Public Relations Commentary

Increasingly, public relations pracititioners have to know not only how to write for the Web, but also how to manage and respond to blog postings. This blog was created to use in my public relations courses to help my students prepare to blog and learn how to respond to others in a virtual yet professional manner.

Friday, September 15, 2006

New tax laws benefit some nonprofits, hurts others

I encourage you to read this Chronicle of Philanthropy article before they take it off of the free section. It describes how the latest changes to the tax laws will have a tremendous impact on nonprofit organizations.

Based on the examples they use, education and museums may suffer the most while conservation and historic preservation groups may wind up making significant gains.

It poses a very interesting public relations dilemma. We've already discussed that people have very different motives for why they give, some selfless, some more selfish.

The question I pose is this: You're a nonprofit fundraiser in an organization likely to be negatively impacted by this legislation. What strategies would you use to communicate to donors about the legislation?

posted by Richard @ 3:37 PM  

3 Comments:

  • At 7:47 PM, September 17, 2006, Blogger Paul Jonas said…

    I would take a two pronged approach. The first tactic would involve previous and expected donors - people that we have a prior relationship with - and unaware donors.

    To all these groups I would send out a letter ASAP explaining in as simple terms as possible the new rules, the extent to which the law reaches and where there just isn't enough information. This information would be bullet pointed for ease of reading. Then I would show exactly what parts of the law could possibly affect them all.

    I would then use this opportunity beyond education, to promote my organization's mission and goals, etc. Never miss that opportunity!

    Finally, the second prong would involve donors with which we have had a previous relationship. Since it seems that some donations could have an affect on people that have donated in the past. I would think it was important to send them out a special information packet in addition to the mailed envelope.

    Finally, at every speaking opportunity I would ensure that the topic was brought up. Campaigns, welcomings to new employees, open houses, anything where the executive director is available, and donors may be within earshot, something should be mentioned.

    It is our job as stewards of the relationship to ensure that our donors are as aware as possible since this legislation ultimately affects both of us.

     

  • At 11:19 AM, September 18, 2006, Blogger Evelyn said…

    While reading the chapter and specifically the challenges that nonprofits face like for example private fundraising, I though no matter what nonprofit you work for getting donations is a hard job, as we know getting the money is a difficult job for fundraisers because of competition, legislation and many other challenges. When we have donors committed to our organizations we do not want to let them go because of a new legislation we want to keep them informed about what is going on.

    I believe that I as a fundraiser I would communicate as fast as I can and as comprehensive as I can, the new tax legislation to all my donors. The tactics that I would like to work on are letters, a dedicated Web page with examples about the new tax law and maybe a blog for FAQ. I would take a different plan of action for my most-generous donors and organize meetings and invite tax experts that can talk about the topic more extensively so that donors can make questions and get the best clarification about the new law. I think that Web meetings (Webcast) are one of the most effective ways to communicate with donors, investors, customers, etc. Donors do not have to be physically present in the meetings and can send their questions by email, telephone, etc. We have to think of donors as investors to our non-profit, not as just donors, they support the cause that we defend and we should keep them inform when laws might damage the relationship between the donor and the non profit that we believe on.

     

  • At 5:47 PM, September 18, 2006, Blogger Evelyn said…

    Gina, I love your idea of creating a non-profit that can be help other non-profits with training. Non-profits face so many challenges that I am sure they will accept the help (no doubt about it).

    As the book mentions, the challenges for these organizations are everywhere and they range from not having a clear mission to not even having the right marketing niche to focus on (which is critical for any organization by the way). I believe that this is my main critic to non-profits. Based on my short experience and observation many non-profits are not business oriented at all, they lack plans of actions, objectives, goals, a clear mission, etc. Many of them do not even think of resource development or fundraising as a priority! I think that one can assume that many of these organizations lack professional expertise; maybe the salaries are not attractive enough so people go to other types of organizations. There are plenty of causes for the situation. But, what can we do to help non-profits to be more business oriented? Should we train all the personnel in the non-profit? Should we hire the most experienced manager that can run the non-profit as a business? What should we do?

    There are many things that non-profits can do in order to be more competitive. Here are some ideas. They need to figure it out basic elements of an organization like who they are, what they want, what kind of publics they serve, the products and services they offer, the uniqueness of their products or services, their weaknesses and strengths (SWOT analysis), etc. I believe that non-profits need to be “run” as a business, where decisions are made based on research, where marketing plays a huge role, where the general management leads the organization, and where the clients and donors are one of the most important persons in the organization.

     

Post a Comment

<< Home