In my rush to make it home for my daily dose of The Simpsons in syndication, my thoughts were a bit cryptic and ragged. What’s the feel good terminology? ‘Friend raising.’ Raising friends to raise money, support etc..., right? I *TOTALLY* agree with the relationship building, I wasn’t able to get that far last night because, as I said sheepishly, I was in a bit of a rush. You cannot except someone to plop down thousands of dollars, rave about the great work you do, and bequest their collection to you the first time they walk through the doors. As a marketing manager, I sleep, live, breath the relationship philosophy. I get them in the doors, and then try to convince them of our value so that they become members, then working with the director and development manager, we continue to procure that relationship and sell the value in annual, endowment and capital campaigns. Um, I still contend, however, that if you shut down the number of ways people can give, you will reduce the amount of money you raise - or maybe I should say ways of creating relationship links with you constituency. I addition (and not contention) to what has already been said, I would just like to add a couple more cents on the distinction between membership vs. annual appeal. Consider membership to be a “user fee”. We become members of an organization, like PBS or NPR, because we are users of the programs. Look at the annual fund as a patrons nod saying, ‘I believe in what your doing so much, I want to support your programs and operations even further.’ Even though I had to be corrected by Ralph, I am glad I made it home in time, it was a really great Simpsons last night! So have I stripped myself of all credibility? It happens. Amy --- Ralph Pascale <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Hi Daisy, > In a word, no. The goal of fundraising is > relationship building. Ultimately > this will provide all types of support for your > institution, including of > course, money. Back to Tim's question, the > fundamental difference between a > membership campaign and an annual drive is that in a > membership program the > "contribution" is tied to benefits and an annual > campaign is not benefits > based. In an annual campaign you look to upgrade a > donor based on their > interest in the cause and their capacity for giving. > So you can see that a > membership campaign develops a base of > constituents/users but an annual > campaign has higher potential for large gifts. Both > have their benefits and > many organizations do both. This of course requires > a substantial maintenance > effort, and this can be a burden. > > Membership can also be a requirement according to > the charter in many > museums. There is also a taxability difference. The > value of the benefits > provided in a membership may not be deductible, > while an annual gift is. > > But to the extent that the organization can support > the effort, you are > right, the more avenues the better. > Good Luck, > Ralph > > > > ========================================================= > Important Subscriber Information: > > The Museum-L FAQ file is located at > http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may > obtain detailed information about the listserv > commands by sending a one line e-mail message to > [log in to unmask] . The body of the > message should read "help" (without the quotes). > > If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one > line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] > . The body of the message should read "Signoff > Museum-L" (without the quotes). > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send FREE video emails in Yahoo! Mail! http://promo.yahoo.com/videomail/ ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).