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There’s a big difference between a nonprofit’s Mission and Offer — and when you’re talking to donors you’d better know the difference.

Your organization’s Mission describes what your organization does.  It usually goes into more detail than the average donor is interested in.  And for most nonprofits, your Mission (or Mission Statement) should remain an internal document.

Around here we’re fond of saying, ‘Your Mission should be read, not said.”  That’s because your Mission is about your organization.

Your Offer, on the other hand, is not about your organization.  It’s about what donors can do via your organization.  And your Offer (if you have one) is MUCH more attractive to a donor than your mission.

Here’s an example.  Say your organization feeds hungry people and you’re having a fundraising breakfast.  Which of the following two options is more powerful?

1. “Our mission is to support the poor by providing sustenance to the needy in our community, regardless of their current or past situation. Will you gift a gift today to help us?”  or…
2. “You can feed a hungry neighbor for just $1.92.  Will you please give a gift today, you can feed 10 people for less than $20!”

The first “ask” is based on Mission, and the second is an Offer.  We think it’s pretty clear the second is more powerful.  When you’re talking to donors, keep you Mission in your pocket.  Present them your offer instead.

 

A recent national study confirmed what fundraising results have been saying for a long time:

===> “Donors are more than three times likelier to give online in response to a direct-mail appeal than an e-appeal, according to a new national Dunham+Company study.”  You can read the whole story here.

Another way of saying this is that a direct mail appeal is three times more effective at creating an online donation than an e-appeal.  AND you get the added bonus of the gifts that will come in via snail mail.

Of course, digital is usually cheaper (which is music to the ears of most nonprofits).  But let us save you some pain and heartache.  Here’s what usually happens when most organizations go digital-only or digital-heavy with their fundraising; they save money in the short term, but the long term they raise less money and their donor retention rates go down.

In other words, don’t stop using the mail.  You’ll spend more to print and mail your fundraising, but you’ll almost always raise far more money and retain more donors.

Look, we just want you to raise more money so you can make the world a better place.  And we understand the attraction of e-appeals and e-newsletters.  If you are getting pushed to go digital with your fundraising, please test digital vs. snail mail before going all-digital.  Let us know if you want to talk about it; email jim@theedgegroup.org.

Some short and sweet tips on how to effectively use photos in your newsletter . . .

Let’s start with a guesstimate that only 50% of your donors actually read your newsletter (and it’s probably closer to 80%).  Let’s call those non-readers the Skimmers.  The Skimmers will glance at your newsletter but not read the articles.  The Skimmers will, however, look at the pictures.  And if the pictures are good they will read the picture captions.

That makes the pictures you choose very important.  Here’s what to do and what not to do.

The Don’t’s

• Don’t use pictures with lots of people
• Don’t use pictures where the people are far away from the camera
• Don’t have pictures of Major Donors and/or Board members.

Unfortunately, that’s exactly what most nonprofits do.  And they raise less money because of it.

The Do’s

• Use a large photo on the front page.
• Use close-up photos.  Our rule is that we want to be close enough to see their eyes and their teeth.
• Pictures of just one person are best.  Try to never have more than three people in the photo unless there’s a very good reason.
• Use pictures of beneficiaries, not pictures of donors or staff.

Also, every photo should have a caption.  Why?  Because most of your donors will skim your newsletter – they won’t read the whole thing.  But they will read the picture captions — which makes those captions vitally important!

Use the caption to talk about the Donor’s role in what’s happening in the picture.  For instance, for a picture of two kids at a summer camp, most nonprofits would write, “Jimmy and Jessie playing on the slide at camp.”  But a great newsletter caption might say, “Thanks to you, Jimmy and Jessie experienced the joy of Summer Camp!”

Now, go make your next newsletter more powerful by using better photos and writing better captions.  You’ll raise more money and you’ll make the world a better place.

 

 

 

Here are some easy, Quick Tips for designing your newsletter.

Before you begin your newsletter there’s something vitally important you need to understand; roughly 80% of people who pick up your newsletter will not read it.  All they will do is scan the headlines, picture captions, and pull quotes.  That’s it.

Here’s what that means for you.  It means that your pictures, headlines and captions matter more than colors, fonts, and even what’s in your articles.  We’re not saying the content doesn’t matter (not at all), just pointing out that most of the people won’t read the articles so you should focus your design efforts on what most people do pay attention to.

Here are three guidelines to follow;

1. Don’t bury the good news.  If you bury the good news in your articles you’re throwing away 80% of your audience.  Instead, trumpet the good news in your headlines and pull-quotes.
2. Have a caption for every picture – but do not use the caption to describe the picture.  Use the caption to tell the donor about their role in what’s happening in the picture.
3. Always include a response device.  Make sure your donors have an easy way to send you a gift if they’d like.  In our experience, the increased costs of including a response device are always paid for (many times over) by the increase in response.

It’s good to remember the real goal of your newsletter; after reading (or even just glancing) at your newsletter, your donors should know that their gifts made the world a better place.  The best newsletters make Donors feel like superheroes.  (See the previous post for more info on this.)

Bonus Tip; the name of your newsletter should convey something positive.  Don’t name your newsletter as if it is an academic journal or a monthly report.  Name your newsletter as if it’s the only part of the newsletter that a donor might read — but you still want them to walk away with a good impression.  For example, if you’re working at a pet shelter, if your newsletter is named something like “Monthly Update” or (slightly better) “The Pet Report.”  Call it something like “Faithful Friends.”  Use the title to add value, don’t let it be a placeholder.

Later this week; which pictures are most effective at increasing donor retention and motivating gifts.  And to learn more, don’t forget to sign up for our free class on Newsletters That Raise More Money this Thursday, May 24.

We’re doing a series of posts on effective donor newsletters leading up to our free class on May 24th.  We’ll start with some big picture advice, then work our way into the details.  Here we go . . .

The best nonprofit newsletters share two things in common.

#1  Newsletters are not collections of stories and news items.  In other words, the best newsletters are not simply newspapers reporting the facts.

Instead, the best newsletters have a clear editorial perspective.  They have a clear agenda for what the nonprofit wants the reader to think when they finish reading.  Every piece of content is used to a) show [not tell] the donor the amazing changes that have happened because of the donor’s gift, b) thank the donor for making those changes, c) make it clear that there are more people who need help today, and d) make it easy to give another gift at that very moment.

#2  Donor-centric newsletters always remember that donors fund outcomes, not processes.  In other words, donors give gifts in order to create a change in the world.  Donors are almost always more interested in that change than they are in the process or program that the nonprofit uses to make the change.

So the best newsletters are always about people – the beneficiaries.  They tell the stories of what their lives were like before – and what their lives are like today because the donor gave a gift.  (The least effective newsletters are about the nonprofit itself; the people who work there, its programs and its processes.)

When a newsletter is done well, donors quickly see the impacts of their gifts.  Their satisfaction goes up and they are more likely to give another gift, either in response to that newsletter or to the next appeal letter or newsletter that they receive.  They also tend to be donors to your organization for longer.

 

We’re always talking about how the most effective fundraising is about the donor, not about the organization doing the fundraising.

Here’s a wonderful, real-world example.  It comes from 101Fundraising, via Future Fundraising Now (our favorite fundraising blog).

Three test emails were sent out and here are the results:

 

 

 

 

 

Put really simply: donors are less interested in what you are doing, and more interested in what their gift accomplished.  Apply that concept to your donor communications and you’ll start raising more money immediately.

Most nonprofits have a Summer Slump; donors are busy so response rates and revenue drop . . .

But sign up for this Friday’s free tele-class and you’ll learn what to do about your slump and how it’s possible to avoid it.  Did we mention the class is free?

Reserve your spot today!

We see it again and again, and it costs organizations thousands and hundreds of thousands of dollars.  It’s the biggest mistake nonprofits and fundraisers can make.

It’s creating fundraising that you like, instead of creating fundraising that’s proven to work.

Many small- to medium-sized nonprofits don’t know that there is hard science behind good fundraising.  They don’t know that test after test after test has shown what works and what doesn’t (in most cases).  For those organizations, we encourage you to talk to an experienced fundraiser or subscribing to fundraising blogs.  There are “best practices” for fundraising and if you follow them you’ll raise more money.  And that’s exactly what we’re teaching in our free fundraising training tele-classes!

What’s more troubling are organizations that should know better.  These nonprofits let their Board members determine what can and can’t be said in fundraising, or have huge committees give input to fundraising.

Fundraising is more of a technical science than most people think it is.  Would we applaud the IT department that lets a committee of non-IT people share their opinions on their organization’s networking strategy?  No.  But we let it happen in Fundraising — and we raise less money because we do it.

Our advice is to stick to the science.  Talk to an expert about what works and what doesn’t, or become an expert yourself.

If you’re trying to get grants here are the three main things you need to know . . .

> The Essential Mission Match

Most private foundations are simply nonprofits with a stated mission to fund certain types of work. In order for your organization to receive funding, your mission must match theirs. The first step to successfully securing money is “mission-match.” So, do your homework; find foundations with a funding mission that supports the type of work your charity performs.

> A Detailed-and-Deadline-Driven Process

Once you’ve identified possible foundation funding sources, you will most likely submit a Letter of Inquiry (LOI) introducing your organization to the foundation and outlining how you’ll use the money if it’s received. If the LOI is approved, you’ll be asked to submit a formal proposal. And if you’re asked, be ready! Every proposal is unique in structure, requirements, deadlines and format and will require detailed project and information management to be successfully completed.

> Show Your Outcomes and Impact

If your proposal is funded, most foundations will require periodic reports about how the money is being (or was) used. Successful and timely reporting increases the likelihood that you’ll receive funding in the future.  BE SURE to include real-life information about your organization’s outcomes; tell at least one short story about the amazing changes that happened because of your work.

Here are a few final considerations: (1) Genuine relationships with the people running the foundation are invaluable. Pick up the phone and schedule a site visit. (2) Foundations will often help you craft your proposal. Call and ask. (3) Be ready – grants require substantial time, focus, and energy.

Getting grants is hard work.  Prepare yourself, your staff and your Board for a lot of work but few (if any) results for months.  Most organizations don’t see real results for 6 to 18 months.  But if you are willing to invest the time you’ll cultivate a group of valued, valuable partners in your mission.