There are many reasons we in the fundraising industry tell one another about why donors give. They are moved by your mission, they know a board or staff member, they’ve given for years, to name a few. I doubt that all of them are true, and I especially doubt that they are all true at the same point in the giving calculus for each donor.
Since August is “Make-A-Will” month, I’ve been writing about estate and legacy (planned) giving and wills, and plan to continue doing so for the next few weeks. Please let me know if the content helps you decide your course of action. Would You Make A “Gift” In Your Will? Did you know that it’s much more effective to ask your donors to make “Gifts in your will” rather than “Bequest Gifts?” Here’s why: Russell James, JD, PhD, CFP, a philanthropy researcher based at Texas Tech University, reports that, according to the latest donor surveys, asking people to consider “Gifts in your will”
Text messaging is an important — and largely underused — donor stewardship tool. Advanced fundraisers have been slow to fully embrace text (aka SMS) messaging largely out of fear that they are intruding on their donors. But as texting has become the primary form of communication for many of us, it’s time to move past that fear and embrace texting as a central piece of your larger donor communications strategy. Text marketing has an incredible 98% open rate — and most messages are read within the first 30 minutes of delivery. The average American sends more than 40 texts per
By Brooke Bryant, PhD Women’s philanthropy has long been undervalued. Yet, women are statistically more likely to give than men, and 70% of giving circles are populated by women. At a time when women have increased financial power, and are more actively involved in giving decisions than their male counterparts, your nonprofit cannot afford to overlook this important demographic. I once spoke with a women’s rights organization that wanted to grow its major gifts program, and they had a major concern: I just don’t think we can grow our major donor pool. Most of our donors are women — and
By Alyssa Greengrass, MA. “How do we get our donors back?” It’s a common yet distressing question. And it’s one that I regularly hear from fundraisers and executives at nonprofits of all sizes — ranging from large national hospital systems to local food banks. While it seems difficult to win back donors who have chosen to stop supporting your nonprofit, it’s important to resist the temptation to simply focus on closing new gifts. Ignoring your lapsed donor file is cost ineffective and jeopardizes relationships that took time and care to develop. Often, these lapsed donors are devoted supporters of your
By Ryan Carpenter November and December are a prime time for philanthropy, with 31% of donations occurring in December alone. But if you aren’t prepared to ride the coming wave of support, you could be leaving dollars behind. One of the best strategies to make the most of the giving season is to develop segmented messages for various donor groups. Given that donors have been shown to give 10% to 25% more when messages are personalized, you must not ignore the power of customized messages. Any fundraiser can apply the following segmentation best practices to #GivingTuesday and year-end campaigns. The
By Peter Panepento As the CEO, you write blogs, deliver speeches, and give media interviews because you believe it will help raise more revenue for your nonprofit. This is a worthy goal. Thought leadership content can be incredibly valuable in connecting with potential donors. I’d like to share with you my observations from my years in the field about creating thought leadership content that actually inspires individuals to take action. Mainly I encourage you to be less overt in your attempts to connect your thought leadership with your fundraising. Instead of making your message about yourself and your nonprofit, truly
By Laurence A. Pagnoni, MPA Is getting a meeting with a donor more difficult for you than securing the gift? If so, that’s my experience too. The fact is that, if you get the meeting, your chances of securing the gift are relatively certain. Why is it so Difficult? There are many answers to this question. We’ve become more dependent on technology and because of it, our donor relationships are more distant. It’s easier to zoom in for a video call than to leave your office and meet in person. Another reason is that the increase in income disparity has left
By Laurence A. Pagnoni, MPA When you ask a donor to renew his or her support, you’re offering a unique opportunity to make something significant happen in the world, something they deeply want, but cannot affect by themselves. You (the fundraiser) have to be clear about that opportunity and what would happen if it did not exist. This is what engages donors. A unique feature of really engaged donors is their desire to build the future with you. For this reason, fundraisers almost always ask donors to give their support over three or five years. Truly transformative gifts are often made as
By Laurence A. Pagnoni, MPA Site visits are not inspections. Inspections occur in the military, and if you’ve never served, you have no idea of the horrors inflicted by the very thought of them. Barracks have to be turned upside-down and inside-out to shake out the tiniest grains of soot, and everything from floors to boots to belt buckles have to gleam like the dawn. Site visits are more like first dates. The boots only have to be on the right feet, and the buckles need only be fastened. Funders don’t usually request site meetings unless they’re interested in the
