Respond to each peer initial post and question at the end with a response about 3-4 sentences long.
Peer #1
Friend raising is when a nonprofit organization builds a relationship with their clients focusing on the development of a unique and special type of relationship with the hopes of creating passionate supporters that believe in the cause and can help bring in others by word of mouth that they trust that will have some type of loyalty to the organization rather than just someone who it becomes all about the money.
Friend raising with a nonprofit organization's clientele is important because there are is a bigger commitment there in the relationship and gives a little more ease to the organization to ask people they already know for money for a particular cause and wouldn't make asking difficult.
Of course some people do not like to ask others for money but when it's for something important like for an organization with a good cause then it's pretty simple to ask your friends whom you know very well to help you and contribute to your cause. "In friend-raising, the relationship is a sustainable practice of genuine care and concern-each party involves itself for the benefit of the others, thereby representing and reinforcing the community" (Allers, 2013).
Solicitation is definitely a part of the relationship between a nonprofit and their donors whether they have any affiliation to them or not because any means of asking someone for something or trying to obtain something from someone is considered soliciting in a positive manner. There is also the means of someone who would barge into or intrude in an organization to ask for either monetary donations or to purchase something from them and in most places this is not allowed.
Solicitation can help raise the profile of the business when it reaches a broad market base to help them generate new sales (Martin, 2018). In the nonprofit friend-raising instance, solicitation is a good thing and sets up the friends to be potential customers and helping to advertise the business rather than it being advertised by the business owners (Martin, 2018). Having friend-raisers speak to others about the organization's cause will help to bring others in the door because they trust them.
A nonprofit must have volunteers in their organization in order for them to be successful, as many of these organization types rely heavily on their volunteers as they are considered their backbone and spread the word about the mission of the organization (Tishman, 2013). These members do not give their support to the organization for a payout and most of the time is not looking to be compensated in any way or receiving a gift, they are only looking for the organization to be successful and see their cause making a difference.
There should definitely be a volunteer program in an emerging nonprofit organization especially in our economic times where there are many people who are in need of the communities help. A management system is needed to run a successful volunteer program to ensure that the organization is using highly skilled volunteers who are willing to take part in the programs they have to offer, the ability to have proper training programs, financial support and should have high-value contributing volunteer leaders.
In my opinion I think that an organization should consider a capital campaign when the organization is in need of some sort of restructure and need to raise some significant cash to help the cause because they either do not have enough cash within the organization to do this or they are not allowed to use that money for restructure but it's needed in order for them to be successful.
An organization must get the approval from a committee before they can begin a capital campaign for the organization, they must first make sure that they actually do need this campaign, how much money they need and the finance committee must agree on this by first making sure they are able to finance these needs (Lysakowski, 2013).
Strategic planning is necessary in this process as well and the team will have to get together to make sure they are addressing the following questions before they take the next steps : "What is the potential for growth in our organization? How are the demographics of our constituents changing, are we prepared to meet the needs of our community and Is our facility adequate to handle growing needs and if not, what do they need to do to improve their facilities?" (Laykowski, 2013).
Peer#2
Friendraising is the development of a relationships between a nonprofit organization and its clientele. Building this relationship includes sharing the nonprofit organization's mission with the beliefs of the clientele, sharing the positive results of the nonprofit organization, and encouraging the clientele to become invested in the nonprofit. This relationship is important because it ensures that nonprofit clientele will continue to support the cause, whether that be in monetary donations or volunteer opportunities.
Friendraising is all about "stitching in" individuals to support and maintain the life of a nonprofit. In our notes we also learned ways to encourage this relationship, which include keeping in communication through such media as newsletters, chatting clientele up without the solicitation of money or service, invitations to visit the nonprofit facilities, holding social and informational meetings, and other gatherings lead by key leaders in the organization.
The key to successful friendraising interactions is that during these interactions there is no solicitation of money or services from the clientele, but rather the intention is about building a bond with clientele so that they will be committed to the cause in a natural manner.
Constant solicitation of money or services can result in a client possibly losing focus on why they were involved in the first place or losing the passion for the nonprofit's mission. Rather than soliciting an active member on a regular basis it is a better strategy to keep them involved through typical interactions they may engage with friends they have in their lives. Friends share information with one another (communication).
Friends typically do not ask you for money and/or a favor every time you speak with them (well good friends at least). Friends invite you over to their homes (invitation to nonprofit facilities). Friends also ask you to go out and have fun together (social and information events).
As we also learned in our notes, volunteers are an important part of a successful nonprofit organization. To take advantage of this key benefit a nonprofit does need to put in place a process or infrastructure for a volunteer program. A volunteer management program will increase the benefits provided by volunteers while managing the potential sticky situations that also could come about. A volunteer management program should consider how volunteers are being used and tracked, risks associated with volunteer involvement, policies and procedures, recruitment strategies, selection standards, training, leadership, and recognition of service.
Capital campaigns are a type of fundraising strategy for a specific need that an organization might need. These needs are typically big ticket items like facilities, necessary equipment, or items that may cost large amounts of money that contribute to the success of a nonprofit's mission (Weinstein, 2017). Capital campaigns should be run whenever possibly to ensure a nonprofit has the tools it needs to be successful in its mission.
Prerequisties for a capital campaign are outlined by Wesley Lindahl's Three-phase Capital Campaigns. Lindahl discusses the need for planning before any campaign can take place. First research has to be done. This research will help an organization focus on their process for funding these big ticket items. Once the organization has researched, they then can plan thr strategy of fundraising, develop a hypotheses, and set the expectations of the capital campaign.
Once that is done then a capital campaign can begin. Nonprofits have stronger success when planning capital campaigns because donors respond in certain ways to certain information. For example, if a nonprofit researched and found that individual donors are more likely to contribute to a cause that is almost at its goal, the nonprofit might hold off on opening donating publicly once they have received private funds (Lindahl, 2008).
Question
What is a capital campaign? What is it usually intended to fund? How long is the typical campaign and what are the common phases?