There are two reasons you should do a donor survey.
Donor surveys offer you a “twofer.” One is for you (useful information); the other is for your donor (a way to usefully participate other than giving money).
Let’s begin with the latter reason.
It’s boring them to tears.
Actually, let me rephrase. Not to tears. That would mean they’re feeling an emotional connection. Sadly, they’re not.
You’re not making the impact you need to make to keep your donors, let alone get them to give more the next time you ask.
Why?
Let me tell you what I learned from Penelope Burk, Donor-Centered Fundraising author, about 15 years ago. It fundamentally changed the way I communicate with donors.
A routine is a sequence of actions regularly followed; a fixed program. Too often, I find that nonprofits engage in social media along of a catch-as-catch-can program. Nothing fixed about it. To maximize social media productivity your practices must become habitual. And, of course, your habits must be good ones if you’re to be…
Are you starting to worry about whether you’ll raise enough money this year to meet your goals? Are you concerned because last year’s appeal didn’t raise as much as you had hoped? Are you fresh out of ideas for what to put into an appeal to generate the giving response you need to sustain vital programs? Fear not! Help is on the way! Just use this 16-point checklist before you send anything to your printer.
Happy Friday the 13th! It’s my lucky day – both I and my son were born on Friday the 13th – so I feel only good things can happen today. Speaking of which, I’ve got some lovely “feel good” goodies for you today. Since “Heart Day” is tomorrow, let’s start with philanthropy – meaning “love of humankind.” Then I’ve got some fun social media and creative stuff to help you really stick out in the minds of your constituents.
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.
Are you starting to worry about whether you’ll raise enough money this year to meet your goals?
Are you concerned because last year’s appeal didn’t raise as much as you had hoped?
Are you fresh out of ideas for what to put into an appeal to generate the giving response you need to sustain vital programs?
Fear not! Help is on the way! Just use this 16-point checklist before you send anything to your printer.
In my last post of this two-part series, “You’re Not Alone: What to Do When You Start to Fail at Fundraising,” I discussed what can happen to organizations when leadership begins to lose its way. This can occur for any number of reasons. Why Leadership Loses it’s Way FOUNDER LEAVES with no succession plan in…
This is my first post-broken arm Clairity Click-it – especially hand picked (and I mean that quite literally!) for you. I’m still in a sling for at least four more weeks; maybe more. I leave you to enjoy the fruits of my perusing and one-armed pecking.
The Future of Nonprofit Marketing
This is a special social media edition of the Clairity Click-it, since so many folks tell me they’re not doing as effective a job as they wish they were. Help is at hand! Take a look at these practical, and sometimes thought provoking, tips from some of my favorite nonprofit and for profit marketing gurus.
If you’re not using social media to get and retain more donors, be afraid. Be very afraid.
Social media has ceased to be a nice little “toy.” An “add on thing.” It’s the thing. If you’re not hanging out where the majority of your constituents are getting their information, you may as well fold up your tent and go home. David Letterman didn’t “do social media.” ( See “Do you use the Twitter device?” ). He’s going home.
Letterman may be ready to go off into the sunset. But you shouldn’t be. You can learn new tricks!
What’s a blog, really? A blog is just a super-charged, dynamic website that will bring you many more visitors – and a lot more engagement — than your website does now. Doesn’t that sound like a tool that might help your fundraising?
Did you know that 70% of visitors to the average website never visit again? Done well, a blog drives traffic to you naturally… brings folks back for more… and even gets folks to share stuff you post on your blog with their own networks. It’s a hugely powerful tool for finding and engaging with people – your donors and potential supporters – and I’m not the only one who thinks so.
Of all the killer social engagement tools out there, none beats the blog. Still… some of you are dubious. Or your leaders are dubious. So if one of these 10 excuses is stopping you, read on to see how to overcome them.
Bet you thought social media sucks for fundraising. Au contraire.
It can help you raise money big time – but only if you engage with purpose. Just like anything else, social media won’t help you meet your goals unless you know where you’re going with it. Out of context, social media exchanges are just transactions.
Ask yourself this question: What am I going to do to make this exchange mean something, now and in the future?
Adopt an integrated inbound marketing and fundraising strategy.
If you don’t know what that means, you’re in trouble. Read on.
If you do know, are you really doing it?
It’s time to stop pussy footing around this.
Here’s why:
(1) Nonprofit marketing and fundraising have changed more in the past five years than the preceding 50. I’m not kidding! The digital revolution ended business as usual.
(2) Fundraising and marketing must be seamlessly integrated. They cannot be separate silos any longer.
Here are some great posts, plus a bit of personal advice, to set you up for success in the coming year. It’s going to be a busy one, so may as well figure out what you should – and should not – be doing. It will make your life a lot easier and more fulfilling. Let’s get right to it!
Have you made your new year’s resolutions and picked at least one thing you’ll do differently or better in 2014? Here are some great posts to set yourself up for success in the coming year.
TOP 5 Clairification articles from 2013: In case you missed any of these, here are the five articles that generated the most interest and readers over the past 12 months. Enjoy!
In a year-end frenzy? While putting final touches on everything, consider one last thing to make your supporters – all of them – happy. What can you do? And set yourself up for success next year too. Pick one thing you’ll do differently or better. Why the heck not? To your success!
When should you take risks with fundraising? When you’re ready. Here’s what I mean:
What’s on your playlist for 2014? The rewarding gold standards like prospecting, asking and stewarding? Or riskier new events? Special campaigns? Extra social media? You’re to be congratulated if you’ve got innovative ideas. It shows you haven’t lost your creative spark, and you’ve got gusto and passion for what you do. Bravo! But… wait… hold on a minute…
Before you get lost in the creative process,
In the children’s game nobody wants to be left holding the hot potato. Does that sound like the way social media is ‘played’ at your nonprofit? Is anyone in charge? Who sets goals? Who decides what to do/not do? Who evaluates success? Where does the buck stop?
Too many organizations still have not taken charge of their digital strategy. It’s beyond time for this to happen, as I explain in
If any of the following apply to you, your nonprofit is not ready for the 21st century. The cure? Read Monday’s post to get serious and avoid being pranked — or spanked! — for failing to embrace the fact that we’re all social businesses now. Truly, it’s time to get serious (just not today; for now, have a little fun, a super good week-end and… get determined after April 1st). Let’s get in the spirit!
Do you:
In Part I: Share, Part II: Shareable and Part III: Talk of this S.S.S.T. Series we covered the importance of sharing your blog, making it shareable by others and getting folks to talk about you with their online networks. But there’s one important component of your super-sonic blog promotion strategy that we’ve missed. Here it is:
SEARCH
Let’s begin with why it’s important to talk about search. Because you want more readers for your blog, right? Well, the people who are your friends, plus the people who are their friends, are not all the people in the world. They’re not even all the people who may be interested in what you do! Search is how most people find you. Search is the most common online activity after email, and that fact cuts across generations.
R.C.A. is about getting folks walking; not just talking. It’s about good content and conversation that leads to your desired action. It refers to Relatable, Part I, Conversational, Part II, and Actionable. You remember this acronym by thinking about an RCA Victrola – that old-fashioned phonograph contraption that helped transport your grandparents and great-grandparents — and fire their imaginations — through the music that inspired them.
You want to transport your constituents with inspiring values and stories in the same way. The reason you want to transport them? So their inspiration will lead to engagement — action that helps to further your mission. So, today that’s what we’re going to talk about! Ready for action?
I’m a huge blog booster for nonprofits. So much so that tomorrow I’m offering a free webinar on the topic with the folks at Good Done Great. I’ll also be posting a series of articles on this topic in the coming week. If you don’t have a blog yet, you should get one. Pronto! Yup, I think they’re that important.
Here is an overview of what I’ll be covering in tomorrow’s webinar, plus I’ll have a special bonus offer for webinar participants. If you can’t make it, you’ll find a few actionable tips in this article. Plus you’ll find more actionable tips all week. I truly want you to do this, and I don’t want it to kill you. So I’m going to give you some easy steps you can take to make your blog (1) doable, and (2) a super investment of your time and resources. I’m betting that pretty soon you’ll wonder what you ever did without it!
It’s time for a fresh look. A clairifying look, if you will.
Many of you have questions about social media, so let’s start by blowing out a few cobwebs and clearing our heads.
Ready?
Because if you think any of these things (below), you’re making a mistake in today’s zeitgeist.
There’s been a digital revolution, and the way people learn about you and communicate with you has changed. Dramatically.
If you don’t know it, they do.
You can either get inside their heads, or stay inside your own.
Are you confused by all of the “must have” on marketing options? It’s a virtual on storm of choices out there, raining tweets and posts and pes and pins and stumbles. Weathering the storm requires forethought. But armed with the proper rain gear – and these 5 little-known facts — you can happily create a…
What we’ve been exposed to whets our appetite, but it’s not food You lack relevant content. You’re just broadcasting something/anything…. without a plan or editorial calendar… without researching your constituents’ needs or desires… waiting until the last minute… You’re focusing on the medium; not the message. Through whatever broadcast medium we choose to engage, the…
Here’s what folks most enjoyed reading over the last month (plus one special “extra” tidbit): • S’WOT’s Up? The Future, That’s What: Your Crystal Ball for Business Success — How to identify trends, anticipate change and be open to opportunities that will encourage success. This post generated an unprecedented amount of very productive discussion on…
Yesterday I had the opportunity to present a webinar about nonprofit blogging. It was a privilege to connect with 163 registrants on, and to take some time as a community to explore why nonprofits should blog, how we can (1) get started; (2) keep it up, and (3) use our blogs as a hub for…
Okay, so you’re small. That doesn’t mean you have to think and act small. When it comes to social media you have to go big. Because it’s what being social is all about. If you only do a little bit, well… you’re not really being social, are you? Even worse, what if you never respond…
One thing Moms know is that children usually know when adults are only half-listening. Just as kids can feel frustrated, unheard, and at times even und when this happens, so can our constituents feel ignored and unsatisfied when we merely broadcast information without asking for or responding to feedback.. Listening to constituents with our full…
has been likened to the shop window of the 21st century when it comes to brand awareness. Just as consumers increasingly research their purchases on to obtain the best deals, so too do prospective donors increasingly research nonprofits on. So how we manage our social networking presence is of prime importance if we want…
I was recently asked what I thought of . Is it here to stay? Truthfully, I don’t know. I just started. I do know it’s the fastest growing social medium right now, and it’s easy, it’s popular, it’s visual and it’s pretty powerful. It resonates with the “scrapboing” crowd (i.e., lots of women between the…
Think your website is ‘social’ because you’ve put a and button up there? Think again. We’re introduced to a profound change in the way we’ve been thinking of websites in Social Media Today’s recent post: What Needs to Be on Your Digital Agenda in 2012? We’re told we must have ‘social websites.’ Sure,…
What makes us think a perfect stranger, who’s never given to our organization before, will choose to do so? It’s highly counter intuitive.
I recently wrote about the new rules of fundraising being “human first, digital fast.” It’s a lot to wrap one’s brain around. Because, alas, having digital tools doesn’ make fundraising easier. It makes it challenging. And it requires strategic thought and planning. Please, don’t shoot the . It’s the world we’re living…
Eight years ago, I wrote an article asking, “Why Aren’t You Doing More On Fundraising?” It felt urgent at the time. Loing back, it was downright gentle. Today, the question isn’t whether your nonprofit should be fundraising on. It’s whether you’re doing it well enough — and fast enough — to keep up with how…
Whatever side of the political spectrum you’re on, the photos below are triggering.
Note: I can’t show you the photos because they’re copyrighted, but if you click on the link you’ll likely recognize at least some of them.
Why am I sharing photos I can’t even show you?
I want to make an important point.
One I feel too few nonprofits give much thought to.
Could you be among them?
If so, I don’t fault you. No one teaches us these things.
Most of us didn’t go to journalism school.
But, let’s face it, journalists really do know how to grab attention!
You want to grab attention with this year’s fundraising appeal, right?
Okay then.
I’m going to share a simple tip that will boost your fundraising returns this year by leaps and bounds.
Again, it’s super simple.
But you’ve got to start now. Or maybe even yesterday.
Are you ready?
If you have board members who aren’t giving a monetary gift… If you have board members who are just seeing what they can “get away with” … If you have board members who could definitely make a larger gift… If you’ve got board members telling you their service is their gift… You’ve got a problem.…
I wish I had a dime for every time a nonprofit board or staff member told me
“We’re the best kept secret in town; if people knew what we do, they’d give to support us.”
Sound familiar?
If I had all those dimes, I could make a nice contribution to your cause.
But I likely wouldn’t choose to do so, unless you intentionally made it clear the following were important to you:
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 act on.
I’m busy.
I’m overloaded with information.
Inertia is just too powerful a force.
Want to do something to shake me awake?
Nonprofits put enormous time and care into donor communications. Yet too often, appeals, es, newsletters, websites, and event promotions fail to generate the response organizations hope for. Why? Usually. it’s not because the mission isn’t compelling. It’s because the communication isn’t connecting quickly or emotionally enough. Today’s donors are overloaded with information and constantly distracted.…
Fall fundraising season may feel far away, but the organizations that thrive at year-end are usually planning long before September arrives. That’s because strong fundraising results rarely happen by accident. They come from: Clarity about priorities, Discipd use of time, and Realistic understanding of resources needed to grow contributed income. Too many nonprofit professionals operate…
I cannot tell you how many times I begin a consultation with a small nonprofit, only to discover they have no real donor database (to collect and store data) or CRM (to effectively manage donor relationships).
They’re still using Excel or Filemaker or something that was developed for the program or finance department many moons ago.
I also find many nonprofits do have a decent fundraising database, but aren’t really using it to their advantage.
It’s the equivalent of having a 747; then using it to drive down the block to the corner store.
If you’re not exactly maximizing the resources you have, or if you simply don’t have the resources you need, it’s going to adversely affect your fundraising results.
Today we live not only in an era of ‘Big Data,’ but in one in which much of this data is AI-enabled. Which means understanding why data is important, what data is most meaningful to you, and how to prioritize data collection and evaluation strategies to help you reach your goals has never been more important.
If your nonprofit fundraising and marketing strategy is not currently undergirded by data — whether AI-empowered or not yet — I guarantee you’re missing opportunities, working inefficiently and leaving money on the table.
Could you use a bit of guidance?
Read on…
“I’m not selling you any tea today” was the subject of an e I recently received from Teabox, a place where I buy the most fabulous Darjeeling tea you’ve encountered anywhere. Well, some time during the past year they apparently hired a new “Head of Customer Experience.” Since then, I’ve received es from…
In From Objections to Opportunities: Winning Over Donors I covered some of the reasons donor hesitations and objections are normal, and nothing to be feared. Rather, they present an opportunity to get to know your donor prospect better and potentially forge an even stronger relationship. There is one secret I’ve found to work like magic in…
In Proven Strategies to Take Charge of Major Donor Asks we delved into the topic of major gift fundraising asks.Specifically, we covered (1) four elements of a successful visit and (2) four elements of a compelling offer. Feel free to refresh yourself before we move on.
Now I want you to truly think about the offer from the recipient’s perspective.
As insiders, we often don’t stop to think about the outsider perspective. It’s just human nature to become so absorbed in a topic it starts to seem obvious. To us.
When crafting your compelling fundraising offer however, it’s important to stop and consider how it may be received. As noted in Part 1:
When crafting and making a major gift fundraising ask, make sure you incorporate the following into your planning:
Let’s pretend you and your donor are not connecting meaningfully right now. You’re not sure why. Could it be they feel financially insecure… they’re worried for their kids… they’ve been let down by politicians… they’re just feeling cynical and/or hopeless? For whatever reason, things aren’t singing between you and them. They haven’t renewed. They haven’t upgraded. They haven’t responded to any of your outreach. They seem to have other priorities.
So, you decide to go to counseling to reinvigorate the relationship. The therapist makes a wise observation: Sometimes in life, one partner feels strong; the other less strong. In such times, the stronger partner has resources to support the weaker partner. Other times, neither partner feels they have coping resources. During these times, we have to depend more on ourselves, be patient, and accept that our partner is not currently in a strong position – even though we really need their support.
Are you being a support for your donor? Are you helping, not selling all the time? Are you being patient, yet persistently showing you care?
We’re in turbulent times.. Alas, as need is burgeoning there are fewer individual givers. During the pandemic, some industries, like education, began losing support. As did many smaller charities not involved in addressing hot-button topics. And prior to the pandemic studies showed giving to be sluggish. Donors are less loyal. Donors may be distracted by emergencies. Or so-called rage giving. Or simply uncertainty about what lies ahead. So they’re giving less consistently. As a result, donor centered fundraising has never been as important as it is now.
People are feeling a need to be nurtured. In other words: Ask not what your donors can do for you, but what you can do for your donors. Recognize they don’t serve you; you serve them. They don’t owe you; you owe them. Your job is to help them experience the joy of giving. It is through you they will achieve their most meaningful work.
Embrace the true meaning of philanthropy as love of humankind. Remember your donors are humankind; you must love them if you want to be a part of philanthropy. Otherwise, you’re just transacting business.
So… what can you do to embrace love — 360 degrees — and thereby open the doors to passionate philanthropy?
What must you keep top of mind to have meaningful conversations with donors who (you hope!) may contemplate a gift to your organization?
I’ve given you a hint within my question.
One word: meaningful.
For a conversation to be meaningful, you have to speak in a language that resonates with the other person.
And what is it that resonates more strongly than just about any other emotion?
LOVE.
To get folks to “YES,” you must learn the language of love and apply it to gift planning.
The word philanthropy literally means, from the Greek, the feeling of love (philos) towards humankind (anthropos).
It’s not just about HOW people give, but WHY.
What about your organization’s enacted values is your donor is most passionate about?
How can you, as a philanthropy facilitator, make it easy for the donor to meaningfully express their feelings and passions?
Passionate philanthropy is seldom a spur of the moment action.
No one just gets up one morning and decides to give away $10,000, $100,000 or $1 million.
Or let’s just stipulate it’s relatively rare.
Rather, would-be philanthropists consider how making a particular gift at a particular point in time may match their values and help them accomplish their objectives, personal and philanthropic.
Anyone who contemplates a major, or stretch, gift plans ahead.
For purposes of this gift planning article, let’s consider your audience to be prospective major (outright) and legacy (deferred) gift donors.
Here comes my occasional “Do’s vs. Don’ts” feature, where I with you something arriving in my box that seems a good ‘teaching opportunity.’ Today we’re going to review a last-day-of-the-campaign on appeal strategy. It arrived as an e. There’s (1) a sender’s address, (2) subject , (3) preview pane, and (4) the e itself.…
I’m a huge fan of the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley, and I often apply their research to nonprofit fundraising and marketing. This article there, How to Find Your Purpose in Life, really struck me. It affirmed something I’ve learned over than 30 years as an in-house development professional: You serve your…
This is one of my all-time most popular posts. And since you’ve still got time to sprinkle a little magic into your year-end fundraising, I decided to share it again!
Consider each of these seven words a magic potion unto themselves.
The more of these words you use, the more powerful a spell your appeal will cast.
Each of these packs a bigger persuasive punch than you might imagine.
Let’s take a closer look at how this works.