean times.”
  3. Development of healthy operating reserves with 6 to 12 months of expenses covered by the reserve.
  4. A diversified revenue mix, so the organization isn’t dependent upon a single revenue stream.

What if you’re far from this ideal? Then it’s time to look at several scenarios and decide on your strategy moving forward.

Gather the data that you have on hand about revenues and expenses. Revenues may include restricted and non-restricted funds, fee for service activities, membership fees, and donations. Expenses should include both overhead and operating expenses as well as salaries, infrastructure, and program-related expenses.

Next, ask everyone to join the conversation about the financial situation. This isn’t time for a subcommittee or a task force. Since everyone in your organization will be impacted by the road you decide to take, get everyone’s input into the decision.

Evaluate the available data based on bad, worse, and different:

  • Bad – what if the crisis continues?
  • Worse – what if things get worse?
  • Different – what if things change?

Ask yourself:

  1. What is the big change we drive in this world or our community? This gets to the operating principles of the organization. Why do you do what you do?
  2. Next, look at the programs you have. What do you do the best? Which is the only program you do, one that nobody else does or does well?
  3. Are there any programs that you cannot provide now because of social distancing?

Some scenarios you might wish to consider include cutting back on all programs, cutting down to a handful of mission-driven programs, or focusing on a single area until things return to normal. The only way to consider each scenario effectively is to utilize all of the data resources available to you, put the facts side by side, and evaluate them against your organization’s mission and unique position in the world.

Resilience and Adaptability

In the book Good to Great, author Jim Collins uses animal metaphors to emphasize how successful companies weather turbulent times. One animal he points to is the hedgehog.

The hedgehog is not the most beautiful, exciting, or exotic animal in the zoo, but it is one that is undoubtedly the most resilient. Hedgehogs fill a unique ecological niche yet can adapt to many different environments. They’re one of the oldest mammal species known to biologists. Their longevity as a species may be attributed to their adaptability.

If your nonprofit is to remain viable for the long term, it must be adaptable during these challenging times. Like the hedgehog, you’ve got to find your unique niche and make the most of it. The only way for nonprofits to find their unique niche is to consider potential scenarios and weigh the impact of their choices against the mission. Which choices will help you achieve your mission with the least possible impact on margin?

It’s neither easy nor pleasant, but frank conversations about programs, funding, and long-term viability are necessary right now. We’re all wishing and hoping that this epidemic will pass quickly and that our healthcare industry finds a vaccine or a cure. Until then, we must deal with the reality of the situation, examine the data at hand, and plan for the future of our organizations as best as we can.

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.