Crystal Ball Webinar 1 14 09 Final

Gazing Into The Crystal Ball: Individual Giving in 2009

Past is Prologue…or is it?
The American people are the same generous souls they were in the past 40 years, when total giving increased every year but one ...
But fundraising is different today. What approaches and messages will work when the economy is contracting and multi-media is expanding?
Helping non profits meet and exceed their fundraising goals

Good News Figures
According to Giving USA 2008:
Charitable giving exceeded $300 billion in 2007 for the first time in history
Giving rose by 3.9 percent in 2007
Boomers are the fastest growing donor segment – and they are getting increasingly wired

Good News Figures
According to a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll :
3 of 4 dollars donated in 2007 came from individuals; the rest were from corporations, foundations and charitable bequests
90% of people 65 and older donated money to a charity in the past year
8 in 10 Americans donated money or volunteered time to a charity in the past year

Good News Figures
Non-Profit Times says 8 out of 10 appeals are opened and looked at; direct mail still is the best-read medium
Vertis’ Customer Focus Poll, Non-Profit:
59% who give use direct mail for philanthropy
62% say the most important factor is the personalized nature of appeals; 59% say timing; special offer 32%; urgency 30%

Bad News Figures
According to the USA TODAY/Gallup Poll :
66% of Americans expected to donate the same or more in 2008 as they did the previous year, but 72% said their finances would affect their philanthropy.
U.S. companies donated an average of 0.8% of their pretax profits in 2007, down from 1.4% in 2004.

Bad News Figures
The top 8% of households based on income and wealth, which is responsible for more than 50 percent of charitable giving, have been most affected by the current economic crisis.
Only 6% of all households gave online in 2007, according to Giving USA

Good News/Bad News Figures
In a survey conducted by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University:
Fundraisers experienced more success with direct mail in the first half of 2008 than they predicted in December 2007.
All other fundraising techniques met with less success than predicted.

According to a survey of nonprofits conducted by the DMA’s Nonprofit Federation in late 2008:
40% received smaller gifts from fewer donors
33% received larger gifts from fewer donors
14% received smaller gifts from more donors
8% received larger gifts from more donors
61% were doing the same as or better than ‘07
Helping non profits meet and exceed their fundraising goals Good News/Bad News Figures

Forecast: Partly Cloudy
According to Boston College's Center on Wealth and Philanthropy:
Because high-net worth donors tend to plan their contributions a year ahead, the full impact to giving levels may not be felt until later
Charitable giving levels may not be affected as much or for as long as feared
During the dot.com bust, giving increased by 1%.
One year after the 1987 crash, giving was up 7.1%.

Forecast: Potentially Stormy
The Perfect “F” Storm: food prices, fuel price volatility, financial market turmoil, falling employment figures
If incomes decline significantly, the impact on charitable donations is likely to be much greater this year.

Forecast: Partly Cloudy
Direct mail is predicted to remain the most-used medium for individual donations over the next 10 years…
But 37% of prospects will turn to your website before making a decision to give by mail

Focus On: Improving the Long- Term Value of Your Donors
R ecognize the relationship and make a big deal about it: Acknowledge the contribution with a thank you note. Send a new donor welcome kit.
E ngage using meaningful content delivered through multi-channel efforts — newsletters, regular updates, surveys, tax statements, invitations.

N ew and easy ways of giving should be introduced: pledge opportunities, honor/memorial, monthly, and planned giving options.
E arn trust with operational openness; document your good stewardship.

W iden the scope of your existing programs or add new ones — a static organization loses support of donors over time.
A sk again within 6 months of the first gift, suggesting reasonable upgrades. Analyze results.
L isten to donors. Regularly solicit feedback about what they want.

Donor Cultivation Summary
R ecognize the relationship
E ngage
N ew ways of giving
E arn their trust
W iden the scope of your programs or add new ones
A sk again within 6 months and analyze results
L isten to them

Focus on: Turning Prospects into Donors
M ission clarity: What are your goals?
O rganizational effectiveness: how efficient are you in fulfilling your mission?
T estimonials and endorsements: use a powerful story from someone who has been helped in a tangible way; get endorsements from celebrities whose support lends credibility .

I mpact made by the gift: specifically, how will you put donations to work over the next 12 months?
V alues: clearly demonstrated ideals of your organization will coincide with their own, bolstering the case for support.
Helping non profits meet and exceed their fundraising goals Focus on: Turning Prospects into Donors

A ccomplishments: what did you achieve with donated funds in the past 6-12 months?
T ransparency: openness builds trust; show them the money!
E ducate, but don’t forget to ASK. Evaluate your results.
Helping non profits meet and exceed their fundraising goals Focus on: Turning Prospects into Donors

Prospecting Summary
M ission clarity
O rganizational effectiveness
T estimonials and endorsements
I mpact made by the gift
V alues
A ccomplishments
T ransparency
E ducate and evaluate results

Focus On: Content
For older donors: use stories to elicit an emotional response
For Gen X and Gen Y: report results, detail plans and offer involvement options
For Baby Boomers: use both emotional and factual approach
For all audiences, include details on where their donations go
Use pie charts to demonstrate good stewardship

Focus On: Branding
Create a specific landing page for your direct mail recipients that has a “look and feel” consistent with your DM campaign
Be brief! State your mission, invite them in.
Make prominent links to:
Financial information
Videos
Ways to donate
pURLs can be used for personalized asks.

Focus On: Style
Don’t obsess about sentence structure… make it conversational and readable
For direct mail:
Personalize the ask based on donor history
For emotional appeals, longer is okay, but…
Keep paragraphs short – 5 lines or less
Use 11 or 12 point type
Preserve white space with good margins and generous line spacing

Focus On: Style
For your landing page:
Shorter is better – no scrolling required!
Use a readable “screen font”
Offer some new information. A bit more detail and mention it in your mail piece.
Graphically resonant
Big donate now button

Focus On: Making Your Case
To make a solid case for support, describe how your experience, achievements and plans will :
Save lives,
Improve lives,
Create hope for the future,
Achieve greater cost efficiency,
Expand programs to do more, and…
How this will be of potential benefit to donor

Focus On: Setting Achievable Goals
Limit acquisition to renewable new donors.
Don’t solicit too far afield from your mission
Be judicious in using premiums
Choose one: growth in donor file or revenue?
Keep to schedule and stay on course until results are clear

Focus On: Reducing the Budget
Allocate resources where they most impact net income – maximize efforts to core donors
Carefully monitor your lapsed segments by year of lapsed to reduce risk of over-mailing
Mail conservatively to event attendees and memorial donors, and segment them properly
Keep data clean and updated
Think twice before giving away premiums or enclosing non-essential inserts

Focus On: Long-Term Success
Find ways to elicit multiple, upgraded gifts from each donor :
Acknowledge gifts
Send welcome kits to new donors
Ask again within 6 months
Offer secure on-line and monthly giving options
Send Newsletters or other updates
Provide year-end tax statements
Create Donor Loyalty and Cumulative Giving programs that can be recognized using giving history
Give good reasons for donors to upgrade; acknowledge when they do
Multi-channel marketing – do it now!

Focus On: Short-Term Strategy
Look for Challenge Grant opportunities – donors will appreciate the positive effects a compoundied gift
Emergency Appeals for Social Service organizations – now is the time, but don’t over-use it!
Focus on donor’s emotional identification – their sense of caring. Donors who are able to give more will upgrade to compensate for others who can no longer afford to contribute.
55% of Americans said friends and family have the most influence on their decision to give to a charity, so cultivate your donors!

Fundraising is a marathon, not a sprint. Use every technique available to you to generate a gift, but don’t conclude success or failure on immediate results alone. You’re in it for the long haul … your ROIs are profitable only when you’ve started the renewal phase. Organizational patience, foresight and fortitude will reward you in the end! Conclusion Helping non profits meet and exceed their fundraising goals

These slides will be available on the website at www.drsol.org/news tomorrow.
I will be sending a brief follow-up survey tomorrow and I hope you will take a moment to complete it.
THANK YOU FOR JOINING US.
Wrapping up: Helping non profits meet and exceed their fundraising goals

We’ll begin with any questions submitted via the chat feature and then open up the floor.
Time for questions: Helping non profits meet and exceed their fundraising goals

Contact:
For more information or for permission, please contact Marcia Scowcroft.

Crystal Ball Webinar 1 14 09 Final

by liznnorb on Feb 27, 2009

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Crystal Ball Webinar 1 14 09 Final — Presentation Transcript