Harvey McKinnon Associates is a consultancy specializing in fundraising, relationship building, and direct response for the nonprofit community. With offices in Vancouver and Toronto, we offer services to clients around the world.
Our mission is to increase the income and stability of our nonprofit clients by building donor loyalty. We believe our work can make a difference in the world, and we use our skills in raising money to help nonprofit organizations accomplish their missions.
New HMA-produced Video
for Vancouver General Hospital Campaign
Watch our new video clip featuring Vancouver General Hospital patient Catharine Martin. The video is part of an integrated appeal campaign: direct mail with a drive to online plus an email follow up. Catharine is also using Twitter to fundraise to her personal network of family and friends. Check our HMA blog in late September for updates.
Latest from the blogs
Recently, a charity:water video was passed around HMA that left everyone at their desks dramatically taken aback. The video is both inspired and inspiring. Fast paced, high contrast, bright colours, highly momentous music, a brilliant concept, human joy, a humble yet passionate front man, and of course - fulfilling a basic human need, water.
New to this world of fundraising, but well versed in pop culture, I was acutely aware that while the cause is phenomenal, the success of the video lies beyond that. It is not by coincidence that this video strikes a chord in everyone! The design, the images, the editing is meticulous; a well-crafted aesthetic with a stylistic appeal that is flawless but hard to put into words: it is just so cool. Is that what makes me want to get on board?
After launching the paperback edition of The Power of Giving on October 15th, Harvey and Azim are very proud to announce that it reached the Number 1 spot at Barnes and Nobles on October 17th! We are incredibly grateful to all those who gave their tremendous support by buying the book and we hope that the message of giving continues to spread throughout this holiday season.
Thank you!
That’s right, the Toronto office is stepping up and getting on the Goodstock bandwagon! Who says the West Coast has all the cool people? We are really excited about this opportunity, and are looking forward to working with some local small nonprofits from within the GTA.
Goodstock Toronto will take place this December as well, and we are now accepting proposals.
So, if you’re a small, nonprofit from the GTA looking for FREE expertise in fundraising, design, and creative work, please visit www.harveymckinnon.com/goodstock. Check out the RFP and submit your proposal by November 13.
We all know by now that the economic meltdown of the past 2 years has had a serious effect on charity fundraising around the world.
If your program is suffering, at least you can take some lukewarm comfort in the fact that you are in good company:
- In the US, giving dropped by $6.4 billion in 2008, with the # of new donors down almost 7% in the fourth quarter
- In Australia, 60% of charities polled in July of this year reported falling revenues in the previous 6 months, and 2/3 of respondents predicted further losses for the rest of 2009 and 2010
- In the UK, individual giving was down 11% in a late-2008 report
- And here in Canada revenue appears to be down about 10% on 2008
Last week, the Vancouver Foundation released a study of the effect of the economic downturn on B.C. charities. 54% have seen a decrease in revenue, on average a 19% decrease.
Boards and senior managers are stuck with very hard decisions about how to balance the books, and fundraising programs are taking a hit in many organizations.
One easy target of budget-cutting is prospecting programs, or donor acquisition campaigns. But we caution our clients and fundraising managers not to slash too deeply. Cuts in prospecting may make a more attractive balance sheet in the short term, but in 2 or 3 years time the absence of new donors will have a dramatic effect on your bottom line.
Announcing Goodstock Vancouver
Apply for HMA’s 24-hour marathon of nonprofit madness!
We love small nonprofits. You're out there, doing important work on limited budgets, making a real difference.
There are probably a lot of things you don't do because you don't have the money to hire experts to help you.
Maybe you could benefit from help sorting out your yearly fundraising plan? Maybe you could use some help with designing a killer mail pack? Maybe you'd like to plan and shoot a promotional video or get an online fundraising program going?
This December, to celebrate the season of giving, we're getting our staff together to do a 24-hour marathon of free fundraising and marketing projects for small nonprofits. Would you like to tap into our expertise and experience and have fun as well? If you have a project that could use a kick-start take a look at the proposal requirements and send your idea along.
Remember, it all has to fit in 24 hours of work. But a lot can get done in 24 hours.
Because we’ll be working with local nonprofits, you can actually come into the office, brief us personally, and work with us on your project.
This whole idea is based on "Goodstock™", a project by Knupp & Watson. Thanks to them for the great idea! We’re proud to be the 1st Canadian agency launching our own Goodstock.
If you have any questions, please visit www.harveymckinnon.com/goodstock. The deadline for project submissions is 2 pm PST on November 13.
Stop Soot!
A new campaign by Ecojustice launched!
The fine folks over at Ecojustice have just launched their new Stop Soot! campaign, which aims to convince the Canadian government to take action on black carbon. Here's what the new campaign website has to say:
Soot, also known as black carbon, is the second-leading cause of global warming after carbon dioxide, and it's totally preventable. We already have the technology to avoid producing it; it's just a matter of using it.
We need tighter standards on diesel fuel at home, and we need to finance technology transfer abroad. Addressing black carbon is a climate change solution that Canada can and should lead. Please do your part to help.
This campaign was originally developed by Earthjustice in the US (stopsoot.com) and Ecojustice has created a Canadian version so that we can pressure our government into taking action on this issue.
HMA turns 20!
HMA celebrates its 20th anniversary
As of this year, HMA has been in business for 20 years! When HMA began, it was just Harvey running the show himself. He eventually realized that as much as he loved having conversations with himself, he needed a few people around to help him grow the business.
An office was found, coffee machine purchased, and more and more clients came on board. Soon Harvey was employing a team of the best fundraising professionals in the business and working with many of Canada’s leading non-profits!
To mark the 20th Anniversary, the Toronto and Vancouver staff met in Vancouver for a week of strategic planning with HMA’s business consultant, Elizabeth Crook from Orchard Advisors. These strategic planning sessions reminded everyone how lucky we are to work together in helping great causes across Canada and internationally. Because we wanted to do some more good and hang out together- the HMA gang headed to the UBC Farm for an afternoon of hard work! The light rain and arduous labour ☺ did not deter our staff and everyone loved being out in nature and lending a hand to a beautiful part of the UBC community and our city!
Strategic planning and some dirty work were wonderful... but the highlight of the week was definitely the look on the Harvey’s face as he entered the HMA Surprise 20th Anniversary Party!
