Effective Donor Relations

Effective Donor Relations

By Keith Murfee-DeConcini

According to a recent presentation; effective donor relations is “to ensure that donors experience high-quality interactions with the organization that foster long-term engagement and investment.” This involves areas of gift acceptance and management, acknowledgment and donor recognition, while relying on effective reporting. This is an important area of practice that should be instilled by any management team of a nonprofit. Donors allow nonprofits to thrive or sometimes, simply to survive another month. It is important that those donors feel appreciated for their efforts.

 While not every area of focus in a nonprofit need to have a “from the top down” approach to it. This is one where it does. How management treats their donors, both publicly and internally on a daily basis shows how committed they are to maintaining those relationships and whether or not those donors will stay with the organization.                               

Organization Knowledge

Organization Knowledge

By Keith Murfee-DeConcini

When a client/potential client calls the main number of an organization, more often than not, they want some kind of information about that organization. Most people do not want to hear “Oh, check the website because all the information is on there.” If they are calling, it is safe to assume that either a). They do not access to the website at the moment, b). They got the phone number from the website or c). they want more specific information on an area of interest than what is currently on the website. You must realize that they called you for a reason and that reason was not to check or recheck the website.

Requiring all employees to have basic background knowledge of the organization as a whole; makes for a better management strategy. At the very least, if the person answering the phone does not have the information the person calling in is requesting, then he or she should be able to direct them to the appropriate person. This way of operating allows the organization to function in an optimum level of output, which increases employee morale and gives the organization a good public relations standing.                        

Proper Signage

Proper Signage

By Keith Murfee-DeConcini

Utilizing proper signage in any business seems like a no brainer, especially for a nonprofit who works in the area of human services. While not a clear issue for management, it should be noted that if employees cannot direct clients to the proper place for services in the office, then the overall effectiveness of the organization flatters. The common response from the receptionist when they are asked where to go “Oh, go down the hall and turn right, go past four doors but not past five doors” should not be common at all. Instead, it should be “You should go down the hall and turn right, Mr./Ms. [insert name here] will be the fourth door.”

It is not simply a decorate job, to add a few shades of color to spruce up the office, that’s a different issue and there is a difference. If your staff has a hard time directing clients to appropriate areas of the offices or has trouble finding the restroom and only has white walls and white doors as direction markers, then it is time to change things. Having proper signage around the office is like personal grooming. Even businesses should look their best or at the very least, decent.           

Social Media Usage for Human Services

Social Media Usage for Human Services

By Keith Murfee-DeConcini

Utilizing social media is becoming increasingly more common these days, both in personal and business ventures. So getting the message out regarding human services on the company clock is an issue. Vastly different from looking at porn or bidding on E-Bay, maintaining a regular social media presence is as important as ever. Having robust business security which includes a web filter in this day and age of online connectivity is a critical management safeguard tool but is there such a thing as being too cautious?

I was recently a volunteer at a nonprofit service provider in New York City, managing their website blog and involved in their social media outreach meetings. For a company so focused on connecting to clients through social networking, the website filter they used was quite a hassle and in my opinion, did more harm than good. Employees had to really do computer acrobatics quite often to manage any meaningful update to the social networking platform. Social networking may have started for more personal use; however, it has and continues to evolve into a focused tool for businesses for employment and outreach purposes. Examples such as LinkedIn and Yammer are a starting point, which illustrates that business social networking is on the rise and web filtering must take note.