donor relations

The Personal Touch

Ann Green Communications, donor relations, fundraising, writing

I recently received a mailing from a nonprofit organization highlighting its 2012 accomplishments.  As I read it, I was struck by the impersonal tone and that the organization wasn’t focusing on the people they serve.

I don’t mean to single out this organization, because I know others are guilty of the same thing. This organization does great work and to their credit they did try to engage with their donors, they thanked their donors, and they didn’t ask for another donation. 

That said I would have recommended something more personal. Here are a few things to keep in mind when you communicate with your donors. 

Not all donors are the same
The mailing seemed more appropriate for grant or corporate funders.  This organization specializes in cancer treatment and research. Some of the accomplishments they featured were advances in their research, grants received, and their national and local rankings.

The only donation I ever made to them was when I bought their holiday cards.  I was drawn to the organization and their work because I lost a beloved uncle to cancer last fall.

People donate to nonprofit organizations for a variety of reasons, but many give because they have a personal connection to the cause.  These donors are going to want to hear how you are helping people.

Be conversational
In this mailing, the organization referenced a new community cancer care clinic they opened at a local health center, located in what they referred to as a “medically underserved community.”  That’s a great accomplishment, but the word underserved sounds like jargon to me.  

I think you should be conversational with donors and not use jargon or clinical sounding words.  Imagine yourself talking to a friend and use everyday language. 

How are you making a difference?
The organization shared a list of accomplishments that focused much more on their success than the specific impact they had on the people they serve.

I would have liked a story about a person whose life benefited from this new clinic.  Perhaps they could have highlighted a patient who used to have to travel miles to get care and now it’s available a few blocks from her home.

The organization also emphasized its “compassionate care”.  What does that mean?  Maybe they could have included stories and testimonials demonstrating that.

Use engaging photos
All photos in this mailing were black and white and most of them were pictures of researchers.  I know you can’t always include photos of patients, but maybe feature some who had successful treatments, along with their stories. 

They did include a photo of kids hanging out with some baseball players.  More photos like this would have been better.

Finally, photos are usually more captivating when they are in color.

What are you sending out? 
Take some time to look at the messages and materials you are sending out.  Are they appropriate for each donor group?   Are you focused on thanking your donors and showing how you are making a difference for 
people you serve?

You’ll do a better job of engaging your donors if you can be personal.

Your Attention Please

Ann Green Communications, donor relations, fundraising, marketing, writing

Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve written about the importance of engaging your donors.  One way is regular communication with them.  You may have created a plan and chosen donor-centered content, which is great.  Now you need to get their attention to get your messages across. 

Think short
You might have better luck with shorter more frequent messages.  Aim for every week or every two weeks.  If you only send out a monthly e-newsletter, your donor might miss your email due to a number of reasons – vacation, work, family.

You only have a few seconds
When sending email choose subject lines that will capture your donor’s attention.  February Newsletter is not as enticing as Learn How You Can Help Prevent Childhood Hunger.  The same goes for headlines in your newsletter and website.

Consistency is key
All your messages and materials, both electronic and print, should have a consistent look.  Your donors will start to recognize your brand, and hopefully see you as a reputable source.

Make it easy
Your donors are busy and are receiving messages from a variety of different sources besides your organization.  In most cases, they are going to scan your message, so make sure they still get the gist of what you want to convey.

Your messages should be easy to read and scan.  Use a white background with black type.  Use lots of white space and bold headings.  In addition, use at least a 12 point font (bigger is better).

Make it visual
Photos and graphics can tell a story in an instant, but in certain venues such as email, they can create problems.  Here are some ways to prevent this. Top Five Worst Nonprofit Email Marketing Mistakes: #3 Assuming Users Will See Your Graphics and here is a creative way to enable images. How to get donors to enable images in email
Photos are great in print pieces and on Facebook.

You need good content
That might seem obvious, but if your donor has come this far and is ready to read your message, don’t shortchange them. Put yourself in your donor’s shoes.  What would they be interested in?  In most cases personal stories triumph over a bunch of statistics.

When creating content, remember the four Cs – be clear, concise, conversational, and compelling. The 4 Cs of Writing Good Content 

Think multichannel
Use different channels.  Besides email, communicate by social media, on your website, and through the mail.  Measure which channels work best for you.  You can communicate the same message through different channels. For example, include links to your newsletter on social media.

Be mobile friendly
Many people read email and look at social media and websites on their mobile devices or tablets.  I am not a technology expert, but I do know that when I read content on my iPhone, I’m much happier when it fits nicely on the screen.  This will make your donors happier too, and that’s what you want.

Here are some resources about going mobile.

Four Strategies for Going Mobile
Mobile Resources
Be known but don’t be annoying
Some organizations are afraid of annoying their donors by communicating too often, but most don’t communicate enough.  Remember your donors might miss some of your messages. 

Staying in touch once a week and sending out short, engaging messages will help you get your donor’s attention.

Show Your Donors The Love

Ann Green Communications, donor relations, fundraising

Valentine’s Day is coming up. This is the perfect time to thank your donors and show how much you appreciate their support.   It’s also timely if you haven’t thanked them since you sent a thank you letter after you received their annual appeal.  You did send thank you letters after your annual appeal, didn’t you?

In my last post, I wrote about finding ways to engage your donors and one suggestion was thank you messages.

If you want to send out a thank you message on Valentine’s Day, you may not have time to do cards or a video, but going the electronic route is fine.  Send an email and post something on social media.  

In addition, put a thank you message on your home page. Keep it up all year, although you can change it periodically.  Phrase it something like this.
    
Thank you to all our donors! Your support makes it possible for us to (list ways in which you are helping the people you serve). 

If you prefer not to acknowledge Valentine’s Day, I still think February is a good time to send out an upbeat thank you message.  Unless you live in Florida or California, it’s cold and snowy, and kind of bleak.  People may be getting tired of winter and need some cheering up.

Share an update or success story 
Besides saying thank you, share a brief update or success story.  Emphasize how you couldn’t have helped someone without the donor’s support.  If you included some 2013 goals in your annual appeal, sharing regular updates of your accomplishments is a great way to engage.

Get creative
Make your thank you message really positive and fun.  One idea is a photo of people holding up thank you signs.  I’ve included links with a couple of examples below.  The first one is actually a video, but you could do the same thing with a photo.  By the way, this is a great example of a video.  Not only does it say thank you, but it showcases the work the organization does and the people they serve.

11 New Year’s Resolutions for Nonprofit Social Media Managers
HOW DO I THANK THEE, STAFF AND VOLUNTEERS? LET ME COUNT THE WAYS…

Of course, it doesn’t hurt to feature cute kids.

Visual messages are a great way to engage.  Besides photos, create a thank you illustration, infographic, or word cloud. 

Keep it up
Keep thinking of ways to thank your donors!  You really can’t say thank you enough. 

If your budget allows it, think about sending out cards or creating a video. 

At certain times of the year, like Valentine’s Day or Thanksgiving, people expect to receive messages of gratitude, but imagine how surprised your donor might be if they receive something in May or August?

And if you are looking for creative ways to say thank you, maybe these posts will inspire you.

22 Delightful Ways to Say Thank You!
Nine Clever Ways to Thank Your Donors
How are you thanking your donors?

Find Ways To Engage With Your Donors

Ann Green Communications, donor relations, fundraising, writing

This post was featured in the February 2013 Blog Carnival

Have you heard the dismal news about donor retention?  It doesn’t need to be that way.  One solution to keeping your donors is better engagement.

Try to engage with your donors by email once a week.  If you use social media, you can communicate more often  –  generally once a day on Facebook and a couple of times a day on Twitter.

Quality counts
Whatever you send out, make it donor-centric.  Focus on success stories.  Show how the donor was part of that success.  And always show gratitude. 

Be welcoming
If you are not are already doing this, send a welcome message to your new email subscribers. Personalize it, say thank you, and give a brief summary of what types of information they will receive.

What about my newsletter?
Perhaps you send out an email newsletter once a month or every two weeks, and that’s fine.  While it’s generally recommended that nonprofits communicate with their supporters anywhere between once a week and once a month, I would aim for closer to once a week.

One issue with e-newsletters is that they are too long.  If you are sending out a monthly newsletter, keep it to a few articles.  People have short attention spans.

Testing time
Here is a good opportunity to test.  Measure to see how people respond to short weekly updates as opposed to your longer monthly newsletter.

You can still send out newsletters, and supplement them with short messages in between. 

What should I send out?
Remember to keep your audience in mind.  Also, keep your messages short.  Make them easy to read and scan.  Besides providing updates, here are a few other ways to keep your supporters engaged.

Surveys
Send out short surveys.  You can ask people their opinion on an issue or something else relevant to your work.  Make people feel included.  One nonprofit I know of that sells holiday cards asks folks to vote on their favorite designs.
If people respond well to your short surveys, perhaps you could do one a month.

Here is more information about creating surveys and other ways to get feedback from your supporters. HOW TO GET FEEDBACK FROM YOUR SUPPORTERS

Advocacy alerts
Send out an advocacy alert on a piece of legislation that affects the people you serve.

You’ll have more success if you make it easy to take action.  Provide a sample phone script, letter, or email template.  You could send out an existing advocacy email from another organization, if it’s too hard to create your own.  Be sure to credit that organization.

Another way to engage is to report back results on that legislation.

Say thank you
Why not make a point to send a thank you message to your donors each month.  Share a success story and let them know that you couldn’t have accomplished that without their support.

Always find ways to say thank you.

Invite people to join you on social media
Send an invitation via email to join you on Facebook and Twitter.  But don’t stop there.  Show your supporters what they will get out of it.

Remember that social media is social, so ask questions to engage folks.  Start a conversation.

Here some ways to build a community on Facebook. 7 reasons your nonprofit Facebook page has no fans 

Share photos and videos
Share photos of the people you serve.  Not all email providers display photos, so you’ll want to include a link to link to your website. Facebook is great for sharing photos.

You might not have the capacity to create a video, but if you do, make it high quality and short.  Share videos of the people you serve participating in activities or better yet saying thank you to your donors!

Other ideas include sharing testimonials and quotes.  I favor stories over statistics, but you could share some interesting statistics with a link to a story.  Phrase it, Did you know…..?

Get organized
If you use an editorial calendar, you shouldn’t have a problem coming up with and organizing your content.  Make it cross channel and include email, social media, website, and print.  Figure out what to send out and when.  Here is more information on creating editorial calendars.  Your Most Powerful Social Media Tool for 2013 

Keep measuring how people respond to your messages.  If you are not getting much of a response from your surveys, either do them differently or find another way to engage.

All roads lead to your website
While I’ve been emphasizing email communication, and to a certain extent, social media, often these messages include links to your website.
Keep your entire website up-to-date and engaging.  You never know if your supporters will travel from your web link to another page on your website.

It’s very important for you to communicate with your donors regularly and keep them interested and engaged in your work. 

Let’s hope next year at this time we won’t be reading all these dismal statistics about donor retention.

Get Ready for the New Year

Ann Green Communications, donor relations, fundraising, marketing

It’s hard to believe the New Year has arrived.  I hope 2012 was a successful year for you.  But if your marketing and fundraising didn’t go as well as you would have liked, take some time to analyze what worked and what didn’t, if you haven’t already done so.

Creating plans and strategies can help. Here is some information that you can use as you can continue to prepare for 2013.

Marketing Plan
If you have never created a marketing and communications plan, now is a good time to get started.  A few things to keep in mind – Raising awareness is a vague goal.  You need a call to action, such as donating, volunteering, attending an event, or contacting your legislator.

Also, your audience is not everyone.  Target the people or groups who will be most receptive to your message.

Finally, don’t forget to measure your progress at least once a quarter.

How to Create a Marketing Plan
Fundraising Plan
You also need a fundraising plan, and it needs to include a donor relations component.  

Plan to raise money from a variety of sources and be realistic about what makes sense for your organization.

Map out each step of your annual appeal or an event.  And, remember to monitor your progress.

How to Create a Fundraising Plan
Donor Relations
You should spend just as much time on donor retention as donor acquisition.

Come up with ways to thank your donors all year round.  Of course, you must send a great thank you letter immediately after receiving a donation. 

Other ways to show gratitude include seasonal (Valentine’s Day, spring etc.) thank you notes or email messages, holding an open house or some other type of event for your donors, creating a thank you video, and providing donors with regular updates via a newsletter and social media.

Ideally, if you keep your donors engaged and interested in your work, not only will they give again, but they may give at a higher level.

Thank Your Donors All Year Round
Editorial Calendar
Does the idea of coming up with content to share with your supporters on a regular basis stress you out?  Don’t worry, it doesn’t have to.

Create an editorial calendar that lists important dates and events, as well as “evergreen” content – stories you can use at anytime. 

Be sure to have a collection of stories and profiles you can use in your newsletter or website.  

Remember that your updates need to focus on success stories that show your donors and other supporters how you are making a difference.

How to Create an Editorial Calendar
Taking the time to plan, strategize, and monitor your progress is time well spent.

Best of luck to you for a successful New Year!

Thank Your Donors All Year Round

Ann Green Communications, donor relations, fundraising

This post was featured in the November 2012
Nonprofit Blog Carnival.


Many of you have probably invested a lot of time this fall creating an annual appeal campaign, but how much time have you invested in thanking your donors?   

Donor relations needs to be part of your fundraising plan
Building relationships with your current donors is actually easier and less expensive than trying to find new donors, but many nonprofits overlook this.  According to Katya Andresen from Network for Good, the average nonprofit loses about 60% of the donors they had in the previous year. Don’t let that happen to you.   

Here are a few ways to build relationships and show appreciation to your donors all year round.

Thank your donors right away
Every single donor, no matter how much they have given or whether they donated online, gets a thank you card or letter mailed to them.  Thank you letters should be sent out no later than 48 hours after you have received a donation.  This shouldn’t be hard to do.  Carve out some time each day you get a donation and send out your thank you letters.

Go the extra mile when you thank your donors
Instead of sending out a generic thank you letter, mail a handwritten card and call your donors.  Calling your donors to thank them is something your board can do and is often a welcome surprise. Invest In Thanking Your Donors

Get creative and personal
If you can’t send out handwritten cards, get creative with your printed letter.  Don’t start your letter with “On behalf of X organization we thank you for your donation of….”   Open the letter with “You are amazing” or use one of the suggestions from this post. 22 Delightful Ways to Say Thank You!  Make your letter colorful, but tasteful, and include an engaging photo.

Add a personal handwritten note to the letter, preferably something that pertains to that particular donor.  For example, if the donor has given before or attended one of your recent events, you could mention that.  In addition, make sure all the letters are hand signed.

Let your donors know how much you appreciate them and highlight what your organization is doing with their donation. 

Here are some examples of great thank you letters.
How to write a perfect donor thank-you: A template and example
Tips for Better Nonprofit Thank You Letters
Donation Thank You Letter Examples

Stay in touch
You don’t want your communication with your donors to end after you send out your thank you letters.  In the letter, invite your donors to sign up for your newsletter and follow you on social media.

Communicate with your donors on a regular basis in ways in which you are not asking for money. Send out email between once a week and once a month.  You can post on social media more often, such as once or twice a day.

A newsletter is a great way to update your donors.  Make sure it is donor-centered and focus on success stories that demonstrate how you are making a difference with the donors’ contributions.  For example, I used to work for a mentoring organization and we would feature a different mentor/mentee match each month in our newsletter. 

Be sure to keep thanking your donors in your newsletter and social media updates.  Emphasize that you wouldn’t be able to do the work you do without your donors’ support.

Here is more information about communicating effectively via your newsletter and social media.

Choose Quality Over Quantity – Part One – Your Email Newsletter

Choose Quality Over Quantity – Part Two – Social Media

Other ways to show appreciation
Another good way to show appreciation to your donors is to hold an open house at your organization.  Offer tours so your donors can see the inner workings of your nonprofit.  Make your open house informal and fun, and provide food.  Include a brief program that might include a video/power point presentation or a few words from a client.  If cost is an issue, you could have food donated.  Even if your donors don’t come to your open house, they will appreciate the invitation.

Many nonprofits will send out Thanksgiving or holiday cards, which is fine even though most people receive a higher volume of mail at that time.  You are more likely to catch your donors’ attention if you send something out around Valentine’s Day or right before spring.

Here are some other ways to say thank you. 8 Ways You’re Probably Not Thanking Your Donors

The most important thing is to keep showing appreciation to your donors all year round.  If you treat them well, maybe they’ll treat you well the next time you send out your annual appeal.

How to Create an Annual Report That’s Not Boring

Ann Green Communications, donor relations, fundraising, writing

Nonprofit organizations are not required to produce an annual report, but I believe your organization will benefit by having one.  

When I mention an annual report, are you picturing a long, boring document filled with wordy text and statistics?  It doesn’t have to be like that.

The key is to create an annual report that will engage your supporters and not bore them.  Here are a few ways you can do that.

Tell a story
Share a success story about a person you have helped.  Let’s say you run a tutoring program.  Instead of rattling off a bunch of statistics about young people doing poorly in school, tell a story about Jason, a young man who was struggling academically, but started doing better in school after weekly tutoring sessions with Rob, a volunteer tutor.

Make it visual
Find some engaging photos to include in your annual report.  Photos can tell a story in an instant.  Choose photos of people participating in an activity, such as Jason and Rob in a tutoring session. 

Use colorful charts or graphs to highlight your financials. Sprinkle in quotes and short testimonials to help break up the text.  

Keep it short

Your supporters are busy people and are not going to have a lot of time to read your annual report, no matter how great is. The trend now is a four to six page document. If you are a small organization, producing a glossy 20-page annual report would not be a good use of your resources.


Keeping all this in mind, what should you include in your annual report?

Introduction
Start with a brief, friendly introduction by your Executive Director or Board Chair. Make sure it doesn’t contain jargon and it’s filled with gratitude towards your donors for their support in helping you reach your goals.

Accomplishments
The main purpose of an annual report is to highlight your accomplishments.  These accomplishments need to focus on how you are making a difference for the people you serve.  Examples would be kids receiving higher grades in school or low-income families finding affordable housing. 

Be sure to list accomplishments, not activities, and show results.

Your financials. 
Include your revenue and expenses, and break them down by department (program, administration, etc.).  Keep it simple and use a pie chart or bar graph, so it’s easy to understand.

A donor list
You may want to just include donors at a certain level in your annual report and include a list of all your donors on your website.  Whatever you decide, be sure to thank all your donors in this section.

Some final words about annual reports
You should also include a list of your staff and board, and your mailing address.

Here is a helpful resource created by Kivi Leroux Miller.  It’s an annual report wiki that includes many great examples.

Annual Reports Wiki
You don’t need to mail your annual report to all your supporters.  You may want to mail only to your major donors.  Put your annual report on your website, and let your supporters know it’s there.  You could send out a special email announcement or include something about your annual report in your newsletter.  Of course, you should make a hard copy available to anyone who wants one.  You should also have hard copies available for potential funders and other interested parties.

If you choose not to produce an annual report, you should still have a list of accomplishments readily available.  You often need these for grant proposals, anyway.  I recommend keeping a running list, so you are not scrambling to put something together when it’s time to do your annual report or a grant proposal.  This can also help you get your annual report out earlier in the New Year.

Remember your goal is to create an annual report that will capture your supporters’ attention right away and not bore them.

Invest In Thanking Your Donors

Ann Green Communications, donor relations, fundraising, writing

As I was figuring out blog posts for the fall, the usual topics came to mind – annual appeals, thanking your donors.  I decided to write about thanking donors first because this is just as important as the appeal letter, and many nonprofits don’t invest enough time in it.  A great thank you is the first step towards a good long-term relationship with your donors.

Two ways to go the extra mile when thanking your donors are to send a handwritten note and make a phone call.  Both of these will take a little planning up front.  Why not start now so you are ready to go as soon as your donations come in.

Remember, you need to thank your donors no later than 48 hours after you receive their donations.  

Send a handwritten note
A few handwritten sentences on a nice card is going to make much more of an impact than a printed thank you letter. It’s much more personal. Think about creating a thank you card or postcard with an engaging photo on the front. 

Since you will only be able to write a few sentences – make them count.  Use a warm, conversational tone. Try something like this.

Dear Susan,

You are amazing!  Your generous  contribution of $50 will help us buy two new coats for the kids at our family shelter.  Just in time, too.  The cold weather is coming.                

We really appreciate your support.

This shouldn’t take you that much time and it is time well spent.  You can put together a team of staff, board members, and other volunteers to write the notes.  Here is more information on why a handwritten note is so effective.  Like one of the people commenting on the post below, my mom also stressed the importance of writing thank you notes.

The Power of a Handwritten Note
Call your donors
Calling your donors to say thank you is an easy, yet effective way, to show appreciation.

This is also something your board members can take on.  The executive director or other staff can make calls, too.  Make sure you find people who are comfortable making phone calls and want to engage in a conversation with donors.

Start planning this now.  Come up with script and a spreadsheet to record notes.  You may want to conduct a little mini-orientation to get your callers pumped up and give them an opportunity to practice.  Here is a sample script.
                
Hi, this is  ________ and I’m a board member at X nonprofit.  I’m calling to thank you for your generous donation of $50. Thanks to you, we will be able to buy two new coats for the kids at our family shelter. Just in time for the cold weather, too.  We really appreciate your support.

It’s fine to leave a message, but be sure to provide a call back number in case the donor wants to talk with someone.

Not only is calling your donors an effective way to say thank you, it can help you raise more money in the future.

Speechless
A simple strategy that increases donations by 35%
How Your Board Can Increase Donations by 39%
Invest a little time and energy in showing gratitude to your donors.  Say thank you in a way that shows you mean it and not as if you are just going through the motions.
Photo by Jon Ashcroft via Flickr

Make A Lasting Impression

Ann Green Communications, donor relations, marketing

First impressions matter, but so do good, lasting ones.  This applies to everything you do – fundraising, marketing, volunteer recruitment – and all types of communication channels.  Many nonprofit organizations will spend a lot of time creating fundraising and promotional pieces to draw people to their organization to donate or volunteer, but don’t do enough to keep them there.

Here are some tips to help you make a lasting impression.

Fundraising – Donor Relations
You have worked hard to produce a donor-centered appeal letter and the money is coming in.  Do you wait two weeks and mail out a generic thank you letter that looks like you are sending it out because you have to and not because you want to?  Or within 48 hours do you do something memorable like sending out a handwritten card or calling your donors to thank them?  According to this piece by John Lepp, that phone call can leave your donors Speechless
Look to see how many of your donors are repeat contributors and how many of them have increased their donations over the years.  If neither is the case, work on impressing them more.

Newsletter – Email updates
Don’t just thank your donors and then not communicate with them again until you ask for another donation.  They need to hear from you on a regular basis in ways in which you are not asking for money. Aim for at least every two weeks.  Your donors need to know how you are making difference.  Share success stories and keep thanking them for their support.

I still believe newsletters have a place in nonprofit communications.  If you do send out a newsletter, it needs to be donor-focused, short, and sent out on a regular basis.  If you choose not to send out a newsletter, then send out email updates.

Some organizations intend to send out a monthly newsletter, but then do it sporadically.  That doesn’t make a good impression.  With a little planning that includes creating an annual editorial calendar, you should be able to keep your supporters updated on a regular basis.

Choose Quality Over Quantity – Part One – Your Email Newsletter
Social Media
Social media is another way to share your success with your supporters.   You can post to social media more often (a couple of times a day is acceptable), but make it consistent. Don’t start posting every day, and then not at all. Also, make sure you are sharing something your donors will be interested in.

One of the great things about social media is you can start a conversation.  Ask questions and encourage feedback on your Facebook page or blog.  Share links from other organizations on Twitter.  Engage and make an impression.
Choose Quality Over Quantity – Part Two – Social Media 
Website
Your website will not only be seen by your supporters, but by people who don’t know you.  Good, lasting impressions are crucial.  You may have spent a lot of time creating a snazzy new website, but then don’t keep it updated or don’t realize that the donation form is really cumbersome.  Is this the impression you want to leave?

Remember to make a good impression, but make sure it’s a lasting one. 

Photo by Chocolate Geek via Flickr

Get Organized – Start Preparing For Your Annual Appeal

Ann Green Communications, donor relations, fundraising, marketing
Photo by Howard Lake via Flickr

September is here.  Have you started preparing for your annual appeal?  

Many nonprofits rely on fundraising for a good portion of their revenue.  It’s never easy to raise money and an uncertain economy makes it even more challenging.  You need to invest time in creating a great fundraising campaign.

Here are a few ways to get started now.

Stories
In previous posts, I’ve written about the importance of gathering stories to use in your fundraising and marketing materials.  Your fundraising letter should start with a story.  Find a compelling one to use in your annual appeal.

Pictures
I’ve also written about creating a set of great photographs.  An engaging photo will enhance your appeal letter, online donation page, or pledge form.  You know the saying “A picture is worth a 1000 words” – It’s true.

Here is more information about creating stories and photos. 

Do You Have Good Stories To Tell?

How much money do you need to raise?
I hope you have a fundraising plan for 2012 that includes how much you need to raise in your annual appeal.  If not, you need to determine that before you start your campaign.  You can state your fundraising goal in your appeal letter and on your website, if you would like.

Accomplishments and plans for the future
Your appeal letter should highlight some the year’s accomplishments and state what you plan to do next year.  Focus on the people you serve and show how you are making a difference with your donors’ contributions.  For example, let’s say you run an afterschool program for high school students.  Share your success of reaching your goal of serving X number of students.  Next year you would like to expand and serve middle school students, as well.

Donating online  
Many more people are donating online now.  Make sure your home page highlights that your annual appeal is underway and includes a link to your donation page.  Your donation page needs to be user friendly and consistent with your other fundraising materials.  

Here is more information about putting together a great donation page. 
How You Can Create A Welcoming Website – Part Three – Your Donation Page
Giving levels
Create a set of giving levels, if you don’t already have them.  What does $25, $50, and $100 fund?  Project Bread’s online form (below) gives concrete examples of how donations at each giving level can provide food to hungry families.
Project Bread’s Donation Form
Monthly giving
I also recommend setting up a monthly giving program (both online and offline).  This is a great way to get larger contributions.  Promote it in your appeals.  Some people might balk at donating $100 or more, but if you present it as $10 a month ($120 a year!), it sounds more feasible.

Keep your current donors happy
Finally, your best bet for contributors to your 2012 appeal are your current donors, and you want as many of them to renew as possible.

I hope you having been showing gratitude and keeping your donors updated on how you are making a difference all year round. Continue to do that.  Keep your newsletters and other updates donor-focused.  Start highlighting some of your accomplishments and future plans now.  And, don’t forget to say thank you.

Also, some of the people who subscribe to your newsletter or follow you on social media are not donors (yet).  If you impress them, maybe they will become donors.

I’ll be writing more about annual appeals throughout the fall.  In the meantime, what are you doing to prepare for your annual appeal?