Fundraising Detective. I've been catching up with some reading in the last month or so and wanted to share short reviews of four books that I believe will help you be a better fundraiser. If you've read any of them then do let me know what you thought or if you've got any other reading recommendations, then please share them in the comments. Note: The titles all link to the author's blog or website and there is a US and UK Amazon link as well. Difference: the one-page method for reimagining your business and reinventing your marketing by Bernadette Jiwa This book is only one hundred pages, but it packs a powerful message about how to develop your brand and tell your story. The book revolves around the premise that to be successful today you need to go beyond the traditional 'four P's' of marketing and develop products with heart and soul.
Amazon UK Amazon The PR Masterclass: How to develop a public relations strategy that works by Alex Singleton His advice applies to organisations of all sizes and budgets. Future Fundraising Now. It's you, not me | Rebecca Davies. Today’s post is a morsel. Short and sweet, it’s a petit four or, if you’re more of a savoury person, a piece of bleu bénédictin to finish a sumptuous year of blogging on 101fundraising.org, our crowdblog. A year ago next week the very first blog post was published on this site. Since then, many more fundraisers have written, shared, and debated on many aspects of our profession: the theoretical, technical, and ideological.
I have no agency to speak on behalf of anyone but myself, and so I thank you personally, Reinier and Jeroen, the Men in Black, for your genius and hard hard hard work bringing fundraisers of the world together in this space. And of course a multitude of thanks to my fellow crowdbloggers: your content has enriched my professional practice. Now. On the subject of thank you’s, today’s blog post subject: a quick case study on email subject lines.
We prepared three email solicitations with distinct messages and subject lines, and sent them on March 4, 2010. Best Practice in Action: Getting creative with your fundraising ideas. Our “Best Practices in Action” series highlights fundraising tips nonprofit organizations can share with their own supporters. We’ve highlighted a story about the Down Syndrome Associate of Greater St. Louis to help illustrate an important idea. It started with a bet Sometimes the best fundraising strategy is creativity. We learned this first hand back in 2010, when our friends at Down Syndrome Association of Greater St. Louis (DSAGSL) were in the middle of trying to raise $10,000 in 10 days for their 2010 Step Up for Down Syndrome awareness walk. Donations were coming in, but the staff wanted to raise more awareness and crank up momentum for the event as the date neared—and they wanted to do it fast.
. $10,000 in four days! Not only did they raise the $10,000 in four days, Jeff’s team raised a total of $16,000 as a result of the videos! “The Challenge” was a big success not only because the DSAGSL team met their goal, but also because it boosted their overall fundraising efforts. Three Classic Fundraising Images from SOFII - Fundraising Detective. This month's Non-Profit blog carnival (hosted by Katya Andresen) is all about how you can use imagery to improve your storytelling and fundraising. I thought I'd raid the SOFII archive and pick some of my favourite fundraising images from over the years. The RNLI Lifeboat Man For years the RNLI have used close up shots of a rugged looking man in a sowester and with a beard to ask for support. The simplicity of the image and accompanying headline is what makes it so effective.
This man is a hero. By giving money to support him, you are also a hero. I've heard a couple of lectures about these adverts over the years and apparently the RNLI have tested every variable you can imagine with these images - men without beards, groups shots, women etc - but they've never been able to beat the beautiful simplicity of this offer and ask. The NSPCC Centenary Appeal Like the Lifeboat ad, simplicity is again key. Dogs Trust Sponsor a Dog Scheme These are three of my favourites.
12 Elements of a Great Online Fundraising Campaign. 1. A concept that immediately makes donors feel good. American Red Cross’ Heroes campaign asks people to “Become a Red Cross Hero”, “Support a Hero” or “Donate to Heroes”. 2. A great call to action. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. See Also Bust a Move – 5 Simple Steps to Improve Your Online Fundraising You May Also Like: Don’t Forget Your $1,000 Gifts. Every organization understands the value of their very top 20 donors. It is easy to see the importance of a $10,000 annual donor. Many organizations have a cut-off as to when the “major gift” starts; often times this is $1,000.
Don’t forget the value of those donors that are right at and right before that cut off. This group knows they are not your top donors but are giving because your organization is an area of passion for them. I also mention this level of gift because it often represents an underserved area. Many of your “secret gem” donors who have huge capacity will start at the $1,000 level. Segmenting your audience – Different communication for different people. The tone you use with your grandmother is, and should be, different than the one you use with your college pals or boss. With that said, different audiences should receive different, targeted messaging when it comes to asking for donations. A blanket, one-size-fits-all, strategy is not effective. This idea can be applied to both a nonprofit organization and an individual fundraiser. It doesn’t matter who you are, a personalized touch makes a difference and can help you become a better communicator. Segmenting for your organization’s audience Think about the ways you can segment your supporters and how you’d engage them differently. 1st time fundraisersLong time fundraisersAnnual donors1st time donorsRecurring donors (annual, semi annual, monthly etc.)Event participants that fundraiseEvent participants that do not fundraiseGrassroots fundraisers This is just a quick list to take into consideration.
Segmenting for individual fundraisers These are just a few to think about. How could I say no? | TheFundraisingFunnel.com. Early in the year, I received a thank you call from an organisation where I give one-off gifts, as well as a monthly regular gift. The call came from a board member who was well briefed on my occasional gifts and monthly support. I thought this was a very nice touch and that it was nice to hear from the organisation outside of the occasional request for money. A month ago I received a model telephone solicitation call from the same charity. The purpose of the call was to solicit me to upgrade my monthly gift to this organisation. After the fundraiser reviewed my giving, thanking me for my generous support and linking my gifts back to the organisation’s mission throughout the call, he asked me if I would please consider doubling my monthly gift and told me that doing so would allow the organisation to provide medications to a certain number of people each month.
How could I say no? I said yes to his request. Think you cannot afford to run such a campaign? Duals Asks « The Annual Giving Network. Two truths you should be telling. Tue, May 29 2012 Filed under: Marketing essentials • Last week, I asked Rohit Bhargava what two pieces of advice he’d give nonprofits about earning trust and inspiring action. He has a new book out called Likeonomics: The unexpected truth behind earning trust, influencing behavior and inspiring action. Here are his tips on telling the truth for good. 1. Tell the truth about yourself: “Help connect donors and supporters with the REAL PEOPLE behind the work that the organization does. 2. Great advice. Being truthful is hard. Look what happens when you tell it. << Back to main. Why donors don't want to hear from you - queer ideas. A report has just been published that adds to the growing body of evidence that shows many charities are still getting something wrong when it comes to donor communications.
The study, commissioned by the REaD Group, asked 1,500 UK adults about their attitudes to charity communications. They found that most people – that's 55% of respondents – don't want charities to communicate with them at all. Shocked? Well, it gets worse. Thirty per cent of respondents stated that they would rather not hear from the organisations that they give to. When it comes to the factors that influence this attitude, it soon becomes obvious that it's all rather personal... And it doesn't stop there. And that, for me, sums up the issue. The only communications that donors don't want are those that are boring, self-centred and irrelevant to their needs. "You keep saying this thing lapsed. Inappropriate and unwanted communications are actively pushing donors away. People really do value charities. The Death of the Unrestricted Gift.
Posted by Brendan Kinney Moderator of #fundchat Transcript Now Available! Recently, I watched a video produced by The Chronicle of Philanthropy (@philanthropy) that captured fundraisers contemplating the following question: “What’s your biggest challenge?” One fundraiser proclaimed his challenge: “The death of the unrestricted gift.” He went on to explain that donors are much more interested in giving to a specific project or initiative rather than provide general unrestricted support to his organization. He described increasing pressure from donors to want to know the specific impact of their giving. Join the #fundchat community on Wednesday, June 6 at 12 p.m. Here is the line-up of questions that will be discussed (a new question is posed about every 10 minutes during the chat): Q1 Do you agree that donors today favor restricted vs. unrestricted giving?
Did we miss any questions or issues? #fundchat is a weekly conversation on Twitter where experts from across the U.S. Forget Apps: Young Donors View Web Sites on Smartphones - Marketing and Communications. By Cody Switzer To reach people in their 20s and early 30s, the most important thing nonprofits can do is to make sure their Web sites are easy to read on a mobile device and not overly cluttered, says a survey of more than 6,500 young people released today. About 65 percent of respondents said they liked to learn about a nonprofit through its Web site, compared with 55 percent who said they turned to social networks, e-mail newsletters (47 percent), print (18 percent), and face-to-face conversations (17 percent).
When young adults turn to a Web site, the “about us” section draws their attention most. Nearly nine in 10 young people said that’s where they go to seek information, according to the survey, conducted by two consulting companies, Achieve and Johnson, Grossnickle, and Associates. Other information young people want on a Web site: Beyond the information on a Web site, young people also scrutinize the design. 'Impulsive Interactions’ Mr. Among the study’s other findings: Good Works Co. - Your most important meeting is with yourself. The Fundraising Collective: Excuse me, can I ask you a question? Why do your donors support you? No, really – why? Do you have an idea in your mind as to what motivates your donors to give to your organisation? A charity DM insert fell through my letterbox this weekend, and it’s made me realise that I don’t entirely know why donors support my organisation.
Let me explain. Here is the piece. You may have seen something similar. Ok, so the wave size has gone metric and we’ve had a slight increase in the donation amount, but I think you will agree they are much of a much-ness. One would hope that if they’ve been using the exact same concept for 20 years – it works. But why? And this is where it gets interesting. The RNLI’s mission is to save those at peril on the seas. For 150 years of their 180 year history, the RNLI assumed that the reason people supported their work was because of the lives they saved. Wrong. No, people were supporting the RNLI because of their volunteers. So I’m going to go and ask our donors why they support us. Fired-Up Fundraising: 20 Best Practices for Monthly Giving Programs | Fired-Up Fundraising | Gail Perry Associates. Do you want a fundraising strategy that creates ongoing predictable cash flow?
One that is low cost, and returns a high RIO? That creates a wonderful prospect pool for planned and major gifts? That gets donors to quadruple (or more) their gifts? Then welcome to monthly giving! Monthly giving can be your pot of gold! I’ve pulled the best practices for monthly giving together here. Use these guidelines – from all the experts – to launch this highly profitable program and enjoy its benefits. There are three stages to a successful MG program: #1 Get Ready, #2 Market Your Program, and #3 Customer Service. 1. Is your organization prepared to make a commitment for the long term? This program often starts slowly and builds momentum over time. 2. It will takes groundwork on the front end to create success. You’ll need to be prepared to invest even more to market your program as it takes hold. 3. Put One Smart Staffer in Charge 4.
You’ll need a plan to handle delinquencies, expired cards, denied charges. 5. Targeting Those Who Visit Without a Donation. There's more data about your donors floating around than ever before. To leverage this information, marketers are increasingly relying on this information to 'micro-target' their appeals. Unfortunately, this level of detail is beyond the reach of most nonprofits. Instead, organizations will normally broadcast their message to those who have indicated a previous interest whether through advocacy, email lists, event attendance, or that most hallowed of all people - the lapsed donor; who will come up in your LYBNT and SYBNT reports.
I propose that there may be an even more hallowed segment of people: those who have looked at your donation page but for some reason or another, didn't quite make the leap. Since I need an acronym for these people, let's go with VWADs (Visit Without A Donation). The conversion rate of your page(those who went to your donation page vs. those who actually donate) often times will hover around 10%. Best Practices: Using Video To Promote Your Nonprofit. Odd but true findings? Upgrading annual donors are “erratic” and “volatile” « CoolData blog.
Hazlehurst's Blog » Read ‘em and weep: Obama’s effective email fundraising strategy. Return to old-style fundraising. Big Data is a pipe dream. A 2-step fundraising letter audit. SickKids - You Got It. Small charities lead the way when it comes to online donations | Voluntary Sector Network | Guardian Professional. 8 tactics for integrated fundraising success. The Art of the Ask: Nonprofits must be mindful of audience’s desires. Seven Ways to Increase Your Nonprofit’s Donations in 2013. Nearly $7-Million Raised in One-Day Online Contest - Prospecting. Why Do You Treat Me Like You Don’t Care? – Grizzard Communications Group. 5 Resolutions to Amplify Your Nonprofit’s 2013 Fundraising Strategy. Plot Your Course for 2013 Leadership and Major Gift Success | Karen Osborne | Best 6 charity marketing campaigns from 2012 and announcing GBM’s new Shortcut series « Green Banana Marketing. Live Discussion. The Fundraising Collective: How to analyse your appeal letter.
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