Remember, behind all your work there are people. It’s your job to learn about them. One of your best tools is curiosity. One study published in Harvard Business Review, found curiosity builds trust and improves relationships in the workplace. It also builds trust between you and donors. Jon Simons, Executive V.P. of DBD Group, suggests curiosity is…
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When the world feels wildly out of whack, it’s time to figure out how to bring things back into some semblance of balance.
Today I share a proven 1-2-3 formula for nonprofit fundraising success — even when the ground underneath feels shaky.
This is a time when keeping one’s balance is quite a challenge. But, if you use this formula, you can steady yourself, right your organizational ship, and bring meaning, purpose and joy to others in your community who share your values.
What I’m about to share is obvious. I know you know it. But… do you do it?
Just in case you need a little reminder.
I’m talking about balancing self-love with donor-love with mission-love.
You’re no doubt familiar with the adage “You can’t help others unless you first take care of yourself.”
This is a truism you should carry with you throughout your life, and not just when the oxygen masks come down on an airplane. It’s never been truer than in the times in which we’re currently living, when there are new things about which to worry seemingly daily.
How do you lead the way forward, helping yourself and others navigate through the tough times?
I’d like to suggest you heed this 3-Step Formula to nonprofit fundraising success.
DetailsIn a world filled with urgent heads and heart-wrenching crises, it’s easy for fundraisers to wonder if their cause stands a chance of breaking through the noise. Especially when they’re not rescuing animals, feeding hungry people, or fighting the types of injustices leading the news cycle. But relevance isn’t reserved for emergencies. THINK. With the…
DetailsThe results are in, and the news is generally bleak. The 2024 Fundraising Effectiveness Project Report* shows downward trends in numbers of donors (down 4.5%), and retention (down 2.6%). First-time donor retention is at its lowest-ever recorded rate. Less than one in five new donors (acquired in 2023) gave again. New donors accounted for 40%…
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13 happens to be my lucky number. I want it to be lucky for you too.
Today, I’m going to reveal to you how you can make this happen.
A survey of wills reported on by the Chronicle of Philanthropy revealed the average bequest by everyday donors is $78,630. The survey is a few years old, but as a working average this will suffice. Some people will leave less; some people will leave more.
The point revealed by this survey is you only need about 13 donors (give or take a few) making a provision for your organization in their will to reap $1+ million.
If a major gift for your organization is $1000 (or even 5000 or 10,000), I imagine this sounds off the charts to you. Guess what?
Legacy giving is off the charts!
In fact, bequest marketing produces the highest ROI (return on investment) of any fundraising activity. And a highlight of the 2023 Giving USA Report is that charitable bequests, at $43 billion, were up 4.8% over the previous year and are the only source that exceeded the rate of inflation. Bequests make up a sizeable piece of the contributed income pie, representing around 8-10% of total giving over the last 40 years.
The first step to making this happen for your organization is to encourage bequests.
Actively.
If you don’t actively encourage charitable bequests, people are unlikely to make them.
Why? There are three primary reasons:
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How will you connect with donors in a manner that deepens their connection with you? How will you match their passions and values to the passions and values you enact?
You can’t — unless you explicitly ask donors for their feedback.
You do this with friends, family, co-workers, and neighbors, don’t you? “What do you think?” “Which color looks better?” “Paper or plastic?” “Italian or Thai?”
Guessing about what floats your donor’s boat is as bad as guessing whether your family prefers Italian or Thai food for dinner. It’s a recipe for disaster. Or at least for satisfying exactly no one.
There’s a better way.
I get lots of questions about what to include in donor surveys. But that’s the wrong place to begin.
You can’t bring top value to your donor survey unless you’re specific about what value you want to receive and deliver. The great thing about donor surveys is they’re a genuine “twofer.”
This is, after all, at the heart of all successful fundraising and marketing. The donor gives something of value (usually time and/or money) and you return something of value (usually an intangible “feel good;” a sense of meaning, purpose and connection). Donors are focused on value; you need to focus there too. But it’s tricky to do this unles you endeavor to get inside your donor’s head and find out how their values match those your organization enacts.
If you’ve had “do a survey” on your back burner for a while, now’s the time to move it to the forefront and give it a closer and more purposeful look. Ask the “Why are we doing this?” question. What pieces of your particular donor puzzle are you looking to uncover? Begin with asking: How will I know this survey was successful?
DetailsUse of Donor Advised Funds (DAFs) as a way for individuals to make charitable contributions continues to rise and grants from DAFs are becoming a growing source of income for charities of all shapes and sizes. An ever-broader group of donors are embracing them to approach philanthropy in the thoughtful, strategic way once reserved only…
DetailsOften, so-called best practices are merely myths, beliefs or habits. “That’s how we’ve always done it” is not a reason to continue a practice that’s not evidence-based. In the Middle Ages, bloodletting was the go-to medical cure. Sometimes people got better, but that may have been in spite of the strategy rather than a causal…
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Shifting politics are creating economic uncertainty for all, and it’s especially scary for U.S. nonprofits who, on average, receive about a third of their total funding from Federal grants. This means nonprofits today need to shift emphasis (and budget) toward individual donor engagement strategies. Giving USA reports 75% of all giving (lifetime + bequests) came from individuals last year.
Major individual donors are, by far, the largest slice of today’s philanthropy pie.
If I had to tell you what you need to do to succeed with major gift fundraising in one sentence it would be this:
Identify major donor prospects… qualify them so you know they want to build a deeper relationship with you… cultivate them… visit with them… listen to them… reflect back to them what you heard… ask them for something specific that resonates with their passions… steward their gift and communicate in an ongoing way to make them feel like the hero they are!
Whew – that was a mouthful!
But don’t worry. It’s definitely not rocket science. A shorter way to say this is:
Meet with donors. Listen to donors. Ask donors. Thank donors.
See — it’s simple!
It’s just good old hard work. Satisfying and rewarding work. And it’s a type of work anyone can learn to do.
If you want to learn, please sign up for an upcoming cohort of the Certification Course for Major Gift Fundraisers. [NOTE: If you sign up within one month before it begins, you’ll get a nice discount.] It may be the most important investment you make all year. Just one major gift will more than cover the cost].
Over my 40 years in fundraising, 30 of them working in the trenches as a director of development for organizations with budgets ranging from $1 – $40 million, I have asked for a lot of major gifts. I know what works, and what doesn’t work. Today I want to give you:
(1) some of my best words of wisdom, and also
(2) answers to some of the questions folks frequently ask me .
I hope these tips will help you tweak your mindset and invigorate your systems so you can be more successful fundraising in the coming year!
DetailsIt’s Tax Day – April 15th — in the U.S. No fun. Nobody likes paying taxes. Nobody likes thinking about paying taxes. Bummer. A subject most folks avoid like the plague. And that’s the point. Talking about taxes is mostly bad news. It puts folks in a sour mood. It makes them want to move…
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