Click. Buy. Help. is an innovative fundraising idea and Schoolhouse Supplies is equally innovative. After being founded in 1999, Schoolhouse Supplies has enjoyed over a decade of supporting students and teachers throughout Portland Public Schools. They operate Oregon’s first and only volunteer-run Free Store to provide teachers with the classroom supplies needed to encourage the learning process for all students. Today, they are a nationally recognized leader in the Free Store movement, which creates direct links between students and members of the community.

As an award-winning nonprofit that supports public education in Portland, their mission is targeted at helping students achieve.  “To serve classrooms in need by operating a volunteer-run Free Store for Teachers, which is stocked with supplies donated by the community,” is based on the belief that every child deserves school supplies and has the right to a quality education.

Founded by Portland Public Schools parent Katie Gold, Schoolhouse Supplies has grown from serving 11 schools to all 130 Portland Public Schools. With supply drives and generous contributions of gently used supplies from leading businesses in the northwest, Schoolhouse Supplies has been able to keep their Free Store shelves stocked year round.

If you would like to help Click. Buy. Help. sustain the good work they are doing, start your online shopping from their page.  There, they have all three of the big office and school supply retailers shown along with direct links to purchase the items most in need. Tell your friends and share the link to their page.

If you know of a another non-profit organization that could benefit from a new and creative fundraising idea, send them to our Contact Us page and we’ll help them get started!

Web site hosting service?

This may not be the usual place to shop for most of your supporters, but think of this:  many of your supporters work for, or are owners of, companies.  Businesses who probably have web sites.  Web sites that need to be hosted somewhere. This isn’t a regular retailer found at “the mall” but is something that nearly every business needs.

The people at BlueHost are absolutely the best at providing support – something that is important to every business owner.  They always solve my (self-inflicted) problems quickly and with class. I expect to be with them for a very long time.  Not a mainstream fundraising idea, but not a bad one either!

If you click through from this post, Click. Buy. Help. of course earns a commission on the sale.  But if you want to become a part of those earnings, give some thought to your supporter base.  Do you have a group who are small business owners?  Do you have “hobby bloggers” who have their own web sites?  Do you have independent consultants who need solid web hosting and the best support around?  If so, let me know and I’ll get BlueHost set up for your Click. Buy. Help. page!

Dave

As a way to showcase the member organizations to each other, potential members and the general public who visit the site, I will begin an ongoing series of short focus stories for each group. Then, as new groups join, a story will be added, introducing them to the Click. Buy. Help. community.

Look for the first profile soon.  They will appear in the sequence they joined Click. Buy. Help.

This is a wonderful opportunity to thank the Group of 15 for allowing me to be a part of their work. Although I don’t participate directly, I am able to provide assistance through the commissions earned on supporters purchases. Fundraising is difficult and assistance is needed from any available direction. I am pleased to be able to provide support.

Dave

Open communication to your supporters is important, but then again, you know that.  Educating them about your intention and giving them an easy way to help is a great one-two punch. My hope is this provides you with an easy tool to get them to act.

Dave

(Click More for entire letter)

DRAFT LETTER TO SUPPORTERS

TO: Your Non-Profit Organization’s Supporter Community

FROM: Your name and title

The [Organization name] is pleased to announce the launch of a simple, but very innovative fundraising tool: Click. Buy. Help. G.A.P.S. has joined Click. Buy. Help. to earn commissions from your regular online purchases.

BACKGROUND

[Organization] recently joined Click. Buy. Help. to test the process and we found it to be simple and secure. With just a small number of people testing it out, we’re already earning commissions! Just think of the potential when all our loyal supporters are participating.

HOW IT WORKS

Click. Buy. Help. has created a very easy process for schools, churches, and all non-profit organizations to earn commissions on supporters’ online purchases – purchases already being made every day:

1. [Organization] supporters visit the [Organization] page on Click. Buy. Help. at http://www.clickbuyhelp.org/[organization page name]
2. Click on your favorite retailer’s icon to visit their site
3. Make your regular purchases
4. Click. Buy. Help earns a commission from your purchase; donates to [Organization.]

That’s all there is to it!

NO SELLING – JUST BUYING

Remember, we’re not selling anything with this service. These are purchases that you make every day anyway. The only requirement: you must start your shopping from our page EVERY TIME you shop online.

 TELL YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY – HERE AND OUT OF TOWN

Anyone can help [Organization] through this program – and they don’t even need to live in the area. Do you have a sister in Montana? Tell her. Do you have a brother in Texas? Email him. What about grandma and grandpa in San Francisco? Show them how they can help. It doesn’t matter where they live – only that they begin their shopping from our page every time they shop online.

Since Click. Buy. Help. doesn’t compete with any of our other fundraising activities, it can be an excellent complement to other events. For example, when you are shopping for items to donate to our upcoming auction [or other event], you might consider starting your online shopping from the [Organization] page on Click. Buy.Help, buy the items through Amazon.com to save some money, and earn a donation for us. We can also promote our page at the event next year and in all the materials published leading up to it.

You can see the potential for this program and why [Organization] is excited to now release this to all our supporters. The next time you buy online, please be sure to CLICK through to your favorite retailer from our page, BUY online as you would normally, and HELP the [Organization]!

Sincerely,

[Name]

[Title]

[Organization]

Blake Mycoskie, the CEO of TOMS Shoes has a new book, Start Something That Matters, that looks at the success of Social Entrepreneurs. As an accomplished Social Entrepreneur himself, he explores why it is not only possible, but beneficial to create a business model that is purposeful in its philanthropy. This review comes on the heels of another Click. Buy. Help. post about the Social Entrepreneur definition which was an observation of the Social Entrepreneurial spirit that lives at Click. Buy. Help.

First some background.

In just five years, Blake Mycoskie has built substantial success with his company, TOMS Shoes, that has philanthropy at its very core: for every pair of shoes he sells, he gives one pair away.  He calls it “One for One.”  To date, he has helped over 1 million people with the free pairs generated from a like number of sales.

In addition to TOMS Shoes, Mycoskie has launched TOMS Glasses using the same philosophy.  One could argue that shoes and eyeglasses are two of the most basic needs we all have.  His passion and successful business acumen are helping those most in need acquire those items. There is a certain Zen-like quality to the balance he has struck in his business model. In college, I had a Business Ethics professor that defined ethical as, “doing more than you are required, but not as much as you’re allowed.”  Blake Mycoskie certainly is not maximizing his personal profits and simultaneously, is giving more away than would normally be required of him.  I wonder if he ever took a class from the same professor. Read on for how he is extending his One for One philosophy to book sales.

Now, the book itself.

Blake Mycoskie wrote Start Something That Matters to not only share what he’s learned, but to also tell the story of others who share his attitudes – and success. He makes a strong case that aspiring to profits isn’t a bad thing.  In fact, when paired with a desire to be philanthropic, it becomes rewarding on several levels.  It of course makes one feel good, but it also is proving to be a key component of his business model – and one that continues to provide benefits through the support of customers

As part of his research, Mycoskie reviewed the successes (and challenges) of many people he knew, and used their stories as a framework for telling his own story.  Some of the entrepreneurial leaders about which you will read:

• Tony Hseih of Zappos
• Lauren Bush of FEED Projects
• Eric Ryan of Method
• Scott Harrison of charity: water
• Tim Ferris of 4-Hour Workweek

One poignant story he tells is that of a woman with three children who shared the use of one pair of shoes. With the TOMS Shoes awarded to her, all three children could not only attend school every day, but do so with improved self esteem.  The reward he must feel from these kinds of stories must be humbling.

One Book for One Book

His One for One model is continuing with the book itself.  For every book sold, a needy child will receive an age-appropriate book to read.  Of the many publishers who vied for the rights, Mycoskie went with Random House.  Theirs was the only proposal that included accommodating the One for One model.

The benefits related to One for One extend past the direct impacts to children and those less fortunate, and apply to other entrepreneurs.  (As a fledgling Social Entrepreneur myself, I would be the first to admit these definitions actually could include many entrepreneurs as well!) Grants will be made available from 50% of the book’s proceeds.  These grants will be made available to people whose vision or venture includes a socially responsible component.  From new business or product concepts to projects benefiting a local community, to simply adding a philanthropic element to existing operations, these grants will extend the learning that comes from the book’s contents.

Cover the Bases

When buying Start Something That Matters, you tick a number of boxes:

• You get a great book with intriguing Socially Responsible business insights
• You increase the grant pool to allow Blake Mycoskie to extend to others the opportunities for additional philanthropy
• As a bonus, if you buy some shoes, you directly cause someone in need to receive a new pair of shoes

Click. Buy. Help.’s philosophy is simple:  Click through to your favorite retailer from you organization’s page on the site.  Buy from that retailer as you normally would.  Help your favorite non-profit organization.

Blake Mycoskie’s pitch is equally simple, and the description is even shorter:  Buy the book.  Buy some shoes.  Help others.

A simple sentiment that matters.

Sometimes it’s easier to answer a question with an example.

Inc.com recently posted the perfect answer to the questions. In this story, they discuss the passion that is held by Scott Harrison, the founder of charity: water. (Yes, lower case and punctuated as shown.) charity: water is aptly self-described as “a non-profit organization bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations. 100% of public donations directly fund water projects.”

How can you not get behind this one?

My point of the example? It is the passion that strikes each one of us at times that can’t be explained, but grabs you and doesn’t let you go. The fulfillment I receive for my 3 cents per hour salary is priceless. I hope to grow that not just for my personal gain, but because when I make a buck, so does one of the Click. Buy. Help. organizations.

Again, I can’t explain it. I can only say that it is fulfilling to make monthly contributions to the participating Click. Buy. Help. organizations. My wish to anyone reading this is that you find your own passion to help others.

Dave

One of the ways Click. Buy. Help. adds value to participating non-profit organizations is through helpful resources and observations. Here is a handy index published by Blackbaud, Inc., a company that provides technology solutions to nonprofits. Their index provides a quick glimpse into giving trends. You can read more about their methodology here. They break down the stats in a number of categories, but the two that caught our attention are:

• The Blackbaud Index of Charitable Giving
• The Blackbaud Index of Online Giving

Given the online nature of Click. Buy. Help.’s operation, these two seemed to make the most sense.

There are considerably more categories published by Blackbaud and you can access them:

• General Giving:  By size of organization and by industry
• Online Giving: By size of organization and by industry.

A few quick facts about Blackbaud from their web site:

• Founded in 1981
• 24,000 customers, in nearly every segment of the nonprofit market
• 2000+ employees, with eight offices throughout the world
• Revenues of $327 million in 2010
• Headquarters in Charleston, SC
• Offices in London, Glasgow, and Sydney
• Subsidiaries in Boston (Target Analytics and Target Software), Indianapolis (eTapestry), San Diego (Kintera), Hong Kong, and The Netherlands (Blackbaud.nl)

They provide services to non-profits in the area of:

• fundraising
• relationship management
• financial management
• education administration
• website management
• direct marketing
• ticketing
• prospect research
• consulting
• training

Click. Buy. Help. is not endorsing the work of Blackbaud as we have had no direct involvement with them. But the information they are publishing seems to be a handy tool for non-profit organizations overall.

Dave

Fortunately, there also seems to be good news overall in the world of philanthropy.

For the first time in three years, 2010 saw an increase in charitable giving. The Giving USA Foundation in conjunction with the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University has just issued a report announcing the good news.

While the overall giving levels, in hundreds of billions of dollars is interesting, it is the relative increases (or decreases) that hit closer to home. Let’s take a look at some recent trends.

2010 saw a 3.8% increase over 2009. (That’s $290.9 billion, up from $280.4 in 2009.) Although that increase is only 2.1% in inflation-adjusted dollars, one could argue that it indicates a slowly healing economy – with fingers crossed for the future.

This “slowly healing” theory is supported by a disproportionate increase in Corporate Giving, up 10.6%. What is really interesting is the continual graying of our population – bequests were up an amazing 18.8%. It shows our most honored citizens have their collective hearts squarely in the right place.

This sort of tracking began in 1954 and although 1997, 2008, and 2009 saw decreases, every other year since then has seen increases. In some years the increases were good and others not so good. Some would at least call this trend “directionally correct.”

So here’s a few questions for readers associated with non-profit organizations: How did your 2010 compare? Is your Corporate Giving revenue growing at a faster pace than your overall income? Are you developing recurring “baseline” sources of revenue beyond your Click. Buy. Help. source?

Are you doing everything you can to make it easy for current and potential supporters to engage with you? Does your web site stand out in a crowd?  These are simple questions, but of course have many interrelated answers. Let’s approach this by asking (and have you answering) a few basic questions.

Does my web site allow interested parties to easily know how to contact my non-profit organization?

There is a reason why this question is first. I spend a lot of time researching organizations online. My purpose is to research their operations when considering groups that request a Click. Buy. Help. page or when I’m evaluating those organizations with whom I might like to strike up a relationship. Remember, the Click. Buy. Help. commissions earned by the non-profit organizations come to them in the form of my donations. I always ensure I am comfortable with the work the group does. Unfortunately, I am frequently frustrated by having to dig deeply into the site to find out how to contact someone. It isn’t always as simple as you may think.

Click on image for larger view

Let’s look at the way non-profit organizations can reach out to Click. Buy. Help.  To the right, you can see our Contact Us page.  Note that I’ve chosen to use an email box inquiry, but the page is one click from the main navigation menu (top). Information on how to join Click. Buy. Help. and more background in the About Us page are both available with one click from anywhere, after a brief hover to drop down the menu. My goal (and it should be yours, too) is to not give anyone who may like to become involved any reason to leave. If they are looking for how to get in touch, serve it up to them easily.

Is my 501(c)(3) non-profit status and supporting documents visible?

Potential supporters (and yours truly) want to make sure an organization has the proper non-profit status. Do you clearly state your non-profit status? Do you publish your IRS Form 990? Do you make your IRS determination letter available? Sure, if a potential donor contacted you and asked for those documents, you would provide them. But think of the number of people who may not take the initiative if they can’t easily determine your status.  Once you’ve lost them, you’ve lost them for good.

Make this information easily available by logically grouping it with your About Us information, probably near the Contact Us section. This is where I normally look.

Do I inform my web site visitors all the ways in which they can help my organization?

We all love options. In this case, the more ways you can help people engage with you (read that: help you!) the more chance that you will get involvement. Here are some examples:

• Some people just don’t have much time to devote to a cause, but they help quality non-profit groups by simply donating money. Do you make online donations easy for them?
• Some like to provide in-kind donations.  They may have a dump truck and can drop a load of gravel for the parking lot extension, or they may be handy with web sites and would like to improve you site’s operations.
• There are those who simply want to get their hands dirty.  They want to work in ways that range from stuffing envelopes to parking cars. They might work the phones to “dial for dollars” or simply attend meetings and be available for a variety of tasks.

Providing the ways in which supporters can interact with your non-profit organization is like using many kinds of bait to set the hook – each fish likes a different kind.

Not sure? Ask!

The best way to find out if your web site is doing everything it can to support your non-profit operations is to simply ask.  Find someone who is not involved with your daily operations and hopefully, has never seen your web site before.  Ask them to approach the site with the scenarios in mind that we just discussed above.  Ask them how easy it was to find what they needed and then ask them how it can be improved.

We all like to share our opinions.

Fundraising Tips to Help Your Supporters Help You

Finally, be sure to stay engaged with your regular supporters.  Ask them periodically how you can make it easier for them to support you. These conversations are always valuable because you are showing them you value their support and input.  Be sure to ask them separately from a giving campaign.  Remember the old story about the best time to get to know your banker is when you DON’T need a loan? Asking your supporters how you can help them help you shows you value them always, not just during fundraising season.

Dave

Click. Buy. Help. is dedicated to helping non-profit organizations earn commissions through the purchases made by their online supporters. If you are reading this post, you may already know that. What you may not know is that Click. Buy. Help. is employing a slightly different strategy for helping its member organizations. If successful, we’ll have the capacity to help not only the current members, but many, many more in the future.

Enter Drobo. Drobo? What the heck is a Drobo, you ask?

Drobo is a simple, safe, and expandable disk drive storage system that works with both Mac and Windows systems for the ultimate in file backup security. Huh? What does that have to do with helping non-profit organizations earn new sources of revenue?

The good people at Drobo are running a contest to identify the best uses of 100 Drobo storage systems. This post is my entry and if I win through voting (that’s where you come in), each Click. Buy. Help. organization will win one. We don’t have 100 organizations (yet), so there may be some distribution details to work out. However, that is a great problem to have.

“What” I Would Do With 100 Drobos

It’s not so much “what” I would do. That I’ve already made clear above. Each of my non-profit groups would be a recipient. Instead of “what”, the more important aspect is “why.”

This is a crazy world in which we live.  Charlie Sheen is offered $3 million to endorse a “Sugar Daddy” web site and teachers spend hundreds of dollars of their own money (out of relatively meager annual salaries) each year to buy school supplies and sometimes food for students. There is so much need in the world, and a growing inability to satisfy it.

Non-profit organizations generally struggle to make payroll, turn over every stone looking for donors and work very, very hard for every dollar raised. The last thing that should happen to them is to have the lifeblood of their recurring donor data disappear due to a single hard drive failure. Just as bad (maybe worse) would be to loose all of their prospecting data that would allow them to grow their donor base. As important as payroll and other expenditure records are, those pale in comparison to fundraising data.

The Drobos will prevent any steps backward, when the steps forward are so hard to take!

I started Click. Buy. Help. because I missed the “cause-based” work after retiring from my local school board. It is this longing to help support the good work non-profits do every day that drives me. It is what keeps me in my den most nights furthering the work of Click. Buy. Help., hoping to engage yet another organization so they can begin earning commissions. This is the “why.”

“Why” Do I Want 100 Drobos?

Sure, I want one of the 100. It is a great piece of equipment and I would certainly put it to good use in growing the reach of Click. Buy. Help. to securely support even more non-profit organizations. But the real reason is selfish. I want the sheer exhilaration of presenting a Drobo to each of my organizations and hopefully, having one to give to each new organization that joins.

Please help me do that.

Please help me be selfish.

“How” Can You Help?

Thank you for asking! There are six key ways you can help:

1. TIME:  Volunteer with a local non-profit organization.
2. TALENT:  Don’t just pass the mirror test – actively engage in their operation and provide them with the benefit of your skills and background.
3. TREASURE:  Select an organization that aligns with your personal beliefs and donate any amount you can.
4. TALLY:  Vote for this story on the Drobo site as your favorite plan for using 100 Drobos (this post will be updated with voting instructions once submitted to Drobo.)
5. TRANSACT:  Buy a Drobo.  But do so while helping one of the Click. Buy. Help. non-profit organizations. The links below take you directly to a basic Drobo model on Amazon. Each link will track the commission earned on that sale and benefit the non-profit organization shown.  You can learn more about each organization by visiting their individual pages – the links are available on the left side nav bar.
6. TELL:  Be sure to let everyone you know that they have an opportunity to help a non-profit organization. No purchase necessary. Just vote.

You can vote here, on the Drobo site.  BE SURE TO ENTER THE CLICK. BUY. HELP. SUBMITTER CODE OF 790589.  Enter your email address and you could win a Drobo yourself! You can only vote once, but they are giving away one per day.

If you would rather just send an email, drop a note to 100drobos@drobo.com and be sure to indicate the submitter code of 790589.

Drobo Links to Amazon

Archbishop Howard School
Courts for Kids – Brett Wilkerson
Courts for Kids – Simmons Family
Courts for Kids – Tanzania
ISV – Zack Guerrero
Pacific Northwest Search and Rescue
Schoolhouse Supplies
St. Luke School
Trillium Charter School
Westview Girls Lacrosse

Thank you for your support of these fine organizations.

My request from Click. Buy. Help. is just as simple: Read. Vote. Drobo.

Dave