Mar 25, 2024 6 min read trancparency

Transparency + The Phone Charger Challenge

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The Art of Transparency: Engaging Your Donors with Clarity and Trust

In the realm of philanthropy, transparency is not just a buzzword—it's the cornerstone of a trusting and enduring relationship between charitable organizations and their donors.

This is the fifth article of a five-part series on donor solicitation.

The Art of Pivoting from Cultivation to Solicitation
Selecting the right ask amount
The Value of Impact-Based Giving
Including Storytelling as part of your ask
Creating a transparent solicitation proposal

When supporters know exactly who benefits, how their contributions are utilized, and the mechanics behind the scenes, their confidence and willingness to give grows exponentially. Here are 6 important elements of transparency.

1. Being Clear On Who You Are Helping

Understanding who will be helped is the first step in painting a vivid picture for your donors. If your organization aids in education, share the narratives of students whose lives are being transformed. Explain why you are best positioned to be the one to help these individuals.

2. How The Money Will Be Used

Donors appreciate a clear roadmap of where their money is going. Whether it's funding medical research, building a community center, or sponsoring a program, specificity is key. You need to be very clear with donors on what the money is needed for and you must document how you are spending. Providing clear reports will help build trust even when things don't go perfectly according to plan.

3. How The Money Is Being Raised

Transparency in how funds are raised is equally crucial. Explaining to your donors how you expect to raise the remainder of your goal, who you will be approaching what events you are planning and what grants applications you are submitting reassures donors of your capability to complete the project.

4. Setting Realistic Timelines

Donors value understanding the timeline of your projects. If you’re constructing a library, outline the phases, from groundbreaking to the grand opening. This timeline offers clarity and manages expectations, keeping supporters engaged and informed.

5. Presenting a Transparent Budget

A well-documented budget is a testament to your organization's integrity. It reassures donors that their contributions are handled wisely. Detail how each dollar is allocated, perhaps illustrating that 85% of funds go directly to program costs, ensuring maximum impact on your mission.

6. Updating Donors on Progress

Regular updates cultivate a connected and informed donor community. Sending personalized email updates and having occasional meetings will keep your supporters in the loop with accomplishments, challenges, and stories of impact.

Embracing transparency isn't just about opening your books or sharing stories—it's about building a foundation of trust and partnership with your donors. It's a commitment to showing the real, impactful journey of your work, the tangible outcomes of generosity, and the collective progress towards a shared vision.

Phone Charger Challenge

This article is adapted from Ben Meer's System Sundays Newsletter. You can read the original article here

Have a few minutes to spare while waiting for the next meeting. Scroll through your phone.
At an uncomfortable social event. Scroll through your phone.
Need to add another task to my to-do list. Scroll through your phone.
Getting ready to go to sleep at night. Scroll through your phone.
Wake up in the morning. Scroll through your phone.
On a call with a spouse or friend. Scroll through your phone.

This mindless bad habit/addictive activity is an incredibly damaging one.

The Phone Charger Challenge is a habit builder that will have an impact on the quality of your life. You'll see how moving your phone’s charger—outside of your bedroom—has cascading benefits on your entire day.

From Reactive to Proactive

There is a famous quote that there are only two industries that call their customers users: illegal drugs and software.”

In a split millisecond (from seeing a notification that your donor has decided to stop giving or an important meeting canceled), your entire mood/morning can be derailed. Let’s not forget about all the other irrelevant and useless information that fills your head from scrolling through your phone.

Would you say your mindless morning scroll—on average—makes you feel better or worse?

Every day, people voluntarily give precious time to phone scrolling and never take stock of the damage. It doesn’t feel good but we constantly do it over and over again.

Here is how the Phone Charger Challenge can help

The Phone Charger Challenge will

Help you become proactive instead of reactive,
Make you feel much better about yourself
Help you feel more productive
Save you hundreds of hours every year for more productive and more meaningful activities

So How Does the Phone Charger Challenge Work?

Relocating the charger is a simple-yet-effective behavioral hack. Many of us are already in the habit of charging our phones before bed. For most, the desire for a charged phone the next day is preferential to the alternative of sleeping with a non-charged phone on the nightstand.

Here are three easy steps

Step 1: Identify a New Phone Charger Location Outside Your Bedroom

Pick a new place to charge your phone—outside your bedroom or, at least, far away from your bed. Physically move your charger… Now.

What this does:

It forces you to get out of your bed to turn off the alarm.
You want to turn off the alarm as fast as possible so it does not wake up others
Once you are up- you are more awake and much more likely to start your day
You dont scroll through your phone while still in bed!

Step 2: Set an Implementation Intention (What Will You Do When Your Alarm Goes Off?)

The Phone Charger Challenge will get you out of bed. What you do next is a decisive moment.

Remember: proactive > reactive. So, if you spend ten minutes mindlessly scrolling anyway—while sitting in a chair (instead of in bed)—you're doing it wrong.

In Atomic Habits James Clear writes about the value of having “a plan you make beforehand about when and where to act.” A study by the British Journal of Health Psychology found that—without a stated intention—only 38 percent of participants followed through on their exercise goal. However, 91 percent of those who used an implementation intention did hit their objective. One simple action more than doubled their odds of success.

Like a software engineer writing an “If…, then…” statement, people can program themselves to perform an action when a prior “if” condition is met.

Here’s the algorithm for waking up:

If the alarm sounds, then I will [insert proactive action].

Some ideas include:

If the alarm sounds i will:

Enjoy a quiet Coffee
Go for a morning run
Read or Study
Plan My Day

Step 3: Test-Run This Wakeup System for Three Days

We don’t change overnight but the more frequently you practice this routine the better you will feel. If you can do the Phone Charger Challenge 3 days in a row set yourself another goal for a full week and so on.

Sleep Better, Strengthen Your Relationship, Enjoy Peace
In addition to saving time there are many additional benefits to sleeping with your phone outside your bedroom. These include:

Improved sleep
A Healthier Relationship with your Spouse
Better mental health through enhanced work/life balance

New Look Coming Soon

We are excited to share that we are hard at work on completely rebuilt version of the PhoneRaise management section. Coming in the 2nd quarter of 2024 will see a more functional backend management system that will make it much easier to navigate and organize your contacts and fundraisers.

Included in this new update will be: