Happy donors

5 Strategies to Get and Keep More Donors for Your Nonprofit

Happy donorsPeople are unpredictable sometimes. They’re also predictable.

If you see someone yawn, you’re likely to yawn too.

If I tell you seats are limited, you’re likely to purchase a ticket now rather than later.

What if you knew getting people to donate to your nonprofit could be a predictable consequence of something you did?

It turns out you can encourage people to act in desirable ways, simply by applying a few lessons learned from neuroscience, psychology and behavioral economics. The truth is scientists have learned quite a lot over the past few decades. It’s up to us to put that learning to good use!

Alas, as Daniel Pink, author of To Sell Is Human, has noted: “There’s a gap between what science knows and what business does.” This applies to social sector businesses too!

That’s right. Pink explains the most successful for-profit businesses use what science knows to “convert leads to customers.”  The secret to more sales is knowing what the customer wants. Your non-profit might convert prospects into donors, and donors into repeat donors, using the very same principle.

The secret to closing more gifts is knowing what the donor wants.

Today I’d like to consider five specific strategies that will help you ethically take advantage of some of the psychology underlying human behavior. Once you understand these principles, you can begin to strategically apply them to your integrated development (marketing and fundraising) strategy. If you’re nervous about this, you can test what you did before against a new strategy informed by science. Break your mailing list randomly in half, send an “A” and a “B” version of your appeal, and see which performs best.

Ready for 5 science-informed strategies?

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Pile of different envelopes

And, the envelope please…

Colored envelopes

What makes your appeal stand out in a crowd?

When asked what my favorite carrier envelope is for a fundraising appeal, my standard answer is:

One that screams “open me!”

Of course, there are a variety of reasons an envelope may beg to be opened.

And an equal number of reasons why it may scream “dump me in the trash.”

Today I want to help you avoid the trash bin.

And, good news – it’s not that difficult.

You don’t need to be a direct mail expert.

You don’t need to run a zillion A/B tests.

You just need to exercise some good old-fashioned common sense.

First, think about what gets you to open an envelope.

I’d love for you to do some noodling on this now – before you read further.

In fact, if you want to do something really helpful, STOP reading this article, convene a few colleagues, and do a little group brainstorming. Ideally, get your answers up on a whiteboard or other group memory so you can piggyback off of each other’s ideas. [Go do this now; come back to this article later.]

If you’re not prepared to play along (I get it, you’re busy), here’s a sample I’m sharing from a brainstorm I did with another nonprofit:

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7 Breakthrough Annual Fundraising Appeal Strategies

 

Three San Francisco Hearts. Launch. Heartstrings. Rise. Benefit for S.F. General Hospital Foundation.It’s back-to-school and prime fundraising season.

In fact, the end of the year will be here before you know it!

Working on your fall campaign and year-end appeal?

Wish you had a way to prioritize the stuff that really matters?

Around this time of year, it’s common for me to hear one or more of the following — not just from newbies to the profession, but also from seasoned pros:

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ducks in a row, swimming

5 More Top Strategies to Prepare for Fall Fundraising

ducks in a row, swimmingIn Part 1 of this two-part series of “Top 10 Strategies to Prepare for Fall Fundraising” we covered.

  1. Clean up Data
  2. Purge Mailing Lists
  3. Review Staff, Vendors and Freelancers
  4. Set Priority Objectives Based on Last Year’s Results
  5. Solidify a Multi-Channel Marketing Campaign

Today we’ll look at:

  1. Send Impact Reports to Set the Stage
  2. Stock Up on Compelling, Relevant Stories and Photos
  3. Connect with Major and Mid-Level Donors
  4. Prioritize Contacts with Mid-Level and Other Promising Supporters
  5. Plan Ahead to Welcome Donors to The Flock

Ready to get all your ducks in a row?

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Ducks in a row

Top 5 Strategies to Prepare for Fall Fundraising NOW

Ducks in a rowYou’ve got one month before fall fundraising season begins in earnest.

What will you do with it?

I’VE GOT 10 TOP STRATEGIES TO HELP YOU GET ALL YOUR DUCKS IN A ROW!

We’ll start with the first five today.

  1. Clean up Data
  2. Purge Mailing Lists
  3. Review Staff, Vendors and Freelancers
  4. Set Priority Objectives Based on Last Year’s Results
  5. Solidify a Multi-Channel Marketing Campaign

Next week we’ll look at:

  1. Send Impact Reports to Set the Stage
  2. Stock Up on Compelling, Relevant Stories and Photos
  3. Connect with Major and Mid-Level Donors
  4. Prioritize Contacts with Mid-Level and Other Promising Supporters
  5. Plan Ahead to Welcome Donors to The Flock

Ready?

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Three San Francisco Hearts. Polaroid Heart. Heartwave. Broad Stripes and Bright-Stars. Benefit for San Francisco General Hospital Foundation.

Why Smart Nonprofits Focus on Growing Monthly Giving

Three San Francisco Hearts. Polaroid Heart. Heartwave. Broad Stripes and Bright-Stars. Benefit for San Francisco General Hospital Foundation.For at least the past seven years I’ve been actively encouraging nonprofits of all stripes to prioritize beginning or ramping up their monthly giving program.

Not a lot of nonprofits were really leaning into this then. But, as much sense as it made then, it makes even more sense now.

So, I’m going to ask you: How are you doing with this?

Here’s why I’m asking.

If there’s anything the pandemic years have taught us,not to mention recent climate-related disasters, you need a dependable source of income in order:

  • To be able to sustain programming for problems that never go away.
  • To be able to weather current storms, anticipated and unanticipated.
  • To be able to reliably plan for the future.

It turns out there’s nothing as dependable as monthly donors.

In fact, donors who give to you recurrently sustain you so well a monthly giving strategy is often called a sustainer program.

Do you deserve a group of people who will sustain you through thick and thin?

Of course you do!

But you don’t always get what you deserve – unless you make it happen.

How to Make Monthly Giving Happen

As someone poetic so eloquently put it:

“Nothing will work unless you do.”

— Maya Angelou

Let’s get down to work!

There are four steps to a successful monthly giving work plan:

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License Plate: NOT GR8

5 Cardinal Sins for Nonprofit Fundraising Renewal Appeals

License Plate: NOT GR8

In my last article I talked about the importance of making a good first impression with potential donors.

It’s extremely important to have a strategy in place, just as if you were going on a first date. Those who plan ahead do well. Those who don’t? Not so much.

Both dating, and donor wooing, are a delicate dance.

But, let’s say you did a good job. Your donor prospect made a gift!

Now what?

If you like them (of course you do!), and want a second date (of course!), you’ve got to make a good second impression. And third, fourth and fifth impression. The value of a first-time donor (which often costs as much as $1.25 to generate $1.00) is not realized in that initial gift. Sustainable fundraising is all about donor lifetime value.

So, after the first gift, you definitely want a plan in place to thank and cultivate this donor throughout the year. Some communications will have an ask included, but most will be designed to build your donor’s interest, engagement and loyalty. Once the relationship is sufficiently built, it’s time to seek that second gift.

Let’s talk about the renewal appeal, and why so many of them are just gosh-darn awful.

Why Do Fundraisers Who Should Know Better Keep Committing These Sins?

Maybe it’s because of the “monkey see, monkey do” nature of human beings. We see someone else do something and assume it’s good practice. Especially when they’re a household name, just bigger than us, or someone we, another staff member or board representative hold in high regard.

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