This document discusses strategies for non-profits to increase donations from mid-level donors who give between annual donations and major gifts. It references research showing that 3% of "ordinary" donors who give $35 annually have given over $500 or $1000 to other charities. Focusing fundraising efforts on these hidden heroes could add 30% more to net revenues. The key demographic for large single gifts are Baby Boomers aged 46-66 who have paid off debts and have disposable income. Three segments of mid-level donors are identified: older wealthy donors, religious donors on fixed incomes, and philanthropic professionals.
The document provides an overview of fundraising strategies and best practices. It discusses that while challenges remain, charitable giving has increased in recent years. The majority of donations come from individuals, especially those with incomes under $90,000. Building relationships and retaining current donors through frequent communication and engagement is emphasized. Personal asks remain the most effective strategy, though online engagement and acquisition is growing in importance.
According to research of giving patterns since 1966 compiled by the Giving USA Foundation, only bequests averaged an increase during recessionary periods. All
other types of giving either remained static or reported declines.
But is your planned giving program getting its fair share of the marketing budget?
We scoured the internet to find the following awesome information. And, although we can’t take credit for the research, we can take credit for the pretty charts!
So feel free to share this report with colleagues and friends (including your board). And when you’re ready to engage in serious marketing to find hidden gifts, generate
leads and cultivate relationships, we hope you’ll reach out to us: http://imarketsmart.com/contact-us
After all, our mission is to help further your mission.
ENJOY THE REPORT!
Mythbusters - Why Conventional Fundraising Wisdom is WrongDamian O'Broin
This document discusses three myths about fundraising and philanthropy:
1) Sending thank you letters to donors is a waste of time. However, several studies and organizations found increased donations when thank you letters were sent.
2) You can't replicate a viral fundraising campaign like the ice bucket challenge. While difficult, the document provides tips for developing a campaign that could also go viral with proper resources, culture, patience, tools, and strategies.
3) Germany is the best football team in the world. This myth is busted, as Germany cannot claim this title absolutely.
DMA Non Profit Conference - Diversity in Giving & how to reach all your suppo...dennis mccarthy
A review of the 2014 Diversity in Giving report along side presentations by Russ Reid Inc and Operation Smile on how they are reaching out to Hispanic Americans
Need funds for your church, youth group, or mission trip?
Check out our 20 amazing (and profitable) fundraising ideas for churches and religious organizations!
MarketSmart Words That Work: The Phrases That Encourage Planned GivingMarketSmart
This document provides guidance on effective language for encouraging planned giving. It discusses how words that reference family and social connections ("family words") outperform more formal language. Key recommendations include using phrases like "make a gift" instead of legal terms, mentioning charitable gifts in one's will, and incorporating stories of living donors. The document also notes that social norms influence giving decisions and that memorializing a loved one can motivate legacy gifts. It advises tailoring messages and approaches to an individual's stage of consideration.
The document provides an overview of fundraising strategies and best practices. It discusses that while challenges remain, charitable giving has increased in recent years. The majority of donations come from individuals, especially those with incomes under $90,000. Building relationships and retaining current donors through frequent communication and engagement is emphasized. Personal asks remain the most effective strategy, though online engagement and acquisition is growing in importance.
According to research of giving patterns since 1966 compiled by the Giving USA Foundation, only bequests averaged an increase during recessionary periods. All
other types of giving either remained static or reported declines.
But is your planned giving program getting its fair share of the marketing budget?
We scoured the internet to find the following awesome information. And, although we can’t take credit for the research, we can take credit for the pretty charts!
So feel free to share this report with colleagues and friends (including your board). And when you’re ready to engage in serious marketing to find hidden gifts, generate
leads and cultivate relationships, we hope you’ll reach out to us: http://imarketsmart.com/contact-us
After all, our mission is to help further your mission.
ENJOY THE REPORT!
Mythbusters - Why Conventional Fundraising Wisdom is WrongDamian O'Broin
This document discusses three myths about fundraising and philanthropy:
1) Sending thank you letters to donors is a waste of time. However, several studies and organizations found increased donations when thank you letters were sent.
2) You can't replicate a viral fundraising campaign like the ice bucket challenge. While difficult, the document provides tips for developing a campaign that could also go viral with proper resources, culture, patience, tools, and strategies.
3) Germany is the best football team in the world. This myth is busted, as Germany cannot claim this title absolutely.
DMA Non Profit Conference - Diversity in Giving & how to reach all your suppo...dennis mccarthy
A review of the 2014 Diversity in Giving report along side presentations by Russ Reid Inc and Operation Smile on how they are reaching out to Hispanic Americans
Need funds for your church, youth group, or mission trip?
Check out our 20 amazing (and profitable) fundraising ideas for churches and religious organizations!
MarketSmart Words That Work: The Phrases That Encourage Planned GivingMarketSmart
This document provides guidance on effective language for encouraging planned giving. It discusses how words that reference family and social connections ("family words") outperform more formal language. Key recommendations include using phrases like "make a gift" instead of legal terms, mentioning charitable gifts in one's will, and incorporating stories of living donors. The document also notes that social norms influence giving decisions and that memorializing a loved one can motivate legacy gifts. It advises tailoring messages and approaches to an individual's stage of consideration.
10 Strategies for Post COVID-19 fundraising in complex and major giftsRussell James
The document outlines 10 strategies for nonprofit fundraising in the post-COVID-19 environment for complex and major gifts. It recommends beginning with showing concern for donors' well-being. It suggests focusing initial fundraising efforts on donors with donor-advised funds, as they are more likely to donate assets already set aside for charity. Special one-time requests may work well but should identify a crisis for beneficiaries rather than the organization. Planned gifts can help address donor uncertainty. Charitable gift annuities and retained life estates in homes or farmland provide tax benefits and lifetime income. Charitable lead and income tax planning trusts allow donors tax deductions. "Charitable swaps" of appreciated assets for cash donations provide tax benefits even in
Natural philanthropy: How the natural origins of donor motivations drive powe...Russell James
Charitable giving is not a modern invention of the industrialized world. It is a natural behavior as old as humankind. In this presentation, Professor James reviews scientific research from a range of disciplines to uncover the natural origins of philanthropy and translates these scientific concepts into effective fundraising strategies. Be prepared to see how theory and science can produce powerful, practical, real-world fundraising success.
The document discusses upcoming Spring/Summer 2015 fashion trends for evening wear in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego. It summarizes key demographic information and psychographics for each city and predicts popular styles, colors, and fabrics. For women, trends will include retro and nautical inspired looks using fabrics like linen, silk, and lace. Colors will include purples, pinks, and greens inspired by nature. For men, trends include color blocking and tailored shorts using fabrics like linen and herringbone prints. Popular retailers in each city are also listed.
The board of directors plays a crucial role in fundraising for an organization. Board members should individually commit to raising a certain amount of money or working on specific fundraising strategies. It is a good idea for board members doing fundraising on their own to write up plans detailing their commitments. Presenting board members with 53 specific fundraising methods can help counter excuses for not fundraising and gives them a sense of being able to significantly help by completing their plan. Examples of methods include giving themselves, hosting events, and utilizing their own networks and resources.
Why cash is not king in fundraising: Results from 1 million nonprofit tax ret...Russell James
This research tracks the fundraising growth of hundreds of thousands of nonprofit organizations from 2010 through 2016 to identify what predicts current and long-term fundraising growth. A key predictor is whether the nonprofit effectively pursues gifts of assets (e.g., stocks, bonds, real estate) rather than gifts of cash. This presentation reviews these comprehensive results, investigates the psychological and practical aspects of why gifts of assets are so critical for high-growth fundraising, and discusses strategies for effectively pursuing these important gifts.
This document summarizes a study on philanthropic support for "unpopular" causes in the UK. It finds that while the UK is generous, donations are not equally distributed among all good causes. Some causes, like cancer and animal charities, receive significantly more funding than others addressing issues like mental health, addiction, or refugees. Research shows giving is driven more by donor preferences and personal connections than beneficiary need alone. The report provides case studies of charities that have overcome barriers to attract funding. It concludes by offering tips for charities that have struggled, such as actively asking donors, investing in fundraising, and reframing causes to engage emotions.
These slides are taken from the graduate financial planning course "Introduction to Charitable Planning" at Texas Tech University. Details at www.EncourageGenerosity.com
Working with Friends Groups: The Good, the Great, and the UnfriendlyALATechSource
This document discusses the history and changing nature of Friends groups that support libraries. It notes that while Friends groups were traditionally led by older volunteers, newer volunteers tend to be younger and prefer discrete, short-term tasks. However, many Friends groups still rely on aging leadership structures. The document warns about signs that a Friends group has become rogue, such as withholding funds or opposing library policies. It provides suggestions for libraries to maintain positive relationships with Friends groups through communication, respect, and establishing clear guidelines.
Direct mail case studies from the fundraising sector in IrelandPost Media
This document provides summaries of 9 direct mail case studies from various non-profit organizations in Ireland. Each case study outlines the organization, campaign details, target audience, strategy, and results. Key highlights include Women's Aid increasing donor acquisition through an impactful envelope design telling a story of domestic abuse, and Barnardos successfully engaging children to fundraise through an interactive direct mail piece about a toddler walking event.
This document provides tips and guidance for individual and group fundraising for Global Brigades. It outlines a basic fundraising process including forming a game plan, identifying potential donors like family, friends, community groups, and local businesses. Specific fundraising ideas are suggested targeting different interests like science, music, or local businesses. The document emphasizes planning ahead, clear communication, and utilizing online resources for additional fundraising materials and ideas.
Using "natural philanthropy" in fundraisingRussell James
Charitable giving is not a modern invention of the industrialized world. It is a natural behavior as old as humankind. In this presentation, Professor James reviews scientific research from a range of disciplines to uncover the natural origins of philanthropy and translates these scientific concepts into effective fundraising strategies. Be prepared to see how theory and science can produce powerful, practical, real-world fundraising success.
This document provides tips for launching a successful social fundraising campaign. It explains that social fundraising involves friends asking friends to support a cause through viral storytelling. The key ingredients for an effective social campaign are presenting a compelling story about the cause's impact, setting a specific fundraising goal and timeline, making a bite-sized donation ask, highlighting any benefits for donors, and making it easy for supporters to spread the word. It concludes by advising the reader to choose a goal and impact statement, communicate urgency, select a fundraising platform, engage influential supporters, align messaging across channels, and launch the campaign.
Interested in raising money online, but not sure where to get started? Learn the first ten steps from an industry expert who has helped nonprofits and political candidates raise over $216 million through the power of social media.
The document provides information about The Rotary Foundation's mission, history, programs, and funding. It discusses when the Foundation was founded and key events like launching its first program. It also summarizes the Foundation's funding model including the Annual Fund, Endowment Fund, and recognition opportunities for individual donors and clubs.
The document discusses different types of giving including individual donations, corporate and foundation grants, and government support. It provides tips for identifying, cultivating, and asking potential donors, emphasizing building personal relationships. The focus is on retaining donors through prompt thank you notes, reporting on impact, and not over-soliciting to encourage repeat gifts.
Telling stories in fundraising: connecting your donors to your mission so you...Joanna Bartlett
Joanna Bartlett has always told stories. Most of them true. She's an award-winning professional writer, having honed her skills in journalism, public relations and fundraising -- spinning yarns about people and their impact on the world around them. She has 15 years professional writing and editing experience and is published in a broad range of newsletters, newspapers and magazines. Before launching Alight Communication in 2013, Joanna was a key player in marketing communications for PeaceHealth Foundations, spearheading strategic and collaborative initiatives across the organization. Before moving to Oregon in 2009, Joanna lead Earthscribe, a marketing communications firm in upstate New York. Joanna spent the previous five years providing web and communications expertise at Rochester Institute of Technology, bringing the news office into the social media arena.
This document provides a summary and excerpt of a job search guide for new graduates. It includes tips on choosing a career path, conducting an effective job search through networking and persistence, and crafting strong resumes and cover letters to stand out. Key advice involves focusing applications by tailoring materials to specific opportunities and highlighting relevant experience and skills. The guide also stresses maintaining a professional online presence through social media as employers increasingly check candidates' profiles.
Cirque du Soleil's BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY: One-page Story of How Cirque du Solei...Rod King, Ph.D.
The document outlines Cirque du Soleil's blue ocean strategy for reinventing the circus. It describes their value innovation focus of eliminating traditional circus elements like animal acts and concessions, while increasing their unique venue and creating new productions with music and dance themes. The strategy canvas shows how they targeted new customer segments like adults and corporations and delivered the product through premium ticket sales and media partnerships to experience live entertainment in an artistic show format.
The Future of Social Media is Messaging Apps: How Do Brands Fit In?Brian Honigman
The document discusses how Facebook acquired WhatsApp for $19 billion in 2014, recognizing the emerging trends of mobile usage and growth of chat apps. It notes that chat apps represent a new marketing frontier with untapped potential for monetization. While chat marketing offers opportunities, the document cautions that permission and an established following are required for success, not just money, so marketers need to start engaging audiences through chat.
10 Strategies for Post COVID-19 fundraising in complex and major giftsRussell James
The document outlines 10 strategies for nonprofit fundraising in the post-COVID-19 environment for complex and major gifts. It recommends beginning with showing concern for donors' well-being. It suggests focusing initial fundraising efforts on donors with donor-advised funds, as they are more likely to donate assets already set aside for charity. Special one-time requests may work well but should identify a crisis for beneficiaries rather than the organization. Planned gifts can help address donor uncertainty. Charitable gift annuities and retained life estates in homes or farmland provide tax benefits and lifetime income. Charitable lead and income tax planning trusts allow donors tax deductions. "Charitable swaps" of appreciated assets for cash donations provide tax benefits even in
Natural philanthropy: How the natural origins of donor motivations drive powe...Russell James
Charitable giving is not a modern invention of the industrialized world. It is a natural behavior as old as humankind. In this presentation, Professor James reviews scientific research from a range of disciplines to uncover the natural origins of philanthropy and translates these scientific concepts into effective fundraising strategies. Be prepared to see how theory and science can produce powerful, practical, real-world fundraising success.
The document discusses upcoming Spring/Summer 2015 fashion trends for evening wear in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego. It summarizes key demographic information and psychographics for each city and predicts popular styles, colors, and fabrics. For women, trends will include retro and nautical inspired looks using fabrics like linen, silk, and lace. Colors will include purples, pinks, and greens inspired by nature. For men, trends include color blocking and tailored shorts using fabrics like linen and herringbone prints. Popular retailers in each city are also listed.
The board of directors plays a crucial role in fundraising for an organization. Board members should individually commit to raising a certain amount of money or working on specific fundraising strategies. It is a good idea for board members doing fundraising on their own to write up plans detailing their commitments. Presenting board members with 53 specific fundraising methods can help counter excuses for not fundraising and gives them a sense of being able to significantly help by completing their plan. Examples of methods include giving themselves, hosting events, and utilizing their own networks and resources.
Why cash is not king in fundraising: Results from 1 million nonprofit tax ret...Russell James
This research tracks the fundraising growth of hundreds of thousands of nonprofit organizations from 2010 through 2016 to identify what predicts current and long-term fundraising growth. A key predictor is whether the nonprofit effectively pursues gifts of assets (e.g., stocks, bonds, real estate) rather than gifts of cash. This presentation reviews these comprehensive results, investigates the psychological and practical aspects of why gifts of assets are so critical for high-growth fundraising, and discusses strategies for effectively pursuing these important gifts.
This document summarizes a study on philanthropic support for "unpopular" causes in the UK. It finds that while the UK is generous, donations are not equally distributed among all good causes. Some causes, like cancer and animal charities, receive significantly more funding than others addressing issues like mental health, addiction, or refugees. Research shows giving is driven more by donor preferences and personal connections than beneficiary need alone. The report provides case studies of charities that have overcome barriers to attract funding. It concludes by offering tips for charities that have struggled, such as actively asking donors, investing in fundraising, and reframing causes to engage emotions.
These slides are taken from the graduate financial planning course "Introduction to Charitable Planning" at Texas Tech University. Details at www.EncourageGenerosity.com
Working with Friends Groups: The Good, the Great, and the UnfriendlyALATechSource
This document discusses the history and changing nature of Friends groups that support libraries. It notes that while Friends groups were traditionally led by older volunteers, newer volunteers tend to be younger and prefer discrete, short-term tasks. However, many Friends groups still rely on aging leadership structures. The document warns about signs that a Friends group has become rogue, such as withholding funds or opposing library policies. It provides suggestions for libraries to maintain positive relationships with Friends groups through communication, respect, and establishing clear guidelines.
Direct mail case studies from the fundraising sector in IrelandPost Media
This document provides summaries of 9 direct mail case studies from various non-profit organizations in Ireland. Each case study outlines the organization, campaign details, target audience, strategy, and results. Key highlights include Women's Aid increasing donor acquisition through an impactful envelope design telling a story of domestic abuse, and Barnardos successfully engaging children to fundraise through an interactive direct mail piece about a toddler walking event.
This document provides tips and guidance for individual and group fundraising for Global Brigades. It outlines a basic fundraising process including forming a game plan, identifying potential donors like family, friends, community groups, and local businesses. Specific fundraising ideas are suggested targeting different interests like science, music, or local businesses. The document emphasizes planning ahead, clear communication, and utilizing online resources for additional fundraising materials and ideas.
Using "natural philanthropy" in fundraisingRussell James
Charitable giving is not a modern invention of the industrialized world. It is a natural behavior as old as humankind. In this presentation, Professor James reviews scientific research from a range of disciplines to uncover the natural origins of philanthropy and translates these scientific concepts into effective fundraising strategies. Be prepared to see how theory and science can produce powerful, practical, real-world fundraising success.
This document provides tips for launching a successful social fundraising campaign. It explains that social fundraising involves friends asking friends to support a cause through viral storytelling. The key ingredients for an effective social campaign are presenting a compelling story about the cause's impact, setting a specific fundraising goal and timeline, making a bite-sized donation ask, highlighting any benefits for donors, and making it easy for supporters to spread the word. It concludes by advising the reader to choose a goal and impact statement, communicate urgency, select a fundraising platform, engage influential supporters, align messaging across channels, and launch the campaign.
Interested in raising money online, but not sure where to get started? Learn the first ten steps from an industry expert who has helped nonprofits and political candidates raise over $216 million through the power of social media.
The document provides information about The Rotary Foundation's mission, history, programs, and funding. It discusses when the Foundation was founded and key events like launching its first program. It also summarizes the Foundation's funding model including the Annual Fund, Endowment Fund, and recognition opportunities for individual donors and clubs.
The document discusses different types of giving including individual donations, corporate and foundation grants, and government support. It provides tips for identifying, cultivating, and asking potential donors, emphasizing building personal relationships. The focus is on retaining donors through prompt thank you notes, reporting on impact, and not over-soliciting to encourage repeat gifts.
Telling stories in fundraising: connecting your donors to your mission so you...Joanna Bartlett
Joanna Bartlett has always told stories. Most of them true. She's an award-winning professional writer, having honed her skills in journalism, public relations and fundraising -- spinning yarns about people and their impact on the world around them. She has 15 years professional writing and editing experience and is published in a broad range of newsletters, newspapers and magazines. Before launching Alight Communication in 2013, Joanna was a key player in marketing communications for PeaceHealth Foundations, spearheading strategic and collaborative initiatives across the organization. Before moving to Oregon in 2009, Joanna lead Earthscribe, a marketing communications firm in upstate New York. Joanna spent the previous five years providing web and communications expertise at Rochester Institute of Technology, bringing the news office into the social media arena.
This document provides a summary and excerpt of a job search guide for new graduates. It includes tips on choosing a career path, conducting an effective job search through networking and persistence, and crafting strong resumes and cover letters to stand out. Key advice involves focusing applications by tailoring materials to specific opportunities and highlighting relevant experience and skills. The guide also stresses maintaining a professional online presence through social media as employers increasingly check candidates' profiles.
Cirque du Soleil's BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY: One-page Story of How Cirque du Solei...Rod King, Ph.D.
The document outlines Cirque du Soleil's blue ocean strategy for reinventing the circus. It describes their value innovation focus of eliminating traditional circus elements like animal acts and concessions, while increasing their unique venue and creating new productions with music and dance themes. The strategy canvas shows how they targeted new customer segments like adults and corporations and delivered the product through premium ticket sales and media partnerships to experience live entertainment in an artistic show format.
The Future of Social Media is Messaging Apps: How Do Brands Fit In?Brian Honigman
The document discusses how Facebook acquired WhatsApp for $19 billion in 2014, recognizing the emerging trends of mobile usage and growth of chat apps. It notes that chat apps represent a new marketing frontier with untapped potential for monetization. While chat marketing offers opportunities, the document cautions that permission and an established following are required for success, not just money, so marketers need to start engaging audiences through chat.
Lean Startup Analytics and MVP – Lecture and Workshop at Zeppelin UniversitySebastian Fittko
The document summarizes key concepts around startups, minimum viable products (MVP), and achieving product/market fit. It includes workshops on developing hypotheses for a startup idea and creating an MVP. Customers should be interviewed to validate problems and solutions, and qualitative feedback is more important than numbers in understanding customer needs. Various types of MVPs are presented such as landing pages, videos, and single feature products. The goal of an MVP is to validate assumptions quickly before building full features. Achieving product/market fit is the big leap for a startup, and actionable, rather than vanity, metrics should be used to guide decisions.
Learning 3.0 Wokshop - Presented and Facilitated by Caio Cestari Silva (@caiocestari) and Manoel Pimentel (@manoelp) at the Agile Conference 2015 - Washington D.C.
I Want My MVP (Digital Project Management Summit 2014)Anthony Armendariz
Presented by Anthony Armendariz and Danielle Moser from Funsize at the Digital Project Management Summit 2014 - Austin, Texas.
Twitter: #dpm2014, #iwantmymvp
The Minimum Viable Product (or MVP) is the first shippable version of a product containing purely core features, distributed as a test release in order to create useful feedback for the most basic features. Planning for a MVP release requires the Product Owner to know how to organize and prioritize a dense backlog of features, but in an agile environment with a diverse team and uniquely talented vendors we posit they need not do it alone.
Different lenses for knowing what MVP means to your internal and external team so you can know if you are building the right thing.
What must the MVP consist of to be meaningful to the target user? What’s the best way to phase out the release of everything else? What can be cut completely? Basic agile/lean design project management techniques. Important conflict resolution and emotional management techniques. How to sell it with a "Flexible Scope Retainer".
The Future is Here: Messaging Apps are About to Revolutionize MarketingBrian Honigman
This presentation highlights both the big-picture impact messaging apps will have on the marketing landscape and also highlight strategic and tactical takeaways brands can use to begin gaining an advantage on these promising platforms.
To learn more, reference the full article on the subject: http://www.brianhonigman.com/future-of-chat-apps/
Giving is powerful. But it's also complex. This presentation looks at some of the stats of the philanthropic sector as well as some science behind giving, fundraising, and marketing for causes.
Science of Giving - Shift Philanthropy WebinarBrady Josephson
Giving is powerful. But it's also complex. This presentation looks at some of the stats of the philanthropic sector as well as some science behind giving, fundraising, and marketing for causes. Also includes some live poll results.
Building Stronger Donor Relations SystemsColin Cumming
In recent years, phrases like “culture of philanthropy” and “donor centricity” have hit the field by storm, often with budget-breaking strategies for implementation and little information about where to start when one may not be a decision-maker. Thus at the Johnson Center for Philanthropy's Brown Bag Lunch & Learn Series, I facilitated a discussion about the importance of donor relations when it comes to long-term fundraising success and ethical fundraising practices. I also talked about the role of fundraising in the context of arts and cultural organizations.
The goal of the event was for participants to walk away with easy to understand ideas for their own organizations and volunteer roles. I discussed: Donor relations and fundraising from a historical perspective; How to integrate engaging donor relations practices into your fundraising program; Fund development challenges specific to membership-based organizations, arts and cultural organizations, and organizations that frequently request general operating funds.
Before you get started fundraising, you need to understand donors - why they do or do not give. Then using stories to connect and communicate - online and offline. Once that is in place, leveraging the cost effective, high learning, easy to spread nature of online to infuse your fundraising becomes easier.
The document discusses myths and facts related to planned giving. It notes that while cash is important for current operations, the vast majority of wealth in the US is not held as cash. Planned gifts can help non-profits build endowments to support long-term sustainability. While planned gifts may take years to mature, they provide significant support and reach loyal donors who want to make a large impact. The document advocates for starting simple planned giving programs and partnering with professionals to help facilitate more complex gifts.
Planned Giving Opportunities with the Upcoming Transfer of Wealth (Pt. 1/2)West Muse
This document discusses planned giving opportunities for museums through bequests and other planned gifts as part of an upcoming transfer of wealth. It provides an overview of giving trends in the US, the amounts of wealth expected to be transferred between generations in the coming decades, and how different generations approach philanthropic giving. The document then discusses strategies for launching a planned giving program, overcoming challenges, identifying prospective donors, gift types and their tax benefits, and opportunities involving bequests, life insurance, retirement plans, and charitable gift annuities. Experts provide insights on these various planned giving tools and how nonprofits can utilize them.
This document discusses audience segmentation for charities in Great Britain. It presents the CAM segmentation model which divides donors into 6 main segments based on their attitudes, motivations and behaviors related to charitable giving. One of the segments is "Super Doers" who are highly engaged in volunteering, campaigning and community involvement with charities. They are distinguished by their high levels of activity across all forms of charitable engagement. Personal experience with charities is the main driver of their trust and decision to support particular causes.
On Wednesday 2 December The Good Agency hosted a breakfast seminar on the Latest in Legacy Strategy, with speakers Carol Johns from Arthritis Care, and Debbie Clark and Louisa McGinn from The Good Agency.
What Drives Giving: The Heart or Brain: Major Gifts, Planned Gifts & Donor Retention was presented at the 2023 Nonprofit Academy in St Mary's PA and focuses on the power the heart plays in Major Gifts and Planned Giving through conducted research and the personal experience of Gary Bukowski in his fundraising effort to make a difference in Higher Education, with Intellectually Challenged Individuals and most recently at Sarah A Reed Children's Center with children with behavioral challenges. Six donor case studies are reviewed. Recent research is used from the recent book The Embodied Mind by Thomas Verny MD and recent fundraising research. Plus, the author has provided a plethora of resources for the fundraising professional to help them in developing a major gift and planned giving program or enhance their present efforts.
Giving on a Budget: How You Can Make a Big Difference Without Emptying Your W...Lincoln Strategy Group
Donating your money to a charity of nonprofit in your area can be daunting, particularly when your donation pales in comparison to those of others. Fortunately, you don't have to be Bill Gates to make a difference.
The document discusses the benefits of including sharing and philanthropy as part of one's financial plan. It notes that sharing can provide happiness, pride, and a sense of purpose. The document recommends starting to share and volunteer from a young age. It provides examples of organizations for teens to get involved with through donations, volunteering, or microloans. Overall, the document encourages teens to find causes they care about and begin sharing their time, money, or talents.
This document provides an overview of charity watchdog groups and three organizations that provide information to help donors - Charity Guide, Charity Navigator, and the American Institute of Philanthropy. It discusses how these groups provide resources for donors to evaluate nonprofits but that they mainly focus on large national nonprofits and do not provide as much information on small local nonprofits. The document then focuses on Charity Guide, explaining their goals of promoting volunteerism and assigning letter grades to nonprofits based on criteria like financial transparency. However, it notes that Charity Guide does not fully disclose how they determine these ratings.
Donor Communications to See You Through Every CrisisBloomerang
https://bloomerang.co/resources/webinars/
Pamela Grow will provide attendees with an understanding of how a strong, multi-channel donor communications builds sustainability through any crisis.
What donors want fundraising trends for 2012Jim Bush
Jim Bush presented on fundraising trends for 2012. He discussed trends in annual giving such as demand for nonprofit services growing while budgets remain flat, a focus on donor acquisitions over renewals, and the majority of donations now being made online. For major gifts and capital campaigns, trends included donor fatigue, donors giving more time over money, reliance on new donors for campaigns, and multi-year pledges declining. Overall, donors want meaningful relationships with nonprofits and expect to be involved beyond just financial support.
This document discusses several myths about fundraising and donor engagement. It debunks the myths that sending thank you letters is a waste of time, that mailing donors too often will drive them away, and that people need concrete facts and figures to persuade them to donate. It presents evidence that timely thank you's are important to donor commitment, frequent mailings do not negatively impact donors, and emotional stories about individuals can be more effective at inspiring donations than statistics.
The art and science of online fundraising robert wood johnson finalJocelyn Harmon
The document discusses strategies for successful online fundraising. It notes that over $20 billion was raised online in 2010, and online giving continues to grow each year. However, most gifts still come through the mail. The document provides tips for non-profits to improve their online fundraising, including fixing donation pages, writing effective copy for emails, growing email lists, sending thank you's, testing strategies, and using social media appropriately. It emphasizes the importance of mastering online fundraising techniques.
Giving, philanthropy and creating a democratic society. Findings from studies...Giving Centre
This document summarizes three studies on philanthropy and donor behavior. The first study found that while donors believe giving decisions should be needs-based, in reality gifts are influenced more by personal tastes, backgrounds, perceptions of charities' competence, and desires to make an impact. The second study found that homeless individuals prefer fundraising images that educate donors about homelessness over "pity pictures". The third study showed that while corporations control philanthropy, employees select causes based on personal experiences and preferences and see fundraising as an opportunity for fun. In conclusion, philanthropy is supply-driven by donor preferences rather than needs, and cannot be relied on to replace public spending or create a more democratic society.
This document discusses strategies for identifying and cultivating major and planned gift donors, referred to as "top of the pyramid" or "principal" donors. It provides an overview of research on donor profiles and giving behaviors. Donors who make major gifts or planned gifts tend to share demographic characteristics like age, household size, wealth indicators, and philanthropic histories. The document outlines approaches like wealth screening, predictive modeling, and cluster analysis that nonprofits can use to identify and understand top prospective donors based on their giving behaviors and characteristics.
Raise the Money of Your Dreams With Donor-Centered Major Gift FundraisingBloomerang
https://bloomerang.co/resources/webinars/
Join author, speaker and consultant Gail Perry, CFRE, MBA to learn her secrets for bringing major donors – and mega gifts – into your organization.
Predictably Improve Your B2B Tech Company's Performance by Leveraging DataKiwi Creative
Harness the power of AI-backed reports, benchmarking and data analysis to predict trends and detect anomalies in your marketing efforts.
Peter Caputa, CEO at Databox, reveals how you can discover the strategies and tools to increase your growth rate (and margins!).
From metrics to track to data habits to pick up, enhance your reporting for powerful insights to improve your B2B tech company's marketing.
- - -
This is the webinar recording from the June 2024 HubSpot User Group (HUG) for B2B Technology USA.
Watch the video recording at https://youtu.be/5vjwGfPN9lw
Sign up for future HUG events at https://events.hubspot.com/b2b-technology-usa/
ViewShift: Hassle-free Dynamic Policy Enforcement for Every Data LakeWalaa Eldin Moustafa
Dynamic policy enforcement is becoming an increasingly important topic in today’s world where data privacy and compliance is a top priority for companies, individuals, and regulators alike. In these slides, we discuss how LinkedIn implements a powerful dynamic policy enforcement engine, called ViewShift, and integrates it within its data lake. We show the query engine architecture and how catalog implementations can automatically route table resolutions to compliance-enforcing SQL views. Such views have a set of very interesting properties: (1) They are auto-generated from declarative data annotations. (2) They respect user-level consent and preferences (3) They are context-aware, encoding a different set of transformations for different use cases (4) They are portable; while the SQL logic is only implemented in one SQL dialect, it is accessible in all engines.
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Global Situational Awareness of A.I. and where its headedvikram sood
You can see the future first in San Francisco.
Over the past year, the talk of the town has shifted from $10 billion compute clusters to $100 billion clusters to trillion-dollar clusters. Every six months another zero is added to the boardroom plans. Behind the scenes, there’s a fierce scramble to secure every power contract still available for the rest of the decade, every voltage transformer that can possibly be procured. American big business is gearing up to pour trillions of dollars into a long-unseen mobilization of American industrial might. By the end of the decade, American electricity production will have grown tens of percent; from the shale fields of Pennsylvania to the solar farms of Nevada, hundreds of millions of GPUs will hum.
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Everyone is now talking about AI, but few have the faintest glimmer of what is about to hit them. Nvidia analysts still think 2024 might be close to the peak. Mainstream pundits are stuck on the wilful blindness of “it’s just predicting the next word”. They see only hype and business-as-usual; at most they entertain another internet-scale technological change.
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Let me tell you what we see.
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Challenges of Nation Building-1.pptx with more important
Hero giving good_works_2013
1. Finding Your Hidden Heroes
How 3% of your donors could add 30% to your net revenues
A Good Works Whitepaper by Fraser Green
February 2013
@_GoodWorks_
GoodWorksCo
blog.goodworksco.ca
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Shapes and Spaces
The ancient Indian guru Patanjali once said ‘the beauty in music is the space
between the notes.’ This paper is about the empty space in a mind-bendingly
competitive philanthropic marketplace. It’s about hundreds of millions of
unasked-for dollars that are sitting in donors’ cheque books right this minute.
Imagine you’re at the movie theatre – waiting at the end of a very long lineup to buy tickets.
The movie is just about to start and you’re getting very anxious about missing the first ten
minutes. Just then, a friendly theatre staffer comes by, taps you on the shoulder, and tells you
that there’s another ticket window open (with no lineup) over at the other side of the lobby.
We have found an empty fundraising space – a window without a lineup if you like – for you to
go to. And we want to share that space with you here and now.
Shape 1: The Pyramid
Every fundraiser knows the pyramid of giving. It’s a simple triangle that represents an equally
simple concept. The horizontal axis of the pyramid represents the number of donors, while the
vertical axis represents the amount of money each donor gives.
While some pyramids (national health charities for example) tend to be wide and flat, others
(like hospital foundations) tend to be narrower but much more vertical.
The pyramid geometry is symbolic though. There’s some sort of steady linear progression
inward as the pyramid goes vertical. This seems to be the natural order of things.
Shape 2: The Hourglass
Now think of an hourglass. When you look at its shape, it has a narrow waist in the middle.
Unlike the pyramid, it has curved sides that start wide going up, get narrow, and then widen out
again.
If you were to graph the actual giving patterns of many donor databases, you actually find a:
• Very broad base of ‘ordinary’ annual gift donors at the base.
• Narrow band of donors somewhere in the middle when it comes to gift amounts.
• Wider band of major and planned gift donors – due in large part because of the serious
fundraising work that happens at these gift levels.
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Back to that Window Without the Lineup
Our simple contention is this. If your fundraising program looks like an hourglass
rather than a pyramid, it’s not because of some natural behaviour of your
donors. It’s because of where you put your fundraising efforts!
And, to take it a step further, our contention goes on to argue that, if you want to grow
revenues, you need only pay more attention to that gap in the middle. In just about every case,
we’re talking about the area between your annual giving (direct mail, online, events) and the
big stuff (major and planned gifts).
Presenting the Evidence
Almost a decade ago, my colleagues at Good Works conducted the first-ever quantitative
research study of direct mail donors in Canada. We surveyed 500 Canadian direct mail donors
who had made two or more gifts to the same charity within the previous three years of the
study.
Our study deliberately looked at ‘everyday’ donors. We eliminated donors who we knew were
giving monthly, those who had made gifts of $500 or more and those who had shown any
interest whatsoever in making a planned gift.
One of our research objectives was to examine that hourglass effect. We wanted to look at
whether ‘ordinary’ donors – those who make one-time gifts in the average amount of $35 –
could make much larger gifts.
Here’s what we found:
• 17% of these ‘ordinary’ donors had in fact made single gifts in the amount of $500 or more,
only to a different charity…not to the charity who had included the individual in their donor
data in the first place.
• 11% of these ‘ordinary’ donors had given more than $1,000 in the twelve months prior to
being surveyed.
The upshot? Something like one donor in seven on your database is giving a lot more to charity
than the $40 or $100 you’re asking for (and getting) now.
In focus groups we’ve done for clients, one message has been repeated consistently over the
past decade: donors are proactively shortening their lists of chosen charities and giving MORE
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to the charities who stay on their shorter lists. This means that your donors will do one
of two things to you. They’ll either keep you on their list and give more – or they’ll pitch
you overboard and stick with someone else who’s giving them a more fulsome
experience.
The question is: how can you get a bigger share of their philanthropic envelopes than you’re
getting now?
Show me the Money!
Let’s assume that you use direct mail as an important tactic in your fundraising portfolio. Here are
some statistics relative to direct mail and hourglass giving:
• There are some 27 million adults in Canada today.
• 30% of these people make donations to charity through the mail, or rather, there are
roughly 8.1 million direct mail donors in Canada today.
• 1 donor in 6 has made a single gift of $500 or more to charity recently, and 1 donor in 10
made cumulative gifts of at least $1,000 last year, which translates into more than 1.3
million Canadians cutting cheques greater than $500.
• Assuming that each donor only makes one gift of this magnitude, the total value of this big-
gift market is more than a half-billion dollars!!
Profiling the $500+ Donor
In the Good Works direct mail donor poll, we found that $500+ single-gift donors were different
from the crowd in five fundamental ways:
1. More $500+ donors were university-educated than donors as a whole.
2. Women outpace men as $500+ donors at a ratio of 2:1.
3. Household income was (not surprisingly!) the biggest differentiator. The $500+ donors
tended to have family incomes in excess of $75,000. To us, that’s a decidedly middle-
class income. These are not necessarily wealthy people at all!
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4. Not surprisingly (to us at least) these bigger single-gift donors attended religious
services more frequently than $50 and $100 donors. (The Judeo-Christian ethic
continues to be a heavy influencer of giving amongst Canadian donors).
5. Here’s the differentiating factor that DID surprise us. The $500+ donors tended to
support 20 or more charities to a greater degree than the donors who gave smaller
amounts.
Now, let’s step from research findings (the DATA) to conjecture (our OPINION).
We believe (and need to confirm) that age demographics will play a big role in predicting who
will give at the $500 and $1,000 level.
In our consulting at Good Works, we advise our clients to be mindful of the four generational
cohorts that make up the overall donor population:
1. Civics (also called the WW2 Generation) who were born before 1946.
2. Baby Boomers who were born between 1946 and 1966.
3. Generation Xers who were born between 1967 and 1982.
4. Millenials (a.k.a. Gen Y) who were born after 1982.
It stands to reason that large single gifts will predominantly come from Baby Boomers.
Today’s Boomer is between 46 and 66 years old. That’s the highest-earning time of life and
many Boomers have paid off mortgages and gotten their kids through college. Incomes are still
high while their cost of living (at least those big ticket items like housing and education) is going
down.
The Civic Generation has retired for the most part. It’s asset-rich, but largely cash-poor. While
we’ve been evangelizing these folks for years as great legacy prospects, most of them don’t
have the disposable cash to start making big gifts now. You’d be smart to keep focusing on
these donors for bequests.
There will be some potential in Generation X for bigger gifts, but most Gen Xers (aged 30-45)
are still absorbed with mortgage payments and tuition fees.
Millenials are still under 30 for the most part. They just haven’t got the cash yet to start cutting
$1,000 cheques, no matter how much they’d like to. (Note: They WILL someday, but they’re
just not there yet.)
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Our clients and colleagues have been concerned about age cohorts for years. They know
that their Civic donors are retiring (and dying). They know that Boomers are different
from their parents. We’re ALL hungry to tap the Boomer market.
Enter the Hero
My colleagues and I at Good Works are huge fans of the Bluefrog Agency in London UK. These
are very smart and creative people who happen to share our passion for donor research.
In 2007, Bluefrog published a brilliant research report (which you can find on their website
www.bluefroglondon.com) titled The Fundraiser’s Guide to Mid-Value Donors. We recommend
that you read it in its entirety.
The Bluefrog research studied UK donors who had given multiple gifts of between £100 and
£1,000 in the two years prior to the study.
We want to focus in on one element of the Bluefrog report: the typology of these mid-
value donors. The Bluefrog study found that this donor group was really comprised of
three (beautifully named!) segments:
1. One-fifth of these donors belong to what Bluefrog calls the ‘Noblesse Oblige’ group.
This group is older (average age of 73); very well-to-do (they don’t worry about having
enough money). They often come from old money or earned a lot of it during their
careers.
2. The second segment (also about one-fifth of the group) is called ‘Humble and Holy’.
These folks actually don’t have a lot of disposable income, but have (often religiously-
driven) hugely philanthropic and generous values. I think of them as traditional ‘tithers’
who believe it’s their spiritual calling to give back 10% (or thereabouts) of what they
have.
3. By far the biggest segment (60% of the group) is comprised of donors that Bluefrog calls
‘Middle Class Heroes.’ This group is decidedly younger (half of them are under 50
making this group a mix of Boomers and Gen Xers). This group is decidedly middle class
consisting of doctors, lawyers, IT consultants and entrepreneurs.
The motivators for giving in this study are fascinating. Both the Noblesse Oblige (because it’s
expected of them) and the Humble and Holy (because God wants them to) give because they
feel that they SHOULD. They’re responding to some sort of social or moral imperative.
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The Middle Class Heroes on the other hand give because they WANT TO. They feel
empowered enough to make the world a better place and they simply want to make it
happen.
(NOTE: The Bluefrog study, like the Good Works research, didn’t find donor recognition
or membership in special donor societies as a primary driver in giving. Nor did our
research find tax considerations as a primary motivator.)
What’s in a Name
We in the fundraising profession aren’t very flattering to this group of sacrificially generous
donors. The three names we most often give them are ‘Intermediate Donors,’ ‘Mid-Level
Donors’ and ‘Mid-Value Donors.’ In our opinion, to describe these donors as being ‘in the
middle’ fails to recognize and respect the depth of their commitment and contributions to
philanthropy.
So, in the spirit that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, we’ve decided to give these
donors a new name: HERO DONORS (inspired by Bluefrog’s Middle Class Heroes classification).
So, What Exactly is a Hero Gift?
There is no absolute or singular definition of a HERO gift. In broad strokes, we’d define it this
way:
• Typical direct response upgrades attempt to generate increased gift amounts of 25% or
50%. A HERO upgrade involves a MULTIPLE increase over recent gift amounts. So, a
HERO gift might be ten times what that donor usually gives. A typical example might be
a ‘regular’ $60 direct mail donor who is asked to upgrade to a $500 investment in your
cause.
• A HERO gift implies that the donor has selected you to be among the top echelon of the
charities they support, which in many cases could be 20 or more. There’s an unspoken
contract here that you’re taking the relationship to a new and more serious level.
• The HERO gift level will vary from one organization to another. A small social service
agency might consider the HERO range to be in the $100 to $500 level, while a large
hospital foundation or university might consider that mid-range to be in the $5,000 to
$25,000 range. You don’t have to measure up to someone else to find the neglected
HERO range that’s right for you.
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Are HERO gifts a stepping stone to major gifts? Sometimes yes, sometimes no…
Some donors will have capacity well beyond the new giving level you’re asking for. As
their commitment to you grows, you can test further stretch giving. Many however, will
feel that their HERO gift is the most they can manage.
The Big Why Question
Author Simon Sinek is right. The most important strategic questions always start with WHY.
WHY would someone give a large amount to one charity rather than spreading the love around
to many worthy causes?
First of all, let’s go back to the Good Works research and find out what DOESN’T motivate these
donors to make the big gift. Many (if not most) of us in the fundraising profession think we have
to offer all sorts of special recognition to get donors to give more. Yet, our own in-house
research has uncovered that:
• Fully 90% of Canadian donors are well aware that they can receive special recognition
for gifts in excess of $500.
• Yet, only about 14% of these donors say that this recognition would be an important
element in their decision to give at this level.
• Only 4% of the donors surveyed said that they’d increase their giving to this level in
order to receive some sort of special recognition.
So, if donors won’t upgrade just to get their names published in your annual report, or to get
their names on your donor wall, what WOULD motivate them to step up and give a lot more to
you? We’ve found three:
1. TO DO GOOD
The first motivator behind HERO giving is philanthropy – and altruism – pure and simple.
These donors give a lot because they want to do the right thing. Whether they want to
please God, set an example to their family and friends or just feel better when they look in
the mirror, their motivations are based in empathy, compassion and generosity.
This motivation is directly in line with what we at Good Works call 3D Philanthropy. HERO
giving comes from the heart and the soul every bit as much as it comes from the head. We
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fully suspect that a powerful HERO giving proposition must contain strong elements
of these three components.
Remember, it’s not about special clubs or tax returns. It’s just about doing good for
good’s own sake.
2. TO DEFINE THEMSELVES (AND FEEL SPECIAL IN THE PROCESS)
HERO donors consider their philanthropy to be an integral part of their fundamental
identity. Their giving is an important part of who they are. They give because it feels good to
give. They want to be known as generous and they want to see themselves this way.
To them, giving (perhaps unlike expensive cars or clothes) is what separates them from the
crowd and makes them special.
3. TO ACHIEVE GREAT OUTCOMES
At Good Works, we’ve been asking donors about their giving behaviours in focus groups for
years. We’ve listened to more than a thousand Canadian donors in conversation around
board room tables – and they’ve told us very clearly what they’re hungry for.
They want to know that their money will achieve great outcomes and advance your
charity’s mission.
To the Canadian donor, it’s NOT about ego. It IS about achieving mission and advancing the
cause. It doesn’t matter if you heal the sick, feed the poor, educate the unfortunate or
rescue puppies and kittens. Donors will give more when you demonstrate to them that their
money will really achieve what they want it to.
(As an aside, the biggest complaint these donors ALWAYS have in focus groups is that you don’t tell
them what you did with their last donation before you ask them to give again. Our collective
stewardship efforts really suck. In fact, in a Good Works online survey of 700 Canadian donors we
found that 68% of donors are dissatisfied with the way charities report on how their money was
spent!)
Hero-Nomics
Let’s take a minute to look at the economics of HERO giving and what it might mean to your
fundraising program.
Let’s imagine a charity with a direct mail donor file of 25,000 active annual giving donors. These
donors give 1.3 gifts of $35 per year on average. The gross revenue from this charity’s annual
program would be $1.14 million.
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Now, let’s say that this same charity can convert 2% of its donors to annual giving at the
$500 level – and 1% of its donors to the $1,000 level. The new HERO donor segment
would give $500,000 per year. That’s a 44% increase in gross revenues per year.
Now let’s take it a step further. This same charity converts 10% of its HERO donor
segment to major gifts at an average amount of $5,000. These 75 major donors would
be worth another $375,000 in annual revenue.
By converting 3% of your ‘ordinary’ donors to HERO donor status, you can increase your
charity’s net revenue up to 30%. That’s astounding growth.
Is it possible to convert ordinary donors to this magnitude of giving? Of course it is!
Will it be easy? Probably not. Will it be worth doing? Absolutely. We’ll bet the farm on it.
Some Thoughts on Making Hero Giving Happen
These are still early days for us at Good Works when it comes to HERO giving.
We’re still in the lab with our test tubes and Bunsen burners. We’re still arguing and debating
amongst ourselves as to the best way to segment, cultivate, ask and steward. We’re still
scanning the world of philanthropy to see what others already know. We’re also doing some
HERO giving work with some of our (braver!) clients.
Having said that, we do have some pretty firm ideas as to what it takes to plan and execute a
successful HERO program. Here are ten thoughts and ideas to get you started:
1. YOU NEED TO INVOLVE THE HEAD. Those of you who know us are
familiar with our rants about heart and soul, emotions and storytelling. Those
elements are important here too, but they’re not enough for our HEROES. You
will need facts and figures to back up your emotive stories. Kathy Swayze (of
Impact Communications) calls this the investment approach. She argues that, in
order to leverage donors to investors, we must provide a more thorough offer
(more detail), write copy at a higher educational level and give more detail about
mission and program.
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2. USE A COMBINATION OF MAJOR GIFT STRATEGY AND
DIRECT RESPONSE TACTICS. There probably needs to be some
cultivation communication before you come right out and ask a donor to stretch
her gift by a factor of ten or more. (For you direct response types who need
immediate gratification – remember – major gifts can take 18 months to
materialize between a first donor discussion and the cutting of the cheque).
3. GET YOUR PROPOSITION (OR OFFER) VERY CLEAR! Stephen
Pidgeon of the UK is the master of the fundraising proposition − study it like Holy
Scripture. Get your hands on his AFP International Conference presentation
(April 2012) on the proposition. You’re going to need to spend some serious time
and mental bandwidth getting this right.
4. DON’T FORGET TO INCLUDE MONTHLY DONORS IN YOUR
HERO PROGRAM. There’s no reason whatsoever why you shouldn’t ask a
$20/month donor to stretch her gift to $84/month (or $1,000 per year). When it
comes to single-gift donors, the analytics brainiacs at Blackbaud say that the
average HERO donor makes the giving jump after 9 lifetime gifts (Fundraising
Models for Mid-Level Giving, March 2011.)
5. WAGE THE INTERNAL BATTLES TO GET YOUR PROPOSITION
TO BE SOMEWHAT TARGETED. Don’t get lazy and in effect ask your
donors to stretch their giving so that you can pay the rent and keep the lights
turned on. You don’t need to ask for designated gifts, but you’re going to have to
straddle the line somewhat, and move in the semi-designated gift direction.
6. BE PREPARED TO INVEST SOME MONEY. If you’ve been sending a
HERO prospect annual giving mail appeal that cost $1.15 apiece, get your head
around the idea that your new HERO packages might cost $3 or $4 apiece. (No
window envelopes or metered postage please!)
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7. GET READY TO SPEND AS MUCH TIME, MONEY AND MENTAL
BANDWIDTH ON STEWARDSHIP AS YOU DO ON CULTIVATION
AND SOLICITATION. What a shame it would be to persuade a donor to
magnify her gift tenfold, only to have her drop back down to her old giving level
the next year because you left her feeling ho-hum about the process.
8. MANAGE YOUR OWN TIME. If you’re planning to grow your net revenues
by 20% or 40% with a HERO giving program be prepared to put a serious slice of
your time into it. Half-cooked won’t do. Your donors will see through it and you’ll
lose their trust and loyalty in the process.
9. START DECONSTRUCTING YOUR INTERNAL SILOS. The reason
this revenue gap exists in the first place has little if anything to do with donors
and everything to do with how we fundraisers organize ourselves. We must do a
SUPERB job of making HERO giving a seamless transition from annual to major
gifts rather than creating what Cathy Finney calls a ‘jarring donor experience’
(Bridge the Giving Gap, Fundraising Success, October 2007). This deconstructing
applies to departments (annual, major, planned giving) as well as tactics (mail,
online, in-person, social media).
10. ENGAGE. We strongly suspect (although we don’t yet have enough hard data
to offer proof) that HERO donors aren’t content to just give you the money and
step back. Most of these people are going to want to stay connected and engaged
– with you, your cause and the people you’re cause is built around.
Here are four ideas to create and maintain that connection:
• Some HERO donors will be satisfied with more thorough stewardship and
education. Tell them lots about the program they’re funding. Give them more
depth and detail. Invite them to ask questions and give them places, perhaps
your website, where they can go and learn more.
• Others will want to evangelize your mission to their friends, families and
networks. Research conducted by DonorTrends in the USA has found that
some 14% of American donors are missionaries. They regularly talk up
their favourite causes and charities whenever they get the chance.
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• There’s an old fundraising saying that says ‘If you want advice, ask for
money – and if you want money, ask for advice.’ We think it makes a ton
of sense to survey HERO donors and seek their input on a wide variety of
issues. Tell them that their voices are important and that their opinions
really matter (which, by the way, they do!)
• Finally, give your keenest HERO donors involvement opportunities. Maybe they
can visit a project, come to an information night or participate in a telephone
town hall meeting with your organization’s leadership. Be creative. Find
meaningful room for them in the work you do.
And Now It Is Your Turn
A white paper is, by definition, a draft of a work in progress. It’s a trial balloon if you like.
Putting the beta out to the market to see what happens.
We’ve shared our thoughts, findings and ideas with you to the degree that we’re able at this
stage of the game. HERO giving is very much a work in progress for us.
We would devour and appreciate anything you can contribute to the conversation. Your
criticisms, ideas, research findings, experiences are all valuable raw material for us – so we
invite you to share.
Please, please, please holler at us and let us know what you’re thinking. Nothing great gets built
in silos anymore. We want HERO giving to become a great way to raise money for great causes
like yours. We’ll only make it great together.
Thanks for taking the time to read and think your way through this!
Fraser Green is principal and chief strategist at Good Works, a consulting firm that works with
Canadian charities to engage donors at a truly human level and build donor loyalty and
commitment. Fraser welcomes your ideas, comments and criticisms about HERO giving. Please
email fraser@goodworksco.ca with your reactions and thoughts.