Our Tips For Fundraising In Tough Times
Last Friday, The Agitator hosted over 70 nonprofit fundraisers in a "tele-briefing" on "Fundraising in Tough Times." We reviewed fundraisers’ responses to our recent Vital Signs surveys (results here and here) and offered our advice on how to cope.
Attesting to the level of concern out there, we had more attempted subscribers than "seats" for the call. Lesson learned!
So we’ve made the one-hour session available in this audio file audio file. It’s free for you to download and we hope you’ll share it with your colleagues. We welcome your feedback.
Also, to prepare for the call, Roger and I each prepared our own "top ten list" of steps we would recommend for fundraising in the tough times ahead. You can download our Tips for Fundraising in Tough Times for free right now. Since we talk to each other all the time, it’s not surprising that our lists are quite similar … perhaps more different in emphasis than in actions recommended. Again, we welcome feedback and reports on the strategies you are employing.
We hope you find our tele-briefing tele-briefing and tips helpful!
Tom
P.S. And watch for details on our next Editors’ Tele-briefing to be held December 12th. The topic will be generational differences in giving levels, attitudes toward charities, issue interests and preferred channels, issus addressed in the White Papers we recently released to our Premium Service subscribers (here and here), based upon data from our DonorTrends 2008 survey.
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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