Don’t put the fundraising cart before the friendraising horse! There’s an essential precondition for all fundraising: FRIENDraising. It’s the work horse that pulls the cart. Marketing and fundraising have changed so much since the digital revolution, you can no longer simply push messages out to folks and expect them to jump on board. So, let’s…
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Are you aware one of the hottest things in for-profit management over the past five years or so is “customer service,” otherwise known as “customer experience” or CX? There’s an entire industry that’s grown up around it. If you want to learn , I highly recommend Strategic Customer Service and Customer Experience 3.0 by customer…
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A recent article on Beth’s (Kanter) Blog by Miriam Brosseau and Stephanie Corleto was so well-written I was inspired to share some of it with you. I 100% agree with everything it says – and strongly believe you absolutely must do what the article suggests.
What’s that?
Bust down your siloes!
Specifically, turn those puppies on their sides so they form a pipeline, and let the free flow of ideas between programs, marketing and fundraising begin.
Can you picture this?
Imagine your program staff is hoarding all the inspiring stories of impact, and failing to share them with your development team. That’s a silo that needs to be toppled. Because…
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Greg Warner of Market Smart writes a lot about the difference between “work” and “progress.” I appreciate the distinction, both professionally and personally. I think you can use this notion, so I’m going to recommend some of his articles to you and also suggest a way to extend this idea to your nonprofit fundraising.
Warner notes in Why You Should Never Get a Job and Go to Work: “work” is tedious and negative; “progress” is inspiring and positive.
This is about being intentional about where you’re going.
It’s somewhat about perception and desitnation, but I’d argue it’s largely about the journey.
Your journey. Your donor’s journey.
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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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How do you create loyal donors? By creating satisfying engagement and amazing experiences.
At. Every. Step. Of…
The. Donor. Journey.
This is the trek you facilitate. You’re a bit of a Donor Sherpa. The way you lead will impact whether, and how long, donors will follow. Every step of the journey is important.
How carefully are you thinking through each step?
No matter what you do, the steps exist. Your donor has to step through them. Forwards or backwards. Upwards or downwards.
Ascertain what these steps look like for your organization’s donors. Are they leading folks onward and upward? Or are they forbidding, dangerous and inherently unenticing? Honestly assess whether the journey is one that is donor-centered. Or one that is all about you, your convenience and your needs.
Before we get started with the creation of five donor experiences to boost online fundraising, I’d like you to being with one “to do.”
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In Part 1 we looked at establishing event goals and objectives; then determining if an event was the most efficient and effective way to achieve desired outcomes.
We recognized most events are less about actual monetary return on investment (ROI) than they are about return on engagement (ROE).
In other words, if you’re doing an event purely to raise money there are other more cost-effective fundraising strategies. However, events done right are an excellent awareness-raising, branding and donor cultivation tool. You just have to go into events fully cognizant of what success will look like, both from your organization’s and your donor’s perspectives. Only armed with this understanding can you create events that will be worth your while.
Today we look at ways to make events – once you’ve decided to hold them – fulfill both your and your donors’ dreams.
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Do you think of your nonprofit event as a “fund raiser” or a “donor cultivation experience?”
The simple, obvious answer, of course, is that a good event is both.
In practice, however, successful event fundraising – galas and sport events and auctions that are worth the effort — is not this simple.
So let me ask this question another way:
What is your number one goal with your special event?
Think about this carefully for a moment. There can be a lot of reasons, good and not-so-good, for embarking on this admittedly resource-intensive strategy. Do your ends justify your means?
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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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As year-end approaches, you want to consider leveraging your message across channels. You also want to tailor your message to meet the needs of different target constituencies.
One-size-fits-all messaging seldom works as well as segmented messaging. The former is all about you, your convenience and your needs. The latter is about your constituent’s needs.
Successful fundraising and marketing is customer- and donor-centered.
Is your year-end strategy setting you up for success? Are you truly putting your best foot forward?
If you’re not inside your constituents’ heads, you need to get in there! To be constituent-centered requires you to (1) talk to the right people, (2) with the right message, (3) at the right time and place. Recently, I enjoyed a post on precisely this subject. I share it with you here, and if you’re not yet hip to the Marketoonist, allow me to introduce you.
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