Anything New On Your Fundraising Agenda?
I suppose in December about half a fundraiser’s time is devoted to scrambling for those year-end dollars, and the other half is spent concocting a fundraising plan for the new year that will make the bosses smile.
Of course, getting that smile depends on projecting growth in revenue!
Are you projecting growth in revenue for 2012? Credibly?
If you are, you must be planning to do something new, because, with both acquisition and renewal rates declining throughout the sector, ‘same old, same old’ just ain’t cuttin’ it anymore for most nonprofits.
One thing we do know works is multi-channel fundraising, assuming you get around to actually integrating your donor information to drive your cultivation efforts. Granted, that’s a heavy lift for most organizations. But essential. Roger will be talking about this in tomorrow’s post.
So, what changes are you making? If I were your CEO, what 2-3 fundraising changes would you propose to me, looking me in the eye, declaring you were confident these changes would produce better results in the coming year? [Hey, if I were your CEO, I would settle for a well-conceived testing plan that offered significant upside.]
Tom
2 responses to “Anything New On Your Fundraising Agenda?”
Behavioral Science Q & A
Integrating an individual giving appeal with other communications from a charity can have both positive and negative effects, and the outcome largely depends on how it’s executed. Advantages of Integration Brand Consistency: Maintaining a consistent appearance and messaging across all communications can reinforce the org’s brand identity and strengthen brand recognition and trust among your […]
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I’m not aware of any in-market tests specifically comparing recurring vs. gift frequency language. I suspect the answer might not be the same with all gift frequencies, nor with all people. It sounds like a great opportunity for you to test and find out what works for your audience. Based on the literature, here’s a couple […]
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Based on what we know from existing data, those renewal notices can actually be pretty effective in getting people to donate. They tap into our psychology – creating a sense of urgency, reminding us of past support, and using personalization to make the message hit home. They’re playing on our natural tendencies to feel obligated […]
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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 […]
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There’s just one thing to consider when designing a supporter journey: the supporter. More specifically, you need to take into account: Who the supporter is i.e. their identity, which is the reason they support this cause, and their personality, which describes the way they “see” and process the world. These will determine the kind of […]
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I’m not an expert in this but a quick search surfaced this article on the effect of tax reforms on 2019’s charitable giving. The researchers didn’t find a reduction. Actually, they observed an “increase in charitable contributions in 2019, even with the lower tax rates and the dramatically smaller number of taxpayers who itemize their […]
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hey tom: if i were ceo, here would be my directives
1. market bequests actively to the most loyal quarter of our donor file
2. get serious about creating a band of donors at the $500 to $2,500 level using direct response tactics
3. create a meaningful offer (in other words, giving my donors a VERY good reason to upgrade) to start a campaign to convert 10% of my single gift file to monthly giving
oops – did i not mention new donor acquisition? hmmm…guess that didn’t make the top three cut
Hey,
The fundraising changes I’d propose are:
1 – Similar to the above, It’d be to halt mass marketing and instead target existing high contributing donors. I would work on building a better relationship with these people
2- Target appropriate HNW individuals and offer gratifying rewards in exchange for donations…
Hmmm – I’ll come back to the third point…