Tag Archives: marketing

Nonprofit board service is a serious matter!

It is a huge commitment that requires devotion and proactive effort like making a cake from scratch for your son’s 10th birthday party. A big deal indeed!

Most people want to serve because they have passion for a cause or mission which is certainly important and an essential ingredient. It’s like the flour in the cake recipe, necessary but not everything.

To build an exceptional board and make the best cake ever, one must follow the guide which are, in this case, bylaws and your grandma’s recipe. In both, there should be clear directions on what to do at every step.

To create the perfect cake and an effective board, passion, finesse, and know-how are needed. To be clear, showing up at meetings, making a financial contribution and attending the gala is not the total kit and caboodle for nonprofit board service. It is not the delectable cake that family and friends will be talking about for years to come.  

• It is more like raising the bar each day by advocating for your mission and bringing your best self to service for your nonprofit.  
• It is knowing standards and best practices in nonprofit board service in an environment where continuous learning is encouraged and applauded.
• It is having a 360-degree perspective with peer board members who are diverse and not afraid of new ideas, constructive conflict, and purposeful disruption.
• It is holding the nonprofit you serve, accountable by expecting information in a timely fashion; having your time respected; and having accurate reports that tell the story of what is happening inside the organization.
• It is not favoritism for some because of their social or professional influence and ability to cut a big check. The same rules apply to each member and accountability is part of the culture.
• It’s about checks and balances and evaluation. This means a self-assessment of your collective work as the board and a consistent evaluation of the Chief Executive Officer.
• It is transcendent leadership and planning for turnover by mentoring and grooming leaders to take the helm when the opportunity arises. This is called sponsorship. 
• It is about recusing yourself when your life takes a turn and will interfere with your ability to give nonprofit board service your all.
• It is about being “ALL IN” and clear about expectations of you as a board member. Read the bylaws!

So, before you jump for it, bake the cake. Add up all the ingredients and stir them thoroughly until your batter is smooth and you know for sure that your cake is ready to go in at 360 degrees.  

In doing so, you may discover that nonprofit board service is not for you and that is okay. But if after tasting that delicious slice and yummy frosting, you decide to move forward, know that it can be one of the most meaningful experiences of your life. It is a way to use your God-given and acquired skills to help others and make a difference.

When searching for your nonprofit to serve, look for bold leadership, steady stewardship, and lots of passion in their members and leadership. Passion after all, is the icing on the cake! Say yes, eat the cake, and go for it!

Download this Culture of Philanthropy Checklist loaded with action tips to determine if your nonprofit has a culture of philanthropy in place and ways to get started creating one.

Author information

Christal M. Cherry

President and Executive Consultant at The Board Pro

Christal M Cherry is President and Executive Consultant at The Board Pro, specializing in 90-minute fundraising, governance, and equity training for boards of directors. Visit the website at www.theboardpro.com to learn more about Touch Plans and Board Clinics.

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The post Before You Say Yes, Bake the Cake Before Committing to Nonprofit Board Service appeared first on Bloomerang.

This article originally appeared in Bloomerang. See the original article here.

ATTENTION: Having a nonprofit CRM system isn’t a magic fundraising wand.

As pretty as it looks and how organized it feels, technology can’t raise money by itself. 

I know, I know, you got it so you could have the most perfect moves management system and donor prospect reports, etc. And don’t worry, I love a good moves management system so I’m not suggesting you cancel that subscription.

But here’s the problem:

Somehow, in the transition to getting yourself up and running on your CRM system (or your flashy Excel document if you’re still there), you started to believe that there was something called ‘perfect data.’ 

I watch nonprofit leaders every day tell me that they will fundraise as soon as their ‘data is cleaned up.’ 

Some of these nonprofits are on old CRM systems, some of them just joined Bloomerang (welcome!). 

Don’t get me wrong, good and clean data is helpful and useless, and that’s why our friends here at Bloomerang spend so much time helping you get all set up! Thank you, friends! 

BUT, what I want to warn you about is the trap that the quest for perfect data can lead you to as well. 

Because perfection is a complete illusion. Your data has likely been touched by many human hands and guess what, every human in the history of forever is imperfect. 

Why does it matter to ditch perfectionism when it comes to donor data?

When we put too much pressure on our data, we have the ability to actually use data as an excuse for why we aren’t fundraising more. 

Where’s that monkey with his hands over his mouth emoji when you need him?

 Have you ever heard or said something like this:

• “I’ll reach out as soon as I know who the best 20 prospects are”
• “I’ll start that campaign as soon as I’m able to clean up last year’s data” 
• “Well, I don’t know if I can have that meeting because I know we’re missing data on her and what if I say something wrong because we don’t have notes about the last meeting anywhere”

Do you see what’s happening here? 

Your brain is making up stories ABOUT the data that are holding you back from actually fundraising (i.e. actually talking to donors). 

The Trap of Over Prospecting

Many nonprofits over-prospect every single day. 

Fundraising is scary and over prospecting means we’re avoiding action. 

It’s a pretty bad combination. 

So I want to give you two tips from inside my Power Partners Formula program so that you can stop all the prospecting and start raising more money. 

Tips to Stop Prospecting and Start Raising Money

1. Understand that data is an imperfect tool to leverage but not live by. You need to have awareness about whether or not you are using data to support your work, or as an excuse that’s holding you back. When you find yourself procrastinating about reaching out to donors, ask yourself the following questions: 

• What’s at stake with reaching out to that donor? 
• Is the goal for my data a realistic goal or is it a goal I’ve set to avoid the scarier action of setting up donor meetings and inviting donors to participate in our work?
• What’s at stake if I start setting up donor meetings before I know my top 20 donors? 
• What’s TRULY driving my desire to fix certain data before taking action? Is it driven by fear or rational thought? 

2. Use my Five and Dive System 

• Inside Power Partners I only let my students prospect five prospects at a time before I make them start outreach. Because guess what, you don’t need your whole Foundation list done before you start setting up meetings. Why do you think you need to know every corporate sponsor you’re going to reach out to before you start sending emails? These beliefs are holding you back from taking action. And the most important thing you can do as a fundraiser is to always stay in the action of engaging and inviting (or what you might call asking). 

The moral of the story: fundraising tools are great but only if you use them for good. The moment your tools become your excuses, they’ve lost their fundraising superpowers and so have you.

I know it’s scary to send those emails, I know it’s scary to make those asks. But you are the money movers that will lead us to the world that we all want to see. I have your back, and so does Bloomerang. Let’s do this, my fearless fundraisers! 

Author information

Mallory Erickson

CEO and Founder of the Power Partners Method at Mallory Erickson Coaching

Mallory Erickson helps nonprofits raise more from the right funders so they can stop hounding people for money. Through her signature framework, the Power Partners Formula™️, Mallory provides unique tools to help nonprofits fundraise more from foundations, corporate partners, and individuals. She has coached over 1,000 fundraisers using her unique win-win framework, which combines best practices from executive coaching and fundraising strategy. If you want to feel differently about fundraising as well as clear and excited about your next steps, make sure to check out Mallory’s work at malloryerickson.com

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The post Nonprofits, Stop Prospecting So You Can Actually Raise Money appeared first on Bloomerang.

This article originally appeared in Bloomerang. See the original article here.

Now more than ever, effective fundraising is what your nonprofit depends on to survive. Your team likely spends countless hours planning events and campaigns in order to raise money for programs and projects that will further your cause. 

All this fundraising definitely involves sending appeals to your donor base. Whether you’re sending general donation requests, sponsorship requests, or end-of-year-appeals, it’s important to amplify your fundraising campaigns as broadly and loudly as possible. 

Deciding on the channels through which to send your appeals can be tough—there are so many ways to reach donors these days. The good news is that you don’t have to choose just one. In fact, you shouldn’t! 

A multi-channel fundraising strategy, or one that targets donors through a variety of mediums, is most likely to reach the widest audience and result in maximum funds raised. This type of campaign uses a combination of various digital methods and/or direct mail. 

At GivingMail, we’re experts on using direct mail appeals to help organizations big and small improve their fundraising numbers and achieve their goals. In this article, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about the role of direct mail in a multi-channel fundraising strategy. We’ll answer the following questions: 

• What is multi-channel fundraising?
• Why should I use a multi-channel approach?
• What are the benefits of using direct mail in a multi-channel approach?

Leveraging the power of direct mail in a multi-channel strategy can lead to increased awareness of and engagement in your cause. Ready to learn more? Let’s jump in. 

What is multi-channel fundraising? 

Throughout the year, your nonprofit sends countless communications to supporters requesting contributions to your cause. These appeals may be general donation requests or appeals related to specific campaigns, projects, or initiatives. When you use more than one method to reach supporters, you’re executing a multi-channel campaign.  

The 4 main ways to reach donors with fundraising appeals are: 

• Email
• Social media
• Text
• Direct Mail

When deciding which approaches to include in your multi-channel campaign, it’s important to learn from the past. Rely on the data in your donor management platform to determine where your donors are most active. If, for example, your audience historically has an exceptionally low text-to-give response rate, you might consider sticking to email, social media, and direct mail strategies. Regardless of which channels you pursue, you’ll also want to align your marketing strategy across all of them. This means having a clear goal, audience, and message to unify your fundraising campaign and have the most impact. 

Further, a cohesive multi-channel strategy should also take into consideration the timing of the appeals and coordinate times to have the best result. Best practices and tips like the ones above can take your multi-channel approach to the next level. 

Why you should use a multi-channel approach 

The target audiences for each of the channels described above—email, social media, text, and direct mail—don’t overlap perfectly. The people most likely to open and respond to emails are not the same people who are likely to open and respond to direct mail, and so on. 

For instance, younger people are more likely to see appeals on social media or text, while older audiences are more likely to open emails and direct mail. 

Thus, when you use multiple channels to disseminate your appeals, you increase your fundraising capabilities by increasing the size of your audience. Every time you add a channel, you are exposing different potential donors to your campaign. 

Beyond expanding audience size, multi-channel fundraising campaigns that reach the same donor through more than one channel are more likely to drive that donor to conversion. For example, say Lisa used to volunteer with an animal shelter in college. Years later, she gets a Facebook message from the animal shelter asking for a donation to its latest project. She sees the message and means to respond, but has to run to a meeting. 

When a letter arrives in her mailbox two days later, it jogs Lisa’s memory, and she’s reminded of the dedication of the organization and its firm commitment to its mission. She sends a check in the mail for their initiative. 

The scenario above is backed up by statistics: campaigns that use direct mail plus a form of digital marketing yield a 28% higher conversion rate, meaning it’s to your advantage to approach your donors from different angles. 

What are the benefits of direct mail in a multi-channel fundraising strategy?

You might be thinking, “Multiple channels makes sense. But why direct mail? Isn’t everyone online these days?” That’s a trap that a lot of organizations fall into—thinking they should aim all of their marketing efforts at digital channels. The truth is direct mail remains a tried-and-true, reliable method for raising funds for nonprofits across the country. Here are some of the benefits of including direct mail in your approach:   

1. Direct mail has higher response rates 

The ROI (return on investment) for direct mail appeals when compared to other marketing channels is high; response rates to direct mail appeals are roughly 10 times higher than any digital channel (including email). 

While printing letters may seem like a big effort and expense, it’s beyond worth it to potentially capture all of those donations. Think about it: a donor in that margin could become one of your most loyal, longtime supporters. 

2. Direct mail can target older audiences 

Older donors are a highly sought-after and valuable demographic to pursue for fundraising. Baby Boomers represent the top source of revenue for nonprofits—they contribute a whopping 43% of all gifts made by individuals. Older donors have had years to build their careers and make money, making them good sources of support for charitable organizations. 

Further, out of the 72% of people aged 55-75 who donate to charitable organizations, 19% of them prefer to give via direct mail. That’s a significant portion of a high-value demographic that you’d be missing out on if you didn’t include direct mail appeals in your multi-channel fundraising strategy. 

If you find that your data shows you have room to improve in this demographic, direct mail appeals could be the answer.

3. Direct mail is more tangible and memorable

Sure, emails are visible on your screen, but so is every other digital ad you’re bombarded with every day. Many people can agree that an email just isn’t the same as holding a letter in your hand. Hard-copy fundraising letters  have more impact because your audience can actually feel your request. After all, you’re engaging with your audience in their own homes, and that is pretty much as personal as it gets! 

In addition to being tangible, letters are a great platform for memorable appeal. Because fundraising letters are usually 1-2 pages long, they offer plenty of room to tell a story and make an impact. The most effective letters catch your audience’s attention with an anecdote or emotional appeal. Then, they follow up with a request for a contribution. 

4. Direct mail allows for personalization 

Beyond telling a story in your fundraising appeals, personalizing your fundraising letters is a critical component of their success. It’s difficult to find “Dear friend” or “Dear supporter” charming—donors are much more likely to pay attention to and respond to an appeal that at least uses their name. 

Personalizing your letters with your donors’ names works in combination with the physical presence of the letter. Combined, they make a letter feel much more personal than an email or a text.

It’s important to consider other ways you can personalize your direct mail appeals. Using your nonprofit’s CRM, you can segment your donor base into groups dependent on factors like

• Demographic information.
• Previous engagement history.
• Giving method.

Doing so allows you to send customized letters to each group that reference your knowledge of the donors’ profile. This shows donors you went to the effort to find out a little about them before asking for a donation, which goes a long way in building relationships with them. 

If you’re unsure how to proceed with your fundraising letters or just want some ideas for how to format your appeals, check out our GivingMail request letters and templates. 

When you’re strategizing for your next fundraising campaign, keep in mind the importance of spreading a wide net and reaching the most potential donors. While no one channel has a 100% response rate, a combination of channels will get you closer to maximum participation. 

And, when it’s time to select channels for your multi-channel fundraising strategy, don’t forget about direct mail. Sure, online donations are common today, but direct mail remains exceedingly useful because of the high response rate, the personal nature of physical letters, and the valuable target audience. Good luck! 

Author information

Grant Cobb

Marketing & Analytics at GivingMail

Grant Cobb is a fundraising specialist with over 6 years of experience in the nonprofit space. Currently the head of marketing and analytics at GivingMail, he is a huge proponent of data-driven decision making and the push to bring high-level analytics and fundraising to all.

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The post Direct Mail in a Multi-Channel Fundraising Strategy appeared first on Bloomerang.

This article originally appeared in Bloomerang. See the original article here.

Think fast: do you know where you get your best donors?

Ask any fundraiser if they want more donors and you’ll get a resounding “YES” but ask what source yielded them their very BEST donors and you might see some puzzled faces.  

Before you rush out to find new donors you’re wise to consider where you’ve found your best donors. Referrals from board members? Your membership? Open house events where current donors invited their peers?  

I recently asked 100 fundraisers this question and almost half said they recruited their absolute best donors from prospecting with board members, staff, volunteers and stakeholders. Truthfully, I was a little surprised so I asked if they had a dedicated budget to spend on donor recruitment. A whopping 85% of them don’t have any budget for acquisition.  

If you don’t have any money to spend on acquisition it makes sense you’d put your efforts into getting your inner circle to help you identify donor prospects since that is 100% free.  

How can you measure where you get your best donors?

The average customer at Starbucks will spend over $14,000 with them over in their lifetime. Having a customer lifetime value of $14,000 means Starbucks can feel confident spending $1,000 to acquire a new customer.  

What if you could do the same? Having the lifetime value of a donor at your fingertips helps you confidently justify spending money to acquire new ones, especially if you can crack donor value by channel.  

How to calculate donor lifetime value 

Avg. # of years on file  x  Avg. # of gifts per year  x  Avg. gift amount  =  Lifetime Value

Example: If your average donor has been on file for 5 years, gives an average of 3 gifts per year, with an average gift amount of $25 then their lifetime value is $375.  [5 x 3 = 15 x $25 = $375 Lifetime Value]. 

Where should I start? 7 questions to ask yourself before investing in acquisition 

No fundraising is free. Even ‘doing it all’ yourself isn’t free – you are paid a salary and health insurance plus any time you spend on acquisition represents an opportunity cost for how that time could have been spent elsewhere.

Before you invest in acquiring more donors, make sure you’re doing everything you can to maximize your current donors. Ask yourself:

• Do we properly welcome first-time donors? 
• Are we thanking and reporting back to current donors using a well-organized stewardship plan? What is our supporter journey? 
• Do we have a monthly giving program in place to upgrade donors? 
• Do we have a cultivation plan and revenue goal for our major gift donors? 
• Do we invite donors to name us in their will or estate?
• How good is our overall retention?
• How many first-time donors do we convert to make a second gift? 

5 acquisition strategies for smaller shops 

A wise fundraiser once said “Finding new donors is like going fishing. You need to have bait and a good place to fish.” 

How’s your bait? Truthfully there is a lot of content many prospects might gladly give you their email (or mailing) address to get that you are giving away for free right now. Ask yourself…what content on my site am I currently giving away for free that is valuable that someone would give me their email to get it?  

1. Convert more impressions

Use this strategy to convert visitors from your website, on social media or traditional ads into a name on your email (or direct mail) house file. What item of value can you give to these audiences that would inspire them to give up their anonymity and give you their name and email (or mailing address). Expand your inner circle with an attractively packaged offer.  

2. Look at similar organizations 

People who give, give. Donors give to multiple organizations. The number one predictor of someone contributing to your organization is that he or she already gives to others. Whenever you are handed a program think of it as inspiration. Are the listed sponsors and donors people who could be helping your organization? Do they spark your imagination to think about others?

3. Maximize your ‘inner circle’ and consider recruitment events or a small, targeted mailing 

Invite your board, staff, volunteers, and key stakeholders to suggest prospects. Then play a ‘6 degrees of separation’ game with them to get their help in introducing you to prospects you want to meet. Some may be major gift prospects you want to meet with personally or invite to a recruitment or open house event. If you get enough names you could experiment with a small, targeted personalized mailing.

4. Mine media sources to get “in” with movers & shakers 

Have staff members, volunteers or board members monitor media sources – i.e., new businesses, personnel promotions, new hires, growth/expansion of companies to identify new prospects. Reach out personally to congratulate the person being recognized. Leverage their good news as a way to open the door, introduce yourself and your organization.

5. Consider digital “engage then ask” 2-step acquisition campaign

Have you ever signed an online petition and then later been asked for a gift? In a 2-step digital acquisition process the first step is an initial offer, such as a petition, pledge, quiz, virtual event, or downloadable resource.  The best offers give people something they want, entertain them, help them or solve a problem. Once you’ve acquired them with a compelling offer the next step is the ask.

Converting your prospect to make a gift is only the beginning!

You worked hard to get those new donors, make the most of your investment by making them to stay with a thoughtful donor journey. Need some help? Grab this stewardship plan and virtual guide loaded with digital tips to build a great donor journey.  

Author information

Rachel Muir

Founder at Girlstart

Rachel Muir, CFRE transforms individuals into confident, successful fundraisers. When she was 26 years old, Rachel Muir launched Girlstart, a non-profit organization to empower girls in math, science, engineering and technology in the living room of her apartment with $500 and a credit card. Several years later she had raised over 10 million dollars and was featured on Oprah, CNN, and the Today show.

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The post Where Do You Get Your Best Donors? appeared first on Bloomerang.

This article originally appeared in Bloomerang. See the original article here.

Our Ask An Expert series features real questions answered by Claire Axelrad, J.D., CFRE, our very own Fundraising Coach, also known as Charity Clairity.

Today’s question comes from a fundraiser who needs advice on legacy giving and how to overcome obstacles and barriers to receiving a bequest. 

Dear Charity Clairity,

How do you persuade donors to create a will so they can leave your organization a bequest? We can talk to donors about leaving a legacy until we’re blue in the face, but getting them to go visit their attorney is an obstacle getting in our way. Do you have any suggestions?

— Can’t move the mountain

Dear Can’t Move the Mountain,

Getting people to visit their attorney for the sole purpose of leaving a charitable bequest is a tall order. Sometimes it’s wiser to begin with the reasons they should have a will in the first place.

Did you know only 42% of people in the U.S. create wills? The others die “intestate,” meaning the state determines how their legacy will be distributed. If they have heirs, it will usually be split among them. If they have no heirs, it will go to the government.

Most people would prefer to have some say over how their hard-earned assets are allocated after they die. They just can’t quite bring themselves to take the step of visiting an attorney.

Why?

Most people underestimate the worth of their estate and overestimate the time or cost involved in setting up a will. Also, they don’t consider the other useful aspects of a will, such as:

• Determining who will look after children, pets, parents or other dependents.
• Carrying out wishes about how the person wants to be buried.
• Who will administer the estate and/or other legal, financial or familial obligations the deceased wishes others to assume.

You can do the following to encourage bequests:

• Let people know what happens when they die without a will.
• Let people know how they’ll benefit by making a bequest.
• Let people know how your organization and community will benefit.
• Give people suggested language they can share with their attorney.
• Run a workshop led by attorneys or estate planners who are not paid by you to create wills on your organization’s behalf.
• Let people know they should consult with their own legal and financial professionals.

You cannot do the following, which could be interpreted as exerting ‘undue influence:’

• Give legal or financial advice.
• Be directly involved in the creation or drafting of a donor’s will.

Don’t forget there are also ways to encourage donors to leave the equivalent of a bequest without even having to visit an attorney. That’s right!

People can name you as beneficiary of all or a portion of a retirement account, savings or checking account or a life insurance policy.  All they need to do is contact their account or plan administrator and ask them for paperwork to complete a beneficiary designation. It’s simple, and they can change it at any time.

BIG REMINDER: Bequests are revocable. Too often nonprofits go to a lot of effort to get folks to leave a bequest, only to lose that bequest down the line because they forget the importance of having a strong donor love and loyalty plan to retain these donors. Please make a plan to actively steward donors who inform you they’ve left you a bequest. These folks have included you in their estate plans as they’d include a member of their family. Treat them accordingly. 

Finally, don’t be afraid of talking about death. It happens to everyone; no one escapes. In many ways, encouraging donors to leave a legacy is a way to help them snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. It can:

• Create happiness
• Promote wellbeing
• Instill a sense of autonomy and power
• Offer purpose and meaning
• Provide tax benefits

These are very good things. So don’t shy away from helping your donors do what will reap them numerous rewards. In fact, promoting legacy giving may be the ultimate way to help donors assure their values live on. 

I hope this helps you move many mountains!

— Charity Clairity

Have a question for our Fundraising Coach?

Please submit your question here. Remember, there are no stupid questions! If you need an answer, it’s likely someone else does too. So help your colleagues by asking away. Please use a pseudonym, like “Can’t Move the Mountain” did, if you prefer to be anonymous.

Author information

Claire Axelrad

Fundraising Coach at Bloomerang

Claire Axelrad, J.D., CFRE is a fundraising visionary with 30+ years frontline development work helping organizations raise millions in support. Her award-winning blog showcases her practical approach, which earned her the AFP “Outstanding Fundraising Professional of the Year” award. Claire runs “Clairification School” online, teaches the CFRE course that certifies professional fundraisers, and is a regular contributor to Guidestar, NonProfit PRO and Maximize Social Business.

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The post [ASK AN EXPERT] Motivating Donors to Make a Will to Leave a Bequest appeared first on Bloomerang.

This article originally appeared in Bloomerang. See the original article here.