BOO!
Tomorrow 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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Early in my career I received a piece of fundraising advice that has stuck with me to this day:
People are all people.
And what do you do with people if you want to build a relationship?
You get PERSONAL!
In fact, if I had to tell you how to win over donors with just one word, “personal” is the word I’d choose.
This word should become your mantra and underscore everything you do. Your annual appeal writing. Your special events. Your newsletters. Your blog posts. Your proposals. Your reports. Your social media.
If you take just this one word to heart — PERSONAL — you’ll be leaps and bounds ahead of the competition.
This is the one word that can set you apart.
That can help you build relationships like nothing else.
Though we talk a lot about empathy and donor-centricity, truly valuable tools in building donor relationships, these terms are subsumed by the umbrella of the ‘person’ to whom they apply.
Make sense?
Today I’d like to flesh out the multiple meanings of this word, and discuss how getting personal can help you achieve your nonprofit fundraising and marketing goals.
This is something that has always mattered. Today, in an era of social distancing and striving for greater diversity, equity and inclusion, how we get personal and how we define people are more important than ever.
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If you’re like me, chances are every other email in your inbox has something referencing coronavirus. You can’t ignore it, avoid it or wish it away.
So… what is your organization going to do?
The inimitable thought leader, Seth Godin, recently had this to say:
That’s pretty much all that’s on offer.
What will you do next?
The first gives us visceral satisfaction and emotional release, and it almost always leads to bad outcomes.
Responding is smarter. It requires each of us to think hard about the action and emotion we seek to create after something is put on our desk.
And the third? Initiating is ever easier and leveraged than ever before, which, surprisingly, also makes it more difficult to move up on our agenda.
In normal times, it’s easy to get into a rhythm of simply responding. Someone else setting the agenda.
When things are uncertain, it’s easy to react.
But now, right now, is the single best time to initiate. We’re in for a slog, but there will be an end to it.
Make things better by making better things.
Taking this advice to heart, I’d like to share a couple of examples of organizations who have initiated some inventive strategies to stay connected to their supporters in these challenging times. Usually I would share these in my “Don’ts vs. Do’s” feature. But both of these are big ‘Do’s,’ so I want to highlight what’s brilliant about them. You can ‘sincerely flatter’ them through imitation — and a bit of your own innovation.
Ready to be inspired?
Connection is essential, especially during challenging times. When the going gets tough, we yearn to commune with people who will support us… teach us… commiserate with us… empathize with us… calm us… distract us… … entertain us… enable us to support them… and more.
Without connection, people can feel isolated. Yet today, as we prepare for the spread of coronavirus, we’re contemplating doing less of the things we normally do in person with others. And nonprofits are not immune.
What are you doing to reach out to your supporters when they need connection most?
Here are just a few messages received from local nonprofits in San Francisco within just the past two days:
Canceling a popular fundraiser that we depend on to cover the costs of keeping Public Glass open is not a decision we came to lightly, but it is critical that we do our part in helping to ensure that our Bay Area Community remains as safe as possible.
UNDER ADVISEMENT AND RESPECTING THE NEWLY ISSUED AGGRESSIVE RECOMMENDATIONS ANNOUNCED TODAY BY THE SAN FRANCISCO DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH TO REDUCE THE SPREAD OF CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19), THE MARCH 12, 2020 SFIC MONTHLY BREAKFAST IS CANCELLED.
We are very sorry to announce that, due to public health guidelines from the Mayor’s Office, our 2020 Benefit Art Auction, hosted in a city-owned building, must be cancelled. This event is a massive effort, involving over a hundred contributing artists, a dream-team of volunteers, and many beloved business partners. We were ready to create a wonderful celebration of creativity! We will continue to explore innovative ways to connect our community, but right now, this is the best way to take care of each other.
How about this haiku from my cousin, who is hosting his son’s wedding this week-end (at least as of this moment):
Last year seemed so bad
COVID-19 is now here
How I miss last year
While apt, missing last year and wringing your hands won’t help. As in-person gatherings are indefinitely postponed or canceled, as public spaces are closing, and as people are working from home, what can you do to make lemonade — and quench your supporters’ thirst?
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Are you treating your donors like gumballs?
You are if you consume them in five minutes, then never think about them again.
Alas, too often nonprofits treat their donors exactly like a gumball dispensed from a machine.
Chew it up. Spit it out. Done.
Transaction over.
Want your donors to sustain you? Then you can’t treat them this way!
Whatever size gift they make, they’re unlikely to make it again — let alone give more — unless
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BOO!
Halloween is creeping up on us, so I’ve got some really scary stuff for you!
Don’t get too spooked. There are also a few treats.
In fact, you’ll get eight delicious goodies — in the form of “to-do’s.”
But first… the bad news.
No bones about it, you’re frightening folks away if you’re committing any of these 8 boo-boo’s!
Details
I’m a huge fan of the Greater Good Science Center at U.C. Berkeley, and often apply their research to nonprofit fundraising and marketing. A recent article really struck me: How to Find Your Purpose in Life.
Over my 30 years of practice as an in-house development professional, the fundamental thing I learned is this:
You serve your donors every bit as much as they serve your organization’s mission.
Please allow that to sink in.
You have a mission. A purpose. Donors can help you get there.
Your donors are looking for purpose. You can help them find it.
It’s a symbiotic relationship. And you have a role in fostering that relationship. What is that role?
Your job is to facilitate your donor’s philanthropic journey. Their journey to discover their purpose.
So what’s this really all about?
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Imagine what it would mean to your mission if you doubled the lifetime value of all of your current supporters.
Do you know even know what percentage of donors you’re retaining?
According to Jay Love, founder of Bloomerang, less than 45% of fundraising offices know this answer!
So, you’re not alone. But you can do better.
Because knowing your retention rate enables you to move it to something better.
And I’m going to guess, if you’re like the majority of nonprofits, you probably need to improve your donor retention.
At least if you want to grow.
Or maybe even just survive.
Just a small change in retention, up or down, can mean thousands of dollars.
It’s your choice whether they’re your gain, or your loss.
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By now you undoubtedly know you’re losing too many first-time donors.
In fact, the most recent Fundraising Effectiveness Project report shows you’re losing an average of 68% 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:
The good folks at Classy know most nonprofits are not doing a good job cultivating donors who come to them through third parties, so they’ve prepared The Guide to Courting Third Party Donors. You can download it for free (40 pages), but let me give you the highlights – along with some of my own thoughts.
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When people give to you for the first time, often they know very little about you. Perhaps they found you through a link on social media. Or organic search. Or through a friend who emailed them a link to your appeal.
They were inspired to give, once, based on whatever they saw or read.
What happens next is critical.
Either you’ll inspire donors to stick with you, or you’ll depress their enthusiasm through benign neglect.
I say “benign,” because I’m sure you don’t mean to mistreat your supporters. Nonetheless, I’m willing to bet many of you do.
Here’s the deal: Donors are looking for meaning. If your thank you and subsequent donor communications don’t give it to them, they’ll dismiss you and go look for meaning elsewhere.
All donors have questions they need you to answer for them. If you fail to answer these questions you fail to lay the groundwork for developing a positive, ongoing relationship.
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