This document provides tips and guidance for schools to help raise more money through their annual fundraising appeals. It discusses establishing a compelling case statement, segmenting donor groups, utilizing leadership gifts, and implementing best practices for mailings, online giving, and ongoing reporting. The key recommendations are to increase both the number of donors and the amount given by each donor through personalizing communications, clear asks, ongoing stewardship, and engaging school leadership.

1. Make Your Annual
Appeal Soar!
Tips to Help Your
School Raise its Pledge Total
James S. Friend, Jr.
Chief Development Officer
September 12, 2014

2. Stewardship: A Disciple’s Response
What is our unique value proposition?
 Catholic Philanthropy
What is a Christian Steward?
 “We receive God’s gifts gratefully,
cultivate them responsibility and
share them lovingly in justice with
others and return them with increase
to the Lord.”

3. Individuals $240.6 B
Bequests $27.73 B
Foundations $48.96 B
Corporations $17.88 B
Total Contributions:
$335.17 Billion

4. Total Contributions: $335.17 Billion

5. Giving USA 2014 Report
 Contributions from individuals, corporations
and foundations totaled $335-billion in 2013,
a 3-percent increase over 2012
 Donations by living Americans grew 2.7%
 Bequests grew 7.2%
 Foundations increased their giving 4.2 %
 Corporate giving dropped 3.2 %.

6. Giving USA 2014 Report
 "Giving USA" researchers revised their view
on when giving might surpass its peak of
$350-billion in 2007. Donations might reach
this mark this year, or at least in 2015, three
years sooner than researchers had previously
expected.
 As the economy improves, now is the right
time to woe donors.

7. To Be Successful You Must…
1. Increase the number of people giving.
2. Increase the amount people give.
Here’s the Catch:
In order to be successful you must do both!

8. Setting Up Your Appeal
 Cultivation – What do you do?
 Planning Phase
 Quiet Phase – Leadership Phase – Advanced
Gifts Phase
 Organize / Train and Solicit Appeal Committee
 Conduct Board Solicitations
 Conduct Major Donor Solicitations
 Conduct Major Donor Receptions

9. Setting Up Your Appeal
 General Phase
 Direct mailing to entire database
 Online solicitations / Social Media
 Major Donor
 Follow Up Phase
 Phone-a-thon
 Follow up mailer
 Automated Calls
 Email
 Stewardship – How Many Times do you thank your donors?

10. What I’ve Learned
 You can’t do it alone
 Engage your President / Staff
 Need A Compelling Case Statement
 The Need for Leadership Gifts / personal Touch
 “God is in the Details”…and you should be there
too!
 Follow up
 The Appeal lasts all year

11. Compelling Case Statement
 Sell solutions, not needs. Your Appeal
provides solutions to a problem, so don’t go
overboard in discussing the problems.
Identify the problem/need, then quickly
show how your Appeal addresses the need,
solves the problem, and why the project
needs the readers commitment and support
to accomplish the task.

12. Compelling Case Statement
 Make this emotional!
 Make it brief and choose your words carefully
 Make it eye catching and compelling
 Let your narrative lead the read to make a gift
 Test your Case for Support and edit it heavily

13. Compelling Case Statement
Exercise: 1-2 Minute Elevator Speech

14. Leadership in your Appeal
Why do people give to your Appeal?
What is the value proposition of your
school?
What motivates your donors?
 How do you recognize Major Gifts?

15. Mailing Basics
Letter Writing
 Personalize the “ask letter”
 Who should ask?
 Ask for:
1. A specific amount (Major Donors)
2. Suggested amount
3. Giving Range

16. Mailing Basics
Segment your letters
Regular Donors
Board Members
Major Donors
Alumni
Parents
Businesses
Clergy
Staff
Friends

17. Mailing Basics
Not all Alumni are Created Equal
Seniors
Empty Nesters
Working Parents
Young Professionals
Recent College Grads
Recent High School Grads

18. Online Giving
Facts
 Online giving contributed to 6.4% of the total
giving in 2013. Giving online to smaller nonprofits
grew tremendously.
 Offline Giving continues to dominate
 More Donors are coming in online every year
 4% of Higher Ed Gifts come from online
 December is the dominant month for online giving.

19. Online Giving
 Based on Blackbaud's online giving data from more
than 3,800 customers who received an online
donation Tuesday, December 3:
 Online Giving Tuesday was up 90% compared to 2012.
Blackbaud processed more than $19.2 million in online
donations.
 The average online gift Tuesday, December 3, was
$142.05, which was significantly up from $101.60 in
2012

20. Annual Fund Requirements
 All letters will be personalized.
 All letters will have a personalized Ask Amount.
 Databases will be segmented
 A Major Donor Component will occur either as a
small gathering or one on one asks.
 Online giving must be operational
 Websites and social media must be up to date
 There must be a follow up plan
 All schools: Year-round (fiscal) Annual Fund plan.

21. Current Reporting
 Annual Fund/General This is a catch all. It
includes annual fund gifts, but other things go
in here as well and it skews the numbers. You
need a more clear picture of what is being
raised from the annual appeal.

22. Current Reporting
 Other Donations This is a catch all that includes
the total of lots of things, not all of which have to
do with the development office. The categories:
 Donations Booster/Parents
 Donations Ad/Patron Booklets
 Donations Ad/patron Parents
 Donations Scholarships/Memorials
 Donations Tuition Assistance
 Donations Grants
 Donations Other

23. Current Reporting
 Fund Raising This is also a category that
includes things that are not the result of our
work. That includes certain fees and events
that are not organized by the development
office.

24. Reporting for Fiscal 2015
 Annual Fund Undesignated- This is the money that
comes in from the annual appeal
 Annual Fund Designated- This is less than major
gift threshold that is designated for a specific purpose
such as financial aid
 Major gifts cash (Designated/Undesignated)- A gift
that makes the major gift threshold or the portion of a
major gift pledge that is collected in this fiscal year.

25. Reporting for Fiscal 2015
 Major gifts pledged
(Designated/Undesignated) The portion of a
major gift documented to be collected in future
years.
 EITC/OSTC Collected from all sources during
this fiscal year, regardless of the year in which
the money is used.
 Events Money raised from events run by the
development office.

26. Next Steps
 Please send Jim a draft of your Annual Fund
materials for review prior to mailing. Please
allow 2-3 days for review.
 Monthly Reports due the first Friday of the
month.
 Please contact Jim with questions at ANY
TIME!

27. Final Thoughts
Our Role
 Teacher
 Visionary
 Cheerleader
 Door Opener
 Communicator
 Connector
 Evaluator
 Pest…