Warming Up Your Donors Before the Ask Yields Higher Gifts

Yet another end-of-year fundraising strategy is here again on this chilly October day in North Carolina. I hope you are warm and cozy wherever you are reading this.

As we discussed in the 09 Year End Fundraising StrategiesTelesummit, the year-end fundraising rush is upon us again. This is the time when most organizations raise most of their contributions. So warming up your donors before you ask them is a mighty smart move that can dramatically enhance your results.

Here’s how:

1. First of all, I hope you have been communicating with your donors all year long, so they feel happy and connected to your cause.

I hope you have been using postcards, emails, direct mail, personal letters, phone calls, newsletters, and your annual report to talk to your donors and treat them like friends. (And I certainly hope you are not relying on just a newsletter to carry communication this for you – studies show that donors think nonprofit newsletters are boring)

2. Be sure your donors have been well thanked. If you need to, before appeals go out, hold a thankathon to your donors. Or hold a “this is how we used your money last year” phonathon to your donors.

3. And here’s how you prep them: As part of your appeal strategy, you should have several steps in the overall solicitation process.

The first step should be a postcard, an email or a phone call letting the donor know that the campaign is about to launch. This preps the donor and helps them be ready for the appeal. The second step might be the appeal itself, with lots of additional followup steps that we will discuss later.

But let’s go back to the idea of a “warmup” postcard. Here’s where you should put a smiling face or family who is being helped by your cause. Here’s where you tell a story. Here’s where you trigger the warm and fuzzy emotions.

I love the idea of the postcard.  You can also send an email with the photo, with a cheery message about launching the campaign and the wonderful things your organization does to help people.

This kind of warm up can dramatically increase the gifts that your donors make when the appeal finally hits.

Give it a try!

Tagged as: direct mail, Fundraising, Year-End Fundraising Strategies