Just wanted to share this follow-up article from my presentation about Sneezers. Enjoy!

 http://www.canadianfundraiser.com/newsletter/article.asp?ArticleID=2605

ONLINE FUNDRAISING     -    
 
To be really effective, listen for the sound of achoo!
 
There’s a new word for really effective fundraisers, and they’re not professionals – they’re the “sneezers”, a word adopted

by Philip King, President and CEO of Artez Interactive.

Sneezers are the people who spread germs – or support for a charity – fastest and with greatest impact.

King has been talking about sneezers a lot of late: in his blog (www.artez.com/blog/spot-your-sneezers), in an article

in CharityVillage, and in presentations at the Canadian Society of Association Executives and the international conference

of the Association of Fundraising Professionals. Forget about being intimidated by technology and its incomprehensible

terminology, says King. “The more things change (with creation of such phenomena as Facebook, Yahoo, myspace, skype, or Kiva),

the more they stay the same.”  And that, he says, means eternally, that “people give to people; people have too little time;

people love good stories; people will procrastinate; people give more in groups; people give to people ... even online”.

Continue to grow both online donations and e-commerce are growing by leaps and bounds, as proved by several different

research studies, he says. Some US charities report increases of more than 200% over the last year.  But online donations

still represent less than 1% of total contributions for 103 organizations in one study, with only 13 charities in that study

collecting more than 5% of their total contributions online; however, five reported that electronic gifts made up more than

10% of total donations.  Sneezers can help change those statistics, he contends: “In a true epidemic, studies show that

there are always a few people who infect others at a much higher rate – the sneezers. For any number of reasons – hygiene,

genetics, behaviour, etc – these people manage to spread the disease all too effectively. They’re highly contagious.”  In

fundraising, there have always been supporters who know how to work their network, ooze charisma, and raise far more money

than the average. These people need to be treated differently, says King – not quarantined, but sent out in the world to do

what comes naturally to them.  How to use them What fundraisers should do to make the best possible use of their sneezers:

Identify them as soon as possible. With online fundraising tools, this is pretty easy to do. They’re the people sending more

e-mails to more people, and raising more money, sooner than others. Reach out to them. Recognize their efforts. Call them up,

invite them to your office, take them out of lunch – whatever works for you. Make sure your sneezers are ultra well-informed,

and intimate with your story. Give them the tools to do even better what they are already inclined to do – infect others with

a passion for your cause. Give them as many tools as you can. Make it easy for them to spread the word using Facebook,

in their e-mail signature line, on their blog, out for drinks with friends ...

Sneezers are often at their most effective when involved in special events like ’athons, he says, where they can have a

personal page from which friends, family and colleagues can reach out to support them in their efforts. The sense of active

involvement and collaboration with others enhances the experience of being a donor/fundraiser. They can also show their

strength in membership recruitment campaigns for associations, trade unions, or the like, where member-get-a-member

campaigns give them a chance to shine.  It’s important to remember that 80% of funds in any campaign will be found by 20%

of the people, so it really pays to identify them early and treat them differently, King stressed.

Or, he says, do the math: # of people X % who fundraise X # of people they ask X % who give X average gift = $ raised.

For further information: Philip King, President and CEO, Artez Interactive, 416/815-8777, ext 428, pking@artez.com.