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June 22, 2017 by royjones Leave a Comment

Footprint Donors…


I traveled to a major city recently and met with a man who had given $25 million to charity over the last decade. The amazing thing was that he is in his 80’s and still working everyday. As a matter of fact he travels to China every month to oversee one of his new manufacturing companies. It seemed that the older he got the more he worked.

Over dinner I thanked him for his support, for his tenacious hard work and most importantly, his special heart. Then I pivoted to listen, by asking him one simple question, “Why?”

Why would a man in his mid-80’s keep working so hard, continue traveling and consistently logging in many 60+ hour work weeks?

Why had he not retired, sold his company, slowed down and just managed investments?

He paused and with a steeled resolve he explained…

“Footprints…”

I interjected, “Oh, you mean like that Jesus poster I’ve seen; one set of footprints when things get tough because Christ is carrying you?”

He laughed and said, “You don’t get it.”

“You see, when you get to my stage in life you begin thinking about your how little time you have and what you do with it,” he continued. “It is not about what you keep, but what you can give away… It is not about how much money you make, but how much you can invest that can keep impacting the world after your time is up… you have to leave some footprints. I want to see my footprints all over the face of this planet before my time is done.”

This man refuse to retire today. Why? So he can expand his impact on the world! He continues to earn so he can expand his impact footprint.

I walked away with a deep respect for this man.  He had made such an impression on me.  When he could have been retired like most of his peers, in the 4th quarter of his life, he has decided instead to “leave a few more footprints”. I had to ask myself how many other “footprint donors” were on my file. How many people are there who view themselves as vehicle to pass resources through in order to build a legacy… a footprint on the planet before they leave?

When working with “footprint” donor it is critical to have your offer or case for support defined and the ask spelled out in writing. They are not just looking for their name slapped on a building. They want to know what impact the building is going to have… how many people the building will serve… how many lives will be impacted.

They want to see the lives impacted. The want to hear stories of lives changed forever… enabling children to return to school, empowering a parent to work again and contribute to the success of their communities.

Author Patrick Renn may have said it best in his book, Finding Your Money’s Greater Purpose, saying:

“Each of us, through our contributions as volunteers and benefactors, holds the power to change the course of society for the better. We can leave our mark on this world with the time and resources that we dedicate to others. That is what becomes our legacy.”

“Footprint donors” are looking to leave a mark on this planet that is distinctly part of their legacy.

Filed Under: major donor, major gifts Tagged With: major donor, major donor plan, major donors, major gifts, Roy C Jones, Roy Jones, Roy Jones Reports, RoyJones.org

June 21, 2016 by royjones Leave a Comment

10 MUST DO RULES TO THANK YOUR DONORS

The amount and timing of your next gift is directly connected to the way you say “Thank You.”

Rule #1: Thank Donors Faster.  You can never thank a donor too much or too fast!  I’ve encouraged charities to stop batching thank you receipts for the postal discount.  They are always shocked when I tell them to spend more money to get their thank you’s out immediately.  Last year I visited 73 different charities, as a matter of fact over the last three year’s I’ve visited more than 300 non-profits and more than half were doing it wrong.

Use a first class stamp and a lasered letter to get the initial receipt in the mail faster.  Always, always, always enclose a reply envelope.  Do not use a reply for gifts over $1000.  Do not make an additional ask in the thank you. Just add an extra envelope that is coded so your staff will know it is a “thank you receipt donation.”   Some charities will just have a letter code, small dot, or a small sticker on the flap side so you’ll know the envelope is from a thank you receipt. Thank you receipt income is often an additional revenue stream for a charity, boosting overall income by 10 to 20 percent.

Don’t batch your initial receipt for the President to hand sign. (The president can do an additional thank you note or letter.)  Getting receipts out FAST is more important than getting receipts perfect.  The faster the turnaround of your thank you and acknowledgement letter, the more likely it is that a donor will send a second gift.  Yes, a donation from the thank you letter.  I’ve personally tracked it and have had dozens of clients measure the impact of “speed to receipt” over the years.

Charity leaders are often shocked that as many as 20% (yes, 1 out of 5) of all donors will send a second gift if thanked within 24 hours.  The second check is usually smaller than the initial donation, but it adds up fast.  However, if you wait 72 hours the response rate drops to 10%… wait a week and it drops to 5%… wait two weeks and there is no measurable lift in giving at all.

Rule #2: You Cannot Thank A Donor Too Much!  Additional thank you notes for a single gift are critical to building friendship and trust with your financial partners.  Set up parameters based upon gift amount and assign specific people in your organization to call, email and send hand written notes.  I have seen great charities thank donors 5, 6 or 7 times for a single key gift.  Here are six examples of how to thank a donor for the same gift:

  • Official thank you receipt within 24 hours
  • Handwritten note by the president
  • A phone call from the VP of Development
  • Handwritten note from a board member
  • An emailed Impact report of the gift from a program director with a testimony
  • A hand made card or coloring page from a child helped by the program

Remember, donors and especially major gift partners are looking for you to demonstrate return on investment or impact. Big givers do not make donations, they make investments. They want to see return on investment or impact from their giving.

Rule #3: Use Social Media and Your Website. Pick a “friend of the day” and recognize them on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and on your website. Develop a stewardship section on your website which can appeal to both one-time donors and recurring donors. Posting a message on your website that promotes thankfulness creates a culture of giving and stewardship for your staff, volunteers and donors.

Rule #4: Celebrate Every NEW Donor.  Don’t be afraid to go over the top with your new donors.  A welcome package should both educate and celebrate your new donors decision to partner with your organization. A welcome package should be more than a letter.  I like welcome kits that involve the donor with surveys or “bounce back” (cards and notes which can be used by your charity and those that you care for). Connecting your new donor to the mission of your group is critical.  Put a new donor to work by giving them cards to sign and send back or prayer & care cards to return.

These kinds of items connect your donor to the mission of your organization. Of course, there is nothing wrong with a small gift or something special for the donor to keep.  Be careful that your welcome package is not just chocked full of facts and figures… and always enclose a reply envelope without an “ask” for a gift.

Here Are My “Quick Six” Thank You Ideas:

#5: Stand Up Videos From the Field.  Every day (or at least once a week) pick 10 donors from the day before and use your iPhone to record a video thanking the donor by name with you standing in the middle of some of the great work you do.  15 to 30 second “stand ups” of you thanking the donor by name, surrounded by the people you serve,  will mean so much to the donor. IT DOES NOT NEED TO BE EDITED… no background music, no banner copy, no toll free numbers.  The grittier the video is the better.  You will be amazed at the impact this has on the donor and as importantly, you will be blown away by the impact it will have on your organization.  Everyone will want to get in on the video to thank the donor.  It creates a real “culture of philanthropy” for your co-workers and the people you serve when they see you taking the time every day to thank 5 or 10 donors.

#6: Create a Stewardship Treatment.  Everyone on your staff should know how we are going to thank donors based upon giving level.  It is critical to creating a culture of philanthropy for your charity.  Spell out clearly how what you’ll do for donors who give at various levels, for instance, $1 to $99, $100 to $499, $500 to $999, $1,000 to $4,999, $5,000 to $9,999, $10,000+.

#7: Birthdays and Anniversaries. Send a personalized, hand signed, birthday cards and wedding anniversary cards to your middle and major donors.  Any donor giving you $1,000 or more a year should get this kind of attention.  Do not print them on fancy, formal logo’d stock.  Donors will think it is just a mass mailing program if it looks too slick.  Instead, use a Hallmark or store bought card. You can drop in your business card. Always hand sign each card with a unique message from one year to the next.

#9: Anniversary Card for Joining the Charity. Recognize donor loyalty on the date that they made their initial gift, especially those that currently give more than $1,000 a year to your charity.  Make this card as special as you can.  In addition, send them a certificate or a gift for special benchmarks at 5 years, 10 years,15 years, and 20 years of giving.

#10: Use Photo Books and Personalized Giving Pages.  Your biggest donors should be reminded of the impact they are having on your organization. Creating a photo book or personalized web page for major donors that are customized with photos of the donor and the project they support financially.  As importantly, stage photos with those that were helped holding thank you cards or signs naming the donor by name.  ShutterFly, SnapFish and Mixbook are great on line resources, but a lot of companies have moved into the personalized book space.  Walmart, Walgreens and even CVS can publish photo books for you.  Remember, the older your donor is the more likely it is they will appreciate the paper version over a digital one.  But trust me, even young people and young families enjoy the paper version.

Conclusion

Building a culture of philanthropy begins by saying thank you.  Remember that saying thank you, if done the right way, can impact your organization as much as it does the donor. And don’t forget, the amount and timing of the next gift of the donor is directly connected to the way you say thank you!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: fundraising plan, major donor, major gifts, major giving plan, Roy C Jones, Roy Jones, Roy Jones Reports

May 5, 2012 by royjones Leave a Comment

Major Gifts and Painting Porches

Roy C. Jones, CFRE

As I boarded a plane a few weeks back, headed home to Los Angeles, I was going through my routine…  stowing my lap top under the seat in front of me, neatly folding my jacket in the overhead bin, and most importantly, putting on my headset and dialing in my Ipod with my favorite blues artists for 4 hours music for the ride home… when suddenly I heard a familiar voice across the isle, “How are you doing Roy?”

It was Rusty, a former co-worker of mine, who had always been our top producing major gift officer.  He had one of those deep voices you never forget and was nearly 6’5″ tall and nearly 300 pounds.  This was a big man, who even by today’s standard could have gone toe to toe with almost anybody in the NFL.

It always blew my mind that Big Rusty could show up at a strangers door and before you know it, not only would he be invited in, but he usually left with a donation for the nonprofit organization we worked for.  This big, mountain of a man, succeeded because his heart was bigger than his stature.

As we chitchatted about old friends and family, I finally asked him why he was headed to Los Angeles.  Of course, the answer did not surprise me.  One of his “friends” had been in an accident and broken his hip and Rusty was headed there to spend a few weeks with him to help out around the house while he recuperated.  When he told me the man’s name, I knew that it was one of his assigned donors.

It struck me that Rusty did not call him “his donor” or “his prospect” or “his assignment”… It truly was his friend.  When Rusty told me the man’s name, I recognized it immediately.  He had already donated to the ministry a 7-figure gift and I knew that Rusty had helped him many years ago with his planned giving too.

Knowing Rusty and the donor, it did NOT strike me odd at all that instead of calling family or hiring a convalescent nurse, this donor simply called his friend Rusty.  He trusted Rusty.  He was a man who began their relationship as his “donation advisor”.  Rusty was the man’s eyes and ears inside the ministry.  When he made a gift, regardless of the amount, Rusty reported how every penny was spent.  This dear man not only trusted Rusty with his money, now he truly trusted him with his life.

Rusty is a living example of lessons we had both learned the hard way over many years… if you want to receive large sums of money from people for your charity, your relationships should NOT be based upon the money.  It sounds counter-intuitive, but if you want to raise large sums of money, your donor has to believe that your friendship is not about the money.  It is just that simple.

As Rusty and I reminisced  about his old friend it brought back so many memories and the types of things we would do to help our friends supporting the ministry.  I remember meeting with donors and simply asking the question, “what are your plans today?”  The next thing I knew I was taking Mrs. Smith to the grocery store or taking Mr. Johnson to the bank.  I remember on two or three occasions my co-workers (fellow major gift officers) telling me they had even fixed a door hinge and rehung shutters.   (Of course, with my mechanical and carpentry skills, this would not work for me.  You have to know your limitations.)

Another story that always touched my heart was from another co-worker of mine and Rusty’s.  When we called the major gift officer to check on how his visit went with the donor, a dear older lady answered the phone.  She said that “her friend was helping her paint the front porch right now and could he call me back in an our our so?”

True major gift work is not about techniques and closing ratios.  It is not just about how many people you talk to and how much you should ask for.  Major gift development is about ministering to other people.  It is the truest form of stewardship.

I met with the executive director of a charity in North Carolina a few weeks ago, who may have said it best:  “I spend a third of my day loving on those our charity serves, the homeless.  I spend a third of my day loving on our staff and volunteers.  And I spend a third of my day loving on our donors…”

Who are you “loving on” today… make sure you spend time loving and caring for your donors.   It is at the heart of every successful major gift fundraiser.

Filed Under: fundraising, major donor, major donor; fundraising;, major gifts, Uncategorized Tagged With: development, Fund development, fundraising, major donor, major donor; fundraising;, major donors, major gifts, planned giving, Roy C Jones, Roy Jones

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The New Normal for Year End Giving…

December has changed for most non-profits, we have just experienced the biggest decline for a December in more than a decade. Volatile stock markets at year end; combined with expensive, divisive political campaigns and new tax implications from one year to the next are forcing most non-profits to rethink the giving calendar. Is this the new normal?

Footprint Donors…

I traveled to a major city recently and met with a man who had given $25 million to charity over the last decade. The amazing thing was that he is in his 80’s and still working everyday. As a matter of fact he travels to China every month to oversee one of his new manufacturing […]

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Roy Jones has more than 30 years of relationship building, coalition development, marketing and fundraising experience. He is recognized professionally as one of the top relationship managers in the country.
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  • The New Normal for Year End Giving…
  • Six Fundraising Steps for Planning Your New Year
  • The Most Wonderful Time of Year
  • Is Your Charity About To Be Hit By A Hurricane?
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  • Do You Have A Heart For DONORS?

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