fundraising – Page 2

December 31, 2014 by royjones Leave a Comment

The 5 Best Tips in 2015 for Boosting Donations

Unlike most people who call themselves “fundraising counsel” I am not one who wastes a lot of time with grandiose vision papers and colorful case statements. Every January I encourage charities to spend more time on practical, actionable events rather than writing beautiful superfluous words about their organization and cause.

Yes, case statements are important, but what has been said has already been said. Do you really think that you will be more creative or more inspired than you were a year ago? Mission case statements do not come down from on high in a way that suddenly moves donors to give more. It just does not work that way.

Remember, donors do not give to case statements… they give to people. More specifically, they give to people who are listening to them and are able to identify needs that touch the donor’s heart.

Spend your time over the next few weeks outlining actionable steps you can take to know your donors better in 2015 than you did in 2014. Better relationships with your donors will always translate into more money for your charity or cause.

Set goals based upon your actual results from 2015. While we all hope that lighting will strike, you have to be realistic. Here are a few New Year’s guidelines for goal setting and planning that will make a HUGE difference on your bottom line in 2015:

1. NEWSLETTER.

Plan for increases of 3 to 5% – with 6 to 10 issues a year. First and foremost, make sure that everyone, regardless of suppression code, gets your newsletter. If you do not produce a newsletter, start one immediately! In addition, your newsletter should include a “lead letter” that focuses on a need presented in the newsletter and makes a “soft ask” for support. And yes, your newsletter package should have a reply device and reply envelope.

2. DIRECT RESPONSE.

Plan for increases of 7 to 10% – with 14 to 16 appeals a year. This would be for all of your direct response channels, such as direct mail, telemarketing and digital strategies using your website and social media, do not expect to see gains bigger than 10 percent. Of course, this is contingent upon your attrition rate and the amount you are spending on acquisition in these channels to offset attrition. If you do not do enough new donor acquisition spending, only one thing is certain in direct response fundraising… attrition.

3. MIDDLE DONORS.

Plan for increases of 10 to 12% – with 10 to 12 appeals a year. Middle donors are donors who began giving to your organization through direct response, but through systematic cultivation, volunteering and event participation have increased their giving past the $100 threshold. Middle donor definitions vary by industry but it can range anywhere from $100 to $5,000. Personally, I like targeting $100 to $999 as the middle donor sweet spot and begin treating any donor with a single gift of $1,000 or more as a major donor. It is critical that you begin encouraging middle donor giving through clubs or giving level recognition. While it is not a driver to get them to give more, it is a tool that keeps them from giving less and renewing more frequently. The communications needs to be different for your middle donors than your standard direct response donors. It should be consistent in the same style and tone from one month to the next. Do not go back and forth between regular donor communications and middle donor communications. Always have a “high value” copy version for your middle donors and major donor prospects.

4. MAJOR DONORS.

Plan for increases of 15 to 20% – with at least 6 appeals a year with 4 of the six dropping in 4th quarter. All communications need to be in a “one-to-one” format. Nothing which appears to be mass produced (excluding the newsletter, of course) should be sent to these VIP’s. What does this mean? Real hand addressed letters, actual overnight letters by FedEx or UPS, box packages with appreciation gifts (sometimes called dimensional mail), hand addressed post notes, paper clips, and real photos – even framed. Yes, this is going to cost more per piece. These types of packages can run anywhere from $3 to $5 per piece, but the ROI is HUGE. We have seen response rates as high as 40% and average gifts of over $1,000. Treating your top 100 to 500 donors special is worth the investment. Remember, in researching your top prospects that you are looking for not only wealth, but philanthropic intent. Do they have a history of giving you large donations? Do they have a record of giving to other charities major gifts? Philanthropic intent the key to increasing major donor giving. Do your research. The information is available through wealth overlays and donation recognition to identify and rank you donors from 1 to 100, 250, or 500+. Rank you donors and begin meeting with your best prospects first. Finally, have a moves management plan for each individual target. I encourage folks to have a plan with timeline for each individual donor. Here is a sample of what I have used: Individual Donor Plan – Quadrant Analysis Template. Don’t be afraid to personalize it to your preference, but use it in 2015.

5. PLANNED GIFTS.

Plan for increases of 20 to 25% – with 2 to 4 appeals a year. Fund raisers should seize the opportunity in 2015 to talk to donors who are probably losing faith in their financial advisers. Trust me when I tell you that estate planning support from not-for-profits is going to explode this year! Donors will work with charities they trust. I suggest a lead generation campaign that takes advantage of when tax savings are top of mind for donors: March – April and Nov – December. A letter or two during these windows will generate a lot of interest. A simple reply device to request a “free” retirement planning information will produce great results. Remember, you are targeting people who are between the ages of 60 to 80. The sweet spot is around 70 years old. If you have not done an age append on your donor file, do it. Finally, remember you are looking for people who have written the most number of checks. Frequency of giving is critical to determining the likelihood that the donor will make a planned gift or name you in their will. You are not looking for BIG check writers or major donors. You are looking for people who are likely between 65 and 75 years of age who have written 10, 25 or 50 or more checks.

October 5, 2014 by royjones Leave a Comment

Up The Creek Without a “strategy”?

Does your charity have a FUNDRAISING STRATEGY?

I am often surprised talking to nonprofits at how many fundraisers are just begging without any real plan. One thing is for certain, I didn’t get into this business just to be a beggar. Your charity needs a fundraising strategy that is clearly understood by both your benefactors and recipients of services.

Your strategy should identify your charity’s goals and the resources, timeline and gift table for accomplishing your objectives. Also, understand that once you spell out your fundraising strategy, you will be regularly redefining and adjusting it based upon both your needs and resources at hand. A successful nonprofit will often have a 5-year strategy plan and adjust it annually, some adjust quarterly.

The process of developing a strategy is a healthy one for most charities. It begins with a strategic narrative that fundraising pros call a “case for support”. This document outlines the overarching goals of the nonprofit and, most importantly, how the charity’s activities will impact both the people they serve and the individuals who support them financially. CASE. This document should be fairly brief, only 4 or 5 pages, and clearly communicate to supporters why funds are needed and how funds will be spent. The case for support is not a vision statement. However, it should be based upon both the organization’s vision and mission statements. (I caution charities not to overthink the case for support. I have seen some charities delay actual fundraising while the group’s board and senior leaders spend months, sometimes years, writing a case for support.)

RESOURCES. After your case statement you must get very specific about the resources you must have to accomplish your objectives. Identifying your resource needs is critical. It must not only include the funds you need to accomplish your mission, but it should also include costs for infrastructure and overhead for staff, equipment, software, databases, website and all your communication channels like mail, email, radio, TV, print and many others.

GIFT TABLE. Once you know how much money you need each year, you have to identify both how many donors you need and the amount at each giving level. We often refer to this process as the gift table. A gift table should be based upon the number of prospects already on your donors file, not simple cold names in your community. I like to call this process “rungs on a ladder”. However, many work it into the traditional donor pyramid of giving. Here is an example of what the table should look like:

PROSPECTS. Knowing who your best prospects is an important element of a fundraising strategy, as it enables you to target your efforts effectively. You may want to categorize your prospects (e.g., individuals, trusts and foundations, corporations). I also encourage folks to spend 80 to 90 percent of their time with people who have already given to their charity. Prospecting outside your data base is very heavy lifting. Remember, most major donors begin by giving a small gift to your charity. They upgrade their giving as the build trust in you and see firsthand the kind of impact you are having.

You need to establish criteria against which you can measure progress. This should be done in consultation with colleagues and should represent realistic expectations based on what can be achieved with the resources available and in the time scales the income is required.

The prospects you call on should fit the model we call SMART: specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timed. Targets tend to be predominantly financial; but in the early life of a donor, it can be much more instructive to measure activity rather than income. Non-financial targets might include things such as increasing the number volunteer days the support participates in; the number of foundations she helps in your community; the number of supporters he has recruited for your organization.

My friend and mentor, Dr. Ronald Godwin, Provost at Liberty University, used to have a plaque on his door that simply read, show me the numbers. Ron knew the importance of measurements, most importantly, measuring activity. I’ve heard him say a dozen times over the years, “What gets done is what gets measured.” Make sure your fundraising strategy is not some pie-in-sky grand statement. It needs to be measurable and measured in dollars and cents… “Show me the numbers!”

September 25, 2014 by royjones Leave a Comment

“New, New” Donors Drive Growth and Revenue

You read it right… I said “New New Donors”.

Professional fund development executives for decades have known the importance of NEW donors. Charities without a new donor acquisition budget are doomed to fail.

Of the more that 2 million charities registered with the Internal Revenue Service, more than 272,000 shut their doors last year and the key reason was that they did not have an acquisition program for acquiring new donors.

People who start charities assume that all the donors they have each year will just automatically “re-up” the following year and growth will happen by word of mouth alone. Nothing could be further from the truth, every charity has an attrition rate – the number of donors who gave in a previous year, but not the current year.

A good development pro knows to first look at the attrition rate, determining how many donors lapsed in their giving. This formula will then tell her how many new donors they need to acquire this year in order to: (1) stay the same size by simply replacing attrition and (2) grow organizational revenue by exceeding the attrition number with more new donors.

Organizations who do not have a line item in their budget for for new donor acquisition are doomed to fail… there is a cost to acquire a new donor! However, remember, over the next year and ultimately over the next five years, new donors will pay for themselves and net huge income for your charity.

Now, back to the “New New” donor…

For years direct response has driven new donor acquisition efforts either in the form of direct mail for the average charity or DRTV (televised infomercials) for the BIG charities. However, today, the internet is playing a unique role in acquiring and renewing new donors.

Charities are seeing that donors who respond to search engine markeing on line and then are cross-channel marketed through direct mail are 3 to 5 times more valuable to the organization. Even more amazing, the opposite is true. Donors who were acquired by direct mail dramatically increase the amount they give per year if they respond on line.

The “New-New” donor is the person who gives in multiple channels to their favorite charities. They give higher average gifts and more frequently. Getting donors to give in mulitple channels is a critical new benchmark for increasing long term donor value and reducing attrition.

Multi-channel giving happens organically with your best donors. If you don’t believe me look at your top 10 individual givers… I’d be shocked if your best donors give by mail once or twice; on line a time or two and at an event or by white mail.

What is new is using cross-marketing techniques to get your best donors to begin giving in multiple channels. Charities who are on top of technology are getting on line acquired donors to give in the mail and encouraging mail acquired donors to give on line. Of course, both groups at pushed to attend events, volunteer and recruit their peers.

Cross-channel fundraising is the key to integration. I challenge you to go find some “New-New” donors.

September 8, 2014 by royjones Leave a Comment

RFM Plus… The HOT New Way To Create MORE GIFTS!

When I visit with charities across the country each week I get the opportunity to see what is HOT and what is NOT. Over the last 18 months a new strategy is emerging among the best non-profits that is giving development pros a new view from the donors perspective. It embraces a 360 degree experience that helps rank and target the best people for appeals and campaigns. It bases the selection for an upcoming appeal more upon the recent “touchpoints” with the organization rather than just using transactional donation dates and amounts.

I like to call this process for segmentation “RFM PLUS”. Make no mistake about it, traditional RFM (recency, frequency and monetary amount) are a key driver of picking your best prospects for the next gift, but when mixing in the donors “non-giving” activity you come up with a HOT list that will boost results.

Let me give you just a few examples of what I am talking about.

Overlaying RFM with events at the charity is key. If you had a choice to mail an appeal to a donor who gave six months ago (and that is the only contact with the charity) versus a donor who gave a year ago, but who had just volunteered on Saturday, went on your website and attended the fundraising banquet last month. Who would you pick?

Let say you had a donor who gave last year, but they have just organized a group of people from their work to volunteer on Saturday at your charity. A “lapsed donor” like this might be ignored in your next appeal, but because of their recent volunteer activity they should be placed at the top of your appeal list.

Cross channel marketing is also important. You should begin looking at your donors’ cross channel activity. Which donors have given in the mail, on line and at an event? As development professionals look at donor relationships in this 360 degree way they are seeing an amazing fact: donors who give in multiple channels are giving 3 to 5 times more money than single channel donors.

The smartest charities today are deploying strategies to encourage donors to give in multiple channels. Email donors are being mailed and mail donors are being encouraged to visit the website. Of course, both are being pushed to attend events and volunteer.

The challenge most charities face today is working with database providers and software companies that will capture and integrate all the donors’ touchpoints, not just gift transactions.

If your charity is not capturing volunteer activities, website visits and event attendance you are going to be far behind the integration marketing train. Far worse, you are leaving money on the table NOW by not integrating and recording in the database volunteer and event activities.

RFM PLUS… is not just a wave of the future. It is happening right now. Don’t get left behind.

July 23, 2014 by royjones Leave a Comment

Do you have an annual plan for measuring CHANNEL INTEGRATION?

Direct marketing today messages focus on the donors’ data, giving history and areas of interest to tailor communications to each individual or groups of groups who share particular interests. Annual planning for channel integration creates communications to actionable segments designed to predict and produce specific results. These results are based upon pre- and post-campaign analytics and measurement analysis.

ARE YOU COUNTING ALL THE MONEY ON THE TABLE?
Channel integration requires that a complete history be kept on every donor in your database that allows you to set objectives for future performance and results. Fundraising pros, the time has come to stop siloing your reporting and begin looking at the entire picture of your donors experience.

Steve Jobs said: “You have to start with the customer experience and work backwards to the technology.”

Based on my analysis of more than 70 charities over the last five years, we know that supporters who participate in more than one channel, engage in more than one activity tend to be much more valuable. Donors give as much as 3-4 times (yes, that’s right more than 300%) more than those who don’t. Multi-channel donors are more likely to move to other channels/offers. They have a higher retention rate than others. Multi-channel donors are for all intents and purposes an organization’s biggest fans and loyalists.

Understand that your donors no longer look at their giving by the channel in which they were contacted. A donor is just as likely to go on line to “transact” their donation after receiving a “snail mail” letter as they are returning the pre-printed BRE or CRE. Some studies now document as much as 80% of all on line gifts are driven there from good old fashion direct mail. Use a “match back” report every month to properly attribute on line gifts that are driven to the web by your appeal. Create an WEB segment for every appeal you do. You will find that some appeals, often those with a hard deadline, drive more gifts to your on line giving page.

As importantly, don’t forget that the larger the gift the more likely it is that a donor will use their own envelope and stamp. Even donors who give just above the $100 range are more likely to use their own envelope. Why? They often summize that pre-printed reply devices or on line forms go to a processing center first. They want to make sure the the CEO actually opens their envelop to see their BIG gift personally. The industry commonly refers to this income as “white mail” because the donors envelopes are usually just plain, white. Every appeal you do should have a segment to measure how much white mail the campaign generated. Some folks struggle with attribution of white mail. However, the solution is simple. Use a “match back” each month to compare those who received an appeal based upon the in home date or email open date, if they gave after receiving of the appeal credit the donation to that appeal.

Remember, too, that some of your best donors only ever use the reply envelope that you include in your thank you receipt mail. Yes, it is true! Every file I have ever conducted an audit on have a small cadre of donors who only use the envelopes in their receipt mail. Why? The conclusion donors tell me is that they appreciate being thanked. Most donor service departments will tell you that so often donors will get a mailing or email and they send their donation in to the charity in the reply envelope that was sent to them in their last thank you/receipt letter. It is not unusually to see gift receipt reply envelopes being used that are several years old. Make no mistake about it, while donors all say they do not want to be thanked… they all lie! Once again, use a “match back” each month to compare those who received an appeal based upon the in home date or email open date, if they gave using the receipt reply or receipt envelope credit the donation to the main appeal. Many charities even code their receipt envelopes so they can properly attribute the original appeal that sparked the second donation.

Receipt mail, if done properly, can create a significant additional revenue stream for your charity. I have tested response times and second gifts from thank you letters, and trust me, there is a direct correlation between the two. If your thank you receipt is sent to the donor within 48 hours, 25% will send a second gift (if you include a reply envelop and a unique, personalized thank you). If you delay sending the thank you 72 hours the response rate drops to 10% and if you wait 7 to 10 days the response rate drops to 5% and if it take you 10 to 14 days or more… you will not see a measurable impact of second gifts to your appeal.

Make sure that you change the copy every month of your receipt/thank you letter. Also, always use first class postage. Hold them mail to batch for automation rates is a HUGE mistake.

Take some time this week to retool your reporting, create an annual plan for integration. What are you doing to drive donors to give in more than one channel? What are you doing to measure their responses correctly? Are you counting all the money on the table?

The 5 Best Tips in 2015 for Boosting Donations

Up The Creek Without a “strategy”?

“New, New” Donors Drive Growth and Revenue

RFM Plus… The HOT New Way To Create MORE GIFTS!

Do you have an annual plan for measuring CHANNEL INTEGRATION?

Steve Jobs said: “You have to start with the customer experience and work backwards to the technology.”

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