Years ago I happened on a Forbes article describing 5 Ways to Make a Killer First Impression. LIke a bolt of lightning, it struck me: It’s not only prospective employers or on matches who form an instant opinion of you! It’s also true for prospective philanthropic supporters. You should be dating your donors! Were you…
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Giving is an emotional experience. It deserves an emotional response.
Be human.
Ever notice how sometimes when we put on our work hats we cease to be human? How we somehow morph into little robotic “professionals” and become enamored of jargon?
“Lybnts.” “Sybnts.” “Recaptures.”
Not that those things aren’t important. You need goals and objectives.
And given the dreadful state of donor retention in the U.S. today (and in the U.K and Canada as well), it’s vital you be able to measure how you’re doing. Because growth in giving is a factor not just of how many new donors and dollars you acquire, but also of how many donors and dollars you lose.
If you lose as many current donors as you gain new ones, you’re getting nowhere. Fast.
Slow down.
Think about what you’re doing and why. You may need to change your frame of mind.
When you acquire a new donor, is it for that one-time transaction? If so, that’s not a very thoughtful strategy, because it costs more money than you make to acquire new donors. In fact, you likely won’t make back your investment for 18 months or so. You won’t make it back at all if you don’t renew that donor.
Nonprofits, sadly, have been on a non-stop treadmill. Donors in. Donors out. Donors in. Donors out. So… something about just measuring this stuff isn’t really working.
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Really, donors definitely want to rock and roll with you. It brings them joy and meaning!
Yet, I’m going to go out on a limb and say it’s doubtful you’re rocking along with your donors unless you’re making robust use of your donor database for this purpose.
In other words, you must make donor engagement and retention a TOP priority.
Retention lives or dies in how effectively, or not, you use your database to support your relationship-building, loyalty-driving efforts.
If you think of your database as a largely undifferentiated mailing list, you’re not going to realize your potential to:
Really, I just can’t bear to think of you not maximizing return on your investment.
And that won’t happen unless you focus on donor lifetime value.
And lifetime value will be very, very small — unless you retain and upgrade donors over time.
In Part 1 we looked at establishing event goals and objectives; then determining if an event was the most efficient and effective way to achieve desired outcomes. In Part 2 we reviewed 4 top event planning tips. In this last article of a three-part series on event planning we’ll look specifically at how to make the event “stick” emotionally.
1. Overall, we’ve recognized most events are less about actual monetary return on investment (ROI) than they are about return on engagement (ROE). In other words, if you’re doing an event purely to raise money there are other more cost-effective fundraising strategies.
2. However, events done right are an excellent awareness-raising, branding and donor cultivation tool. You just have to go into events fully cognizant of what success will look like, both from your organization’s and your donor’s perspectives. Only armed with this understanding can you create events that will be worth your while.
3. Today we look at ways to make events – once you’ve decided to hold them – fulfill both your and your donors’ dreams. This is where you deliver on becoming unforgettable — in a truly great way — so the next time you reach out you are warmly embraced. In other words, this is the first step to getting event attendees to stick with you over time.
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In my last article (Part 1 of a three-part event planning series) I offered a compendium of common sense event planning advice. It centered on the wisdom offered to Alice by the Cheshire Cat when she asked which road she should take:
“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”
“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.
“I don’t much care where–” said Alice.
“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat.— Alice in Wonderland
When it comes to special events, your goal is important.
Once you settle on a direction, then you’re able to pick the best road to take you there.
Hopefully you read the previous article, determined an event was your best strategic option to reach your primary end goal, and now you’re ready to get to work!
This means your invitation to the event should incorporate the following:
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Let’s begin with the Big Kahuna piece of advice: Ask yourself WHY you want to do this event.
Were you to bring your event proposal to a wise shaman or mentor, this is the question they would ask you first – well before asking what theme or format you have in mind or what color scheme you want to use!
And yet this is the one question I find nonprofits failing to ask. Does anyone in leadership on your staff or board think either of these things?
Events are neither inevitable nor primary.
Events are merely a means to an end.
And since they are extremely resource-intensive, one thing is critical — and too many nonprofits skip right over this step. Please, don’t let that be you!
Think long and hard before embarking on a strategy that could potentially derail other more lucrative and cost-effective approaches.
Events have their place, to be sure; it’s up to you to put them in their place. You must take charge, lest your event(s) take charge of you!
You don’t buy a drill because you need a drill. More likely, you need to create a hole. And there’s something particular you want to fill that hole with, right? Maybe the drill will give you that perfect hole or, perhaps, there’s another more effective tool. It depends on the size and purpose of your desired hole. The same is true with nonprofit special events.
No matter what one or more board members or other leaders think would be swell. No, you hold an event for a specific purpose. For example, to:
DetailsRadiance is meant-to-be. Radiance means: To have the light within us lit To send out light To reflect back light To bounce light back and forth, in simultaneous service to ourselves and others. What if you were to view your work as allowing your own and others’ meant-to-be radiance to come forth and shine? I’m…
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In Part 1 I laid out why philanthropy inspires, and fundraising tires.
Fundraising must be done, of course, but there’s something about how it’s too often practiced that turns too many people off.
It’s the “fund” part of the word. This makes people think it’s all about money, when really it’s all about valued outcomes.
These valued outcomes are shared by many who care about the cause.
All these folks have a collective stake in the love and mission-focused organization’s survival.
Because all of them are dedicated to making the world, or some small corner of it, a better place.
When fundraising is delegated to the development committee, or the development director, it disenfranchises a huge segment of folks who care about sustaining the cause — both internally and externally.
Similarly, when donors are competed over, donors are disenfranchised. This may take the form of non-cooperation or even outright war between those who should be facilitating philanthropy.
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Philanthropy is a mindset. An embracing culture. A noble value.
Fundraising is a means towards that end. Servant to philanthropy.
Philanthropy, not fundraising.
This has been the tagline for my business and blog since I began Clairification in 2011. It grew naturally out of my experiences working as a frontline development director for 30 years. I’ve always insisted that no single person could possibly receive credit for a donation. “Donors don’t give because of development staff,” I’d tell program staff. “They give because of the great work you do!”
Sustainable fundraising takes a village.
In fact, in my practice I went so far as to develop a point system for major gifts moves management (you can learn about it here) that ascribed many more points for a donor meeting with a program director than one with a development staffer. I wanted to show program staff how much they counted!
Everyone counts.
This is exactly the premise of the groudbreaking report commissioned in 2016 by the Evelyn & Walter Haas, Jr. Fund, “Beyond Fundraising: What Does it Mean to Build a Culture of Philanthropy?.” It was one of three reports centering on confronting chronic fundraising challenges, and showcased the paramount importance of building an organization-wide philanthropy culture as a paradigm for the 21st century. When the report came out, here’s what I said:
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Do you wish you had a dime for every time a nonprofit board or staff member told you “We’re the best kept secret in town; if people knew what we do, they’d give to support us.”
Nonprofits tell me this all the time! If I had all those dimes, I could make a nice contribution to your cause. And I would, if…
You see, merely “building awareness” will not ipso facto raise more money for your cause.
Just because I care about something, and somehow learn you are involved in doing something about that thing, doesn’t mean I’m going to support you financially.
Why should I? There are a lot of good causes out there, and making a decision to invest in you is something I need to feel emotionally and then act on.
I’m busy. I’m overloaded with information. And inertia is just too powerful a force.
You’ve got to do better than just hope I’ll stumble upon your website, see your social media post, hear about you on the news, or even open your direct email if you want me to really sit up, pay attention, and actively engage.
Especially if you want me to engage as a philanthropist.
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