Three San Francisco Hearts: Rainbow, Love, Resilience. Benefit for S.F. General Foundation.

Top Strategies for Making Friends with Nonprofit Donors

Three San Francisco Hearts: Rainbow, Love, Resilience. Benefit for S.F. General Foundation.Today a friend, who serves on the board of a struggling local arts organization, asked me what they can do to increase their fundraising. I asked her a few questions; then answered simply: “Have more conversations with people; make more friends.”

You see, they have people who know about them but they’re just not giving.

They have donors, but they’re not giving enough.

Why? Because they haven’t been treated like friends and family. They don’t feel connected.

What’s the best advice to build stronger connections with likely supporters?

1. People Give to People

Remember this basic truth. Humans are a social species.

People also buy from people.

So if you consider fundraising “making a sale” (which I do, because it’s part of being human to be constantly trying to persuade others; read Daniel Pink’s To Sell is Human), you must show up as authentically human.

And how do you do this?

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Felt heart hanging from a pole

Top Secret Strategy to Communicate with Nonprofit Donors

Heart carved into treeDid you ever wonder if there is a foolproof way to communicate with donors?

Actually, there is!

And it’s not about process.

It’s about another ‘P’ word.

Can you guess?

I’ll give you a hint.

It relates to the secret business your nonprofit is in.

You may think you’re in (arts, healthcare, human services, environment, social justice, animal rescue, education or whatever) but, fundamentally, your core business is something else.  Something deeper.

Something that emanated from whoever founded your nonprofit.

Without this special something, your nonprofit wouldn’t exist.

Have you figured it out?

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Why Donor Wooing Requires WOWing

Woman checking out at cashier

The Unfair Exchange Bernadette Jiwa, The Story of Telling.

“That will be eight dollars,’ the woman, who is carefully weighing and wrapping two serves of freshly made fettuccine for us to take home, says.

As my husband is about to hand her the cash, she takes another handful of the pasta from behind the glass and adds it to our package.

She doesn’t announce that she’s giving us twenty per cent extra for free.
She doesn’t even invite us to notice the gesture at all.
It’s enough for her that she knows she has added value.

We think of value as a hard metric—the anticipated fair exchange of this for that.

But value can be a surprising, generous, unfair exchange.

Something that is given because we can, not because we must.

Ah… value.

Wow, wow, WOW!

This is what all fundraising, fundamentally, is about.

A value-for-value exchange.

Yet one side of the exchange is a hard metric: The donor’s cold, hard cash.

While the other side of the exchange is something decidedly less tangible: Freely given gratitude from you and your organization.

Or at least that’s how it should work.

The Difference between ‘We Must’ and ‘We Can’ 

What does your donor love and loyalty plan look like?

Do you even have such a plan?

If the only reason you acknowledge donations is because you feel you ‘must,’ it’s likely your donors aren’t walking away from the encounter feeling much more than matter-of-fact. The transactional receipts many organizations send out are registered by the donors as “Ho, hum. Guess I’ll go file this with my tax receipts.”

This kind of exchange is fair, sure.

But it’s not generous.

WHAT ELSE DO YOU HAVE TO GIVE?

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When you open the door, the future looks brighter

When Opportunity Knocks, Open the Door: Donor Acquisition

No nonprofit can afford to be an island.

As tempting as it may be to stay in your comfort zone, wearing blinders that enable you to forge straight ahead without noticing what’s going on around you, this is a dangerous practice.

Because sometimes the landscape changes dramatically.  And when it does, your nonprofit could get left behind. Unless you’re paying close attention.

This has been happening a lot over the past six years or so, as news and social media has been filling our brains, stoking our fears and tugging at our heartstrings as if from a firehose. People who care, when they see devastation and misery, want to help.

This happens, for instance, when emergencies arise. Earthquakes. Hurricanes. Floods. Fires. Drought. War. Over the course of my four decades in fundraising, there have been years I’ve had donors tell me “This year we’re giving all our extra resources to respond to… Hurricane Katrina… Haiti relief… the Fukushima disaster… the refugee crisis… anti-hate organizations…  .” The list goes on an on.

In the face of such natural human impulses, what can you do?

When things outside your nonprofit’s doors portend impact for your ability to fulfill your mission, you need to be prepared.

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How to Make Donors Happy to Say YES to Your Fundraising Appeal

Super hero kidsToday I’m going to tell you how to create a fundraising appeal that’s all about your donor’s happiness.

Because if you can persuade your donor that saying “yes” will make them happy, then you both win.

Don’t you want to make your donor feel like a winner?

Don’t you want to be a winner?

Everybody wants to be a winner!

Sadly, most nonprofits write appeals that don’t create a win/win.

They write self-congratulatory letters that talk about how wonderful they are, and what wonderful outcomes they make possible.

They forget about the donor.

They don’t think about donor joy.

How can I be so certain this is the case?

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24,000 Children Die from Hunger Daily

Scope: The Key to Donor Generosity?

There’s a powerful psychological principle known as the “identifiable victim effect.”

It has to do with how you describe the scope of the problem you’re asking donors to help address. And what they will do as a result of how they perceive this scope.

  • Is it a scope they can visualize and relate to?
  • Or is the number so large it’s difficult for them to wrap their brains around it?

There’s another related psychological principle known as “scope insensitivity.”

It applies when a number is too large for people to really comprehend its meaning. If you tell me something costs $1 billion, I really have little idea how this might differ from $10 million. Both numbers are equally overwhelming.  I can’t picture how high a pile of either would be in dollar bills or even $100 bills. I have no sensitivity as to the scope because I simple can’t sense it.

Fundraisers absolutely need to know about, and apply, these principles.

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PHoto telling a story

Nonprofit Fundraising Truth: Stories are Persuasive, Data is Just Proof

PHoto telling a storyDoes proving your point persuade your nonprofit donor?

It turns out not so much.

At least, not unless your donor is already pretty much won over.

Proof, absent persuasion, won’t get you far.

In my last article, “How to Project Manage Your Nonprofit Story,” I delved into the concept of story vs. data in creating compelling nonprofit marketing and fundraising copy. Stories almost always win out, because human beings are wired for stories. To want to enter into them. To want to become a part of them. To want to see ourselves, in some way, expressively reflected in the characters, plot and struggle.

In this way we are emotionally moved. We shed a tear… get a lump in our throats… find ourselves chuckling, smiling or even beaming with a flicker, or a flame, of recognition, appreciation or gratitude. We are taken out of our everyday lives, and moved someplace else where we’re offered a new perspective. From this perspective, we can choose to act. To become part of the story, in a positive way. To make a difference. To bring joy to sadness… hope to despair… healing to hurt. To bring the happy ending we wish to see.

Today I want to delve a bit deeper into why stories beat data because, when I review nonprofit appeals, the lion’s share do a poor job of making the story the star. Sure, you may be raising money with your appeal. But I’ll bet dollars to donuts you could raise a lot more by channeling the persuasive power of a compelling narrative.

Stories are persuasive, having the power to change audience beliefs and actions.

If you’re familiar with Robert Cialdini, you’ll know about the six key principles of influence and persuasion that help people to act in the face of uncertainty. And we’re all in that state of uncertainty when we receive a fundraising appeal, right? If you look closely, you’ll see these principles are story-based:

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Donor visit, two women

Proven Strategies to Take Charge of Major Donor Asks

Donor visit, two womenBefore asking, begin by assuring you and your donor are on the same page.

The major donor journey is generally a long one. It’s important to craft a blueprint for the process and take time, along the way, to assure the journey is sparking joy and bringing energy. If you’ve never asked for a major gift, it can seem scary. Even if you’ve asked in the past, the process can still seem daunting.  This article is designed to help take the worry out of asking for a major gift. How? By putting it in context and framing it as an opportunity, not a burden.

As long as you’re providing value to the donor, you’re in a good place. Value can take many forms.

  • An opportunity to feel noticed and special.
  • An opportunity to offer feedback.
  • An opportunity to share wisdom.
  • An opportunity to learn new things.
  • An opportunity to get behind-the-scene information.
  • An opportunity to meet someone new.
  • An opportunity to create connection.
  • An opportunity for a fun and friendly chat
  • An opportunity to find meaning and purpose.

Lead with the value you provide and the benefit they’ll gain if they meet with you. The value you offer at any point in time depends on the donor and where you are in the process of wooing. Provided you’re generally (1) clear, (2) compelling, (3) courageous and (4) careful, you’ll surely succeed.

Let’s dig a little deeper into each of these important components.

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Fundraising Do's & Don'ts logo

Fundraising Do’s vs. Don’ts: Monthly Donor Appeal Strategy

Fundraising Do's & Don'ts logoHere comes my occasional “Do’s vs. Don’ts” feature, where I share with you something arriving in my mailbox that seems a good ‘teaching opportunity.’

Today we’re going to review a monthly donor campaign strategy.

It arrived as an email. There’s (1) a subject line, (2) the email itself, and (3) what happens if/when you click through and are transported to the donation landing page.

We’ll take a look at the various elements; then assess what works/doesn’t work.

I’ll ask you some questions.

  1. Would you open this email?
  2. If yes, why?
  3. If no, why?
  4. What looks good about the email?
  5. What looks not so good about the email?
  6. Would it inspire you to click through?
  7. If yes, why?
  8. If no, why not?
  9. Once you click through, would you be inspired to take action?
  10. If yes, why?
  11. If no, why not?

First, I’d like you to think about your answers and jot them down.

Second, I’ll tell you what I think.

Third, if you disagree with me please let me know in the comments below.

Really take the time to notice what you like and don’t like.

I promise you’ll learn a LOT more this way. We learn best by doing.

Seriously, I mean it.

Let’s begin at the beginning.

Subject Headline

Claire, here’s a simple way to do your part to repair the world.

This may help: Take three minutes and jot down your answers to the first three questions on a piece of paper or your screen. I want to know if what was in the subject headline would have caused you to open the email or hit ‘delete.’

Okay.  Ready to learn what I think thus far, and also see what else we’re working with?

Let’s begin!

Does this Email Say “Open Me?”

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Nonprofit donor conversation

Top Strategies for Open Nonprofit Donor Conversations

Over the pandemic I took some time to enroll in an intensive coaching course. Over Zoom, of course. It was designed for people who don’t necessarily intend to become certified life coaches as a career path, but who want to incorporate a coaching approach into their daily life.

The heart of this approach, I believe, can be distilled into two words. And they’re extremely useful for donor conversations:

1. CURIOSITY

When you’re genuinely curious about another person you ask questions to draw them out. And questions to help them get to the place they want to go; not where you think they should go. Because what’s right for you is not always right for someone else. They’ll tell you what’s right – with you acting as their guide – but only if you’re interested enough to ask.

It happens some questions are better than others if you want to get to the core of the matter at hand. We’ll get to those in a moment.

2. LISTENING

There’s a better way to have dynamic, effective conversations than jumping in prematurely with your own opinion. I’ve always known this, but it turns out there’s more to it than adopting the old adage: “You have two ears and one mouth; use them in that proportion.” Because it’s how you approach the listening that matters.

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