June 26, 2011 | Read Time: 1 minute
Union Rescue Mission
How much it raised in 2010: $15.3-million, a 13-percent decline from 2009
What it did: Union Rescue Mission, a Los Angeles group that provides shelter for the homeless and other services, wrote a mid-year prospectus to present to its top 50 donors to tell them of its accomplishments and how it had cut expenses to bridge a $1.4-million gap. The prospectus was less expensive than the standard annual report, which the group didn’t do last year, saving about $36,000 in printing costs and $10,000 in staff time. More important, it provided a glimpse of the future to donors, rather than the backward look of its annual report, and gave top officialsa reason to meet face to face with many more big donors than it typically does in a year.
Results: The group raised $1.8-million from the first 17 donors to whom it showed the report. Those people gave more than they had in the past and provided the total amount the organization needed to raise from big donors—so it didn’t approach the rest of the donors it had planned to see quite as aggressively.
The takeaway lesson: This year, it will develop the prospectus earlier in its fiscal year and will begin to call on donors in September, says Andy Bales, chief executive of Union Rescue Mission. He says he hopes to visit 100 donors in the new fiscal year and that others can benefit with this strategy by learning to “boldly ask for support.”
Outlook for 2011: The organization thinks it may need to fill a potential $1.3-million gap between the amount it takes in and the amount it hopes to spend, Mr. Bales says, because demand for services is on the rise.
