CONTENT IS KING!

Winning Content Ideas

Your content is the key to your successful year-end appeal. By now, you’ve gathered your stories and created your plan. Use these tips to make sure you structure your content and present it in a way that is sure to yield great results.

Four quick tips to winning content and formatting

1. Keep shorter paragraphs

Shorter paragraphs are easier for your donors to scan for details that are important to them. Longer paragraphs will cause your donors to lose focus and interest.

2. Include a P.S.

If your reader reads nothing else, they will read the P.S. Save this area for an important call to action, deadline, or quote.

3. Get your CEO to sign the letter

Your CEO is the face of your organization. His or her signature will hammer home with your donors that this is important and that they are important.

4. Find the right image

Use an image that will steal their heart and let your donors know what will happen right now if they don’t participate. Think of your picture as a place your donor can swim to to be the hero of the story.

Four more tips to perfect your year-end appeal content.

Network for Good gives us four tips from the Wild Woman’s Guide to Fundraising.

Be present active and direct
Spark people into action. You want to strengthen verbs with an active voice and first person pronouns. Say things like: “Go on. Pick up the pen. Write a check.” Or: “This child is hungry now. You can help her now. Please give.”
Move your call to action front and center
Don’t save your call to action for the end of the appeal. Instead, pepper your request throughout the letter. Offer donors several moments to think about giving. If you are sending an email appeal, be sure to link those calls to action to your donate page.
Focus on the donor! This is all about the pronoun “you.” Use it throughout the appeal. Talk about how your donors have made the world a better place with this gift. Your donor is the hero of this story. This increases the odds that they’ll click the donate button or send you a check because you acknowledged their important role in your mission.

Avoid these three common formatting mistakes

Be sure you present your content in a way your donors can read it easily and take action.
1. Long unbroken paragraphs
2. Tiny font or hard to read fonts
3. Tight spacing between lines of text.

Six tips for how to grab your donor’s attention and make your case.

1. Increase your font size and don’t use any long paragraphs.
2. Turn a long paragraph into a bulleted list.
3. Spotlight key ideas or messages with a bold font or yellow highlighting.
4. Feature a quote in larger text from a person the donor is helping.
5. Use readable fonts for the body of your letter.
6. Make sure you include the P.S.

As you write your appeal, ask yourself: How does this look right now and is there anything I can do to make this easier for the donor to read and act on. The more you can improve, the greater results you will see for your cause!

Monthly Giving Rules

Is Monthly Giving on your radar in 2017? Better Be! Erica Waasdorf has written one of the only books on Monthly Giving and it’s essential, efficient, and a perfect resource for Monthly Giving best practices. We review it today, Monthly Giving, the Sleeping Giant”. . . let’s wake up the giant now!

Develop a great monthly giving program

A monthly giving program can really help your organization. We know that on average 40% of giving from individuals occurs in December. Wouldn’t it be great to spread some of those gifts out over the whole year? Transitioning some of your donors to monthly gifts is the perfect way to do that.

Here are some ideas for how to convince your donors to give monthly.

What to ask for

Setting your monthly giving amount at the appropriate amount is an essential first step. Start with your average online gift amount then take 15-20% of that for your baseline. If your average online gift is $100, set a baseline recurring gift of $15/month and up from there. This is a great starting point for new donors, but for current donors who may be giving more you will want to edit your ask to be specific to their giving level.

Learn from your current monthly donors

If you have a group of monthly donors they can give you great insight into what works and what doesn’t. Call them and ask them for their opinion and thank them for being monthly donors. Find out why they give monthly. What do they have in common? You can use these ideas to reach out to other monthly donors.

Seven groups to target

Here are seven groups of people who are likely to be attracted to the idea of a monthly gift.

One time donors who give less than $200 each year
Donors who give more than three times a year
Young supporters
Volunteers
Donors who have given in the past but not last year
Event attendees
Former board members

Questions to ask your team

Before you start your monthly giving program, ask your team these questions:

What do we want to accomplish through monthly giving?
What does that mean to our programs and our mission?
What is the result of achieving our goal?

Answering this question will help your donors understand your mission in your monthly giving program and better talk to your donors about why this is important.

Why Retention Fundraising Matters, Knowing What the Donor Wants!

BBF Reviews: “The 11 Questions Every Donor Asks & The Answers All Donors Crave”

Wanna know what your Donors Want to Know? Sure You do! Today we review Harvey McKennon’s book, “The 11 Questions Every Donor Asks & The Answers All Donors Crave” to give your new donor insights! Stand by!

Donor Retention & Upgrading

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.

Engagement or Re-Engagment

Are YOU communicating Donor Love? Did you know they’re 5 Donor Love Languages and would you like to know what they are? Watch now as Blockbuster Fundraising addresses this subject with Development Directors.

Double your Email Result with this TIP

You’re gonna love these online tips! Add these tips to your online donor emails and watch your results spiral to new heights!

Story Telling Techniques That Motivate Your Donors to Take Action

Telling your organization’s STORY has never been more important! It’s up to you to grab attention, grab empathy, and grab heartfelt donor connection, sometimes in minutes! Want to know how? Watch now!

Cultivating Major Donor Trust

CULTIVATING MAJOR DONOR TRUST

“Building Donor Trust has never been more important to non-profits than it is today!

What are best tips to build and maintain donor trust because we all know the trust takes years to build, seconds to break, and forever to repair.”

How do you build and cultivate trust with major donors?

Trust is imperative in this relationship. Major donors are wealthy individuals and they can spot someone wanting money from them a mile away. You want major gift donors to know you value your relationship with them because of who they are, not because of the number of zeros in their bank account.

In their book, Rainmaking: The Fundraiser’s Guide to Landing Big Gifts, Roy Jones and Andrew Olsen suggest these tips to building trust:

Practice active listening

This means that you really pay attention when your donor is talking, you ensure that you understand what they are saying, and you remember what was said. While your donor is speaking you should maintain eye contact, nod, voice your understanding, and provide feedback that lets your donor know that you heard and appreciated what they were saying.

Serve at every opportunity

Immerse yourself in the relationship with your major donor. Be proactive and take care of their needs and wants before they have to ask. Make sure you are always being absolutely honest and transparent.

Hear. Understand. Empathize.

Don’t just listen to your donor talk. Make sure you understand them. If you don’t ask questions or do some research so that you can understand. And empathize with what they are sharing with you.

Focus on the donor

It is all about the DONOR, not about YOU. You are there to help your donor accomplish great things with their wealth.

Quick solutions

If something goes wrong, notify your major donor immediately and provide solution options. The faster you get in touch and solve the problem, the more your donors will trust and respect you and your organization.

Why Donors Give More?

Why Do Donors Give More?

Ever wondered why some donors give more?

We did some sleuthing and found we can boost our fundraising with a little insight into our donor’s minds.

Fortunately for us, The Chronicle of Philanthropy published some great detective work from The Burk Donor Survey. This report gives us some very reliable information on why donors give or don’t give and how to inspire them to give more.

21,000 donors completed the Burk Donor Survey and a third of donors said that they could give more!!! Interested in knowing more?

DONORS ARE DOING RESEARCH

Your donors are researching what you are doing. Here is where they are finding their information:

• 54% look at your website.
• 42% consult an online charity watchdog.
• 27% search online for information about your group.
• 26% ask people they trust about your organization.
• 23% review news media reports about your group.

The research your donor’s conduct has a big impact on their decision to make a gift.

• 41% decide not to donate after seeing a charity’s website.
• 41% say a charity’s results determine whether they make a gift.

Donor Quotes

“I would prefer to give more to fewer causes where I can see the results.”

Donors want to make an impact!

“Non-profits would do better focusing on success stories … then by trying to make those of us who are considering donating feel privileged and guilty.”

Stories are important!

“I dislike being bombarded by donation requests.”

Be strategic in your appeals!

“A number of causes left me feeling personally unappreciated.”

Saying thank you is essential!

Giving MORE

So why do donors give more? Here are the two biggest reasons donors gave:

• 41% were impressed with the efforts of the nonprofit.
• 26% responded to a special request for support.

How can you inspire your donors to give more? Here are the top five answers:

• 22% would give more if the charity demonstrated an extraordinary need for support.
• 22% would give more if they saw reduced administrative and fundraising expenses.
• 21% would like you to stop sending unwanted gifts and trinkets.
• 19% would give more if the charity sent fewer solicitations.
• 15% would like more information on what gifts accomplish.