Category: Tips

With and For

Steven  |  Tips
with and for

The work of a Fundraiser requires you to be in two different contexts at once.

You must be “with and for” your beneficiaries.  To know what’s going on with them.  To know the needs.  To know the stories.  To know the triumphs and progress.

And you must be “with and for” your donors.  To know what they’re thinking about.  To want them to have a good experience giving to your organization.

It’s easy to set up camp in just one place.  To be so donor-focused that boundaries are crossed and donors are given too much power.  Or to make overly beneficiary-focused or organization-focused fundraising that largely ignores donors’ wants and desires.

Setting up camp in one place can even feel like you’re taking the high road. 

But the most effective fundraising – for revenue & retention & beneficiaries & donors & the world – is “with and for both.”

A Peek Behind the Curtain

Steven  |  Tips
Curtain peek.

This post is not fundraising advice.

What’s worse, it starts with a boring topic – our mission. Whee! So you’re 110% forgiven if you don’t keep reading.

But if you continue, you’ll see why we give away all of our fundraising knowledge. And you’ll get to celebrate a meaningful achievement with us.

Jim and I both come from “big nonprofit” backgrounds. And our mission when we started working together was to “radically increase the fundraising capacity of smaller nonprofits.”

That’s why our original name was “Better Fundraising For All.”

But small nonprofits have very small budgets… and we had mortgages to pay.

So we started serving organizations who had the budget to hire a coach or an agency. That led to Better Fundraising, an insightful team of 11, and we’re thrilled.

But!

There was a massive swath of smaller nonprofits that we weren’t helping.

So we started this blog in 2016. Here we can pass on – for free – all the knowledge we’ve been gifted and earned on our own. That led to thousands of subscribers, real-life breakthroughs (the stories are so fun!) and we’re honored to have you as a reader.

But!

Blogs are great… but they don’t “radically” help nonprofits raise more money.

Small nonprofits and new fundraisers still face the “blank page problem.” They can read all the most helpful blog posts, even take all of the standard fundraising training, and are still confronted with an implacable blank page and the difficulty of figuring out how to make it work for them.

Sometimes with real consequences – even lives – hanging the balance.

So what would cause radical improvement? “Radical increase” for a smaller nonprofit would happen if we could create a new form of training where Fundraisers were never faced with a blank page. And then I could walk them through every step to creating an effective appeal letter… or donor reporting letter… or year-end emails… or creating an annual plan… you get it.

Which brings us to Work Less Raise More and why launching it was such a dream come true for us. Work Less Raise More radically increases the capacity of smaller nonprofits to raise money.

First, it’s priced it so that any nonprofit can join long enough to get what they need.

It’s not $4,000 a month. It’s $40 a month.

You could join for just one month and easily produce this during the month:

  • The rest of the appeals you need for this year
  • All the email chasers
  • All the e-stories and donor reporting letters
  • Your entire year-end campaign

Your co-workers would be astonished. They wouldn’t believe it.

And doing it would be So. Much. Easier than what you’d normally go through.

Plus I could walk you through creating an annual plan (and give you a tool that estimates revenue and calculates production schedules for each project). And Jim could walk you through creating a major donor system that increases major donor giving & major donor retention AND makes knowing what to do next a snap.

And it’s working great for the hundreds of Fundraisers and organizations who are diving in. Chris Davenport – founder of the Nonprofit Storytelling Conference and our co-conspirator – says it’s the best training he’s ever seen. And that’s saying something.

So I hope can see why we’re so excited about Work LessRaise More. It’s the culmination of a dream. To use a spiritual term, it’s an “outward expression” of all the work to achieve our mission to “radically increase the fundraising capacity of smaller nonprofits.”

If you’re at a smaller nonprofit and could use a helping hand to get great fundraising out the door quickly, I hope you’ll check it out. And if you know a small shop or a Founder that’s just getting started, I hope you’ll pass it along.

Thanks for reading, thanks for being on this journey with us, and thanks most of all for being a Fundraiser. Like you, we believe that fundraising is about so much more than raising money!

Female Founders on Fire

Steven  |  Tips
Tips

This is a brief ode to Female Founders on Fire.

We love serving them because they are a joy to work for, and such a force for good in the world. 

And all of us Fundraisers have things to learn from them. So with great thanks and admiration, here are Five Reasons that Female Founders on Fire make such effective Fundraisers:

  1. They are courageous.  Like everyone else, they feel fear when asking for support. But their courage allows them to push through the fear and bravely ask for support.
  2. Selective pride.  They are justifiably proud of what they’ve built, but are always on the lookout for better ways of doing things.
  3. They give the credit away.  They express profound gratitude to donors because the founder remembers what she was able to accomplish when she was an “army of one”… and she knows how much more the organization accomplishes today thanks to the generosity of donors. 
  4. They boldly share why help is needed today.  In my experience, Female Founders on Fire almost always have first-hand experience with their cause.  They know what the suffering is/was like, and they know that hearing about that suffering moves people to action.  After all, it was the founder’s own suffering, or the suffering of someone close to her, that caused her to take the action of starting the organization.
  5. They humanize beneficiaries.  They create organizations and fundraising materials that show beneficiaries as more than just the problem they had or negative situation they were in. 

To finish, I want to say something about those Female Founders on Fire who have first-hand experience with their cause.

The fact that they’ve transformed their own suffering into an organization that does good – and their willingness to relive their own suffering for the good of others – is a GIFT to the world that I don’t have the words to describe. It’s so full of good it just sort of… knocks me sideways.

If you know one of these founders, figure out how to say “thank you” to them.  Soon.

And if you are one of these founders, thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Fast, Bad and Wrong

Steven  |  Tips

I learned this writing tactic from a podcast, and hope it’s as helpful to you as it has been to me:

If you can’t get started writing something – or if you get stuck – just concentrate on writing fast, bad, and wrong. 

The acronym for this is “FBR.”  Even the acronym is wrong!

From the podcast:

“Write fast, write bad, and write wrong. Terrible style, terrible grammar, terrible word choice, wrong facts, and that liberates you.  And don’t stop and backtrack, because every time you stop, it’s like a car going down the highway – it’s easy to stop, but then you have to spend all this fuel to get back up to speed, and you might not get there.”

Here’s what I do: just start writing, and then just keep going. 

You can describe what you are trying to write.  You can get a few stray thoughts out of your head.  You can write the end before the middle.

But don’t edit now.  Just keep going.  The magic happens after you’ve been writing for a moment or three. 

All the sudden, a helpful thought occurs.  Then a sentence arrives.  Before you know it, a pretty good paragraph just happened.

That will happen a few more times. 

Then you have enough of those to where you know the rough structure of whatever you’re writing. 

And once you know the main ideas and the structure, the rest is connective tissue. 

Then go back and edit out the junk that helped you get there. 

FBR works for emails to co-workers, too. 

Here’s something crazy; it works for making plans.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sat down with teammates and clients to figure something out.  If we’re not getting anywhere, and I have a vaguest sense of an idea, I just say that I have an FBR plan to throw out to get us started. More often than you’d think, a great plan gets iterated out of the mud I threw on the wall. 

The FBR approach removes the fear from taking the first step because it lowers the stakes.  And the second and third steps are always easier than the first.      

The next time you’re writing a piece of fundraising and you’re stuck, think FBR, get started, and keep going.  You, your beneficiaries, and your donors will be glad you did! 

Things an Old Fundraiser Knows

Steven  |  Tips
Things an Old Fundraiser Knows

At the beginning of last year, Steven wrote one of his most popular blogs. It came after he’d just finished writing his 25th year-end campaign. The thoughts he jotted down are timeless, and not surprisingly, are super-helpful right now.

In his post, Steven lists off 6 things that he’s discovered on his fundraising journey. I particularly like the last one.

So, in this crazy time, I hope you can take a moment and learn from this old fundraiser. He’s still young at heart, though.

– Jonathan

I just completed my 25th year-end fundraising campaign.

It made me think about the lessons I’ve learned over the years communicating to donors en masse. Not the ‘one major donor who likes this’ or ‘the foundation that likes that,’ but when nonprofits are communicating to everyone on their file.

So in hopes that this is helpful, here are a handful of big-picture things that this Fundraiser has come to realize are enduring truths…

It’s harder than ever to get and keep attention

Get great at getting your donor’s attention. And keeping it. This means more drama and less process. More National Enquirer and less National Geographic. This means louder, bolder, redder, and not that fricking shade of light blue that no older donor can see or read.

Mostly it means not assuming that your donor is going to read anything you send them, let alone the whole thing.

You have to earn their attention, my friend.

The way your organization does its work is rarely important

And I mean rarely.

Most organizations, most of the time, should be talking about the outcomes their work creates. They should not be talking about how the organization creates those outcomes.

So if you find yourself talking about your process, the names of your programs, the features of your programs … rethink what you’re talking to donors about.

The best-performing fundraising is usually about something the donor cares about, at the level at which they understand it, and about what their gift will do about it.

This is a hard truth. It saddens me to say that most small nonprofits never embrace this, and they stay small because of it.

Most small nonprofits have ‘untapped giving’ of 15% to 25% of their total revenue

This is based on applying best practices to a LOT of smaller nonprofits. They simply have a lot of donors who would like to give more money if they are Asked well and then cultivated correctly.

It’s a thrill to get to work with those organizations because the increase is real and immediate.

Most of the barriers to raising more money are self-imposed

The things that are holding back small- to medium-sized nonprofits are almost always fear-based barriers:

  • “We can’t talk to our donors more, we’ll wear them out”
  • “We have to share everything that we do, and that we are good at it”
  • “We can’t be so forward, we need to engage our donors/potential donors more before…”

If you’re willing to do things differently, an experienced fundraiser can help you start raising more money immediately.

Successful fundraising is a knowledge issue, not a talent issue

One of the biggest joys of my life is watching fundraisers become Fundraisers. And it almost always happens when they internalize an idea – like the ones I mention above – rather than learning a new tactic.

Donor generosity is amazing

Donors continue to surprise me, even after 25 years. Their generosity is astounding. They want to make the world a better place. They are looking for opportunities to do so.

And we get to tap into that. For a living.

Fundraisers have the best job in the world.

Timely Info about Emergency Loans

Steven  |  Tips
loan

If your organization could use a loan to keep employees and/or stay open, keep reading.

Yesterday The Agitator posted a guide to help nonprofits get a small business forgivable loan.

Here’s a link to their guide.

They’ve done an incredible service by summarizing the situation, and what you need to do.

If a loan is needed / crucial / of interest to your organization, I’d hustle. The funds are limited – speed matters. As I’ve been saying, if a donor is going to give five emergency gifts during this time, you do not want to be the 7th organization to ask her. The same principle is true here.

Roger and Kevin, thank you.

And watch this space in the next 24 hours for a handy graphic that will attempt to predict how the next few months of fundraising are going to go, as well as a more in-depth explanation.

Donor Acquisition Explained

Steven  |  Tips
Donor Acquisition.

Conventional Nonprofit Donor Acquisition “Wisdom”

Work to “build awareness” for your organization.

Always be sharing success stories.

Tell people how effective your organization is.

People will flock to your organization.

You’ll raise lots of money.

How It Actually Works

Work to create a great fundraising offer .

Identify groups of people who are likely to become donors.

Put your offer in front of those people.

Small (but knowable) percentages of those people will become donors.

Your organization will lose money on the front end. But if you get good at it, you’ll raise a LOT of money over time.

Things an Old Fundraiser Knows

Steven  |  Tips
Things an Old Fundraiser Knows

This year I completed my 25th year-end fundraising campaign.

It made me think about the lessons I’ve learned over the years communicating to donors en masse. Not the ‘one major donor who likes this’ or ‘the foundation that likes that,’ but when nonprofits are communicating to everyone on their file.

So in hopes that this is helpful, here are a handful of big-picture things that this Fundraiser has come to realize are enduring truths…

It’s harder than ever to get and keep attention

Get great at getting your donor’s attention. And keeping it. This means more drama and less process. More National Enquirer and less National Geographic. This means louder, bolder, redder, and not that fricking shade of light blue that no older donor can see or read.

Mostly it means not assuming that your donor is going to read anything you send them, let alone the whole thing.

You have to earn their attention, my friend.

The way your organization does its work is rarely important

And I mean rarely.

Most organizations, most of the time, should be talking about the outcomes their work creates. They should not be talking about how the organization creates those outcomes.

So if you find yourself talking about your process, the names of your programs, the features of your programs … rethink what you’re talking to donors about.

The best-performing fundraising is usually about something the donor cares about, at the level at which they understand it, and about what their gift will do about it.

This is a hard truth. It saddens me to say that most small nonprofits never embrace this, and they stay small because of it.

Most small nonprofits have ‘untapped giving’ of 15% to 25% of their total revenue

This is based on applying best practices to a LOT of smaller nonprofits. They simply have a lot of donors who would like to give more money if they are Asked well and then cultivated correctly.

It’s a thrill to get to work with those organizations because the increase is real and immediate.

Most of the barriers to raising more money are self-imposed

The things that are holding back small- to medium-sized nonprofits are almost always fear-based barriers:

  • “We can’t talk to our donors more, we’ll wear them out”
  • “We have to share everything that we do, and that we are good at it”
  • “We can’t be so forward, we need to engage our donors/potential donors more before…”

If you’re willing to do things differently, an experienced fundraiser can help you start raising more money immediately.

Successful fundraising is a knowledge issue, not a talent issue

One of the biggest joys of my life is watching fundraisers become Fundraisers. And it almost always happens when they internalize an idea – like the ones I mention above – rather than learning a new tactic.

Donor generosity is amazing

Donors continue to surprise me, even after 25 years. Their generosity is astounding. They want to make the world a better place. They are looking for opportunities to do so.

And we get to tap into that. For a living.

Fundraisers have the best job in the world.

Simple Teaser Tips

Steven  |  Tips
Teaser.

The teaser on your outer envelope is far more important than most nonprofits realize.

To help you write better teasers – which will help you raise more money – here are three simple tips for you.

Most successful teasers fall into three categories:

  1. Dramatic. These are teasers that use drama to pique the reader’s interest in order to get her to open the envelope. Some examples: “The Arts are shutting down” and “He used to run a company, now he’s on the streets” and “desperate.”
  2. Mysterious. These are teasers that use mystery to make the reader wonder what’s inside, in order to get her to open the envelope. Some examples: “The light came on” and “Enclosed: note from a child.” Note that not having a teaser – using a blank outer envelope – falls into this category.
  3. Multiplier. These are teasers that appeal to the donor’s sense of value and thriftiness in order to get her to open the envelope. Some examples: “Your gift DOUBLES” and “$1 = $5!”

The best teasers often have elements of more than one category. You see this at work in a teaser like “3x” – which has both mystery and a multiplier.

The Big Idea

Notice something in all of those descriptions above: all the teasers exist to get the donor to open the envelope.

That’s it. That’s the purpose of a teaser: to give the donor a compelling reason to open the envelope.

The whole purpose of any ink used on the envelope should be to increase the chances that a donor will open the envelope.

That’s why, for instance, I always counsel organizations to remove their URL and social info from their outer envelope. You just paid money to write, design, print and send a letter to a person – and so you put your website address on the envelope so that the person has a smaller chance of reading the letter?!? It doesn’t make sense.

The envelope exists to 1) carry the letter and 2) to get people to open it.

Watch Out For…

Watch out for teasers that basically say, “You’re going to be asked for money; inside!”

Those usually reduce response unless they are accompanied by one of the three ideas above.

Quick Story

I was reminded of these when reading a book on direct response marketing. It told a brief story.

An organization had a successful direct mail pack as their control. They ran a test where everything about the pack was exactly the same, except the teaser.

The new teaser was: “Deeply and irrevocably personal.”

A little weird, right?

That teaser increased response to the package by 20%!

That shows the power of a good teaser.

So spend a bit more time on yours – you can see immediate increases in your fundraising!