I was not highly aware of end-of-year campaigns when I worked for a very large non-profit theatre. We had such a hearty staff that ran programming and campaigns year-round. Therefore we had less pressure to capitalize on a specific season as a fundraising tool.
But when you work at a smaller organization, like my current one, the end-of-year letter is significant part of annual fundraising. And if you don't have a lot of active programs during this time of year, the "season of giving" at least gives you something to use as an opener.
Next week is Thanksgiving week, which is pretty much the last time to start thinking about an end-of-year campaign. Speed is almost as important as content right now -- you need to get your letter out early enough that it doesn't get lost in all the holiday mail. But organizations that haven't had an end-of-year letter on their schedules all year don't need to call it a loss. Here's the simplest end-of-year letter plan I can devise:
1. Gather your list. You probably don't want to send this letter to people who've donated in the past few months, or those who will soon receive renewal letters. But it's a great letter to send to lapsed donors, non-membership level donors, mid-year upgrade prospects (but personalize these letters!), and non-donors who participate in your organization in other ways. Plan to send a personalized letter to any current donors on your list. For reasons of speediness, it is probably worth considering a "Dear Friend" letter for prospects who have never donated before, rather than personalizing each one.
2. Create an easy response device, if you don't have one pre-made.
3. Gather or create your size-9 return envelopes, if the response device is not printed on a return envelope.
4. Draft your letter. The content is simple: highlight your proudest acheivements from the past year, and thank the reader for being one of the individuals whose participation makes your programming possible. Somewhere on the letter, print "Respond by December 31 to receive a 2009 tax deduction." Also, my personal preference is to ask for a specific gift amount (oftentimes the lowest membership level gift).
5. Get your packet in the mail as soon as possible. Call your volunteers and have a letter stuffing party. Take some home and stuff them while watching television. Time is of the essence.
Good luck and good cheer!
Showing posts with label annual fund. Show all posts
Showing posts with label annual fund. Show all posts
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Too many messages?
I sat down to draft a direct mail piece the other day and thought, "what a lucky time to be writing a letter." We have so much to write about: a special fundraising campaign, a challenge grant from our board of directors, new donor benefits, and a final chance to upgrade before our next season. On top of that, many donors are up for renewal in the next few months. No shortage of messages here!
So I included all this exciting news in the letter and do you want to know what I ended up with? A letter so chock full of unrelated messages that it was a convoluted mess. The messages I listed above are great motivators for a potential donor, but putting them all into one letter just dilutes them.
So I recalled some guidelines I had developed from past instances of this same situation.
1) Figure out what your strongest message is, and focus on it. For a renewal letter, I believe that reminding a donor of his or her last gift is always the most significant (it's the one that gets the best results, at least). If it's an aquisition mailing, figure out what message is the most relevant. The letter I wrote the other day was an acquisition letter to subscribers. Since they subscribe, I know they value the art form. Therefore I chose to focus the letter on the campaign for artistic excellence, and I didn't cloud it with other ideas. I can always mention the new benefits in a future letter to those who do not respond at this time.
2) If you have a message that is really easy to understand, sometimes adding it as a P.S. or splicing it across a response device is enough. Our board challenge grant made a relevant P.S. to the campaign-focused letter. It didn't require a lot of space to write about, since it's a simple piece of information. I put it in bold, navy blue ink so it stood out. But keeping it out of the copy itself kept the letter more focused.
3) There is no reason to include any message that won't make the mailing more successful. If your letter contains one or two really strong reasons for the person to donate, it might be best to exclude all other messages. I'll use the example of a donor renewal mailing. If I am asking a person to renew last year's gift, I might also say that this is a good time to act because our board of directors challenge grant will match their donation. But this might not be the time to mention the campaign. After all, a campaign in this instance is just a fundraising tool. If these individuals are likely to donate without having that piece of information, maybe it's not necessary to mention it. To say, "Renew your donation while supporting our special campaign, and having your gift matched" sounds confusing. I think it even sounds cheap -- like, "donate now, and get a free toaster!" It's just too needy. Compare it to simply, "Renew your donation now, and our board of directors will match it!" The second message is so much simpler, so much stronger. True, it does not mention the campaign, but it will probably make for a more successful letter.
So I included all this exciting news in the letter and do you want to know what I ended up with? A letter so chock full of unrelated messages that it was a convoluted mess. The messages I listed above are great motivators for a potential donor, but putting them all into one letter just dilutes them.
So I recalled some guidelines I had developed from past instances of this same situation.
1) Figure out what your strongest message is, and focus on it. For a renewal letter, I believe that reminding a donor of his or her last gift is always the most significant (it's the one that gets the best results, at least). If it's an aquisition mailing, figure out what message is the most relevant. The letter I wrote the other day was an acquisition letter to subscribers. Since they subscribe, I know they value the art form. Therefore I chose to focus the letter on the campaign for artistic excellence, and I didn't cloud it with other ideas. I can always mention the new benefits in a future letter to those who do not respond at this time.
2) If you have a message that is really easy to understand, sometimes adding it as a P.S. or splicing it across a response device is enough. Our board challenge grant made a relevant P.S. to the campaign-focused letter. It didn't require a lot of space to write about, since it's a simple piece of information. I put it in bold, navy blue ink so it stood out. But keeping it out of the copy itself kept the letter more focused.
3) There is no reason to include any message that won't make the mailing more successful. If your letter contains one or two really strong reasons for the person to donate, it might be best to exclude all other messages. I'll use the example of a donor renewal mailing. If I am asking a person to renew last year's gift, I might also say that this is a good time to act because our board of directors challenge grant will match their donation. But this might not be the time to mention the campaign. After all, a campaign in this instance is just a fundraising tool. If these individuals are likely to donate without having that piece of information, maybe it's not necessary to mention it. To say, "Renew your donation while supporting our special campaign, and having your gift matched" sounds confusing. I think it even sounds cheap -- like, "donate now, and get a free toaster!" It's just too needy. Compare it to simply, "Renew your donation now, and our board of directors will match it!" The second message is so much simpler, so much stronger. True, it does not mention the campaign, but it will probably make for a more successful letter.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
The Power of Major Gifts (and some advice from a Major General)
Fundraising is a profession with lots of old wisdoms, like "Board members should give, get, or get out!" and "The biggest reason people don't donate is that they were never asked."
Another one I have heard frequently is this: Fundraising from major gifts should constitute the same amount as all other fundraising sources combined.
I know it sounds pretty extreme. But the longer I stay in this career, the more I believe in that statement.
Today I was analyzing the number of individual donors we had in fiscal year 09 versus the prior fiscal year. I knew that the overall dollars raised from individuals decreased in FY09, so I assumed I'd see a decrease in the number of donors as well.
Wrong. It turns out the number of individual donors increased from FY08 to FY09. And there was no major trend of people downgrading their donation amounts either.
This made no sense given that we earned less from individuals in FY09. And then I noticed the X factor: five of our top donors were hit by the economy last year, and they decreased their gifts. Out of over 1,000 donors, the donation decisions of five individuals was the deciding factor on our bottom line.
There is not much a Development Director can do about the economy hitting the largest donors. But this anecdote reminded me of the value of those major donors--the small handful of people that form a foundation for your organization. I'm going to make it a goal this year to talk to each of them at least once a month, tell them how much they mean to our organization, find out if they have any questions or desires. Keeping those relationships solid is essential.
I guess my point, therefore, is that it really may be true after all: You know your organization is doing well when its major donors contribute more than all other donors combined. I'm still working on this one, personally; any advice most welcome.
And one final quick thing. Since this post started out being about fundraising mottos, I happen to have a favorite. When in doubt, I follow the good advice of George S. Patton: “A good plan, violently executed today, is better than a perfect plan next week.”
Another one I have heard frequently is this: Fundraising from major gifts should constitute the same amount as all other fundraising sources combined.
I know it sounds pretty extreme. But the longer I stay in this career, the more I believe in that statement.
Today I was analyzing the number of individual donors we had in fiscal year 09 versus the prior fiscal year. I knew that the overall dollars raised from individuals decreased in FY09, so I assumed I'd see a decrease in the number of donors as well.
Wrong. It turns out the number of individual donors increased from FY08 to FY09. And there was no major trend of people downgrading their donation amounts either.
This made no sense given that we earned less from individuals in FY09. And then I noticed the X factor: five of our top donors were hit by the economy last year, and they decreased their gifts. Out of over 1,000 donors, the donation decisions of five individuals was the deciding factor on our bottom line.
There is not much a Development Director can do about the economy hitting the largest donors. But this anecdote reminded me of the value of those major donors--the small handful of people that form a foundation for your organization. I'm going to make it a goal this year to talk to each of them at least once a month, tell them how much they mean to our organization, find out if they have any questions or desires. Keeping those relationships solid is essential.
I guess my point, therefore, is that it really may be true after all: You know your organization is doing well when its major donors contribute more than all other donors combined. I'm still working on this one, personally; any advice most welcome.
And one final quick thing. Since this post started out being about fundraising mottos, I happen to have a favorite. When in doubt, I follow the good advice of George S. Patton: “A good plan, violently executed today, is better than a perfect plan next week.”
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Steps to creating an annual fund program:
STEP 1. Start with a list of your current individual donors during the past 365 days (or last year), including the donation date and amount.
This will give you a good sense of how you might divide your donation levels. What are the natural giving increments? For example, do you have lots of donors who gave around $50, another group that gave about $100, and then another group that gave around $250? The groupings will tell you the natural annual fund levels that will make sense for your organization.
A discussion of what to call these groupings, what benefits to offer, and other such issues will be discussed in a later post. The general goal is to create levels that would encourage a natural progression in a donor’s giving from year to year. A donor might donate $50 one year and then decide to donate $100 the next. That is a natural increment. A jump from $50 to $500, on the other hand, is less logical.
STEP 2. Once you have determined which levels you have, divide your current list!
If you are using excel or a similar spreadsheet, sort the list by donation amount, and then you can easily divide your list.
STEP 3. Once you have your list divided into levels, your next step will be figuring out where to notate each person’s level, membership term, etc.
This is where professional fundraising software comes in. A wide variety of programs exist for this purpose; in fact, they will not be discussed here because tomes could be written on the various programs available. In my experience, cost will be the most significant factor in your determination of which program works for your organization.
Whether you decide to use special software, or just to create your own database (even using a simple excel spreadsheet), here are the two pieces of information you will absolutely want to record:
i. Donation level.
ii. Expiration date. (Generally, the anniversary of the last gift.)
iii. A place to record whether you have solicited the donor for a renewal of the donation, and how many times and on what dates you solicited the renewals.
An example record (that includes some additional helpful fields) might be the following:
Donor: Johnson, James
Level: Friends Circle ($50)
Expires on: August 31, 2009
Renewal notice history: 1st Letter 5/1/09: No response
2nd Letter 6/1/09: No response
The renewal notice history allows you to see what solicitations James Johnson has received already asking him to renew his gift. This record shows that James Johnson received two letters – one on May 1 and one on June 1. The letters have been called 1st and 2nd letter. It’s a good idea to create a set 1st, 2nd and even 3rd renewal letter, each unique from the other. A donor won’t enjoy receiving an identical letter three times. Update these letters every three to six months so they remain relevant to your organization.
Once your database is set up, you will need to determine a way to see each month who is due to receive a solicitation, and which solicitation each person should receive (i.e. who needs the 1st letter, the 2nd letter, etc.).
I prefer to send people a 1st letter two months prior to their due dates. Those who do not respond receive a second letter one month prior to their due dates. Those who still do not respond receive a 3rd letter right around their due date.
Many people continue this pattern and send a letter each month until the individual responds. My preference is to stop at three letters. By that point, I feel that the people who still haven’t responded need another solicitation method, such as a phone call. I constantly seek the wire-thin line between soliciting people aggressively enough to illicit the highest number of responses, while not wasting resources on those individuals who are just not going to donate again. You must feel this out for your own organization and donor pool.
That is the simplest overview of creating an annual fund program. Since the annual fund is so often the staple food of earned income for an organization, I will post many more articles on this topic. I will just conclude with a list of the major advantages of having an organization annual fund program versus just soliciting all donors in the same manner at set points during the year.
Annual funds programs:
• lead to ongoing income, rather than just ebbs and flows at set points throughout the year.
• allow you to predict your cash-flow more accurately because you know exactly when you will solicit donors and for how much you will solicit them. Once you get a sense of your average return rate, you will have a pretty accurate cash-flow projections.
• make it easier to strategize your solicitations and target certain groups of donors to upgrade their donations each year.
This will give you a good sense of how you might divide your donation levels. What are the natural giving increments? For example, do you have lots of donors who gave around $50, another group that gave about $100, and then another group that gave around $250? The groupings will tell you the natural annual fund levels that will make sense for your organization.
A discussion of what to call these groupings, what benefits to offer, and other such issues will be discussed in a later post. The general goal is to create levels that would encourage a natural progression in a donor’s giving from year to year. A donor might donate $50 one year and then decide to donate $100 the next. That is a natural increment. A jump from $50 to $500, on the other hand, is less logical.
STEP 2. Once you have determined which levels you have, divide your current list!
If you are using excel or a similar spreadsheet, sort the list by donation amount, and then you can easily divide your list.
STEP 3. Once you have your list divided into levels, your next step will be figuring out where to notate each person’s level, membership term, etc.
This is where professional fundraising software comes in. A wide variety of programs exist for this purpose; in fact, they will not be discussed here because tomes could be written on the various programs available. In my experience, cost will be the most significant factor in your determination of which program works for your organization.
Whether you decide to use special software, or just to create your own database (even using a simple excel spreadsheet), here are the two pieces of information you will absolutely want to record:
i. Donation level.
ii. Expiration date. (Generally, the anniversary of the last gift.)
iii. A place to record whether you have solicited the donor for a renewal of the donation, and how many times and on what dates you solicited the renewals.
An example record (that includes some additional helpful fields) might be the following:
Donor: Johnson, James
Level: Friends Circle ($50)
Expires on: August 31, 2009
Renewal notice history: 1st Letter 5/1/09: No response
2nd Letter 6/1/09: No response
The renewal notice history allows you to see what solicitations James Johnson has received already asking him to renew his gift. This record shows that James Johnson received two letters – one on May 1 and one on June 1. The letters have been called 1st and 2nd letter. It’s a good idea to create a set 1st, 2nd and even 3rd renewal letter, each unique from the other. A donor won’t enjoy receiving an identical letter three times. Update these letters every three to six months so they remain relevant to your organization.
Once your database is set up, you will need to determine a way to see each month who is due to receive a solicitation, and which solicitation each person should receive (i.e. who needs the 1st letter, the 2nd letter, etc.).
I prefer to send people a 1st letter two months prior to their due dates. Those who do not respond receive a second letter one month prior to their due dates. Those who still do not respond receive a 3rd letter right around their due date.
Many people continue this pattern and send a letter each month until the individual responds. My preference is to stop at three letters. By that point, I feel that the people who still haven’t responded need another solicitation method, such as a phone call. I constantly seek the wire-thin line between soliciting people aggressively enough to illicit the highest number of responses, while not wasting resources on those individuals who are just not going to donate again. You must feel this out for your own organization and donor pool.
That is the simplest overview of creating an annual fund program. Since the annual fund is so often the staple food of earned income for an organization, I will post many more articles on this topic. I will just conclude with a list of the major advantages of having an organization annual fund program versus just soliciting all donors in the same manner at set points during the year.
Annual funds programs:
• lead to ongoing income, rather than just ebbs and flows at set points throughout the year.
• allow you to predict your cash-flow more accurately because you know exactly when you will solicit donors and for how much you will solicit them. Once you get a sense of your average return rate, you will have a pretty accurate cash-flow projections.
• make it easier to strategize your solicitations and target certain groups of donors to upgrade their donations each year.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
