Search Results for: ask less
Raise More, Ask Less — Part 4
If you aren’t going to lose your job or your sleep over flat performance or no growth, then you should simply continue with the simple and convenient status quo. However, please understand there are other nonprofits that are going beyond the conventional, making changes in mindsets and methods and boosting results and growth. And they […]
Raise More, Ask Less — Part 3
At this point it’s abundantly clear that simple ‘ask more, make more’ is a broken or at least badly dented concept—especially for those organizations that engage in 15 or more appeals/asks with their donors each year. (For those still struggling to get their CEOs or Boards to buy in to a schedule of 3, 4 […]
Raise More, Ask Less — Part 2
Can you really raise more money by asking fewer times? Absolutely. Or so argues Kevin Schulman in his paper aimed at stirring the pot for our Agitator discussion. Download the paper here. There are at least two ways to do this. One fairly simple. The other more effective, but requiring a bit more work and […]
Raise More, Ask Less — Part 1
I’ve been around long enough to know the unmistakable squeal of conventional wisdom being challenged. So, when my St. Patrick’s Day post — Are You Abusing Your Donors? — triggered a barrage of comments and protestations pro and con I knew some nerves had been struck. And it wasn’t because of leprechauns or green beer. It was […]
Case Study: Raise More, Ask Less
My St. Patrick’s Day post last year — Are You Abusing Your Donors? — triggered a barrage of comments and protestations pro and con. I knew some nerves had been struck. And it wasn’t because of leprechauns or green beer. It was because I raised the question of whether we should reconsider, revise or evolve the direct […]
To Ask or Not to Ask: The Shakespearean Dilemma of Fundraising
If people enjoy giving, then why avoid a fundraising ask? Being solicited and the joy that can arrive from being charitable are not synonymous. Heck, sometimes they aren’t even far-flung cousins. Relatedly, the act of giving is not what brings joy. It’s how the person feels afterwards. I don’t give because I feel sad, I […]
When is Less More?
Facebook is nothing if not obsessed with users using the app more frequently and for longer durations. App notifications are like crack for this hamster wheel and so the idea of sending fewer seems anathema. But this is exactly what their data science team did because user satisfaction surveys showed a preference for fewer notifications. […]
Is Your Charity Playing Soccer or Basketball?
In The Numbers Game the authors analyzed soccer teams and determined it’s a weak-link sport, the path to success comes not from investing more in top players but shoring up your weakest ones. Basketball is the opposite, a strong-link sport, you need a superstar or two to have any chance. Science is or should be a […]
Q: I find it irritating when some nonprofits accept my “gift” and then ask me to cover their credit card fees separately. It feels like a practice that does nothing to help win donors and runs the risk of turning others off. Is there any data on this either way?
Interesting question. I had a quick look at the testing done on this topic. On the positive side, in all cases, over half of donors decide to cover the fee. In some cases, it goes as high as 65%. Not a negligible percentage at all. Here’s another test from iRaiser showing consistent results (see point […]
Avoiding Being Asked? Say it Ain’t So.
If people enjoy giving then why would they ever actively avoid a fundraising ask? Being solicited and the joy that can arrive from being charitable are not synonymous. Heck, sometimes they aren’t even distant, far-flung cousins. Relatedly, the act of giving is not what brings joy. It is how people react afterwards. We don’t give […]