Your Donors Have Spoken
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Presentation at the CAGP National Conference 2013
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Your Donors Have Spoken
- 1. Your Donors have Spoken Leah Eustace, CFRE Principal & Chief Idea Goddess @LeahEustace
- 2. Getting through the clutter
- 4. What’s in a name?
- 5. Use language that resonates
- 6. Focus on the right instruments An estimated 95% of planned gifts in Canada are bequests.
- 7. Why, not how
- 8. Communicate with donors … in the way in which they prefer to be communicated with
- 10. Tell Stories
- 12. Make your case
- 13. Be personal
- 16. Write for comprehension, not an academic thesis
- 17. Pay attention to design Why on earth would you want to make something hard to read?
- 19. Be transparent
- 20. Steward your secret donors
- 21. Break down the silos
- 22. Integrate
- 23. Pay attention to your website
- 24. In summary • Tell your stories • Put yourself in the shoes of your donors • Be authentic and compelling • Talk about why, not how • Use multichannel marketing • Use emotion, not logic • Beware of institution-speak • Be mindful of design • You have one mouth, but two ears
- 25. Thank you! Leah Eustace, CFRE Principal and Chief Idea Goddess Good Works 613.232.9113 x 100 leah@goodworksco.ca @LeahEustace
Editor's Notes
- -1970s = 500 ads/day -Now = 5,000/day Think of your ride to work in the morning Reading the newspaper Browsing the internet NPOs need to do something special to stick out. So, the question of the day is “how do you get your planned giving message noticed in the crowded modern marketplace?” Luckily, we can get some guidance from donors themselves. -50 focus groups to test marketing messages, ask donors what leads them to consider a planned gift, and ask them how they prefer to be communicated with. We’ve also conducted numerous polls of the general population to ask them some of the same questions.
- One group member can be dominant and skew results Group think What people say and what they do are very different Example of getting mail
- Let’s start with the basics. Put your hand up if you use “planned giving” or “legacy giving” in your materials Guess what? Legacy giving= building named after them
- call it what it is. “Leave a bequest” “A gift in a will” Virtually every donor I’ve ever asked can tell me what a bequest is. How many of you are thinking, “well what about the other planned giving vehicles, like life insurance and gift annuities? Well, here’s your answer…
- So why not focus the majority of your marketing efforts on bequests? donors know what a bequest is and are comfortable with the concept. All other planned giving vehicles are unknown and confusing to them. Don’t make donors dig for information
- Donors already know how to leave a bequest. They feel the charity is being kind of preachy Put your hand up if the planned giving information on your website focusses on how to leave a bequest. stop talking about how to leave a planned gift and start talking about why your donors should leave one to you. Focus on inspiring the donor. How do you inspire them? Tell them about the future you believe in. Tell them about your hopes and dreams. Show them what you’ve been able to accomplish, and the amazing things you’ll be able to do in the next 25 or 50 years.
- communicate with donors in the way in which they prefer to be communicated.” making a bequest is an extremely personal decision Don’t use an aggressive approach prefer for you to present the information to them, then allow them time to consider it on their own, with their family. If they want more information, they’ll ask, or even more likely they’ll visit your website to learn more. Most planned giving officers focus a lot of their time on meeting with donors, but the percentage of donors who are open to meeting with you is very small. Only 1 in 9 will ever tell you
- Humans are emotional animals. Human existence is deeply affected by our feelings and reactions. Feelings, not analytical thinking, drive donations human’s are not ideally set up to understand logic; they’re ideally set up to understand stories… and stories make us feel Stories also get and keep the reader’s attention They help you communicate better Enhance credibility Linger longer in reader’s minds All important attributes when it comes to planned giving.
- Stories are concrete, so they’re good at illustrating your concepts And because donors paint a picture in their minds when reading a story, stories literally help your audience see things your way. People believe information more readily if it’s delivered in story rather than through statistics. Paul Slovic UWO: Old brochure vs new
- Story ideas: Bequest donor Beneficiary of your work (patient, alumni) Founder. Chair of the Board An important note here. Older donors hold the staff and volunteer leadership in high regard. How your CEO or your Board President is perceived, especially their integrity, may dictate whether a donor leaves a bequest.
- Few organizations have a great case for support, let alone a case for support for legacy giving. A great case engages donors and prospects on an emotional level. emphasis should be on the “why” of giving. That doesn’t mean you don’t include the rational argument for donor support… it just means you don’t include ‘only’ the rational argument. Include your history, vision, mission, goals, objectives, program descriptions, leadership, financial overview, and current/future funding needs. But include powerful stories and trigger strong emotional support in your donors. Does it build trust. Does it inspire? If there’s one thing we’ve learned in donor focus groups, it’s that donors can spot insincerity a mile away. Focus on cause, not institution
- People give to people. Typical contact us information: please call us at 1-800-123-3456 or email plannedgiving@charity.ca.” Remember donors see these kinds of decisions as very private and personal Include actual name and direct line Include a photo of the staff person
- age groups: 35 to 65 and 65 and older. each group’s understanding of and openness to planned giving is very different. older group is very aware of bequests. younger group are very aware of bequests and also think they’re a good idea, but many don’t yet have a will (surprising, I know) and aren’t yet ready to consider a bequest to their favourite charity. Gifts of life insurance Has anyone done marketing specifically to younger donors re: life insurance?
- we aren’t our target demographic typical Canadian donor is Jacqueline 70 or 75-year-old woman often widowed children grown up and a handful of grandchildren grew up in a different era than we did… she may remember the depression, she still does her banking by walking into the branch and she sends her cheques by mail. Find a photo of Jacqueline and stick it on your bulletin board. When you’re writing to or communicating to your donors, imagine you’re communicating with Jacqueline.
- Anyone know what grade level it’s recommended we use in our fundraising writing? Grade 7 Not about education, it’s about comprehension MS word Obama’s state of the union written at grade eight level three years in a row.
- 13 point type Serif vs sans serif Don’t use all caps, italics, script and ornate typefaces. Make line spacing larger than usual Use dark type on a white background. Write short paragraphs. bullets, numbered lists, sidebars, and pull-out quotes older eye develops a yellow cast, and it becomes harder to distinguish between certain colors. blue, purple and green may look alike when used together. Yellow, orange and red are much easier to tell apart. Never use glossy paper. Light reflects from the gloss and makes it very difficult for the reader to see the print.
- donors gravitate toward large photo on the front showing an individual person (too often we use head shots, or groups of people, or some kind of inanimate object). Never put type over a photo Here is an easy test for readability: photocopy the page. Use photos that are sharp and crisp. Favor photos of people, especially faces. A face looking directly at the reader is a powerful force. Yes, a reader will make eye contact with a facial image, so make sure the subject's eyes are nice and big.
- Donors will not make legacy commitments if they’re at all unsure about how well you manage money. They’re very mindful of the cost of fundraising and administration. They want their dollars to go to programs. Go to great lengths (honestly!) to show donors that their dollars are carefully stewarded and efficiently invested.
- only one in ten donors let you know about their intention to leave a bequest Why not steward others asthough they have made a gift (because there’s a reasonably good chance they have). Send them a thank you note for the holidays, invite them to events, report back to them.
- Geoff Livingston has written a book called Marketing in the Round, About organizing around your audience rather than job functions Get everyone that communicates to your donors in a room for a regular meeting. This is the first step in getting people to work together helps a great deal in breaking down silos. Look at how you measure success. If you look at legacy revenue only, then there’s little motivation to integrate No silos = better marketing to your donors
- Donors do not see themselves as monthly donors or lapsed donors or major donors or planned giving donors They’re just donors. to often we see a direct mail donor hit a certain giving threshold and suddenly they’re pulled out of the direct mail program because now they’re major donors. Guess what? That donor likes to give through direct mail… so send them direct mail. just because you have planned giving prospects who you have tea and banana bread with on a regular basis, doesn’t mean they don’t still want to get your e-appeals, direct mail and newsletters. In fact, multichannel marketing increases revenue. have you sent out a legacy marketing mailing? Make sure you have a specific landing page on your website for those who choose to then visit a URL? Send a pre- or post- mailing email that tells the same story in a different way. And speaking of websites…
- older donors are increasingly tech-savvy vast majority will visit your website before making a final decision about leaving a planned gift How easy is it to find information about planned giving? Are you calling it planned giving? I find myself having to search through 8 or 10 levels of menus to find information about bequests. Is it all the ‘how’? How many of you include donor stories? And don’t forget the design guidelines we talked about. Make the website accessible.
- I’ve given you lots to think about, so let’s quickly summarize the critical points> Use stories not stats Think like Jacqueline: when it comes to writing, design, showing impact and inspiring Be authentic… donors can tell if you aren’t Talk about why donors should leave a planned gift, not how Use all the marketing channels available to you Be emotional and speak from the heart Remember that donors give to the cause, not the institution Remember to listen to what your donors are saying, or what they’re behaviour is telling you…