One of my all-time favorite fundraising copywriters is Tom Gaffny. For nearly 30 years he ran the creative shop at Epsilon and continues to post top results with his firm, Tom Gaffny Consulting.

What sets Tom and other great fundraising copywriters apart from the pack is their ability to go way beyond skillfully putting words on paper or digits online. Way beyond.

They practice their craft with an understanding that the donor is all that matters. They refuse to write the sort of drivel that satisfies their clients’ institutional ego, packed with jargon, stats and myriad meaningless organization-centric nuances.

In short, in our world chock full of ‘expert’ silos, they refuse to compartmentalize what they do as ‘copywriting’. They think holistically then focus, laser-like on the donor.

So it was with delight that I listened to Tom’s rant, Myths and Dark Legends: How Old Conventional ‘Truths’ Are Holding Us Back, delivered in a most genteel and charming fashion to a group of nonprofit leaders at Blackbaud’s recent npNext conference.

Blackbaud will be making videos of the npNext 2014 conference available online soon and you can see all of Tom’s presentation there. But meanwhile, I couldn’t wait to share two of Tom’s ‘Myths and Dark Legends’ with you as you begin planning for next year.

GAFFNY’s MYTH AND DARK LEGEND #2: “Acquisition is the Key to Our Growth.”

This persistent myth results in almost obsessive focus on acquisition that undermines the future of most nonprofits. According to Tom:

• “The biggest issue today isn’t acquisition. It’s file growth.”

• “Retention is the key to file growth.”

• BUT… “sadly, as seen in a 2013-14 NonprofitMarketing.Guide.com survey, only 30% of the respondents felt ‘Retaining Current Donors’ was their most important goal, while 57% felt ‘Acquiring New Donors’ was most important.”

• “We may be the only industry in the world that doesn’t view Retention as the key to growth.”

Tom urges that nonprofits strike a better balance than overspending on acquisition and under-spending on retention. He notes:

• “Imagine if 4 years ago you cut acquisition spend by 25% and used that money to improve your multi-year retention rate by just 2%.

• “Today you’d have as many — most likely even more — donors, including more multi-year donors and as a result…

• “Far more net revenue.”

[Editor’s note: Do the numbers for your own organization and you’ll be amazed.]

In Tom’s view here are the keys to improving retention.

Commit to greater investment in retention. Focus on:

• Truly knowing your best supporters. Their interests, their needs.
  

• Use the entire profile of the donor — not just transactions, but other actions, attitudes, attributes and passion — to identify the donor’s interests and needs.

• Then nurture true relationships through superior donor service.

Tom, a Boston resident, illustrated ‘superior donor service’ with an example of a note he and his wife Candace received from Food for the Poor right after the Boston Marathon Bombing. “Saw the Marathon coverage. Hope you’re OK. Sending prayers. Will call soon but would love to hear from you. 954-427-XXXX.”

Wow! Now that’s donor care. Real donor service!

GAFFNY’S MYTH AND DARK LEGEND #3: “We’re totally donor centric — especially with our top donors.”

Everyone who talks about fundraising heaven ain’t going there. Least of all those fundraisers in denial about what it really means to be donor-centric.

Here’s how that myth usually plays out according to Tom:

• “The top of your file is your ‘Treasure Chest’. BUT … In too many cases these donors are treated like everyone else.

EXCEPT…

• “… They get first class postage … Or a closed-face envelope … And, we don’t bother them as much.”

Frightening. But, all too true.

Tom finds the terms we use to talk about our donors even more frightening:

• We ACQUIRE Donors (the ‘hostage taking’ phase)

• We RECAPTURE them, and if they lapse we send them a ‘Why have you forsaken us?’ letter…

• … and put them through a CONVERSION.

In short, our language reflects our attitude toward donors.

Anything in these ‘Myths and Dark Legends’ familiar?

Roger

P.S. Beyond sending off an Agitator raise to Tom, I’ll pass on Tom’s tip for building great donor relationships. Read and heed Dale Carnegie’s 1936 classic, How to Win Friends and Influence People.

Here are Carnegie’s –and Tom’s—top six tips:

1. Become genuinely interested in other people.
2. Smile. (Be thankful, gracious)
3. Remember that a person’s name is, to that person, the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
4. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.
5. Talk in terms of the other person’s interest.
6. Make the other person feel important – and do it sincerely.