Brenda has guest posted with A Small Change before and is writing today about how to plan your events. She is a Donor Relations Manager with the Nature Conservancy and is a skilled event planner. - Jason
You’ll be most successful if you’re always thinking of your main goal as you design your event. Are you trying to thank and recognize, educate and make a case for support or raise money? Again, clearly define your goal and design the event from there.
Let’s say you decide that your major donors should see the facility first hand and understand how their support made it possible. What are some creative ways to reach your audience? Individualized tours of the facility might an option because tours allow more personal interaction with staff and an in-depth look at the housing. Tours can be scheduled at the convenience of your major donors which is a plus when working with busy people. Additionally, you don’t have to rent a venue, order catering or set up chairs, tables or audio/visual equipment. However, you will likely want an opportunity to talk to specific donors and introduce key staff. In this scenario, the ideal solution might be an open house at the facility with tours starting every half hour.
But what if tours aren’t an option because of client confidentiality concerns? Maybe you will need to organize a reception that premiers a nicely done video of the facility and, ideally, a testimonial from someone your organization has helped. When designing your program, keep in mind that donors want to hear from the staff directly connected to the organization’s mission. Oftentimes, you are there to facilitate those conversations. Ask those in the organization that work directly with programs or clients to talk about what they see daily. Spend time working with program staff to help them understand a donor’s point of view and how best to talk about their work. Coaching your program staff on fundraising techniques can take a lot of time, but the dividends will be tremendous once you have allies in your organization.
Brenda is a Donor Relations Manager with the Nature Conservancy and is a skilled event planner. This post is part of a series on non-profit events. From time to time I will have guest authors write in on topics they have an expertise in. Thank you Brenda for taking the time to share some of your thoughts and advice on non-profit events.- Jason
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.
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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.
Grassroots fundraising is the starting place for all kinds of fundraising. Every organization has a group of people that are close to it and that is the best place to start. Think about who those people are, they are the volunteers, the past donors, past staff or in some places clients. Is there a group of people that is part of your history like a body of students? Keep in touch with these people and communicate with them regularly. If you just launched a new program or built a new building let them know about it.
When you are communicating with these individuals let them know what your needs are and what they cost. We call these equivalences. If you are trying to launch a new program to help 100 people, say something like, with a gift of $25 you can help 5 people in this new way. Make your equivalences specific and understandable. Another great tool is to get donors plugged into monthly donations. Many people think that they cannot give $1,000 but if they are giving $85 a month they will give more than a thousand every year.
As you’re donor base grows and you start developing regular campaigns you can start to create your major gifts program. If you find that you have an individual that only gives $100 a year but they have the capacity to give quite a bit more this is a great person to approach. The best approach is to set up a time to meet with them. Thank them for their gifts, talk with them about your organization, do this through stories about people that you are helping, and then ask them for a specific gift. I would connect this gift into a current significant need, make sure that they understand how important to the organization this need is (and how it helps the people in your stories). (Also use board members to make these visits or partner with your board members… I’ll talk about this more in another post… I will also talk in another post about “prospecting” and finding new persons to approach.)
So that is just a few thoughts about grassroots fundraising. I imagine I’ll go into more specific detail on many of these topics at a later time. Let me know if you have a specific question.
