Use this excellent checklist when crafting your OnLine annual appeals for the best fundraising results you’ve ever produced.
You’ll definitely want to review this Online Checklist for ultimate year-end fundraising success!
Category: Crafted Content
Rock Your Year-End Storytelling
Your non-profit story is your most valuable asset. Your heartfelt story will inspire action and create change. If you can tell your story like a feature movie, your donors will never forget it. And, even better, they’ll share it with others and you’ll be a rockstar.
Rock your storytelling! Your non-profit story is your most valuable asset. Your story can inspire action and create change. If you can tell your story like a feature movie, your donors will never forget it. And, even better, they’ll share it with others.
Important Story Components
A Character
Stories that draw people in are stories in which people care about, identify with or are fascinated by a character. You’ve got to put your characters front and center. Who is the person who needs your donor’s help?
A Hero
You need a hero. Ideally, this would be your donor!
A Threat
What is your donor saving your character from? What will happen without your donor’s help?
The Head and The Heart
You need to balance this combination. Don’t just give the facts and figures. To really tell a story well you have to be able to hold someone’s pain.
Top 10 Insights from the 2012 Nonprofit Technology Conference
#1 – The best stories are the ones that you remember. That move you to share and take action.
#2 – People will forget what you told them, they’ll forget what you did, but they’ll never forget how you made them feel through stories. Make your story about your case and the character who will be helped.
#3 – Your storytelling doesn’t have to live within your marketing team. Your donors can contribute by sharing.
#4 – Keep recording stories! Talk to your donors and other staff and figure out some great stories to tell.
#5 – Consider your medium. Tell stories in direct mail, email, and also in video form.
#6 – In your video stories, make sure to not just have talking heads and keep your video to 1-2 minutes.
#7 – Don’t forget, a story has a beginning, middle, and end.
#8 – Use an image to touch heartstrings.
#9 – Simple stories are the best.
#10 – Don’t be afraid to fail!
AWESOME ANNUAL APPEAL IDEAS
Resist surrendering to the good news compulsion in your annual appeal. You have to make people want to help you. Your job is to convince them that you need their help.
Annual Appeal Suggestions and Who better to take annual appeal suggestions from than the Dean of Direct Mail? Jerry Huntsinger from the Showcase of Fundraising Innovation and Inspiration (SOFII) gives these nine great tips for winning appeal letters.
Tip #1 – Good news?
Resist surrendering to the good news compulsion. You have to make people want to help you. Your job is to convince them that you need their help. So if all you talk about is good news, they might think you don’t need their help.
Tip #2 – Talk about yourself
Don’t be reluctant to say “I.” Your donors want a letter from a real live person who is compassionate and cares about their mission. Don’t make it stuffy and institutionalized. Keep it real and personal.
Tip #3 – Surprise!
Don’t let your donors anticipate what you’ll do next. Keep them off balance; keep them guessing. Every fundraising package they receive from you should contain an element of surprise. Check your format and make it unique. You don’t want your donors anticipating your every move.
Tip #4 – Stories
Tell more stories this year about the needy people or animals you are helping. Your donors want to help real people and not an organization.
Tip #5 – Graphic Excitement
Put more graphic excitement in your letters. People are busy and save time by scanning the page and then deciding if the material deserves more of their time. Use bold font and underlining, short paragraphs, more attention grabbing statements, and more headlines.
Tip #6 – Loooong letter
Rethink your prejudice against long copy. This letter has to do a lot of telling and asking so you want to take your time. Make it longer and more compelling.
Tip #7 – No worries
Stop worrying about donors being offended by your fundraising appeals. Worry more about convincing them to send money! They want to hear from you. Don’t be shy. Just write a great letter with great stories.
Tip #8 – Getting to know you
Get to really know your donors specifically. Who signs the checks? Read the positive letters they send in. Every week call three donors at random and talk to them. Tell them you are trying to get to know your donors better.
Tip #9 – Thinking of you
Donors don’t think about you nearly as much as you think about them. They think about you when you call and when they receive a letter from you. So make it good! The better your communication with them, the more fondly they’ll remember you.
ULTIMATE DONOR THANK YOU CHECKLIST
You’ve got the donation, but your work is not done. Sending a great thank you letter is the most important step in keeping your donors for the long term.
Thank you letter checklist
You’ve got the donation, but your work is not done. Sending a great thank you letter is the most important step in keeping your donors for the long term. Lisa Sargent has compiled an essential thank you letter checklist for the Showcase of Fundraising Innovation and Inspiration website, www.sofii.org.
Here are some important questions to ask about your thank you letter. Hint: All your answers should be “yes!”
1. Is your letter personalized? Do you mention the gift amount?
2. Do you start with something other than “Thank you for your gift”? Use an exciting lead.
3. Do you tell your donor when and how they will next hear from you?
4. If this is a repeat gift, do you also thank the donor for their past generosity and continued contributions or support?
5. If this is a gift membership, do you thank the giftee and talk about what this kind of gift makes possible? And do you send a thank you letter to the giftor as well?
6. Do you say something new or timely in the PS? Upcoming opportunities to meet with you make a perfect PS.
7. Do you include a contact number or email for your donor to use if they have a question?
8. Do you need to thank them for something specific? Examples of this include a membership, a holiday gift, or a memorial.
9. Do you reference something specific such as a gift you’ll be sending or a certificate you have enclosed?
10. Do you mention your Facebook or social media page in your letter? Include a call to action directing them to your page.
Now that you have confirmed that you have included all the essential information, here are some additional guidelines for writing a successful thank you letter.
1. Keep the letter short. It should be three to four paragraphs plus your PS.
2. Include required tax deductible language.
3. Use the word “you.” Don’t use “we” or “our,” because they make it happen and your thank you should focus on the donor.
4. Thank them more than once in the letter.
5. Proof your letter. Read it out loud and have someone else check it for grammar and spelling.
6. Hand sign them all if you can. If you have too many donors, determine the dollar amount that you will hand sign. Phone calls are also great additions when thanking your top donors!
7. DO NOT include an additional ask or a request to upgrade to monthly giving. Instead, it is acceptable to include a reply envelope.
Landing the Big Major Gift Now
Major Gift Success Tips In Time For Year-End Success
Major Gifts Success
With only 90 days left in the year, do we still have time for major gifts? Of course! But you need to start now.
Your annual giving program is the primary source of major gift prospects. Five to twenty percent of all donors who give by direct mail really have more than $1 million in liquidity and gift capacity. This means there is a treasure trove of prospects right there on your mailing list. You just need to find them and start cultivating them.
A great source of major gifts information is the book Rainmaking, the Fundraiser’s Guide to Landing Big Gifts by Roy C. Jones and Andrew Olsen.
Here are the steps you need to take now to have major gift success this year:
Step 1: Review
First, review last year’s numbers. Who were your biggest donors? Are there donors on your list who could be giving more?
Step 2: Prioritize
Now you can decide who your best suspects for becoming major donors are. Move these individuals to prospects. This is called moves management.
Step 3: Get on the phone
The next step is to make phone calls! These calls must be important, scripted, and purposeful. Make a calling plan and stick to it. Your goal for these phone calls is to secure a meeting. Likely, it will take a lot of time and phone calls to reach this goal. To simply talk to 10 people, you have to dial the phone over 50 times and leave over 20 voicemails. Talking to those 10 people will yield you about three meetings. Yes, it’ll take you 50 phone calls to get just three meetings. So start calling!!!
Step 4: Meeting preparation
Now that you’ve got some meetings set up, the next step is to attend the meetings, right? Not so fast! You need to seriously prep and plan for the meeting first. Put a customized cultivation plan together for every donor you are going to meet with. Make sure you know what you are going to talk to them about, which of your programs interest them most, and what you are going to ask them for. The more prepared you are, the more likely you are to have a successful meeting.
POWERFUL DONOR LANGUAGE
Empowering Language
We all want to grab our donor’s attention, persuade them to read our message, and inspire them to make a gift. A fantastic way to do this is by using empowering language. Statements that excite the reader or that paint a picture will do wonders to help your message stand out. Here are some examples of regular language versus empowering language
PLAIN LANGUAGE EMPOWERING LANGUAGE
Make a contribution or Donate Now!
Click here to donate or Make a difference today
Give what you can or No donation is too small
Please we need your help or Be a hero to someone in need
We can’t do it without you or Donors like you make this possible
Every dollar helps or Donate $5 now
Empowering language makes a huge difference in how your message is received. Dazzle your donors with the language you use and they’ll dazzle you with their gifts in return!
4th Quarter Calls for Donor Retention & Upgrading
Retain and upgrade
Did you know that Individual donors account for 72% of all giving? Just think of how much more you could raise if you could retain and upgrade all of your donors. The sky is the limit! It is essential that you take the necessary steps to not only keep your donors but to encourage them to give more.
How to Retain Your Donors
Your current donors are your low hanging fruit, your easiest targets. You already know they are invested in your cause and they care about your mission. However, if you don’t handle them correctly, they could very easily take their donations elsewhere. Here’s how to keep them:
APPRECIATE THEM!
Organize a call unit to make phone calls to thank them for their past donations. Mention how grateful your organization is for their support in each appeal letter. Make sure they feel special and valued.
TELL THEM HOW THEY MADE A DIFFERENCE.
What did you do with the last gift your donor sent you? Did it pay for 10 children to attend camp? Buy food for 20 families? Sharing the tremendous impact that your donor made on the lives of others will not only make them feel good about their last gift, it will make them eager to give again!
How to Upgrade Your Donors
A sure way to raise more money for your cause without even having to find more donors is to get your current donors to give more. Some donors tend to send the same check year after year, while others may jump around based on their personal situation. Here are a few ideas for getting them to upgrade:
SUGGESTED GIVING LEVELS
How will your donor ever know that you could really use $150 instead of the $100 they’ve been sending every year? Simply suggesting a higher gift amount is sure to get your donor to at least consider upgrading. As long as it is done respectfully and thoughtfully, you’ll never offend a donor by suggesting a higher gift amount.
USE SPECIFIC DATA
Use specific numbers, goals, and costs when suggesting a donor increase their gift. Tell them why you need it and what it will do. Justify your ask.
MOVES MANAGEMENT
The most important thing you can do to upgrade your donors is develop a good moves management program. Look through your donor data and chart out who you plan to upgrade and how you plan to get there. Then, of course, make sure you follow your plan!
How to Handle Downgrades
Some donors are going to downgrade. That’s life. Maybe they were hit with unexpected bills, a job change, or felt like they needed to spend more of their donation dollars somewhere else. Regarding these donors with care and respect is vital. Don’t lose these donors!
RECOGNITION
Form a recognition society based on longevity of giving. This will make your donors realize that they are still important to you. They’ll want to keep on giving to stay in the “club.”
COMMUNICATION
Keep the lines of communication open. Make sure they are still receiving information about your programs and the impact of their donation. You could even explore other methods of giving from in-kind gifts to planned giving.
Craft Awesome Annual Appeals With These Tips
As you are preparing now to craft your very best annual appeal possible, blockbuster reviews a ‘best-of-the-best’ appeal it received this summer from Oregon Humane Society. You won’t believe how perfect it is so, watch now and borrow some fabulous tips!
Reel to Real! Live with Joy & Matteo at Blockbuster Production Meeting!
Reel to Real! Live with Joy & Matteo at Blockbuster Production Meeting!
Create Sense of Urgency in All Your Calls to Action With These Tips
Practice these “Sense of Urgency” tips to get your donors to take immediate action. It’s really good fundraising technique to create immediate momentum with well-crafted calls to action so put these tips to use for great fundraising success!
2 Winning Lapsed Donor Sample Letters
Could you use a fabulous blueprint for a super successful Lapsed Donor Letter? How about not just one, but two? Watch now and snag this wonderful reconnecting donor content for your own lapsed donor mailing this year!
Loving lapsed donors back into the fold | Simple, brilliant and oh so swipe-able!
http://www.jenviano.com/sites/default/files/Lapsed%20Donor%20Letter.pdf
Lapsed Donor Love Letters to Lure & Reel Them Back
We’re focused on the Lapsed Donors and today focus on best lapsed-letter communications to win your donors back and rebuild those wonderful relationships!