Tag: Giving

Little Jolts of Joy

Steven Screen  |  Repeat
Jolts of joy.

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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Credit Card Fees

Steven Screen  |  Ask
Credit card fee.

Should you ask your donors if they would like to pay the credit card fees for their gift?

Turns out you probably shouldn’t – look at this test done by the always-helpful NextAfter.

Their test showed that asking people making a gift online if they would like to cover the credit card fee of their donation resulted in raising 20.5% less than not asking donors to cover the fee.

Many people chose to pay the credit card fees.  However, what also happened is that many people saw the option to pay the credit card fees and chose to not give at all.  The result was a 20.5% drop in net revenue.  (Click through to the post itself for all the details, which are fascinating if you like that kind of thing.)

Keep this study handy the next time “giving donors the option of paying credit card fees” comes up at your nonprofit!

Why ‘Having Access’ Isn’t a Compelling Reason to Give

Sarah Lundberg  |  Ask
Access.

There’s a phrase I see used in direct response fundraising that always has me scratching my head.

Having access.

For example: Your gift will make sure a child has access to healthy meals.

Or your gift will help a cancer patient have access to treatment. Or your donation will make sure a student has access to education.

I’m not sure why this language is so enticing to organizations, but “having access” doesn’t provide a compelling reason for a donor to give. And it’s just not language that regular people use in their everyday life.

If you put on your donor hat, here’s something to puzzle over:

Would you rather give $30 so a child has healthy meals to eat, or give $30 so a child has ACCESS to healthy meals?

Would you rather give $100 to help a cancer patient get treatment, or give $100 to help a cancer patient have ACCESS to treatment?

Would you rather give $75 to help a student get a great education, or give $75 to help a student have ACCESS to a great education?

When we start to think like a donor, giving to provide access to something… just doesn’t measure up to providing the thing itself.

So when you’re writing your next appeal or e-appeal, try writing without using the idea of “having access” to something. Your writing will be stronger, your appeal will be easier to understand, and your donors will have a more compelling reason to give.

Do You Have a Clear Way for Donors to Give Stocks?

Sarah Lundberg  |  Ask
Giving complicated.

Does your organization have a simple and clear way for your donors to donate stock or other investments?

If not, you’d be smart to get started!

Here’s why this is important…

Most wealthy donors have some of their money in cash (checking and savings accounts). Think of this as a small bucket.

But MOST of their money is in investments (stocks, bonds, IRAs) where it can earn them more money. Think of this as a large bucket.

And right now, this large bucket of investments is likely doing well.

If you only accept cash gifts from donors, they will likely donate from their small bucket of cash.

But if you make it easy to donate stock and other investments, donors can give out of their large bucket of invested wealth, while also receiving some nice tax breaks.

Your donor loves your cause and your organization. She wants to do what she can to help. And when you have a simple, clear way for your donor to donate stock or other investments, she may be able to give more than she could if you only accept cash.

That’s a win-win!

If your organization doesn’t have simple way to accept gifts of stock or other investments, it’s worth the bit of up-front work it takes to get started.

You’ll need to:

  • Open a brokerage account for your organization. Compare a few to find one with the lowest fees. Two of the most common are Fidelity Charitable and Schwab. Someone on your team will need to monitor this account periodically.
  • Set up policies and procedures so that everyone in your organization knows how to handle stock gifts, including receipting.
  • Let your donors know they can transfer stock and investments to your org. When they transfer the stock instead of selling it themselves, they can avoid capital gains taxes. They may also want to check with their financial advisor.
  • Have simple instructions for giving stocks and investments on your website and on a one page handout you could give to a donor.

For more detail on getting your organization ready to receive gifts of stock and investments, here’s a helpful resource from FreeWill.

And here’s the bottom line:

The stock market has been performing well in the last year, which means donors have more money to give… IF you accept gifts of stock and investments. Take the time now to set up a simple, clear way for donors to give, and you’ll see the benefits for years to come.

Almsgiving

Steven Screen  |  Year-End
Boxing day.

Today is Boxing Day, and also St. Stephen’s Day.

It’s traditionally a day of generosity:

  • In the Boxing Day tradition, in Britain, tradespeople received gifts from their employers.
  • For the Feast of St. Stephen, alms boxes in churches were opened and distributed to the poor.

In western culture, this time of the year is still a time of alms-giving: money is pouring in to nonprofits, and the biggest week of online giving of the year is just starting.

Almsgiving is known to foster a sense of community, empathy, and social responsibility.  Perhaps that’s why many people feel just a little bit better during the holidays.

Yes, this week is also full of sales and conspicuous consumption.  But it’s good to remember we Fundraisers are a part of a tradition with deep historical, religious, and cultural roots.

Remember those traditions this week.  They drive this wave of giving; we just get to surf it.

Enjoy the week, and may your lockboxes and inboxes be full of gifts!

The Power of a Belief

Steven Screen  |  Ask
belief

Here’s a quick story about how an organization’s beliefs about donors unknowingly drove their fundraising strategy…

We serve an organization that has a large number of monthly donors. 

I asked them if they had ever asked their monthly donors to give a little more each month.  “No,” came the answer, “we’ve never done that.”

I suggested we run a short campaign to their monthly donors asking them if they’d like to upgrade their giving.  It’s my belief that almost every organization has a lot of donors that are willing and able to give more.

But some folks around the table were nervous – they had a different belief.  They agreed that some small number of their monthly donors would and could give more.  But they believed that a greater number of their monthly donors would complain or completely cancel. 

In other words, they believed that their monthly donors (as a group) were giving as much as they were willing and/or able to give. 

I shared a couple of stories of campaigns like this I’d successfully run in the past.  And we decided to go ahead with the campaign.

The results were spectacular.  A thrilling number of monthly donors chose to give more each month.  Plus, those donors increased their monthly gift by even more than we thought they would.

As far as I know, there were zero cancellations.

And the impact?  The organization started raising an additional $60,000 every single month.

Lesson #1

An organization’s beliefs about donors drive its strategy, its annual plan, and even its copywriting. 

If you believe your donors are willing and able to give more, you do things like ask monthly donors if they would give a little more each month.  You send more appeals and e-appeals, and you ask major donors to give larger amounts. 

If you believe your donors are willing and able to give more, you write things like, “Will you please send in a gift today” instead of the equivocating, “Will you please consider sending in a gift today?”

Should you be smart about which donors you include when you do this?  Of course.  If you have a monthly donor who has told you that she’s on a fixed income and can’t give any more each month, don’t ask her to upgrade.  If you have major donor who has told you that they aren’t going to give any more this year, then don’t ask them.

Your organization has a set of beliefs about donors, and fundraising, and money.  Often those beliefs are unstated.  But they are driving your strategy, your annual plan, and even your copywriting.

Do you believe that your donors are willing and able to give more?

Lesson #2

There are real costs to believing your donors can’t or won’t give any more.

The organization above could have been raising that additional $60,000 every month the previous year.  And the year before that.  Think of the impact that was missed!

My goal in pointing this out is not to make all of us (myself included) feel bad for all the opportunities we’ve missed over the years.

My goal in pointing this out is for all of us to realize that our beliefs about donors and fundraising have real-world consequences. 

In my experience, believing that “many of our donors are willing and able to give more” will have positive real-world consequences.  Believing that “our donors are giving as much as they are willing and able” will have negative real-world consequences.

Try It On

So here’s what I want you to do.  I want you, just for a moment, to “try on” the belief that your donors are willing and able to give more.  Name one thing you would do differently.

Now, make a plan to do that thing.  Your organization (and the additional people you’ll help) will be thankful that you did.

The Reminder

Steven Screen  |  Ask
hook

Before your organization arrived in a donor’s life, their beliefs and values caused them to be generous, to believe in right and wrong, to care for people in their community.

In other words, they put themselves “on the hook.” They decided to take responsibility for some of the ills in the world and donate to help.

So if it ever feels uncomfortable to ask people for money, remember that the people you are asking put themselves on the hook. They are on your donor list or mailing list because they want to help.

So you shouldn’t feel guilty about sending out fundraising. You shouldn’t feel like you’re manipulating people.

Instead, be thankful and joyful they put themselves on the hook. Boldly ask them to put their money where their values are.

Fundraising doesn’t put donors on the hook. Fundraising reminds donors that they put themselves on the hook.

What to Do When Things are Uncertain and Donors Aren’t Giving as Much

Sarah Lundberg  |  Repeat
wait

My colleague Steven Screen said something profound recently:

“When times are good, donors give. When times are bad, donors give. When times are uncertain… donors wait.”

This spring your organization may have experienced donors waiting. Your fundraising results may have been lower than normal, and you may feel a little panicked.

You are NOT alone!

There are times when some donors wait to give, for reasons we can’t control.

This spring there was scary messaging in the US news around the debt ceiling.

We (mostly) suspected it would turn out okay, but if it didn’t, then… Catastrophic global economic consequences! Immediate recession! THINGS WILL BE TERRIBLE!

Those were the types of headlines we were seeing in the US. (Okay, I made up the last one, but that’s what it FELT like…)

I suspect there were donors waiting to see how the debt ceiling situation played out.

When your job is fundraising and donor giving dips, whether that’s major donor fundraising, direct response fundraising, event fundraising – any area, really – here are three things you should do:

  1. Glance at a few headlines. Do your best to understand what your donors might be thinking about, fearing, or uncertain about.

  2. Review your strategy. Are you asking donors to give in a clear, confident, emotional way that has worked in the past? Are you thanking your donors when they give and reporting back on what their gift did?

  3. If the answer to #2 is YES, you may be in a time where donors are waiting. Keep being faithful with the things you can control and don’t stop fundraising. We’ve seen time and time again that donors resume giving after periods of uncertainty. Make sure you are in front of your donors with strong fundraising offers so they resume their giving to YOUR organization.

By the way, if the answer to #2 is NO, the lack of giving may have more to do with your Asks than your donors. Review your communications with a more critical eye. Sometimes in the day-to-day shuffle – especially when times are weird – messages that are off-topic to donors creep in and cause fundraising to underperform.

Whether times are good or times are bad, donors want to help a cause they care about. Keep asking! Keep thanking! Keep reporting back so they see the good they’re doing!

By the way, once the uncertainty has passed you may have a gap in funding. Tell your donors about it and ask them to help!

The Difference Between “Understanding” and “Feeling”

Steven Screen  |  Major Donor Fundraising
gratitude

A major donor can understand that their gift was appreciated.  That’s nice.  And pretty easy to make that happen.

Yet it’s also possible for a major donor to really feel that their gift was appreciated.

There’s a big difference. 

The blog post How to Thank a Major Donor So She’ll WANT to Give Again gives you a simple road map to making your major donors feel your organization’s appreciation.

I share that post today because the signs are pointing to donations from individual donors being down this year. 

If that holds true for the rest of the year, it’s more important than ever for your organization to make sure your major donors feel your gratitude.

Here’s what often happens in down years.  Major donors deploy a two-part strategy:

  • They reduce the number of organizations they support, and
  • They reduce the amount they give to each organization. 

But major donors usually have a couple of organizations – close to their hearts, where they feel their giving really matters – that they do not cut or reduce.

That’s the group you want to be in. 

But you must earn your way into that group.

So go read the post, then go make sure your majors feel your gratitude!