April 2002

Editorial

The weight of public opinion
can tilt the balance

Early last week, in preparation for one of our workshops, we were deliberating on what constitutes effective advocacy. The crucial point that emerged from the discussion was that local public support is vital if advocacy is to be effective.

The Indian public is largely unaware of the issues of society and hence does not extend solidarity with the issues of the poor. Also, there is a perception that the voluntary sector in India receives a great deal of international support. This cannot be refuted because there are no readily available facts and figures.

In such a scenario, international funding - especially when relating to national advocacy issues - undermines legitimate arguments put forward by groups. International aid for advocacy issues creates the ironic situation in which India's issues are being supported and advocated by people of other countries, but not by Indians.

In fact, research and advocacy based on national resources and broad-based support is considered more legitimate than that based on foreign support. Most advocacy groups too feel more comfortable working with nationally raised resources. Such resources add to the credibility of the campaign.

Therefore, advocacy groups need to be much more open than other voluntary organisations in terms of public disclosure on income/ expenditure patterns and governance. We recommend that research be conducted into the income patterns of advocacy initiatives; that advocacy groups widen their base of income sources and define messages that will communicate their issues and concerns to broader sections of society.

Editor

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Tutorial

Mass personalised mail

Email can be a very efficacious way to initialise, build and consolidate relationships with parties interested in sharing your work. And when that means getting in touch with a lot of people, mass personalised mailing is the most effective way to do it.

Why mass email?

Mass email simply means sending one message to several addresses. Mass email comprehensively trumps postal mail for the following reasons:

• Costs -Email costs no more than it takes to be connected to the Internet for a short while. Offline mailing costs include printing, stationery and postage stamps.
  
• Reach - You can reach over 149 million users worldwide. That's more people than you can ever hope to interest in your work!
  
• Speed - Email circumnavigates the world in five minutes. Any faster and you're probably psychic.
  
• Eco-friendly - Email does not consume paper and that keeps a lot of trees alive!

Personalised mass email is the most direct and effective of all email campaigns and here's how it's done:

A. Designing and compiling the message

This is the most important part of the process. It calls for identifying the people that you want to say something to, and picking the right words to say it with.
Target - Target the right audience. Never forget what your campaign is about and who you are hoping to reach.
Introduce - Nobody wants to receive mail from someone they don't know. Introduce yourself and briefly state your purpose at the start.
Be concise - According to Jupiter Communications research, only 15 per cent of web users read all email messages in their entirety. More than half (51.2 per cent) read the first few sentences and then decide whether or not to continue.
Keep it clean - Not talking about language here. But unless you are pitching to an exclusively adult audience, stick to simple, straightforward wording. Resist the temptation to be too sophisticated in your design. Many systems still won't support fancy formatting. Keep it easy on the eye, with lots of line breaks and white space.
Edit - Your email reflects upon you. Your readers need to know they are dealing with a professional. Proofread. Break up run-on sentences. Use simple language. Catchy phrases don't make up for sloppy punctuation and typos.
Specify - Keep the specifics, statistics or details of the communication in clear view. They must be easy to find and understand.
Flair and substance - A little lively writing can also do a lot for a campaign message because it keeps readers interested. However, don't forget that honesty will often outdo even the most eloquently penned appeal or notice.
Remember timelines - Be specific and emphasise the time constraints on your campaign/ appeal. It is always tempting to call for immediate action, but doing this too often to the same recipient will ruin it.
Contact Information - Give a contact address/ email ID where recipients can send in their questions and clarifications. And of course, you must answer those queries and clarifications promptly.

B. Compiling a database of information on recipients

The database should contain one record for each recipient. Each component of information should be contained in one field of the record. Essential information consists of their email address, first name, last name, organisation, address and your affiliation with them.

C. Mail merge the message

Personalised mass mailing may sound like an oxymoron, but that's what this is all about. If your message reads like it could be shouted off the rooftops, then there is something very wrong with it. The most important consideration is to make the recipient feel special. Mail merging allows for the personalisation of a generic document that has to reach several persons/ organisations. It requires two components that have to be merged.
1. The main document - in this case, your mail message.
2. A data source - in this case, your database of the recipient's information.

The trick here is to pick out the parts of your message that can be personalised and to replace them with the actual information for each recipient. For example, " To whom it may concern" MUST be replaced by "Dear Abc". "Your company" can be replaced by the actual company name, and so on.

D. Merging to email

Once the message and the data source are merged, enter the name of the field where the email addresses are stored and click the send button. Just remember: The message becomes your campaigner/ fundraiser. Give it the appropriate personality, demeanour and body language to address a recipient personally.

Software you could use

1. Microsoft Word - to create and merge the main message document; 2. Microsoft Access/ Microsoft Excel - to create and maintain the data source; and 3. Microsoft Outlook Express - the email client software through which the email will be sent

Hope you find these pointers helpful...happy mailing!

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Research Review

Annual reports - a qualitative analysis
Available from mcas at Rs 100

Annual Reports are important instruments to demonstrate accountability to donors, well-wishers and funding agencies, and this particular survey was conducted to highlight issues relevant to building credibility and informed giving.

In 1999, 126 organisations working at national, regional and local levels were invited to participate in the study under three main categories depending on our understanding of their areas of focus - grantmaking (funding agencies), training and advisory organisations, and direct service organisations (including grassroots level organisations). As many as 63 organisations sent in their 1998-99 annual reports.

The annual reports were assessed for content and presentation against set parameters. A rating scale of five stars (excellent) to one (poor) was applied. Findings were presented in a report called Building Credibility that many participating organisations found very instructive. A number of them have since used the guidelines in the study to improve their subsequent reports.

Our review showed that the grantmaking organisations provided, by comparison, the best qualitative presentation of information while direct service agencies were found to be most wanting. Overall presentation of financial information in a manner comprehensible to the lay reader was poor.

However, encouraged by the feedback received, mcas has currently expanded the survey to encompass 100 organisations. The current study using refined qualitative tools is ready and available, while the study on quantitative tools is expected to reach completion in July 2002.

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News in Brief

What's happening in communication & fundraising?

Cry counters slowdown by getting personal with donors
With the economic slowdown threatening to make a dent in corporate and individual charity, Cry has adopted a face-to-face campaign to keep the pipeline flowing. This involves employees making personal presentations to parties interested in supporting any of their 169 projects. The campaign launched in Mumbai has already successfully raised Rs 1 crore and has now been extended to Chennai, Bangalore and New Delhi. Cry has drawn up a Donors Bill of Rights to bring transparency into its working and instil confidence in donors.

Oxfam India wins NRI support from West Asia
The NRI community in West Asia has evinced a keen interest in supporting voluntary projects in their homeland. Kalpana Deswal, head of fundraising and communication, Oxfam India, was able to share the organisation's concerns and initiatives during a recent visit to the region. She was able to individually present the work of Oxfam to eminent Indian businessmen as well as to the Indian Business Council, a collective body of NRI businesses in the region. "The response," says Kalpana,"was most satisfying and many of these businessmen have already committed themselves with funds while others seem very keen to play a part in the future."
Closer home, Oxfam India has been working to establish a forum to combat and ameliorate the communal tensions that have sprung up in the wake of the Gujarat violence. The Bangalore Initiative for Peace and Relief, as it is called, will seek to address psycho-social trauma (in association with Nimhans), basic rights violations and rehabilitation.

FPAI places thrust on harnessing indigenous resources
The Family Planning Association of India (FPAI) organised a workshop in Lonavala, Maharashtra, in early April. The workshop, conducted in association with Family Planning International, was aimed at addressing the issue of national resource mobilisation more seriously.
FPA is the largest global voluntary organisation dealing with family planning, reproductive health and mother and child issues. Thus far, governments and international grantmaking agencies have been the primary source of funds for global programmes. However, shrinking support from them has prompted FPAI to explore indigenous resource options. Participants at the workshop represented an extensive network across India and generated considerable interest that is hoped will translate into funds.

Children taught Spanish to enhance donor relations
As many as 50 young students are being trained in Spanish to help the Accion Fraterna/ Rural Development Trust further their donor relations in Spain. Located at the Ecology centre in Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh, the training has enabled these students to successfully handle queries, translate written material and respond to the support provided by donors of the trust, who are primarily Spanish. While a few students are confined to literal translation, many of them are very articulate with the language, feels YV Malla Reddy, director of the Ecology Programme.

Farmers chip in with funds and labour to save environment
Local farmers in HR Palle, in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh, have given soil and moisture conservation efforts a fillip by pitching in to help restore the land. About 125 acres of land belonging to 50 farmers has now undergone conservation measures at a cost of Rs 3,12,500. All 50 farmers organised themselves into a 'user group' to mobilise common resources. They were able to successfully raise 15 per cent of that sum in advance and invested in watershed accounts even before the work began. They were also actively involved in contributing their labour towards the project. Now that's a lesson in grassroot fundraising and cooperation!

Fundraising can be a fun-raising exercise!
Did you know that a lot of people are happy to give away money to social causes, for little more than a song and dance? The Unwind Center, in Chennai figured that out when they recently organised 'Live 1o1', a dance and music evening featuring a dance troupe and two rock bands. The event was open to the public with donation passes at Rs 50. Held in aid of 'Give me a break!' an endeavour to provide basic computer education to underprivileged children, the evening was evidence that fundraising isn't always a dreary awkward business. Sometimes, it's downright fun!

Charitytalk-India discussion forum takes off
CharityChannel.com has just launched Charitytalk-India, a discussion forum that seeks to bring together opinions in the Indian voluntary sector on a unified platform. CharityChannel, which provides a host of services and products to the voluntary sector worldwide, expects this forum to develop into a valuable resource for the Indian third sector.
Charitytalk-India is dedicated to all aspects of the Indian sector and will entertain any topic that is concerned with voluntary work, including fund raising, governance, ethics, law, statistics and academic research. The forum is open free of charge to any person interested in the subject matter.

APD gets ad heavyweight to design report, brochure
The Bangalore-based Association of People with Disability (APD) was able to get advertising giants O&M to design its latest annual report and brochures. The smart move has given the organisation a slick and effective communication tool that will certainly raise the profile of APD and widen public interest in its work. This strategy of harnessing professional assistance in relevant areas is one that more voluntary organisations would do well to employ if the profile and credibility of the sector at large is to be raised.

If you have any news or announcements pertaining to public communication and fundraising, do write in to us. Thank you.

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Announcements

Coming up....

NCVO announces eighth edition of research conference
The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO), an umbrella body for voluntary organisations in the UK, will convene its eighth 'Researching the Voluntary Sector' conference from 3-4 September 2002 at Nottingham. The two-day event provides a unique meeting place for researchers as well as users of research from within the voluntary sector, academia, and policy making bodies from the UK and overseas. The conference is in principle open to the presentation of research papers on all topics. Delegates planning to attend the conference with the intention of presenting resources must submit abstracts of 400-600 words to NCVO by 7 June 2002.

Fantastic fundraisers…listen up!
Arrow Publishing, an Australia-based publishing house, invites fundraisers from across the world to submit entries for a book compiling interesting fundraising ideas. The book will profile successful fundraising initiatives that have explored novel and unconventional methods. Entries should be between 400 and 1,500 words and must contain the following information.
· A clear description of the fundraising activity
· The type of community where it was carried out
· Some details on how much money it raised
· Any problems that were encountered, and how these were handled
The last day for entries will be 30 June 2002. All entries submitted by snail mail may be addressed to Fundraising, Arrow Publishing, PO Box 120, Lowood, Q, 4311, Australia. Email submissions should be sent to submissions@writersnewsletter.com.

Mahiti offers budget website package for VSOs
Mahiti, an Internet resource group focused on serving the development sector, announces an economy package for voluntary organisations looking to establish a web presence. The package will include domain registration, server space and bandwidth rental, mailboxes, mailing lists and a simple, easy-to-use web-based content management system. The package will cost Rs 6,000 for an overall template design by Mahiti and an additional maintenance fee of Rs 6,000 per annum. For more details, contact mahiti@mahiti.org

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Feedback

Workshops on effective Internet usage and office automation

mcas-mahiti recently conducted workshops on effective use of the Internet and office automation. Here's what participants had to say:

'The workshop on effective use of the Internet was most useful for me as a fundraiser, since it showed me how much background work I can get done with just a click of the mouse.' - Dr Annapoorna, Mobility India

'The programme was excellent. I found the sessions on newsgroups and blogging most valuable.' - Saji Thomas, Vigil India Movement

'The workshop on office automation very suitably addresses the needs of development professionals today. The course will help me a lot.'
- Sameer Pandey, Dr Shambhunath Singh Research Foundation

'We were able to learn more about areas that form an integral part of our routine work.' - Anurag Sang-Das, Alert India

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Please feel free to forward this newsletter to your friends, associates and anyone who might be interested. And do send in your queries and suggestions to training@fundraising-india.org

MURRAY CULSHAW ADVISORY SERVICES -- mcas, Bangalore -- serves the voluntary sector in India. We offer training on communication and fundraising, undertake research on relevant issues, publish books and maintain a database of about 7,500 organisations in India. Contact us at: Vijay Kiran Building  2nd Floor 314/1  7^th Cross Domlur Layout Bangalore 560 071 India Tel: 91-80-535 0035/ 535 1939 email training@fundraising-india.org website: www.fundraising-india.org