Archive for the ‘Asking for Donations’ Category

The Chronicle of Philanthropy reported this week that some international relief organizations said their average gift size to help the Haiti crisis is smaller than after the tsunamis in 2004.  The good news is that the number of gifts went up even if the size of the gift was down.

For example, (and I’m quoting from the Chronicle article here:)

In the first 10 weekdays after the earthquake in Haiti, Mercy Corps received 61,505 contributions, compared with 49,561 donations during the same period after the tsunamis. But the average size of the Haiti gifts was $109, compared with $208 for the tsunami gifts.

As of Wednesday, the American Red Cross had received approximately $231-million, a little more than a third of the more than $644-million raised by major U.S. relief groups. Online donations for Haiti have averaged $92 for the group, compared with $150 after the tsunamis.

World Vision U.S. has raised almost $30-million for its work in Haiti, roughly the same amount the organization had received during the same period after the tsunamis. But the charity’s average gift size is $130 this disaster, compared with $191 for the tsunamis.

Here’s my take on this: Clearly the disturbing trend to smaller gifts is because of the recession. How long will we be here? Gift size has dropped almost across the board.

I, for one, am anxiously waiting for signs of spring – looking for signs of a resurrection in the economy and in giving. These trends in gift size may be the first bellweather to let us know how things are going. And clearly, the tide hasn’t turned yet.  But these donors are more of the anonomyous type – the kind motivated by media to “help out” in times of crisis.

We CAN be successful when we make focus in on our CURRENT donors – those who are already on the bandwagon with us. All the more reason for us to be keeping our donors and friends of our cause excited about the impact we are making in the world.

I just read in the Benevon newsletter yesterday of some stunning results from first time “ask events’ – major funds that were raised from both new and old donors. When we pull in those personally devoted to our cause and tell our story with impact and passion, they WILL give.

Our inner circle donors are a better bet right now than new donors who come to us thru the media.

I am reading my favorite blog today, the Agitator. The authors Roger Craver and Tom are “direct response” guru’s (remember it used to be called “direct mail?” Now it’s much more sophisticated direct response.)

They are citing an article by Denny Hatch about the best way to write “marketing copy.” That’s the technical term for the wording we use when we write appeals, brochures, email broadcasts and our fundraising materials.

Denny is apparently an old pro at marketing and copywriting. He says that we need to be sure to do the following things:

1. Set a deadline that will create urgency. By WHEN do we need to hear from you? Now we all know that you really have a terrible time raising money if you don’t have some sort of deadline.

You have to give people a reason for acting NOW. Write that check NOW. Put it in the mail NOW. Because we have to act quickly … (you know how to complete this sentence, right?)

2. But choose your deadline carefully. If you leave it out too long in the future, the  need to act now dissipates. But if it is too close, you are at the mercy of mailing schedules that might go wrong and ruin everything.

3. Use emotional hot buttons. If you appeal to these powerful, motivating emotions, you’ll have the most success. These hot buttons are called “key copy drivers” — because they are so powerful they can change behavior.

When you insert them into your effort, the more powerful your argument. Those copy drivers are: fear – greed – guilt – anger – exclusivity – salvation – flattery.

So how do you flatter your donors?

Tell them how smart and wonderful they are and how they’re so helpful, kind and caring.

I’ve seen lots of fundraising material that appealed to anger and guilt. Haven’t you?  Not so sure about using greed or fear here.

But don’t forget that it is POWERFUL emotions that will get attention and create action – and funds to help your cause.

Donors are always carping on the whole issue of “overhead.” They act like it is a terrible thing that their funds would go into the black hole of “administration.”

BUT we need to take the bull by the horns and take charge of this discussion.

We have to educate our donors on the importance of investing – not only in direct program work on the ground – but also in the infrastructure of our organizations.

You have to explain to donors that infrastructure funding is really important too – it keeps the lights on, pays for staff and computer systems – so that the good work on the ground can happen.

I think when you explain this to donors, they do get it quickly, and then they are likely to be ok with the administrative costs. If you don’t explain it, and pitch it to them just right, then you just might get in trouble with your donors.

I’d like to see a pitch for “infrastructure” right along with the pitch for “direct program funding.” We should never apologize for our overhead costs. Instead let’s re-define the words “overhead costs” into “investing in infrastructure.”
This is a proactive and proud term we can all stand by!

Let us all be thankful at the outpouring of generosity from donors in response to Haiti’s crisis. The people of Haiti need and deserve our help.

From my standpoint also, I am looking carefully at the fundraising and donation techniques that are being used to raise (or collect) these funds.  What’s particularly amazing is the number and quantity of donations by text.

The Red Cross’s texting campaign is making history.

Apparently they now have over two million donors who have made $10 gifts to the Red Cross Haiti relief effort. Of course the real question is whether these donors will become repeat givers. And that depends on whether the Red Cross is able to establish real communication with them, and convey the ultimate impact their gifts made on the ground in Haiti.

And in a way, this is really “gift receiving” and not “fundraising” because it’s an outpouring of gifts that are not necessarily being solicited. BTW, the Agitator blog has a great entry today about the difference between “gift receiving” and “fundraising.”

Will there be followup?

The true test of all this gift collecting and/or fundraising is in the followup to donors.  Studies show that donors who give on line are less likely to renew their support than those who gave via check in the mail.

Will recipient organizations be able to convert one-time donors over to a longer-term relationship? How will they handle thank you’s?  How will they go forward communicating with donors?

I’ll be looking at renewal rates on these gifts to see what happens after that first gift.

The Agitator Blog this morning has a thoughtful and poweful discussion of what “cultivation” really looks like. And they totally nail the key to developing a long term funding relationship with a foundation.

Andrew Kramer, of the Prison Entrepreneurship Program (PEP) in Houston, wrote in a long comment about his strategies for developing deep relationships with his donors.  He focuses a lot on foundations because he raises a large amount of his revenue from  these types of funders.

He says “I’ve learned that most foundations treat honesty and candid feedback about what happened as their primary form of involvement in our organization. They’ve never come to us and said that we should run our program a certain way, they just ask us to think about what happened and there is tremendous value in that since most individual donors never do that.

“Even with our foundations, the objective is never just to look at them as pools of cash for our benefit–the real value is in the fact that they require us to think about our programs and offerings, and then again that throughout the year they require us–sometimes in very thoughtful ways–to measure and assess what we’re doing.”

Now here’s a fundraiser who knows what he’s doing!

How refreshing to hear that the foundations are not being considered as just “pools of cash”  – but they also bring an added benefit to the orgaization.

How refreshing again to hear that he does not consider the reporting back to foundation funders as a drag – but instead as a benefit, because thinking deeply about outcomes, and measuring what they are doing is USEFUL!

How many organizaitons are prepared to offer frank  and candid feedback about what happened to their funders? Are you willing to be so transparent? Or do you sugarcoat things when you report back?

It’s really hard to be totally frank with a funder.

Funded projects almost always have breakdowns and challenges – that’s part of trying to change the world! And during a project, sometimes we have to change course because the landscape has changed on us.

But I have found over the years that if you go back with frank and candid feedback about the project, what you learned, what you’d do differently, what worked, what the challenges were – funders love this kind of honesty and realism.  And they will trust you when you come back to ask again.

I hope you are in the full swing of the holiday season! And I do hope you’re pulling in LOTS and LOTS Of year-end gifts!

Here’s some coaching I gave a colleague this morning.  She is working on some last-minute email appeals for her new job. The first draft of the note talks about the great things this group has done in the past year and asks for a gift. She asked me to give her an edit.

“No!” I said, “this won’t work! Here’s what your donors want to hear:”

1. What, specifically, do you want to accomplish this coming year? Tell your donors EXACTLY what you are raising money for.  This means you are NOT making a generic appeal. You are making a very specific appeal. You are asking your donors to contribute to some specific goals and projects.

Remember, NEVER, EVER make a generic appeal. It will kill the energy of your letter. You’ve got to be as specific as possible.

2. How much money will it take to accomplish this? Donors want to know if you are actually planning. If you tell them you need $25k or $100 or $2 million, that gives them some benchmark for their own gift.  They want to know what part they might be playing in the effort to get the job done.

And telling them how much money it will take shows that you are well-run. You have made your plans and you’re deliberately planning to execute them.

I have found that just the act of naming an amount helps the money to actually come in.  The word gets around town that this group needs xxxx and sometimes foundations or special donors show up and make that last gift to meet the goal.

There’s lots of power in driving a stake in the ground and setting a goal.

So many organizations are afraid to set a goal because they need as much money as possible, and they want to raise as much as possible.

But I strongly recommend nailing down some goals and a dollar figure. I promise it will help you raise more money!

A friend and client sent me this email last week:

“I am a development director so am particularly sensitive to these things, but I have to say I was appalled yesterday to received a long typed thank you yesterday for a small donation I gave 10 weeks ago at a fundraising breakfast.

“I went to the breakfast at the behest of two friends who serve on the board of directors.  I also know another board member and the executive director, who gave a fabulous short speech at the event.

“The event was packed with enthusiastic people.  All was done just right, except for the follow-up.

“Why not have thank you envelopes pre-addressed ahead of time so the table captains can quickly jot a note after the event?

“Why not call everybody who attended, say thank you, what did you learn, and how would you like to get involved?

“My donation was miniscule.  What these people don’t know about me, however, is that if I don’t spend it all ahead of time I stand to inherit a nice chunk of change in the next couple of decades.

“They don’t need to spend a lot of time thanking me, but an impersonal 10 weeks later is abysmal.

What can we learn from this? So many of us are using “ask events” successfully. These types of events are becoming more and more frequent. They can be wonderful fundraising tools.

But a 10-week old thank you? This is how to drive your donors away – and FAST!

Just think of all the work that went in to the ask event. And how little work went into the followup.  Isn’t that like so much of what we do in fundraising?

Continuing in my theme of “count your blessings,” I’m encouraging everyone to consider their wonderful donors as great blessings to the cause.

Donor: “How do I thank thee? Let me count the ways.”

When I started in fundraising at Duke University, we had a great saying: “Find seven ways to thank your donors and they will give again!” And another saying was: “Hopefully the first gift is not the last or the largest!”

The Benevon newsletter for this week had a great “how-to” article on donor thankathons:

With Thanksgiving upon us here in the U.S., now is the perfect time to call your donors just to say “thank you.”

Start by making your list of who you will call. Consider how many donors you have had in the last year. Choose a dollar threshold over which you will call. For example, start with all donors who have given you over $1,000, then move to all those who gave between $500 and $999.

Put together your core team of three to five callers, made up of people of some stature within your organization. Ideally, these will be board members and volunteers who enjoy talking with people and are well organized. If you put staff members on the team, there should be no more than one staff caller for every three volunteer callers. One of the staff callers should be the executive director. Do not “require” that anyone be a caller; rather, you want to have callers who choose to participate and will enjoy doing it.

Either bring them all together for an evening of eggnog and cookies, or dole out the lists and have them call from home or office. Daytime calls and leaving messages are fine.

The script goes something like this:

“Hello, may I please speak to _________? My name is ___________, I’m on the board of _________. I was just calling to say thank you for your support this year. It has allowed us to expand/maintain our ___________ programs. We’ve been able to offer our services to _____ more families/children in our community. Thank you.”

If the caller actually reaches a real person, they may chat a bit. The caller should be prepared with a few general facts, but needn’t feel they need to take a cram course before they’re qualified to get on the phone. They can always refer the question to a staff member for a call back.

What are you telling the donor with this call?

* We noticed you gave.
* Your gift to our organization mattered.
* We appreciate you.

That’s exactly what a donor needs to know to keep giving year after year.

Starting now—and throughout the holidays—remember to say thank you (by phone or in person) and let donors know what their gift allowed you to do.

Hi, I’ve been on vacation last week on the lovely west coast.  My friend Jane Heimerdinger from the `Iolani School in Honolulu, Hawaii invited me to speak at the CASE VII Conference in San Francisco. And I stayed out on the west coast visiting the Napa Valley a few days. Life is good!

The Chronicle of Philanthropy columnist Holly Hall just posted an article on the Chronicle’s Prospecting blog:  “Most Americans Intend to Make Holiday Donations This Year.” You know I have been preaching optimism about year-end giving right now – from my perspective, things are looking up.

I am seeing a turning tide of not only hopefullness, but clear indications that donors are starting to loosen the strings on their wallets.

The Chronicle cited a study by the American Red Cross of over 1000 adults in November that showed the same results.

If you can imagine, almost 25% of those polled said that their income had decreased during the recession!  But even including those people, 80% of all those surveyed said that their year-end gifts would stay the same (62%) or increase (7%).

And only 20% said their giving would cut back.  I think it is so very encouraging that the people in this poll said they would economize in other areas in order to keep up their giving.  This agrees with other studies earlier in the year that cited the same opinions.

We need to remember  – Amerians are a generous people. And we are accustomed to giving in the fall and particularly during the holiday season.

May your end of year campaign be the best ever! Onward!

Here’s some pretty interesting info from this weeks Fundraising Success E-Newsletter. Here’s some data  just released by the “eCampaigning Review Study” that looked at 2 million donors to 50 nonprofits around the world.

The study found that 70% of the nonprofits didn’t send a followup email within one month.  And – can you believe this – 37% did not send a thank you email.

This shows where nonprofits stand in developing their e-fundraising skills – they are only doing the very basics. Apparently nonprofits are learning how to successfully raise money online.  BUT. . .

They are missing the followup! I can’t imagine how they could neglect the thank you and the followup. If they don’t followup, then the donors are most likely to never give again!

There is a lot of research out there indicating that first time online donors are less likely to give again than first time donors by mail. If there was ever an urgent “to-do” in any fundraising office – it’s being ALL OVER first time online donors – and thank thank thanking them.

The Fundraising Success article suggests that a nonprofit create a “welcome route,” – a series of communications to first-time donors.  I love the idea of a Welcome Route. But it’s hard – I know it’s hard – to plan for the followup when you are under so much pressure to bring in new gifts.

But the investment in welcome packages is an investment in next year’s campaign. You are laying the groundwork for NEXT YEAR’s fundraising. You need to engage your donor NOW while she is still excited about her donation and she is really interested in your work.

We all know that developing long term relationships with donors is the KEY to long term, sustainable fundraising. But just because we know it, doesn’t mean that we do it.

This needs to be one of our new-year’s resolutions for 2010 – loving our donors and thanking them in every possible way!

To your fundraising success,

Gail