As thousands of Calgary area jobs vanished throughout 2009, some employees were so anxious about their future that they didn’t even notice their workplace United Way campaign was on. Three of Calgary’s largest companies laid off hundreds of workers in a key week of the campaign.

Yet by year’s end, the United Way of Calgary and Area had not only reached its goal of $47 million, but passed it – and squeaked by the previous year’s take of $49.5 million for good measure.

Just setting the 2009 goal was challenging enough, says president Ruth Ramsden-Wood. The board had to balance the growing needs of agencies facing their own shortfalls with the struggles the business community faced. “Calgary was firmly in recession. The signs of recovery were not evident as soon here as in other parts of the country. Input from workplaces and the business community led us to step back on our goal. It was a tough, heavily debated decision.”

Many if not most of the fundraisers I know are scrambling in what I call ‘technique frenzy’ again. By that I mean that we’re off chasing some magic bullet that’s just come onto the scene – hoping against hope that it will solve problems like attracting new donors, renewing old donors or convincing existing donors to give more.

Today’s technique frenzy, from what I can see, is almost all e-related. We had a client a few years ago who decisively declared, “By this time next year, I want all our donations to come in online.” This client had a robust direct mail program, which meant that three-quarters of their donors were age 65 or older. Given that the majority of this age group doesn’t even use email, this was a pretty unrealistic idea. Yet, he was swept up by the latest idea.

Today’s hot fundraising topic is social media. Charities everywhere are rushing to set up on Facebook, MySpace and to open Twitter accounts. There’s this hope that getting onto Facebook will bring young new donors rushing in with cash bursting from their wallets. This temptation is understandable.

If you’ve consoled yourself one too many times with the thought that a special event “raised our profile” even when it didn’t raise much money, you’ll be interested in these four tips from Event 360 to help you turn your awareness event into a fundraising event.

Craft a clear ask

Creating an effective request, says Event 360 president Jeff Shuck, is the most neglected part of any program. You must be able to describe in one sentence how your charity improves the world. Describe in one more sentence how the event will help achieve that goal. Then start asking “Will you help us by participating or donating?”

In my last article, Attracting Top Talent to your Board (CF&P, December 15, 2009), one of the points made was that top talent will assess and scrutinize an opportunity to sit on a board as diligently as they might any management position. But what criteria and issues do they look at in that assessment?

Recently I had the great pleasure of chatting with Rem Langan, a top performer from the marketing and communications field. He brings with him a wealth of experience from his key roles in one of the world’s most successful companies. His senior roles in marketing and communications include stints as chief marketing officer, then VP for McDonald’s Restaurants of Canada Limited, and as president & CEO of Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC).

Rem is currently chairman of RMHC and is at a point in his career where he doesn’t have to do anything. But, like many top performers, there is still a lot he wants to do. He is adept at developing and implementing strategy, creative, insightful and – most important – still passionate and interested in helping great organizations.

Writing for Fundraising Success (www.fundraisingsuccessmag.com), Jeff Brooks offers these tips to improve the copy you write (or approve).

Write the call to action before you do anything else. Fundraising, says Brooks, is more about the destination than the journey. You’ll arrive a lot more successfully if you know where you’re going.

Think of 25 reasons why a donor should give to you. Then, he counsels, get rid of all the reasons that are about you and not the donor.

Ask, “How would The National Enquirer write this?” According to Brooks, The Enquirer knows the value of the amazing, the lurid, the outrageous, the unexpected — and it milks it. Are you doing that, he asks, or is your writing as colorless and purely factual as possible? The Enquirer’s approach gets more readers. It raises more funds too.