3 Rules for Thanking Nonprofit Donors that Should Never Be Broken

If you’re not retaining as many donors as you’d like, you’ve no one to blame but yourself. And I’m here to tell you why.

You’re Not Thanking Donors Properly.

I’m serious. How you handle donor acknowledgements is that important. Yet, sadly, most of you do an absolutely rotten job of showing your donors how much they mean to you.

Part of the problem is due to focusing on acquisition at the expense of retention. Most executive and development directors don’t even know their retention rates without looking them up.

DUDES! Your retention rates should be on the tips of your tongues! If you don’t know how you’re doing, how can you improve?

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Clairity Click-it: How Philanthropy is Changing; Social Media Measurement; Twitter for Nonprofits; Recurring Gifts; Lapsed Donors; Thank You

Here’s this week’s Clairity Click-it, leading off with a provocative piece about the state of the charitable sector and roaming through a mix of interesting and useful nonprofit marketing and fundraising tips — all designed to help you be the best you can be. Enjoy!

Changes in Philanthropy

Click-It: Philanthropy Reconsidered: The Paradigm Shift is a fascinating, thought-provoking article

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6 Traits of Relationship-Building Nonprofits + 4 Most Effective Ways to Retain Donors

Donor retention has continued to plummet every year for the past seven years.  It’s really, truly an awful problem. For some unknown reason, all that hard work you put into acquiring new donors is, seemingly, being wasted. Why?

I recently asked folks what ONE word they would use to sum up what is needed to transform donor loyalty. I received some interesting answers and thought I’d share them with you, along with my comments, here. First, let me remind you of my own Big Secret — the one principle I’ve found that makes the greatest difference to long-term, sustainable fundraising success:

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Clairity Click-it: Leadership, Text Donations, Mobile Optimization, Saying Thank You

Here are some important links for you as we head into prime fundraising season. Some will make you think. Others are hands-on and practical. Enjoy!

Leadership

Click-It: To Be a True Leader, Start by Listening. Check out this podcast where Allison Fine interviews Annie Murphy Paul, author of the upcoming Brilliant: The New Science of Smart, about the concept of “cognitive humility”—recognizing what you don’t know and having an eagerness to learn. Do you fear to let others know when you don’t know something? Learn how to embrace admitting this as a strength.

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The Big Secret – One Word – to Transform Donor Loyalty

In a recent post about building donor loyalty I promised to reveal my personal #1 SECRET the one principle that makes the greatest difference to long-term, sustainable fundraising success.

I’m going to share that principle here; then I’m going to turn this principle into a word – actually three variations of the same word – that you can use to transform the way you’ve been doing business.

Are you ready?

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Clairity Click-it: Best Fundraising Asks; Loyalty Metrics; Cultural Change; Maximize Time on Social Media; LinkedIn

Here”s your ‘Back to School’ Clairity Click-it. It’s a good time to learn a few new tricks — and there are plenty of them here for you to noodle on and sink your teeth into.  Let’s take a lo! Best Fundraising Asks Click-It: Your Favorite Fundraising Asks or Offers in Your Appeals? Kivi LeRoux Miller…

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6 Best Ways to Make Storytelling Part of Your Nonprofit Culture

How do you fill the brains of your staff, volunteers and donors with stories about your organization?
What better way to talk about accomplishments your donors make possible than through stories that portray them as heroes?

Everyone loves a good story. Everyone.

Which is why storytelling should be at the heart of your nonprofit’s strategic communications. I know ‘storytelling’ is a meme du jour. But that’s no reason to ignore it. Just because everyone else is doing it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t! There’s a reason these phrases become buzzworthy. In this case, because you want to serve up content that’s relevant, attractive and accessible to your constituencies. Storytelling fits the bill better than anything else.

In fact, of all the content you can create, storytelling is your ultimate weapon and the most powerful means of communicating your message.

Let’s look at this a different way.

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6 Types of Modern Jargon to Avoid in Your Fundraising Appeal

Who writes your annual appeal letter? If it’s your executive director or your board chair there’s a very good chance it’s filled with jargon. This (pardon my non-jargon language) sucks.

Jargon is the opposite of constituent-centered writing.

It’s not your writer’s fault. Most of us use jargon all the time without being aware we’re doing so. It’s the language we speak when we work together in groups. It’s a sort of short-hand. Acronyms. Labels. Terms of art. It pops up all over the place. But, again, when it comes to using it in your fundraising appeals it’s bad news. Yet it’s exceedingly difficult to avoid. Why?

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3 Secrets to Boost Fundraising Response: Help Donors Stretch Their Dollars + More

Your year-end appeal is less likely to fall on deaf ears than at any other time of year. Why? It’s the time of year when people are naturally inclined towards counting their blessings and feeling both grateful and giving. Some nonprofits raise as much as 40% or more of their annual giving total during the last few months of the year. And 33% of December gifts are made on December 31st. It would be a shame to miss out on this!

In essence, you’ve got people where you want them in November and December. This being the case, don’t you want to put your best foot forward?

Top Secret Stamp

I’m going to let you in on a little secret…

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