Case 1: SYRACUSE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
The Syracuse Symphony Orchestra (SSO) is a full-time performing ensemble in Central New York State.` Like most other arts nonprofits, it relies heavily on donated income and has adopted a multidimensional fundraising approach.
Personal relationships are built primarily through events and receptions related to specific concerts. Relationships are also built around phone calls and personalized handwritten notes, whether as a thank-you or extending an invitation.
Furthermore, assigning donors to a staff person to assist with any help regarding donations or ticket inquiries further develops these relationships. The focus of personal relationships is the cord donor.
Direct mail is used year round and includes core, transitional, nonrenewed, lapsed, and nondonors. There are about five cycles that occur throughout the year with personalized letters going out to each of these groups. Further segmentation of these groups is done as well to enhance the personalization of the letter. For example, people who have attended a single concert receive a different letter from those who are concert series subscribers.
Telefunding is outsourced to a for-profit company and focuses on lapsed and nonrenewed donors, as well as single-ticket buyers who have never given in the past. After each concert, a list of single-ticket buyers is segmented into nonrenewed, lapsed, and nondonors. These people then receive a phone call from a representative who emphasizes what a great concert they had just attended. The SSO finds that this personal touch produces a good response: The group with the highest response rate is the nondonor group, with average gifts of $100. Before telefunding, average gifts among this group were only around $30, showing that this technique helps both in acquiring new donors and also increasing the average gift amount.
Traditional media is not used directly for fundraising efforts but rather for ticket sales marketing. Radio, television, and print ads are the main means of advertisement for the Symphony and as a result create a greater audience to be solicited. The Symphony also uses virtual means. SSO officials believe that the Internet, even though it does not bring in many donations, is an effective way for potential and current donors to learn more about the Symphony, its programs, and fundraising opportunities.
1. Given ways on how the Symphony segments its constituents, what might be some other examples as to how they could segment their ticket buyers and solicit them?
2. Given the techniques used by the Symphony, what might be some specific strategies as to how donors and potential donors could he won, kept, and lifted?
3 The more engaged someone is with an organization, the more likely they are to invest into the organization. Using volunteers is a great way to turn a nondonor into a donor. How might the Symphony engage its volunteers to assist in each of the fundraising activities?
Cases 2: HEALTHY KIDS INC.
You are the founder of a social enterprise called Healthy Kids Inc., which specializes in improving nutrition and reducing child obesity by educating parents in how to feed their children in a healthy way. After a slow but steady start, a major foundation has approached you and asked you to write a grant for major funding that would quadruple your operations within the space of one year. The grant would continue for two years and then he phased out over the next three, during which time you would be expected to replace the foundation's funding with out-side donations, grants, fees, and government support. As part of the grant process, the foundation has asked that you assess the risk of your operation.
1. Write a short memo that discusses risk in the following categories.
a. Leadership
b. Staff and volunteers
c. Sustainability of the enterprise concept
d. Marketplace volatility
2. What are the risks involved in simply accepting such a large increase in funding represented by this grant, especially since the support is temporary?
Also i need to answer this question : Why should the type of donor be identified when it seems as though they are all the same?
Respond for this : I feel that it is very important for the type of donor to be identified in looking at a social entrepreneurship. This is very key in the opportunity that it gives a business in growth. If a donor is very involved in the company, and very passionate about and supportive of the cause that the company is about, then it could in turn help the company receive more money from the donor, as well as help the company continue to get funding in the future. Another reason that it is important to know the type of donor that will be helping an entrepreneurship is that they also need to know how much money the donors will be able to supply to the company. Though all donors are appreciated within an industry, if an entrepreneurship can find a donor company that has a lot of finances and could donate more, they would be a massive help to the company in several different ways.