Issue 12: Corporate Bro

I got up at 3am this morning to head to the airport. While that may sound brutal (and it is), this is one of my favorite travel experiences.?

I get on the plane, have nothing to check, and am home the same day in the same clothes I got on that morning, sleeping in my own bed the same day.

I’ll be in Washington, DC for the AWS: IMAGINE Nonprofits conference . I’m slamming out my newsletter in a donut shop right around the corner from Amazon’s HQ.

There will be many big nonprofits and tech companies there, so I’ll be there to encourage everyone to “think bigger” and include the 97% of nonprofits making under $5 million in these conversations.?

Excited to see what is happening, though, and grateful for the invite!

Generosity in Action

We are only weeks away from the public release of our recurring giving report. The report, overseen by Abby Jarvis , has over 90 pages of insights, examined over 2,100 nonprofits and over 100,000 recurring donors to establish a fantastic modernized benchmark for this critical revenue channel.

This represents a new vision for how industry research should be produced, distributed, and utilized and I am thrilled to have support from other great folks from around the sector in spreading the word.

This week, I’ll be joining Jay Frost and the folks at DonorSearch for a live webinar. We’ll discuss the report and what it means for fundraisers like you. It’ll be conversational and engaging, as all of Jay’s talks are. RSVP for this event here. It's happening tomorrow at 330pm ET .

I will then join Olga Moshinsky Woltman, MS on Friday, where you’ll hear a conversation she and I had recently about the report and some other fun tidbits. A heads up: I’m wearing the Neon One robe in this one .?

We have our special preview webinar tomorrow, and over 50 thought leaders are ready to learn and collaborate in spreading the word about the report. Want to be part of this special cohort? DM me, and I’ll get you the RSVP link.?

Tips & Tricks

I love working with our partners at Double the Donation on insightful and interesting content, which is why I’m thrilled to see this new article by Adam Weinger , which outlines how to optimize your donation form with matching gifts. I'm a big fan of their company and our integration with them, so I think you’ll dig what he has to say.?

Here’s a snippet:

When screening for match-eligible donations, the #1 component you’ll need is your donors’ employment data. Your donation form provides the perfect opportunity to collect it! After all, supporters already supply a wealth of information about themselves on your giving forms—from their mailing addresses to their phone numbers and beyond. What’s one more personal inquiry for your donors?

Thus, you’ll want to make it easy for supporters to offer the names of their companies by adding an optional but intuitive company search tool widget to the giving form. Or, at the very least, incorporate a plain-text field in which donors can type their company names.

Then, once armed with this information, you’ll be able to identify those who work for companies with matching gift programs and tailor your outreach accordingly.

Data Dive

I’ve been working on an article that explores how nonprofits can creatively digitize parts of their corporate sponsorship process. I think we may start to see a movement in digital payments for things like event sponsorships.?

However, I still think the best investment of time and energy will be focused on the automation of matching gift opportunities. Here’s some data from our partners at Double the Donation on matching giving that I found interesting:

• 93% of companies have a minimum match requirement of less than or equal to $50Source: Double the Donation’s Analysis of Matching Gift Programs
• The average minimum match amount is $34Source: Real-time Analysis of Double the Donation’s Database
• 80% of companies’ matching gift maximums fall between $500 and $10,000 annually per employeeSource: Double the Donation’s Analysis of Matching Gift Programs
• The average maximum match amount is $3,728Source: Real-time Analysis of Double the Donation’s Database
• 91% of companies match donations at a 1:1 ratio4% match at a lower rate such as .5:15% match at a higher rate such as 2:1 or 3:1Source: Double the Donation’s Analysis of Matching Gift Programs

Learn more:

Community Spotlight

Have you seen my upcoming workshop on how to build a powerful people-centric framework for your CRM, brick by brick??

I hope you can join me next Monday, March 25 at 2pm ET . I’ll be giving away a personalized LEGO mosaic portrait that you can do of yourself or for a loved one!?

Can’t make it? Then join me a few days later for our upcoming livestream that will have our own Matthew Barta and data equity superstar Meena Das rock LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube. That will be beaming into your favorite channel on Thursday, March 28 at 3pm Eastern .

Upcoming Events

Simplify, Connect, Thrive: The Ultimate Guide to Frictionless Fundraising

March 26, 2024 | 2:00 PM ET

Discover how easy it is to conduct a fundraising event without the frustrations of complex processes. You’ll learn the basics of nonprofit technology, plus simple, time-saving solutions.

Claim Your Seat >

An Insider’s Look at The Recurring Giving Report

April 17, 2024 | 1:00 PM ET

The Recurring Giving Report: Data-Backed Insights for Sustainable Generosity releases soon! Join us to learn more about what we found and how to create a stable, sustainable community of donors.

Join Us >

Final Thoughts

Technology is tricky when it comes to participation and equitable access. Last week, I had the pleasure of presenting on the evolution of our product donation program with Ben Williams of the Connect Center. I am also thrilled about the features like the Generosity Indicator that we’ve been able to develop because of the infrastructure that AWS empowers us with.?

If you haven’t heard about the Generosity Indicator, here’s a highlight from this larger article on this powerful tool we just rolled out to all Neon CRM users.?

The Generosity Indicator is a feature that gives Neon CRM users a fair, equitable, and unified way to understand a constituent’s support (and even potential support!) for their organization. It appears in a constituent’s profile and gives insight into how connected they are to your organization.

The tool analyzes an individual’s activities across the entire Neon One ecosystem. In other words, it analyzes every interaction they’ve had with any organization that uses Neon One products.?

That data is always confidential—you’ll never see how much they gave to another organization, what events they attended, or how many hours they volunteered with other nonprofits. But you can get insights based on those other interactions.

Puzzle of the Week