STOP Leaving So Much Money on Your Table

You may not think you have a “money left on the table” problem.

But, bear with me.

Because, in my experience, many, many nonprofits – perhaps most of them – have tables in waiting areas literally groaning under the weight of piles and piles and piles of unclaimed, unused money.

• You’ve done most of the work to find this money.
• You’ve even got donors to mentally open their wallets.
• But then you’ve left the scene before scooping that money up and getting it off the waiting room table.

Why Does This Happen?

Generally, the problem traces back to lack of a holistic strategy to get from point A to point B to point C. And much of the fault lies with allocating too much time and attention to points A and B, while virtually ignoring point C.

Allow me to clarify.

Imagine POINT A is donor identification and segmentation. You make a list of donors with the potential to make what is a major gift for your organization. You then determine linkages, interest, and ability and use some combination of wealth screening, in-person donor ratings (who knows who?), internet research, qualification, and judgment to narrow the list down to those with the greatest, realistic growth potential.

Your next step, POINT B, is developing an individualized cultivation plan for each donor on your list. This is often known as “moves management.” The problem is there’s a tendency to get stuck on the “move” or “touch” as the end goal. In other words, you invite someone to a Gala, they attend, and now you expect the gift to miraculously be made. And, you may not have even had a specific gift amount in mind – let alone communicated it to the donor.

Which brings us to POINT C, determining what you actually want your identified donor prospect to do. Specifically. Because ‘moving’ (attendance at a Gala, coffee, tour, etc.) absent ‘action’ (a deeper dive step to learn more; a specific proposal; an ask) won’t pay your bills.

Do You Have a ‘Money Left on the Table’ Problem?

Let me share an example: You invite Jenna Jennerous to your Gala. She’s one of your identified priority major gift prospects, but she’s never come to a Gala. She decides to attend! Beforehand, you assign a board member, Connie Curious, to welcome her and perhaps even sit at her table. On the way out, Connie tells you she had a lovely conversation and Jenna seems interested in making a gift. Essentially, Jenna has mentally taken out her wallet and is waiting for you to let her know, specifically, how you’d love for her to get more involved.

What you do next to take the offer of money off the table is critical.

Without a plan for next steps following a planned move – even one you deem ‘successful’ (e.g., gala attendance) – you’re just going to waste all the time and effort that went into your cultivation thus far. And that’s more than a shame. In my opinion, it’s fundraising malpractice.

Because, without a clearly articulated goal, you’re missing the point; Point C, to be exact.

Don’t Confuse Busy with Productive

You may be logging hundreds of ‘moves’ and ‘touches’ into your spreadsheets and database, but if they aren’t oriented towards a specific goal – one you monitor and measure yourself against – it’s just a lot of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

Always ask yourself, with any planned move or touch, “How does this move us closer to a major gift?” Answering this question will prompt you to ask the necessary follow-up questions, such as:

• If Jenna attends, how will we learn more about her background, interests and values?

• Once we learn more, what will we do with this information?

• After the event, what sequence of individually tailored steps will we take to deepen her interest and engagement?

• How will we track and manage follow-up so it is consistent, targeted and meaningful?

• When will we know we’re ready to ask for a gift?

• What type of gift are we aiming for (e.g., size, purpose, annual, multi-year, etc.)?

Don’t Minimize the Impact of Donor Retention

Do you have a written donor love and loyalty plan you prioritize? The difference in donor lifetime value between an organization with a 40% retention rate and 50% retention rate can be massive. If both organizations had a database of 5,000 donors with an average gift of $200, the organization with a 50% retention rate would raise almost $500,000 more than their counterpart at 40% from just those retained donors.

Could you, too, be leaving half a million dollars on the table by neglecting to assiduously monitor your donor retention rate? If you’re losing donors hand-over-fist, you’re not working effectively. You’re simply on a treadmill – donors in, donors out.

Stop it!  Revise your goals.

Dr. Adrian Sargeant shows us how just a 10% increase in retention can double the lifetime value of your donor base. Strive for this 10% this coming year.

Other savvy ways to increase retention and donor lifetime value include:

• Move more mid-level givers to higher levels of giving.

• Encourage donors to give monthly in order to upgrade them.

• Use peer-to-peer fundraising to upgrade the donor’s value.

• Promote bequests.

What Keeps Donors Loyal

In 2011, the DonorVoice collaborated with around 250 nonprofits to find out what they had done well to keep about 1,200 donors loyal for many years. A survey was sent to those loyal donors with a list of 32 things that nonprofits do well for their donors. The survey asked recipients to rank items that mattered the most to them and by order of importance. Here are the top seven:

1. Donor perceives your organization to be effective in trying to achieve its mission

2. Donor knows what to expect from your organization with each interaction

3. Donor receives a timely thank you

4. Donor receives opportunities to make their views known

5. Donor is given the feeling that they are part of an important cause

6. Donor feels their involvement is appreciated

7. Donor receives information showing who is being helped.

When it comes to retention, let this list be your north star.

Final Thoughts

At the end of the day, donors will commit and stick with you if you meet their needs. If you don’t, they’ll leave – leaving the money that could have gone to your mission sitting on the table.

It’s as simple as that. Simple, yet it requires a plan and a commitment to work that plan.

The easiest way I’ve found to think about this is to frame it as building a “Donor Happiness Delivery System.” While businesses focus on “customer experience” you must focus on “donor experience,” assuring it becomes a transformative, rather than a transactional, one.

If  you commit, this time next year you’ll be able to tell us how many more donors you retained, and how many of them increased their gifts. It will happen!

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