Eminent speakers, specialists and strategists to inform CHASE 2014 delegates

Charity and association professionals are being encouraged to register for their free delegate place at CHASE 2014 as seminar spaces fill up fast. The leading business and education event for charities and associations is set this year to feature an impressive speaker list across a programme of 50 free seminars covering retail, fundraising, marketing, technology, membership management, events and legal issues.

With just a few weeks to go until the show opens its doors, event organisers Conference House have released details of some of the most popular headlines seminars and the speakers delivering them.

Speakers include: Andrew Kayley from HMRC Charities, Nick Aldridge and Megan Knox from Paypal Giving Fund, Gavin Terry from Trading Standards, Philippa Atkinson-Clow, Nicola Cohen and Norman Rose from Institute of Association Management and Sir Eric Reich from Classic Tours.

In addition, the exhibition floor will be welcoming many new suppliers and specialists this year. They include automated accounting technology innovators Chrome River, City Centre venue providers Jury’s Inn, workforce management solutions provider Softworks, fund portfolio managers Social Investment Business and official AV sponsor Fluid Productions.

CHASE 2014 will take place on the 11^th and 12^th February 2014 at the Business Design Centre, London, N1.

Click here to register.

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Innovista utilises donor tracking with Access thankQ

Innovista has recently invested in Access thankQ, to manage its CRM, finance, fundraising, marketing and data management following a proposed three year growth plan.

Robin Peake, Communications and Development Manager for Innovista said: “Our previous supplier wasn’t giving us the support or services we needed. This wasn’t making it any easier for us to grow and engage with our community.”

“We’re looking at building strong relationships with our supporters that reflect back to them just how grateful we are for their support, that makes such a difference, and that makes their giving experience an enjoyable one.”

“We plan on using the system for our marketing; Mail Chimp’s direct API integration, CRM for financial management, reporting and fundraising. The reports offer us the ability to identify and manage regular donors, whilst the Mail Chimp integration will also help us engage with those donors and extend our community. We can manage our online donations through thankQ’s fundraising integration. We can then consolidate, search and analyse on all our data when needed.”

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Microsoft Dynamics CRM for charities webinar

On Wednesday 26th February 2014, the CRM Business is running a free webinar to give charities an overview and demonstration of Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

The webinar will explain how Microsoft Dynamics CRM can help charities to maximise the value of their limited resources by effectively managing contacts and communications and automating routine operations. It will also provide details of UK CRM pricing and discounts available to qualifying charities.

Click here to register.

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10 Must-Have Elements for Nonprofit Websites

You know you cannot undermine the power of a well built website. It's your most powerful business card, a communication interface between you and your stakeholders. At some point all your donors, partners, volunteers and every person interested in your nonprofit organization will set foot on your website, so you'd better be prepared. I bet you've seen awesome websites and terrible ones, so here is a list of essential elements that will set any website on the right path. Adapt them with a top notch design and you'll catch the eye of any new visitor.

 

Contact page

You want people to contact you? Then provide them the right tools so they can do it. A website without a contact page is a one way communication. You don't want just to offer information, you want to be reachable and engage with your public, so let them contact you. Don't limit yourself to simply adding an email address, organize your work and use a contact form. A form building tool usually allows custom email notifications so the messages will arrive to the right person. Be sure to add your phone and physical address. You'll be surprised how many people still like to snail mail. So don't prive yourself from an open communication, you'll never know what wonderful things you can miss by simply not adding all available contact options.

 

"About us" section

Saying a couple of words about your organization will introduce you to new visitors. Answering the "Who are you?" question is one of the most important things your website has to do. This section has to be honest, it has to prove you are truly the right solution for a particular problem and most important it has to build trust. You know what they say about the first impression. Well, your homepage and about page are your most important assets when introducing your nonprofit to someone new.

 

Information for donors

It has been proven that people involved in charity actions feel the need to see the actual outcome of their contribution. That is why being transparent is a great feature for an organization. From general information, to campaign details and constant updates, they are all necessary in order to have a healthy communication strategy in place. Think that the better they get to know your cause the bigger the chances are to get them interested.

 

Online donations system

Don't forget what your goal is, keep in mind that no matter how great your cause is, without donors it will not have a finality. The constant pursuit for new supporters has to be efficient in order to gain the most with minimum efforts. Hence, having an online donation option available on your website for sure is a smart move. You can use a dedicated service, you can embed your own system or choose an online donation form. Each option has its benefits, research them and decide which is suitable for you.

 

Blog

For awhile now experts have been trying to outline the benefits of having a blog. This direction remains one of the 2014 trends for all the nonprofits that want a complex channel of communication with all their stakeholders as well as a way to steward and engage donors. The perks of having an active blog are tremendous and you'll see how satisfactory it is to see people reach out to you and appreciate your work.

 

Photos and portfolio

Nothing is as appealing as the visual and you should know that. So besides the awesome graphic design we all hope your website has, make sure it also has pictures with your people, your actions, your results. Maintaining a gallery or campaign portfolio will show your true face. So that all your stakeholders can relate and empathize with your actions. Build compelling visuals and let them do their work, it's not in vain that people say a photo speaks more than a thousand words. Let your photos tell your story.

 

Social media widget

Having a loop between all your social accounts can increase the online interaction with your supporters as well as help you build your brand awareness. It's supposed to be simple for someone to connect with you on either platform, so keep them interconnected to assure a smooth flow of navigation. This way chances are your website visitors will leave for another page which is still yours so you won't lose them.

 

Testimonials

Individuals look for specific information. A third party validation  is a sort of proof that you are committed and you get results. Thus, being able to read personal experiences and impressions will give them all the information they need to convince themselves to take action and involve to support your cause.

 

Volunteer or career opportunities

If you want to gather passionate people around your organization, people who share your dreams and believe in the greater good, let them know you need them. Having a dedicated section with collaboration opportunities is a great chance to show off your organizational culture and to attract the right persons around you. You know how important it is to have a database with potential volunteers in certain critical situations.

 

Newsletter signup

Hope you do have a newsletter and you use it wisely. Having a direct signup for your newsletter on your website is a great way to win new leads and engage your visitors. Try to make the subscription as simple as possible. It's not effective to ask a person tons of information for a single newsletter signup. An email will suffice and if they have an interest towards your organization they will follow the newsletter and interact with you in future retention efforts.

That's about it. Ten great elements for a good website for any nonprofit organization. What else would you add or remove from this list?

 

About the author:

Laura Iancu, PR Specialist at 123ContactForm

Laura works closely with several nonprofits on matters of online and offline communications. Currently, you can find her trying to bring closer to technology nonprofits all around the world through 123ContactForm, an online form and survey builder. Reach her on Twitter or Google + 

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Guide Dogs chooses Eduserv to build new website to drive up donations

Guide Dogs is to work with Eduserv to create a new website which makes it easier for donors to give money to the charity.

The aim is to increase donations to the Guide Dogs by improving the user journey through the site. The charity will do this by consolidating the number of microsites which it currently runs outside the main Guide Dogs site. It will also focus on optimising the site for mobile devices and updating its use of social media on the site.

The work will be delivered as part of a broader three year contract which covers design, development and webhosting.

Louise Robertshaw, Head of Communications and Campaigns at Guide Dogs, said: “We know that when it comes to digital giving, it is critical for donors to be able to arrive on the site and quickly give money for the cause that is right for them. Our new website will ensure that prospective donors can quickly and easily make a donation.” 

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Family for Every Child selects AppsCare to support migration

Family for Every Child has selected AppsCare® to provide support during the organisation’s migration to Google Apps for Nonprofits. The organisation needed an improved email service and increased collaboration.

After considering various options, Family for Every Child chose Google Apps for its close integration and functionality across an enterprise range of web based products.

ICT Manager at Family for Every Child, Ceallaigh Dee, said: “The support and guidance from AppsCare was there right from the beginning. Before we commissioned the migration we had spoken to others [Google Apps Partners] but from the minute detail AppsCare went into from the start, we knew we were in safe hands. They went above and beyond what others would have delivered.”

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How to Prepare Your Back Office for Successful Grant Tracking

This is a guest post from Carey Carleson. Carey is a Principal Consultant for Blackbaud's nonprofit accounting systems. Carey has spent the last eleven years helping nonprofits optimize their accounting systems and processes.

             

Grants are an excellent and often heavily relied upon funding source for nonprofit organizations.  Awarded grants tend to fall into two unique categories:  direct award grants and reimbursable grants.

• Direct award grants are often an organization's preference and once awarded provide an organization with either the full grant amount up front, over a defined schedule, or based upon defined milestones.
• Reimbursable grants, however, reimburse the granted organization only after the organization has incurred the costs.  The costs then need to be collected and submitted to the granting organization for cost reimbursement.   As one might expect, reimbursable grants require additional effort on the part of the awardee and present unique set of challenges for the organization and its back office system.

Reporting Challenges

One fundamental challenge often faced when accepting a reimbursable grant is that granted organizations typically agree to provide the grantor with specific reporting.  This reporting requirement typically is defined by the grantor during the granting process and is usually extremely specific to the grantor.  This can present a challenge to the granted organization as it can be difficult within their existing back office application to meet these requirements and often times requires a solution outside of their system to meet the reporting requirements, especially if their accounting system is not designed for nonprofits.

Reporting challenges tend to include:

• a defined format or form specific to the grantor,
• budgeting requirements,
• fiscal year alignment,
• multi-year reporting and budgeting requirements,
• cost collection,
• invoicing, and
• security to insure the grant is appropriately utilized as defined by the requirements of the grantor.

Budgeting and Reporting Tools

Grantors tend to require a format of reporting for cost reimbursement specific to their own internal reporting.  This presents a challenge to the granted organization to meet that requirement within their accounting application.   Often times it will require budgeting and reporting tools that span fiscal years and can maintain detail in each of those years.  Some grants are date or period specific to the grantors accounting cycle.  If a granted organization's accounting periods do not align with the grantor (or data is collected on a period bases over a dated transaction), it could require the granted organization to extract data from its existing back office system and reporting on that data specific to the grantor's accounting periods.

Flexible General Ledger

Reimbursable grants also require a granted organization to have a flexible enough general ledger accounting structure to maintain, manage, and report on grant specific information.  Due to the temporary or dated nature of grants, it is recommended the structure capture this information without exponentially growing the number of accounts.  This structure element should be the catalyst used to define costs associated to a specific grant and reporting.  Once the data is collected the granted organization can provide effective details to generate invoicing to the grantor for cost reimbursement.

System Security

It would also be highly recommended that security be enabled around the account element to insure costs applied to the grant are specific to the grant requirements.  For example, healthcare organizations may receive a grant specific to medical reimbursements specific a patient care.  System security should be configured to insure only those costs are applied to the grant and disallow other costs, such as office expenses, from posting to the grant.  Often times, cost mistakenly applied to a grant can invalidate the grant and the grantor may disavow any future reimbursement.

Having this insight can help your organization strategically determine which grants to pursue. Preparing your back office for grant tracking will not only make life easier but also increase the chances that you get to retain that grant year after year.

 

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Organisations must adapt to keep digitally savvy consumers happy

According to research from KANA Software, British consumers are becoming less patient, with the proliferation of digital devices and social networks affecting tolerance of waiting times.

David Moody, head of worldwide product strategy at KANA said: “Little more than a decade ago, 10 working days was the conventional commitment of businesses and organisations when responding to complaints; and also the span of consumer tolerance. This no longer applies.”

KANA asked a statistically representative sample of UK adults how frequently they checked for communication responses on their devices. It found that men will check a device for responses on average every 22 minutes, 30 seconds and women will check every 26 minutes, 15 seconds.

The 65+ age group checks devices more frequently than the 45-64 year old group, reflecting the time they have available and their newly developed digital capabilities. This suggests digitally enabled pensioners will become the prolific and demanding complainants within five years.

One-fifth of all social media users will check for a response at least once an hour, with one in 20 checking every 10 minutes or more.

David Moody added: “In the past 10 years, organisations have lost the ‘time shield’ previously offered by postal services. The sense that a letter was on a journey and could be anywhere between the sender and the recipient has been lost. Our impression today is that as soon as we press send, ‘Mr or Ms Cosgrove in Complaints’ should be reading our complaint and working out how to respond. If we don’t hear back quickly, our impatience rises.”

 “Public-facing organisations have to recognise the adoption of social channels is truncating customer service processes. With smartphones acting as digital umbilical cords, the modern consumer is always connected. Unfortunately for service desks, ‘working days’ are an outdated concept.”

“Running a customer service operation is as complex as running air traffic control. Reductions in consumer tolerance can and should be met with a level of service that meets revised expectation. The technology already exists to support organisations that wish to monitor all channels and deal with queries and complaints in a rapid and personal fashion. Companies that don’t adjust their processes in the age of the adept digital consumer will be the losers.”

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Charities paying five times too much for information technology

According to a new survey from Mercato Solutions, charities are paying an average of five times more than the industry standard for IT products.

Using Mercato’s KnowledgeBus IT application, the study benchmarked a number of purchases made by charities against trade guide prices. Results showed that the average margin on these purchases was 18%, much higher than the recommended industry standard of just 3%.

The survey covered a range of sectors, from insurance and finance to retail and leisure. Charities ranked 10^th place in a league table of those securing consistently poor value on IT product purchases.

Mercato’s head of benchmarking, Al Nagar, said: “The latest results show that Charities are amongst many other sectors struggling to secure consistent best value on IT purchase and clearly need to take significant steps to reduce the margins they pay.  Margins of 18% are still well adrift of 3% best practice and charities should look to achieve greater transparency of relationships with suppliers.”

“Without validated comparative data, buyers are struggling to achieve a 3% margin. Data is the key and with access to up-to-date information, procurers can gather the knowledge they need to negotiate better deals with IT suppliers and get more from their IT budgets in 2014.”

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How to R-E-S-P-E-C-T Your Way to Donor Retention

Guest Post by Nancy Schwartz. Nancy helps nonprofits build strong and lasting relationships with the people whom they need to act—to give, volunteer, participate and more. She shares her marketing expertise—developed over 15+ years of guiding organizations like yours—as a strategist, speaker and blogger at Getting Attention.org. Register now to get more guidance like this, delivered right to your inbox.

              

Donor retention is an absolute priority (again) for 2014. Yet the path to retention success remains elusive for many organizations. How about yours?

Please join me in thanking Frank Barry and the Blackbaud team for sharing donor retention guidance from some of the smartest fundraising experts out there. I'm thrilled to be included!

Here's my #1 donor retention guidance for you—R-E-S-P-E-C-T your way to strong and long-lasting donor relationships. And here's how:

Respect donors' wants

Even when they DON'T want to hear from you!

This is the simplest, but perhaps the most difficult, recommendation I'll make to you. But do otherwise and you'll lose folks forever.

Enlist your fundraising colleagues

Each donor deserves the most personalized outreach possible every time (or no time), so enlist your colleagues to segment donors as precisely as your time, expertise, budget and tools allow,

But before you do any enlisting, ask your colleagues for their help and show them what taking on this additional task will do for them (whether the WIIFM is as immediate as increasing an email's open rate, or as long-term as boosting donations that, in turn, will increase their job stability.) Get specific here—Intangibles are never as convincing as the concrete.

Train them to segment effectively. Develop a set of criteria to be used consistently, based on your fundraising goals and knowledge of what's worked to date segmentation-wise. Then create a segmentation checklist. It'll save you and your colleagues time and frustration.

Provide as-needed support and ask for ongoing feedback so you can fine-tune a segmentation selection, testing and revision process that's productive but realistic (that's the only way this work will get done).

Thank your colleagues regularly, and share feedback on how their effort is improving results (or, if it isn't, how you're going to shift your segmentation strategy to boost results).

Start a donor advisory board

This should include folks willing to share five to ten minutes monthly to help you improve your donor satisfaction.

So often, when I first make this suggestion to folks, I get pushback, e.g. "We ask them for so much already, "

"I have to save my asking for donations. And so on, and so on.

But listen in—Asking folks who are already involved in one way (start with donors) to get involved in another way tends to boost their understanding of what your organization really does and what it takes to do that and build their loyalty.

In rare cases, your invitation may send them running the other way, which means you can focus your limited resources more productively. Not bad for a worst-case scenario!

Put together an all-org donor listening team

Ask for your colleagues' help, then show the WIIFM of donor feedback via tangible examples.

You got it! Once again, this kind of invitation, when done right, tends to get folks charged up and feeling more a part of the collective effort.

Strengthen your ask by showing colleagues—especially the folks you don't usually work with and who may be less clear on your approach to strengthening relationships with supporters—why this listening approach helps with specific examples.

Now Train—Support—Share Findings and Resulting Changes—Thank your team. That's the formula for team building success. 

Execute a system to log, share and analyze donor insights throughout your organization

Now that you've completed the steps listed above to build a robust and multi-perspective fundraising team incorporating selected supporters plus colleagues across your org…

And these team members are actively listening, processing and sharing what they learn from supporters, colleague and competitive organizations in the field and other players that influence how your supporters support you.

That's all great, but your listening/learning team has value only with an easy and quick way to log and share findings, so they can be analyzed and used to revise approaches a.s.a.p.

Course-correct

You must be able to adjust your fundraising approach at a moment's notice to fit what’s vital to your donors, and their recent interactions with your org. 

Get agile to satisfy supporter expectations that your nonprofit is constantly adapting to fit their wants, schedules and lives.

And that has to include how they interact (or not) with your marketing and fundraising outreach, and your programs and services.

Take stock

What's still not working with your donor retention program? and what suggestions does your donor advisory board have on how to do better?

Give it a try! I've seen this approach work, time and time again, in organizations just like yours. 

 

And while you’re at it, check out the new npExperts eBook for more insight into donor retention strategies that work!

 

 

Photo courtesy of Flickr

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RSM 2000 Limited acquires charity payment processing from Technology Trust

RSM 2000 Limited has announced that it has recently acquired the charity payment processing business from Technology Trust.

RSM 2000 Limited and Technology Trust have worked together over the last ten years to develop and refine payment systems for card and direct debit processing specific to the needs of the charity sector.

Following a review by both businesses it was agreed that the future requirements of the charity clients would be best served by the transfer of all operational and contractual obligations from Technology Trust to RSM 2000 Ltd from December 1^st, 2013. RSM 2000 Ltd has assumed all technical and operational responsibility for the services from this date and clients will continue to receive their normal high level of service from the RSM team.

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HOW TO: Curate Nonprofit Videos on YouTube

Nonprofits that do not create a lot of their own video content can still have an engaging YouTube Channel by curating videos relevant to your nonprofit’s mission and programs. Just because your nonprofit didn’t create a video doesn’t mean you can’t feature it on your channel. By adding videos to “Playlists” and then displaying those playlists as “Sections” on your channel, your nonprofit can have an engaging YouTube channel that makes a strong first impression. That said, if your nonprofit does create a lot video content, you should also invest time in organizing and displaying your videos into playlists and sections.

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Step 1: Create a playlist of at least four videos.

Playlists displayed horizontally on your YouTube Channel require a minimum of four videos to fill in the entire section. Research and “Add to Playlist” at least four videos that speak to your nonprofit’s mission and programs. When you add your first video, you will be prompted to create and name your playlist. All videos thereafter can be added by selecting the playlist.

Step 2: Add your new playlist as a section to your channel.

To display your new playlist(s) on your YouTube Channel, you must add it as section and then use the up or down arrows to feature it on your channel.

Step 3: Add your website, icons, and channel banner.

Since your nonprofit will be driving more traffic to your YouTube Channel, be sure to add your website, icons, and a channel banner to your channel. Since the launch of the YouTube One Channel design in March 2013 only a small fraction of nonprofits have updated their YouTube Channel.

youtube.com/nonprofitorgs

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London’s Air Ambulance partners with Vocalink

London’s Air Ambulance has partnered with payments provider Vocalink to make use of its donations technology.

Part of VocaLink‘s Responsible Business Programme, the provider is assessing the charity’s donation systems and associated technologies, as well as assisting in staff fundraising events.

CEO of London’s Air Ambulance, Graham Hodgkin, said: “It is ultimately the donations from people and businesses that enable us to save lives each day. Improving the donation experience and making the process easier for our supporters will enhance our fundraising effectiveness, allowing us to continue our life-saving work.”

 

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CRM and the Donor Journey Conference

On Monday 10^th March, the Institute of Fundraising’s CRM and the Donor Journey Conference will take place in London.

The conference will look at how to implement a CRM programme, how to manage data and measure results. Leading charities and sector experts will be on hand to share their knowledge.

You will:

• Hear how Nectar maintain personalised relationships with its customers, and how you can translate these practices to your own charity
• Find out the impact that data protection laws may have on the use of your data
• Discover how data can force us to rethink our own perceptions of supporter behaviour
• Learn about the importance of breaking down silos in your charity – and get practical tips on how to achieve this
• Gain an insight into some real lessons learnt from a leading charity’s CRM implementation project

Small charities can apply for a bursary by filling out this form before 14^th February.

Click here for more information and to register.

 

 

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Teenager creates innovate app which lets users snooze for charity

A 19-year-old from Marshfield, Ronan Finnegan, has created an innovative app which turns people’s laziness into charitable donations.

According to YouGov, 26.3% of the population use their mobile phones as an alarm. Mr Finnegan took this into account and created the WakeOrDonate app, which makes a donation to charity every time the user presses the snooze button.

Several charities have already shown their interest in the app, which has raised over $3,000 on crowdfunding website sellanapp.com.

Ronan Finnegan said: “It’s a win, win situation. Every time someone presses their snooze button they get more time in bed and a charity will get a donation. There isn’t anything similar on the market at the moment – nothing has the positive consequences this will. People have obviously had the idea before but have not developed it, so people seem quite excited about what I am doing.”

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Free Weekly Mini-Webinars for Nonprofit Marketers

Since the beginning of January, I’ve been conducting free mini-webinars for my email subscribers.

During these 30-minute webinars I focus a specific topic each week. For example, last week’s meeting we discussed creating a donor funnel.

Here are highlights from that meeting:

Get weekly invites each Friday

Mini-webinars are each Wednesday at 4pm, EST. GoToWebinar invites are included in my weekly newsletter, which goes out every Friday. Click here to join my weekly newsletter.

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Give Kids The World Gets An Extreme Village Makeover

Blackbaud client, Give Kids The World Village, (GKTW) is a non-profit, storybook resort in Central Florida that provides unforgettable, cost-free vacations to children with life-threatening illnesses and their families. So far, GKTW has provided over 127,000 wishes and dreams, in the form of vacations and support to families and child with life-threatening illnesses.

GKTW is celebrating their 25th anniversary this year with an exciting new initiative – the Extreme Village Makeover. Ty Pennington, host of ABC’s Extreme Home Makeover, helped out with the remodel of the facilities as well as Wyndham Vacation Ownership (WVO) and Walt Disney World. With a cost of $60,000 per villa and 88 villas to complete, this was no simple task. This special two week effort was featured on ABC's Good Morning America on this morning. Did you miss it? View the video below.

See more US News from ABC|World News

We applaud GKTW and wish them the absolute best in their fundraising efforts for this campaign and in the next 25 years. Congratulations!

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How should charities use blogging?

Charities commonly use social media channels such as Facebook and Twitter to communicate with their supporters. But how many charities blog about what they are doing?

In a recent post for the Guardian, Seaneen Molloy-Vaughan, digital officer at Mind, shares her advice on how charities can use blogging to tell their stories:

1. Use a blog as a platform to share personal experiences.
2. Have guidelines so that your blog remains consistent.
3. Use real stories to convey your charity’s mission.
4. Promote blogs on social media.
5. Provoke discussion; choose topics which are likely to be shared and talked about.

Click here to view the full article.

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JustGiving donations through Twitter on the rise

According to data from JustGiving, Twitter users are increasingly using the platform to give to charity. Over 100,000 donors made charitable donations driven from Twitter last year, totalling £2.5m. This is a rise of 70% from the year previous and 448% since 2011.

The increase in donations last year is a result of JustGiving’s increased integration with social media, and charts the influence that Twitter is having on the third sector.

Getting supporters to share information about their donations has also had a significant impact on whether their other contacts in their network donate. Every time someone shares their donation on Twitter it generates another £3 for a charity on average.

Twitter users are also more generous than users on Facebook, with the average donation from Twitter amounting to £22 compared to the average donation on Facebook of £19.

Traffic from Twitter to the JustGiving platform also increased by 80% last year from the previous years, with donations predominantly made on the move. The majority of traffic from to JustGiving from Twitter comes from mobile devices (57%) followed by desktop visits (31%) and tablets (12%).

JustGiving Product Manager Jonathan Waddingham said: “Social media has changed the way we communicate, but this data shows that the way givers connect with the causes they care about continues to evolve. Over the past year we’ve worked hard to make sharing completely integral to JustGiving, and this is paying off as we see more and more donations coming through Twitter. What’s striking in this data is that Twitter is driving such a huge volume of mobile donations – which is why it’s so important that we offer supporters a totally seamless mobile experience.”

 

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The One Thing You Should Know Before Your First Date with Donors

  By Marc A. Pitman: Author of Ask Without Fear!, husband, dad, int’l fundraising trainer, coach, keynote speaker, capital campaign guy, bowtie guy, GenXer, coffeelover, & brewer. On Twitter

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It's not THEIR first date!

In my weekly coaching email I wrote about the single biggest donor retention mistake I see new nonprofit leaders making. I regularly get calls from people not meeting their fundraising goals. Whether they're new CEO's, Executive Directors, CDO's, or Development Directors, they all say the same thing:

"Well, I'm not going to ask on the first date!"

And they wonder why they're not hitting their fundraising goals..

Misplaced emphasis

These well meaning leaders think they are being donor-centered. They think they are treating donors like people and not ATMs. They think they're building relationships in a way that retains donors.

But this "not-on-the-first-date" attitude actually kills relationships.

When we impose the arbitrary 2-step approach that this attitude necessitates, we are acting like the relationship is about us, not about the donor. We're the new people, not them. This isn't their first date with our nonprofit!

Get donors and get revenue

That's the point. The best way to maintain relationships is by building relationships between the donor and the nonprofit. Nonprofit employees come and go. But our goal is to help donors stay with us for the long haul.

When we assume that our first meeting with a donor is a "first date," we blatantly ignore the long relationship that person has had with our nonprofit. In my book Ask Without Fear!, I tell a story of an 80-year old man who blew up at me at our very first meeting. We hadn't even ordered dinner yet! I'd simply asked him, "How did you come to attend the School?" He erupted, "How many [expletive] times am I going to have to answer that stupid question?! Don't you guys talk to each other?"

That encounter taught me a priceless secret: this gentleman wanted to start the relationship from his vantage point, not mine. He had a 60-year plus relationship with the school. He'd donated; he'd volunteered; he'd visited. And he'd seen many people in my position over the years. His relationship was clearly with the school. If it hadn't been, we wouldn't have retained him as a donor.

Be truly donor-centered

So as you go about your donor visits this year, be truly donor-centered. Remember that you're just another part of the donor's relationship with your nonprofit. And that this isn't the first date. Remembering that can help you ask without fear. And meet the revenue goals that make it possible for your nonprofit to be remarkable!

Want to hear more about what Marc’s got to say on better donor retention? Check out his chapter in the new npExperts eBook!

 

photo cred: Flickr 

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40 Ways for Nonprofits to Raise More Money with Businesses [Book Giveaway]

I owe my buddy John a big thanks for letting me take a few lines on his blog to tell you about my new book, Fundraising with Businesses: 40 New (and Improved Strategies for Nonprofits.

I wrote Fundraising with Busineses for all the nonprofit professionals who ever answered "I don't know" when I asked them what type of fundraiser they would propose to a potential business partner.

Either they had a current business partner from whom they were only receiving a cash donation – always a good thing, but this stash of gold is getting smaller and is increasingly harder to find – and had no other good ideas on how to raise money. Or they had no creative ideas for approaching a new business partner beyond asking for cash.

Stymied in their quest to raise money from businesses, these nonprofits let opportunities slip away until another nonprofit – usually a larger, national nonprofit – recruited the company and executed a successful fundraiser.

There’s no good reason why your nonprofit should be losing out to larger nonprofits.

Think big about fundraising

This book aims to help small nonprofits to think big about fundraising with businesses by expanding the possibilities for partnership. If you want to build a business giving program that is comprehensive, innovative and successful, this book is a good place to start.

One thing that will make your investment worthwhile is the book’s connection to Pinterest. Each chapter has a URL and a QR code that links to a board on Pinterest. So you get a great education in the book, but Pinterest keeps the learning going with plenty of new examples. And I’m not the only one pinning. Folks like See3 Communications, CafeGive, Truist, For Momentum, OneBillionShiirts.org and others are also sharing pins.

Want to check out the book? You can read a chapter here.

Book giveaway

John and I are also giving away a copy of the book. Just leave a brief comment below saying why you would like the book and John will pick a winner!

Good luck!

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