Engagement: Keys to Success in Fundraising Today December 9, 2011 By Ewlacasse

Fundraising guru and GiftWorks friend Mal Warwick takes a fresh look on donor engagement.  From Mal’s newsletter:

In recent months, I’ve been developing a new perspective on fundraising, born of the increasing frustration I’ve felt trying to understand today’s fundraising environment through the lens of yesterday’s truths. To understand the concept of Engagement, you need to get your head around a new way of looking at donors.

Most of the time, we think of donors as just that: people who send us money. But donors may have multi-faceted relationships with us—for example, as volunteers, as former staff members, as providers of in-kind products or services, or as direct beneficiaries of our work. For them, and possibly even for us, those other aspects of their relationships may be even more important than their financial support. And even donors who are now only donors may be able to contribute more meaningfully to our work in non-financial ways than they do as donors. So, don’t think of Engagement in a narrow way as a means to get more money from them. Take a holistic view. Think of the possible benefits for both parties in a broader relationship.

Four routes to donor Engagement

• Volunteering. First, if your organization offers volunteer opportunities, you have one of the easiest and sometimes the fastest routes to donor Engagement. People who volunteer for a charity are three times as likely to contribute funds as those who don’t. But that’s only one aspect of the picture. Most analysts in the U.S. value volunteer service at $15 per hour, so a person who volunteers, say, three hours a week throughout the year is giving an extra contribution worth more than $2,000 that year. However, some volunteer programs require highly trained and specialized skills that may be worth many times that much. That’s probably a lot more than the value of all their financial contributions.

As you know, running a volunteer program isn’t easy. And it’s absolutely essential that your volunteer program provide a rich and rewarding experience. That takes skill and entails management and training costs. But take care: A badly run volunteer effort can turn people off just as quickly as a good one can turn them on.

• Advocacy. Now, the second route to donor Engagement is advocacy. Increasingly, with the continuing growth of email and the Internet as an inexpensive way to involve supporters, grassroots advocacy efforts, or campaigning, is becoming an ever-more familiar way for charities to recruit new supporters. It’s become equally important as a means to broaden their relationships with people who already support them. But it’s a mistake to think of advocacy as consisting exclusively of sending out email action alerts. There are far more meaningful ways for your donors and other supporters to engage in advocacy on your behalf. For example, they might print out, sign, and mail actual letters—on real paper! Or make telephone calls. Or attend meetings or rallies or demonstrations . . . or walk picket lines . . . or join delegations of citizens to visit legislators . . . or even climb up the side of a high-rise to hang a banner! All this is advocacy—and those few people who choose one of these more active ways to support you are worth their weight in gold. They’re certainly worth paying a lot of attention to!
• Consultation. Yet another route to Engagement is to consult your supporters. Keep in mind the old axiom about major donors: “If you want advice, ask for money. If you want money, ask for advice.” Donors always feel appreciated—and more involved in your work—when you solicit their views. And of course you can do that not just by phone but by email, direct mail, face-to-face at events, or in informal focus groups.

But don’t limit yourself to asking for your donors’ opinions. Use the most appropriate channel to acquire meaningful personal information: what motivates their giving . . . which of your programs is most important for them . . . whether your organization is a top philanthropic priority. In other words, the sort of information that will help you tailor your fundraising appeals more closely to their individual interests and giving habits.

• Access. For some donors, however, there’s simply no substitute for face-to-face contact. Giving them access to staff members, or in some cases the members of the board, can be a huge incentive for some people to give, or give more. And supplying them with the email address and direct phone number of their own personal contact on the staff will enhance their feeling that their support is truly valued.

Direct access like this won’t just pay off in increased giving. Perhaps equally important, it will lead to positive word-of-mouth for your organization. Favorable “buzz” like this can be invaluable—1,000 times as valuable as any advertising you might pay for. That’s what we’re learning from studies in the new field of word-of-mouth marketing. Buzz leads to wider public awareness of your work and even to new donors. Remember: People will listen to friends and acquaintances with less skepticism than they will if you’re making the same claims!

Visit www.malwarwick.com to access Mal’s other thoughtful insights.

First gift: $100---Then what? October 31, 2011 By Ewlacasse

You sent your annual appeal.  In return mail, you received a donation of $100 from someone you don’t know.  Want to keep that donor?  Let’s look at some creative ways you can cultivate that donor who just dropped into your lap.

No form letter “welcomes,” no stale thank-you letter enclosed with a solicitation envelope, no mailing our annual bookmark!

This donor is a human being who just rang your doorbell.  What kind of human responses might captivate that donor and motivate him/her to move closer to your organization?

(You’ll probably do a little research to find out where the donor came from, what list, what board member contact, etc.)

As a savvy host or hostess, invite the donor in:

            Call and ask what sparked their interest in your organization.  It might be another person, a need for services, a passionate belief in what you do, or a mutual business interest. Once you know this, your next steps identify themselves.

            Invite the donor to visit your organization to learn more.  Invite the donor to an upcoming event. Invite them to volunteer for your organization.  The best question is:  How do you see yourself involved in “feeding the hungry” or whatever your mission is.

            Learn more about what connected them to you. If it was a person, what is the connection between the donor and that person—family, business, need for services?

            Introduce them to others with common interests.

            As you learn more, you can include the donor in events of shared interest, but unrelated to your organization:  sports games, community events, running a half-marathon. As you extend friendship and hospitality, you’ll find new opportunities of particular interest.

            Ask for advice. You could ask someone who writes professionally to review the draft of your annual appeal letter.  You could ask someone in marketing to help you create a survey. You could ask an attorney about advocacy issues.

            Invite their questions. Arrange for them to meet others in your “family” with shared concerns.

            Call them when you have exciting news; call them when their gift nets a success.

            Have others on staff take on some of this kind of cultivation; you don’t have to do it all yourself.

            Through all this, of course, you’ve kept good notes and set reminder times to keep the cultivation going.  When you mail to them, include client pictures or stories, write a personal note.  Your new friend now knows you better, sees that you are interested in learning about him/her (you’re not just looking for another donation), feels included in your “family,” and should respond warmly to further involvement.

It’s ancient news, but it’s true:  Fundraising is Friendraising.

Value Your Board: Your Greatest Asset October 7, 2011 By Ewlacasse

How do you know if your Board is really “with you,” if Board members don’t attend meetings?

It’s your organization.  It’s your responsibility (and greatly to your benefit) to make the best use of your Board members, their influence, their experience, and their networks.  Yet, the same people who are most desirable as Board members are also desirable to many other groups and are deeply involved in a world beyond nonprofits.

Here are some tips for maximizing Board attendance at your meetings:

1. Show maximum respect for the Board member’s time.  Board meetings in the old days were 90% presentation, 10% discussion. Today busy people expect something  more like 20% presentation, then the rest of the time discussion and decision-making.

• Work from a firm agenda—move quickly from one important issue to the next,                            under  the direction of a skillful leader. Have clear expectations of what will be                     accomplished at this meeting.
• Action items are sent out in advance.
• It should be clear what is for decision, what for advice, what for info.
• Agenda includes presentations and value-added content (they won’t want to miss!).
• No dull reports.  Routine business is handled outside of the meeting, leaving only the highest level of discussion for important meeting.
• No data dumping.
• Committees have clear assignments; they do the work and bring                                                  recommendations to Board. 

2. In all Board dealings:

• Keep attuned to the big picture.
• Create opportunities for their vision.
• Engage them in accountability or technology.
• Use them with your broader constituency (legislators, benefactors…).
• Ask for their feedback often.
• Have clear priorities—planning tools, anticipating future issues, preparing for                              future.
• Provide consistent staff support—at all levels.
• ED or Dev. Director is available for discussion between meetings.
• Know how to measure and report success.

3.  Some ideas to vary the format:

• Design a session to encourage dialog about an issue.
• Use an outside facilitator.
• Change it up with venue, amenities, formats.  Invite a client or a field worker.
• Offer an incentive to participate.

A few more overall suggestions:

• Provide a quality orientation process so that new Board members understand their responsibilities, legal requirements and communication modes that work best.
• Offer ongoing training in the area of your mission.
• Evaluate and re-energize your Board annually.

Make the time a Board member spends with you as rewarding for him/her as it is for you!

Tear-Jerkers or Not? July 27, 2011 By Ewlacasse

Selecting a photo to represent your mission—in an ad, PSA, brochure, solicitation—is always a challenge.  There is the inclination to show the desperate conditions of the people you serve, the conditions you seek to change.  On the other hand, you’d like to show the results you can achieve with the donor’s help.  Which is it?

The Austin (TX) Humane Society, with the aid of their ad agency Door Number 3, recently reported  a measurable positive response when they dropped their grim spots about animal abuse and neglect  last year and replaced them with more cheerful messages focusing on lifelong bonds and emotional connections between owners and their pets.

They changed the tone of their website with humorous videos starring talking animals and an on-line game called “Trap Cat,” educating players about the charity’s efforts to spay and neuter feral cats.

Results have been impressive. By the end of 2010, the Austin Humane Society reported a 13-percent rise in contributions, not including bequests and other planned gifts, reports Amanda Ryan-Smith, director of development. During the first half of 2011, the upswing is maintaining: the charity’s 2010 year-end appeal based on the ad campaign’s approach generated $100,000, double the amount it had raised in 2009.

Increased giving has not been the only benefit of the new marketing strategy. Animal adoptions also increased last year and have continued to grow. From January through April of this year, for example, the humane society has placed 838 pets with new owners, up from 770 during the same months in 2010. What’s more, the charity doubled volunteer hours in 2010.

Perhaps the appeal of “desperate” depictions works in the short run with animal lovers.  It just may be that, in today’s world, hope and documented results are a better, and longer-lasting draw.  If you make such a change, be sure and document the results, and be sure to let us know!

Nature or Nurture? Influence of Family on Charitable Behavior July 6, 2011 By Ewlacasse

Being a donor has a high correlation with having parents involved in nonprofits—80 percent, in fact!  If your parents aren’t “donors,” there’s only a 25 percent chance that you will become one. These findings were reported recently in the Chronicle of Philanthropy.

Fundraisers know that household income and education levels are key elements in predicting who is most likely to give, but parental involvement in charitable causes is an even better indicator.

What does this mean?  Well, there’s a double benefit from engaging today’s adults to volunteer their time at your organization, to talk to their kids about nonprofits they support, or to give money to their church, says Lisa McIntyre, senior vice president for strategy development at Russ Reid, the California direct-marketing group who conducted the study.

In order to do that, you’ll need to have info in your database to identify which of your donors are also parents.  You might also want to “work” this insight by:

            Devising a strategy to uncover who in your database is a parent.

            Creating a program to encourage parents to involve their children in your organization.

            Including activities of interest to children in your main events.

You can grow your own donors in the next generation!

For more information on this study, visit http://philanthropy.com/article/Parents-Matter-New-Study/124120

 

 

It Pays to Build Savvy Donors! May 6, 2011 By Ewlacasse

Here’s a list, published on Charity Navigator, you might want to adapt for your donors.

The more they know about savvy giving, the greater the benefit to you.

Best Practices of Savvy Donors

• Be Proactive In Your Giving --Identify the causes that are most important to you.  Find a group seeking the outcomes you want to affect.
• Hang Up The Phone / Eliminate the Middleman--Don’t respond to fundraising telemarketers (who reap a portion of what they collect).  If it’s a charity that interests you, go on-line and give directly.
• Be Careful Of Sound-Alike Names--Can you differentiate between an appeal from the Children's Charity Fund and the Children's Defense Fund?   The first is a 0-star charity while the Children's Defense Fund is a 4-star charity. Informed donors take the time to uncover the difference.
• Confirm 501(c) (3) Status-- If for no other reason than to secure a legitimate tax deduction, only support groups granted tax-exempt status under section 501(c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code
• Check The Charity's Commitment To Donor's Rights--Be sure a charity has a donor privacy policy (promises never to sell or trade the donor's contact information). And look for the opportunity to opt-out of having your information shared with other entities.
•  Start A Dialogue To Investigate Its Programmatic Results--Take the time to speak with the organization about its accomplishments, goals and challenges.  A quality organization will be happy to share this information with you.
• Concentrate Your Giving--Spreading your giving among multiple organizations not only results in a jammed  mail box, it also diminishes the possibility of any of those groups bringing about substantive change as a large percentage of your gift is going to administrative expenses.
• Share Your Intentions And Make A Long-Term Commitment--Become a partner for the long haul, if you really want to bring about change. An organization needs long-term, committed supporters to be successful.  Be upfront about your giving plans so the organization knows it can rely on you and it doesn’t waste resources by sending numerous solicitations.

 Your donors will appreciate your interest in making their donations valuable!

Training Volunteers the G.O.O.D. Way to Make the "Ask" April 27, 2011 By Steve Fafel

Rich Foss, CEO of Evergreen Leaders and author of Greenlight Fundraising*, spells out the simple steps you can take to turn your good-hearted-but-reluctant-askers into Major Gift Fundraisers for a three-way Win! You win because you’ve just recruited a cadre of your followers who will want to and will be confident in raising money for your organization.  The Volunteers win because they have new skills in their repertoire and a new ability to contribute to your organization.  Your constituents win as more money is raised and more people become involved in and committed to your mission!

Foss elaborates on the G-O-O-D method of training volunteers:

G is for Giving Generously yourself.  Having given generously, you can easily ask others to give at a similar level.  Read more  Foss quotes Reynold Levy, President of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts:

“When asking someone you know for a gift to charity, no argument is more convincing than citing your own donation, and no words more compelling than ‘please join me.’” (Yours for the Asking, John Wiley & Sons, 2008)

O is for Opportunity.  People are drawn to nonprofits as they look for the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of other. When you train volunteers to ask for gifts for your nonprofit, you are giving them the opportunity to make a difference. 

The attitude of your volunteer fundraisers will be courage, confidence and focus on how exciting it is to offer the potential donor a chance to participate in the work of transforming lives.

The next O is for Open with A Story. As part of training your volunteers how to ask, tell a concrete story of someone’s life who is being transformed by your nonprofit.  Better yet, have someone who has benefited from your organization tell his or her story, or create a short video of someone describing how their life was transformed by the work of your nonprofit.  Once your volunteers understand that making an Ask is their opportunity to transform lives, then they see the Ask as an opportunity to pass on to others the opportunity to transform lives through a gift.  Equip your volunteers with a few great stories to illustrate the opportunity.

 The D is for Defer and respect the person.  When you ask someone for money. the most important time is not when you begin talking but when you stop. Defer in silence to the person. You’ll be tempted to speak, but don’t. Wait. Then accept the answer. Some will say yes.  Some will say no. Some will say they need more time to think about it. Whatever the answer, if you’ve followed the steps of the GOOD way of asking, you can be assured that you have done your best to make a difference.

 *Foss is the author of Green Light Fundraising: Your Sustainable Fundraising Guide to Raising $50,000 to $500,000 a Year to Light Up the Eyes of People You Serve and Your Donors. Readers can access this e-book at www.greenlightfundraising.com