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Sharing Life Updates

It’s been a while! 2019 has been a whirlwind year so far – and we’re just about halfway through. Professionally, I have really been enjoying continuing my consulting practice. I’ve had the opportunity to work with a new client that has allowed me to learn a lot and help support them during a period of transition. I’ve also stayed with a longer term client, and continued to support their fundraising work. I feel very lucky to be able to work with such wonderful organizations (and people)!

Personally, I am expecting a baby sometime in the next month! So I’ll be wrapping up the work I’m doing soon to welcome a new life into the world. I’m looking forward to spending time with family and seeing what the next chapter brings!

Thank you for continuing to follow along, and I am sending you so much love! Until next time –

-N.C.

My Tips on Last Minute Fundraising

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This post is a complement to a podcast episode of Social Entrepreneur with Nathan A. Webster, of which I am a monthly contributor. Take a listen below!

The year has almost come to a close! As fundraisers, this is crunch time. It’s time to review who has given, remind those who haven’t, and mobilize your board. There is precious little time left: so we’re talking today about how you can organize your time and not get overwhelmed.

Pull some key lists

As it’s crunch time, you’ll want to be spending your time reaching out to the lowest hanging fruit – the best prospects. To get to this list:

  • Pull a LYBUNT list – LYBUNT stands for Last Year But Unfortunately Not This. This will include donors who gave last year but haven’t given yet this year, so they still need to renew. Maybe they need a reminder to give – so you’ll want to give one.
  • If this list is super long – prioritize it by gift size. Major donors who gave last year will especially notice when they get individual outreach. Ideally you’ve been in touch with them throughout the year to steward their giving, so this is not the first time they have heard from you: but this is the time to remind them about your organization.
  • If you need to prioritize even one step further: prioritize donors who have a relationship with one or some of your board or staff members. Again, these are the donors who are most apt to notice your personal outreach and make a donation in response.

Once you know who you need to reach out to: get some help with outreach.

Mobilize your board & volunteers

Put a call out to your board members to help you with personal outreach. Once you have that list, split up some of these high priority prospects amongst this group.

  • Prepare lists for each board member. On the list, include name, phone, email, and last gift date & amount – that should just be for the board member’s reference.
  • Prepare scripts for the board members to use if they’d like – both an email version and a phone script.
  • Give them a specific deadline to make initial outreach to, but enough time for it to be feasible – perhaps around a week.
  • As donations come in, notify board members if individuals on their lists responded. This is great for morale in showing board members that their time is worth it, because they see the money coming in.

These are the steps to take for major donors: but what about the communication out to the larger list, to remind them?

Make sure to send final reminders (& thank yous)

Now that you’ve taken care of major donors: put together some communications to all other donors and prospects on your list.

  • Send email reminders: It’s always good practice to send an email on the last day or second to last day of the year. In addition to that, you’ll want to send a few others in December. Quantity depends on the organization and its communication habits throughout the year, but can range from 2-6 in December.
  • Make sure those emails are short and sweet and get to the point. They should be compelling, but not confusing about what you are asking for. Depending on your organization, in general, I recommend staying away from “holidays” language. The holidays can be a complicated time, and you never know where your donors are coming from or even if they celebrate them, so focus on the organization and “happy new year” language.
  • As much as you can – suppress recent donors from these ask emails at the end of the year. I hate emails that say “ignore this if you’ve recently donated!” Why didn’t you just take me off the list before you sent it? It feels sloppy.
  • Of course, include some gratitude language in some of your messaging, too!

Try to have fun and celebrate your wins along the way! You are doing important work for your organization. And get some relaxing time in as much as you can – and if you can’t during the end of the year, make sure you do in January.

-N.C.

My Tips on Social Media & Giving Tuesday

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This post is a complement to a podcast episode of Social Entrepreneur with Nathan A. Webster, of which I am a monthly contributor. To listen to the episode related to this topic click below.

 

We’re all living online – so your organization should be, too. But there are so many platforms and so much to say: so how do you manage it?

It’s important to be comprehensive when thinking about social media for nonprofits: so, let’s think about the classic questions:

Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?

  • Who? Who are you looking to communicate to with your social media posts? Current donors, prospective donors, clients, volunteers, the general public? This decision will help inform which platforms you should be active on.
  • What? What content do you want to share on social media? Your organization is doing so much at any given time, so think about what you want to share with your followers. This can include: stories, facts, history, internal information, news related to your mission, and more. It’s also a good idea to be thoughtful about sharing posts of similar or partner organizations – this can help expand your reach and also position your organization as an expert.
  • Where? Which platforms do you want to be on? Think quality over quantity here: instead of getting on everything, get on the spaces that 1) your current donors and constituents are on and 2) your desired donors are. Are you going to do more longform posts? Think Facebook or LinkedIn. Connect with other organizations and share out more regularly? Twitter. Do you have amazing photography? Instagram.
  • When? Just like any other communications, map out a calendar that ensures that you are posting consistently and not only about one topic. Frequency depends on platform: Twitter is constantly changing, so you’ll post way more on there than Facebook, for example.
  • Why? Why be on social media? It’s an opportunity for you to engage with your community in a unique way that they are already doing – you’re meeting them where they are. It’s very donor centric.
  • How? Who’s going to do it? Some nonprofits keep social media management in the marketing team, some have a development staff member do it. Some have multiple people involved and some just have one (or less than one!). Make sure that person has a clear idea of what the organizational voice is.

As a fundraising person, I’d be remiss talking about social media without mentioning one of the important social media days for the year for nonprofits – Giving Tuesday.

Giving Tuesday

Giving Tuesday aka #GivingTuesday takes place the Tuesday after Thanksgiving every year. It’s a day that celebrates nonprofits and donors, and encourages contributions. Some nonprofits put a lot of efforts and energy into this day, and others send a simple email and do a quick social media post. It’s up to you and your organization what feels best, but know that it’s a very heavily saturated fundraising day.

But: it’s a heavily saturated fundraising day for a reason. So I believe it’s important to at least do something. At the bare minimum, I recommend doing one simple email blast to all of your lists and one social media post on all of your platforms. The next step is mobilizing your board by sending them an email template that they can forward to their contacts as well as links to the social media posts so that they can share them. The more your message is amplified, the better!

If you want to go crazy on that day, you can be pushing out communications about it for weeks in advance, have matching gifts lined up, and even do a live event to encourage donations. Then you’ll want to post on social media a whole bunch on the day of, and don’t forget to say thank you after.

Next month we’re going to talk about crowdfunding and peer to peer fundraising: so stay tuned for that, which is also related to social media. For now, get a plan in place for your social media approach for the end of the year: because it’s coming up fast!

-N.C.

My Tips on Year End Fundraising

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This post is a complement to a podcast episode of Social Entrepreneur with Nathan A. Webster, of which I am a monthly contributor. Listen to our episode below!

End of year campaigns: they’re the lifeblood of a lot of nonprofit organizations. The holiday season, the season of giving: people are more inclined to make donations, and nonprofits are more inclined to ask. And it’s incredibly important, especially since many organizations have a fiscal year that is the same as the calendar year, so the pressure is on to raise money and reach your goals. So how can you set your organization up for success?

First: think of your year end fundraising as a comprehensive campaign. Remember that while your direct mail appeal may take a lot of your energy and time, there are several other communications that are part of the campaign, including your website, emails, social media, and in person asks. Think of all of the communications during this time as being part of this one campaign.

Then, spend some time setting your campaign up for success. We’re talking about this topic in September so you can take some of these suggestions and run with them. It’s early enough to spend some time on these things, so let’s go!

  • Goals: Take a look at what you raised last year and see how you can adjust your expectations. Have you done a lot of cultivation work, and expect to see an increase in gifts? Has this year been challenging, so you don’t want to be over-ambitious? Be thoughtful about the goal you set: it is discouraging if you’re not even close to reaching it, and it can feel like you don’t need donations if you quickly blow it out of the water.
  • Ask & tagline: Usually, I recommend doing a general operating support ask for year end campaigns. It is often a main component of the year’s fundraising, so it is nice to demonstrate the need for general support. But, there are cases where a more specific ask is more compelling and needed. Maybe your organization has a specific program that needs help, so go for that. I also like the idea of having a tagline: it could be something as simple as Season of Giving, or it could be something more geared toward your organization. Then you can use that everywhere you’re talking about it.
  • Segmentation: You don’t talk to your grandma the same way you talk to your best friend, so why would you send the same letter to all of your donors? There are so many ways you can split up your list: by donation level, longevity of giving, or more. Then just tweak your letter to include details about their relationship to your organization. It can feel much more personal then.
  • Campaign structure: There are several ways you can structure your year end campaign. You can do something simple, just one mailing and a few email follow ups. Or you can do something complicated, which includes paid advertising, several mailings, several segmented emails and social media. It depends on your organization’s size, so be thoughtful.
  • Project management spreadsheet: This is what has kept me sane for every campaign I’ve managed!! Create a spreadsheet that simply includes the task, who is responsible, due date, date accomplished, status and notes. Then map out the entire campaign, setting your ideal drop date and scheduling backwards from there.
  • Tracking & reporting: Be thoughtful about how you are tracking donations to the campaign. Set up codes to track whether people are responding to the mailing versus email, which mailing they respond to, etc. This will help inform next year’s campaign – ie, if fewer people respond to emails at a specific time of year, think about switching it up for next year. Then, set up a schedule where you are regularly sharing this tracking document with interested parties, including staff and board.

Now that we’re set up for success, and have thought through strategy, components, and tracking, let’s talk best practices.

First, the appeal package.

The letter is arguably the most important part.

  • It should feel personal, but informative. The recommendation here is to write at a fourth grade level – not because your donors won’t be able to understand it, but because that is the most approachable tone. When you write a letter (or maybe an email!) to your friends, you don’t write a college essay, do you?
  • It should be very donor centric. Once you’ve written your letter, go back through and count how many times you have written YOU (meaning who you are writing to, the reader). Go through and transform as many sentences as possible to include the word YOU. For example: if you’ve written the sentence, “Our organization transforms lives,” change the sentence to “Your donation will transform lives” or even “You will transform lives.” Make the letter very active, assuming that the reader will make a donation.
  • It should lead with feelings and wrap up with facts. It should include a story of someone whose life has been transformed from your organization’s work, so the reader can be drawn in by the impact. That story should include the problem, solution, and what the reader can do to help be part of it.
  • It should include the call to action early on. You can (and should) re-ask several times, but there should be an ask in the first couple of paragraphs – even if it’s just a hint of what you are asking. It should be clear what you are asking the reader to do from the top.
  • It should include a P.S. The P.S. is a super important piece of real estate, and most readers at least look at that. It should be a direct reaffirmation of the ask.
  • As far as format, there are competing opinions. I personally like to keep it to one page, but there are experts who say it should be a double sided page. Feel free to bold, underline, or italicize special phrases, but don’t overdo it.

Besides the letter, you can think about attachments. There are several types of things you can do, either just a client story, or quotes, or an infographic with data around impact, or just organizational facts. It depends on what you think will be the most compelling for your readers. Just don’t overload the package with facts – you want to lead with the heart here, not the brain.

Then, you’ll want to think about email.

  • Emails should be very short and sweet. Get to the point! We all get so many emails – so make it compelling and overly obvious what you’re asking. Try to put at least one donation button above the fold.
  • Include images. Have the background be a light color and the text be a dark color. Again, very easy to read and accessible.
  • The schedule of emails widely depends on your organization and how often your donors receive emails from you for the rest of the year. If you never email them the rest of the year, don’t email them ten times in December. At the very least, do at least one in November, and maybe four in December, including two in the last week of the year.
  • We’ll talk more about email & social media during a future episode centered around Giving Tuesday.

Don’t forget to mobilize your team to help get all of this out – including your board of directors. There are several ways you can use them: have them write handwritten notes that you include in some special letters, have them forward your emails to their contacts, or share your posts on social media. You’re not alone!

-N.C.

My Tips on Advancing Your Career as a Fundraiser

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This post is a complement to a podcast episode of Social Entrepreneur with Nathan A. Webster, of which I am a monthly contributor. Listen to our episode below!

Fundraising is such an important element of nonprofit operations, and as long as there are nonprofits, there will be fundraising jobs to be filled. Fundraising as a career is a great choice, as there are a lot of directions you can go, so there is good job security!

That’s great news, but how do you keep advancing your career as a fundraiser? There are a few tips for helping keep your career moving.

Take full advantage of learning opportunities

Fundraising is a unique job because there is always something to do. There are always more people to reach out to, more donors to thank, and more collateral to make. Take full advantage of all of the activities you are doing, or could do, in your current role. Don’t stay stagnant – explore every facet of your position. If you have an idea, take initiative and go for it! Try new things and pay attention to things that you really love to do. That will give you a better idea of what to look for in your next role.

Explore your options

Once you feel ready to explore new challenges and opportunities, think about what aspect of fundraising you really love. There are so many, that fit with different skills and aptitudes, so think about what you’d like your days to look like.

  • Do you love relationship building? Think about Donor Relations, Major Gifts, or Strategic Partnerships.
  • Do you love events? Think about Special Events or Community Relations.
  • Are you very process oriented, or do you love data? Think about Development Operations or Donor Database roles.
  • Do you love to write? Think about Grants.
  • Do you love people management & have years of experience in fundraising? Think about becoming a Development Director.

Instead of just applying for any fundraising position you see, be thoughtful about what area of development you would like to go into next.

Network

What about if you’re not sure what area you want to go into, or you want more information? That’s where networking comes in. Find and identify people who have what looks to be your dream job, or close to it. Contact them to set up an informational interview or phone call. Keep the conversation brief, tell them what you are looking for, and ask about their experience. You can get a ton of insight from these conversations. And don’t forget to connect with them on LinkedIn!

And, we all know about those general networking events that are put on by various organizations. If you go to those, have a goal in mind. If you are trying to advance your career as a fundraiser, try to find others who also work as fundraisers and ask them about their career growth. See if what they share resonates with you.

Find mentors

I would not be where I am today without the professional mentors I have been lucky to have along the way. My mentors have been sounding boards that have encouraged me at the right moments and asked critical questions when I needed it. I can’t recommend mentorship highly enough.

But you can’t find a mentor out of thin air. The trick is, when you come across someone you click with (whether it is a boss or other professional colleague), to be vulnerable with them. Share with them your thoughts and fears about your career, and see how they react. If they are a good fit for mentorship, things will naturally fall into place (if you let them in). Don’t worry – we were all where you are once!

-N.C.

My Tips on Using Technology in Fundraising

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This post is a complement to a podcast episode of Social Entrepreneur with Nathan A. Webster, of which I am a monthly contributor. Listen to the episode below!

Technology is a huge topic, and there are countless ways that nonprofits can use it. Today, we are just scratching the surface of some of the more basic components of how nonprofits use technology, but I encourage you to take a look at the resources at the end of this post for more.

Remember: just because a technology exists doesn’t mean you have to use it. Be thoughtful about what technology you choose – choose things that make your work more efficient or that enhance your donors’ experience.

As far as raising money goes, direct mail is still king for most nonprofits, but electronic communications are also important as they are an important component of relationship building.

Before we get into revenue generating activities, let’s talk about something super important: donor databases.

Donor Databases

Donor databases are important because they help you manage relationships. It’s a system where you can create a record of every donor to your organization and their donation history, and can contain a notes section where you can share and track other information. So, if you win the lottery tomorrow, your replacement will be up to speed on the relationships the nonprofit has with its donors.

It’s also a good checks & balances system to compare with your financial books – so it’s a good way to manage and steward donors’ money.

There is a huge variety of databases, so choose wisely! Do adequate research before you select the one you want. Think about what you might use the database for… the very basic functionality will be to record donors and their donations (including details like amount, date, method, and what appeal they respond to). But, there are other functionalities that you can also have. Do you want robust reporting, to track volunteer hours, manage your events, track campaigns and/or moves management? Think about all of your potential needs and find something that works with all of it.

Once you’ve found your ideal database, follow some best practices. Make sure you have standard data entry rules where consistency is the main focus. Do annual maintenance checks of things like duplicate checks and blank addresses – this will save you time in the long run.

Electronic Communications

Websites

Everyone has a website (I hope!), so we don’t need to talk about why to have one, but let’s talk about some things to make sure you have. Try to consider everyone who might be looking at your website: clients, donors, media, the general public. Do a delicate dance of addressing the needs of everyone. Make sure to have a Donate button in the top banner of every page on your website, that links directly to the transaction, not another website. Make it very easy to donate on your website.

E-newsletters

Much like donor databases, there are a wide variety of e-newsletter vendors available, so try out a few and see what you like. Many of them have built in analytics, so take a close look at those and use them to your advantage, doing A/B tests with subject lines and content to see what your audience responds to. This is especially helpful with fundraising emails, as you can see what resonates with your audience

Social media

Get on channels that your audience is on, not everything. Have a playful voice that rings true to your organization, but also feels authentic. Interact with people and make it feel like a conversation, acknowledge comments. But don’t stay on everything all the time, as that gets overwhelming. Try to check in daily.

As I mentioned up top, there are tons of ways you can use technology, and I encourage you to use the web as a resource. Check out the Nonprofit Technology Network (www.nten.org) and their spectacular conference, or participate in online webinars through places like Foundation Center (www.foundationcenter.org). Many tools will also have online communities and blogs that you can interact with.

And of course, if you want more in depth help looking at your technology (especially your use of your donor database – one of my specialties!), you can always hit me up.

-N.C.

My Tips on Staying Sane as a Nonprofit Fundraiser

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This post is a complement to a podcast episode of Social Entrepreneur with Nathan A. Webster, of which I am a monthly contributor. Listen to the episode below!

We’re all working our hearts out to help improve the world, through the organizations we work with and for. But we can only give to others as much as we have given to ourselves, so it’s important to talk about how to stay sane and thrive as a nonprofit fundraiser.

Not taking it all on

Fundraisers have a tough job. They have organizations relying on them, and therefore people who receive services relying on them. After all, this work can’t be done without the funds to support it.

As someone who works in fundraising, it can be easy to take on the pressure, especially if budgets are not being balanced and money is not coming in. But this is too much to take on as one individual person. Fundraising is too volatile of a practice to have any one person to blame. You could work for hours on a mail piece that raises a small amount of money or you could get an unsolicited donation that blows everything out of the water. The point is, it is not solely on your shoulders if the money does not come in. You cannot take on the pressure that if your work does not produce the money you were expecting, you failed. There are too many other factors to consider. So let that go, and hopefully, that helps you feel better and stop worrying.

Communicating

A lot of stress comes from not fully understanding expectations, from your boss or your board. When there are misunderstandings, it can be a huge point of stress. Communicate as much as you can with your boss or your board about what you think your priorities are, what you are working on, and what you aren’t working on. That way, they can let you know in advance if they have a different idea. And you’ll feel better that you guys are on the same page.

Staying Organized

Lists…. Ahhhh. OK, I know not everyone is like me and feels better about their projects after making a list. But I know many of us are! Figure out what planning mechanism works best for you and stick to it. Do you like spreadsheets? Post-it notes? Whatever it is, stay organized as much as possible. Having something to refer to every day about your tasks can help you stay sane.

Taking breaks

Did you eat lunch at your desk today? How about yesterday? As much as possible, take breaks. If you’re able to eat your lunch away from your desk, do it! Getting out of your work environment can relax your mind and get you in a better headspace. Sometimes, it can even help you solve a problem. There have been many times where I have not been able to figure something out, I’ve walked away from my desk, and came up with the idea as soon as I sat back down.

Lunch breaks are nice, but there is something else equally as important: vacations. Make sure to schedule and go on vacation. Do as much prep work in advance, over-communicate to others when you will be on vacation, and set an out of office email for when you will be away. Then, don’t check email!!! Even glancing through will just get you back in the mindset of work mode. When you’re on vacation, don’t dwell on what may or may not be happening at the office. It will all get sorted out. And if it makes you anxious, tell one person you trust that they can text you with anything urgent.

No email outside of work

Speaking of email outside of work… try not to check it so much. If you heavily rely on that tactic now, try to wean yourself off. Go in phases… try not checking email from Friday night to Sunday morning, then all weekend, then no weekday evenings… once you get into the habit of not responding to emails on off hours, your coworkers will adapt to you.

In conclusion

At the end of the day, although we’re doing important work, many of our tasks have arbitrary, internal deadlines. If you’re coming up on something stressful, see if you can shift any of the timeline. Breathe, and remember you are doing great work!

-N.C.

My Tips on Mobilizing the Board for Fundraising

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This post is a complement to a podcast episode of Social Entrepreneur with Nathan A. Webster, of which I am a monthly contributor. Listen to the episode below!

“I want to join your board of directors, but I don’t want to ask for money.” How many times have you heard that!? This month’s post – and podcast – helps you figure out what to do to combat that statement.

Boards come in all shapes and sizes. Some help out more with daily work because there are fewer staff, some are more strategic thinkers. Sizes range from 5-25, or even more.

No matter what, the board of directors of a nonprofit is responsible for making sure the organization is being fiscally responsible. This means making sure the nonprofit is spending money the right way, but it also means raising enough money to keep going.

But what do you do if your board doesn’t want to “ask for money?” We’ll talk through some ways that you can mobilize your board for fundraising without them outright asking for money.

How they can play a role in each part of the donor cycle

Fundraising isn’t just about asking for money. Donors go through a cycle, and board members can have a part of interacting with them at any part during that cycle.

  • Identify: Do your board members have friends, family, colleagues who might be interested in supporting the cause? Or, even people who are committed to supporting them as an individual. Or: if board members don’t want to tap into their personal networks, they can help with attending events for organizations like yours, and meeting others who care about what you care about.
  • Research: This is information gathering. Some of this is doing research online, but some of it is also just finding out more information about a donor or prospect – that could mean taking them for coffee or even just asking questions at an event.
  • Cultivate: This looks different depending on what your organization does, but this is the time when board members can often shine. It’s educating donors about the organization and the impact it is making. It’s sharing personal stories about their connection and experience, and connecting the donor or prospect with the organization. This is the friendraising portion of the donor cycle.
  • Solicit: There may be some board members who are comfortable with coming with a staff member on a major donor visit and ask, which is great. If they aren’t, they can write personal notes to go alongside appeal letters through the mail, to have a hand in the solicitation part of the cycle.
  • Steward: Stewardship is a lot of gratitude – saying thank you and showing them the ways their donation has made a difference. Board members can make thank you calls or write notes, and just keep donors informed about the organization’s work.

Systems & reports to help support your board

All of this work is for naught if it’s not being communicated back to the organization’s staff and put into the database. Build systems that are a fit for your board – some are more tech savvy and might want to fill out Google forms about donor communications, and some might want to fill out paper forms. It’s important to listen to what they want and build those – otherwise, they will never get filled out.

There are a variety of forms that can be created. One of the most important forms is a donor contact form, which is completed any time a board member interacts with a donor, and describes the communication on both sides. This is put into the database as a contact note.

Once the information from these forms is put into the database, a report should be created from the database that includes all of the information and is generated on a regular basis for board members.

A few last comments

Remember that your board is meant to help you. If you set up some systems and structures to support them, and show them the variety of ways they can get involved, they can be a force of nature for your organization.

Don’t forget, it’s always good to offer fundraising training to your board. Even if they are familiar with fundraising, there are always new insights to offer, and it can also be a good chance for people to share their wins in fundraising.

The important thing is to provide board members with information and resources they need to do their job – to an extent. Strike a balance between responding to these requests and taking care of other work. Focus on mobilizing the board to the extent that it will help you with your work because at the end of the day, the organization is what you’re all working for.

-N.C.

My Tips of Giving Donor Appreciation by Saying Thank You

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This post is a complement to a podcast episode of Social Entrepreneurship with Nathan A. Webster, of which I am a monthly contributor. Listen to the episode below!

Happy New Year! Now that you’ve received a mountain of donations for your cause (hopefully!), it’s time to get down to business and say something important to your donors: thank you.

Before getting down and dirty with your donor recognition, let’s take a moment to remember why it’s important. In the everyday madness of running your organization, it can be easy to take your donors for granted. But saying thank you – and stewarding donors – will pay off in the long run.

Donor retention (getting a donor to give more than one year in a row) is vastly more cost effective than donor acquisition (recruiting a brand new donor from the general community). And the best way to retain a donor is to say thank you and illustrate the impact their donation made.

Now let’s get down to it. Before we talk about how you can say thank you immediately, remember that involving your board and other volunteers is critical. As a donor, receiving a call or note from someone who’s not getting paid by the organization is very powerful. Plus, you can’t do everything yourself!

Here’s a few ways you can say thank you to your donors immediately.

Phone Calls:

  • Consider doing a thank-a-thon. Depending on your group, you can do a lunchtime event with pizza or an early evening event with wine and cheese, and invite board members, volunteers, and program staff to make calls.
  • Prepare a script that your volunteers can go off of. Keep it short and sweet – name, affiliation with the organization, thank you for the donation, and perhaps a short comment about why it made a difference. Personalizing it is even better. Don’t forget to smile, too!
  • In the donor lists for your volunteers to call, and include: name, phone, donation amount or range, and year they’ve been donating since.
  • Save major donors to get calls from the board chair, executive director or other management staff.

Mail:

  • Send acknowledgment letters immediately (or as soon as possible, within a week), for tax purposes & immediate communication from the organization.
  • Prepare some inexpensive notecards – you can ask volunteers to handwrite some and return to you to send out.

Don’t forget to record all of this activity in your donor database!

Here’s a few ways you can create a culture of gratitude throughout the year.

  • Pay attention to your customer service. Make sure everyone in your organization is saying thank you to anyone who is a donor. If you’re sending an email, say thank you in the beginning and at the end of the message.
  • Try to recognize small moments like birthdays or donor anniversaries – donors are often only receiving solicitations from nonprofits, so it’s nice for them to receive other types of communications, even if they are informal.
  • Consider doing a mid-year stewardship mailing. Mid-year is a great time, keeping them updated on what’s going on and priming them for an end of year ask. Make the mailing directly related to your mission, and have fun with it!

These tips may seem obvious, but you might be surprised how many nonprofits don’t take the chance to say thank you beyond the standard acknowledgment letter. A little gratitude goes a long way, so make it a goal to implement even just one of these tips this year. You’ll see your donor retention rates improve!

And thank you!

-N.C.

Fundraising Tips for the Last Two Months of the Year

We’re in the home stretch, friends! We’re in the final two months of the year and we’re ramping up for the busiest part of the giving season. If you’ve found yourself here thinking – well what do I do to raise money? – you’ve come to the right place.

A few months ago, I was honored to be a guest on the podcast Social Entrepreneur with Nathan A. Webster. Nathan and I had such a good time that he invited me back to talk about five tips of things to do before the year wraps up. I’ve included the podcast recording below! And because I have your back, I’ve written up some notes from what we talked about.

Let’s get into it!

  1. Think of a story that illustrates your impact.
    1. We’re all emotional creatures, and we love a good story. It’s a great way to draw people in and show your impact without telling them what you do with tons of jargon and fluff. In this story, try to get as specific as possible, describing the people involved and using descriptive language about the setting and the feelings. Show, don’t tell!
    2. You can use this story everywhere, whether in mail, email, social media, or even in person. You might feel like you’re telling the story over and over, but you won’t oversaturate your donors – your donors only hear a fraction of your messages, and will pay attention to even a smaller portion than that.
  2. Tell your story & communicate it out.
    1. If you have the capacity, send out a mail appeal. You can stick with a simple letter and donation envelope. Mail it out to donors from the past three years, and if you have the time, you can segment the list more and send more targeted communications.
    2. Definitely make time, however, to focus on electronic communications, email and social media. A few email tips: keep your email as simple as possible, from the subject to the text inside. Make it very obvious what you’re asking for in the email. Make sure the donation request is above the fold; while many people are accessing their email on their phone, it’s still important. Speaking of the phone, make sure your website is both ready to go and mobile friendly.
  3. Use Giving Tuesday.
    1. Giving Tuesday is an annual day of giving, the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, as a response to Black Friday and Cyber Monday. It’s a fun day celebrating nonprofits and what they give to the community. Since we’re just a few weeks away, don’t spend too much time and energy on it – but at the very least, send out an e-blast with a donation button and post on social media (remember to use the hashtag #GivingTuesday!). If possible, find a donor or company who will match donations on that day.
    2. This is also a great day for a meme! Take an image from your organization (a cute animal, a beautiful outdoor setting, a cute kid) – and use language about impact, donating, feeling good, etc. Ask a young person if you need it! This is a fun way an intern or volunteer could help.
    3. Finally, check out their website at givingtuesday.org – it has tons of great resources.
  4. Use your board & other passionate volunteers.
    1. Ask your board to talk to their circles about the work your organization is doing. Make sure to send them details about your impact story so that they can tell the story themselves. Draft an email requesting donations that your board and other volunteers can send to their contacts.
    2. If there are a few extra passionate board members, have them follow up with donors who did not give their gift by the last two weeks of the year. If there are board members who are uncomfortable with asking, have them make some calls to say thank you.
  5. Say thank you!
    1. Make sure your acknowledgment letter template is ready and fits in with the message you set with your story. Try to get your thank you letters out as soon as possible. I’m not as much of a stickler to get them out 48 hours after receiving the donation, but sending them out within a week is ideal. Make sure your electronic acknowledgment message also reinforces your story.
    2. Try to have an attitude of gratitude while working with your donors. The end of the year can be a stressful time of year, and customer service is key in making sure donors have a positive experience with your organization.
    3. And extend that attitude of gratitude to yourself and the other staff or volunteers who are working tirelessly during this season. Saying a genuine thank you on a regular basis can mean a lot and make the work more enjoyable.

Speaking of saying thank you, thank you for the great work you’re doing. I hope you can take some of these tips and implement them to get your story out and raise plenty of money. Your cause is worth it, so it’s up to you to tell your donors and prospective donors all about how they can be part of it.

-N.C.