Bridging the Digital Divide in the Developing World

Bridging the Digital Divide in the Developing World.

Wayne D. King

You have undoubtedly heard it said before: The Chinese symbol for crisis is also the symbol for opportunity.

While one is tempted to scoff at this as an overused cliché, the value of the lesson inherent in it is too timeless to allow those of us who believe it possible to create a better world to ever succumb to such rank cynicism.  Each generation that faces the challenges of building a better future for our children must always see the opportunity in crisis or we will cease to advance the cause of humanity.

Today I want to speak about a developing crisis within the United States, its implications and its inherent opportunities for the developing world. Specifically, I want to address the vast number of computers surplused every year by both individuals and corporations in the US, the environmental implications of disposal of those computers and the opportunities for providing new life to those computers in the developing world.

I realize fully that these remarks will not be without controversy.

First from the camp that argues that developing nations be provided the same technology that Americans are accustomed to. Whether that argument is made from the standpoint of the technophile who obsesses about compatibility and thinks that the latest bells and whistles of cutting edge computers must be provided to NGOs in the developing world or from the soft hearted (and sometimes soft-headed) standpoint that it is a principle of fairness.

Second from the camp that equates used hardware donations to developing nations as merely a sophisticated form of illegal hazardous waste disposal.

I acknowledge this controversial aspect to what I am about to say immediately because each viewpoint represents significant truths that must be confronted if we are to successfully take advantage of this opportunity.

According to a 1997 report by Carnegie Mellon University, approximately 325 million personal computers in the United States will have become obsolete between 1985 and 2005. Some more recent studies place that number significantly higher. For example a National Safety Council study predicts 300 million computers in the 4 year period from 2000 - 2004.

Let us first acknowledge that the term obsolete is a subjective term. Those of us who work regularly in the development field know that often what is obsolete to US or Western European standards is quite useful in other regions of the world. The free market itself has often proven that point as products considered "out of date" in the US like printing presses and automobiles make their way into other nations.

When it comes to computers the subjective nature of the term obsolete is even greater. Why? Because North Americans and many from other developed nations as well have a unique love affair with technology that spurs them to embrace the latest technology and spurn anything that doesn't represent Mega-giga-cool-stuff to them. In short, most computers are considered obsolete long before their logical life span is over yet the EPA estimates that currently 80% of these "obsolete" computers end up in landfills.

Congress and the Executive branch of government have been slowly moving toward a definition of used computers in the waste stream as a form of hazardous waste. They know that they must, but at the same time they are paralyzed by the fear of how such a decision might ripple through the economy and the communities that must cope with new restrictions on disposal of these things.

At the very same time, the developing world, already plagued with massive problems that create an income gap - better described as a chasm - is subject to a technology gap (now referred to as the "Digital Divide") that threatens to further exacerbate this income chasm. For most of these countries, despite the necessity of technology to competitiveness in the information driven world, computers are a luxury that must be considered a low priority when compared with problems such as AIDS, environmental degradation and poverty. Yet in many ways, access to technology and the informational opportunities inherent, offer the opportunity to address these other problems far more effectively.

NGOs in the developing world understand this. Businesses in the developing world understand this. Governments are too busy putting out fires  - - and in still too many cases robbing the national treasury - - to pay attention.

Make no mistake about it. The world will not be changed by governments in these countries. It will be changed in spite of them. It will be changed because NGOs and the private sector will create a tidal wave of public advocacy and pressure that force government to respond and evolve.

NGOs and businesses are crying out for the technology and the training because they realize its power to enhance their effectiveness. Our small organization alone has over 3,000 requests for computers and training.

Herein we have the problem and the remarkable opportunity - Millions of surplus computers, most of which are disposed of rather than recycled - despite their usefulness. And tens of thousands of NGOs throughout the developing world. Heroes struggling to bring stability and economic vitality to their countries, yet without the most powerful resource of our lifetime.

Seems like a very logical situation…two problems that present solutions to one another by their very existence. Yet almost nothing is being done about it.

For a few years in the early 1990's it seemed as if that might change. Organizations such as the East West Education Development Foundation, the Lazarus Foundation and the Detweiler Foundation arose, specifically to remanufacture computers - although mostly for US based institutions. Today they are gone. Yet the imperative of the problems and the obvious nature of the solution are more evident than ever.

So where is the disconnect? Why isn't there a constant flow of surplus technology into the areas where the need is greatest?

I suggest that there are a number of significant barriers but there appear to be two common threads among them: lethargy, complacency and an allegiance to the status quo within government and the funding community; and, techno-elitism that blinds us to the opportunities of older technology.

Lets start with the latter since we have already mentioned it in speaking about our love affair with Mega-giga-cool-stuff.

Despite the fact that many from developed nations are obsessed with having the biggest and fastest computer on their block, most NGOs and Businesses in developing nations are starting from ground zero when it comes to technology. Just having a computer that can handle word processing and list management is a huge step forward for them. Furthermore, access to the Internet is not dependent upon the speed of the computer but rather the speed of the modem and the bandwidth available. I would submit that most NGOs and businesses in the developing world would take a giant leap forward with even (heaven forbid!) 486 technology or the equivalent Mac system and a reasonably fast modem.

It is probably useful at this point to remind most people here, at least those who are older than 30, of the learning curve for us - even in this environment of technological literacy. I would venture to say that I was not the only one who considered throwing my computer out the window as I struggled to learn to use the Internet and the basics of my new computer.

Our experience is that it takes two years of having a computer for most organizations in developing countries to even begin to conquer the learning curve and start to realize some of the dramatic possibilities for enhancing their effectiveness. This is particularly true where one computer is shared by many people competing for face time. Three years generally sees them beginning to fully utilize their current technology and by the fourth year they have developed all the symptoms of US consumers - longing for all the bells and whistles. This is as it should be - a natural progression - and one that we can take advantage of. Yet this success also creates its own unique problems. The organizations that have reached the technophile stage are often the ones who have developed the closest relationships with funders and policy makers. Self interest too often dictates that they therefore become advocates of the mega-giga-cool-stuff philosophy that prevents others from stepping onto the ladder that they have just successfully climbed.

So logically we arrive at the second thread: Lethargy, complacency and allegiance to the status quo among governments and funders.

As I stated previously, government within developed countries are slow to make changes to the solid waste laws that reflect the true nature of computer disposal. Those changes alone - recognizing the hazardous nature of computer disposal - would force a major change in the marketplace and create a downward pressure for recycling and refurbishment. . . and concurrently forcefully freeing up the funding resources for it from both private sector companies seeking responsible ways to surplus equipment to agencies and funders providing  more resources to cope with the problem.

Getting funders to respond is more of a challenge. Too often they are so mired in the status quo that they cannot, or will not, face the real challenges and real solutions. If the World Bank, for example, held the Governments of developing nations, to whom they give billions, to the same set of standards that they hold nonprofits seeking the scant dollars that they allocate for NGOs, they would never loan a penny to anyone. Yet if they were to make a real commitment to NGOs, they would force the accountability to happen by creating a powerbase in each country to which corrupt governments would be forced to respond. Let me not single out the World Bank for criticism. Too often cronyism and patronage are just as endemic to the major Foundation community as they are to governments. This must change if real progress is to be made.

Here are a few suggestions for steps that could be taken beyond those I have already addressed. They employ both market forces and regulatory and funding forces to bridge the digital divide by employing a theoretical ladder to the Internet and higher levels of technology within developing nations.

1.     Establishment of recycling centers in developing nations: utilizing current technologies for recycling and refurbishing computers. Currently most of the remanufacturing and recycling of surplus computers is done in the US. Support for the establishment of refurbishing and recycling centers in regions of the developing world would create high value added jobs, training opportunities for technicians and usable refurbished computers.

2.     Development of Web Based technical support systems. The Electronic Community functions as a Web based technical support system at a basic level providing training and information to NGO's throughout West Africa. More of this needs to be done but we also need to move beyond it to develop the ability for most technical support to be provided remotely. For example, the technology used by the company Webex that allows group meetings via the Internet and most important to this concept allows each user to access the desktop of other users demonstrates that the technology exists already to perform most technical support remotely.

3.     Funding for Hardware: Funders must begin to allow hardware to be included in the budget for grants. The vast majority disallow funding for hardware. Grantees are pushed into the uncomfortable position of either fudging their request or seeking funds elsewhere for the hardware component. In addition, entrepreneurial mechanisms must be established for generating more recycling/refurbishment dollars by creating consortiums of corporations that commit both hardware and dollars to the recycling effort. This will happen faster if government moves more quickly to upgrade the waste classification of hardware, but should happen irrespective of this.

There is absolutely no reason that we should not be able to make dramatic progress in bridging the digital divide within the developing world in the next 10 years. It will, however, require some fundamental changes in the way technology is viewed and the approach that the private sector and funders take to assure that our efforts are effective.

We, who are working to bridge the digital divide, must likewise always be vigilant to assure that conscientious environmental ethics are observed and that we do not end up providing cover for those who would dump useless technology on the developing world. But these are responsibilities that we are fully capable of handling. To take the easy road of just avoiding the hard work involved is an irresponsible shirking of our obligations and the dramatic opportunity for constructive change.

Developing an Information Management Master Plan

Training Module for Electronic Community NGOs and other interested parties

Developing an Information Management Master Plan

A Primer for the Development of a Long Term Technology Plan

Index

What is an Information Master Plan?

Why should my organization have an Information Master Plan?

Plannaging – Planning and Managing Change with your Information Master Plan

Taking Inventory

Backplanning

Budgeting for Your Plan

Explanation & Example of the Template

View & Save A Blank Template

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What is an Information Master Plan?

An Information Master Plan is a carefully drafted, organic, plan for adding and utilizing technology related to information systems. Carefully crafted because it requires you to think through the process of adding or upgrading technology based upon the needs of your organization and its financial capability; Organic because it is an evolving, growing and changing document reflecting the above. In other words as your organization grows, shifts mission focus, sees changing financial support patterns, etc. your IMP should be revised to reflect these changes. Thus allowing you to monitor your success and shortcomings.

An IMP allows your organization to utilize technology as it was intended. Owning a computer or printers are not an end in and of themselves but , rather, they are a means for achieving the mission of the organization more efficiently and effectively. Otherwise your hardware is in danger of becoming little more than an expensive paperweight sitting on your desk – or the desk of a colleague or employee.

If the development of an IMP does not reflect the mission and goals of your organization – and,hopefully, an overall long term strategic plan that you have adopted – then it will do little to assist you in either budgeting or enhancing your mission.

The three most important questions to ask about an IMP are:

    1. Does it reflect the mission and goals of my organization?

    2. Does it reflect the mission and goals of my organization? And ,

    3. You guessed it - - Does it reflect the mission and goals of my organization?

In truth, there are indeed important questions to ask yourself about an IMP but none is more important than the question of whether it helps you reach the goals that you have set for your organization – no matter how humble or grand.

    Why should my organization have an Information Master Plan?

    Table of Contents

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Why should my organization have an Information Master Plan?

While engaged in the never ending struggle for funds to keep your organization alive sometimes seems as if it is the measure of your success and strength, the real strength of an organization comes not from financial capital but from its human capital . . . in other words, the people within your organization and those that you serve are the lifeblood of your organization and its reason for being.

Effective planning for information systems that enhance the ability of your organization’s staff to carry out their mission will add tremendously to your capacity to serve the people your organization was intended to serve. Unplanned, additions to your hardware or software or training capacity may contribute little to the effectiveness of the organization and its mission and may drain critical financial resources that could have been used for other mission specific activities.

This primer is intended to assist you in the development of an IMP by describing the considerations, the categories and the methodology of crafting a plan. However, it is largely dependent upon your vision as an organization. If you find that you are simply guessing about numbers of staff, computers, printers telephone lines etc, then you have probably not done long term strategic planning for your organization – or you are not utilizing the planning that you have done. Every organization should be “visioning their future” and attempting to determine where it will be in 5 years based upon its mission and the changing landscape. This does not necessarily mean that your organization will be bigger. Perhaps your mission does not require growth in terms of numbers of employees. It does, however, mean that you will be more effectively and efficiently fulfilling the tasks that you have set before yourself to accomplish.

Plannaging – Planning and Managing Change with your Information Master Plan

Table of Contents

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Plannaging – Planning and Managing Change with your Information Master Plan

There are many methodologies that have been developed for creating long term plans – whether they are general plans of technological ones. One of the simplest and most efficient methods for doing this is a method developed by Fred Jervis who is the spark behind an organization called the Center for Constructive Change, located in Durham NH, USA.  Their term for it is “Plannaging” an abbreviation for planning and managing change but very simply it can be viewed as “Backplanning”.

What is “Backplanning”?

Simply put Backplanning involves 3 simple steps:

    1.) Taking inventory of where you are now.

    2.) Envisioning where you would like to be in a specific period of time; and,

    3.) Planning backward to create a timeline for achieving your goals.

Be sure to create measurable goals and benchmarks, so that you have a means for determining whether you are sticking to your plan or diverging from it: For each aspect of your IMP create an inventory statement (or simply a number); a measureable statement about where you will be in 5 years. Then, fill in the space in between with measurable goal statements or numbers describing where you will be at each particular point in time.

    Taking Inventory

    Table of Contents

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Taking Inventory

Unlike an inventory that a grocer or shop owner would take, your inventory will require you to look at both technology resources, human resources and goals (preferably already outlined in a general long term strategic plan for your organization). It will require you to take stock of where you are, to envision where you hope to be and to construct a “roadmap” of how you will utilize technology for getting there.

When you have finished reading this and answered the questions, go to the IMP form and fill them in. Or download an excel spreadsheet template for easier updating and fill it in. If you use the HTML form, be sure to leave the form open in order to fill in all the information.

      Mission Driven Inventory

What is the overall mission of your organization? Okay, you’re getting tired of being told this. However, it is critical that you consistently keep this in mind as you inventory, envision and map your technologic future.

How many offices do you currently have? Are there too many, too few, or just the right number to serve your mission today?

How many phone lines do you have currently? Are they sufficient to meet your current needs?

Personnel Inventory

How many people are employed by your organization? Are they dispersed among various offices or all under the same roof? Is your staffing adequate to meet your current needs?

What are the technology skill levels of your employees today? Are they adequate? What changes need to be made to assure their adequacy - particularly in, light of where your IMP will take the organization?

Equipment Inventory

How many computers, printers, laptops, servers, etc., does your organization have currently? Are there enough to meet your current needs? (Don’t forget that if you don’t have employees who know how to use the computers they will not be of any use to you and the longer they sit idle the greater the chances become that they are less helpful in meeting your needs and more intimidating to your staff).

Are there other types of technological equipment that your organization might need to more successfully fulfill your mission? Ie: Scanners, binding equipment, sound or video editing equipment? How will you plan for adding these things?

What is Backplanning?

Table of Contents

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Backplanning  Utilizing the two ends of the spectrum that you have created, plan backwards for achieving the goals you have outlined, using measurable objectives in the form of a number or a statement. 

A measurable objective is exactly what it sounds like. An objective that you can measure, thus allowing you to determine at any point your progress in meeting the goals outlined in your masterplan.

What if you haven't met your objectives?

There are several possible reasons for an organizations failure to meet their measurable objectives.

    * Unrealistic Goals: Perhaps you hoped for too much. If this is the case you will want to make revisions to your master plan to make it more realistic. An Information Master Plan is only helpful to your organization if your goals and objectives are realistic. Overstating those goals will lead to frustration among your staff, and disappointment among your supporters. Review your Information Master Plan, in all areas and determine if you need to make revisions that reflect more reasonably your operating environment.

    * Organizational Crisis: Perhaps an unexpected problem within the organization created a more immediate crisis that required the expenditure of either human or monetary resources that diminished the capacity to reach your goals. Assess first whether this crisis is really unique or whether you just failed to anticipate at least one unexpected problem that would require immediate attention. How often does your organization experience these kinds of "urgent" problems and how does that effect your ability to focus attention on those things that are "important". If you are regularly trying to put out "fires" within your organization, this may be a sign that your planning process is flawed. It is critical that your organization does not lose sight of what is important to its mission because it is always facing a crisis that is urgent.

Understand that you are not obligated to the first number or statement that you put down. As you look at the plan on a line by line basis and on an overall basis, you may see inconsistencies. Go back and make adjustments to reflect a realistic point of view.

    Budgeting for Your Plan

Table of Contents

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Budgeting for Your Plan

Now that you have what you consider to be a well thought out roadmap to your technological and mission driven future, how does this plan impact your budget? Can you raise sufficient funds to match the challenges that you have set out for yourself? Are there ways of achieving similar results with less expenditure (for example – peer to peer training may be sufficient for some kinds of skill training. It is less expensive – but you must still plan for it and execute your plan).

Using the Excel Template you should fill in a budget estimate for each of the items that you list (each of your measurable objectives). At the bottom of your template you will note a budget total line where the running total for that year appears. This is the bottom line cost for your goals. If it is unrealistic in terms of your fundraising abilities then you must rethink your IMP or your strategies for fundraising - whichever seems a more likely avenue for success.

Rethinking the IMP requires of course that you substitute new (realistic) budget estimates next to each of your measurable objectives and determine whether you now have a budget that is within reach of your fundraising capacity.

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Sample IMP Matrix

              Today                           One Year                           Two Years                           Three Years                           Four Years                           5 Years             Measurable Outcome Statement                                          

Mission              

Offices             A separate plan should be created for each office with an overall plan for the full organization              

Personnel              

Total             2                           10             There will be ten employees              

Management             1                           2 employees will manage the enterprise              

Technical                           1                           1 technical person will administer the technology              

Mission Oriented             1                           4 people will focus on the mission of the organization              

Public Relations                           1 person will do publicity & media relations              

Development/Funding                           1 person will focus their energy on fundraising & development              

Maintenance                           1 person will maintain the facilities              

               

Hardware                           All mission critical staff will have a computer              

Desktop Computers             1                           3                           5                           6                           7                           9             All auxilliary staff will have access to a shared computer              

Laptop Computers             0                           1                           2              

Servers             0                           1                           1              

Telephones             1                           2                           3              

Cellular Phones             0                           1                           2              

Printers              

Software              

General Compatability              

Unified Platform              

Mission Specific              

Website              

Training              

Technical Training             Intro for 1 staff                           1 intermediate, 1 beginner             1advanced, 1 intermediate, 1 beginner              

Unified Software Training                           Inform Staff             Unified software training                           All staff will utilize a unified selection of software              

email Training             1 person trained                           Peer to peer training for all             Peer to peer training for all             Peer to peer training for all             Peer to peer training for all                           All staff will be trained to send and receive email (              

WWW Training             1 person trained                           Peer to peer training for all             Peer to peer training for all             Peer to peer training for all             Peer to peer training for all                           All core staff will be trained to browse & use the Web              

Mission specific software Tr             None Currently                           Acquire mission specific software              

                            Procure training for current employees             Peer to peer training for all mission staff             Peer to peer training for all mission staff             Peer to peer training for all mission staff                           Will have mission related software              

Infrastructure                           & proved training for all mission specific personnel              

Network             None                           Peer to peer network              

Printers             one              

email             None                           1 address & email                           Desktop email for mission critical, shared email for auxillary staff              

WWW Access             None                           1 Access Point                           10 Access Points             Desktop access to WWW for all Mission Critical, Shared for Auxilliary

Website                           Web address & email link             Informational Page                           FR, ENG, PTG                           Commerce Enhancing             Full Commerce             A website with an electronic storefront selling member products              

               

Data Management              

              No Data management             All staff able to manage individual             Create Server for Shared Files             All employees able to utilize network                           By year 5 all data management will be overseen by a Technical specialist

              desktops appropriately             & other documents. Institute Unified             to manage data effectively              

              Software Platform. Remove all other              

              unauthorized software              

User Management              

Backup Management              

Budget Costs              

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

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Blank Information Master Plan Matrix

              Today             Budget             One Year             Y1 Budget             Two Years             Y2 Budget             Three Years             Y3 Budget             Four Years             Y4 Budget             5 Years             Y5 Budget             Measurable Outcome Statement

Mission              

Offices              

Personnel              

Total              

Management              

Technical              

Mission Oriented              

Public Relations              

Development/Funding              

Maintenance              

               

Hardware              

Desktop Computers              

Laptop Computers              

Servers              

Telephones              

Cellular Phones              

Printers              

Software              

General Compatability              

Unified Platform              

Mission Specific              

Website              

Training              

Technical Training              

Unified Software Training              

email Training              

WWW Training              

Mission specific software Tr              

               

Infrastructure              

Network              

Printers              

email              

WWW Access              

Website              

               

Data Management              

User Management              

Backup Management              

Budget Costs              

                                                                                                                                                                                       

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Conducting an Annual Campaign

A Primer
An annual campaign is a fundraising campaign conducted every year to raise unrestricted operating revenues for your organization. By unrestricted we mean that the revenues accrued can be used for any purposes within the mission of the organization.
Many organizations send only one annual campaign soliciation per year. However, in most cases we believe that an organization should set a goal for the future to have quarterly mailings for annual campaign contributions. There are many reasons for this but primarily there are two important ones: “share of mind” and budgetary.

“Share of mind” simply expresses the need to keep your organization in front of the support base as often as possible - without going overboard. For those who are only able to make small gifts, it helps make you the principle recipient of their charitable giving. For those able to give more it provides them with additional opportunities. In the future these “share of mind” efforts should extend to anything sent to your support base – for example your newsletter and annual report should have a response card and envelope in it.
Budgetary reasons are often the principle impediment to “larger” gifts from modest donors. If they are given more opportunities to give, they will often take advantage of those.
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Bulk vs. First Class Mailing
Generally speaking the mailings should be sent bulk, with one first class mailing per year as a means to update your database. If you are going to use your database system to send to a smaller “universe” of donors and potential donors you will want to create a code system to designate the “quality” of the donor. We recommend that at least 2 of the mailings go to the entire universe – and we’ll be discussing the universe of donors more later in this primer.
You can do bulk mailing in-house but it is very labor intensive and you will be better served to use a bulk mail house to do the mailing for you. In addition to having them code and sort the letters, we recommend that you also have them do the output of the actual letters, and the folding and stuffing as well. You can do this yourself, of course. However, again you will be using up several valuable days of time in this process. Between sorting, coding, printing, stuffing and mailing if you do this in-house you can plan on using four to six days of labor for an organization with a list of 1500 people. Multiply this times four mailings a year and you see that somewhere between three and seven weeks of time will be consumed by this task (all day x five work days per week). The mailhouse has everything automated and can do the task in 2 days once they have your text and list (obviously not including printing time if anything needs to be printed).
Creating the Appeal

There are two different schools of thought about appeal letters. Both have merit so we will describe them for you.
1. Short and Sweet
As suggested by its name this letter is short – one page preferably. This letter should be designed to tug at people’s heartstrings either through the memories it evokes or because of who is the writer. This type of letter should NOT be written by a committee and frankly it's best not to have it edited by a committee either. It should be a letter that comes from the heart and in order to hold together editing should be minimal.

There are four important considerations in such a letter:
First, it must be personal and use the word YOU when addressing the potential donor (and use it OFTEN).
Example (For a camp):
Don’t: Summer is fast approaching and we need new boats for the waterfront.
Do: Summer is fast approaching and we need your help to assure that the happy sounds of children boating will continue to reverberate across Smith Lake.
Second, be sure to clearly state the action you want them to take. Example: I’m asking you to sit down right now and make a contribution to assure the future of our beloved camp.
Third, it must be formatted in an appealing way. Use bold format and underlining sparingly – but use it. Bold and underline the one or two sentences that directly address the urgency and the personal nature of the appeal. Example: Delta would not be here without you. Your generous gift keeps the dream alive for generation after generation of boys and girls.
Fourth, always use a PS (in bold) to reiterate your main message. Throughout the process keep the following in mind: Current market research shows that the average busy person (read: our typical donor) receives 30 to 50 pieces of mail a day. Of those, one half go into the wastebasket in no more time than it takes to move his or her hand from the pile to the basket. 25% receive less than 2 seconds of time to look at the return address, flip from front to back, and then cast them into the trash; The remaining 25% of mail will be opened. Of those opened 2/3 will be thrown away in less than 1 minute. The trick is to make it into the last 25%. In fact, the return address of your organization, if you have a loyal base of support, in most cases will assure that.
If you make it that far, you want to be sure that you are making one or two statements that will cause that person to place you in his or her “to do” box. The bold statement within the letter and the PS are your best hope. From time to time an envelope with a special message printed on the front or back will also help.

2. Information Rich Appeals
An information rich letter is based on the assumption that donors want to have lots of details on what you have been doing, what it costs, why you need their help etc.
Often these letters are five or six pages long. We don’t like them, and we almost never read them, but the evidence from professional journals is that they are effective. This is the sort of letter that would be written by the director or a member of the board and provide substance to the “ask”.
Nevertheless, the rules stated above regarding use of the word YOU, the PS and the formatting objectives still apply. In fact, they are even more critical because you have to catch the attention of those who are not inclined to read such a long missive.
Try to put one critical sentence on the first page. If possible, use both sides of your paper and have the PS at the end be on the back page so that an individual who flips over the four pages after looking at only the front page sees the bold PS reminder.
Example: This year we have traveled around the US visiting 20 different states and 30 cities and towns. We have held twenty recruitment receptions and attended eight camp fairs to help spread the news about Delta. In this complex world it is always a challenge to get families to take the time to see the importance of the Delta experience. But once we have their attention they begin to see what you already know. You know the importance of Delta to the development of a child. Delta is not just a place to have fun. . . since our earliest days, Delta has been in the character development business.
Printing & Preparing the List
Every mailing should contain the following:
1. Appeal Letter
2. Response card
3. Return envelope
4. Mailing envelope - may be standard envelope or specifically designed for the appeal with a particular text message on it. Be sure that it has the bulk mail indicia.
The response card should carefully outline choices for contributing. Be sure that individuals have the opportunity to note whether their employer has a matching gifts program.
If you are doing the letter in-house you can print personal letters directly from your database. You can also print labels as well. The challenge thereafter is to be sure that the right letter goes into the right envelope. This may sound silly but you would be surprised at how easy it is for mistakes to happen when you have been stuffing envelopes for two days straight. If you are having the mailing done by a mail house here is what we recommend:
Use your database to identify your “donor universe”. Sort by zip code for bulk mail purposes.

• Export those names with the following information

• Title
• First Name
• Last Name
• Second Name (spouse with different name, companion)
• Address 1
• Address 2
• Town
• State
• Zip
• Salutation

• Open the list up in an Excel spreadsheet (use text setting for the Zip Code or 0’s will be dropped from the front of numbers). This will allow any mail house to use your address document.
• Provide the printer/mail house with a text file of the letter, including a scanned signature.
• Have them print the letter, merging the names and addresses into it. If they can’t do this, you have the wrong mail house.

Your Donor Universe
The donor universe is the term used to describe the parameters you use to define your list for solicitation. You define your universe by using your database system and the various codes that you create to distinguish between contributors.
If your database contains several different members of a (nuclear) family, you will want to code the primary family member to receive mailings. There are few things that turn off donors faster than to have five solicitations come to the same address. The message this sends is that you don’t spend their hard earned money very wisely.
At least two of the annual appeal letters should be sent to this full universe, one of which should be sent first class because it will help you to clean up your database on an annual basis. If you wonder why this is, 46 million Americans move every year. . . ‘nuf said.
You may wish to focus on a smaller universe in other mailings but try to add at least some of those who are not regular donors. Do not assume that a lack of a history of giving on the part of any individuals means they should not be asked, for various reasons they may not have given yet but may if you keep at it or if you happen to strike the right cord with them.

Add to your Universe

Finding Lost Supporters
Every year you will lose some members of your donor community. If you have been wise and left their names in the database with a coding indicating that they are lost, you are halfway to expanding your base of support. If you have removed them, try to track down a paper trail that will allow you to add them back in.
You can pay for a service that will help find individuals, but unless you have a feeling that there would be a big payoff we recommend you use existing free resources on the Internet. Save your money to spend on potentially big donors that you have lost by using the technique described below.
The technique of tracking people down via the Internet works exceedingly well for people with unique names or for whom you have some idea of their location. It does not work well for people with common names
USSearch.com is the Website for a company called US Search. This website allows you to do a general search for people in their database. It is a teaser for the use of its service, but can be very useful for hunting down someone who is lost.
Parameters within which you can search: First Name, Middle Initial, Last Name, City, State and Age. The parameter that is required and most useful is Age because that will often help you to hone in on the correct individual.
A real example. Let’s assume that Moosewood President Wayne King is lost. He graduated from Camp Mowglis in 1969 (it was a great year by the way!) at the time he should have been 14 (he was 12 but we’ll ignore that) so he should be 49 today. He’s lost so we don’t know where he is. So we fill in his name, age and leave the city and state blank and do a search.
The computer database responds that there are too many Wayne Kings and that you need to narrow your search. If you know that his middle initial is D., that will help (you’ll get 158 Wayne D. King’s). Perusing this list you will see a Wayne King who is the right general age in Rumney, NH and Campton, NH, and a Wayne King, age unknown, in Laconia NH. Since we know that Wayne came from NH that’s a pretty good shot. Now you have narrowed down the field considerably. Now you go to any of the many Internet people search engines (we use http://people.yahoo.com/) and do a search on those three towns for Wayne King. Yahoo shows no Wayne King in Campton (probably because he grew up there but no longer resides there) and no Wayne King in Laconia . . . but in Rumney there is one on Stinson Lake Road with a telephone number! Pick up the phone and check him out or send him a quick note.
Service Providers, Contractors, Consultants, etc.

Don’t define your donor database too narrowly. Anyone with whom you have a relationship should be included in the full universe of donors and potential donors. For example: any business with which you have a relationship should be on your database and should be solicited. Given the amount of business that you do with your printer, for example, they should be making a generous donation every year to your organization. Likewise other local businesses will see the efficacy of making a contribution and if they don’t you should consider changing your provider – where competitive services are available, of course. A for-profit business would expect this kind of relationship and so should you.