In case you just don’t want to go there I pulled three good articles for you that I found on Twitter this week. Enjoy!

I know that some of you are working on an annual fund development plan right now. Here’s a short blog article that was timely from a colleague: 7 Questions your Fundraising Plan MUST Answer 

A Proactive Fundraising Pyramid – Engaging the Base This is a great read on connecting with donors in your giving pyramid. It’s time to think outside the box!

This site has a very cool graphic comparing online giving following some of our recent disasters. Check it out:  Online Giving and Rapid Response Trends

It can sometimes feel like extra work that you just don’t have time for, but even a small nugget of information can turn a prospecting conversation into a deeper discussion when you have done your homework. I’ve been able to WOW potential donors by keeping great records on our previous conversations or knowing something about them they haven’t yet shared with me – like the name of another organization they volunteer their time or financial support.

So how do you track down good information? With Google and Bing you can find LOTS of great information on most anyone. I’ve compiled a short list of places I often use to do a quick search for information before a meeting with someone. I’m sure there are more. If you know of other good places to conduct FREE searches please add them in the comments below. NOTE: The list below does not include any information on the many firms that specialize in conducting fee-based donor research.

A very important rule of thumb: Spend no more than 15 minutes per person when doing your searches. In fact, about 10 minutes should give you plenty of background. And doing this kind of donor research is a great intern or volunteer project.

• First thing I do is to check LinkedIn to see if the person has a page. If they do I usually find LOTS there. You can also check MySpace and Facebook to learn some things if they have a public page. Other sites I use less often but work fine too: Plaxo, Classmates.com, MyLife and there are lots more listed on the Wikipedia List of Social Networking Sites.
• Next I type their full name into Google and/or Bing and see what comes up. It’s helpful if you know a middle initial or middle name so you can be certain you have the correct person in your search. I take just a few minutes to dig around on the various pages that come up. You often can find recent business transactions, event listings, contribution information, associations they are a part of, schools they attend or their children attend. Anything that is listed on the internet can usually be found through a simple search.
• Next I do a search with the person’s and add the word donations.
  For example: Lisa A. Swanson Donations
  By doing this I may pull up some information that the previous search may have missed. Either search SHOULD provide places where the name is listed on annual reports and other ways the name has been posted online. It’s often that the name is listed with a gift amount range.
• If I know it, I also do this same process for a married couple and include both names. I’ve found some pretty obscure information about people’s weddings, births of their children and more.
• To learn more about the value of a home I type the address in at zillo.com and an estimate on the price comes up.
• Another site I use is www.pipl.com – there is no fee and it sometimes can bring up some deeper information on the person.

All of this information is only good if you actually get into communication with the person. Capture what you learn in your web-based donor tracking system and then set your meeting with them. You can feel more confident when you have done your homework about someone and learned where they are already giving their time and financial support.

Twitter is a web application that allows 140 character messages to be sent via text or online on any topic. I receive “Tweets” on my Blackberry from a handful of people and once or twice a day I check online to quickly scroll through the many Tweets I’ve received.

I “follow” experts in the social profit sector to stay current on the “hot” fundraising conversations and topics each day. Translate that to: Daily I receive bunches of 140 character doses of great fundraising advice, suggestions on helpful books, awesome fundraising blogs and lots of really helpful information.

You can “follow” my Twitter updates without using Twitter by visiting my page online to see the latest updates about fundraising, money, giving, and more.

Today I’ve compiled a list of some of the resources I’ve shared so you have them all in one place.  Enjoy!

3 helpful resources for Fundraising in a Challenging Economy from Community Shares WI:
A Survival Kit for Fundraising in a Bad Economy–from the Association for Fundraising Professionals

Managing in Tough Times: A Collection of Resources for Nonprofits and Funders Navigating Turbulence–from The Bridgespan Group

10 Things You Can Learn from Real-World Donor Thank You Letters–from Fundraising Success Magazine.

Wise words on direct mail. The Huntsinger tutorials.

A Definitive Guide to Government Grants. Simple and clear.

Good listen: What to cut when the budget is tight. Always helpful podcast from Fundraising is Beautiful.

Another AFP goodie: Major Gifts: It’s Not the Donation Amount that Matters-It’s the Strength of the Relationship.

Some good tips.”6 Ways to Build Your Email Subscriber List through Social Media”

Check Your Mindset to Market Your Way Out of the Recession

I believe that getting into action, rather than reacting, is the best plan. In this article, Elaine Vogel provides some great tips on getting into action and getting into the mindset that we can engage in communication that is helpful and keeps our donors and volunteers connected for the long-haul.

Some tips from the article:

1. Do Some Primary Research

Talk to your current and prospective donors and stakeholders. How are they hurting? What can you do to help? What are their challenges? Listen and they’ll give you some valuable information.

2. Make Use of Secondary Research

3. Plan, Plan and Plan

4. Do You Have the Right Mindset?

5. Look at cost-effective marketing tactics

• Social Media
• Word-of-mouth marketing
• Develop professional marketing/fundraising materials
• Cause marketing

Click here to read the full article

Words are utterances that stand for feelings, thoughts and experiences.

The reality is words can be one of the least effective ways to communicate because it’s so easy to misinterpret them, ignore them or if not chosen carefully, cause us to simply not care.

When you want people to get sense of what you are conveying, use as many forms of communication as possible. Music, silence, photos, a drawing from a child. Anything that will cause the other person to feel something.

I’ve heard Lenore talk about her organization many times and how the need for more shelter space for homeless families is growing. Then just last week she shared with me an audio tape of the sounds of phone calls that her organization received on their voice mail. Lenore prefaced the audio by sharing the fact that they now receive an average of 300 phone calls a month which is an increase of 250 a month in the last year.

Then I heard the calls. The sounds of babies crying in the background. The fathers or mothers sounding embarrassed and pausing in fear or fatigue during the message. The silences and the noises combined with the words caused me to feel uncomfortable and even guilty that I was leaving to go home to my own house with lots of space in it.

I have carried around that feeling with me for days. And ever since I’ve been working to send help to that organization. The words alone didn’t cause me to carry that uncomfortable feeling around. It was the sounds, and the urgency of the voices and the silences that did.

Feeling is one of the ultimate tools of knowing. By causing your donors and volunteers to feel something they will take action. Just be sure you are clear about what action you want them to take.

Is it to make a contribution? Then ask for one, with a specific amount that will make a difference.

Do you want them to volunteer? Tell them where to sign up and give them a specific task to volunteer for.

Get people into action with short, clear, bold communication that inspires and causes them to feel your work.

“Feeling is the language of the soul.” – Neale Donald Walsch

• How many people did you serve so far this year?
• How many amazing staff members have worked hard to deliver your services this year?
• Who is showing up at board meetings and committee meetings?

All these and more are things we have to be grateful for.

I also recommend you continue to stay informed about the economy so you can speak about it from knowledge and not fear. The Minnesota Council on Foundations has a new resource to help you do that.

To find out more, visit the Economy and Philanthropy page at mcf.org.

The article posted on the mcf.org page from The Christian Science Monitor is about American giving and it has some great information. Here are some stats from that article:

• A first-time national survey of online consumers released Monday finds that 51% (89 million people) plan to donate to nonprofit groups via the Internet during November or December.
• 67% of those will donate the same amount or more than last year.
• 33% say they’ll be giving less.

I wish a blessed Thanksgiving to you and your community!