Fundraising Detective

What's your favourite donor care story?

The FRSB have launched a new campaign this week to tie in with 'National Customer Service Week'.

They are publishing a series of supporter care tips and are about to publish a new supporter care promise for FRSB members.

I believe in the importance of excellent supporter care in fundraising and so am asking people - what is your favourite donor care story?

Please do add your story in the comments or e-mail me (craig@fundraisingdetective.com) as I'd love to hear your story.

In return, I'll share a couple of my favourites later this month when I return from holiday.

Why the little things matter: three recent examples

I wanted to share a couple of recent examples of why it's so important to go that extra mile for donors.

On the response form of a recent appeal a donor had ticked the 'remove from mailing list' box and put a comment asking why we didn't merge with other charities in the field.

It would've been easy to ignore this comment and simply remove the donor and think nothing more of it. However, I decided to write her a letter thanking her for her past support, confirming the removal from our database and explaining why I thought merging would be a bad idea.

The result: a lovely letter back, which asked me for a regular giving form and a generous annual donation from a donor who didn't want to hear from us again!  It's little moments and notes that like that really give me a buzz in fundraising.

I've also recently done a 90th anniversary appeal and a number of donors wrote on their response forms that they were also going to be 90 this year.

My team suggested getting birthday cards to send with their thank you letter and I sent them off yesterday wishing them well in their 90th year.  Regardless of whether we hear anything back, it was the right thing to do and I am sure it will be appreciated.

Just to show I'm not perfect, I've been regretting a missed opportunity that we had to thank donors for the same appeal.

I had planned to call and say a personal thanks to donors who had given over a certain amount.  However, other things got in the way and the opportunity was lost.  I am sure the thank you calls would have had a better long term impact on our fundraising than the other bits and pieces I was caught up with.

Have you had any recent examples of doing something little that has had a positive impact on your fundraising? I'd love to hear your story.

5 Things That Make a Good Donor Welcome Pack

I love the concept of donor 'Welcome Packs' and think they should be an essential part of any fundraising/stewardship strategy, but often they are badly implemented or just dull.

As I'm currently trying to put together a pack of my own, here are some of essentials I think they should include...

1. Make it about the donor.  Use 'you' frequently and headlines like '5 problems your donation will help solve'.
2. Tell stories and anecdotes (backed up with strong images) that make the donor feel good about giving and reinforce the fact that they have made a good choice by donating to you.
3. Use interesting and relevant stats or graphs to back up your case. Though don't go overboard on these.
4. Express your gratitude and thanks.  Make the donor feel good about giving.  Use welcoming language.
5. Give your contact details and make it easy for donors to get in touch.

Finally, if you are feeling really brave - take the Botton Village approach and give the donor choice.

Am I missing anything?  Who produces your favourite welcome packs?

A fantastic thank you from Child's i

A really heart warming story from Child's i, who managed to mobilise their support last week and raise over £10,000 in a few days for a life saving operation for Joey, one of the first babies they were able to re-home.

It was a great example of how Facebook, Twitter etc can be used to tell a great story and raise money if the circumstances are right.

However, it's not the fact that they raised the money that I was most impressed with, but they way they kept their supporters up to date and then said thank you in such a personal and moving way.

They produced this simple video and then sent links to everyone who had donated. I didn't actually give (shame on me!) but the video brought a tear to my eye. 

I'd imagine that anyone who did donate would've been delighted and felt really proud to have played a part in saving Joey's life.

Have a watch of the video and let me know what you think:

p.s In the interests of full disclosure, I am a big fan of Child's i and give a regular gift to them. One of my best friends is also currently volunteering for them. However, even if you aren't connected to them, I still believe it's a great example of donor care.

Would anybody tell a friend?

 

Two of my favourite bloggers - Hugh MacLeod and Andy Sernovitz - ask this simple, but profound question on their respective blogs today.

Have a look at the last appeal you sent, a recent e-newsletter, your website etc.  Is it so amazing and wonderful that you think someone would tell their friends about it?  If not, the challenge is to improve it next time so they will.

As Andy pleads:

"Push yourself to ask: Are we being remarkable? Is this a purple cow? Are we awesome yet?

Challenge yourself to be worth talking about. Would someone look at your stuff, drop what they are doing, and say, “You’ve got to see this?” Are they inspired to tweet, share, like, friend, forward, or run down the hall and stick it in the face of a co-worker or family member?

If not — I compel you to make it WONDERFUL, OUTRAGEOUS, PURPLE, DELICIOUS, SMELLY, GOOFY, LIFE-SAVING, AMAZING, OR DEEPLY MEANINGFUL."

 

 

The Ultimate Equation for Fundraising Success

Photo from ~C4Chaos

Tom Peters posted the following equation for business success on Twitter the other day:

K = R = P

(Kindness = Repeat Business = Profit)

Simply switch the profit for donations and you've got a path to fundraising success.

However, since then Tom has gone further and I've adapted his new, advanced equation for success to come up with the ultimate fundraising formula:

K+Q+W = R+N = D++

(Kindness + Quality + Wow = Repeat Donors + New Donors = Donations Plus Plus)

This looks simple on paper but putting the kindness, quality and wow into your fundraising is easier said than done.  If you can, then you're going to be well ahead of everyone else. 

I'll jot down some ideas for K+Q+W over the weekend, but if you've got any suggestions or ways to improve the formula then let me know...

Donor Magic: Avoiding "Computer Says No" Moments

If you've ever seen Little Britain then you'll be familiar with Carol, the not very helpful travel agent.  If you don't know what i'm talking about then you can watch on YouTube.

Although Carol is a caricature there's no doubt that there is a grain of truth in the character and we all have 'computer says no' moments when we don't do our best for our donors.

These are moments when you feel like yelling at someone or when you want to hit something (or someone!) in frustration.  When you are unable to help a donor due to your database running slow or because of a system you have in place.

It’s absolutely imperative that you try to keep these moments to a minimum and avoid them at all costs.  These negative interactions can be hugely damaging for your non-profit. 

Whenever you encounter a donor then you've got to remember that you are the charity in the eyes of that person and you have a responsibility to act accordingly.

Learn to recognise ‘computer says no’ situations and look for ways to resolve them.  Let others know about them, so you can take collective responsibility for overcoming them.  If you can’t avoid a ‘computer says no’ moment, then at least make sure you acknowledge it and apologise for it happening.

I'm sure you can think of 'computer says no' moments you've experienced with other organisations (i've had a few with a certain insurance company that I won't name) and how they made you feel.  If you're like me you won't be using them again.  The same applies to donors and future gifts depend on you resolving and avoiding these moments at all costs.

Never miss a chance to go the extra mile

Received a lovely letter from a donor today.  I promised I'd send her some information and an update on her previous donation and sent it off (with a personal note) last week thinking no more about it. 

She was so touched (I was just doing my job) that she sent me a 3 page handwritten note thanking me and telling me a lovely anecdote about her father's work at a local factory. Also enclosed, much to my amazement - my letter didn't include an ask - was a sizeable donation.

It just emphasised again how important those personal touches are, how you need to inject some of your own personality into communications (and not always follow the standard approach) and that by doing so you can build connections that will reap long term benefits.

This really came home to me when I rang to thank her.  She didn't want any praise or thanks, she actually wanted to thank me for giving her the chance to remember her father, tell her story and to make a difference.  We had a great chat and both got off the phone feeling good about the world.

To me it emphasised the importance of treating everyone as an individual and to give them a chance to share their story and experience.  The key lesson for me was never miss a chance to go the extra mile for someone, you'll reap the rewards in the long run.

Barriers to creating donor magic: Lack of time and resources

Creating donor magic isn’t easy – if it was everyone would be doing it.  However, if you  can get it right then it will give you a natural competitive advantage. There are two main barriers that consistently get in the way of making it happen and this week i'm going to look at the first of them - lack of time and resources.

 Barrier 1: Lack of time and resources

Everyone’s busy. 

The e-mails flow in, the phone doesn’t stop ringing, the letters keep coming and a ‘catch 22’ situation occurs: if you spend your time trying to create donor magic then you won’t have time to do the transactional stuff, if you don’t do the transactional stuff then any donor magic efforts will be wasted.

So what’s to give?

Let me be clear: you should strive to get to the situation where every donor encounter improves the relationship, but day-to-day realities mean this is hard to achieve.

However, there is a compromise.  Instead of trying to create donor magic for everyone, to begin with you should aim to create it for your ‘true fans’ – those people who respond to every appeal, always turn up to open days, volunteer on a regular basis and have strong opinions (though they don't necessarily always agree with you) on what you do.

These people can become what Malcolm Gladwell calls our ‘mavens’ and ‘connectors’ or who Seth Godin describes as ‘sneezers’: people who spread ideas and recommendations through communities. 

They aren’t necessarily the richest or most generous, but they are the people who seem to know everyone or are the people others turn to for advice and recommendations.

Concentrate on creating donor magic for these people first and they will naturally recruit new donors and do much of the work for you.  However, these people can be hard to please and you have to be willing to give up a little bit of control (which can be scary) and give them the tools and resources that empower them to spread the word about your nonprofit.

If you can get this right then you will form a powerful tribe of supporters and create a movement of support for your work.

The building blocks of donor magic

To my mind, they are a number of key building blocks for creating donor magic and I’m going to talk through each one.  The first one is all about listening.

 

Donor magic ingredient: Exceptional Listening

 

If you’re like me then your mother probably often told you as a child that you have two ears and one mouth for a reason.  As usual, mum was right!

 

Actively listening to donors is absolutely key to being successful in fundraising.

 

Listen. Hear. Understand. React appropriately.

 

A simple formula for improving your listening skills.  If you can’t listen and react appropriately to donors then you ain’t going to create donor magic.

 

Good listening isn’t just about verbal communication. 

 

It’s about the notes that donors write on letters and picking up on the subtle hints they contain; it’s about the non-verbal clues and body language people portray; it’s to hearing through the grapevine that someone isn’t happy and doing something about it; increasingly it’s about listening to what people are saying about you on Facebook, on blogs etc.

 

Good active listening isn’t easy.  It takes work and practice, especially if the conversation you’re in isn’t particularly interesting, but it is absolutely essential if you want to engage and gain the trust of supporters.

 

Donor magic ingredient: Be authentic and irreplaceable.

 

Always be yourself in any dealing with supporters. It is imperative that you don’t try and be something you’re not.  People will see straight through it.

 

In terms of fundraising this means developing your own story and way of saying things. 

 

Develop passion and enthusiasm based on your own experiences and knowledge.  Don’t sound formulaic and uninspired.

 

Back your words up by your actions and consistently behave in a way that reflects your values and beliefs.

 

Polonius said in Hamlet:

 

“To thine own self be true”

 

but being true to myself I prefer this quote from Dr Seuss:

 

“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind”

 

I was going to paraphrase a blog post from Tom Peters here about being irreplaceable, but rather than rehash what has already been said, I thought it would be better to send you direct to the post.

 

Donor magic ingredient:  Unexpected & unique

 

 

The brain is a fickle beast.  It processes huge amounts of information every day and only retains a tiny proportion of the images, sights and sounds that we experience.  So how do we overcome this natural deletion and create encounters with donors that will stick in their memories?

 

By constantly looking for ways to go ‘beyond the norm’ we can create encounters with donors that will be unexpected, unique to your organisation and which will surprise and delight donors. 

 

Consequently these interactions will have a much better chance of being remembered and recalled by donors in the future.  This means the next time we encounter the donor (be it face to face, through direct mail, on the phone etc) they will remember fondly the previous encounter, which will increase their propensity to give.

 

How often have you spoken to a donor who can’t remember giving to you previously? 

This is because we haven’t done enough (either through the thank you letter or follow up) to surprise and delight them.  Consequently, the brain hasn’t stored the memory.

 

“Engage the imagination, then take it where you will.  Where the mind has repeatedly journeyed, the body will surely follow.  People only go to places they have already been to in their minds.” Roy H. Williams

 

Those are my key building blocks to creating donor magic.  If you've any others then I would love to hear them.

 

Next week I will be looking at some of the obstacles to creating donor magic.