Nonprofit Marketing: Moving to a Family Philanthropy Mindset

Articles for Non Profit Organizations

by Melanie R. Negrin

When your organization is seeking funds or recruiting new volunteers, where is your focus? Foundations? Corporations? Local agencies? Individual donors? These are the most common approaches, but what if you sought to engage entire families as well?

Religious institutions may be the best at engaging families in philanthropy. They host multiple fundraisers where older children can help out and younger children can participate, and each week, during church service, parents and parishioners teach their children about tithing. For Christian families, the Advent calendar collection - a quarter a day - is another early way to engage even the youngest of children in philanthropy.

As a parent with young children, giving my daughter a dollar to contribute to the collection plate, I am teaching her the value of giving through financial donation. Even if she, at age 3, doesn't completely comprehend the impact, she delights in taking the action, and that is the first step of developing a family philanthropy mindset.

Together we make a difference. We feel connected. You can build on that connection by keeping us informed on how the money we donate is used, what missions in the community it supports, which dollars are used for salaries and property maintenance. Be diligent in your reporting and accountability.

Putting that dollar in the plate isn't the only part of family giving. Churches and other community organizations are an ideal place to introduce children to hands-on service as well. Though it may take some creativity to consider how children under age 10 will contribute, doing so will bring its own rewards. Plant a community garden. Clean up a lake. Visit seniors in a long-term care facility. Collect canned goods, blankets, or other items. Families with children of all ages can participate in these forms of service.

Stretch your imagination and think differently about your fundraising and volunteer strategy. After all, shouldn't all organizations provide a portal to community service, regardless of someone's age? How can you make your activities fun while at the same time engaging full families in community service? Parents, eager to teach their children about the grace of giving, and perhaps help them appreciate their own gifts, will embrace you, and you will have a larger pool of supporters to choose from.

A Family Philanthropy Plan

Step 1: Engage families with children of all ages in hands-on service and make it memorable. Save the administrative tasks for staff. Providing memorable experiences with deep impact means engaging families in a tradition of service.

Step 2: Encourage small giving and attendance or participation in fundraising events. Don't make every fundraiser attainable only for the wealthy. Galas and special events have their place, but to reach the average family you need to host events that don't require a $50-$100+ entry fee.

Step 3: Educate families on how to setup a system for giving.

Encourage families to open a savings account funded with $2,500, or open a smaller account with regular deposits.

Recommend referencing sites such as the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance, which provides ratings on charities as they compare to the Standards for Charity Accountability. These ratings will allow them to make confident giving decisions.

Suggest that they select a charity about which their children are passionate and recommend that they donate the interest earned on the savings account to the chosen charity at least one time each year.

Back to Resources for Non Profit Organizations

RESOURCES:

There are organizations that provide resources for finding family-friendly volunteer activities or training on how to setup a family philanthropy plan. Contact Heather Jack at The Volunteer Family to learn about one of them.

Other sources of charity information and tips for charitable giving include:

	CharityWatch (www.charitywatch.org)
	CharityNavigator (www.charitynavigator.org)

RELATED ARTICLES:

Nonprofit Marketing: Making the Most of your Alumni Volunteers

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Melanie R. Negrin is Managing Director and Lead Copywriter for Merocuné Marketing & Public Relations, a marketing communications firm specializing in building community awareness and support for non profit organizations and entrepreneurial businesses. Contact her at 973.252.2409 or melanie@merocune.com.