Best Friends’ Terri Shoemaker did a session on Fundraising
that was chock-full of good information…
Get this: 75% of
donated revenue comes from individuals. WOW! Who knew!
Who are these donors
and how do we find them? Where can you gather names?
-
special events
-
vols
-
board members & their contacts
-
community publications and listings
-
workplace campaigns
-
vendors
YOU HAVE TO ASK! How?
-
it begins with data management (all forms of
giving start here)
-
it costs to ask people for money - and you need to collect data in order
to ask them again….. other wise it’s a waste of $$$!
o Resources:
- etapestry.com (free software when you have 500
donors or less)
- orangeleap.com (free software for data
management to NPO’s – they just sell the tech service)
-
81% contribute when ASKED – remember, tap into
that emotional connection when asking.
-
Once someone gives you $$, send a thank you card
or email to every person who has donated. It could be as simple as a generic
greeting card that you send – don’t worry about getting fancy – just be sure to
say “thank you!”
-
IF you have waited too long (about a month) to
send a thank you, do it in January and send them a letter for tax purposes…
but, try NOT to get into this situation in the first place!
A few different ways
to ASK:
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Emails
-
Website
-
Honor/Memorial Donations (in lieu of gifts)
-
Direct mail
Direct Mail: most
of your $$$ will still come through the mail. Here’s some lingo:
-
“House” mailings go to previous donors, lapsed
donors.
-
“Prospect” mailing goes to people who haven’t
given before
If you do ONE mailing, the best time of year is during holiday season, towards
the end of the tax year.
How do you take your
story and make it an appeal?
-
Add an offer (answer the ??? “how does my $$ go
to work – what specifically will it be doing?”)
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Ask!
-
Include these mailing elements: outer envelope,
letter, response form & envelope. Put images on your envelopes to get
people to open them!
Testing: Track your data so you know if
it works or not. Build on your
successes!
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Best
Friends’ Elizabeth Doyle took the second half of the session to talk about how
to write appeals – it’s an art, not a
science! Here are a few tidbits to keep in mind when writing your appeals:
-
People like to give money to a solution, not a
problem. Tell them how you are trying to solve the problem!
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Answer the question… “why is giving your
organization $$ a good idea?”
-
Don’t sound desperate. It may work one…. But not
the ten times after that!
-
Sound organized! The more organized you sound,
the more of a good investment you seem like.
-
Animal lovers can be sensitive. Don’t show the
gory picture and tell the horrible details… this is the problem (remember?!).
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People can relate to one animal much better than
a million.
Just remember... ASKING should be a regular part of your routine.
It feels uncomfortable, but you have to do it. If someone doesn’t have time to
transport or volunteer, chances are they will help by donating $$
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