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Search Results for: Jewish holidays

Happy holidays! (For which religion, though?)

April 11, 2022 by Dennis Fischman Leave a Comment

Your nonprofit organization probably has donors (and volunteers, staff, and Board members) who practice different religions, or no religion. How do you recognize and appreciate them all?

seder plate

Happy Passover–if it’s your holiday!

As I write this on April 11, 2022, we are in the middle of the month of Ramadan, for Muslims. We are four days out from Pesach (Passover), for Jews. Easter is celebrated this coming weekend by most Christians in the West, although Orthodox Easter is a week later, on April 24.

A month ago, we passed through the vernal equinox (sacred to Wiccans and followers of other pagan religions). Major Buddhist holidays are still ahead.

How can your nonprofit say, “We see you, and we value you” to supporters from all religions?

Ways to welcome people from different religions

You have several options when it comes to religious holidays. None is perfect, but some are better than others.

Ignore religious holidays

If interfaith understanding is not part of your nonprofit’s mission, you could choose to go secular. Strip out the mention of any religion or its holidays from your communications.

The advantage of this approach is that it’s apparently neutral. The disadvantage is that in a society where Christian culture is assumed, a secular approach is not neutral at all. If you have an event with food during this time, for instance, Muslims will not be able to eat any of it until after the sun goes down, and observant Jews will have to avoid bread, cake, pasta, or anything that might have leavened ingredients.

Plus, as we’ve seen in December, a certain number of Christians will view the non-mention of their holidays (Christmas or Easter) as erasing them. So, I do not recommend this approach. Ignorance is not bliss.

Acknowledge them

When you’re creating your communications calendar, make a note of the holidays that occur each month. In your newsletter or on your social media feed, make mention of them and say, “To all those who celebrate these holidays, we send good wishes.”

I used to do this in the staff newsletter at the agency where I worked, and it was mostly appreciated. When I missed a holiday, however, I had to apologize humbly and sincerely, make up for it, and learnt to do better. (And this is not just about religious holidays. When I failed to mention National Hispanic Heritage Month, one staff member was incredulous. “It’s been a holiday since 1968!”)

Mere acknowledgment can sometimes feel tokenizing, however. Having blue-and-white decorations along with red-and-green doesn’t change the fact that a party in the third week of December is a Christmas party.

And in your communications, you don’t want to make mistakes that say you’ve never met a Jew, like having matzah and a shofar in your Chanukah greetings. (They’re for Passover and Rosh Hashanah, respectively.) You may not be marketing products like the ones featured on Hanukkah Fails, but you are speaking for your nonprofit. You really don’t want to send the message, “All your piddly little holidays look the same to us!”

Make religious holidays into learning opportunities

nowruz

I think the best thing a nonprofit can do for all its constituents is to make religious holidays (and other cultural events like Nowruz) into learning opportunities. Here are some questions you can find out more about:

  1. When exactly does this holiday occur? Is it a one-day holiday (and if so, when does the “day” begin)? Or is it a week, or a month?
  2. What does this holiday mean to people who observe it? Does it mean different things to different practitioners of the religion?
  3. What are some of the customs associated with this holiday, and do people from different countries have different customs associated with it?
  4. How will this holiday affect people’s ability to work, or attend Board meetings or community events?
  5. What are some appropriate greetings for this holiday? What would be odd to say then? (“Happy Yom Kippur” doesn’t quite work. Nor does “Merry Losar.”)

If you are a member of the majority culture in the U.S., whether or not you go to church, you may not realize how often people in religious minorities feel foreign. To get a sense of what it would be like if the majority were Jewish and Christians were a misunderstood minority, follow the satirical @JewWhoHasItAll and the explanations on @JWhoKnowsItAll on Twitter.

Learning about others’ religion is a matter of diversity, equity, and inclusion. It’s also basic respect. You do not have to believe a single thing that Baha’is or Shintoists believe in order to say to  them (as well as Christians, Muslims, Jews, pagans, and Buddhists), “You belong here.”

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Fundraising Tuesday: Are You Giving Gifts to Donors?

December 19, 2023 by Dennis Fischman Leave a Comment

It’s the season of giving, and nonprofits are giving gifts to me.

TechnoServe, The Global Fund for Women, UNCF, and RESIST all sent me return address labels.

Sage not only sent me mailing labels but also cards and envelopes to mail with them.

The Southern Poverty Law Center and the New Israel Fund sent maps. The Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism sent a  list of Jewish holidays  that can double as a bookmark.

Doctors Without Borders sent a combination flashlight, pen, and screwdriver,.

And I got reports and newsletters from the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, the Greater Boston Food Bank, Dignity Matters, and the Somerville Mathematics Fund.

Thanks, you guys! I appreciate the gifts. But…was it really worth it to you?

Pros and Cons of Giving Gifts to Donors

Why do some nonprofits send gifts in the mail to people they hope will send a donation back? There are some good reasons to do it.

  • Getting your mail opened. You can write the ideal appeal letter, and it can all go to waste if the donor never reads it. An envelope that says “Gift enclosed” will pique some donors’ curiosity–especially if it’s a nice thick envelope, promising something inside.
  • Creating good will. Nonprofits hope that the warm glow of receiving a gift will put the recipient in the mood to be generous.
  • Making your nonprofit visible all year long. Every time I slide that bookmark into a book, or turn on that flashlight, or stick one of those labels onto a piece of mail, I will be reminded of the organization.
But there are also some excellent reasons why most nonprofits do not send gifts to donors. Share on X
  1. The cost. Even if you get a good deal on printing, adding a bookmark, a map, or stickers raises the cost of the mailing. That means more donations you have to receive before the appeal merely breaks even.
  2. The relationship. Your nonprofit works so hard to win the trust of your supporters, to make them feel personally noticed, wanted,  important. And then you say, “Here’s an item. How much is it worth to you?” You run the risk of cheapening the relationship and losing their loyalty. (Sending newsletters and impact reports strengthens the relationship!)
  3. The return. Some nonprofits have calculated that the costs of sending gifts to donors are justified by the resulting increase in donations  For most nonprofits, however, the returns are small and few–mostly from older people who feel an obligation to send a few bucks. Is it really worth it?
  4. The alternatives. There are other ways to get people to open your mail, read your letter, and respond.

What could you do instead?

Envelope all graphicInstead of sending a thick envelope that says “Gift Inside,” you could send an envelope with an urgent message about a person in need. It could be an unusual size. It could use color, or a photo. All those are more compelling than a gift, and cheaper, too!

You could find out more about your donors and segment your list. The message on the envelope and in the appeal letter could speak to what that person cares about most.

You could build up to your end-of-year appeal with donor communications all year round. Your communications calendar could include success stories that show the impact of the donor’s gift and make the donor feel like a hero.

You could get them involved in ways that don’t cost them money but strengthen their sense that you are their organization. Volunteering, showing up at rallies, doing policy advocacy…all these activities tie them more closely to your organization and make donating seem like a natural next step.

You could follow up your direct mail appeal with email, phone calls, and text messages. And you could make sure to thank your donors, over and over, in many different ways…because gratitude itself is a gift.

 

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Dial M for Marketing: The Best of 2020

January 4, 2021 by Dennis Fischman Leave a Comment

On this blog, Tuesday is for fundraising (and just wait until you see what I have for you tomorrow!). Thursday is for thank-yous. And Monday–well, it’s Messaging, Media, Marketing, and Miscellaneous. Dial M for Monday!

Here are the best “M” blog posts of 2020, according to the readers of this blog.

  1. What You REALLY Do to See More Friends on Facebook (and what your nonprofit tells its followers to do if they want to see your posts more often!)
  2. When You’re Planning Meetings, Include Other Religions. To start, look up Jewish holidays on Hebcal.
  3. Why You Should NOT Run a Nonprofit Like a Business no matter who tells you to!
  4. How to Talk about Your Nonprofit with a Complete Stranger
  5. Putting On the Shoes: What Ray Bradbury Taught Me about Marketing

Happy 2021!

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