Author: Ann Green

Accounting Reports: Understanding 3 Nonprofit Statements

Ann Green accounting, planning ,

Accounting reports help you draw valuable insights about your organization’s finances. Learn more about these three key statements and what they’re used for.

By Jon Osterburg 

When your nonprofit compiles your annual/impact report at the end of the year, you include some information about your fundraising revenue and other financial information. This transparency helps build stronger relationships with your donors who want to be sure you’re using their contributions in an ethical and effective way. 

However, throughout the year, your nonprofit pulls several additional internal reports that also serve that same purpose: ensuring your organization is using finances effectively and efficiently to support your cause. 

Effective financial management requires your nonprofit to keep an eye on how your nonprofit earns, manages, and allocates its funding. 

The reports you create internally will help you analyze your own financial performance, ensure effective management, and draw conclusions that you can use to continually improve and grow. In this guide, we’ll cover which financial statements will help your organization to: 

  1. Review and categorize revenue and expenses. 
  2. See how cash flows in and out of your nonprofit. 
  3. Measure the health of your nonprofit.

When you have effective financial management throughout the entire year, your nonprofit will be better suited to report back to your supporters with strong financial information in your annual/impact report. Let’s dive in. 

1. Review and categorize revenue and expenses. 

You should never feel like your finances are getting away from you. By planning out your finances ahead of time in an effective budget, you’ll be better prepared to fund your various programs and spend the money necessary to create impactful fundraising campaigns. 

However, after the financial planning stage is done, your organization needs a way to review your progress, ensuring your revenue and expenses throughout the year are in line with your organization’s overarching budget. 

If your spending is significantly under budget, it might be a great opportunity to provide expansion opportunities like event discounts to entice new supporters to get involved. If your spending is over budget, it might be time to cut back on some expenses to get back on track or to look for new ways to secure additional funding. 

Whatever you choose to do, be sure it helps maximize your organization’s activities and keeps you on track. Failing to accurately track your revenue and expenses can lead to unexplained expenses and waste, which you never want to report back to your supporters. You’d rather show them all your accomplishments in your annual/impact report. 

The statement you’ll use to review and categorize your revenue and expenses will be your nonprofit statement of activities. 

Statement of Activities

Your nonprofit statement of activities provides a detailed view of your revenue and expenses. This important report is split into two sections: 

  • Revenue: This section is further divided into the sources of revenue your organization received. This may include the following:
  • Expenses: Your expenses are generally broken down into three main categories. These categories also happen to be the same ones used on your nonprofit’s annual Form 990, making this a great resource while you file. The categories include:
    • Program services
    • General and administrative
    • Fundraising

The revenue section of this report is split into restricted and unrestricted funds so your organization can separate the two. If you have an endowment fund of $50,000 for a scholarship, you won’t be able to use that money to fund your next fundraiser. Therefore, it should be kept separate. 

At the end of this statement, you’ll see a section that shows your organization’s net assets. This too is split into restricted and unrestricted funds so your organization can see your net unrestricted assets, restricted assets, and total assets.

2. See how cash flows in and out of your nonprofit. 

Your nonprofit has regular expenses to pay. You need to pay your staff members on time, pay your bills, make rent, and continue funding your mission. However, your cash flow tends to fluctuate throughout the year. 

For example, some studies show that nonprofits bring in less than 5% of their annual fundraising revenue during July and August. While you’re not bringing as much money in, your organization still needs to keep up with your monthly expenses! After all, you never want to miss a bill payment or have to delay a paycheck to your staff members (compensation experts would cringe at the very idea).

It’s much better to have an understanding of when you’ll raise the most, when you might have some slowdowns, and when expenses may fluctuate throughout the year. That way, you can plan ahead for slowdowns. 

The accounting report that will help you keep an eye on how cash moves at your organization is your nonprofit statement of cash flows. 

Statement of Cash Flows

Your nonprofit statement of cash flows is designed to show your team how cash flows in and flows out of your organization regularly. 

This report is organized into three distinct sections, each of which shows both revenue and expenses within that category. The three sections include: 

  • Operating activities. Operating activities will include the revenue your organization receives from contracts and contributions and expenses such as employee compensation and monthly rent costs. 
  • Investing activities. Nonprofits can invest their funds! If you invest in property, equipment, or even stock, the details of these investments are included in this section. 
  • Financing activities. Any money owed on credit cards or loans should be recorded in your organization’s financing activities. 

Your nonprofit can choose to either use the direct or indirect method of reviewing your cash flows. 

The direct method tends to be more time-consuming, but also more accurate than the indirect method. It also doesn’t take appreciation or depreciation into account but uses the actual transactions made by your organization. More common is the indirect method, which uses your organization’s net income as a basis, then calculates net assets and liabilities to determine cash flows. 

3. Measure the health of your nonprofit. 

Do you know if your nonprofit is financially healthy? You might think it is, but how can you know for sure?

Financial health is important to understand with a high level of certainty because this is what you review before determining if it’s a good idea to invest in growth initiatives. If your nonprofit is healthy and in a good financial position, you might decide to: 

Meanwhile, if you find that your organization is in a less healthy spot, you might instead decide to cut back on expenses where possible and consider new and efficient ways to increase your revenue. 

No matter the outcome, you’ll take action depending on the financial health that is clearly defined and determined based on hard metrics. The report you’ll use to accurately reflect on the financial health of your nonprofit is your statement of financial position. 

Statement of Financial Position

Your nonprofit’s statement of financial position lists your organization’s assets, liabilities, and net assets in a single document for your organization to review. 

Your organization’s assets will include line items like: 

  • Cash on hand
  • Accounts receivable
  • Property and investments
  • Prepaid expenses

These assets are listed in the order of most liquid to least liquid. For example, your organization’s cash is the most liquid, so it’s usually listed first in this section of the report. Property and investments are less liquid, so they would fall later in this section.

Your organization’s liabilities will include line items like: 

  • Accounts payable
  • Debt
  • Other expenses

Similar to your statement of activities, this document is also listed by restricted and unrestricted assets. Therefore, you can calculate things like your net assets with and without restrictions (usually located at the bottom of the report). 

You can also use the metrics in this report to pull other information such as your organization’s months of cash on hand and months of unrestricted net assets. These show you how many months of expenses your organization has covered given your assets. 

Your statement of financial position is a helpful document to develop presentations for stakeholders and board members because it can help you build a case for growth and expansion in your organization’s strategic plan. 

When your nonprofit has a concrete understanding of how you’re using your financial resources, you can communicate that information back to your supporters and increase their trust in your organization. While these three core accounting reports will be used internally, they can help you provide material for your annual/impact report and help your nonprofit reach new heights. 

Jon Osterburg has spent the last nine years helping more than 100 nonprofits around the world with their finances as a leader at Jitasa, an accounting firm that offers bookkeeping and accounting services to nonprofit organizations.

The Importance of Ask, Thank, Report

Ann Green appeal letters, Communications, donor retention, donor-centered, fundraising, newsletter, thank you letters , , , , , ,

You’re probably familiar with the Ask, Thank, Report formula in fundraising. If not, you should be. Organizations that follow that tend to be more successful. 

It’s also referred to as Ask, Thank, Report, Repeat, because it’s something you need to keep doing. And what’s most important is to thank and report before you ask for another donation. 

Of course, formulas are good in theory, but you can’t just go through the motions. Done well, the ask, thank, report, repeat formula can help you raise more money, build relationships, and boost your retention rate.

Asking for donations is not all or nothing

Many nonprofit organizations spend a lot of time asking and not so much on thanking and reporting.

At certain times of the year, such as GivingTuesday and year-end, nonprofits bombard donors with a bunch of generic appeals. Other organizations are skittish about asking for money. They might bury the ask in the appeal or think donors don’t want to give during a pandemic or recession (absolutely not true).

A good fundraising appeal starts with a story, followed by a clear, prominent ask. You’ll want to repeat your ask at least once more in the appeal.

Your fundraising appeal shouldn’t be focused too much on your organization – rambling on about how great you are. Your organization may be great, but let your donors figure that out. Your donors are the ones who are great, and they want to hear how they can help you make a difference for your clients/community.

Segment your appeal to the appropriate audience. Thank past donors or reference your relationship to a potential donor. Maybe they’re event attendees, volunteers, or friends of board members.

Address your appeal to a person and not Dear Friend.

Don’t use jargon or other language your donors won’t understand. Instead of saying we’re helping at-risk youth, say something like – With your support, our tutoring program can help more students graduate from high school on time. 

Your appeal should make people feel good about donating to your organization.

You can and should also thank and update/report back to your donors in your appeal.

Thanking your donors means thanking your donors

Your thank you letters/emails/handwritten notes need to be all about thanking your donors. Sounds obvious, right, but many thank you letters don’t do a great job of saying thank you.

First, your thank you letter (or better yet, a handwritten note) needs to open with something like You’re amazing! or Thanks to You! and not On behalf of X organization.

It shouldn’t come across as transactional and resemble a receipt. This is one of my biggest pet peeves. Yes, you need to acknowledge the donation is tax-deductible, etc, but most donors are more concerned about how their gift made a difference.

You also don’t need to explain what your organization does or ask for another gift. Remember, this is the thanking phase.

Let your donors know the impact of their gift. For example – Thanks to your generous donation of $50, a family can get a box of groceries at the Northside Community Food Pantry. This is crucial since we’re seeing more people come in due to rising food prices.

Address your thank you letter to a person and not Dear Friend.

Recognize each donor. Is this the first time someone has donated? If someone donated before, did she increase her gift? Acknowledge this in your letter/note.

Keep your donors updated

The most common way to report back or update donors is a newsletter. These can be print, electronic, or a combination of both. You should definitely thank your donors in your newsletters and other updates. You can also ask for a donation. Many organizations put a donation envelope in their print newsletter and it’s a good way to raise additional revenue. It’s less successful in an e-newsletter. If you include too many calls to action in an email message, sometimes donors don’t respond to any of them. Also, if you do include an ask in your newsletter, make sure some of your other updates don’t include a donation request.

Your newsletter shouldn’t sound self-promotional and focus on all the wonderful things your organization is doing.  Donors want to see the impact of their gift, not hear you brag. Share at least one story. Client stories are best. Use phrases like Because of you and Thanks to donors like you. In addition, include engaging photos and other content your donors would like to see.

Another way to update your donors is with an impact report. I like that term better than annual report. You can also do one of these more than once a year. Shorter, more frequent updates are better than one of those long, boring traditional annual reports. Be sure to focus on how your donors helped you make a difference and don’t ask for a donation in your impact report. 

Something else you can do is to send a Donor Care Letter. It’s a way to share updates without putting together an actual newsletter. You can and should also send frequent updates by email and social media.

Repeat this throughout the year

Be sure to follow the ask, thank, report formula throughout the year. Most likely, you’ll need to do more thanking and reporting than you’re doing right now. Try to stay in touch with your donors at least once a month.  A communications calendar can help you with this.

Remember, the ask, thank, report formula should help you raise more money, build relationships, and boost your retention rate. The Better Fundraising Co. refers to this as the Virtuous Circle.

Transform Your Annual Report Into an Impact or Gratitude Report

Ann Green Communications, donor engagement, donor-centered, gratitude, impact report, planning, stories, writing , , , , , ,

Annual reports get a bad rap in the nonprofit world. Many of them are long, boring bragfests with little appreciation for donors. They also require a lot of time and effort from staff and there’s no guarantee your donors will even look at them. 

What do you do? Organizations need to share accomplishments and show gratitude to their donors, but is the “annual report” the way to do that? 

First, let’s stop calling it an annual report and call it an impact or gratitude report instead. Plus, sharing accomplishments and showing gratitude is something you can do more than once a year (more on that below). In this post, I will use the term impact report (but don’t forget about gratitude).

It’s possible to make this a better experience for both donors and nonprofit organizations. Here’s how.

You don’t have to do an “annual report”

Nonprofit organizations aren’t required to do an annual report. This doesn’t let you off the hook for sharing accomplishments with your donors. You could send short impact reports a couple of times a year. This makes a lot of sense if taking on a big report sounds too overwhelming. Shorter, more frequent updates are better for your donors, too.

If you decide to do a report once a year, I encourage you to move away from the traditional multi-page one. Aim for something no longer than four pages. Bigger isn’t always better.

Your impact report is for your donors

Keep your donors in mind when you create your impact report and include information you know will interest them. Also, donors have a lot going on, so that’s another reason not to create a huge report that they may or may not read.

You might want to consider different types of impact reports for different donor groups. You could send an oversized postcard with photos and infographics or a one-to-two-page report to most of your donors. Your grant and corporate funders might want more detail, but not 20 pages. See if you can impress them with no more than four pages.

Pour on the gratitude

Donors want to feel good about giving to your nonprofit. Make sure your impact report is focused on thanking donors. You could go one step further and call it a gratitude report. If you decide to do three or four short reports a year (highly recommended), make at least one of them an all-out gratitude report.

Many donors have stepped up to help during the past three years and deserve to be thanked for that. Use phrases like Thanks to you or Because of you to show appreciation to your donors for their role in helping you make a difference. 

Tell a story

Donors want to hear about the people they’re helping. You can tell a story with words, a photo, or a video. 

For example – Jenna, a single mother with three kids, has been struggling to make ends meet over the last few years. It’s been hard to find steady work and rising food costs make it difficult to afford groceries. She also wonders if she’ll have enough money to pay rent and utilities each month. 

Jenna had never gone to a food pantry before and felt ashamed to have to do that. But when she reached out to the Northside Community Food Pantry, she was treated with respect and dignity. Now, thanks to donors like you, she’s able to bring home healthy food for her family.

An engaging story is one of the most important elements of your impact report.

Address the current situations

We’re still in a pandemic and while many people are returning to some sense of normalcy, its after effects are still with us. We’re also dealing with an uncertain economy and inequality. Your donors will want you to address these situations and focus on how they’re affecting your clients/community.

How are you making a difference?

The theme of many reports is look how great we are. They’re organization-centered instead of being donor-centered and community-centered.

They also include a bunch of statistics, such as the number of clients served. You need to share specific accomplishments that show how you’re making a difference.

Focus on the why and not the what. Numbers don’t mean a lot without a story or example. For instance, Thanks to donors like you, we were able to serve more students in our tutoring program. X number of students are now getting better grades and are able to graduate from high school on time.

Make it visual

Your donors have a lot going on and won’t have much time to read your report. Engage them with some great photos, which can tell a story in an instant. Choose photos of people participating in an activity, such as volunteers working at a food pantry or a one-to-one tutoring session. Be sure to get permission if you want to use pictures of clients.

Use colorful charts or infographics to highlight your financials. This is a great way to keep it simple and easy to understand. Include some quotes and short testimonials to help break up the text.

Be sure your report is easy to read (and scan). Use at least a 12-point font and black type on a white background. A colored background may be pretty, but it makes it hard to read. You can, however, add a splash of color with headings, charts, and infographics.

Write as if you’re having a conversation with a friend

Beware of using jargon. Most of your donors don’t use words like underserved or at-risk, and neither should you. Use everyday language such as – Because of you, we found affordable housing for over 100 homeless families. Housing prices continue to skyrocket and a shelter is no place to raise a family. Now, these families have a place to call home.

Write in the second person and use a warm, friendly tone. Use you much more than we.

Skip the donor list (and the letter from your executive director)

Think twice about including a donor list in your impact report. It takes up a lot of space and there are better ways to show appreciation. If you feel you must have a donor list, you could put one on your website or just include major funders. Including a QR code directing people to your website for more detailed information is a good way to ensure a shorter report.

Also, do you need a letter from the executive director? These tend to be very organization-centered. If you must have one, put the focus on thanking your donors.

Send it by mail

Be sure to send your impact report by mail. It’s more personal and donors are more likely to see it. Don’t let costs deter you from sending something by mail. Remember, you have the option of sending short impact reports.

You could also send an electronic version a few weeks later as a follow up.

Planning is key

I know putting together a yearly impact report can be time-consuming. One way to make it easier is to set aside a time each month to make a list of accomplishments. This way you’re not going crazy at the end of the year trying to come up with a list. You can just turn to the list you’ve been working on throughout the year.

You also want to create a story and photo bank and you can draw from those when you put together your impact report.

Creating a shorter report or an infographic postcard will also help make this easier for you. Once again, you have the option of not doing a yearly impact report and sending periodic short updates instead.

Whatever you decide, put together an impact report that’s a better experience for everyone. 

Here is more information about creating a great impact report. Although some folks are still using the term “annual report,” maybe we’ll move past that at some point. 

Why You Should Stop Saying “Annual Report” (And What to Call it Instead)

Nonprofit Annual Reports: 8 Essential Tips [& Template]

Two Ways to Transform Your Annual Report from Dull to Dynamic

3 Technology Tools For Improved Nonprofit Grant Management

Ann Green database, grants, planning , ,

Are you looking for tips to elevate your grant management strategy in 2023? Explore three technology tools that can level up your grant fundraising efforts.

By Carl Diesing

Alongside moves management and capital campaigns, grant fundraising is one of the most intricate fundraising activities that a nonprofit organization will undertake.

Rooted in a foundation of strong relationships with grantmaking organizations, successful grant fundraising requires nonprofits to manage and track multiple priorities— specific application requirements, timelines, funding usage guidelines, and reporting expectations. The process is complicated for nonprofits managing a single grant, and that’s before considering that often organizations are juggling many applications and ongoing donor relationships at the same time.

In this guide, we’re going to briefly cover three popular technology tools for grant management. For an in-depth look at grant management and how these tools can assist your nonprofit, explore DNL OmniMedia’s guide on the topic.

Here are the tools we’ll review:

  • Salesforce’s foundationConnect
  • Blackbaud’s Financial Edge NXT
  • EveryAction

Whether you’ve received a foundation grant to be used for a specific project or you’ve been accepted into the ongoing Google Ad Grants program, all grants come with ongoing stipulations and reporting requirements after they’re won. Effective grant management is crucial to remain compliant, but it’s incredibly difficult to stay organized with sub-par grant management software.

The following three solutions are distinguished from the competition in the world of grant management software. 

Salesforce’s foundationConnect

Though Salesforce first emerged as a provider of corporate business solutions, the vendor ventured into the nonprofit world when it created its Nonprofit Success Pack— an overlay that configures the main Salesforce constituent relationship management solutions to be useful for philanthropic organizations. Investing in software can help your nonprofit raise more funds. 

Since then, several nonprofit-specific Salesforce Apps and overlays have emerged to further align with the specific needs of philanthropy. One example is Salesforce’s foundationConnect, a grant management system created to be useful for both grantmakers and grantees alike.

Salesforce’s foundationConnect elevates the grant management process by:

  • Giving grantmakers the tools to track grant funding through all of the major stages in the process, from receiving applications, to dispersing funds, to measuring the outcomes achieved with dispersed funds.
  • Providing applicants with a portal made specifically for grantees, in which they can not only submit completed applications but save in-progress applications while documentation is finalized.
  • Generating status reports for both grantmakers and grantees at each step in the process, so both sides can access ongoing updates as needed.

As a nonprofit, it’s unlikely that you’ll be purchasing and implementing foundationConnect for your own organization’s software lineup. Rather, you’ll interact with it if you choose to apply for a grant with a foundation that uses the system. Regardless, from the grantee’s perspective, it’s still a solution that will elevate your nonprofit’s grant management process when you encounter it.

Blackbaud’s Financial Edge NXT

Blackbaud is a highly-regarded provider in the world of nonprofit technology, with numerous constituent relationship management, marketing, and fundraising solutions available for mid-sized to enterprise organizations. Its grant management solution is called Financial Edge NXT and was created to assist grantees with post-award management once they’ve been granted funding.

To illustrate the importance of post-award management, consider the example of challenge grants.

Double the Donation’s guide to challenge grants defines them as “donations that are made to a nonprofit by a grant-making party once the nonprofit organization has successfully fulfilled a predetermined list of requirements.” Most often, these requirements revolve around raising a specific amount of funding independently before the nonprofit can receive the grant. But, that initial fundraising often has specific parameters as well— including the timeframe in which it must be raised, which types of donations are eligible, and how updates about the process need to be communicated with the grantor. Meeting the “challenge” is reliant on effective post-award management.

Challenge grants are only one example of the importance of post-award management. Most grants require dispersed funds to be used on a specific timeline and for a project or area of operations. The exact use of dispersed funds needs to be reported back to the funder on a predetermined timeline and in the reporting style of the funder’s choice.

Financial Edge NXT was created with an understanding of the complexity of post-award management and has the following functionality to make the process less harrowing for grantees:

  • Multi-Grant Management: Nonprofits that have received numerous grants, each with unique usage, reporting, and timeline requirements, can easily add each grant opportunity to the system to track and meet the requirements.
  • Detailed Records: Record the history of the grant, associated projects, usage thus far, and more within each grant record. This information can be used for your annual report.
  • Reimbursement Management: In the instance that some costs are to be reimbursed by the grantmaker, grantees can record both direct and indirect costs associated with the grant.

Because Financial Edge NXT can be used to manage numerous grants at once, it’s the ideal solution for nonprofits looking to create evergreen grant fundraising procedures. You can create processes within the system, train your team, and use the same procedures for years to come.

EveryAction

EveryAction provides a constituent relationship management solution that’s known most for its advocacy features. However, within this CRM are a number of useful major gift and grant management features to improve the process for nonprofits.

What’s most interesting about EveryAction’s CRM is that, rather than investing in an additional grant management solution, you can access the tools built-in to your CRM. This includes features such as:

  • Workflows to guide your team through identifying and researching funding opportunities prior to submitting applications.
  • The ability to track deadlines and documents from the applications through fund usage and outcomes reporting.
  • Results analysis to help your nonprofit understand areas of improvement for future campaigns.

For advocacy organizations looking to implement grant fundraising into their efforts, it’s hard to find a grant management solution better suited than EveryAction.

Bonus! Tips for Choosing the Right Grant Management Software For Your Nonprofit

We’ve discussed three different grant management tools in this guide, and there are numerous other solutions available for nonprofits. However, it’s important to recognize that not all solutions are created equal— and, when funding as significant as a grant is on the line, choosing the right solution for your specific circumstances is crucial.

To wrap up, keep the following three tips in mind when researching grant management tools for your nonprofit:

  • Partner with a consultant. A nonprofit technology consultant can examine your current software solutions alongside your grant fundraising goals and help you choose the right management software with both in mind. Further, this partner can manage grant management software implementation to ensure your team is positioned for success.
  • Integrate your grant management tools with your other solutions. Your constituent relationship management solution contains the most comprehensive view of your nonprofit’s activities, including how funds are allocated and used for different projects and expenses. An integration between your grant management solution and your CRM ensures that there is a seamless transfer of information between your nonprofit’s main database and your grant solution.
  • Create a grant management plan before funding is awarded. Don’t invest in grant management software after you’ve already won a grant. It takes time to implement new software and train your team to use it, and that time could slow down the management of your grant. Aim to fortify your grant management software and processes before you begin applying for grants, so you can reap the benefits from the start of the application process through disbursement and beyond.

Whether you choose to implement a complete grant management system or simply seek grant management-specific tools when you upgrade your CRM, the choice will be worthwhile in advancing your grant management procedures.

Carl Diesing co-founded DNL OmniMedia in 2006 and has grown the team to accommodate clients with ongoing web development projects. Together DNL OmniMedia has worked with over 100 organizations to assist them with accomplishing their online goals. As Managing Director of DNL OmniMedia, Carl works with nonprofits and their technology to foster fundraising, create awareness, cure disease, and solve social issues. Carl lives in the Hudson Valley with his wife Sarah and their two children Charlie and Evelyn.

Make Thanking Your Donors a Priority

Ann Green Communications, donor engagement, donor relations, donor-centered, planning, thank you letters , , , , ,

Everyone likes to feel appreciated and that includes your donors. In fact, thanking your donors should be a priority for your nonprofit organization. Is that the case? Often the answer is no.

Thanking your donors is not just something you do after you receive a donation and then do nothing for a while. 

Gratitude is something you need to show all year round and with Valentine’s Day coming up, that’s a great opportunity to thank your donors and show them how much you appreciate their support.

Maybe you would rather not go the Valentine’s Day route, which is understandable. But you should still do something to show appreciation this month (and every month). The holidays are over and February can be a dreary month if you live in the Northern hemisphere. Your donors could use a little pick-me-up.

This is also a good opportunity to keep in touch with the people who gave to your year-end appeal, especially first-time donors. If you haven’t shown any appreciation since your year-end appeal, you don’t want to wait much longer.

Your donors have the option to give to countless nonprofit organizations, but they chose yours. Keep this quote from Mark Phillips in mind – “They are not your donors; you are one of their charities.” Shouldn’t they get some appreciation from you?

Here are a few ways you thank your donors throughout the year.

Create a thank you photo

Make your donor’s day with a great photo like this one.

You can send thank you photos via email and social media, use one to create a card, and include one on your thank you landing page.

Make a video

Videos are a great way to connect with your donors. They’re simple, yet effective, so don’t worry if you weren’t a film major. It’s not too hard to create a video.

One idea for your video is to show a bunch of people saying thank you. You’ll want your video to be short, donor-centered, and show your organization’s work up close and personal. You can also create personalized videos, which are always a nice gesture.

Your thank you landing page is the perfect place to put a video. This is your first opportunity to say thank you and most landing pages are just boring receipts (and receipts fall short when it comes to showing gratitude). You can also put your thank you video on your website and share it by email and social media.

Send a card

A handwritten note will also brighten your donor’s day. If you don’t have the budget to send cards to everyone, send them to your most valuable donors. These may not be the ones who give you the most money. Do you have donors who have supported your organization for more than three years? How about more than five years? These are your valuable donors. Other valuable donors are the ones who have been generous since the pandemic started. Don’t take any of these donors for granted.

That said, I do think you should make every effort to send a card to ALL your donors at least once a year. You can spread it out so you mail a certain number of cards each month, ensuring all your donors get one sometime during the year. 

Many organizations don’t send thank you cards, so you’ll stand out if you do.

Share an update 

In addition to saying thank you, share a brief update on your success and challenges. Emphasize how you couldn’t have helped someone without your donor’s support. For example –Thanks to you, Kevin won’t go to bed hungry tonight. It’s been tough for his family to make ends meet right now.

Phrases like Thanks to you or Because of you should dominate your newsletters and updates.

How you can do better

Make this the year you do a better job of thanking your donors. Remember, it should be a priority.

Thank your donors right away and send a thank you note/letter or make a phone call. Electronic thank yous aren’t good enough.

Be personal and conversational when you thank your donors. Don’t use jargon or other language they won’t understand. Write from the heart, but be sincere. Give specific examples of how your donors are helping you make a difference.

Also, make sure your thank you note/letter puts gratitude front and center. You don’t need to explain what your organization does, brag, or ask for another donation. You have plenty of opportunities to ask for donations. Plain and simple, the purpose of a thank you letter is to thank your donors.

I’m a big fan of communicating by mail, even if it’s only a few times a year. It’s much more personal. Yet, many nonprofits are skittish about spending too much on mailing costs.

If your budget doesn’t allow you to mail handwritten cards, is there a way you can change that? You may be able to get a print shop to donate cards. You could also look for additional sources of unrestricted funding to cover cards and postage. Think of these as essential expenses for your essential donors.

Maybe you need a change of culture – a culture of gratitude. This comes from the top, but you also need to get your board, all staff, and volunteers invested and involved in thanking your donors. 

You can’t say thank you enough. Make a commitment to thank your donors at least once a month. Create a thank you plan to help you with this. Planning ahead and creating systems makes a difference.

Keep thinking of ways to let your donors know how much you appreciate them. You don’t even need to wait for a holiday or special occasion. Just thank your donors because they’re amazing and you wouldn’t be able to make a difference without them.

Keep reading for more information about how you can make thanking your donors a priority.

Donor Appreciation: Creating a Strategy (And 22+ Ideas!) 

Beyond the Basics: 5 Creative Ways to Thank Donors and STAND OUT

How to Write the Perfect Thank You Message for Donors

Donor Appreciation: 3 Meaningful Ways to Show Your Gratitude

Why Your Nonprofit Needs to Invest in Monthly Giving

Ann Green Communications, donor engagement, donor relations, donor retention, fundraising, monthly donors , , , , ,

Monthly giving is continuing to gain momentum and that’s always good, especially in this time of financial uncertainty. Let’s keep this up! If your organization doesn’t have a monthly/recurring giving program or it’s fairly small, now is a great time to start or grow your monthly giving.

In this post, I’ll tell you why monthly giving is so important for your nonprofit, how to start or grow your program, and how to nurture it going forward. 

Monthly giving helps you raise more money

Monthly or recurring donations can help donors spread out their gifts and it’s easier on their bank accounts. They might be apprehensive about giving a one-time gift of $50 or $100. But if you offer them the option of giving $5 or $10 a month, that may sound more reasonable. 

It can also give you a consistent stream of revenue throughout the year instead of at certain times, such as when you do individual appeals and (virtual) events and when grants come in.

Monthly gifts are smaller, but you can raise a lot of money with lots of small donations. Political candidates do it all the time. Also, monthly gifts aren’t as small as you think. The average is over $20 a month.

It can also be a more feasible way to get larger gifts. A gift of $100 a month may be more appealing to a donor than giving a large sum all at once. Even if they start with a smaller donation, monthly donors are more likely to become major donors and legacy donors.

It raises your retention rate, too

The retention rate for monthly donors is an impressive 90%. That’s significantly higher than other retention rates. 

One reason is that monthly gifts are ongoing. But your donors have agreed to that, so this shows they’re committed to your organization. 

These are long-term donors and long-term donors should always be one of your priorities.

How to get started

If you don’t already have a monthly giving program, make this the year you start one. Remember, it will help you raise more money, which is even more important during these uncertain times.

A good way to start is to invite your current donors to become monthly donors. Your best bet for monthly donors are people who’ve given at least twice. These are donors who have shown a commitment to you.

That doesn’t mean you can’t ask first-time donors. This could be a good way to connect with donors from your most recent campaign. And if you haven’t officially welcomed your new year-end donors, do that now. 

Make monthly giving the go-to option

Put monthly giving front and center in all your campaigns. It should be an easy option on your donation page. Include it on your pledge form and make it a prominent part of your appeal letter, maybe as a PS.

I can speak from personal experience that once I started giving monthly, that’s the way I wanted to give to all organizations. Your donors would probably agree. Each year I’m happier to see that more organizations are jumping on the monthly giving bandwagon.

Organizations that don’t offer a monthly giving option are making a mistake. Some have a minimum donation, which I would also not recommend, if possible. If you do have a minimum, make it $5 a month instead of $10. 

If your reason to have a minimum donation amount is to save money on your expenses, is that happening if your minimum deters someone from giving at all? You often have to invest a little to raise more money. And you should raise more money with a monthly giving program.

Make your monthly donors feel special

You need to do a good job of thanking your monthly donors. Go the extra mile and segment your monthly donors into new monthly donors, current monthly donors, and current donors who become monthly donors.

This way you can personalize their thank you letters to make them feel special. Be sure to mail a thank you letter, or even better, send a handwritten note. An email acknowledgment is not enough.

Many organizations send a monthly acknowledgment email or letter, and most are just okay. Some are basically only receipts, and as I mentioned in a recent post, your thank yous need to be more than a receipt. Yes, it’s helpful to know the organization received your donation, but you’re not practicing good donor stewardship if that’s all you do.

You could spiff up these monthly acknowledgments, both by making them sound like they were written by a human and not a robot, and by providing some engaging updates.

One thing you should do is send your donors an annual summary of their monthly gifts. This is extremely helpful for people who itemize deductions. Make this letter more than just a receipt and use this opportunity to connect with your donors. Pour on the gratitude and let them know how their monthly donations are helping you make a difference.

Reach out at least once a month

Your monthly donors made a commitment to you by giving every month. Make the same commitment to them by reaching out at least once a month.

You could create a special newsletter for monthly donors or include a cover letter referencing monthly donors. If that’s too much, you could give a shout out to your monthly donors and include information on how to become a monthly donor in your newsletter.

A thank you video is always welcome. Consider personalizing it, if you can. You could also provide other video content, such as a virtual tour, for your monthly donors.

You could include a list of your monthly donors in a newsletter, annual report, or on your website. Donor lists are just one of many ways to show appreciation and not the only one, so do much more than just that. Of course, honor any donor’s wish to remain anonymous.

Thank yous, newsletters, and updates are not a one-time time deal. Keep it up throughout the year. Many nonprofits start out communicating regularly with their monthly donors and then disappear after a couple of months. Always make a point to stay in touch with your donors.

Create a special section in your communications calendar specifically for monthly donors to help you with this.

Go all out for your monthly donors

I highly recommend a contact person for your monthly donors in case they need to update their credit card information or make a change to their gift, hopefully an upgrade. Include this information in their welcome letter or email. If you send a monthly acknowledgment email, be sure to include a link where your donor can make changes.

Another way to help out your monthly donors is to let them know when their credit cards are about to expire. Don’t rely on your donors to remember this, because most likely they won’t. You also don’t want to miss out on any revenue. Remember, small donations add up.

Set up a system where you can flag credit cards that will expire in the next month or two. Then send these donors a friendly reminder email/letter or give them a call. 

My monthly giving credit card expired last fall. Only a couple of organizations contacted me before the expiration date and one was quite adamant and even contacted me before I received my new card. Of course, a few slipped through the cracks and I didn’t hear from these organizations until after the donations didn’t go through. Remember to take the lead on this.

You could encourage donors to give via an electronic funds transfer from their bank account instead. Then neither you nor your donors need to worry about expiring credit cards.

Once a monthly donor, always a monthly donor

Once someone becomes a monthly donor, you must always recognize them as such. You most certainly should send fundraising appeals to monthly donors, but not the same ones you send to other donors.

You can ask your monthly donors for an additional gift during one of your fundraising campaigns, but you MUST recognize they’re monthly donors. For example – We really appreciate your gift of $10 a month. Could you help us out a little more right now with an additional gift? People in our community are having a hard time paying their heating bills because of rising fuel costs.

You can also ask your monthly donors to upgrade their gifts after a year or so. Be as specific as possible – We’re so happy you’re part of our family of monthly donors and are grateful for your gift of $5.00 a month. Many families are having trouble making ends meet and we’re serving triple the number of people at the Eastside Community Food Pantry right now. Could you help us out a little more with a gift of $7.00 or even $10.00 a month?

If you send the usual generic appeal, imagine your donor saying – “I already give you $10 a month and you don’t seem to know that.”

But if you let those committed monthly donors know you think they’re special, they’ll be more likely to upgrade or give an additional gift. Many monthly donors have stepped up and given additional donations over the last three years. That’s what you want. And, if they do give an additional donation, be sure to thank them for that. Here’s the opening from a great thank you card I received – “How generous of you to make a gift that goes above and beyond your monthly donations.“

Be sure to invest in this proven way to raise more money, boost donor retention rates, and provide an easier giving option for your donors. 

Building Relationships is Just as Important as Raising Money

Ann Green Communications, donor engagement, donor relations, donor retention, donor-centered, fundraising, thank you letters , , , , ,

Why does making a donation often feel like a transaction? Organizations get so caught up in the raising money part that they forget about building relationships with their donors.

Giving Tuesday is the worst example of this, with Year End close behind. Generally, it happens way too often.

Remember this – Building relationships is just as important as raising money. 

It’s hard to keep raising money if you don’t build a good relationship with your donors. The two go together. Every single interaction with your donors needs to focus on building relationships. That includes fundraising appeals. It’s possible to raise money and build relationships at the same time.

Follow this formula – ask, thank, update, repeat. Thanking and updating should naturally evolve into building relationships, although that doesn’t always happen.

You’ll have more success if you move away from transactional fundraising and focus on building relationships. Here are some ways to do that.

Stop using transactional language

First, the word transaction should not appear anywhere in your fundraising. Sometimes I see the words “Transaction complete” after I make an online donation. That’s not giving me a nice, warm, fuzzy feeling at all. I made a gift, not a transaction.

Even more prevalent is the word receipt, which is often used in lieu of thank you. After a donor makes a gift, they should feel appreciated. 

An email subject line is one of your first chances to connect with your donor. How would you feel if this is what you saw? 

“Your Recurring Donation Receipt” 

“Donation tax receipt”

This again is emphasizing the transaction. Payment information should not be the lead of any type of thank you. Where are the words thank you?

It’s not easy to find good thank you email subject lines. Here are some that are better.

“Thank you for your generous monthly gift”

“You are wonderful!”

“Thank you for investing in Peace!”

“Your monthly gift in action” 

That last subject line leads into an email that emphasizes how the donor is helping that organization make a difference, which is a good example of building relationships.

When organizations lead their fundraising appeals by saying “It’s our year-end appeal” or “It’s GivingTuesday,” they’re not connecting with their donors by concentrating on why donors give. 

Many donors don’t care that it’s your year-end appeal. They care about your work and want to help. Instead, say something like – How you can help families put food on the table. 

Make relationship building part of your fundraising campaigns

You need to build relationships before, during, and after each of your fundraising campaigns. Keep this in mind – Your Fundraising IS Your Relationship.

Before your next appeal, send your donors an update to let them know how they’re helping you make a difference. This is especially important if you do more than one fundraising campaign a year. You don’t want your donors to think the only time they hear from you is when you’re asking for money.

Segment your donors

One way to help ensure you’re focusing on relationships is to segment your donors and personalize your appeal letters and other types of donor communication. 

Don’t send the same appeal to everyone on your mailing list. What is your relationship with these individuals? Maybe they’ve given once or many times. Perhaps they’re event attendees, volunteers, e-newsletter subscribers, or friends of board members. Mention your relationship in your appeal letter. For example, thank a long-time donor for supporting you these past five years.

Monthly donors get their own appeal letter. This doesn’t happen enough and it’s one of my biggest pet peeves. Build relationships with these committed donors. Recognize they’re monthly donors and either invite them to upgrade their gift or give an additional donation.

Create an attitude of gratitude

Your focus on building relationships continues when you thank your donors. Many organizations do a poor job with this. Send a handwritten note or make a phone call, if you can.

Welcome your new donors. Let them know how much you appreciate this new relationship. If you don’t, it’s likely to be a short relationship.

Be sure to also shower your current donors with appreciation so you can keep your relationship going. Do something special for donors who have supported you for several years.

Make sure your donors get a heartfelt thank you, not something that resembles a receipt.

Thanking donors is something you can do at any time of the year. I think one of the best ways to connect is by sending a handwritten note. I just received a handwritten thank you note acknowledging my two-year anniversary as a donor. It always warms my heart when an organization connects in this way.

Holiday cards are a nice way to reach out, but don’t put a donation envelope in one. You have other opportunities to make appeals. Make it 100% about showing appreciation.

You can also send thank you cards at other times of the year. If money is tight, spread out your mailings over the year so each donor gets at least one card.

Don’t miss out on opportunities to build relationships

There are many ways you can build relationships with your donors throughout the year. 

You can give donors other opportunities to connect, such as volunteering, participating in advocacy alerts, signing up for your email mailing list, and following you on social media. You could also offer virtual or in-person (if it’s safe) tours.

Newsletters and annual reports that focus too much on the organization are the equivalent of being at a party where someone just talks about himself and you may as well not even be there. Done well, a newsletter, annual report, or another form of an update can be a good relationship-building tool.

I’m amazed that after I attend an event, support someone in a walkathon, or give a memorial gift, most organizations don’t do a good job of building a relationship. I could be a potential long-time donor. Personally, I would never give a memorial gift or support someone in a charity walk if I didn’t believe in that organization’s cause. Don’t miss out on a potential opportunity to build longer-term relationships.

You’ll have a better chance of building relationships if you can tap into your donors’ passions and interests.

Hold a relationship-building day

My main objection to giving days, such as GivingTuesday, is they focus so much on asking. What if we put all the time and energy we focus on giving days into a relationship-building day?

I’m not saying you can’t participate in giving days, but instead of the relentless begging, follow the formula above and build relationships before, during, and after your appeal.

Of course, you could choose not to participate in a giving day and have an all-out relationship-building day instead.

Build relationships all year round

It’s easier to stay focused on donors when you’re sending an appeal or thank you, but this is just the beginning. Many organizations go on communication hiatus at certain times of the year and that’s a huge mistake. Ideally, you should keep in touch with your donors every one to two weeks, once a month at the most.

Always stay focused on relationships. Good relationships with your donors will help you raise more money and keep your donors for a long time. 

Steps You Can Take to Ensure a Successful 2023

Ann Green Communications, donor engagement, donor relations, donor retention, fundraising, marketing, monthly donors, thank you letters , , , , , , ,

Happy New Year! I hope you had a nice holiday and weren’t affected by severe weather and flight cancellations. My family rented a house on the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland that wasn’t well suited for temperatures in the teens, but fortunately our return flight on Southwest took place after they were “back to normal.”

Now that the New Year is here do you wonder what’s ahead for us? The last three years have brought about so much change and uncertainty. Sometimes it’s hard to predict what’s going to happen next. 

I’m sure your nonprofit continues to face challenges, but since the pandemic started many organizations were able to confront these challenges and make changes to the way they ran their programs and implemented their fundraising and communications. Some were successful and some weren’t.

If 2022 was not a successful year for your organization, you can work to make 2023 a better year. 

Here are some ways to ensure a more successful year.

Have a plan in place

You must have fundraising and communications/marketing plans. If you haven’t put together these plans yet, do that now! 

You know from past experience that you may need to make changes to your plans. In 2020, organizations that were able to make changes to a plan already in place were most successful.

Take a look back at 2022 to see what worked and what didn’t in your fundraising and communications/marketing. Incorporate what you’ve learned into your 2023 plans. 

Be sure your fundraising plan includes a diverse stream of revenue. Individual giving has proven to be successful. A lot of small donations can add up! Start or grow your monthly giving program (more on that below). Also, look into major and legacy giving. 

You can apply for grants and hold events, but those sometimes require more effort than its worth. Invest in strategies that make sense for your organization.

Revisit your fundraising and communications/marketing plans regularly and make changes as needed. Do this at least every two to three months.

Make sure that donor relations and donor retention are part of your fundraising plan. Those are key to your success.

Pay attention to your donor retention

Many donors have stepped up over the past three years to support nonprofit organizations. You don’t want to lose these valuable donors.

Donor retention should be a priority. You’ll have more success if you work to keep the donors you already have instead of focusing on getting new ones.

First, if you don’t already know it, figure out your retention rate. Do this after every fundraising campaign.

If it’s low, it’s something you can fix, usually with better communication. Donor retention is a huge problem for nonprofits. Your goal should be to have donors who support you for a long time.

It’s easier and less expensive to keep your current donors than to find new ones, so, once again, make donor retention a priority.

That said, you may have some new donors who saw a need and felt a connection to your cause. Don’t let these donors slip away either.

Ramp up your monthly giving program

Speaking of retention, the retention rate for monthly donors is 90%. These donors are dedicated to your nonprofit. 

I’m a huge fan of monthly giving. It’s always made sense, but it’s been especially crucial over the last three years. Organizations that had monthly giving programs saw a steady stream of revenue throughout the year. Donors who opt for monthly giving find it’s easier on their finances. Dedicated monthly donors have also stepped up and have given additional donations.

Work on starting or growing your monthly giving program so you can have a bunch of highly committed donors. A good way to start is to invite your current donors to become monthly donors.

Monthly donors are also potential major and legacy donors. Remember the importance of individual giving

Do a better job of communicating with your donors 

It’s time to say goodbye to boring, generic communication. Over the past three years, donors have seen real people with real problems in real time. They turned on the news and saw long lines at food pantries. They’ve witnessed a much-needed awareness of systemic racism in our society. They’re hearing stories about how families can barely make ends meet in the current economy.

It makes a difference if you can put things in human terms. Organizations that do this did a better job of connecting with their donors.

Don’t use jargon, such as at-risk and underserved. These terms are demeaning to your clients, especially if they’re people of color. Tell more stories and go easy on the statistics. If you’re making a difference, you have stories to tell.

Better communication also means more frequent communication. Donors want to hear from you and they want to feel appreciated, too. Better, more frequent communication will help you raise more money. A communications calendar will help you with this. 

Keep relationships front and center

You may think the most important component of fundraising is raising money. While that’s important, so is building relationships with your donors. 

It’s hard to raise money year after year if you don’t build a good relationship with your donors. Every single interaction with your donors needs to focus on building relationships. That includes fundraising appeals. It’s possible to raise money and build relationships at the same time.

Good relationships with your donors will help you with retention.

Don’t forget about gratitude

A big part of building relationships is showing gratitude to your donors. Many nonprofits do a poor job with this. 

You need to start by sending a heartfelt thank you immediately after you receive a donation and then find ways to thank your donors throughout the year. Put together a thank you plan to help you with this.

Start the New Year off by making fundraising and communications/marketing plans, if you haven’t already done so. Prioritize donor retention, monthly giving, showing gratitude, and building relationships with your donors. This will help bring you more success in 2023.

How to Build a Better, More Engaging Volunteer Program

Ann Green planning, volunteers ,

Your volunteers donate their time and effort to your nonprofit. Improve their experience with these essential tips to create an effective volunteer program.

Happy volunteer looking at donation box on a sunny day

By Karin Tracy

Volunteers provide unmatched value for your nonprofit, whether they’re helping with your fundraisers, programs, or other essential community services. However, continually recruiting new volunteers to replace former ones can be a time and resource-intensive task. Ensure your program retains the volunteers you have and gives them the opportunity to make a real difference by forging a better volunteer program.

A strong volunteer program is built on consistent communication, engaging opportunities, and organized management. Of course, envisioning your perfect volunteer program is just the first step in creating it. 

To help your nonprofit take the next step in bringing your volunteer program to life, this quick guide will explore five strategies to engage and retain your volunteers.

1. Make getting involved easy.

Your volunteers will devote a significant amount of their time and energy to helping your nonprofit. Ensure they don’t need to put in additional work finding opportunities to get involved. 

Make signing up to volunteer easy by considering your volunteers’ user experience on your website. Many nonprofits add large “Get Involved” buttons to their websites so volunteers can find and explore different opportunities without having to do any digging. 

Consider structuring your volunteer opportunities page like a series of job listings. Each opportunity should include the volunteers’ responsibilities, required skills, and expected time commitment.

Be sure to regularly change out and update these postings as your volunteer needs change. For example, you might have a set number of volunteers you need for each position. In this instance, a nonprofit might integrate with its website and Salesforce CRM to reflect how many volunteers have already signed up in real-time. This can be especially helpful for nonprofits that have seasonal or quickly changing needs. 

2. Create an onboarding process. 

An engaging volunteer program is an organized volunteer program. Ensure your new volunteers understand what their responsibilities are and what they can expect from your nonprofit by creating a standardized onboarding process. Doing so will reduce confusion and provide your program with a straightforward structure. 

Provide supporters all the information they’ll need to volunteer with your nonprofit by:

  • Creating a welcome packet. There will likely be a lot of information your volunteers will need to learn upfront about your nonprofit. You can avoid overwhelming them by providing a comprehensive welcome packet they can reference at any time. This welcome packet can include essential information, such as your nonprofit’s volunteer schedule for the coming months, as well as extra information that may be helpful but not necessary to review in an onboarding session, like background information on your nonprofit’s history. 
  • Holding an onboarding meeting. Along with offering documents and online videos, aim to hold an onboarding session with all volunteers before their first volunteer shift. This will give them an opportunity to ask questions, meet your staff, and otherwise get better acquainted with your nonprofit. 
  • Providing your contact information. Even after completing onboarding, volunteers may still have questions or need to reach out to your nonprofit later on. Designate a member of your staff to handle volunteer communications, and direct your volunteers to reach out to them for assistance. 

Keep track of every volunteer’s status in the onboarding process with your CRM. CRMs like Salesforce for Nonprofits can help you create profiles for each of your volunteers to take note of what training they’ve completed, hours they are available to work, their skills, and any other information that would be useful to document.  

3. Provide valuable opportunities. 

Many volunteers will want to participate in engaging opportunities that provide both them and your nonprofit with value. Talk to your volunteers to gain a stronger understanding of what they’re looking for in a volunteer program and determine what your nonprofit can do to meet those needs. 

Divide your volunteers based on their interests to assign them roles that will engage them. For example, you might encourage more social, outgoing volunteers to join your fundraising campaign and interact with donors. By contrast, your more introverted volunteers may prefer to work behind the scenes, creating marketing materials your other volunteers will share with potential donors. 

Creating these opportunities will likely be easier for nonprofits with a membership-based program. Fionta’s guide to membership management for nonprofits explains that these organizations “exist to serve their members–whether by providing resources, convening gatherings, or offering continuing education, products, or services of interest to members.”

If this applies to your nonprofit, get creative with how you can have volunteers interact with these various opportunities. For instance, many individuals also volunteer to try and improve their skills and gain experience that can translate to a future career. Review your offerings for members, and consider how they might also provide value for your volunteers. 

Outside of volunteering, nonprofits can even provide volunteers with access to some member benefits as thanks for their hard work. This might include giving them free access to paid blog content, gifting them free merchandise, or providing access to a members-only course. 

4. Promote volunteer grants. 

You can earn more from your volunteer program and give your volunteers an opportunity to make an even greater impact with volunteer grants. Volunteer grants are donations employers make when their employees volunteer for a certain number of hours at a charitable organization like yours. 

Double the Donations’ guide to volunteer grants walks through the three steps of how these grants work:

  1. An individual volunteers at your nonprofit. Keep diligent records of your volunteers’ hours. Some employers will provide grants on a per-hour basis, while many others require employees to work a minimum number of hours before they will qualify for a grant. 
  1. The individual checks their volunteer grant eligibility. Help your volunteers look up their employers’ volunteer grant program to see if they qualify. This can involve using a matching gifts database or simply exploring their employers’ website depending on the company.
  1. The individual submits a volunteer grant application. Volunteers that are eligible will fill out their employer’s grant application. These applications will vary by employer but usually require information such as how many hours were spent volunteering and their volunteer supervisor’s contact information. 

Once a volunteer has completed their application, be sure to thank them for going the extra mile and furthering their impact. From there, if the application is approved, your nonprofit will receive a check from your volunteers’ employers. 

5. Show appreciation.

Your donors aren’t the only ones who appreciate being thanked for their support. Showing appreciation for all your volunteers do for your nonprofit not only reinforces the positive difference they’re making, but it also helps you build relationships and boost retention rates. 

There are a variety of ways you can thank your volunteers. A few proven strategies are:

  • Thank you letters. A handwritten letter or card feels special and far more personal than an automatic thank you email. At the end of a campaign, event, initiative, or other program, send volunteers a thank you card in the mail signed by your volunteer manager, their supervisor, or another member of your nonprofit’s leadership who your volunteers interacted with. 
  • Appreciation events. After putting in their time and effort, celebrate a job well done with your volunteers by hosting an event. This can be a small celebration, such as taking your volunteers out to lunch after completing work for the day or an entirely separate event, like hosting a virtual trivia event for volunteers to have fun and get to know each other better. 
  • Public recognition. Having their work appreciated by a larger audience can be especially meaningful for some volunteers. Ask your volunteers for permission before doing so to make sure they’re okay with being spotlighted. Then, put together a social media post, a section in your newsletter, or a blurb on your website that shares and celebrates the work they’ve done for your cause. 

As you get to know your volunteers, you’ll likely discover more personal ways to thank them. For example, one volunteer might appreciate being able to take home extra unsold merchandise after an event, while another may be happy just to receive an occasional card in the mail honoring their hard work. 

Volunteers are the backbone of your nonprofit’s programs, fundraisers, and even day-to-day operations. Retain more volunteers and make working with your nonprofit a memorable, positive experience by creating an engaging volunteer program. Listen to your volunteers’ feedback and have the systems in place to keep their data organized, allowing you to offer unique, valuable experiences that will keep them coming back. 

Karin Tracy, VP of Marketing at Fíonta, is a seasoned designer and marketer with a passion for serving nonprofit organizations and being a small part of bettering the world. She is a certified Pardot Consultant and Marketing Cloud Email Specialist, a fan of automation and reporting, a lover of animals, and devourer of popcorn.

At Fíonta, Karin drives marketing efforts for all internal and external projects. Her direct service work is focused primarily on marketing strategy and automation for Fíonta’s MCAE (Pardot) clients.

Stay Connected With Your Donors by Creating a Communications Calendar

Ann Green Communications, donor engagement, donor relations, marketing, planning , , , ,

I like to emphasize the importance of keeping in touch with your donors throughout the year. I hope that’s a priority for you, too.

Your donors want to hear from you and don’t just want to be blasted with fundraising appeals. The good news is that better donor communication (thank yous and updates) can help you raise more money.

Ideally, you should communicate with your donors at least once or twice a month throughout the year. I know that might sound impossible, but it will be a whole lot easier if you put together a communications calendar (also known as an editorial calendar).

I like the term communications calendar because it emphasizes the importance of communicating with your donors and other supporters all year round.

Some of you may already have a communications calendar, which is great. Now is a good time to update yours for 2023 (it will be here before you know it). For the rest of you, here are some suggestions to help you get started. Even though it will take a little time to put together, it will be worth it in the end because you’ll be able to do a better job of communicating with your donors.

This is not just a job for your marketing department. All departments need to work together. Figure out what information you need to share and when you need to share it. You want a consistent stream of information – not three email messages in one day and nothing for three weeks.

As you put together your communications calendar, think about how you will use different channels and which audience(s) should receive your messages. You may only send direct mail a few times a year (and I hope you do use direct mail), but send an e-newsletter once a month and communicate by social media several times a week. You’ll often use several different channels when you send a fundraising appeal or promote an event.

Start big by looking at the entire year and then break it down by months and weeks. You’ll keep adding to your communications calendar throughout the year.

Your communications calendar is a fluid document and these past couple of years are a good example of how our world is constantly changing. We’re still in a period of uncertainty, so be prepared to keep things current.

Here are some categories you can use in your communications calendar. Some items will be time-sensitive and others won’t be.

Current events/News stories

At the beginning of 2020, most of us couldn’t predict the year we were about to have. There’s still so much going on. COVID is still a part of our lives, but now the bigger concern seems to be inflation and other economic issues. In 2022, we saw the beginning of the war in Ukraine. Who knows what next year will bring.

Many donors will expect you to address current situations. Keep them apprised of how all this is affecting your clients/community.

Updates

You need to keep your donors updated on how they’re helping you make a difference. Your print and e-newsletter should be included in your communications calendar. If you don’t do a newsletter, make a plan to share updates another way – maybe by postcard, email, and/or social media. Sometimes short updates are more effective.

Share your success and challenges, especially as we continue to navigate through the current climate.

Legislation

Advocacy alerts are a wonderful way to engage with your supporters. Be on the lookout for any federal or state legislation that’s relevant to your organization. Encourage people to contact their legislators about an issue or a bill. Then report back to them with any updates and thank them for getting involved.

Time of year

Is there something going on during a particular month that’s pertinent to your organization? Perhaps it’s homelessness or mental health awareness month.

Thanksgiving, the holidays, and winter can be a difficult time for some people. How can you weave that into an engaging story to share with your supporters? This will be another hard winter for many people.

Keep in mind your organization’s anniversary doesn’t mean much to your donors unless you can tie that in with how they’re helping you make a difference.

Fundraising and recruitment

Be sure to add your fundraising campaigns to your communications calendar. Obviously, these campaigns are important, but you also want to show gratitude and send updates during this time without inundating your donors with too many messages. Planning ahead will help you strike this balance.

If your organization has specific times it needs to recruit volunteers, add that to your calendar, as well. 

Thank your donors

Make this a priority! Find different ways to let your donors know how much you appreciate them. You can combine a thank you with an update. Do this at least once a month.

Events

Some organizations have started holding in-person events again. Some events are hybrid or just virtual. Besides your events, are there other events (virtual or in-person) in your community that would be of interest to your supporters? If so, you could share that on social media.

Ongoing content

If you’re making a difference, you have stories to tell. Share a story at least once a month. Client stories (either in the first or third person) are best. Your stories need to be relevant to the ever-evolving current situations, so you may need to create some new ones.

You could also profile a board member, volunteer, donor, or staff member. Be sure to highlight what drew them to your organization.

Put together a story bank to help you with this.

Don’t stop communicating with your donors

As you hear about other relevant information, add it to your calendar, so you can stay connected with your donors/supporters throughout the year.

Here’s more information to help you create a communications/editorial calendar. A couple of these links also include templates.

Nonprofit Editorial Calendars

Free Editorial Calendar & Campaign Planning Documents

Get Organized With a Nonprofit Editorial Calendar

How to create and use a nonprofit editorial calendar