A Small Change- Fundraising Blog

Follow up calls use to be the least favorite part of my job. It can be a lot of mental work to sit down with a list of phone numbers and make call after call after call. But, the more I started to make follow up calls the more I started to like them.

How else can an organization keep in touch with a large number of constituents in a short period of time? You might say I can reach thousands of donors via email, direct mail, or blogging (if you read an earlier post). I think those are great tools but none of them are as personal as a phone call. Before I go on don’t use phone follow up as your strongest platform for solicitation. Especially for your major gifts program it is important that you meet in person with your donors.

Before starting your phone follow up make sure you have all the information you will need to answer questions within immediate reach. Have all the phone numbers, names, donor statistics (do your research before your phone call), and program details. Then rehearse a few times what you are going to say. I have often found that it takes a few messages or conversations with a few donors before my message is really polished. It is important that you speak plainly. Do not try and be smarter or more articulate than you naturally are. Donors know when you are reading a scrip or if a message is not your own. Ask questions while you are on the phone don’t do all the talking. This is a great time to learn why someone gives to your organization, how they first found out about you. This kind of conversation helps your future solicitations because you know more about what interests a donor has.

If you have a really long list of people split it up. Get a few board members to help you make calls. Set aside time to make these calls. Plan ahead a few hours every day for a week or set aside an entire afternoon to make calls. One final pointer is a little bit corny, so forgive me, but I have found that it does make an actual difference. Donors can tell by the tone in your voice if you are smiling, frowning, or bored when you are on the phone. I am not sure what it is but if I am having a conversation with someone, especially after I have said the same thing 15 times before, a smile on my face creates a better message.

When staff members get together to talk about donor recognition, increasing revenue and finding creative ways to reach new donors, usually one of the first ideas on the table is to have an ‘event.’ But, is a reception, lunch, ground breaking ceremony, auction or dinner what you need? These things can be done well and reach your key audience, but there are pitfalls and drawbacks you want to consider carefully and be careful to avoid.

In planning events, it is important to avoid letting the tail wag the dog. First, decide what your need is. (We need to have a donor event is NOT a legitimate need!) Your need should be defined in terms of moving your fundraising objectives forward. Let’s say your organization wants to draw attention to the opening of its new housing facility for victims of domestic violence. Which donors or groups of donors need attention and what has been done to communicate your message so far? You may not be able to design one event that is the best solution for every group. Better to have a clearly defined message and defined measures of success for one group than an event that invites everyone, but doesn’t advance your objective. Sometimes, an event is NOT what you need. You may be able to get the same results with visits or other techniques. The worst thing you can do is spend money for a party and then find that your event didn’t attract your core audience and you spent your time and money on fancy hors d’oeuvres for staff.

Giving should be simple. How long was your last solicitation letter? Half a page, two pages? How many stories did you tell? How many statistics from your organization did you quote? If you are like many non-profits today you probably said, “my letter was a page and a half, I told the donor all about my administrative rate, why they should give, how it will help them, what the program they are giving to is, what the program does, where their money went, where there money will go, how many people we serve, etc.” I think you are getting the point.

Information should be transparent and easy to find. You cannot say everything in one solicitation or thank you letter. Your letters should be under a page and describe what you are asking your donor for and why. Yes, there are other things you need to include, but do not dilute the point (or ask) of the letter with too much information.

A solicitation letter should have three things in it:
1. What is it that you are asking for (ie. cash gift of $20,000, auction item)? Be specific donors will often give no more than you ask from them. But will often give more than they intend to if you ask for a reasonable and specific amount (make sure to have your contact information and a response envelope).
2. Why you are asking for it? This is a really good place to summarize your mission or tell a story about your organization (make sure that your organizations name is in the letter).
3. Where the money will be going? This should be very obvious but sometimes it isn’t see my post, Broad and Transparent Giving.

Please leave a comment with tips you have on writing a good solicitation or thank you letter. A key competent to a good solicitation letter is a prompt follow up call. Make sure that you have already set aside time in a week or so to follow up with the individuals/businesses that you are soliciting.

There seems to be a fear in the traditional non-profit world in telling donors too much, or in revealing too much about your organization. I think there was a time when donors asked fewer questions and demanded less accountability. Today more than ever before donors want to know that their money is going to make a difference and is being used to the very best of its ability. What does that look like?

Many charities today ask you for a gift to do something and then put that money towards general greatest needs. A reader had a great comment in responds to my grassroots fundraising post. Many solicitation letters are written where donors are asked to give to this specific program but the money goes to the greatest needs of the organization. This is not always the case there are organizations where if you “buy a goat” or “sponsor a child” that money goes to that specific kid or for that specific animal you purchased. And I think that is incredible. But it doesn’t always work that way.

We in the non-profit world need to be very careful about what we say. If we are asking for money for X and give it to Y then that is a problem. You might say, “that is how it works” or “if I ask for general support my case is not compelling enough.” A great solution proposed by this reader is to explain what the costs involved in doing your organization’s mission are. This is often called creating equivalences. For example it might cost a homeless shelter $50 to feed 30 people or cost a relief agency $10,000 to put a fresh water well in Africa. You can ask for a gift of $30 dollars to help your homeless shelter then go onto describe the kinds of things that $30 dollars could do. Things like feeding people or providing them a bed for the night. But do not say the money will go directly to feeding people unless that is the plan for the money.

Here are some other articles on this topic:
Wall Street Journal- How Can Charities Make Themselves More Open
Donor Power Blog- More Donors are Growing Hard Noses
Katya’s Non-Profit Marketing Blog- Open Up or Else

Recently a reader posted a question in the ideas, questions & answers area of the site. Rephrased here is her question:

How can blogging help us fundraise, increase our visibility and how can I use technology to engage new donors?

Blogging is a unique kind of conversation. People have the opportunity to read a multitude of opinions and ideas very quickly. Since I started this blog about fundraising I have been impressed with the amount of fundraising and non-profit blogs that are out there. I am equally amazed at the brilliant comments and insightful conversations that are happening all across America. Overall it has allowed me to ask questions and promote ideas.

The point of blogging can’t be to raise or make money it has to be something more. A blog has to exist to tell a story or talk about a topic/issue. For you it might be, “how can I raise awareness for my organization and how can I link my donors and volunteers closer to the mission of the organization?” For me it is to answer non-profit’s questions about fundraising and provide some advice and ideas on how to do fundraising. You can have your blog mention programs or areas that need funding but I would do that by talking about your program and providing a link back to your non-profit’s website to make a donation.

I am relatively new to blogging so I thought it would be worthwhile to provide you with some links to non-profit blogging experts. Here is some advice from the experts:
Non-profit Marketing Blog

“Don’t ask should we blog? Ask, is blogging a good way to connect with our audience?”

Comment on the dangers of blogging from an earlier post:

“What’s key about blogging is that it be open and authentic. In my mind that means that the CEO (or whomever’s name is on the blog) actually do the writing, without a lot of organizational filtering from PR-like departments.”

Two posts from Tactical Philanthropy:
Blogs aren’t for everyone
Does Blogging Substitute Real Action

A note about the old ways of fundraising:
I don’t think that the old ways of fundraising are dead, but they are not always as successful as they use to be. The days of paper direct mail, and telephone campaigns are not over. I know of countless organizations that use both of those “tried and true” methods and they work really well. But I also know that online giving is growing exponentially every year. Non-profits need to make sure that they are linking to their donors and volunteers by providing online giving, enewsletters, and I think blogging could be another way.

Do you have any thoughts, additions or success stories that you’ve heard, leave a comment. I know many of you in the non-profit blogging community have expertise answering this question.