Steven, Author at The Better Fundraising Company

Trust

Steven | January 21, 2021January 21, 2021Repeat

Organizations become trusted by donors when organizations show up, again and again, with communications that are relevant to the donor.

Those donors have lots of interactions with you. Those interactions over time, repeated and reinforced, lead to trust.

You cannot earn trust very quickly when you have one event and two pieces of fundraising a year.

And remember, the primary things that a donor cares about are:

What’s happening directly to the beneficiary group or cause that she cares about
How her gift can make a difference
How her past made a difference

That’s what she cares about most. That’s what your fundraising should be about to be most relevant to her.

If your communications are mostly about your organization, you’re not talking about what she’s passionate about.

In 2021, resolve to talk more about what she’s passionate about. Tell her about the negative things that are going on with the people you serve for the cause you work on, and tell her what her gift will do to help. That’s asking. Then be sure to report. Tell her the positive news about how her gift made a difference.

Don’t stay silent for long periods of time. Don’t go dark. Earn her trust.

Not very many organizations have it in them to build a habit of regularly contacting their donors with relevant messages. It’s hard work.

That means there’s an incredible opportunity for you and your organization.

Repeat What Works

Steven | January 19, 2021January 19, 2021Repeat

After a difficult year, and a not-so-simple start to 2021, we’d be excused for wanting to wipe the slate clean.

But does starting over with a clean sheet of paper work for fundraising?

Sounds nice, doesn’t it? But it’s usually the wrong thing to do.

The best way to move into 2021 is by looking at what worked best in 2020 and copying it. Even during the pandemic, many organizations saw better than average results. Some set records. So, it would be a shame to not repeat what worked, right?

You can save yourself a LOT of time by doing this, AND you’ll raise more money doing it. Why? Because your donors voted with their wallets and told you that some of your fundraising last year was really effective. It caught and kept their attention. They wanted to get involved. And it moved them to action.

If you think of your fundraising as a series of experiments, some of your experiments worked better than others.

So, your fundraising this year should include more of the things that worked well. Take some time to identify those successes, and repeat them:

Copy the offers and creative approaches that worked.

Use those offers and creative approaches in other scenarios.

Find relevant, real-time opportunities for your donor to give today.

And don’t be afraid to Ask more often.

As you move into the new year, spend a couple of minutes brainstorming the reasons your donor gave last year. And if you give her those same opportunities, she’s likely to help your cause again.

Don’t Be Afraid to Ask

Steven | January 12, 2021January 12, 2021Ask

I wrote this blog a few years back but it’s more relevant now, than ever. The summary is that there’s an easy way for you to raise more money in 2021 with very little work.

It’s worked for years, and it worked again in 2020. Even in the midst of the pandemic…

Every one of our clients who Asked their donors for support more often in 2020 (compared to 2019) raised more net revenue than they did the year before.

And there were almost zero negative consequences. To be more specific, there was a complaint or two, a worry from a board member, and some unsubscribes from their email lists.

But those negatives were completely overwhelmed by the additional donors that were engaged and extra money that was raised. In short, donors wanted to help.

The nervous fundraisers, EDs and organizations who weren’t sure whether they should do this were handsomely rewarded with more net revenue for very little cost.

There were no breakouts of “donor fatigue.” No massive numbers of people unsubscribing.

These organizations just raised more money, did more good work, and learned more about their donors.

Which now sets them up for an even more successful 2021.

Let me put it this way…

The easiest way to raise more is to Ask more often.

This means adding another appeal or two. Or more e-appeals.

Not replacing what you’ve been doing. In addition to what you’ve been doing.

Here’s an easy way to add an Ask:

Look at your fundraising calendar for 2021
Look for a gap where your donors don’t hear from you for a while
Think back through your most successful appeals and e-appeals last year (other than year-end)
Pick the most successful appeal that’s appropriate to send during the “gap” in your calendar, then create a version of that appeal to send in the gap

What you’re trying to do here is add another appeal with the least amount of effort possible.

And if you want easy ways to improve all your appeals or e-appeals, download our free eBook, “Asks That Make Your Donors Take Action.”

Please Try It

Almost no one believes me when I say, “The easiest way to raise more money is to Ask a couple more times this year.”

Almost every organization has an awful, no-good, very-bad, organization-shackling assumption that they can’t Ask their donors any more often than they already are. Especially after the year we’ve had.

But it’s a bad assumption. Let your donors make the decision not to give. Don’t make it for them.

So please, try it. You can even just try it with an e-appeal so there’s basically no cost. Track the results. Look at the expenses, the revenue, your retention rates, everything. You won’t see the negative consequences you fear.

And you’ll LOVE the amount of additional money you raise with very little work.

The Habit

Steven | January 7, 2021January 6, 2021Repeat

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 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.

A Note to Leaders

Steven | January 5, 2021January 6, 2021Ask

This is a note to Leaders of organizations who want to raise more money this year through the mail and email, or who need to raise more money through mail and email because you are still unable to have events and meet with donors.

You’ll raise more money faster if you can cultivate an attitude that each piece of mail or email your organization sends out is an experiment and an opportunity to get better.

Organizations that get better at direct response quickly do not treat every piece of fundraising as precious. They look at each piece as:

An opportunity to raise money
An experiment that might work
A data-producing effort that will be learned from
A chance to stay “top of mind” with their donor (in contrast to all those organizations that “go dark” for weeks and months at a time)

And here’s what I see in organizations that do not get better quickly:

A belief that each piece is something precious.
A deep fear of offending anybody, and a belief that any offense would cause outsized negative consequences.
Large approval teams. Everyone who sees it is allowed to make changes.

A Structure for Quick Improvement

It’s probably too much to ask a blog post to change the beliefs an organization has about mail and email fundraising, the “story they tell themselves” about mail and email fundraising.

But here is a structural recommendation for how the fundraising gets created that can help…

After a draft of an appeal or e-appeal is created, a very small number of people review it.
Reviewers can submit suggested changes, but not make changes.
No more than three people are allowed to make changes, and preferably fewer.
If a Reviewer’s suggested edits or changes are not accepted, they are told why.
After appeals or e-appeals are sent to donors, anyone in the organization can comment on it. The person in charge of the fundraising decides whether to take the comments into consideration for future fundraising, or not.

Cascading Benefits

This structure has several cascading benefits…

The person or team who creates the fundraising saves time and can focus on their expertise → The team then creates more pieces of fundraising → This allows more fundraising to be sent to donors → This speeds up the pace of learning what works and what doesn’t → This increases donations → This increases donor retention.

Another benefit: this structure will help you attract and retain better fundraising talent.

But you have to trust the structure and the process. You have to trust the fundraising team. You have to trust the skills they’ll develop.

Show me an organization structured like this, with a team that uses data and best practices to make decisions instead of having to make the edits from Bob in Accounting, and I’ll show you an organization primed to learn quickly and raise more money in 2021.

Two Lessons from 2020

Steven | December 22, 2020December 17, 2020Ask

I thought a lot about how to sum up a ridiculous year.

And I noticed two things that – again and again – showed up in the organizations that exceeded their goals for the year.

Story about Fundraising

Borrowing from Brené Brown, every organization has a “story” they tell themselves about fundraising. Their “story” is a set of beliefs about how fundraising works, what their organization can and cannot do, can and cannot say, etc.

Some stories cause more effective fundraising than other stories. That’s never been more clear than this year.

If you look at the “story about fundraising” told by organizations that succeeded this year, here are some of the beliefs you’ll see again and again:

We believe many of our donors would love to give second, third and fourth gifts
We believe that regardless of what else is happening in the world, our cause is urgent, it matters, and we’re going to fundraise like it
We believe that fundraising is a form of leadership, and we can’t lead if we go silent for long periods of time
We believe that demographics are in our favor this year: if the average age of a donor is 69, that means more than half of donors didn’t have a job to lose, had investments that performed incredibly, had fewer places to spend their money this year, and would love to help
We believe that our donors are adults and have no problem deciding when to give or not give
We believe that giving makes a donor feel great

As we near 2021, how does your organization’s “story about fundraising” need to be changed so that you can raise more money?

Vulnerability

The second thing I noticed was that the organizations who practiced vulnerability raised more money.

They were vulnerable enough to ask for help like they really needed it. They shared problems the pandemic caused. The shared their revenue shortfalls and their cancelled events. They made it very clear to donors that the beneficiaries and/or the organization needed help and needed it now.

They shared what would happen if they didn’t raise the money.

When they did that – without fail – they were inundated with gifts. Multiple gifts from Majors. First-time gifts from people on their email list. Upgraded gifts from Mass donors. In my 27 years of fundraising I’ve never seen anything like the scope and length of this fundraising surge.

Asking with vulnerability is a skill that can be developed. It’s uncomfortable at first. It’s (unfortunately) not what’s taught in our sector. But vulnerability leads to connection. And connection leads to donations.

Thank You for Being a Fundraiser

You were needed more than ever this year. Thanks for showing up. Thanks for working so hard.

Thanks for hitting the wall, taking a breath, and hitting the wall again.

The initial signs are pointing to a great year-end fundraising season – I pray that’s the case for you and your organization.

And I hope you get a few days off for the holidays. I know I sure need them.

And I breathe a little easier knowing that donors are incredible. And they aren’t done yet.

But your donors can’t change the world through your organizations without you.

Thank you.

The Three Practical Empathies

Steven | November 24, 2020November 24, 2020Ask

The work of a Fundraiser involves empathy for others.

Empathy for your beneficiaries or cause so you can tell their story.

Empathy for your organization and its programs so you can share about them.

Most nonprofits are full of empathy… but they often miss empathy in three key places…

Empathy for Donors

Practical empathy in fundraising allows you to give a gift to donors by ‘crossing the gap’ to their level of understanding.

To understand what it’s like to be in a donor’s chair. To know what she knows. To know what she doesn’t know. And speak to her in language she understands, at a level of knowledge that makes sense to her.

That’s empathy for donors. (Which is helpful, because fundraising is for donors, not for internal stakeholders.)

But the problem with fundraising that’s empathetic to donors is that internal stakeholders don’t prefer it.

Empathy for Internal Stakeholders from Fundraisers

Another necessary practical empathy is from Fundraisers towards internal stakeholders who don’t understand as much about fundraising as Fundraisers do.

Because when you create fundraising that’s empathetic to donors, it’s often not liked by internal audiences.

For instance, program staff, board members and executive leadership often don’t understand that:

While internal conversations are (and should be) full of industry jargon, fundraising communications should avoid jargon because most of your donors don’t know what it means. But internal stakeholders prefer jargon because its accuracy is helpful to them.
Direct response fundraising is different than interpersonal communication. While a 1-to-1 conversation might wander around to establish relationship and common ground, a direct response e-appeal needs to get to the point immediately. But internal stakeholders aren’t usually familiar with direct response best-practices and – reasonably – would never use them themselves.
While a grant application might detail the finer points of your organization’s programs and approach, the average reader of an appeal letter isn’t interested in those details. But internal stakeholders know those details make your organization effective! To not include them in an appeal feels wrong.

But internal stakeholders weren’t trained in direct response or any other types of fundraising. Empathy is needed to understand the concerns of internal stakeholders, to speak directly to their concerns, to help them understand what you’re doing with a generous spirit and solid explanation. Share your knowledge.

**Empathy From Internal Stakeholders Towards Donors**

The final necessary practical empathy is from internal stakeholders towards donors.

In my experience, the best approach is for Fundraisers to help Board and Staff through the same transformation you went through when you learned to cross the gap.

Share with Board and Staff that the same empathy they use to understand your beneficiaries can (and should) be used to understand your donors. For example, your organization is effective because it understands the problem you’re working on, meets it where it is today, and creates small, practical steps to make things better.

Great fundraising uses the same approach: understanding the donors, meeting them where they are today, and creating small, practical next steps donors can take to make things better.

Embracing the three empathies is often what unlocks an organization’s fundraising potential.

Which helps an organization help its beneficiaries even more.

The Gap and The Gift

Steven | November 17, 2020November 17, 2020Ask

There’s a gap between your organization and your donors.

Savvy fundraising organizations know that donors don’t know as much about your beneficiaries or cause as your organization does.

That donors often don’t care quite as much as you care.

That donors often use different words and phrases than you would.

Savvy fundraising organizations know that the people on the other side of the gap are not likely to close the gap themselves. Donors are quite happy as they are, thank you very much. They don’t have a felt need to be educated, learn new jargon, or grow to an expert’s level of understanding.

So savvy fundraisers make the generous act of crossing the gap and meeting donors where the donors are.

That means writing to donors at donors’ level of understanding. It means no jargon. It means being specific, not conceptual.

It means figuring out what motivates donors to give and crafting your fundraising around those motivators – even if those motivators are not what motivates the organization’s staff.

And when you’ve done the generous thing – crossed the gap to meet the donor where they are – then you can ask them to take a first step towards involvement and greater understanding.

That first step? It’s usually a financial gift. A check in the mail or a donation online.

And that gift happens because you gave them a gift, first. You crossed the gap. You went to them.