In a recent article I gave you the “Holy Trinity” of fundraising success:
You, Because and Thanks.
Those are essential ingredients for any fundraising appeal.
Today I’m going to give you four more magic words:
Small, Immediate, Expert and Support.
Each of these packs a bigger punch than you might imagine, and tends to persuade folks on the fence to jump right off and land in your court.
Let’s take a closer look at how this works.
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Do you have that year-end feeling? You know, the one many fundraisers get around this time of year?
Kind of frenetic? Anxious? Stressed?
You’re not alone.
The average nonprofit receives 30% of all donations in December. And 12% arrive in the last three days of the year! So, yeah, it’s really busy. And a lot is on the line.
I was talking with one of my clients, who apologized for acting so frantic and rushed. She said:
“Do you remember having that feeling? Did you get it when you used to work in the trenches? That worry that maybe you won’t hit your numbers? That people won’t give as much as they gave last year? That some of your major donors won’t renew. That maybe you’re not sending enough emails? That you’ll wake up on January 1st and be in BIG trouble?”
Oh, yeah. That feeling…
Of course I’ve felt it! But over the years I’ve learned a few tricks to help overcome that feeling.
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The biggest fundraising time of the year for most nonprofits inexorably approaches.
It can be stressful.
Don’t succumb to the stress. You’ve got this!
Perhaps you can’t do everything you’d like to do this year, but you can do some things.
Here are 12 things you can do that will pack a big punch.
Some you can do on your own. Some will require support from technical and/or marketing staff.
Here’s the thing: Often it’s the little things that count. That pack a surprising wallop.
So don’t save all your energy for writing your appeal. Help your appeal along by putting some of the dozen suggestions that follow into effect. Even just one or two will make a difference.
Let’s get started…
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I consider these three words the holy trinity of fundraising success.
I’ve written about these words before, and do so again as an important reminder. Because you’ve still got time to wrap them into your year-end fundraising appeal. And, if you do, I guarantee you’ll raise more money.
They are simple.
They are easy to remember.
They really work.
Plus, if you wrap them up with some emotional color, you’ve got an offer that can’t be refused.
Let’s take a look.
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BOO!
Today is Halloween, so I’ve got some really scary stuff for you!
Don’t get too spooked. There are also a few treats.
Eight delicious goodies, in fact.
In the form of “to-do’s.”
But first… the bad news.
No bones about it, you’re scaring folks away if you’re committing any of these boo-boos!
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Who doesn’t love a holiday?
The very word conjures up notions of celebration, warmth and love.
If you’re a donor-centered fundraising practitioner, you’d be a fool not to take advantage. Why not tap into pre-existing positive vibes to increase the chances your appeal will be warmly received?
After all, if you can channel something positive that’s more or less universally felt, this gives you a leg up. It puts your donors in a giving mood using familiar symbols and traditions.
Except when it doesn’t.
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You really must! Because the world in which we fundraise is changing rapidly.
Keeping up is challenging.
Yet that’s not a good reason to pretend that time has stopped. I’m not suggesting you neglect the tried-and-true fundamentals, of course (direct mail, telephone, events, face-to-face).
You need them! And they still work. But you’ve got to leverage them with today’s tools, within the context of today’s marketplace.
DetailsThis is your time. This is our time. But, these times are different and what comes next is difficult to grasp. How people communicate. How people learn and share. How people make decisions. Everything is different now. Think about this…you’re reading this article because it was sent to you via email. Yet more people spend their online time in social networks than they do in email…Technologies such as social, mobile, virtual, augmented, et al compel us adapt our story and value proposition and extend our reach to be part of communities we don’t realize exist.
The people who will keep you in business or running tomorrow are the very people you’re not reaching today. Before you continue to read on, allow me to clarify my point of view. My inspiration for writing this is to help you augment, not necessarily replace, the programs you’re running today. We must still reach those whom matter to us in the ways they prefer to be engaged. .
— Brian Solis, The End of Business as Usual
When disaster devastates lives, it affects us all. Seeing people hurting – so much – is hard to take.
It also reminds us of our human fragility. Whoever is strong today may be weak tomorrow. Whoever may give today may need help tomorrow.
Sometimes we feel helpless. Other times we can be helpful. It’s all part of the circle of life.
Which is why today I’m sharing, with permission, an excerpt from 5 Ways to Donate to and Support Hurricane Irma Victims from the Double the Donation blog.
I do this for two reasons. One of them may surprise you.
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By now you undoubtedly know you’re losing too many first-time donors.
In fact, the Fundraising Effectiveness Project report shows you’re losing an average of 77% of these folks!
Today I want to talk about a subset of new donors who don’t renew. They’re called “third party donors,” and they come to you through a variety of portals:
In Part 1 of this two-part article I described the importance of:
Part 1 also included links to a lot of articles I’ve written previously about mastering online social fundraising. Some of them are on Clairification. Others are guest posts I’ve done for other blogs.
I truly, passionately, want you to master the integration of a robust online communications and fundraising strategy with an equally robust offline strategy. In our digitally revolutionized world, they are two halves of a whole.
You need to rock them both.
Today we’re going to layer on with some other important essentials if you want to succeed with your online fundraising.
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