The Keys To Successful Fundraising
In the first decade of my career, before discovering the wonders of direct mail, I did honest labor managing capital campaigns and major gift efforts. In those early years I was blessed with a remarkable mentor named G. Richard Kuch.
He was an old school fundraiser and campaigner. Meaning, he believed strongly that none of us should allowed call themselves a ‘fundraiser’ or ‘fundraising consultant’ — let alone be turned loose on a client — until we had been through 6 years of apprenticeship, thoroughly mentored and vetted.
Of course that’s no longer the case. Today, lots of folks who have never been through a mentored apprenticeship, but who can probably spell ‘fundraiser’ and probably even ‘consultant’, can hang out a shingle claiming to be either or both.
One of the advantages of the old apprentice system was the insistence on mastering the basics before being let loose on the world. There were proper, proven paths to success and woe be to any of us who attempted to shortcut them.
Dick Kuch’s admonition still rings in my ears: “Craver, I know you believe in miracles, but I’m tellin’ you it sure helps to plan and organize for them.”
And so the memories came flooding back when I saw this Tweet from Steve MacLaughlin, Director of Blackbaud’s Idea Lab. From @SMacLaughlin came this headline: “In 1932, Lyman Pierce spelled out the keys to a successful fundraising campaign. Still true today.”
Lyman Pierce was one of the pioneers of modern, organized fundraising. Along with Charles Sumner Ward, he perfected the modern, time-limited fundraising campaign. What Henry Ford did for automobiles and William Randolph Hearst did for newspapers in that same period, Ward and Pierce did for fundraising — they organized what previously had been a very disorganized business.
Out of their efforts emerged what they called the ‘laboratory method’, meaning that every step along their organized fundraising path (they called it a ‘campaign’) could be tested and measured.
According to Lyman Pierce:
“The campaign as it progresses is the most revealing and enlightening process of discovering the extent of waste and weaknesses of operation, in evaluating friends [prospects], in uncovering mistakes in policy, in the formation of programs.”
Here according to Pierce are the 11 “major factors, which determine to a considerable extent in advance the potentialities of a campaign”:
- An appealing case
- Competent agency management
- A reasonable objective
- A friendly, well-informed constituency
- Timeliness
- Numerous points of contact
- An unhurried period of preparation
- An adequate scale of giving
- Substantial preliminary gifts
- Tested methods
- Competent direction
Of course even 100 years ago fundraising consultants suffered the Sin of Pride and monetized their immodesty:
“A well-directed campaign will take each [of the 11 factors ] into account. Experience has much to contribute. The campaign specialist who has repeatedly applied the laboratory method to every step in the campaign process has valuable counsel and advice which is obtainable in analyzing and appraising these eleven points.” — How to Raise Money, Lyman Pierce, 1931, Harper, Page 20.
I kind of long for the good old days of old-fashioned consultant puffery. Pierce doesn’t invoke ‘thought leadership’ … ‘moves management’ … ‘donor journeys’ … ‘omni-presence’ or even ‘multi-channel integration’. Just ‘tested methods’ and ‘competent direction’.
What’s in the response to your RFP?
Roger
P.S. Thanks to Steve MacLaughlin for awakening the pioneering ghosts of the past.
8 responses to “The Keys To Successful Fundraising”
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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Hi Roger: About awakening the pioneering ghosts of the past in your post, The Keys To Successful Fundraising, I’m remembering J Calvert Clark, founder of Christian Children’s Fund — who told me — when I was struggling with a letter,
“Tell your grandmother a story.”
Jerry
Hi Roger – Over the last few years I have been politely, and not-so-politely been told that my position that direct mail is in terminal decline is “just my opinion.” Thank you for your piece today on fundraising campaigns. It is a yet another clear reminder that the core of every successful fundraising campaign, capital and otherwise is a “list” of supporters … the sine qua non, if you will. Without the ability to generate (cost effectively) a list of supporters, the whole of the fundraising campaign methodology collapses. Fundraising today is built on a precarious belief that snail mail will always be there. It will not. Fundraisers must begin the real work of moving online to acquire their new supporters so that future campaigns will have a list to go to.
RE: Mike – Yes, DM is showing a decline, as more donors are using different ways to make their gift. However, donors in general appear to be declining for some types of non-profits.
Keep in mind several things DM still speaks to many of your donors over the age of 55+. Until they begin to fully merge over to on-line, mobile, event, e-mail, etc. DM is still the primary source for “mass” communications and gift appeals.
Shifts like this have happened in Yellow pages advertising, newspaper advertising and magazine advertising. It is a slow shift and so additional investment may be required until the targeted base either migrates or no longer pulls in such large revenue.
Good luck!
Thanks Roger!
People forget that if they want to have a successful mailing campaign, they have to do the hard work ahead of time communicating with their donors, to create a “friendly, well-informed constituency.”
A successful mailing campaign doesn’t just happen from one or two great letters. All the context has to be there too!
Hey Kerri – you are so right, direct mail is following the Yellow pages, newspapers and magazine advertising. And of course the reason those Advertising modes are failing is because their “print” media is failing. DM isn’t just “showing decline,” it is in total decline.
Professor Clayton Christensen talks to this phenomenon in his book, The Innovator’s Dilemma. When an innovation [such as the Internet] comes along, leaders have three options; 1) do nothing, 2) develop a plan to shift their whole business model over to the new innovation, or 3) set up a new group and give this group the innovation and have it compete directly with the existing model. Professor Christensen comes down recommending option 3.
For NPO fundraisers, keep doing what you are doing [i. e. keep mailing as long as it works] but quickly … very quickly … begin to shift your focus online.
Kerri, I’m a 60+ year old baby boomer and I don’t go anywhere without my iPhone. I haven’t bought a print book or print newspaper in at least three years. The shift online for fundraising isn’t coming … it’s already here!
There’s probably no one here believing in the future of online fundraising more than us, as we are a fundraising platform for nonprofits and churches, called Fundlio (you can find us at http://www.fundlio.com)
I agree with Gail, context does matter, but thanks to the new fundraising tools and online marketing techniques borrowed from for-profit businesses, getting started in the world of fundraising nowadays is easier.
I urge all of you to be more specific in your comments-are you referencing major donors? Sustainers? The one time crowdfunding donor? Please-spell out your context. Thanks.
Hi, Marjorie
This is how I see things:reaching major donors requires one-to-one interaction, which is more expensive and time consuming.
This is why nonprofits use online tools first and start with microgiving, so they identify those prospects who have a large giving potential. On the other hand, getting large amounts of small gifts is not a bad thing either.
But, above all, cheaper online fundraising tactics enable nonprofits to identify people who can become major donors, and only afterwards allocate more time and resources to engage with those prospects.