The Extra Ordinary Give - Maximizing a Communal Giving Day for Your Nonprofit

My nonprofit just participated in The Extra Ordinary Give - a full 24 hour giving marathon that represented 260 nonprofits, schools, and community benefit organizations in the Lancaster County. This year was a hit, raising more than $3.2 million dollars. There are many days of giving around the world and here is are 4 ideas on how to maximize them for your organization.

Lancaster County Community Foundation About Page

Craft Your Ask

Prepare a marketing piece that includes the event, all the particular, and your organizations specific link if provided. Make sure you can print it, post it, email it, and get it where it needs to go. Send it more than once. Create a reminder piece based on the first ask. People are busy and they won't remember your date no matter how much you want them to, so tell them to mark their calendars, remind them, and ask them to share it with friends.

Shout it from the Rooftops

Once you've got an email, give it to everyone you know. Send it to your mailing list of course. But never forget to get your supporters behind you. Tell your staff, board of directors, volunteers, and monthly givers to spread the word to everyone they know. Post it on your social media pages. Put it in your email signature and mention it while you're on the phone with clients and vendors.

Show and Tell

For yearly giving or annual events, it may be enough to just ask. However, days of giving sometimes have extra perks.The Extra Ordinary Give had a $25 minimum gift. That is an easy target to hit, but don't forget to show people what they get for that. Does $25 pay for meals, vaccinations, or hospital stays? Say so! Does each $1 invested in your organization leverage $5 in the community? Say so! And if there is a match being awarded as part of the giving day, you better tell them that too. Knowing that the money you donate could be matched is a great incentive to pull together communities.

Say Thank You, Thank You, Thank You

Lancaster County Community Foundation Thank You Page

Don't forget to follow up. This is a donation like any other and it requires letting people know that you have received the money and love them for it. It's also the time to give them receipts for their taxes and ask them to join your mailing list. Let them know if you have social media accounts to like and if you have any upcoming events you would love to tell them about.

Bonus: Live Blog The Day

Got the staff or volunteers? Get them to live blogging. Spend some time building up the day the week or two before the event and let everyone know that you will be "live" during the event. Start early and get people pumped. Let them know your progress and how many more donations you need to meet your goal. Thank people for donating and ask them to take one more step and tell a friend. Remember those show and tells you crafted before? Let them know that you've raised half the money for a children's program or you are 80% of your goal to increase safety in the neighborhood. Seeing your progress makes people feel involved and it is more likely that they will give an extra gift to get you there.

Getting Money on the Ground in our Hispanic Communities

As of February 2013, Biz2Credit formed a partnership with the Latino Coalition to offer more lending opportunities to Hispanic-owned businesses. Working in community and economic development, my ears immediately perked up. After watching this video, I found some of the information needed more research to be clarified. So let's start at the top, shall we?

The Latino population has more effect on the U.S. economy than ever. Hispanics are the fastest growing population in the country, numbering over 50 million. As such, they are also the fastest growing entrepreneurial demographic creating businesses at nearly double the normal rate. As of 2010, they comprised 2.3 million of the 27.1 million U.S. businesses. Over the last five years or so, Latino business' revenue jumped by an astonishing 55% to nearly $350 billion, though some believe even that number could be understated.

More than 20 % of all businesses in New Mexico, Florida and Texas are owned by Latinos, and even in the state with the largest economy, California, the figure is fast approaching 20%. Source

"Of course, the economic benefits from the dynamic growth of Latino businesses are not limited to the Latino community: one study in Los Angeles showed that growth of Latino owned businesses is a major factor in helping the city to recover from the devastating effects of the recession on its economy. The positive trends caused by Latino entrepreneurship can benefit the entire national economy and help the country to start growing again," says Forbes. So it would make sense that getting capital to worthy Latino businesses would be a good thing for everyone.

Lending to the "right" businesses is much more complicated than it sounds. Though banks are loosening their grips on purse strings for capital, large banks are still not equipped to handle the micro-loans that many of these small businesses require. That's where this Biz2Credit Initiative comes in to play. Originally, I thought the partnership was between the SBA (Small Business Administration) and the Latino Chamber. However, this Biz2Credit is not directly through the SBA, nor is it new.

Biz2Credit is an online application system that streamlines the process of applying for a loan. Working with a network of banks and economic developers, standardized loan applications are graded and matched up to potential lenders. This allows potential borrowers easier access to a variety of institutions while also allowing lenders to review applications quickly. The site also allows certified SBA lenders to weed out qualified projects. SBA loans are notorious for having many requirements and paperwork needed to apply. By narrowing down to only eligible projects, it saves business owners and lenders time and frustration.

The new initiative with the Latino Coalition has created an additional Biz2Credit website in Spanish. Since many Hispanic business owners are not comfortably fluent with English for business, this opens up more opportunities for the Latino market to gain access to capital. This has the possibility to increase prosperity and jobs into communities that might lag behind in the recovery otherwise. It also add a more dynamic element into our small business landscape by increasing diversity. If the research is true, we can all look forward to benefiting from stronger communities everywhere.