Steven, Author at The Better Fundraising Company

Start on Common Ground

Steven | April 1, 2025March 27, 2025Ask

If you would like your letters and emails to raise more money, they should begin by talking about something the donor already understands, as opposed to asking the donor to learn something new.

Here’s a made-up example of an appeal that starts by asking the donor to learn new things.

Did you know that 19% of the families in our community have no exposure to the Arts? We call them L.E.A.H.s (Lacking Arts Exposure Households) and a LEAH might be arts-curious, but never had an enjoyable introduction to the Arts that was relevant to their life.

Look at all the work the reader has to do:

Understand a statistic
Learn a new acronym
Learn a new phrase (“arts-curious”)

All that and they haven’t reached the second paragraph!

A Neuroscientist would say, “That paragraph puts a large cognitive load on the reader.” So do you think the reader is more likely to keep reading, or less likely to keep reading, after a paragraph like that?

Now, here’s an alternative approach to the first paragraph, one that begins with what the donor already knows…

A lot of families in our community don’t have the same relationship with the Arts that you and I do. And I know you’d love for everyone to experience the same fulfillment and joy that you feel. But too many people were never introduced to the Arts in a way that was relevant to their life.

In addition to sounding more personal and less like a teacher, that paragraph opens by talking about things the donor already understands and cares about.

A paragraph that speaks to the common ground the organization shares with the donor will create connection with the donor.

The donor is now more likely to keep reading. Which means the donor is now more likely to donate.

Is there ever time for a statistic or bit of education? Sure. But most likely at an event or in some other context (lunch with a major donor, blog post) where both you and the donor have more time.

In a context like the mail or email where donors are moving fast (when was the last time you read a fundraising email top to bottom on your phone?) start with something the donor already knows. Not an education barrier.

This post was originally published on August 8, 2023.

It Can Be Hard to Change Your Ideas about Fundraising

Steven | March 20, 2025March 31, 2025Repeat

I wrote a couple days ago about how smaller nonprofits must often create fundraising messages that they don’t prefer for their fundraising to be more successful.

Today, I want to take a moment to acknowledge that changing your ideas about fundraising can be emotionally difficult.

For a Founder, or for someone who is passionate about their fundraising, it can be a very real struggle to try a fundraising message or strategy that doesn’t personally resonate.

Let me share my own experience with this, in hopes that it’s helpful.

Here’s the thing to know about me: I strongly prefer not to make mistakes. In fact, I hate mistakes. I fear being wrong. I fear being judged.

My fear around avoidable mistakes has positive consequences – for instance, it made me a fantastic student.

But it also has negative consequences. For instance, I’m occasionally a pain in the neck to work with.

So it was challenging for me when I learned that the easiest way for smaller nonprofits to raise more money is to send out more fundraising.

Wait, I thought, wouldn’t the best way be to make each piece of fundraising more perfect? We’ll eliminate all the mistakes, get everything up to best-practices… wouldn’t that bring all the money in?

Nope. I saw again and again that the nonprofits that grew their individual donor fundraising the fastest were seeing that “showing up regularly in donors’ lives” is more important than “showing up perfectly in donors’ lives.”

It didn’t seem possible that “sending more fundraising” could work. It didn’t seem possible that the occasional typo or “wrong thing showing through the envelope window” could work.

But if I’m honest, the real conflict was with my personal preferences and fears. I was thinking, If we have to move faster we’re going to make mistakes. I don’t want to focus on the total number of pieces, I want each piece to be an un-critique-able jewel box of fundraising brilliance. <<pounds podium>> I’m a copywriter and a storyteller, dammit, not some cheap content machine!

I’m poking fun at myself here, but my feelings of discomfort were real.

And you’ll smile at why my thinking on this issue eventually changed; I saw the strategy of “showing up regularly is more important than showing up perfectly” succeed so many times for so many organizations that eventually I realized I would be making a mistake if I didn’t change my thinking. And you know I don’t like to make mistakes. Sheesh.

Anyway. I still don’t prefer the “showing up regularly is more important than showing up perfectly” approach to mass donor fundraising. But I embrace it because it so obviously helps small nonprofits raise more money and increase donor retention rates. And because making the world a better place is more important than my own personal preferences and fears.

So… acknowledging that we all have preferences and fears… and acknowledging that doing things in a non-preferred way can be difficult… is there anything about your organization’s fundraising that should be changed in order to raise more money and fund more work, even if you don’t prefer the change?

Kudos for the Wrong Thing

Steven | March 18, 2025March 31, 2025Ask

Every nonprofit has its own preferences.

The preferences are things like “we use this particular phrasing to describe our work” or “we talk about the people we serve in this particular way” or “we believe donors should support us because of X and Y.”

All good things.

But one of the hard parts about creating effective fundraising at smaller nonprofits is that the fundraising is evaluated according to the preferences of the nonprofit.

For instance…

When you create an appeal that uses the particular phrasing that the staff likes, you get kudos from the staff. The piece of fundraising gets approved & sent.

When you create a newsletter that thoroughly describes a program, the program staff give you kudos. The newsletter gets approved & sent.

When you write something that gets your ED’s “voice” exactly right, the ED gives you kudos, and the piece of fundraising is approved & sent.

The problem here is obvious to anyone who has been reading this blog for a while:

Fundraising that makes staff feel good is probably going to raise less money – when a donor is looking at an email on her phone, how she feels about the message is more important than how staff feel about it.
Thoroughly describing a program is probably going to raise less money – when a donor is looking at a newsletter, how it makes the donor feel about her previous giving matters more than how thoroughly the program is described.
Getting your ED’s “voice” right is a total crapshoot – when a donor is reading an appeal, how quickly he knows it’s relevant to his life & values matters so much more than how faithful the writing is to the ED’s “voice.”

Here’s the result of a nonprofit evaluating its fundraising based on its own preferences: more kudos are given to pieces of fundraising that raise less.

One of the lessons that nonprofits learn as they grow larger & better at fundraising is that the preferences of the staff are most likely different than the preferences of donors.

Once organizations realize that, they begin to give kudos not for “matching internal preferences,” but for results like “percent response” and “net revenue” and “average gift size.” They pay less attention to staff preferences, and more attention to donor preferences (as gleaned from fundraising results).

Top Heavy

Steven | February 13, 2025March 13, 2025Major Donor Fundraising

The following graphic is from a fundraising analysis on a nonprofit we serve. Look at how much of their revenue from individual donors comes from their major donors:

This kind of revenue distribution is normal; a large percentage of a nonprofit’s revenue from individual donors comes from a small group.

In fact, the revenue distribution for this organization is not particularly top heavy. About 65% of their revenue is coming from their $5,000+ donors. We regularly see organizations where 80% or 90% of revenue is coming in from $5,000+ donors.

This is why – even for small organizations – we put such emphasis on managing your major donors well.

It’s why “having a proven major donor management system” is one of the “core four” strategies we teach in this free eBook. It’s the reason Major Gifts Engine exists (and is on sale right now, btw). We can wish the funding were more equitably distributed.

We can even work to make it so. But right now, intentionally managing today’s major donors is the best way to meet tomorrow’s revenue needs.

5 reasons the Myth of “Donor Fatigue” Persists

Steven | February 11, 2025February 11, 2025Ask

“Donor Fatigue” – that mythical beast that haunts the futures of Fundraisers everywhere – doesn’t exist. I’m neck-deep in donor data and fundraising performance all the time. And I can tell you that this creature simply doesn’t exist for 99.9% of nonprofits.

But it still affects the behavior of too many fundraisers. And without question, the fear of “donor fatigue” causes organizations to raise less money and do less good.

This is such a brutal fact that I’m going to repeat it: the fear of something that doesn’t exist – “donor fatigue” – causes hundreds of thousands of nonprofits to raise less money and do less good.

For the vast majority of nonprofits, letting “donor fatigue” affect your behavior is like not going outside because you might get hit by lightning.

I’ve identified 5 reasons that “donor fatigue” continues to haunt our sector and lower revenue. If you know of others, please share them with us. Here are my five:

The complaints of a donor or three, occasionally a Board member, that your organization is asking for money too often.
The fear that comes from thinking those complainers might speak for all your donors.
The awkwardness some people feel about asking for money in the first place.
The lack of understanding that nonprofits can be communicating to their donors far more often than they think.
“Donor fatigue” is sometimes used as a scapegoat for bad fundraising. If an appeal or newsletter or campaign doesn’t work well, that elusive “donor fatigue” is blamed. Then no one has to feel bad, take responsibility, or learn from the mistake.

The first four items above are all real things. They matter.

But complaints and fears should not matter as much as the hundreds and thousands of additional gifts that will come in when you communicate with your donors more often about things they care about.

Look, if you’ve read this blog for any length of time, you know we believe in Asking more – because all our data shows that it works like crazy, with almost zero negative consequences.

One of the reasons Better Fundraising has been so successful is that we show our clients how organizations their size are communicating to their donors more often and raising a lot more money doing it. (And of course there are other things an organization has to do well, but Asking more is a one of the biggest levers you can pull.)

So next time someone brings up “donor fatigue,” tell them that “donor fatigue” isn’t the problem. And don’t let “donor fatigue” be used as a reason or excuse in your organization.

Acknowledge the fear that caused “donor fatigue” to rear its hideous head, then move forward.

You owe it to your beneficiaries.

Your donors will thank you for it with increased engagement and giving.

You’ll love raising more money and getting to do more good.

This post was originally published on January 22, 2019.

The Habit

Steven | February 6, 2025February 5, 2025Repeat

There’s a habit your organization can develop that will result in raising more money and keeping more of your donors each year.

It’s the habit of regularly using the mail and email to stay in relationship with your donors.

Here’s why the habit of regularly sending mail and email to your donors is so powerful…

The habit of regularly Asking your donors to do meaningful, powerful things with a gift through your organization results in more gifts. Donors in motion tend to stay in motion. Donors at rest tend to stay at rest.

The habit of regularly Reporting to your donors shows and tells them that their gifts make a difference. Donors who know their previous gift made a meaningful difference are more likely to give to you again than donors who don’t.

The habit of regularly contacting your donors always works better than “going dark” for weeks or months at a time.

The habit of regularly contacting your donors via letters and emails is more effective than Social.

The habit of regularly contacting your donors always works better than sending nothing.

Getting in the habit of regularly sending out mail and email, paying attention to the results, always works better than any other approach.

It’s a habit you must develop

First, you must get past the idea that mailing your donors more than a couple times a year will somehow result in the mythical “donor fatigue.” If you need help with that, look here. Or here.

Then you have to realize that each piece you send out is not precious. Each piece you send out is an overwhelmingly positive incident that raises money, keeps you in touch with your donors, and is a learning opportunity.

Then you just have to practice. You need repetition. Sending out mail and email is like any other skill; you get better with practice.

Show me an organization that has developed a habit of regularly mailing and emailing its donors and I’ll show you an organization that has deeper relationships with its donors and keeps more of its donors every year.

This post was originally published on January 7, 2021.

Charging Your ‘Fundraising Battery’

Steven | February 4, 2025February 3, 2025Thank

Interestingly, the posts on this blog that tend to generate the most feedback are the posts that are about the Fundraiser, not about fundraising.

They are the posts where a Fundraiser feels seen for the work they are doing and the conditions they are doing it in.

So, here’s a note to all the leaders of Fundraising departments out there: make sure you help the Fundraisers you’re leading regularly recharge their “fundraising batteries.”

And I don’t mean giving them days off or spa days (though they aren’t going to turn those down).

I mean making sure they regularly connect with the power of their fundraising work, and feel appreciated for their fundraising work. I mean things like this:

A monthly exercise where they visualize donors giving gifts, and get that “little jolt of joy” that happens when you put yourself in a donor’s shoes as they make a gift.
Bring in an experienced donor who can talk about the joy of giving, and the positive role that fundraising plays in a donor’s life
Regularly practice “fundraising fika.”
Remind them that while the results of their work may feel like numbers on a spreadsheet, to look around at all the program activity and know they play a major role in making it happen.

Fundraising in a nonprofit (particularly smaller orgs) has its own unique difficulties. What other department regularly gets negative critical feedback from all the other parts of the organization? What other department’s wisdom and expertise is regularly pushed aside because of one person’s opinion?

So if you’re in charge of Fundraisers – make sure they regularly get to feel the beauty and grace of fundraising. You’ll recharge their fundraising batteries, you’ll have happy co-workers who stick around longer, and you’ll create a place where Fundraisers want to work.

Little Jolts of Joy

Steven | January 30, 2025January 24, 2025Repeat

Here’s a challenge for you:

Just for a moment, for every single gift your organization received last year, envision a person writing out a check, or their finger clicking your “donate” button.

And because “every gift” is too many to visualize, just take a moment and visualize five people making gifts.

Do it. One after another, visualize five people writing checks and clicking donate buttons. They can be donors you know, or they can be “generic.” I’ll wait while you do it.

. . .

I suspect you’ll find that, if you really visualized five people making gifts, you just received 5 little jolts of joy and amazement and gratitude.

And I suspect the joy and gratitude you just received will “charge up your fundraising battery” a bit. If you think about it, you’re probably just a little more willing to do the emotionally hard work of fundraising than you were a few minutes ago.

I asked you to visualize that here, at the beginning of the year, because fundraising can be tiring. Asking for gifts can be hard. What’s more, we Fundraisers usually don’t feel gifts because all we experience are numbers on a spreadsheet or in your CRM.

But when you remember that behind every single check or click is an act of generosity… and a vote of confidence in you… and the funds needed for your organization’s work… then every gift should bring a little jolt of joy and amazement.

***

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Here’s an example of a nonprofit’s experience hiring us about 3 years ago: they report a 36% increase in revenue and a 17% decrease in expenses. The increase comes from fundraising messaging & storytelling that connects with their donors better than ever before. And the decrease comes from eliminating projects and practices that weren’t helping the bottom line.

So if you’re interested in chatting, click here because the form is at the bottom of the page. You’ll be eligible for the discount, you’re not committed to anything, and we’ll set up a call to see if we can help you.

Cheers!

You Optimize What You Measure

Steven | January 28, 2025January 22, 2025Repeat

What you decide to measure is important, because it determines what you tend to optimize.

Take email fundraising. One of the metrics that small- to medium-sized nonprofits tend to obsess over is how many unsubscribes they get. For organizations like this, one of the core principles of their email strategy becomes “minimize unsubscribes.”

That’s absolutely fine IF the nonprofit is also measuring and prioritizing “the number of new donors acquired via our email list” and “revenue from fundraising emails.”

All three of those metrics work in concert to produce an effective email fundraising program.

But if the main operating principle is to minimize unsubscribes, you end up with an email program that asks for support less often than it could, raises less money than it could, yet is pleased with its performance because of how few unsubscribes they have. Ouch.

Situations where organizations over-prioritize one metric happen all the time in fundraising:

Nonprofits that are constantly Asking for support raise lots of money in the short term… but have lousy donor retention rates
Nonprofits that relentlessly focus on ROI will see their ROI increase… and watch their impact shrink
Nonprofits who over-steward their donors out of fears around asking “too much”… will raise far less money than they could be raising

It’s easy to come up with a fundraising platform or strategy that just prioritizes one metric… but it never works in the long term.

Sustainable, growing fundraising is all about getting your mix right: Asking and Reporting, high-ROI major donor relationships and low-ROI donor acquisition, a few more unsubscribes and more email revenue.

So the next time you’re in a conversation that’s focused on just one metric, ask yourself and your colleagues what other metrics you should be considering.

Because if you’re optimizing for just one metric, there’s usually a dark side that’s being missed.

***

Related note: experienced Fundraisers are so valuable because they have the knowledge to help nonprofits “get their mix right” for short-term revenue and long-term growth.

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Filling out the form by this Friday doesn’t commit you to anything. But we love fundraising, and we’d love to help you!