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This document provides a final deliverable report for architreasures that includes recommendations to help the organization become more sustainable. It includes a foundation list prioritized into tiers to identify reliable funding sources. A social media marketing strategy is proposed that focuses on using social media to enhance traditional fundraising rather than direct fundraising. Recommendations include integrating social media with other outreach, sending a monthly e-newsletter, and allocating more staff time to social media. A collaboration strategy identifies benefits of and best practices for partnering with corporations and non-profits. Comparisons of past events provide insights into optimizing future fundraising events. The deliverable aims to reduce the organization's deficit through increased and diversified funding sources.
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- 1. Executive Summary - Final Deliverable Report Prepared for: architreasures Prepared by: Jeff Son, Marta Budwiskowska, Vaibhav Manchanda, Varsha Sundar, Wendy Wei Jeff Son <json79@uchicago.edu> Marta Budzikowska <martabud@uchicago.edu> Vaibhav Manchanda <vmanchanda@uchicago.edu> Varsha Sundar <varshasundar@uchicago.edu> Wendy Wei <wendywei@uchicago.edu> December 14, 2012 University of Chicago
- 2. Introduction 3 Client Profile 3 Current Situation 4 Problem Definition 5 Scope of Project - How can architreasures become more sustainable? 5 Deliverables 6 Methodology 6 Foundation List 7 Social Media - Marketing Strategy 8 Why should architreasures care about social media? What should architreasures look to get out of its social networking efforts? Social Media Research 8 9 10 Key Findings: Industry Benchmark Reports 10 Recommendation 1: Marketing over direct fundraising 11 Recommendation 2: Integrate social media with traditional marketing efforts 12 Recommendation 3: Send out a monthly e-newsletter 13 Recommendation 4: Allocate more staff time to social media 14 Jewels in July and Brewery Comparison 15 Immediate Plan of Action for Social Media 18 Best Practices in the Online Domain 22 Collaboration Strategy 29 Why should architreasures collaborate? 29 With Corporate Partners 30 Key Findings: Statistics 30 Final Executive Summary - architreasures 1
- 3. Key Findings: Collaboration Continuum 31 Key Findings: Corporate Philanthropy vs Social Investing 33 Criteria for Identifying Potential Businesses Collaborators 34 architreasures Pitch Ideas 34 Best Practices for Business Collaborations 35 With Other Non-Profits 36 Key Findings: Case study Take-aways 36 Criteria for Identifying Potential Nonprofit Collaborators 40 architreasures Pitch Ideas 40 Best Practices for Nonprofit Collaborations 41 Works Cited 42 Appendix A - Foundation List 43 Appendix B 54 Corporate Partnership Case Study Final Executive Summary - architreasures 54 2
- 4. Introduction Client Profile architreasures is an arts-based community development organization focused on reducing social isolation by creating grassroots partnerships to build public spaces. Founded in 1996 to meet the expressed need for Chicago communities to organize, build capacity, and participate in the redevelopment of their neighborhoods, architreasures serves communities from Humboldt Park to Woodlawn – impacting a total of 26 communities in Chicago to date. Through every project, architreasures emphasizes direct community involvement By connecting low impact youth, volunteers, artists and architects through community projects, participants feel more socially connected, gain critical thinking skills and feel an increase in pride of where they live. architreasures’ accomplishes long term outcomes as well, such as increasing social capital within communities and creating a safe outdoor space. To date, architreasures has completed 95 community projects with an annual budget of about $200,000 and employs three full-time and two part-time staff. Final Executive Summary - architreasures 3
- 5. Current Situation Final Executive Summary - architreasures 4
- 6. Problem Definition Can AT become more sustainable through increased marketing efforts and stronger partnerships with local organizations that will attract more grants, individual donations and business sponsorships for the organization? How can marketing and partnerships help AT become more sustainable in the long run? How can AT get immediate relief for the end of this fiscal year? Scope of Project - How can architreasures become more sustainable? • Identify appropriate sources of funding and prioritize into tiers • By being more selective in grant applications, AT can save time and money • Establish marketing strategy that will penetrate mainstream and social media spheres • By using marketing strategies, AT can increase public donations as well as raise awareness for their cause • Collaborate with local businesses and organizations that share a common vision of community building • By partnering with local groups, AT can increase participation, secure in-kind donations and strengthen their network MAXIMIZE MINIMIZE - Exposure - Cost - Unrestricted revenue - Staff Capacity - Turnaround rate Final Executive Summary - architreasures 5
- 7. Deliverables • Foundation List • Database of funders determined on priority basis for categorization (e.g.. Tier 1, tier 2, tier 3) • Social Media Marketing Strategy • Marketing strategy with emphasis on social media • Collaboration Strategy • Details of how to approach potential partners, and partnership-building strategy Methodology Objective Activities Outcomes Establish database of funding sources in priority order. - Access Donor’s Forum - Determine priority basis for cate- - Will have access to a regular and sustainable stream of funding gorization - Identify appropriate sources of funding and categorize - Will be able to save time, money and effort by only applying to grants that have a good yield rate. Establish strategy that will penetrate mainstream and social me- - Determine appropriate budget allocated towards media/ - Will develop a calendar of events and encourage regular donor pres- dia spheres marketing - Guidelines for Internet/Social media operation - Come up with “Best practices for ence at annual/monthly events. - Greater awareness of architreasures as an organization in Chicago area - Will increase donor participation at marketing strategies” - what comparable non-profits are doing, evaluate success stories community and project events - Develop approach strategy and checklist of how to go about - Can develop a source of stable revenue e.g.. Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3. Establish strong and broad partnerships with like-minded local businesses and non-profits selecting partners and developing lasting partnerships Final Executive Summary - architreasures - Will develop network to approach for project funding - Will improve overall sustainability of architreasures 6
- 8. Foundation List The Foundation List Deliverable was created in order to address the immediate organizational goal of reducing the deficit by the end of the current fiscal year. The aim was to find grants that are the most compatible with architreasures’ mission. A list of Chicago-area foundations was obtained from the Donors Forum, and filtered by: area of operation, specifically arts and community-building focused foundations; size, with small foundations being preferred; and application requirements. By being more selective in the grant application, we believe that architreasures can save both time and money, which is why the list was then further divided based on priority basis for categorization, here called Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3. Tier 1 focuses on grants that are highly compatible with architreasures, have no deadline, and no formal application. Minimal application requirements were preferred due to immediacy of funding need. Priority was given to small, family owned, Chicago land based, foundations, which are more likely to support our client. Tier 2 includes grants do have deadlines and some sort of application process, and is ordered by application deadline. Grants with multiple deadlines were included more than once and marked appropriately. Tier 3 includes grants requiring an application but without a deadline. Both small and large foundations were included in Tier 2 and 3. Tier 1 is included in Appendix A, and the rest will be provided in an Excel spreadsheet for ease of use. Final Executive Summary - architreasures 7
- 9. Social Media - Marketing Strategy Almost every non-profit is taking advantage of commercial social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and LinkedIn Why should architreasures care about social media? • Facebook the most popular network by far among nonprofits • Twitter next with rapidly growing nonprofit base • MySpace in a death spiral Community sizes on social media platforms are growing • The figure above represents the size of the social media following that the average non-profit respondent has accumulated • Average fan base growing rapidly on Facebook and Twitter (by 30% and 81%, respectively in 2012) • Nonprofit pages on Facebook have by far the largest fan base Final Executive Summary - architreasures 8
- 10. architreasures requires some sort of marketing impetus; Marketing spends make up a negligible part of architreasures' budget • Traditional advertising methods such as sponsored advertisements in various media and printed marketing materials can be quite costly • Social media marketing costs are considerably lesser and are spread over a longer period • Can gradually build supporter base and increase the level of interaction with them What should architreasures look to get out of its social networking efforts? Long-term outcomes desired: • Increase participation (volunteering) in community development projects • Increase attendance at fundraising events • Increase annual appeal giving • Increase opportunities for collaborations with other organizations Short-term goals that you can start working towards: • Increase supporter base on social networks • Increase the number of e-mail subscribers • Engage supporters on a regular basis and keep them updated • Engage with other organizations doing similar work – build connections So how do organizations start increasing their support base? Final Executive Summary - architreasures 9
- 11. Social Media Research Key Findings: Industry Benchmark Reports Online survey conducted over the months of January and February this year • 3,522 respondents • North America based only • Good representation from Arts & Culture, Human Services, Public & Societal benefit • Almost 50% had annual budgets less than 1 million Why we chose this report • Very recent and therefore relevant – social media is a rapidly evolving phenomenon • Large sample size and good mix of organization types and sizes – reduces chance of bias We realize that some of the organizations sampled may be very different from architreasures, but believe that it is nevertheless useful to observe what the sector as a whole considers valuable in the social media sphere RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING • Focus social media efforts as a means to enhance the reach and effectiveness of traditional fundraising efforts, not to directly garner funds. • Integrate social media with all other marketing and outreach methods to capture the largest possible supporter base. • Improve email campaigns by sending out a quarterly e-newsletter to keep donors and supporters updated. • Focus and prioritization on social media development Final Executive Summary - architreasures 10
- 12. Recommendation 1: Marketing over direct fundraising What role does social media play at a nonprofit? Type to enter text • Respondents across the board use their social media communities as marketing tools for their organization • Fundraising is also widely cited as something social media can help achieve Direct Fundraising on Social Media – How effective is it? • Direct fundraising on social media is not very common, nor is it very fruitful • Some fundraising efforts are successful on Facebook but is probably something that only organizations with large support bases can achieve Even among those organizations that are sponsoring Facebook Advertisements, the primary goal remains firmly marketingcentric. • Facebook is most useful for increasing organizational visibility, building a strong base of supporters and mobilizing support for events/causes Final Executive Summary - architreasures 11
- 13. Recommendation 2: Integrate social media with traditional marketing efforts Social Media supporter base grown through integration with multiple outreach methods • A majority of organizations promoted their social media pages on their website, communication mailings, newsletters as well as on printed materials at their events Benefits • Increasing number of followers on social networks • Increasing subscription list • Increased attendance at events • Ensures that individuals very interested in contributing to architreasures will be able to engage with the organization on multiple platforms – social networks, volunteering at events, emails Cost of integrating social media with traditional marketing efforts = 0 Final Executive Summary - architreasures 12
- 14. Recommendation 3: Send out a monthly e-newsletter "Your e-newsletter is the number one force driving traffic to your website, your blog...and your social networking profiles" - Heather Mansfield, Social Media for Social Good • Email is the one online tool that is widely used across generations – most studies state that 8 or 9 out of every 10 people use email • Allows supporters to keep track of your progress and be aware of your fundraising needs • People are much more likely to engage with your newsletter than with a fundraising appeal • E-newsletter click-through rates are almost double that of fundraising appeals* • A "Donate Now" tab as well as Social Media icons can be easily incorporated into an enewsletter • Online revenue per usable email is approximately $12* Newsletters should have the following broad content categories: • Mission Progress Updates – Anything to remind supporters that you are making progress in your mission • Completed/upcoming project descriptions • New collaborations that you may have begun • Special achievements • Calls to Action • Volunteer at a project • Attend a fundraiser • Sign a petition Why monthly? • Keeps people engaged • The highest open rates are seen for those organizations that send 1-2 newsletters per month • No additional cost • architreasures is already paying a monthly fee to Mad Mimi (e-mail marketing service) • Ensures variety in the content of email communications • At the moment, most of the e-mails that go out are Calls To Action e-mails Final Executive Summary - architreasures 13
- 15. Recommendation 4: Allocate more staff time to social media 89% of respondents had formally allocated some staff time to social networking efforts in 2012 • Fewer organizations remain on the extreme left of that spectrum each year – the first two categories were 7% lower this year • This calculation does NOT include staff time allocated to other marketing functions Hire one part time staff as Marketing and Outreach In-charge • social media • e-newsletter and other e-mail communications • to look for and avail of collaboration opportunities with other organizations, especially businesses that can help fundraise Top 3 Factors for Success on Social Networks Winning Formula – Get a plan, get buy-in and get an experienced team member to lead the new initiative! Final Executive Summary - architreasures 14
- 16. Jewels in July and Brewery Comparison We must keep in mind the purpose of our benchmarking approach: to recommend the best marketing and fundraising strategy suited the architreasures’ needs. With our evaluative process complete, we can now shift from broad industry standards and models to specific tactics ArchiTreasures can use for successful fundraising. Thus, after a brief overview of architreasures’ past events, Jewels in July and Revolutionary Brewery, in this section you will find a comparative cost benefit analysis and recommendations for future events from these findings. Jewels in July Jewels in July is an annual fundraising event that was featured at the DIRTT Green Learning Center this year. With great food and drinks, it’s a time for people who are interested in community building and civic engagement to socialize and find out how to be a part of AT’s mission. Guests may also indulge in a silent auction showcasing art, craft, photography, dinners, wine, vodka, and more. Revolution Brewery The Revolution Brewery is a fairly new fundraising project that architreasures put together on November 12. With tickets priced at $40 a person, the event was a time for potential clients, volunteers, friends, and acquaintances to socialize and gather to be exposed to the AT staff and name. There were donating opportunities and raffles that also helped raise money. Overall, the event featured a great turnout that had few expenses and raised a substantial amount due to its social environment and venue. Final Executive Summary - architreasures 15
- 17. Cost-Benefit Analysis The total profit for the Brewery fundraiser is proportionate to the total profit Jewels in July brought in when compared to the amount of expenses each event required. However, Jewels in July required much more staff capacity in terms of preparation i.e. finding auction items, securing a band, sponsors etc. while the Brewery was put together on shorter notice. Even though it took more time and money, through the additional donating opportunities at Jewels in July such as a Donation Tree, auction items, and corporate sponsors, Jewels in July brought in more money per ticket sold than Revolutionary Brewery. By comparing the pros and cons of both, we hope to combine the ease of organizing the Brewery fundraiser with the monetary intake of Jewels in July. Final Executive Summary - architreasures 16
- 18. PROS CONS Final Executive Summary - architreasures 17