Are you only raising five to fifteen percent of what you could because of weak donor communications? That’s what nationally-recognized author and our special guest for this webinar, Tom Ahern, claims. “Loverizing” is a phrase Tom uses to describe how nonprofits can make any appeal irresistibly “donor-centered.” It’s the key to raising lots more money and retaining donors longer.

1. Loverizing Your Donors
with special guest Tom Ahern

2. Tweeting?
@thattomahern
@rachelmuir
@pursuant
#pursuantwebinar

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© 2014 Tom Ahern | www.AHERNCOMM.com
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4. Did you know Pursuant offers
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5. Fundraising Bootcamp! Only $799
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6. Welcome!

7. 7
© 2015 TOM AHERN

8. 8
© 2015 TOM AHERNARE YOU READY?

9. 9
© 2015 TOM AHERNREALLY?

10. 10
© 2015 TOM AHERNReally REALLY?

11. WHICH ONE WON?

12. “LOVERIZING”
=
DONOR-CENTRICITY

13. You build $ucce$$ful
communication$ backward$
from your target audience.
13Planning | © 2015 Tom Ahern | www.AHERNCOMM.com

14. 14
Gov’t grants IndividualsFoundations
Meet criteria Win a fightShow promise
Specialists GeneralistsSpecialists
Rational EmotionalAspirational

15. 15
This letter is about Bangladesh. This letter is about the donor.

16. To whom art thou
talking?
© 2015 Tom Ahern 16

17. 17
Source: Pareto 2015

18. 18
Yes, I donate....
Jane | Age 89 | Widowed
© Tom Ahern | © 1249-2015

19. Average donor age at Sharp?
© Tom Ahern | © 1249-2015 19

20. In the US, via direct mail:
“A young donor is 60.”
Jeff Brooks
20

21. 4%
11%
17%
22%
46%
<35
35-44
45-54
55-64
65+
Donors by age (percentage)
21

22. What are you
actually selling?
© 2015 Tom Ahern 22

23. Fundraising has a
“valued customer.”
It’s the donor.
23Planning | © 2015 Tom Ahern | www.AHERNCOMM.com

24. Your job is to
make this
particular
customer
uncommonly
happy.
Photo source: Mark Phillips, Bluefrog
If you do, trust me …
you won’t regret it!

25. 25TOM AHERN © 2014
70+% of first-time donors in the
U.S. do NOT make a second gift.
They’re not
happy.

26. The world’s 2nd most profitable insight:
Donor communications are a
customer service experience.
Every touch point — from website to appeals to
newsletters to call centre — contributes BIG time.
26Planning | © 2015 Tom Ahern | www.AHERNCOMM.com

27. For eyes over 60...
AIGA recommends 14 pt. for body copy.
27© 2014 Tom Ahern | www.AHERNCOMM.com

28. 28© 2014 Tom Ahern | www.AHERNCOMM.com
Source: John Lepp, Agents of Good
AKA, The “Extraordinary
Experiences” Grid

29. The world’s MOST profitable insight:
Donor communications aren’t
really about your organization.
They’re really about the donor.
29Planning | © 2015 Tom Ahern | www.AHERNCOMM.com

30. You’re not information vendors.
You’re emotion vendors.
You can sell that at a higher price … for longer … to more.
30

31. I will only pay attention to what interests me.
And what interests me most
is me. Ask anyone.
© 2015 Tom Ahern 31

32. Donor comms 101
© 2015 Tom Ahern 32

33. Appeals, thanks, & newsletters work together.
You ask. You thank. You report.
You ask. You thank. You report.
You ask. You thank. You report.
33
The virtuous circle...

34. Appeals, thanks, & newsletters work together.
You ask. You thank. You report.
You ask. You thank. You report.
You ask. You thank. You report.
34
The virtuous circle...
The part the charity
cares about
The part the donor
cares about

35. “Fundraising is
NOT about money.”
Tom Ahern | © 2013 35
Source: a line of UK fundraisers going back to the 1960s

36. Your thanks and your
newsletters are your HUG!
36Donor Newsltr-Kivi-1 | © 2015 Tom Ahern | www.AHERNCOMM.com

37. The brain
© 2015 Tom Ahern 37

38. The first gift you ask
for is my attention.
38© 2014 Tom Ahern | www.AHERNCOMM.com
The average attention
span of an adult human in
2013 was 8 seconds.
We’re
#1!

39. The virtuous circle...
You ask (and flatter).
You thank (and flatter).
You report (and flatter).
You cannot flatter too much.
39© Tom Ahern | © 1249-2015

40. 40
Source: Neuromarketing blog
“Even when people perceive
that flattery is insincere, that
flattery can still leave a
lasting and positive
impression of the flatterer.”
© Tom Ahern | © 1249-2015

41. “Are you claiming the
credit or giving it to
your donors?”

42. Corporate communications are about how
great the organization is. Favorite pronoun:
we

44. “Yay, team?”
44

45. Donor communications are about how great
the donor is. Favorite pronoun:
you

46. Thanks to you
and other generous donors like you,
we were able to turn...

47. Actually ON
the team
47

48. “Humans are driven by a will to
establish meaning in their lives.
They need purpose.”
That’s your real job, in donor communications:
to bestow purpose in exchange for support.
48
Source: Neurologist and psychiatrist Viktor Frankl, via the For Impact blog

49. © 2015 Tom Ahern | www.aherncomm.com 49

50. Donor-NEGLIGENT:
“We did this. We did
that. We were amazing.
Oh, by the way, thanks.”

52. “Is this
all I am
to you?”

53. 53
“Is this
all I am
to you?”
Tom Ahern | © 2013
This is “donor
fatigue.”

54. Donors: Why
they’re just not
that into you
© 2015 Tom Ahern 54

56. ABOUT US
ABOUT US
ABOUT US
ABOUT US
ABOUT USABOUT US
ABOUT US ABOUT US
ABOUT US
ABOUT US
ABOUT US
ABOUT US
ABOUT US ABOUT US ABOUT US

57. ABOUT US
ABOUT US
ABOUT US
ABOUT US
ABOUT USABOUT US
ABOUT US ABOUT US
ABOUT US
ABOUT US
ABOUT US
ABOUT US
ABOUT US ABOUT US ABOUT US
ABOUT
THE
DONOR

58. A lot of charities could
be mistaken for
egotistical maniacs.

59. Donor-CENTRIC:
“With your help, all
these amazing things
happened. And without
your help, they won’t.”

60. Hello, I'm Ken Hackett, president of Catholic
Relief Services. Welcome to our 2009 interactive
annual report.
The generosity of you, our donors, is one of
Catholic Relief Services greatest blessings. Your
support gives us the resources we need to bring
innovative solutions to tough humanitarian
problems. Your compassion transforms lives.

61. 61
You’re in my home:
“Why are you here?”
Bad guest or good?

62. To make ME
feel good!!!
62
Important!
Wanted!
Needed!
Proud of myself!
Happy!
Pleased!
Entertained!Surprised!

63. Your donors will never get tired
of hearing how great and how
needed they are.
© 2010-13 Tom AHERN | www.AHERNCOMM.com 63

64. “Donors are staggeringly
ignorant of the causes they
support.”
--
Richard Radcliffe

65. DONORS MAY BE IGNORANT, but what they
DO have in abundance are their own
personal values, interests, beliefs,
connections, experiences, upbringing, lost
loves, secret passions, regrets, fears,
angers, hopes, and built-in empathy
[except for psychopaths]...

66. “We support a charity or a
soccer team or a perfume
because it gives us a chance to
love something about
ourselves.”
66
Source: Seth Godin

67. WILL
FIGHT
FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE
© 2015 Tom Ahern 67

68. WILL
FIGHT
FOR THE HUNGRY
© 2015 Tom Ahern 68

69. WILL
FIGHT
FOR CUTE THINGS IN DISTRESS
© 2015 Tom Ahern 69

70. Welcome to
a family
70

71. “Synthetic family”
71
Source: Russell James III, 2014

72. 72
Editor: Sally Kirby Hartman

73. The story’s about the donor
...every time someone donates to a good cause, they're buying a
story, a story that's worth more than the amount they donated.
It might be the story of doing the right thing, or fitting in, or
pleasing a friend or honoring a memory, but the story has value.
For many, it's the story of what it means to be part of a
community.
Source: Seth Godin
73Planning | © 2015 Tom Ahern | www.AHERNCOMM.com

74. So… what story are you
telling me about me?
74

75. Communications are a
mirror held up to donors.
They see themselves in
what you say.
75

76. 76
KIND
CARING
COMPASSIONATE
HELPFUL
FRIENDLY
FAIR
HARD-WORKING
GENEROUS
HONEST
Source: psychologist Jen Shang, quoted in the NY Times 2012

77. From you....
They want to feel good.
They want to feel loved.
They want to feel smart.
They want to feel needed.
They want to feel important.
They want to belong.
They want to see their values in
action.
They want to win!

78. vision
enemy
hero
served
Source: Stephen Pidgeon and Tangible
78
“Me?”

79. 79
donors make sad
happy

80. hero defeats enemy
80

81. Give the donor an
important job to do.
81

82. 82
“What is our gift
of joy?”

83. 83
The gift of joy

84. 84
The gift of joy

85. 85
Editor: Michelle Brinson
The gift of joy

86. Does it all work?
© 2015 Tom Ahern 86

87. WHICH ONE WON?

88. How great the ORGANIZATION is = $4,470 in gifts
CORPORATE communications
DONOR communications

89. How great the ORGANIZATION is = $4,470 in gifts
How great the DONOR is = $49,600 in gifts
1,000%
IMPROVEMENT!!!

90. 90
My
free
how-to
e-newsletter…
www.aherncomm.com
© 2014 Tom Ahern | www.AHERNCOMM.com
I subscribe!
Ashley said I had
to.