5 tips for better orchestrating your messages this holiday

If you want the best response to your outreach this holiday, focus on creating surround sound around your supporters.  You want to project the same messages via multiple channels in a well-orchestrated marketing symphony.

How do you do that?  Roger Craver had some good tips in Fundraising Success that focused on retention. Here are five ways to better orchestrate your messages this holiday, inspired by his thinking.

1. Create one message or theme and build on it. You want your outreach via email, direct mail, telephone, social media, mobile, etc. to sound like variations on a theme - not unrelated music.  Pick a key idea and reinforce it through each medium through which you contact supporters.

2. Contact supporters in multiple ways. The best way to build a relationship with donors is to acknowledge the fact that people like to give in a variety of venues: email, direct mail, Facebook,etc.  There are not just pure “online donors” and “mobile donors"and “direct mail” donors - there are donors who choose to mix it up.  Research shows donors give the most - and stay the longest - when you take this approach.

3. In each form of outreach, reference other ways to connect.  Put web addresses for online giving in your direct mail.  Put postal addresses on your website.  And so on.

4. Experiment.  Roger notes that some organizations have success when they send text messages to donors the day direct mail hits.  Others find better responses by sending emails a little while after a direct mail piece lands.  Test different combinations and timing to see what works best for you.

5. Plan around the donor.  Get all of these pieces playing together by creating a comprehensive plan around the donor (rather than having each department at your organization doing their own thing).  You want harmonic sense for your supporters—a lovely set of surround sound rather than a cacophony of ad hoc outreach!  So make a calendar from the donor perspective and confirm your supporters are getting the right messages, through the right channels at the right times.

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Did people give on #GivingTuesday?

Since I work at Network for Good, I have access to all kinds of nifty data on giving.  We process donations for tens of thousands of nonprofits via their websites and partners like Crowdrise and YourCause.  So I was interested to see if the big push to encourage giving earlier this week - the first ever GivingTuesday “national day of giving” - yielded results.

The early answer seems to be yes, it prompted giving.

When we compared overall giving on GivingTuesday this year to giving on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving last year, we found donations more than doubled.  Since Network for Good has been growing all year, we also looked at giving this past Monday compared to Tuesday to get a sense of what growth was attributable to GivingTuesday.  We found donations on Tuesday were 55% higher than Monday.

Blackbaud is showing a bump as well - 53% on GivingTuesday this year vs. the same Tuesday last year.

To me, this just underlines the power of several things in fundraising:

1. A sense of urgency: Naming a day after giving and urging action that particular day seems to have worked for many charities.  Nonprofits that added matching donations into the mix did even better.

2. Social norms: Creating an impression that many other people are taking action is effective.

3. Seasonality: November and December are the easiest times to get people to donate.  People are in spending and giving mode.  I don’t think the day would have been as effective were it in January.

Did your organization invite donations on Tuesday?  What were your results?

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The 6 things you must know about the science of persuasion

If you have never read the classic book Influence by Robert Cialdini, you really should.  But you’re also in luck, because the Influence at Work team just released this summary of the six principles of persuasion that the book covers.  Spend 11 minutes watching this video - it’s well worth your time.

Trouble viewing the video?  Go here.

No time to watch?  Here’s my summary of the principles and how they apply to us.

1. Reciprocity - People tend to return a favor, thus all those annoying address labels charities send out as a fundraising ploy.

2. Scarcity - Perceived scarcity fuels demand. “Only four memberships are left” prompts action!

3. Authority - People will tend to obey authority figures.  What expert can attest to the value of your organization?

4. Consistency - If people commit to an idea or goal, they are more likely to follow through. It’s why pledging is a great option for people who aren’t ready to take action.

5. Liking - People are easily persuaded by other people whom they like. That’s why you want your champions spreading the word about your cause among their friends and family.

6. Consensus - People will do what other people are doing. That’s why it’s great to show who is taking action for your cause - others are likely to conform.

 

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It’s #GivingTuesday!

If you want to feel happy - and wonderful about yourself - science has the answer.  Do something for someone else.

Researchers Lalin Anik, Lara Aknin, Michael Norton and Elizabeth Dunn have shown that people who commit random acts of kindness are significantly happier than those who don’t, and spending money on others makes you happier than spending money on yourself. They also have discovered happier people help others more, and they give more.  A positive mood makes you nicer!  This makes a circle: giving makes you happy, and when you’re happy you give more, which makes you happier, which makes you give more.

I bring up this selfess circle of happiness now because Tuesday is #GivingTuesday, a national day of giving.  Black Friday in stores and Cyber Monday for online shopping are behind us, and we’ve arrived at the day to do something for others.

Here are two ways to celebrate.

1. Go into work today feeling like a star of the movement.  If you read this blog, you are making the world a better place in some way, and you live #GivingTuesday every day of the year.  You are wonderful, and so you should take a moment to feel joy at the difference you make.  I, for one, am so happy for what you do.

2. Encourage others to support your cause - or whatever cause they love - today.  For example, give and get your gift matched here!  (Thanks to partners the Case Foundation, Crowdrise and Six Degrees.)

Thanks for being a part of #GivingTuesday - and the circle of happiness - with your great work for good.

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What’s more persuasive:  Your track record or your future potential?

A research team profiled at Influence at Work recently set out to answer a fascinating question: When it comes to influencing others, where should you focus most of your attention - describing the realities of your past, or communicating your potential to deliver in the future?

In some studies that are soon to be published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Stanford University researchers found that potential is generally more compelling than the past.

One study was a mock staffing situation.  Research subjects were asked to evaluate two people (Candidate A and Candidate B) who had applied for a job.  Both candidates were identical except Candidate A had more relevant experience and scored highly on a Leadership Assessment test. Candidate B had less experience yet still scored highly on a Leadership Potential test. According to Influence, “The results of the study showed that those shown information about the Candidate B’s potential rated that applicant as more successful and a better leader than those shown information about what Candidate A had achieved.”

In a separate study in a different setting, Facebook users were shown some quotes about a comedian. Half saw quotes about the comedian’s potential. (“This guy could become the next big thing.”) The rest were shown quotes about track record: “Critics say he has become the next big thing.”  More people clicked through and became a fan of the comedian with potential.

Interesting.  The research suggests that when selling your merits - or the merits of your services or organization - don’t dwell on the past. Spend at least as much time talking about your future potential.  Share test results or testimonials or reviews that bolster your future promise.

People apparently want to know the best is yet to come!

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Example of a great thank you to donors!

Continuing on the Thanksgiving theme of gratitude, here’s a wonderful thanks to donors from the Humane Society.  (Hat tip to Alia McKee for sending it to me!)

This is a great model to follow!  Click on the image below or go here for the full experience.

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On Thanksgiving, here’s how to be grateful

In honor of the spirit of Thanksgiving gratitude, today and tomorrow I’m posting examples of great nonprofit thank-yous.

Today, I want to share two effective videos - one with a budget and one done with next to no budget!

The first is from WaterAid:

The second is from CentroNía and is dedicated to donors, volunteers, and community partners.  The DIY video was filmed and edited by Jonah Best, a summer 2012 Summer Youth Employment Program intern.  CentroNía is a nationally recognized, award-winning educational organization that provides affordable, high quality education, professional development and family support services in a bilingual, multicultural environment to more than 1,500 children.

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

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Free webinar: speed consulting for better year-end sites

As we enter into year-end fundraising season, now’s the time to make sure your website is in tip-top shape. Have you ever wondered what should – or shouldn’t – be on your nonprofit website? Can supporters find your donate button? Do you really need to post your address and phone number? Where do you make your case for giving? Join Network for Good’s Nonprofit Team as they give homepage tips and tricks!

Attend this webinar on November 27 to learn ways to maximize your website during the holiday fundraising rush and walk away with the following:

• An overview of year-end website best practices
• 60 second critiques of actual nonprofit websites (submit yours in the registration form!)
• Question and answer period to address any nonprofit website issues

Register now.

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How to reduce donor attrition in three minutes

Here’s the bad news.

As if we needed more bad news about our ability to retain donors…  The Chronicle of Philanthropy shares that donors aren’t just annoyed by our lack of follow-up—they are really, really annoyed. (Read here.)

More than 20 percent of donors say they were never even thanked!

So the obvious remedy is to thank donors, tell them what their gift accomplished and report on your progress in your mission.

What’s the best way to do that?  Here’s the three-minute trick.

Pell & Bales sent me this hot tip - which reinforces what Chuck Longfield told me last week.

Read their step-by-step, three minute solution here, but the headline is:

-Pick up phone
-Call donor
-Talk about donor and what donor did that was amazing for real people:
-Don’t ask them for more money - just say thanks again

Pell & Bales say that three-minute call drastically reduces attrition (see below).  And their findings are in line with those of Chuck, who says taking the time to phone supporters and thank them for their gift lifts their giving by 40 percent.

Want to have amazing results this holiday?  Pick up the phone and say thanks.  Do a couple of calls a day.  It feels good, and it does good.*

*Thanks to Charlie Hulme of Pell & Bales for the tip!

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An anonymous letter: Is this you?  Here’s my advice.

I got this letter a few days ago.  I agreed to keep the sender anonymous - and the sender let me share the contents along with my thoughts.  Does this sound like you? 

Here’s the letter—and my advice.

Katya,

I need help.  I’m the marketing manager for a county-wide organization which serves frail elderly people by providing services to help them remain in their homes and avoid nursing home care.  We are a fairly large organization with almost 70 staffers and not an ample budget but an adequate one.  I am middle management - I report directly to the executive director and he does listen to my ideas with an open mind, but I am not senior management. 

I dream of changing our organization from the middle.  We wildly, desperately need to teach our staff about branding.  Right now, each department operates to a large degree in a vacuum without any unifying thread about what the organization does and why we do it.  I want to create a culture where we all have a clear view of what our mission is and recognize the importance of aligning our behaviors and our work with that mission. Everyone going their own way has led to a very chaotic, focus-lacking overall message in our community, to the point where many people truly do not understand who we are and what we do.  I see this problem in almost everything we do.  Our volunteers, for example, sign on with us to serve in our nutrition program because they want to help people - but we reward them with logo-ed merchandise and coupons for free cookies, instead of stories about how their time and passion is helping us change lives.  We are missing so many opportunities to shout from the rooftops about all the good we do and inspire people to give and do more, and in my opinion we could address many of these communication problems through proper and passionate branding.

If I could change the culture here so that everyone around me would get on board with our brand and how they support it through their everyday actions, we could do so much more!  We could serve more people.  We could all have more passion about our jobs.  We could change the world (in our county). smile

My problem is that I need to persuade others (especially those above me) to see the value in giving up some of our existing, we’ve-always-done-it-that-way methods to make room for some growth.  I need to persuade them to see the value in uniting everyone behind the same brand and mission even if it means they might have to change the way they do some things. 

Do you have any advice on how to start pushing this particular boulder up the mountain?  Do you know of any great books I could read or branding success stories I could review that would help me implement the change that our organization needs?  If you were me, and you were trying to change the world from the middle, how would you start? 

(Name withheld)

To the sender: Thank you.  For caring so much, for daring to do things different and for seeking a constructive way forward.  Here’s my advice to you.

1. Don’t try to change your culture.  It’s too hard.  Work within your culture to get everyone on board with one identity.  The way you unite people around a single brand idea is to find the common passionate thread that winds through the existing culture.  What does everyone have in common?  What value is universal at your organization?  If you aren’t sure, walk around and ask people.  Start with their answers.  It’s a solid foundation on which to build a united, emotional feeling.  Nothing is more motivating or bonding than that.

2. Don’t try to get people to value your perspective - show how your perspective relates to their values!  You say, “I need to persuade others (especially those above me) to see the value in giving up some of our existing, we’ve-always-done-it-that-way methods to make room for some growth.”  I think that’s a tough message.  You’re telling people to change, to stop doing things their way and to give up something they value. That can’t be sold easily!  I think you need to listen first.  Ask people what they most treasure in terms of their current approach.  Ask them what it achieves and how it promotes their priorities.  Then figure out how your ideas can feel like a complement - rather than a challenge.  You don’t want to dismantle people’s sense of identity.  You want to connect to it.

3. Show rather than tell your ideas.  All sorts of brain research shows that stories and emotion engage people in a way that an analytical case never can.  Make your case with story first, facts second.  Even better, demonstrate the story.  For example, record interviews with donors and prospects and share those first-hand observations.  Interview volunteers about why they help and how they felt about that - vs the merchandise.  Capture those first-hand, front-lines stories.  Think about ways to bring to life the challenges you face.  If you’re losing most of your donors each year (which most charities are), put a bunch of objects representing donors on the table and take away the amount that isn’t given the next year by the same set of donors.  Talk about how your ideas can help fix that.

4. Put your case in the mouth of someone your boss likes and respects.  You may not be the best messenger for your case.  Who has your boss’s ear?  Let them do the convincing for you.

5. Ask for permission for a very small experiment.  Start tiny and show a result.  That kins of ask is less threatening to others, and it gives you real success to highlight in order to build a case for bigger initiatives.

6. Create a way to boost communication.  At my organization, we have cross-functional teams hold brief, 15-minute stand-up meetings first thing, several mornings a week.  (People literally stand up - it keeps meetings short and energy high!)  How can you create an environment where people are interacting, sharing what they are planning that week and starting a conversation about how their efforts inter-relate?

7. Find a common aspiration - or enemy.  Nothing unites and concentrates and organization like a highly ambitious and specific goal or a threat to avoid.  What is the destination you all need to attain this year?  How can you work with the leadership of the organization to define a tangible social impact measure that everyone must support and achieve?  This gets people working together far more tightly.

Last, my reading recommendation.  Switch by Chip and Dan Heath is the best book on getting organizations to change!  Buy it here and get free resource guides and the first chapter here.

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The Permanent Disruption of Social Media

This is the title of a new article in the Stanford Social Innovation Review, written by Network for Good partners Julie Dixon and Denise Keyes from the Georgetown University Center for Social Impact Communication. I featured their work before here on the blog, and this article - based on a nationwide research project - is also worth highlighting.

As they explain, social media has permanently disrupted our profession:

“Until recently the models that nonprofits used to find, engage, and cultivate donors, volunteers, and other supporters were reasonably straightforward. The first step was to use direct mail, phone calls, or other techniques to bring in large numbers of potential supporters at a low level of engagement. These supporters were sorted into neat groups, and the most promising people were continually moved up the pyramid or ladder and cultivated for larger and larger donations. It was an orderly and linear process. Today, the Internet and social media have permanently disrupted the traditional donor-engagement process. Online competitions, viral video campaigns, mobile giving—with each new way for organizations and donors to interact come increasingly complex entry points into the traditional models of donor engagement, greater variation in movement along the pathway to deeper engagement, and more opportunities for a person to be influenced by forces outside an organization’s control.”

Denise Keyes and Julie Dixon delve into the dilemma this creates.  We can’t use social media primarily as a way to appeal for money, yet that is where many of our audiences reside.  And nothing about this new world is linear!

Namely:

o People tend to use social media to promote a cause they already support.
o People supplement, not replace, donating and volunteering with promoting a cause on social media.  Just because someone is a so-called slacktivist, don’t take them as such.  They may be doing a lot offline to support the cause.
o So the smart organizations combine online and offline engagement of donors. 
o They also embrace their fans as messengers.

Enter the vortex!  (Source: SSIR article)

We need a new model that is more vortex than pyramid. We need to understand donors are engaged in many different ways with us, and we need to put them at the center of our engagement rather than attempting command and control marketing and messaging. We also need to embrace the many ways that donors want to support our organization.  It’s not just dollars - it’s volunteering, spreading the word and championing the cause. 

For more on the research - and recommendations - check out the full article here.

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4 ways to do a better job keeping your donors

  • Thu, November 15 2012
  • Filed under:

I just returned from the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University’s 25th annual symposium, where I was on a panel with Chuck Longfield (Chief Scientist of Blackbaud),  Steven Lawrence, Director of Research of the Foundation Center, Bob Ottenhoff of the Center on Disaster Philanthropy and Kevin Salwen, who wrote the Power of Half.

Chuck had some stunning observations about the grim state of donor retention.  We are losing the vast majority of donors we acquire each year.  The typical nonprofit will keep only one in three to one in five of their supporters next year!  The data are scary, but he had four tips for turning around this disturbing trend:

1. Focus on donor retention more than donor acquisition. We tend to spend most of our time hunting for new donors, but we can have far more fundraising success by incrementally improving our ability to keep the donors we have.  For example, it’s been shown that taking the time to phone supporters and thank them for their gift lifts their giving by 40 percent.

2. Focus on donor lifetime value, not one-off campaigns. This requires a commitment to relationships and to looking at your response rate over time.  Gauge success by the way your supporters behave over their entire time of supporting you.

3. Focus on results, not effort.  It’s not how hard you are working.  It’s what happens as a result of that work.

4. Identify and invest in your most passionate supporters.  Chuck said one of the most reliable indicators of who is passionate - and most likely to donate a bequest - is a donor phone call to an organization to share a change of address.  A donor who goes to the trouble of doing this is saying they don’t want the nonprofit to lose track of him or her.  Do we identify those people?  Do we have a special plan to analyze our donors and cultivate the most committed?  We should.

Good advice.

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What motivates donors? Two new studies say.

A new study from Charity Dynamics and NTEN - the Nonprofit Donor Engagement Benchmark Study - as well as the hot off the presses Donor Perspectives Study from Blackbaud come to the same conclusions this week. 

The findings aren’t surprising but are certainly worth remembering as we go into fundraising season.

Namely (quoting from the respective reports):

1. Nonprofits that establish themselves as a donor’s top charity—the organization to which an individual feels most connected—are more likely to receive greater support from them in terms of cash contributions, volunteering, event participation and issue advocacy.
Nearly half of the survey respondents (47%) indicated that they give a majority of their annual total donation amount to their top charity. (Source: Charity Dynamics/NTEN)

2. A majority of donors (65%) reported supporting their top charity because they believe in the organization’s cause. Connected donors also do more for their top charity, with 54% saying they would be willing to talk to friends and family about the organization. (Source: Charity Dynamics/NTEN)

3. Age has a significant impact on the amount donors give, the way in which they are willing to engage, and how they prefer to seek and consume information from their top charity.  On average, total annual donations tended to increase as the age group increased. In the US, the 65+ age group gave an average of $1,403 in the last year, with the 45-54 age group close behind with an average annual donation of $1,396. US donors in the 18-24 age range donated the least annually at $463. (Donor Perspectives)

4. Of the respondents that would consider becoming regular donors, the top three motivating factors were reported to be: 1) having an improvement in their personal financial situation, 2) having a passion for an organization’s mission, and 3) having access to information that proved the impact of their contributions. (Donor Perspectives)

5. Last, mobile is mattering more and more, according to a separate study from Blackbaud: In an international study, nearly half of donors reported using their mobile phone to read emails and view websites, yet less than one-quarter of donors in each country reported using their device to make donations via mobile browser or text. Still, donors (especially younger donors) are embracing mobile technologies faster than nonprofits, according to the SONI report. The projected growth of the use of mobile technologies in marketing efforts, however, indicates that nonprofits have recognized the need to embrace mobile strategies and plan on doing so in the next year.

The bottom line?  Establishing emotional connections with donors remains paramount.

And my friend Dennis puts it well: “The donors have spoken! Nonprofits are not always meeting their needs, and are leaving valuable donations on the table,” said Dennis McCarthy, Blackbaud’s vice president of strategy. “The good news is, by making it easier for donors to learn about their organization, keeping them informed about their donation’s impact and providing multiple methods for donating, nonprofits can potentially improve their fundraising.” 

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Money for Good Interview 2: How to show impact and keep donors

Today, I’m sharing the second part of an interview I did with the folks behind the Money for Good study and nonprofit guidebook.  You can find the full interview cross-posted at GuideStar.

Here’s the Q&A.

Q: In our research we find that donors have an unmet need for information on the impact a nonprofit is having. We also know that few donors spend more than a few minutes researching the causes they support. How can nonprofits talk about their impact in a simple and effective way so that more donors will pay attention and act?

A: I think there are three basic ways all nonprofits should illustrate impact: with a good story, with very basic impact data and with ratings, endorsements or testimonials.  That provides most of what they need.  A story provides a vivid example of their impact, a bit of data fuels the sense the money went to good use and an endorsement conveys the belief your organization is respected by others.

Q: That’s great advice, Katya. (And happily, consistent with our guidebook!)  So, the pitch is strong, the donor motivated, and a gift comes in. After donors give to a nonprofit, those organizations need to practice good stewardship. We know this means giving thanks, but many organizations also want to continue to ask for more money. In your opinion, what are the “must do” and “don’t do” tips when it comes to following up?

A: You have to thank every donor several times.  A receipt is not enough – you need to explain the difference the donor has made.  You should certainly ask for money again, but not without first making people feel their gifts are having a real effect.

If you aren’t sure of how to write a great thank-you note, check out my tips here.

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Money for Good Interview 1: Secrets to connecting with supporters over time

Today, I’m sharing the first part of an interview I did with the folks behind the Money for Good study and nonprofit guidebook.  You can find the full interview cross-posted today at GuideStar.  I’ll post the second half of the interview here on the blog tomorrow.

Here’s the Q&A.

Q: Katya, thank you so much for your insights!  As you know, in our guidebook, More Money for More Good, we discuss what information donors want, and how nonprofits can communicate that effectively. But in addition, we also recognize the importance of connecting with donors. Ultimately, information and messaging won’t get you far in the world of philanthropy if you can’t create a personal association. What techniques do you see nonprofits taking to build bonds with donors? Which organizations connect the best, and what are their strategies?

A: I am overjoyed you asked this question, because nonprofits too often fail to build bonds with donors.  I’ll give you a statistic to show just how poor a job we’re doing:  The average nonprofit loses about 60% of the donors it had the previous year. 

The good news is that it’s not that hard to turn things around.  Building bonds with donors is a matter of treating them as more than ATMs.  We need to remember they are partners in our mission, and we should reflect that stance in how we connect with them.  This means we are doing all we can to immerse them in our collective.

We simply need to spend as much time keeping donors as we do acquiring donors.  That means we need a retention plan, not just a fundraising plan.  It should include a goal (which I hope is better than keeping only 40% of our donors!), how we are going to profusely thank donors, how we are going to report back to donors on their impact in an inspiring way, how we will recognize donors for their support, and how we will regularly review and improve the donor experience over time.

This doesn’t need to be fancy.  Yes, there are organizations like the oft-cited charity: water that is the Rolls Royce of donor connection, with maps and video of the wells you helped build in Africa.  But there are also groups like A Wider Circle right here in the Washington, DC area that succeed in connecting via heartfelt email updates from the executive director. 

Q: Loyalty is certainly critical in the sector. Do you see different techniques for fostering long-term relationships with donors?

A: I think it’s the same thing.  The principles of good relationships are universal!  They even extend beyond donors to your significant other.  In fact, that’s a great way to think about how well you are connecting with donors.  Are you treating them like you would a treasured partner?  Think ample communication, respect, commitment and positive reinforcement – those are the grounds for loyalty and a long and happy shared history.

Q: I find that many nonprofits have a single, generic appeal that they send to all of their (potential) supporters, because it is simple and inexpensive. What do you think about these appeals?

A: I do not believe that this is a cost-effective means of messaging!  Spray and pray messaging (the method of hitting everyone with identical, mass communication and hoping it works on someone) is a waste of resources.  You won’t prove relevant, and you won’t get a good response.  It might seem cheaper, but it’s not cheap if you get abysmal results. 

Taking an extra few minutes to segment your donors and speak to them more personally will reap huge rewards.  Donors are motivated to give for different reasons.  They like different programs.  They are moved by different stories.  If you are a one-person development team, you can still do this on a modest scale.  Group people by the appeals they supported and reference those causes in your next outreach.  When you’re talking to major donors one on one, listen more than you talk – people will provide a lot of insights into why they support your organization!

It’s especially affordable and easy to customize online outreach.  Add a sentence to your next email that reflects you know the donor attended your gala vs. participated in a volunteer day.  Use an email service provider so you can track which emails people open and where they clicked.  It’s a great window into their motivations.  Group donors by their responses and tailor future outreach accordingly.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of the interview tomorrow, when I’ll discuss the three ways nonprofits should illustrate impact - and how to follow up with donors.

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