Fundraising Tips and Ideas to Get Best Fundraising Results Now[/caption]
A blog I read and admire struck a chord with this short blog. Here are 9 Donation Page Mistakes you need to be certain you’re not making (the link to the blog is below). Today we explore Mistake #2 (Asking For Too Much Information) and how to fix it!
#SUMMERLEARNINGSERIES
A blog I read and admire struck a chord with this short blog. Here are 9 Donation Page Mistakes you need to be certain you’re not making (the link to the blog is below). Today we explore Mistake #1 (Hard to Find Donation Buttons) and how to fix it!
http://www.futurefundraisingnow.com/future-fundraising/2017/06/9-ways-you-might-be-chasing-donors-away-from-your-donation-pages.html
#SUMMERLEARNINGSERIES
Nonprofit storytelling can be a powerful tool to recruit and motivate donors. Even more than shocking statistics, a story can spur donors to help because it makes the cause real and elicits empathy from potential supporters.
Allison Gauss from Classy.org had some great tips to tap into the power of storytelling.
It all starts with a character. The main character gives your donors someone to identify with and care about. This is who they hope for, worry about, fear for, and cheer for. Decide who your character is and put them front and center!
Details are what make your character and story more reliable. Tell your audience something concrete about your character that they will remember.
What does your character need or want? Your character’s efforts to achieve this goal is what moves your story forward.
What is standing in your character’s way?
Portray the object standing in your character’s way as a villain. It doesn’t have to be a person, it just needs to be something that your donor can help defeat.
Empower your donor to be part of the story by helping the character reach a happy ending. Tell them what your organization can do with their help.
End with impact! What have you accomplished together? What progress has your character made? Make it clear that the fight isn’t over and their donation is needed to keep going.
Allison Gauss also gives us four ways to present a story to help donors connect with your cause and move them to action.
Choose just one individual. Donors are much more likely to act when given just one individual rather than groups.
Pro Tips
• Offer details like the individual’s name, location, and personal goals (get permission!)
• Let the individual do that talking. Their story will be more impactful when your character tells it in their own words.
• Use pictures or video of the person so your supporters can put a face with a name.
The shock factor is a sure way to get your audience’s attention.
Pro Tips
• Think outside the box for metrics or facts that are so unexpected they demand an explanation.
• Reveal the people and places behind the headlines. Once you have your donors’ attention, give them more details about the situation on the ground.
Tell your story in a heart rendering way that makes your donor feel compelled to help.
Pro Tips
• Be descriptive, not dramatic
• Give your audience details like sights, sounds, and smells and let those evoke emotion.
• It’s not enough to convey devastation, show donors what actions you are taking and how they can help.
Show your donors what you are planning. Show them a timeline of how you are helping. Tell your donors that with them, you are almost at the happy ending.
Pro Tips
• Use a concrete goal, whether it is a cure or a fundraising milestone, to motivate your audience.
• Explain what problems you have solved along the way that make your long-term goals possible.
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.
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.
If your reader reads nothing else, they will read the P.S. Save this area for an important call to action, deadline, or quote.
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.
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.
Network for Good gives us four tips from the Wild Woman’s Guide to Fundraising.
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.
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!
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!
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.
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.
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.
Here are seven groups of people who are likely to be attracted to the idea of a monthly gift.
Before you start your monthly giving program, ask your team these questions:
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.
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.
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:
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:
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!
Last three fundraising days are the largest giving days of the entire year! This calls for repurposing your great content on social media! Post, post, and post again on Facebook using your Donation Page link throughout the post, not just at the end! Make sure your Call To Action button is set to Donate and works seamlessly with your donation page!
We’re down to the wire now, only 10 days left for 2016 fundraising. Joy has 10 tips for you now to make each of these 10 days super successful! Keep it going! You’re headed for blockbuster fundraising results!
The Final 12 Days of Fundraising are now upon us and here are the final 6 email secrets that will pull-off sizzling year-end email results for you!
Here is the link to Blockbuster blog with all 12 tips included in case you missed yesterday’s video. http://blockbusterfundraising.com/12-steps-for-year-end-email-success/
Review these 10 Giving Statistics Every Fundraiser Should Know from neoncrm.com for some real inspiration and insight!
Here’s their link: https://www.neoncrm.com/10-year-end-giving-statistics-ever…/
All Daily fundraising tips are at BlockbusterFundraising YouTube Channel, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFf1rHmxWTMrVDotGC2H2vQ
Please share, enjoy, and subscribe. Thanks, JoyOlson
Don’t let your emails get trashed!
Killer Email Subject Lines Will Make the Difference in Getting Your Emails Open!
Work at making them short, sweet, enticing and irresistible!
Todays DailyTip will certainly help and help now!
2 resources for you to craft great subject lines of your own in time for year-end emails!
1. Steve MacLaughlin has studied nonprofit emails since 2011 and has tips and lists that are super instructive and exceptional! click here for article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-maclaughlin/450-email-subject-lines-from-end-of-year-fundraising_b_8902980.html.
2. 5 killer tips from activeendurance blog:http://www.activeendurance.com/blog/2015/06/16/5-tricks-for-killer-email-subject-lines/
