fundraising

Future-proof your fundraising: 3 ways to thrive long-term

Ann Green Communications, fundraising, legacy giving, marketing, monthly donors, planning , , , ,

Is your nonprofit poised for long-term growth? Check out these future-proof nonprofit fundraising strategies based on today’s top philanthropic trends.

By Patrick Schmitt

Achieving your mission takes time and resources. As a nonprofit professional, you know this all too well and likely implement all kinds of cost-saving and efficiency-boosting practices into your work.

But can you be more proactive and go beyond mitigation? Do your fundraising practices look forward and actively build a foundation for long-term success? Are you missing opportunities to engage with donors in new ways?

This often means investing in new forms of fundraising or making significant updates to existing practices. But for many small nonprofits, making these changes can feel less than feasible.

However, as we’re constantly reminded, we’re living in unpredictable times—economic turbulence, heightened political and social tensions, the rise of AI, changing donor habits and preferences – the list goes on. There’s no telling what the future may bring, but your nonprofit needs to be there to shine a light and help lead your community.

Let’s explore some forward-thinking and (perhaps surprisingly) accessible ways for small nonprofits to drive sustained success and reduce the need for constant cost-cutting and budget anxiety.

The three future-proof nonprofit fundraising strategies explained in this article:  projectable revenue streams, non-cash giving, and mid-level donor stewardship.

1. Build more projectable revenue sources.

Building a pipeline of future giving is massively helpful—it fuels your operations and growth and it’s predictable, allowing you to plan more effectively.

There are two key types of projectable future giving to keep in mind:

  • Deferred giving
  • Recurring giving

Deferred giving, also called planned or legacy giving, is often neglected by small shops but is increasingly understood as a game-changer for nonprofits of all sizes. It’s an especially smart choice now as we begin to see “the Great Wealth Transfer” unfold, with shifting demographic trends resulting in large amounts of saved assets being disbursed to heirs and beneficiaries. 

But planned giving is also very accessible—any donor, regardless of wealth, can easily create bequests. And since these gifts are given from assets rather than cash on hand, they give donors the chance to drive sustained impact without impacting day-to-day finances (while also tapping into tax benefits here and now). The FreeWill guide to planned giving programs covers the essential steps nonprofits of all sizes should take to get started.

You’re likely more familiar with the ins and outs of recurring giving, facilitated through recurring giving programs or membership programs. It’s easy to get started—simply add a recurring giving option to your donation form, create a new web page and other materials that explain why repeat gifts are so impactful for your mission, and begin promoting the option.

As always, anchor your messaging about new forms of giving with impact, and don’t be afraid to be transparent. As a growing nonprofit, your committed supporters will be motivated by messages that clearly explain why you’re prioritizing these initiatives to ensure your mission’s long-term future.

2. Take more (or your first) steps into the world of non-cash gifts.

Donor preferences are rapidly diversifying. Tax code changes, the state of the economy, and ever-increasing financialization and digitization all point to increased interest in non-cash gifts.

By tapping into these trends and offering more flexibility to donors, nonprofits have seen substantial long-term growth. One study found that nonprofits that accept non-cash gifts grow six times faster than those that don’t.

Key types of non-cash gifts that should be on nonprofits’ radar include:

  • Grants from donor-advised funds (DAFs). These philanthropic quasi-savings accounts allow donors to put away funds for future giving to be saved and grown.
  • Gifts of stock. This includes stock from public and private companies and mutual funds and is a savvy choice for donors looking to rebalance their portfolios and secure added tax benefits.
  • In-kind gifts. These are any non-financial gifts, including materials and equipment, real estate, cars, you name it. Donors may seek to offload unneeded tangible assets to secure tax benefits, and you never know who among your community may have something they’d like to donate.
  • Cryptocurrency donations. Steadily rising in popularity among younger and more diverse groups of donors, gifts of crypto are new but certainly worth exploring if you think your donor base may be a good match.

If you’re prioritizing non-cash giving for the first time, we recommend starting with DAFs simply because their growth in popularity and volume has been explosive. Payouts to nonprofits from DAFs grew a record 28.2% in 2021, hitting $45.74 billion. Nonprofits also received 32% more DAF grants and 56% more grant dollars in 2022 than in 2021.

However, DAF fundraising is notoriously opaque—the names of DAF account owners aren’t disclosed, and these accounts are managed by a wide range of organizations including banks, financial service providers, and community foundations. 

To get started, try a simple survey. Ask donors if they’ve heard of, have, or are interested in donor-advised funds, and use your findings as the basis for future outreach. Contact local community foundations to introduce your organization and ask if they sponsor DAFs so they might recommend you as a grantee to their account holders. Add DAF giving as a new section on your Ways to Give page.

3. Invest in your mid-level donors.

Mid-level donors, often defined as those who give between $1,000 and $10,000 a year, are the key to long-term growth due to their high levels of loyalty and engagement. These supporters also tie together many of the trends that we’re currently seeing play out for nonprofits. Check out these statistics from Seachange Strategies’ most recent Missing Middle Report:

  • 31% of mid-level donors have made a bequest and another 23% say they plan to make one in the future.
  • 20% have donor-advised funds (DAF) and another 8% are considering starting one.
  • The majority of these donors say that in the past two years, their giving stayed the same or even grew amid political and cultural polarization (94%), global instability (94%), and economic uncertainty (87%).

What steps does your nonprofit currently take to steward and retain these donors?

For many organizations, the answer is “not enough,” and that’s understandable—fostering relationships with the highest-impact donors and running broad campaigns naturally take center stage for busy teams. But consider these easy steps you can take to better engage with them.

Start by understanding who these donors are. Revisit your segmentation strategies and rethink your donor pyramid or pipeline frameworks. The report cited above highlights that mid-level donors generally don’t demonstrate the same characteristics as major donors, so they’re easily missed if your focus is elsewhere.

Identify this segment of donors for your nonprofit and reach out to express your gratitude for their past support. If you want to prioritize deferred, recurring, or non-cash giving, try focusing on this group first. Develop tailored messaging to drive engagement, make asks, and retain their support, whether that’s through joining a membership program, creating a bequest, signing up to volunteer, or another action that will push your mission forward in the long run.

To work toward your mission effectively and responsibly, you need to do more than just trim expenses and seek new ways to be efficient. You also must proactively look forward and build a solid runway for your organization to grow.

With all the trends discussed above, it’s an exciting time for growing nonprofits. Take stock of your current practices and donor preferences, and weigh your options. While there’s no one-size-fits-all growth strategy, there are tons of easy first steps you can take to find the perfect route for your unique organization.

Patrick Schmitt and fellow co-CEO Jenny Xia founded FreeWill at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business in 2016. FreeWill’s charitable giving platform makes it easier for nonprofit fundraising teams to unlock transformational gifts, and to date has generated over $6.6 billion in new gift commitments for thousands of nonprofit organizations. Patrick hosts FreeWill’s popular webinar series, educating thousands of nonprofit fundraising professionals each month about planned and non-cash giving strategies.

Before FreeWill, Patrick was the Head of Innovation at Change.org, where he helped grow the organization to 100 million users in four years. Prior to that, he ran email marketing for President Obama and served as Campaign Director for MoveOn.org.

Could Your Nonprofit Benefit From a Little Spring Cleaning?

Ann Green Communications, database, fundraising, planning, thank you letters, writing , , , , ,

It’s spring here in the Northern Hemisphere, although in the Boston area it doesn’t feel like it right now. 

A lot of people use this time of the year to do some spring cleaning. I envy the people who do that because usually I’m not one of them. 

I know I should do more. As much as I dislike cleaning and organizing, I’m happy once it gets done. Often getting started is the hardest part.

Your nonprofit organization may be putting off some version of your own spring cleaning and decluttering. It’s important to make some time to tackle these so-called cumbersome tasks. Just think how happy you’ll be when you’re done. You’ll also make some much-needed improvements to your infrastructure and donor communication.

Here are a few suggestions to help you get started.

Clean up your mailing lists and CRM/database

Has it been a while since you updated your mailing lists? Did you have an influx of address changes, returned mail, and bounced emails after you sent your year-end appeal? This is a good time to clean up and update both your direct mail and email mailing lists.

Don’t wait until right before your next mailing or campaign to clean up your donor data. If it’s been a while since you’ve done this, then you really need to do what is known as data hygiene.

Even though it’s tedious, have someone who’s familiar with your donors (your development director?) go through your mailing lists and CRM/database to see if you need to make any additions, changes, and deletions.

Be meticulous. No donor wants to see her name misspelled, be addressed as Mrs. when she prefers Ms., or receive three mailings because you have duplicate records.

Your CRM/donor database is an essential tool and it needs to be up-to-date and filled with accurate information about your donors.

Run your donor list through the National Change of Address database. It may cost some money to do this, but it’s worth it if you come out with squeaky-clean data. Do it at least once a year.

Also, if you haven’t already done this, segment your donors into different groups – new donors, returning donors, monthly donors, etc. You may need to make some changes. For example, if a single gift donor starts giving monthly.

You might also want to move some lapsed donors who haven’t donated for several years into an inactive file. Don’t do this until you’ve sent targeted, personalized appeals asking them to donate again. And if you’ve never gotten in touch with any lapsed donors from 2023, you could reach out to them now.

Do the same thing with your email list. It doesn’t make sense to send emails to people who don’t respond to them. Give these people a chance to re-engage, and if they’re not even opening your emails, move them to an inactive file. Don’t worry if people unsubscribe. You’re better off with an email list of engaged subscribers.

Also, if you find you keep saying, “Our database doesn’t let us do that.”, maybe it’s time for an upgrade.

Freshen up your messages

Spring is a time to open up the windows and let some fresh air replace the stale air that’s been accumulating in your house over the last several months.

You know what else might be stale – your messages. Take some time to freshen them up, if you haven’t done that for a while. Ideally, you should do this at least once a year. I mentioned this in a recent post, emphasizing that your donor communication needs to be clear, conversational, and specific. Stay away from generic language and jargon. 

There’s a good chance your thank you letters need a refresh. Your thank you letters need to actually thank your donors, not brag about your organization. Also, make sure your automatically generated thank you emails and landing pages don’t look like boring receipts. Create separate templates for new donors, current donors, and monthly donors. 

Thank you messages are one of the most important components of donor communication. Make yours sparkle.

Weed and grow 

People who have gardens spend a lot of time getting rid of weeds to ensure a beautiful garden. I’m not a gardener. I live in a townhouse and don’t have a yard, but even I know I need to cut off the dead leaves on my houseplants to help them grow.

What are your weeds? Perhaps it’s events or grants. These can take a lot of time and don’t always bring in that much money.

If that’s the case for you, a better option is to grow your individual giving program. Start with monthly giving. You can think of this as a houseplant approach, relatively easy to take on and maintain. Then move on to major and legacy giving. These will take more time, just like a seedling that with care and attention will grow into a tree.

As you work on your weeding, this article on simplicity might be helpful. It suggests you do an audit of various aspects of your life and ask –  Is it necessary and is it creating energy? If you answer Yes to both, keep it. If you answer No to both, remove it. If you answer Yes to one, think about it. 

For your nonprofit, the energy question can be turned around and you can ask if something is depleting your energy. You could also ask, is it producing results?

It can be hard to let go. Maybe you’ve held a particular event for years. But like weeds in a garden, it might be prohibiting your growth. Let go of this event (or whatever doesn’t serve you) and find ways to raise money that will help you grow.

Don’t wait too long

I know you’re busy, but you need to take on these initiatives sooner rather than later. Just like the clutter and dust in your home, along with the weeds in your garden, they won’t disappear on their own. The longer you ignore it, the worse it gets. 

Get started on these spring cleaning projects as soon as you can. You’ll be happy once they’re done. Your donors will be happy if they don’t get duplicate mailings and a fundraising letter laced with jargon, but do receive a personalized appeal and a stellar thank you letter. Your organization will also benefit by taking on initiatives and making investments that will help you grow.

Are You Following the Ask, Thank, Report, Repeat formula?

Ann Green Communications, donor engagement, fundraising, gratitude, impact report, newsletter, thank you letters, writing , , , , , ,

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

Many organizations just practice Ask, Ask, Ask. If that’s the case for you, are you raising the money you need? Because what’s most important is to thank and report before you ask for another donation. Going a step further, fundraising expert Penelope Burk recommends seven touches before asking for another gift.

Of course, formulas are good in theory, but you can’t just go through the motions. Some organizations practice Ask, Bore, Brag. If you do it 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 that much on thanking and reporting.

At certain times of the year, such as GivingTuesday and year-end, nonprofits blast 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 recession or a pandemic (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 incredible! 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 Eastside 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.

While you shouldn’t ask for a donation in a thank you letter, you can provide an update.

Let your donors know the impact of their gifts

The most common way to report back or update donors is with 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 gifts, 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. I’m not a fan of asking for a donation in an impact report, but you will want to pour on the gratitude. 

Something else you can do is to send something called a Donor Care Letter. It’s a way to share updates without putting together an actual newsletter. I always like to recommend engaging by mail. If you’re worried about costs, reach out with a postcard. You can and should also send frequent updates by email and social media.

Repeat this throughout the year

The key word here is repeat. Be sure to follow the Ask, Thank, Report, Repeat 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, Repeat 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.

What’s Keeping You From Starting or Growing Your Monthly Giving Program?

Ann Green donation page, donor retention, fundraising, gratitude, monthly donors, planning , , , , ,

Monthly giving is one of the few types of fundraising that did well last year. If your organization doesn’t have a monthly/recurring giving program or it’s fairly small, what’s keeping you from starting or growing your monthly giving program?

Whether you’re a big or a smaller organization or you had a good fundraising year or you didn’t, monthly giving makes so much sense (or cents).

In this post, I’ll tell you why monthly giving is 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 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 $25 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 around 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 and shouldn’t be too hard to set up.

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. Create a series of welcome messages and conclude it by inviting people to become monthly donors.

You could create testimonials from current monthly donors in order to entice future monthly donors.

Make monthly giving your 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.

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 happy to see that more organizations are going all in on monthly giving.

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 for having 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’ve mentioned many times in the past, 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 spruce 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.

You can include a list of your monthly donors in a newsletter, impact 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.

One thing you should do is send your donors an annual summary of their monthly gifts. This is extremely helpful for people who itemize tax deductions. Make this letter more than just a receipt and use this opportunity to connect with your donors. Pour on the appreciation and let them know how their monthly donations are helping you make a difference. If you send one by mail, go one step further with a Thank You teaser on the outer envelope.

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 a great way to connect. Consider personalizing it, if you can. You could also provide other video content, such as a virtual tour, for your monthly donors.

Thank yous, newsletters, and updates are not a one-and-done scenario. 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. 

If you change your payment processor, make it easy for donors to transfer their information. For one organization I give to, all I had to do was click on a link they provided and presto…..

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.

If your payment processor doesn’t automatically update credit cards, set up a system where you can flag cards that will expire in the next month or two. Then send these donors a friendly reminder email/letter or give them a call. 

When my monthly giving credit card expired in the fall of 2022, only a couple of organizations contacted me before the expiration date. Of course, a few slipped through the cracks and I didn’t hear from these organizations until after the donations didn’t go through. There were also a few instances when I checked my credit card statement and realized the donations weren’t getting charged. Remember to take the lead on this and pay attention, or once again, you’ll miss out on receiving this important revenue.

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 more people at the Westside 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 few 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. 

Need more inspiration, get some ideas here.

Photo by Marco Verch

Why It’s Important to Build Relationships With Your Donors

Ann Green Communications, donor engagement, donor relations, donor retention, donor-centered, fundraising, gratitude , , , , ,

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. 

The concept of relationship fundraising has been around for a while, even though it’s not always put into practice. Many nonprofits seem focused too much on meeting their revenue goals, which don’t get me wrong, is important.

That said, 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.

Nonprofit giving continues to decline. If that’s the case for your organization, you’ll have more success if you can 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 has been processed”

“Donation tax receipt”

This again emphasizes 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”

“Thank you for investing in Peace!”

“Thank you for supporting Malala Fund, Ann”

“Your monthly gift in action” 

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

Make a point to change your thank you email subject lines so they include these very important words – Thank You.

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 in the community 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.

Let your donors know how much you appreciate them

Your focus on building relationships continues when you thank your donors. Many organizations do a poor job of 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. Recoginize the value of your long-time donors and do something special for people 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 card. These cards can be generated electronically, if it’s not feasible to actually write them. This will make more sense for large organizations. I just received a nice card thanking me for giving a year-end gift in addition to my monthly donations. It makes a difference if you can connect in a more personal way.

Holiday cards are also a good 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 send thank you cards at other times of the year, too. 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 tours of your organization (either in person or create a video tour).

Newsletters and impact 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. If you do it well, a newsletter, impact 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.

It takes time to build relationships, which is why you need to include donor engagement and stewardship as part of your fundraising strategy. Organizations with strong major giving and legacy programs see more success, but these initiatives don’t happen without good donor relationships

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 campaign.

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. 

Do Your Giving Tuesday Messages Look Like Spam?

Ann Green donor engagement, donor relations, donor retention, email, fundraising, planning , , , , ,

What’s the difference between messages you get for Cyber Monday, Black Friday, political candidates, and Giving Tuesday? Unfortunately, it seems like not a whole lot, and many of them look like spam.

According to the Giving Tuesday website, “Giving Tuesday is a global generosity movement unleashing the power of radical generosity.” In theory, that sounds nice, but in reality, it’s a day when nonprofit organizations unleash an onslaught of transactional fundraising appeals by email and social media.

Starting in 2012, Giving Tuesday has taken place the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. This year it will be on November 28.

I’m not going to tell you whether or not you should participate in Giving Tuesday. Perhaps you’ve participated in the past and it’s been successful (one way to measure if it was successful is if those donors give again), or maybe it wasn’t. Perhaps you’re planning to participate for the first time. Maybe you’re on the fence. 

Whether you participate or not, Giving Tuesday is part of the nonprofit landscape and if you’re doing a year-end appeal, you’ll need to factor it into your campaign. If you do participate, you want to make it a better experience for your donors instead of the usual barrage of generic, transactional appeals. And, you don’t want your messages to resemble spam.

Here are a few things to keep in mind as Giving Tuesday approaches.

Just because it’s Giving Tuesday isn’t a compelling reason to give

I see so many email messages that say donate because it’s Giving Tuesday. Many donors don’t care if it’s Giving Tuesday or if it’s your “annual appeal.” That’s often not why they donate. They give because they care about your cause and want to help make a difference. 

Let them know that with their help, Kara doesn’t have to go to bed hungry or Daniel can boost his reading skills.

People and communities are still struggling. You need to acknowledge this in your appeals.

It’s not just about the money

A successful Giving Tuesday campaign is about more than just raising a lot of money. You also want to build relationships and make your donors feel good about supporting your organization. This is where it often falls short.

I’m not a huge fan of Giving Tuesday or any giving days, for that matter, because they focus too much on getting donations. Many of these donors are first-time donors who don’t give again. The end result is you’ve just spent a lot of time and effort on getting one-time gifts. That’s not what you want. You need donors who will support you for many years.

Make it personal and segment your donors

Don’t just blast a bunch of generic, transactional appeals that resemble Cyber Monday ads or those relentless requests for political donations. I receive so many political emails, which are just “noise” that I end up ignoring. You don’t want that. You want to attract your donors’ attention in a good way. A more relationship-oriented subject line can help.

You also don’t want to send all your donors the same appeal. If someone donated last year on GivingTuesday, this is the perfect opportunity to thank them for that gift and ask them to donate again this year. If they donated two weeks ago, maybe they shouldn’t get an appeal right now.

Segment your donors. Acknowledge past donors and make a connection with potential donors. 

Focus on building relationships with your donors instead of just begging for donations.

Also, if you’re sending an appeal to your monthly donors, recognize them as monthly donors and ask them to give an additional gift (many of them will). They get their own thank you, too. Monthly donors are one of your most loyal types of donors. Be sure to make them feel special.

If you’re one of the few organizations that sends more personalized appeals, then kudos to you because that’s what everyone needs to do.

Use Giving Tuesday as a way to follow up with your donors

If you don’t want to launch a full Giving Tuesday campaign (understandable), it can be a great opportunity to follow up with people who haven’t donated to your year-end appeal. You should be sending regular reminders, anyway.

Send email and social media messages before and on Giving Tuesday encouraging people to donate. You can use the Giving Tuesday logos, etc. if you’d like. Obviously, you’ll want to keep following up with anyone who didn’t donate on Giving Tuesday.

Remember, your donors will be barraged with email and social media messages on Giving Tuesday. Make yours stand out and be prepared to keep following up.

Put gratitude front and center

Your donors should be feeling the love right after they make their donation.

Make sure you have an engaging thank you landing page and thank you email for your online donors. You could even create ones especially for Giving Tuesday. Then you need to follow that with a phone call, handwritten note, or thank you letter.

Send welcome packages to new donors or welcome back messages to current donors. 

Go the extra mile and do a good job of thanking these donors – both right after they’ve made their donation and throughout the year.

We’re going to skip Giving Tuesday 

Maybe you’ll decide you’re going to skip Giving Tuesday altogether. If that’s the case, you may want to hold off on sending email on Giving Tuesday, as well as Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Remember, other organizations will be participating and any messages you send will be competing with the onslaught of Giving Tuesday appeals. 

Before and after Giving Tuesday, use this opportunity to stand out by keeping your fundraising campaign focused on gratitude and relationship building. Year-end is a good time to ramp up your donor communication (examples include thank you messages, holiday greetings, and updates) so people don’t think you’re only asking them for money.

Give back to your donors

I think you’ll find your Giving Tuesday campaign, or any fundraising campaign, will be more successful if you focus on more than just the giving part. And a big part of a successful campaign is getting repeat donations. This means giving back to your donors, as well.

Always focus on relationships, not the transaction, and make sure your messages don’t look like spam.

Fundraising Efficiently: 3 Ways to Improve Your Operations

Ann Green fundraising, major donors, planning, staff retention , , ,

Let’s take a look at three areas where nonprofits can drive increased fundraising efficiency: staff retention, donor qualification, and campaign planning.

By Chelsey Newmyer

What first comes to mind when you think about increasing your nonprofit’s fundraising efficiency?

Cutting expenses? Making bigger asks of more of your donors? Sending more emails and appeals to keep your mission on their minds?

These methods can work, but they shouldn’t be your first or only steps. 

Cutting expenses can soon become unsustainable. Asking more from larger segments of your donors will ultimately make your fundraising less efficient if you’re not asking the right donors. Otherwise, you’re just wasting time and potentially hurting relationships. Blasting your messages too frequently can also have the unintended consequence of making your audience tune you out.

The key to success lies in fundraising smarter, not just leaner or more aggressively, with an eye on the long-term sustainability of your strategies. Learning to do more with what you already have will grow your ability to drive impact into the future. 

Many nonprofits understand the value of sustainable fundraising streams like recurring giving programs, but how can you go further? What are some foundational ways to build efficiency into your efforts from the ground up? Let’s take a look at three fundamental ways to get started.

  1. Minimize employee churn.

To make the most of your resources, start by preserving them. Any organization’s most important resources are the people who keep it running.

The average employee turnover rate for nonprofits hovers around 19%, consistently higher than for-profit companies. It’s a common problem battled by organizations of all sizes. Churn is also costly for nonprofits and can create major hurdles to growth. There are several reasons why internal churn can be so harmful:

  • Churn creates new costs. Hiring new team members to replace those who leave takes time and money. Not to mention, there’s the opportunity cost to consider since new staff won’t operate as effectively right away.
  • Churn decreases overall engagement and morale, leading to worse outcomes across the organization.
  • Churn can harm your nonprofit’s relationships. Fundraising programs thrive on relationships with donors, businesses, and other partners. When experienced fundraisers leave, there’s a risk of losing all the valuable relationships they’ve built.

Altogether, these impacts can slow or derail your organization’s growth, making it harder to generate meaningful returns on your fundraising work. It can also become a harmful cycle if left unchecked, with remaining employees more likely to leave as well if they’re feeling burnt out from picking up the slack.

If fundraiser retention has been a challenge for your nonprofit, work to improve it before diving deeper into other fundraising efficiency improvements. Graham-Pelton’s guide to nonprofit staff retention outlines the essential elements of an effective strategy and 15 steps organizations can take to get started.

With a stable, engaged team ready to drive your mission forward, you’ll then be able to implement new changes that help them work more efficiently.

  1. Refine your donor qualification process.

Prioritization is a key part of efficient fundraising. For nonprofit fundraising teams, this means focusing on your donor qualification strategies.

Qualification is the process of prioritizing your major donors and prospects for outreach based on how likely they are to give at the current moment. It relies on sets of criteria that either qualify or disqualify a prospect for outreach, for example:

  • Qualified: Active donor, hasn’t been solicited in the last X months, proven giving capacity at the intended level, etc.
  • Disqualified: No proven giving capacity, lapsed donor, or was recently solicited and declined to give, etc.

Qualification is used specifically for major giving. Relationships with major donors need to be thoughtfully grown over time—which is a time-intensive process—hence the increased need to effectively prioritize outreach. When a major gift is secured, it can represent a significant return on the investment of that time. By focusing your efforts on where it’s most likely to drive impact, you’ll increase the overall ROI of your efforts without cutting costs or making bigger asks.

If your nonprofit hasn’t refreshed its approach to qualification (or doesn’t yet have one), there are a few immediate steps you can take. 

First, review your data to learn more about the donors who’ve given large or major gifts. Find trends in their characteristics and in the cultivation and solicitation strategies you used to ask them for gifts—use these trends to establish updated qualification criteria. Using these criteria, take a first pass at generating a new prospect list. 

From there, keep refining your approach as you talk to donors, ask for gifts, and learn more about them. Just be sure to consistently revisit your prioritized prospect list to ensure it’s as fresh as possible based on your most recent (and well-maintained) data. This efficient approach makes it possible to present fully customized appeals to your donors and boost your chances of securing a gift.

  1. Thoroughly plan ahead for your fundraising campaigns.

Like major gift fundraising, large-scale campaigns are time-intensive, but they can also deliver high ROIs.

Following capital campaign best practices can be incredibly efficient, despite these fundraising goals being among the highest your organization ever pursues. Focusing on major gifts and following a strategic order of solicitations allows you to pack a punch, securing large sums in a very targeted way.

But you’ll also need to ensure that your campaign plans are designed to be truly achievable. Goals need to strike the right balance of being ambitious but realistic. This will help maximize your ROI (while ensuring you’re not pursuing a goal that’s too high or leaving money on the table by aiming too low).

To set the perfect goal and minimize wasted time and effort during a major campaign, conduct a feasibility study early in the planning process. This can be done for any big initiative that will rely on major gifts, not just capital campaigns.

A feasibility study or planning study seeks the input of major donors, prospects, and stakeholders on your initial campaign plans and goals. Since these are the supporters who’ll ultimately help drive the campaign to success, the idea is to use their input to help shape your finalized goal and approach. It’s also a helpful way to secure early buy-in on your project by allowing key donors to become more closely involved.

If a large campaign is coming up for your organization, develop a case for support and begin mentioning the campaign to your donors so that it’s on their radar. Develop initial lists of who to include in your study and whose gifts would be essential for success based on your qualification process.

Once you’ve conducted a planning study and analyzed your findings, make adjustments to your plan as needed and move forward with your campaign. Look for ways to keep donors engaged with the project beyond just inviting them to a luncheon or grand finale gala. Have a plan in place early for thanking and recognizing donors. This will not only lead to a more successful campaign but also strengthen your relationships for more effective fundraising in the future.

Increasing your efficiency shouldn’t mean trimming your operations down to the bare essentials or stretching your donor relationships to their limits. 

Instead, look for ways to do more with what you already have. Across all areas of your work, including internal management processes, donor stewardship, and campaign planning, you can drive greater impact by preserving your time and prioritizing your work.

Chelsey Newmyer is a Senior Consultant at Graham-Pelton. An analytical problem solver, Chelsey uses a data-driven approach fostered by her engineering background to conduct multipronged annual giving campaigns, manage leadership-level prospects and volunteers, and enhance cross-departmental relationships.

How You Can Plan a Multichannel Fundraising Campaign

Ann Green appeal letters, fundraising, multichannel, year-end appeal , , ,

Year-end fundraising season is starting to get underway. I’m already seeing appeal letters in my mailbox and this is just the beginning.

Speaking of appeal letters, you should plan to send one by mail. I know email is easier and less expensive, but people respond better to mail and it’s well worth the investment. 

However, if you just send one fundraising letter and wait for the donations to come in, prepare to be disappointed. Your donors have a lot going on and may put your letter aside to handle later, and then never get to it.

Of course, you can also send email appeals, but you’ll need to plan to send more than one appeal due to the enormous volume of email people receive. Some donors will respond to the first appeal, but most are going to need a few reminders.

Your fundraising campaign will be more successful if you use a combination of mail, email, social media, and phone calls. Some donors may respond to your direct mail piece but will donate online. This is what I usually do. Others will see your email message but prefer to send a check. You could also include a text to give option.

You’ll have a lot of competition since you’re not the only organization seeking year-end donations. Most nonprofits rely on year-end for the bulk of their fundraising. Plus, donors may be overwhelmed with everything that’s going on in the world, but they still want to help.

This is why you need a multichannel fundraising campaign with a series of asks.

BEFORE YOU START

Clean up your mailing lists/database

If you haven’t already done this, clean up and organize your mailing lists/database. Do you have both postal and email addresses for all your donors? Be sure to segment your donors into different groups (current, monthly, etc), as well. Having good donor data is essential.

Make it easy to donate online

You need to have a donation page that’s engaging and easy to use on all platforms, including mobile. Test all links in email messages and social media posts. The last thing you want is a donor contacting you about a broken link or have to hunt around on your website for a link to your donation page.

When you’re ready to launch your campaign, include a blurb on your homepage that says your year-end campaign is underway. Make sure your donate button is in a prominent place.

Which channels do your donors use?

Don’t spend a lot of time on channels your donors aren’t using. Figure out in advance where you want to focus your efforts.

SAMPLE SCHEDULE AND STRATEGY

Come up with a schedule of when the appeals will go out. I’ve created a sample schedule below. Of course, you can adjust the time frame as needed and use this for campaigns at other times of the year. 

That said, I do recommend starting your year-end campaign sooner rather than later. Remember, you’re not the only game in town. If you’ve already mailed your appeal, you can start planning your reminders.

Also, if you haven’t already done this, you could send your donors a warm-up letter or email before you launch your campaign.

October 25

Give your supporters a heads-up by email and social media. Let them know your year-end campaign is underway and they should receive a letter from you soon, provided you have their mailing address. Encourage them to donate online right now. This means your donation page needs to be in great shape.

Keep in mind the fact your year-end campaign is going on will matter to some donors and not to others. Use an enticing subject line such as  – How you can help local families put food on the table.  

Make sure it’s obvious your message is coming from your organization so you have a better chance of getting it opened. 

Week of October 30

Mail your appeal letters.

Week of November 6

Start sending follow-up reminders via email and social media. Weekly or regular reminders are a proven way to help you raise more money. If possible, don’t send reminders to people who have already donated. Otherwise, be sure to thank your recent donors. You can even phrase your reminders as more of a thank you or an update.

Thank you so much to all of you who donated to our year-end appeal. We’re well on our way to serving more families at the Eastside Community Food Pantry. This is crucial. We’re still seeing more people coming in because they’re having trouble affording groceries.

If you haven’t donated yet, please help us out today by visiting our website (include a link to your donation page) or sending us a check (provide address).

Week of November 13

Send another round of reminders. People get so much email now and may not have seen your earlier messages.

Week of November 20

November 23 is Thanksgiving in the U.S. I would recommend not sending a reminder this week and focus 100% on gratitude. Send your donors a Happy Thanksgiving message, preferably by mail, but an electronic message is fine. Your donors are going to be busy getting ready for turkey day and may not have time to donate that week, but would appreciate a heartfelt thank you from you.

For those of you outside of the U.S., this can also be an opportunity to show some donor appreciation. Even though you’re focused on year-end fundraising, you also need to communicate in other ways right now.

Week of November 27

November 28 is GivingTuesday so you could tie that into a reminder message. You may already have a campaign planned.

Your donors’ inboxes will be bursting at the seams on GivingTuesday and your messages can easily get lost in the chaos. Make your messages stand out and remember to show some gratitude, too. 

Also, not all of your donors will care that it’s GivingTuesday. Focus on how they can help you make a difference.

Make sure your reminders, as well as any GivingTuesday messages, don’t look like spam. And, keep it positive. Don’t make your donors feel bad because they haven’t donated yet.

Week of December 4

Start making reminder calls, along with sending electronic messages. If time is an issue, you could just call people who have donated before. That’s probably most effective. Leaving a voice mail message is fine. 

It’s a busy time of the year and your donors may need a gentle prompt.

The rest of December and beyond

Keep sending reminders throughout December. It’s tricky because you want to get your messages across without being annoying. This is another reason why you should only send reminders to people who haven’t donated yet.

Be sure to keep up with your donor communication (newsletter and other updates). Remember, you don’t want the only messages your donors receive to be fundraising appeals. December is also a great time to show some appreciation and send holiday greetings.

The end of December is the busiest time of this already busy fundraising season. Send a reminder email on December 29th, 30th, and 31st. This is also proven to be an effective strategy. And, it’s especially relevant if your fiscal year ends on December 31 or your donor wants to give before the end of the calendar year.

Even though you’re trying to raise money, don’t forget about building relationships, too. That’s just as important.

Look to see who hasn’t contributed yet. Concentrate on people who are most likely to donate, such as past donors. You may need to send another letter or a reminder postcard to donors who don’t use electronic communication. The more you can personalize it, the better.

You can continue following up in the New Year when donors aren’t as busy.

Once is not enough. Your fundraising campaign will be more successful with multiple asks and by using multiple channels. Good luck!

Why You Need to Segment Your Donors

Ann Green appeal letters, Communications, database, donor engagement, donor retention, fundraising, thank you letters , , , , ,

I’ve been emphasizing the importance of personalizing your communication lately. One way to do that is to segment your donors.

Your donors are not the same. Some donors have given for at least five years (these donors should get a lot of attention). Some are monthly donors. Yet, nonprofit organizations fail to recognize that and send everyone the same messages. 

I often receive generic, one-size-fits-all communication from organizations that don’t acknowledge I’m a longtime donor or recognize that I’m a monthly donor. How do you think that makes me feel?

Another benefit of segmenting your donors is it can help you raise more money. If you’ve been struggling to meet your revenue goals, that may be why.

Unfortunately, if you’re not segmenting your donors into different groups, you’re missing opportunities here –  both to connect with your donors and to raise additional revenue. 

Isn’t it time for you to start segmenting your donors? If you’re already segmenting your donors, kudos to you!

You may be worried about how much time this will take. Plus, you don’t think your current CRM/database can handle it and it will cost too much to get a better one. 

In reality, it may cost you more not to segment. A good CRM/database is worth the investment. Segmenting your donors will help you with retention, which costs less than trying to find new donors. 

Your appeals and thank you letters will stand out if you can personalize them and not send everyone the same generic letter. You don’t need to create a 100 different types of letters, though. Four or five should be sufficient. 

Here are a few different types of donor groups to help get you started. Remember, investing in a good CRM/database will help you with this.

Current single gift donors

An appeal letter to current single gift donors (Monthly donors get their own appeal. More on that below.) must acknowledge their past support. You can segment donors by gift amount and use this opportunity to ask for an upgrade. Many organizations don’t do this, but it’s a good way to increase your revenue.

Your donors will be more receptive to upgrading their gifts if you’ve been doing a good job of thanking them and staying in touch throughout the year.

If these donors give again, they should get a handwritten note, phone call, or letter letting them know how much you appreciate their continued support. If they’ve upgraded their gift, be sure to acknowledge that, too. 

Potential/new single gift donors

If you’re sending an appeal to someone who’s never donated to your nonprofit before, what is your connection to them? Are they volunteers, event attendees, or people on a list you purchased?

The more you can establish a connection, the better chance you have of getting a donation.

The retention rate for first-time donors is terrible. One of the reasons is poor communication. You can help boost your retention rate by making your new donors feel special.

New donors should get a handwritten note, phone call, or letter welcoming them as donors. Invite them to connect with you in other ways such as signing up for your newsletter, following you on social media, and volunteering.

Then a week or so later, send them a welcome package by mail or email. Personalization is essential for new donors.

One of the biggest hurdles nonprofits face is ensuring first-time donors give a second time. If they keep giving after that, they’re showing their commitment to your organization. That’s why the second gift is called a golden donation. Don’t blow it by ignoring this.

New monthly donors

Brand new donors who opt for monthly or other recurring donations get the same special thank you treatment mentioned above. Welcome them to your family of monthly donors. 

Current monthly donors

Your current monthly donors must get their own appeal that recognizes them as monthly donors. In this appeal, you can either ask them to upgrade their gift or give an additional gift. 

When your donors give an additional gift or upgrade their monthly gift, they, of course, get an amazing thank you.

Current donors who become monthly donors

Your current donors who decide to become monthly donors are also showing their commitment to you. They get a handwritten note, phone call, or letter thanking them for their continued support and for joining your family of monthly donors. From now on they should get specialized appeals and other communication targeted to monthly donors. 

Segment as much as you can

While I’ve suggested a few ways you can segment, there are many more options. You can segment by gift amount and number of years someone has been a donor. You can segment volunteers, event attendees, and non-donors. You can also use segmentation in other types of communication, such as creating a special newsletter for monthly donors (or at the very least including a cover letter for monthly donors with your newsletter) and sending handwritten notes to people on their donor anniversary.

Segmenting your donors makes a difference

We continue to face an uncertain economy. It’s possible some donors may cut back on their giving. Don’t let them choose between organizations that communicate throughout the year with engaging personalized appeals, thank yous, and updates or organizations that just send generic, one-size-fits-all communication. People always appreciate a personal connection.

Spending some extra time segmenting your donors and personalizing your communication will be worth it if you can raise additional revenue and boost your retention rate.

How You Can Create a Better, More Personal Fundraising Appeal

Ann Green appeal letters, direct mail, donor retention, donor-centered, fundraising, writing , , , ,

Can you believe September is already here? Depending on where you live, you may or may not be getting that nice refreshing air September often brings. 

It also brings us to the start of the busiest time of the year for nonprofit organizations, especially if you’re doing a year-end appeal. 

If you’re falling short of your revenue goals, you may want to start your campaign earlier this year. Even if you’re not planning on launching your campaign until later in the fall, you should get started on your appeal now. Everything always takes longer than you think.

You need to create an appeal that will stand out and resonate with your donors. If you’ve been using the same boring, generic template for years, it’s time for something new. 

You need a letter that takes into account what’s going on in 2023. How are the everchanging current situations affecting your clients/community?

Your appeal also needs to be personal – both for your donors and when you write about your clients/community. 

Here are some ways you can create a better, more personal appeal. 

Your envelope matters

You may not think your envelope makes much of a difference, but it does. You need to get your donors to open your letter. If you can’t get them to do that, then all your hard work has gone to waste.

Make it look as personal as possible. Use something other than the standard #10 white business envelope and steer clear of a window envelope because that makes it look like a bill. Think about using an oversized or colored envelope. 

Perhaps you’d like to include a teaser on the outer envelope. Fundraising experts are mixed on whether this is a good idea. It makes it look less personal, but a good teaser can capture your donor’s attention. This doesn’t mean one that says 2023 Annual Appeal. That’s not inspiring. Instead, say something like – Find out how you can help kids learn to read.

A hand-addressed envelope will look more personal. If that isn’t feasible, print directly on the envelope. You could also use mailing labels. Use some nice stamps if you can.

Create an inviting piece of mail.

Share a compelling story

A good appeal letter should open with a compelling story. Focus on a person or family and not your organization. Your donors want to hear about the people they’ll be helping and it needs to be relevant to the current climate. 

Here’s an example – Melanie, a single mother with three kids, has gone through a lot over the past few years. It’s been hard to find work that pays enough and groceries are so expensive. 

But thanks to generous donors like you (or because of our generous donors if you’re writing to people who haven’t given before), she’s been able to get boxes of healthy food at the Eastside Community Food Pantry. At first, Melanie was embarrassed that she had to rely on a food pantry to feed her family, but she’s always treated with respect and dignity when she visits. 

We want to continue providing Melanie and other members of our community with healthy food when they need it.

You could also share a first-person story from a client/program recipient.

Include a photo

Include an engaging color photo in your letter or on your pledge form. Photos can tell a story in an instant.

Next comes the ask

Ask for a donation at the beginning of the next paragraph (after the story). Make sure it’s prominent and clear. Also, ask your current donors if they can give a little more right now. Don’t be afraid to ask your donors to upgrade their gifts. People want to help if they can.

Phrase your ask like this – We’re so grateful for your previous gift of $50. We’re continuing to see more people coming into the food pantry right now. Would you be able to help us out a little more this time with a gift of $75?

Asking for an upgrade can help you raise more money. Also, if you’ve been doing a good job of engaging your donors throughout the year (and I hope that’s the case), they shouldn’t mind if you ask for a larger gift. Including the amount of your donor’s previous gift is helpful since people don’t often remember what they gave before.

Be sure the ask is the only call to action in your appeal. Don’t distract people with information about an upcoming event or volunteering. Save that for a different message.

Be donor-centered, as well as community-centered

There’s been some dichotomy over the past few years between being donor-centered and being community-centered, but I think you can be both. What you don’t want is to be organization-centered.

Show your donors how they can help you make a difference for your clients/community and how much you appreciate their role in that. Make your donors feel good about supporting your nonprofit.

At the same time, respect your clients/community by not undermining them when you use terms like at-risk youth or underserved communities. They are people, after all.

Share your success and challenges

Highlight some of your accomplishments, but you can share challenges, too. 

Show how you plan to continue your work with your donor’s help. Remember to stay donor-centered and community-centered! 

Personalization is crucial

Don’t send everyone the same appeal. Try to send different letters to current donors, monthly donors, lapsed donors, people on your mailing list who haven’t donated yet, event attendees, volunteers, and friends of board members. 

The more you can segment, the better, but at the very least, you must do these two things.

Send a personalized appeal to current donors. They’re your best bet for getting donations. Let them know how much you appreciate their support. 

Also, send a specific appeal tailored to monthly donors, giving them the recognition they deserve. For your year-end appeal, I would thank them for all their generous support and ask them to give an additional gift. You can ask them to upgrade at a different time.

Don’t send a generic, one-size-fits-all appeal letter. Go the extra mile for your donors, so they’ll continue to support you.

Your appeal letter should also have a personal salutation (first names are best) and not be addressed to Dear Friend or Dear Valued Donor. How much do you value this relationship if you can’t even use a person’s name?

If this sounds like a lot of work, give yourself enough time to do it. This is important. Personalizing your letters can also help you raise more money.

Make it easy for your donors to give

Include a reply envelope with amounts to check off (this is also known as a bangtail envelope) or a reply envelope and a pledge form. Create donation tiers that show what each amount will fund. Do this on your donation page, too.

Some donors prefer to donate online. Direct them to a user-friendly donation page on your website. You could create a QR code for your letter and reply device. Make sure your donation page is mobile-friendly, too.

Offer a monthly or recurring giving option

Monthly gifts can generate more revenue, give you a steady source of income throughout the year, and improve donor retention. Encourage your donors to give $5, $10, or even $20 a month. This may be a more viable option for some of them. 

Be careful and don’t send an appeal to your current monthly donors that invites them to become monthly donors. That’s one reason why they need their own appeal.

Your letter must be easy to read (and scan)

Use short paragraphs and bulleted lists, along with bold or color for keywords, but keep it tasteful. Make it easy to read and scan. Most people won’t read your letter word for word. Use a simple font and at least a 12-point type.

Human attention spans are less than 10 seconds. But go figure, longer fundraising letters (four pages as opposed to two) have been shown to perform better, especially for prospective donors.

Resist the temptation to create a one-page letter. This often means cramming a bunch of tiny text on the page. With a longer letter, you’ll have more space to tell a story and repeat messages. You can also break up the text with a photo, testimonials, and short paragraphs. Printing on both sides of the page is fine, too.

Quality and readability are essential here. Make every word count. 

Think of your letter as a conversation with a friend

You can create a better, more personal appeal if you think of your letter as a conversation with a friend. That means not using jargon like at-risk youth and underserved communities. Be specific and use everyday language. Your goal should be for your reader to understand you.

Refer to your reader as you and use you a lot more than we.

Too many editors spoil the appeal

Your entire staff doesn’t need to be involved in writing your appeal. Generally, the more people you involve in writing your letter, the worse it becomes. Fundraising Consultant Tom Ahern refers to this as letter writing by committee.

Your best writer should craft it and then turn it over to your best editor. Whoever signs the letter (your Executive Director?) can take a quick look at it, but don’t send it to a committee.

If you don’t have someone on your staff who can write a good fundraising appeal, then hire a freelancer or consultant to do it.

Besides weakening the content, involving more people takes extra time.

Make a good lasting impression

Repeat your ask at the end of your appeal. Don’t forget to say please and thank you.

Be sure to add a PS. People often gravitate to the PS as they scan the letter, so include something that will capture their attention. It may be the only thing they look at. This is a good opportunity to summarize your appeal – Please make a donation today to help us feed more families in the community.

Get your pens out

Include a short handwritten note, if you can. Make it relevant to each donor, such as thanking someone for a previous donation or hoping a potential donor will support you. You could also stick on a handwritten Post-it note. Hand sign the letters in blue ink.

Nonprofit giving has declined recently and that may continue. This is why you need to spend some time writing a better, more personal appeal letter that will stand out and help bring you the donations you need. Good luck!

Image by Howard Lake