Where your mission meets its match.
Those of you who know me well are aware that I focus my word choices, blog posts, Twitter posts, training language and any communication I deliver from a positive lens. I choose to take a look from the perspective of “What is working here?” and “What will it take to get from here to where we want to go?” rather than “what’s wrong here?”
Last week I read a report from Lisa Sargent based on interviews with top U.S. nonprofit executives. The report outlines a number of things in answer to the question: “what’s working?” The full report has lots of great information in it. Be sure to download and read it.
Here is the Observations and Recommendations portion of Lisa Sargent’s report. These are a great guide as we head into the final and most busy quarter of the fundraising year:
1. The quality and consistency of your post-acquisition donor communications matters more than ever; and until this fact isn’t simply acknowledged – but acted upon – retention rates will likely suffer.
The major impediment here, noted an executive at one of the largest organizations, is simply that even today, quality communications are seen as “desirable, not a necessity”. . . and that most still “don’t value the importance of good communication.”
Of course, based on many of the findings in this report, it’s clear that follow-up donor communications – online and especially offline – hold the key to loyalty and retention. For example:
2. Consider making story-based and relationship fundraising a bigger part of the donor communications mix.
At one organization, an executive noted that they have seen a 25% boost in gifts from existing donors, by shifting to a more story-oriented communications style. Overall, the number of communications that donors receive from this charity each year has actually increased; however, the mix now includes more newsletters and fewer direct mail appeals.
This leader remarked that there is far less transactional fundraising going on in these messages, saying it’s “all about personal impact” – an insight offered by a number of others in this survey – and “very little hard numbers.”
The strategy may be effective because it appears to capitalize on the changing donor mindset noted earlier in this report.
3. Find a way to eliminate creative silos when integrating campaigns and when using multi-channel communications.
As noted, the biggest challenge here is consistency: of voice, tone, image, etc.
At least one organization represented in this report is planning to bring its direct mail function in-house, two to three years down the road, in an effort to gain more control over uniformity of messaging.
Control and consistency are particularly important as more and more donors now view your work and your communications across multiple channels, and especially if these communications carry the signature of a single, high-level leader: a harmonious tone and style is vital.
What’s Working in Donor Fundraising and Development Today? Copyright © Lisa Sargent and Sargent Communications, published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License.
I read a post from Seth Godin on Monday that got me thinking about how donors are treated and why they leave. Here’s the post:
No new customers
What if a rift in the time-space continuum changed the universe and it was suddenly impossible to get new customers, new readers, new donors, or new viewers?
How would that [...]
“The deepest craving of human nature is the need to be appreciated.” ~ William James
It’s a giving time of year. People are volunteering their time at food banks, and at their place of worship, coats are being collected for those less fortunate, gifts are being purchased for families who may not otherwise receive a holiday [...]
Comment by Event 360 — August 20, 2010
Lori, thanks for the post. Lisa is definitely on point in what’s working… especially in her first point. There is a fine line between finding the right balance of staying top of mind and becoming an irritation in your communications strategy, especially online. We live and work by the practice what you measure approach. Measuring your ROI is important, and to do that you have to have the right analytics in place. http://bit.ly/AnalyticsFundraising
Comment by Lori L. Jacobwith — August 21, 2010
Great report to help nonprofits focus on the right measures. Thanks Event360 for the link!
Comment by Roger Carr — August 22, 2010
Keeping current donors is less expensive than establishing new ones. This is a great post to point an organization into ways to build the relationship to retain donors.
Comment by Sandy Rees — August 22, 2010
Communication with donors is way more important than most nonprofit folks realize. I remind folks that no one likes the guy who only calls you when he wants something. We don’t want to be that way with our donors. Thanks for sharing your insight about donor communication Lori!
Sandy
Comment by Pamela Grow — August 22, 2010
A terrific post as usual Lori! I so often come across nonprofits reticent about communicating more frequently with donors, yet, given the right kind frequent communication is key. Roger is right – it’s less expensive to keep the donors you have than to create new donors.
Comment by Lori L. Jacobwith — August 23, 2010
Thanks for the great comments. Yes, we’ve heard in real estate it’s: location, location, location. In fundraising I find it’s communication, communication, communication. Both internally with staff and the board and externally with supporters.