fundraising strategies Archives

Your donor has just sent in another gift! Hurray!

So you reply with a wonderful, personal thank you note. And then you call her to say thanks. In addition to the paper letter that you send.

Then what?

You have to communicate with her . . . so you can continue to build that warm, close relationship with her.

You’ll send your newsletter. And you’ll send email alerts and updates.

But will it matter? Will she pay attention? Will she care?

Here are 5 smart tips from my favorite communications expert Kivi Leroux Miller on how to make her pay attention and love you even more.

1. Ask donors to do something besides give money.

One of our great rules in fundraising is “Involvement breeds investment.”

You and I both know that involving our donors is an important goal. But how many organizations really pull this off?

Try:

Inviting your donors to volunteer – then they’ll experience your work in action – and everything just may change.
Asking your donors for feedback about your organization. (try a survey)
Asking your donors to take some sort of action to help the cause.

2. Use a clear call to action.

When you are inviting your donors to get involved – don’t be vague.

Ask your donors to DO SOMETHING in a clear call to action!

Kivi says that these words are not clear enough: Participate, Engage, Believe, Understand, Support, Help, Promote, Share . . .

Instead, be extra specific about what your donors can do to help.

Try:

Making your call to action so specific that you could take a picture of someone doing this.
Giving your donor step by step instructions on what to do: Get a Kit, Make a Plan, Be Informed in an Emergency.

3. Don’t bore them!

Want to know what bores your donors? Lengthy articles! Dense print. Kivi says that the days of 1000 word newsletter articles are over.

Will your donor even read your stuff?

You and I both know that long, complex communications don’t really fly with donors. But how many people are tackling this seriously?

How many traditionally long newsletters am I seeing both in snail mail and email? Wayyyy too many!

Try:

Sharing short videos. (I’m really intrigued with this idea!)
Sending short, sweet and interesting news tidbits.
Breaking up your newsletter into 3 or 4 different pieces that go out at different times.
Sending a tiny infographic to your donor.

4. Send them snail mail in addition to emails.

Are you cutting back on your print mailings in order to save money? I’ve seen too many nonprofits who have eliminated their print newsletter so they can cut down on their expenses.

Many donors WILL read your snail mail – don’t cut it out to save money!

We both know better – but the urge to save all those postage and printing costs is just too great! PLEASE don’t cut back too much on your print materials!

Why?

Many donors will read both types of communications – building up your wattage in their attention span.
Older donors tend to actually read print materials – and they are the ones who give the most.
Communicating via different media channels reinforces and amplifies your message.

5. Find the stories.

Kivi says that telling a story in a series of different communications is a wonderful way to draw your donors in and keep them interested.

We all know that humans are wired for stories – look at the success of People Magazine! I know whenever I’m giving a workshop and my audience looks tired – then I switch to telling a story and every eye in the room is riveted to me. Everyone just wants to know what happens next!

Try:

Finding the funny moments and sharing them with your donors.
Creating a “story arc” – that you spin out slowly over time. (Love love love this idea!)
Find clients and people you’ve helped to tell their own story.

BOTTOM LINE!

You as a fundraiser need to get much better at how you communicate – because it’s these happy touches that will prime the donor to be ready to give again.

Fundraisers these days can NOT rely just on a strong appeal letter!! Instead you have to give your donor an entire experience via your communications.

Then you can create your pool of consistent donors who provide ongoing sustainable funding to your nonprofit. Hurray!

Have you tried asking your donors for feedback?

This is a huge new trend that smart fundraisers are spearheading. Why can donor feedback be so important?

How can you send communications to donors if you don’t know if they like what you are sending?
How can you offer “donor experiences” if you don’t know what they want?
How can you make sure donors are happy if you don’t try to have a 2-way conversation with them?

Donor Surveys Can Tell You So Much

Consultant Jonathon Grapsas offers several smart reasons why his firm Pareto relies on donor surveys so often. His post about surveys is a Must Read.

He says that surveys can fill in important demographic information about your donors. And you can use that to develop a profile or “persona” of your typical donor – which will help you target your writing much more directly.

Surveys can also give you amazingly useful info on why your donors are motivated to give to you. What about your organization appeals to them the most? I can’t think of more valuable feedback, can you?

Try Surveying Your Donors

Many organizations are sending their donors online surveys and asking for feedback.

Why don’t you send a Survey Monkey link to your donors asking them for their thoughts. What they say might just surprise you! But be careful how you ask!

Nancy Schwartz of the Getting Attention! Blog

Don’t say “our organization needs your input.”

I can’t image a better way to turn people off. Why? Because it’s narcissistic says marketing guru Nancy Schwartz of the GettingAttention.com blog.

Nancy received an email with this as the subject line. And she said she was really turned off “because it’s all about the organization’s needs and not about what members like me need.”

Nancy said she wished the organization had used this subject line: “Pls take 5 minutes to tell us what you need.”

Now THAT speaks a donor’s language, invites her in to participate and makes her feel valued. Right?

(Check out Nancy’s entire post about this email survey she received and her reaction to it.)

What should you ask donors in a survey?

Many of these ideas are from Jonathon Grapsas – MUST READ his advice on donor surveys! Just think of the thing you’d love to know about your wonderful donors:

Demographic data:

Ask how old they are by asking for their birth date. People are used to filling out birth date forms and not thinking about it. How old they are is KEY.
Where do they live?
What is their sex?
What is their occupation?
What is their income level (ask if you dare!)

Participation:

Have they volunteered?
Attended events? Which ones? What did they think of the events they attended?
Have they been involved in the past? If so how?

Why are they giving?

Or more graciously, you can ask them “how did they come to be a donor?”
Offer several reasons for them to check off, for easier analysis.
And then offer a blank space for them to share other reasons why they give.

Personal experiences related to your cause:

This is information that donors hold dear.
When they share it with you – it is really important and meaningful to them.
And you need to acknowledge this in some way in future communications to them.

How do they like their experience as a donor?

Do they like and/or read your hard-copy newsletter?
Do they like and/or read your email newsletter?
Do they have an opinion about your overall fundraising communications?
Do they feel like they know the impact of their gifts?

Bequest information:

Is your organization in their will? (absolutely don’t forget this question!)
Would they consider putting your organization in their will?
Would they like more information about bequest planning?

You’ve got the data, now what?

Now, plan your followup! Here’s how I’d approach it:

Major donors first –

Take your feedback data to your next major gifts team meeting. Discuss each major donor’s feedback with your team, and then strategically plan followup on an individual basis.

For example, you may find out something new and personal about one of your major donors. Or they have shared their dislike about something at your organization.

You MUST respond to this, correct? Sooner the better.

And when you do, you will be deepening her connection to your cause.

Get the FOLLOWUP right.

Your entire fundraising/development team needs to come together to work out what actions are required in order to respond appropriately.

For example:

Some donors may send in contributions with their feedback and need to be thanked.
Some may request information or help from the staff (like bequest info!).
Some may want to volunteer.
Others may want to change their communications preferences.

You and your team better be ready to respond, or your donors will be disappointed.

Here are Some More Resources on Donor Surveys:

Mary Cahalane shares how she used the survey as an effective engagement tool. Pamela’s Grantwriting Blog.

How to develop an effective donor survey with Jonathon Grapsas http://www.sofii.org/node/419.

Sample donor survey from Jonathon Grapsas on Sofi http://www.sofii.org/node/420.

Pamela Grow writes about her experiences surveying donors: http://www.pamelagrow.com/1682/could-you-borrow-the-smartest-thing-i-ever-did/.

Simone Joyaux writes in the Nonprofit Quarterly about the donor survey questions in Building Donor Loyalty: The Fundraiser’s Guide to Increasing Lifetime Value by Sargeant and Jay. (Great article and the book is a fundraising classic too!)

QUESTION TO YOU:

Are you Surveying Your Donors? What’s working for you?

Posts

5 Tips for Making Your Donors Love You

1. Ask donors to do something besides give money.

2. Use a clear call to action.

3. Don’t bore them!

4. Send them snail mail in addition to emails.

5. Find the stories.

BOTTOM LINE!

How to Ask Your Donors for Feedback So They’ll Love You Even More

Donor Surveys Can Tell You So Much

Try Surveying Your Donors

Don’t say “our organization needs your input.”