Practice donor love principlesI had the privilege of speaking about the seven Donor Love principles at three workshops earlier this year. These principles were coined by John Lepp and Jen Love, who run an agency in Toronto called Agents of Good. Since they first appeared, the donor love principles (and principals) have been presenting at conferences and in blog posts by John and Jen and others. So how do you practice #donorlove? Principle 1: You make your donor the hero. You tell them in every email, direct mail piece, every newsletter. Give them an opportunity to fix the world. They want to help. They want to fix something. They want to make a difference. (And remember, they don’t give because you’re great. They give because they’re great.) Principle 2: Share amazing and inspiring stories. Stories are how you connect to your donors’ emotions. They must be able to feel and see who they’re helping. And if the problem is too big, they’ll ignore it. Remember the single story and image of Alan Kurdi, the Syrian boy who was found washed up on the beach in Greece. That was the story that finally put a heartbreaking face on the refugee crisis. Principle 3: Connect to your donors’ values and emotions. People give when they’re mad, sad, hopeful, conflicted, angry, frustrated – you name it. They’re moved to act when the feel something and feel they can make a difference. Principle 4: Falling and staying in love. You’re building a relationship with a donor. What can make them feel good about their decision to give? Think about donor love from their perspective – what moves them? Principle 5: Ask for one thing. Donors want to help fix something and feel really good about it. So tell them what the problem is and how they, the donor, can be the solution. You need to make it easy with a clear call to action. Don’t give them a dozen choices or ask them to renew their membership at the same time. Principle 6: Who or what is the right voice for your story? What are you asking and who is the right voice for the question? It’s not always the executive director, development director or board chair. Sometimes it’s a grateful recipient of service. Sometimes a program staff or volunteer. And sometimes it’s a bird, a food truck or dining room table (at a women’s shelter). Use your imagination. Principle 7: Say thanks with passion. Don’t back into a thank you – just come out and say it! Don’t say “On behalf of the Board of Directors…” Say “Thank you so much for giving this person back their life” or “Because of you, this happened to change someone’s life. Thank you.” Tell them about the impact of their gifts. Use emotion and creativity and above all, be sincere. The 7 principles work. You need to be consistent in applying them and not give in to trying to educate donors. You must tell donors they are making a difference in the world. And thanks so much to the Agents of Good for defining the #donorlove principles! Julie Mikuska. · Getting people to give in JuneI’ve been annoyed whenever I see social impact organizations asking me on social media or in emails to vote for them to compete for $10,000 (or whatever the amount). They’re not engaging donors this way, and not even raising money. However, The Great Canadian Giving Challenge has helped organizations use the power of their networks to encourage donors to give. In June – one of the slowest times of the year in fundraising. In 2016, in its second year, the results were impressive. According to givingchallenge.ca: 52,000 Canadians participated, donating more than $8 million to over 8,600 charities, representing a 48% increase in donations compared to June 2014 and a 28% increase compared to 2015. Charities involved in #GivingChallengeCa for 2 years in a row earned 164% more vs. the 28% average increase. It works like this: During June, donors give either through givingchallenge.ca or CanadaHelps.org. Every dollar donated to a registered charitable organization gives one entry into the contest for that organization. (Minimum donation of $3). Organizations have access to a toolkit to help them create customized campaigns, with logos and strategies. The hashtag #GivingChallengeCA helps keep people up to date and gives them a chance to share. The draw for the $10,000 is July 1. Now go work your social media! Julie Mikuska. · Why are we doing this event?“Let’s do an event – we need to raise more money!” Board members and/or staff come up with this idea often, with the notion that businesses will be on board with sponsorship, friends, family and acquaintances will buy tickets and loads of donated goods will be auctioned off, resulting in a healthy bottom line. But does it? There are reasons for holding an event, but typically raising money isn’t one of them. When you stop to examine the actual return on investment, what are you measuring? You need to be clear on your objective for holding an event before you can measure its ROI. If your objective is to raise awareness, does your event align with your mission and perceived brand? Will people associate the event with your organization and support it because they believe in your mission? Or are they buying a ticket because they want a fun time out and won’t ever think that they’re supporting your good work? If you are hoping to raise money, take every cost into consideration, including staff time. Many organizations claim to have raised a tidy sum without revealing that it actually raised half or less when the time taken by staff is factored in. You must also consider what is not being done while your fundraising staff is picking out menus and napkin colours and running around begging for donations for the auction table. With all that busy work, there’s no time to talk to your donors! So ask yourself first, “Why are we doing this event?” Laura Mikuska · What’s the cost of a lost opportunity?We often hear people talk about the return on investment related to particular fundraising activities. (We often hear people never talking about ROI, but that’s for a different post!). But how many consider the opportunity costs of their decisions? In other words, what are you not able to do if you do something else? Consider:
Maximize your time and opportunities to meet donors, thank donors and ask people for gifts. Measure your activities against opportunity costs. Always ask yourself: do you need to do something or is it time to move on to a different activity with higher potential? Julie Mikuska. · It pays to keep your donorsWe hear all the time from organizations about getting new donors. Yes, it’s important to bring new donors in, but it’s even more important to keep the donors you have. The 2017 edition of the Fundraising Effectiveness Project results was recently published. Here are some of the sobering findings from 10,829 non-profit organizations:
(Gains are gifts by new donors + recaptured lapsed donors + increases in gift amounts. Losses are decreases in gift amounts + lost gifts by lapsed new and lapsed repeat donors.) What does this tell us? Organizations do a poor job at keeping their donors, and as a result, they are continually chasing new donors, at great expense. It’s much more cost-effective to keep the donors you have than to continually chase new donors. The results vary by size of organization. Smaller organizations fare much poorly that larger organizations, which means resources dedicated to retaining donors make a difference. The FEP site has tools to help you analyze your data so you can make decisions on where to put your time and money in keeping your donors engaged. It’s not just about the bottom line of how much comes in. You need to know who your donors are. Don’t treat all your donors the same. Heap more love on your loyal donors and ask them to give more. But do make sure new donors know they are valued and welcome, and chances are some will give again and again. Julie Mikuska. · Volunteers strengthen your organizationVolunteers can strengthen your organization if you’re able to define your needs and how they can be filled by them. You have to have a plan to oversee the volunteers, and to evaluate and assess the effectiveness of your volunteer program. Your volunteers must be an integral part of your organization, not just “those people in your boardroom stuffing envelopes”. While that is a worthwhile endeavour, chances are people willing to give their time have some talent that you can tap into to help even more. Some examples:
How can you use volunteers in your organization? Laura Mikuska · Silos hold grain, not donorsHave you encountered these scenarios?
In all of these cases, staff are working in silos. They are protecting their turf because they don’t see how it’s in their interest to open their processes and departments to be donor-focused. What can you do to knock down the silo walls?
And don’t keep your donors in your own silo. Share stories of joyful giving with others to show them that donors care. Julie Mikuska. · In a world where everyone gets enoughDo you have enough? What does having enough mean? Having enough means you can participate in society with dignity. Those that don’t have enough have to rely on the charity of others. And that can take away their dignity. Think about those who don’t have enough – they’re panhandling for food, visiting a food bank to pick up a few canned goods, sleeping at the shelter or on the street, and looking for donated clothing and shoes. Their Employment and Income Assistance (EIA) cheques aren’t enough to have enough to eat, find adequate and safe housing or buy warm clothes. And it’s even worse for those that have to provide for their children or those with a disability that prevents them from participating in the workforce. Most are deeply ashamed. Now let’s think about providing everyone with a basic guaranteed income. Instead of panhandling, they’re going to the grocery store and buying the food their family needs. They’re clothing their family and finding safe and affordable housing. They’re going to school. All without having to rely on the charity of others. They’re participating in society and contributing to the economy. With dignity. We need to take care of our citizens, so everyone can realize their hopes and dreams. Canada is a caring country and we’ll all be richer for it. Laura Mikuska · Ask how to communicate with donorsI recently made a donation in memoriam to honour a friend who had passed away. I made it to an organization that I wouldn’t ordinarily support as I have little interest in their mission, but because the family had asked for donations for that organization, I honoured their wishes. Imagine my surprise when the very next day, I received their email newsletter! I haven’t even received a receipt, yet they feel they know me sufficiently to further communicate with me. Plus the e-news has three separate asks to give, give and give again. This organization made the mistake of assuming it knows how a donor wants to receive communications. They didn’t ask me, and I believe they have a default setting that automatically sends their e-news to anyone with an email address. I would have been pleased to be offered a choice about how they could keep in touch with me, or not. Perhaps you’re scratching your head about how many of your donors don’t give again. Making one small change to how you engage with your donors will make them feel appreciated and part of the organizational family. Ask. You may be surprised at the response. Laura Mikuska · Thank you never gets oldI recently received a call from the chair of the board of a museum I support, thanking me for my monthly gift and giving me an update on the new executive director. It was a delightful call and it made my day. I felt appreciated and close to the museum and its people. A few days later I was invited to attend a fundraising tea for another organization I support, to raise money for a scholarship in memory of the founder’s mother. As I was not going to be able to attend, I sent my regrets and made a gift online through their website. Almost as soon as I hit “submit,” my phone rang and I got a heartfelt thank you from the development director. Wow! Talk about making me feel good about giving! It didn’t stop there. After the tea was held, I received a package with two packages of tea (pina colada and African chai!), a handwritten thank you from the founder and a response card for me to send back to wish the scholarship recipient well. It’s important to say thank you, over and over. It really never gets old. Julie Mikuska. · |
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