What’s A/B Testing?

A/B testing, also known as multivariate testing or multi-variable testing, is the process of testing multiple versions of a single digital asset in order to find out which version performs the best.

Some sophisticated marketing automation software programs and website content management systems will allow you to test multiple variations of text or a button at the same time. Users will randomly see one while other users will see another.

Even if you don’t have access to these kinds of tools, you can still test things manually by swapping out website assets and varying your emails. Here are 15 things you can A/B test to increase clicks, conversions and donations:

Email:

1. Delivery date

2. Delivery time

When you send your email can have a significant bearing on its open-rate. Keep in mind where a majority of your subscribers live (timezones) and where they work (are they in an office all day? do they work at night?). Keep in mind that some people check email in the evenings on their mobile devices.

Note: there’s a lot of data, studies and opinions about when the best date and time are to send an email, and they all vary wildly. The best way to know for sure what works best for your organization is to test and retest until you find out for yourself.

3. Subject line

Since the subject line is the first thing an email recipient will see, it must be compelling and eye catching. Don’t be afraid to experiment widely here. During the 2012 elections, the most effective email subject line for the Obama campaign was “Hey.”

Website buttons:

4. Button text

5. Button size

6. Button color

7. Button shape

Button testing is an often-ignored exercise, but one that can pay off massively for your organization. “Donate Now” is a pretty standard button, but have you ever considered trying “Support Us?” You could also try something tied closely to your mission, like “End Hunger.”

Colors also have an interesting psychological effect on users. Check out this color image guide to see what emotions are triggered by certain colors:

Do keep in mind the action that the button makes: is it a donation or a volunteer sign-up? Which emotions correspond best? Be sure also to make sure that the color matches or compliments your branding.

Want to A/B test your buttons right away? Download our free Donate Now Button Kit >>

Pages:

8. Headlines

9. Paragraph text

10. Images

11. Calls-to-action

The text and images on your page can have a huge effect on whether or not your sign-up and donation forms get filled out. Be sure to test headlines, paragraph text and any images. Consider placement and arrangement as well. Make sure nothing distracts from or pushes the form below the fold (you don’t want people to have to scroll to get to the form).

CTAs, or calls-to-action, are also very important to consider and test. These, like buttons, should be compelling and encourage an action. User experience is paramount here. For example, “click here” as a text link isn’t a great CTA, since some of your visitors may be using a mobile device. Plus, it’s not very compelling. As with your buttons, try something like “give now” or “support us now.”

Note: all four of these items also apply to emails. Test, test, test!

Forms:

12. Form length

13. Field size

14. Field questions

15. Premiums

Your forms themselves can also be tested. Keep in mind that the shorter the form, the most completions it gets typically. Don’t ask too many questions, or you might scare off the website visitor. You can also test the verbage of the questions themselves. What happens if you ask for “Phone Number” instead of “Cell Phone Number?”

If you offer premiums, you can test different options. If you don’t offer premiums, what would happen if you did?

If you feel your website isn’t quite performing, try changing a few of items listed above and see what happens. Even if they perform worse, you can always switch it right back.

What have you A/B tested at your nonprofit? Let me know in the comments below!

Want to A/B test your buttons right away? Download our free Donate Now Button Kit >>

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The post 15 Things Fundraisers Can A/B Test to Increase Donations appeared first on Bloomerang.

The following is an excerpt from Robots Make Bad Fundraisers – How Nonprofits Can Maintain the Heart in the Digital Age by Steven Shattuck, published by Bold & Bright Media.

The other day I receive a donation appeal that contained a curious sentence.

It read:

“Whether you donated today, previously have given, or still plan to give, we thank you for your ongoing support in our mission.”

I had seen it before; this practice of listing all the possible reasons for sending or possible recipients of a communications piece.

That same day, the preeminent Beth Ann Locke, Director of Advancement at Simon Fraser University, bemoaned a similar acknowledgement she received:

It read:

“We know you just bought tickets or made a donation, or maybe you just subscribed, so we want to send you a big THANK YOU!”

Instantly I became obsessed with not only getting to the root cause of this practice, but also naming it. After workshopping several ideas, Beth Ann came up with a winner.

Allow me to introduce a new term to the nonprofit lexicon:

Seglumping.

What is “seglumping?”

Seglumping is that act of referencing multiple audiences in one, unsegmented communications piece.

Lumping + Segments = Seglumping.

To be fair, seglumping is almost always done with the best intentions, usually as an attempt at inclusiveness, or as a result of not having the tools required for proper segmentation. It’s a holdover from mass media communications (radio, TV, etc.) where audience segmentation was impossible.

It’s also easy to rationalize the alternative.

Back to Beth Ann:

You can imagine a fundraiser saying:

“We could segment the database… you know, so all the dog lovers get the doggy emails, and the horse people get the horsey emails” and their boss saying “Oh yeah? How is that gonna work? Because we haven’t done it yet. Everyone likes getting all the animal emails. They are ANIMAL lovers!”

There is always a naysayer who has more power (inertia) than someone who wants to do the right thing.

One sign that you might be seglumping is if your letter or email contains a sentence that begins with “Whether you’re a…”

For example:

• Whether you’re a long-time donor or haven’t made your first gift…
• Whether you’ve volunteered before or want to get started…
• Whether you’re passionate about the rainforests or the arctic…”
• Whether you’ve contributed to this campaign or you want to make an impact for the first time…”

There is no way that the rest of the content of that letter or email can be simultaneously compelling to both audiences. You’re also devaluing the audience with stronger past engagement, loyalty or capacity.

Unfortunately, seglumping can alienate the recipient when it hits their personal inbox, and be more harmful than no segmentation whatsoever.

In fact, my hierarchy would be:

• Segmentation: Good
• No Segmentation: Neutral, at best
• Seglumping: Bad
• Bad Segmentation: Worst

Yes, seglumping is actually worse than not segmenting, because it can be a direct slap in the face, rather than simply ineffectual.

The best segmented communications illustrate to the recipient that you know exactly who they are, what they value, etc., but leave them unaware that there are actually multiple versions of that communication for other audience groups that they do not belong to. This results in a subliminal feeling that they are the only donor that matters to the organization. The letter was written just for them and no one else. They are known. They are a beautiful and unique snowflake.

Conversely, seglumping shows recipient that they are just a tiny fish in a big, crowded pond. It shows them that you either didn’t take the time or were unable to craft a message just for them.

Let’s go back to my original example:

“Whether you donated today, previously have given, or still plan to give, we thank you for your ongoing support in our mission.”

Let’s say you’re a $100 monthly donor to this organization, having given for the past five years. You’re being seglumped in with people who have never given, who are still (for some reason) getting thanked for their “ongoing support?”

Is it any wonder that poor communications are often cited in donor loyalty studies as a top reason why donors lapse?

An exception: “Crossed Paths”

One instance where it’s not only acceptable, but also recommended, that you reference multiple potential audiences in one piece is in the case of a multi-touch letter campaign that spans an extended period of time (weeks or more).

For example, let’s say you’re sending out three letters over a period of six weeks. Consider adding a line to the second or third letter that reads “If your donation and this letter crossed paths in the mail, we thank you!”

This way, the donor won’t be put off by the fact that they just recently donated to a campaign they’re receiving an appeal for.

The best possible thing you can do is segment out those who have already contributed, but this isn’t always possible with drop dates, shipping times (to and from your org), data entry, etc. It’s also possible that a donor uses a reply device not tied to the current campaign, or makes an online donation instead of mailing a check, resulting in you attributing or designating the gift differently.

With email and online donations, there’s less of an excuse for this if you have an integrated solution (database / email marketing / online giving).

For example, if it’s a special one day, online day of giving and you’re sending out multiple emails, consider adding “If you’ve already made your donation today, we thank you!”

Seglump no more

The first step toward change is awareness.

Hopefully this post has made you aware of the fact that you might be seglumping.

If you can’t segment, don’t seglump to compensate.

If you can segment, then by all means please do so. Your donors will appreciate it.

The post Are You “Seglumping” Your Donor Communications? appeared first on Bloomerang.

48 million Americans move each year. This is 17% of the adult population in the US. This means for a database of 15,000 accounts, potentially 2500 constituents may have different addresses if your addresses haven’t been cleaned in the last year, which could result in a significant cost in returned or delayed mail.

NCOA Explained

The NCOA (National Change of Address) update involves both standardizing your address formats per recommendations from the US Postal Service and comparing the addresses on file to the information in the National Change of Address database. This database contains data for all change of address requests filed by US postal customers in the past 48 months.

NCOA doesn’t just find movers, it also corrects addresses such as adding St, Ave, Rd, etc. if missing from your address or changes it if incorrect. It also adds/changes the directional (N, E, S, W, NE, etc.) if necessary, corrects misspellings, adds the +4 to ZIP codes, and formats the address according to USPS standards.

There are times when a person has moved but the new address couldn’t be returned. Examples of this would be a PO Box that’s been closed with no forwarding address, people who have moved to a foreign country or people who have moved but did not provide a new address. Even though a new address can’t be provided, this information is provided to help you know who may need follow up or who may need to be removed from your mailing list.

There may be people who may or may not have moved, but because a key piece of the address is missing or invalid a match can’t be made to the NCOA database to know for sure. NCOA can tell you if the secondary address (apartment or suite number) is missing or invalid.

Having all of your addresses up to date helps facilitate duplicate checking.

If you are considering a data enhancement service such as a phone, email or birth date append, or a deceased suppression service, clean addresses can improve the match rate for these services as they all use the address as part of the primary matching criteria.

If you claim preferred mailing rates, USPS requires that your mailing list be run through an NCOA processing within 90 days of the mailing. A CASS Summary Report is provided with the cleaned addresses. CASS stands for Coding Accuracy Support System and means your addresses have been checked for accuracy against the Postal Service’s database using an approved system.

Bloomerang has partnered with TrueGivers to offer nightly data stewardship updates. With the click of a button, all individual constituents with US addresses will be scanned and updated each night with NCOA information that includes address updates, deceased information (when applicable), and some optional demographic information.

Yes, that’s right – it’s included with your standard Bloomerang subscription!

We are committed to helping the helpers by saving you time and allowing you to focus on what’s important. Say goodbye to yellow return labels and hello to Bloomerang nightly updates today!

The post The Ultimate Guide To NCOA Processing For Nonprofits appeared first on Bloomerang.

STICKERS!

Yes, this is a blog post about stickers, and why they’re another in a long line of things that you should be thinking about.

They’re not important in the same way that board governance, DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion), gift acknowledgments, communication segmenting, etc., etc. — but important in a way that’s fun, impactful, affordable, and achievable.

A vinyl sticker​ is one of my most favorite things I can receive from a nonprofit I support.

Why Stickers?

Because it allows me to publicly display my pride for supporting the organization and my passion for the cause. Stickers invite supporters to be participants in promoting the brand, albeit in a passive way.

Perhaps the shining example of stickers in the nonprofit sector is the Human Rights Campaign. Their logo is one of the most recognizable symbols in the fight for equal rights for LGBTQ Americans. You’ve probably seen it on a rear windshield or bumper:

I asked Caitlin Toynbee, CFRE, the Associate Director, Member Relations and Monthly Giving at HRC, what their sticker strategy is. She told me:

• We go through about 2 million logo stickers per year.
• In fundraising, we place them in our acknowledgment letters, appeals, and cultivation mailings.
• Our outreach team uses them at the 300 Pride events that HRC attends annually as a tool for engagement.
• We also utilize the logo stickers as an incentive to opt into our mobile-app/SMS platforms or to complete an action. It’s an effective way to collect information that can be used in our acquisition and conversion efforts.

Christopher Speron, the Senior Vice President, Development and Membership at HRC, chimed in as well:

“It might just be a three-inch sticker, but since 1995 it has become one of the most recognizable symbols in the LGBTQ equality movement. You can easily find a Human Rights Campaign blue and yellow equal-sign sticker on a car bumper, your local grocery store and even around the world. I’m so proud of the work of our staff, volunteers, members and supporters who are working for equality and acceptance in all areas of life and that our logo stickers have become a visual representation of those efforts. We’ve come a long way in the push for equality, and I’m certain that HRC’s logo sticker will continue to be a symbol of progress, hope, and equality.”

They aren’t the only ones embracing stickers.

I spoke to Billy Price, the Social Media Manager at Preemptive Love, an organization that maintains a strong sticker strategy.

“For us at Preemptive Love, our message is our mission. The most important thing we do isn’t providing food, water, or medicine. It’s not creating jobs or helping refugees start new businesses. At the red hot center of everything we do—every food delivery, every family we serve—is the pursuit of peace between communities at odds. Therefore, we’re always looking for ways to invite people into that mission and into living that message. Stickers with our name and important mantras that we hold dear—like “Love Anyway” and “Love Across Enemy Lines,” are a manner of spreading that message organically through the lives of our staff, donors, and allies.:

Preemptive Love sends stickers to monthly donors, partners, and other high-engagement advocates. They also “sell” a pack of stickers on their website:

I love how they promote the stickers:

When hate is loud, love cannot be silent.

Use these stickers to decorate your car, computer, water bottle—as a reminder that we are the people who love anyway. When others step back in fear, we step forward in love.

Every sticker pack funds our peacemaking work on the frontlines of conflict in Syria, Iraq, and beyond.

It’s clear that stickers can be a powerful addition to your promotional toolkit. But how can you ensure sticker success? This quick guide covers all the bases.

Let’s start with…

Who should get stickers?

Despite my enthusiasm for stickers, they should be used somewhat selectively. Here’s a list of common donor segments and my recommendation for whether they’re sticker-worthy:

• 1st-time donors: No. There’s a case to be made for a “yes” here, but my gut says it’s too early in the relationship. If you really know something about that donor, and you know it will be received well, go for it. But if you don’t know much or anything about this donor, which is probably the case, I’d save it for when you get another engagement signal or inbound interaction.
• Monthly donors: Yes! This is the best group for stickers, in my opinion. The fact that they’re trusting you with their payment information to automatically charge them every month is a strong signal of affinity for your organization. There’s already pride there; give them a way to show it off.
• Repeat donors: Yes. A second annual gift is a good time to send a sticker. They’ve renewed their support and made a big jump in average retention rates (from 20% to 60%).
• Event attendees: Maybe. Have them available for folks to take if they want them. No need to force them on everyone. This will help you control inventory and costs.

Julie Edwards, the Executive Director of Humane Society of Northeast Georgia follows these guidelines:

“Our recurring/monthly giving club gets a sticker when they sign up. We also have stickers of some of our rescues we used at the holidays on ornaments and on thank you notes. We are in the process of having “fun” stickers made for other events and HSNEGA in general to hand out at said events or make for sale.”

How should you promote stickers?

You basically have two options here:

• “Surprise and delight” – don’t tell donors they will get a sticker, and instead surprise them with it after they become a monthly donor.
• Premium model – when promoting your monthly giving program, tell donors directly that they will receive a sticker upon becoming a monthly donor.

Your mileage may vary, but I lean more towards “surprise and delight” – if a prospective donor is turned off by the idea of a premium, they may not make the donation. Another way to avoid this is to include an opt-out to receiving the sticker, but this is adding an extra layer of complication that might confuse the donor (not to mention your time setting up the mechanism).

HRC takes a third approach: simply giving them away for free through a custom landing page:

Enclosed with the sticker is an appeal:

What HRC is doing is essentially spending $0.40-$0.50 to acquire a lead (contact info) while also creating a mobile advertisement. This is an extremely good value.

Yes, they’re a large organization with the means to pull this off, but this isn’t terribly out of reach for any sized org.

“This week I got year-end statements from most of the nonprofits I give monthly to. None of them sent me a sticker (of their logo or whatev). I wish they had. I’d put them on my laptop, car, etc. to show off my pride in supporting them. Thank you for attending my TED talk.”

— Steven Shattuck (@StevenShattuck) February 6, 2019

What about the cost? Should we really be spending money on this?

The question of cost is a fair one. Budgets are already tight, and It’s reasonable to fear that at least some donors will find it off-putting that you’re spending their donation on a premium of some kind.

Let’s compare the cost of stickers to other, more common premiums:

• Stickers: If you use a vendor like Sticker Mule or Canva, you can get 1000 3 x 3 die-cut stickers for about $350. That’s $0.35 per sticker.
• Calendars: If you use a vendor like Vistaprint, you can get 500 8.5 x 11 calendars for about $6000. That’s $8.33 per calendar.
• Ceramic coffee mugs: If you use a vendor like Discount Mugs, you can get 1000 ceramic coffee mugs for about $930, or $0.93 per mug.

None of this includes shipping to your recipient.

With stickers, you can easily slip it into an envelope and not incur any additional postage. Calendars and mugs being larger, you’ll likely exceed the cost of one stamp (not to mention having to protect both items, especially the mugs). Sure, you can hand them all out in person to avoid some of this, but that requires you to have an event.

But the cost of a sticker is so low that it shouldn’t register in the donor’s head as a big expense (and it won’t be a big expense if you buy in bulk, especially in greater quantities than the example above). The stamp for the envelope might even cost more than the sticker you’re sending.

What do we actually get out of it?

Let’s continue comparing stickers, calendars, and mugs.

Beyond the impact that it has on the recipient, a premium’s value is in the impressions (eyeballs) it generates, and what revenue those impressions generate.

Stickers have the potential to generate more impressions than the other two. Why? They’re just more mobile.

Where does a mug or calendar live? Probably your kitchen or your cubicle. A few co-workers or houseguests may see them, but that’s about it.

Buttons and magnets have a similarly-low price point as stickers but suffer from the same lack of mobility (buttons to a lesser extent, but a sticker won’t accidentally draw blood).

Plus, apparently, refrigerators aren’t magnetic anymore???

“We moved this summer and our new fridge is non-magnetic. Please millennials don’t grind us oldsters up for food we will behave and accept our middle management limitations.”

— Jeremy Hatch (@naptownjeremy) August 28, 2019

A sticker, on a car, laptop, or water bottle is going to move with you. Unless you’re wearing a calendar like a necklace, it won’t have the visibility as a sticker (but shout-out to branded water bottles!). Sure, the sticker might not be immediately recognizable to a stranger in a coffee shop, but neither would a calendar or a mug.

That leads me to our next topic:

What should our sticker actually be?

The easy answer is your logo, but with just your logo you run into the challenge I alluded to above: recognizability.

Few of us have the recognizability of a national organization, like HRC or Komen. That’s why it’s not a great idea to only use the “mark” in your logo.

Take a closer look at Preemptive Love’s stickers:

You can see that they take a “slogan” approach, turning value statements into a sticker.

Additionally, they have two stickers centered around the brand itself. Spelling out the name of the organization (like in the top-right sticker) does more for the viewer than the bottom-right sticker, which is just their logo mark.

The same is true for the Humane Society of Northeast Georgia:

This is an “alternative” logo that lends itself better to a sticker than their standard logo that you’ll find on their website. Using the state outline is also savvy, as it’s a common design strategy for other common vehicle window stickers (plus, you simultaneously allow the recipient to show pride in the organization and the state).

They also have a sticker specifically for members of their giving society:

This one checks all the boxes: understandable by the viewer, pride-inducing for the recipient.

Stick to the plan

If I’ve convinced you to dip your toes into the stickers water, click the image below for a discount on your first order through Stickermule.

Be sure to let me know how it goes.

Does your organization have stickers? How do you use them? Let me know in the comments below!

AND SEND ME SOME STICKERS ಠ_ಠ

The post Stickers: Your Nonprofit’s Secret Weapon appeared first on Bloomerang.

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In addition to monitoring improvements in donor retention rates, we at Bloomerang are always interested in seeing other ways that we are impacting customers.

Exciting new research taken from thousands of actual donor databases within our Bloomerang family of customers suggests that major gift success is attainable, especially for small and medium-sized nonprofits.

The Big Data team at Bloomerang recently pulled fundraising performance metrics from over 5,000 organizations that have been using Bloomerang for at least one year.

We found over two-thirds of organizations using Bloomerang for at least a year saw an increase in gifts over $1,000 compared to the 24 months prior to using Bloomerang.

Of those two-thirds, this is the average of those increases by database size:

Each database size cohort saw an increase in gift size per month, total annual major gift revenue, and amount of major gifts (any gift over $1,000) per year. These figures represent a 50-80x return on investment for the cost of the software!

Furthermore, the revenue increases amount to almost $31MM raised from an average increase of 150 major gifts in a single 12 month timeframe!

Why Are Bloomerang Customers Successful? Top 4 Key Reasons:

Anytime outstanding results are found in research such as the ones above, the first question asked is “what are the key factors causing the results?”

The research itself has not explored to this depth, but all of the team at Bloomerang who work daily with these customers believe there are four key factors in play here.

Let’s explore each of them.

First

Bloomerang, the company, provides extensive product and fundraising best practices training in the form our Bloomerang Academy classes, the product’s extensive online knowledge-base, and the free educational resources we offer through our website (daily blog posts, weekly webinars, downloadables, templates, etc.)

Of particular importance is the fact that every new purchase of Bloomerang in 2019 and 2020 included a free seat to The Fundraising Standard, a remarkable eight week fundraising training course. Such training vastly improves the ability to put major gift fundraising best practices in play. Using best practices ultimately improves results!

Second

making the commitment to actually use a professional database such as Bloomerang means proper tools for relationship building are in use. When combined with personal implementation help, and outstanding day to day customer support, the chance for proper use and thereby improved donor relationship building is vastly increased.

Third

Bloomerang allows, through an extensive integration with a key partner, every customer to see a Generosity Score for each constituent right on their summary screen. This score is continuously updated during off hours, so as to reflect the actual giving to other charities and the potential for major gifts! Note: This video features our old user interface and branding however it’s still helpful.

The use of the Generosity Score when combined with the Engagement Meter below allows any fundraiser the opportunity to
pinpoint their best major gift prospects.

Fourth

the most important criteria in determining if a donor should be asked to upgrade their giving and move into the major gift classification is the level of their engagement with your cause.

Bloomerang provides a continuously updated Engagement Meter so this important criteria can easily be tracked and utilized. A multitude of factors come into play such as communication responses, interactions with your team, participation, giving, volunteering, and even just visits to your website.

The guesswork of who to ask has been removed and the results bear this out!

Please help me share with others so such best practices can be commonplace across our wonderful sector!

The post Major Gift Fundraising Success With Bloomerang appeared first on Bloomerang.

Nonprofits that don’t adequately show appreciation for the hard work and dedication of their supporters will receive less funding in the long run because they’ll struggle to retain those supporters over time. 

Here at Bloomerang, we specialize in donor retention. Our team has studied the effectiveness of retaining donors rather than acquiring new ones, and that research guides our entire approach. Retention is the key to maximizing your fundraising strategy, and appreciation is at the root of that strategy. In this guide, we’ll dive into how your organization can create an appreciation strategy. Then, we’ll provide a list of ideas to help you say “thank you” to your generous supporters.

1. Why Does Donor Appreciation Matter?
2. The Foundations of Your Strategy
3. Donor Appreciation Ideas
   • Ideas for New Donors
   • Ideas for Recurring Donors
   • Ideas for Major Donors
   • Event Appreciation Ideas
   • Appreciation Gift Ideas

We’ll start with the fundamentals: the importance of donor appreciation and how it can inform your fundraising strategy. Let’s dive in!

Why Does Donor Appreciation Matter?

Saying “thank you” to individuals who do you the massive favor of contributing to your organization isn’t just polite; it’s also a necessity to acquire their long-term support and contributions.

Put yourself in the shoes of a supporter. You have found an organization with a mission that is near and dear to your heart. To help fund one of their main programs, you decide to give a donation of $100. It’s not a massive gift, but it’s still a substantial contribution to the cause! A week goes by and you don’t hear anything back from the organization. Then, two weeks go by—still nothing. At first you’re disappointed, but then you simply start to forget about the whole incident. The point is, you never give again.

This situation should never happen for your supporters. Dr. Adrian Sargeant conducted a survey about why donors stop giving. He found that 5% of one-time donors thought the charity didn’t need them, 9% had no memory of supporting, 13% never got thanked for donating, and 8% never had any information about how their gifts were used. Although some reasons are certainly out of your control, the ones listed above are within it. Here’s the complete breakdown:

• 5% thought the charity did not need them
• 8% got no information about how monies were used
• 9% had no memory of supporting
• 13% never got thanked for donating
• 16% passed away
• 18% thought the charity had poor service or communication
• 36% thought others were more deserving
• 54% could no longer afford to give

Most of these issues can be completely avoided if your organization is able to communicate effectively and show proper appreciation. 

Then, when supporters do stick around for your organization, you’ll make more money in the long run. It’s around ten times more expensive to acquire new supporters than it is to retain existing ones. Plus, over time, retained supporters tend to end up making larger contributions to your mission, resulting in additional revenue. You can see an example of this and the resulting revenue that accompanies a simple 10% increase in donor retention:

The main idea is that retention (and therefore more effective fundraising) is rooted in communication, appreciation, and gratitude, making a simple “thank you” message worth its weight in gold.

The Foundations of Your Donor Appreciation Strategy

The backbone of any successful donor appreciation strategy is data. Having access to the right data will not only help you to choose the right donor appreciation ideas for your audience but also help you to craft more meaningful and resonant appreciation messages for your supporters.

Therefore, as you begin crafting your appreciation strategy, analyze the profiles in your donor database to be sure you’re reaching supporters where they are and creating messages that resonate with them.

Analyze Your Audience

Using a dedicated donor database (especially one that’s designed with retention in mind), you can gather all of the information you need about your supporters to craft an appreciation message that will resonate well with them. Consider the segments of your audience and the levels of appreciation that should be attributed to each segment. For instance, you might not add your first-time donors to a donor recognition board, but that could be a great option for your major supporters.

When you start putting together your donor appreciation strategy, create slightly different plans for each of your various audience segments.

Choose Your Appreciation Ideas

After you’ve considered your audience, you can start thinking of the different appreciation ideas that will best reach each of the donor segments. For instance, you might consider the following segments:

• When you segment by gift amount, you can choose different appreciation ideas for major and mid-tier donors and others for your lower-tier supporters. Remember that the larger the donation, the fewer supporters you’ll have to thank, which allows you to create more extravagant gestures.
• If you segment by recency, you’ll be able to implement different appreciation ideas for your first-time donors that differ slightly from the ones for long-term supporters. Your first-time donor strategy will be aimed at achieving your second or golden donation and appreciation will likely be shown in short succession.
• When you segment your supporters by age, you can make some assumptions about the types of appreciation that your donors will enjoy. For instance, younger donors may appreciate your thank-you video that you post to Instagram, but older donors may be more responsive to a hand-written letter.

We could go on and on with various segments. But the ultimate goal here is to customize your appreciation approach based on the preferences and status of your donors.

Say Thank You

Remember that the whole purpose here is to say “thank you” to your supporters. Even if you send them a gift or feature their name on an appreciation board, you should accompany the gesture with a note that informs the donor of the gesture and actually say “thanks!”

The note should be personal, noting the supporter by name. You should also be sure to say exactly what the supporter did to earn your appreciation. For example, you might say something like:

Dear Jessie, thank you so much for your donation of $100 to the Save the Dolphins campaign. Your contribution will provide a fish dinner for 10 injured dolphins tonight! 

This note is personal, shows appreciation, and notes the exact donation amount and campaign the donor supported. The next element that you should be sure to include in this note is the impact of the contribution.

Show Impact

You can see in the example above that the nonprofit wrote what the $100 would accomplish for the mission. This is a key element of your donor appreciation strategy because donors want to know where their money is going. Remember the stat from before? 8% of supporters who stop giving do so because they don’t know where their money is going.

Showing impact allows supporters to understand that their money isn’t just a paycheck for your organization—it’s accomplishing something that will help further your mission. After all, your donors give to your mission, not necessarily to your organization.

Donor Appreciation Ideas

While these are by no means the only ideas available, they do present a summary of the potential options for your organization. You can use these as a starting point to begin building out your donor appreciation strategy as a whole.

For your convenience, we’ve split up the 22 appreciation ideas into categories so that you can jump to the ones most relevant to your needs:

1. Ideas for New Donors
2. Ideas for Recurring Donors
3. Ideas for Major Donors
4. Event Appreciation Ideas
5. Appreciation Gift Ideas

Let’s learn more!

1. Donor Appreciation for New Supporters

You work hard to acquire new supporters. It’s a shame to think that after all of the work and funds that you spent on the acquisition process, those supporters could simply give once and never again. If you’re able to retain them for the long run, their lifetime value with your organization will rise significantly.

The rate of supporters who donate for a second time after they’ve given once to a nonprofit is only around 20% according to the Fundraising Effectiveness Project. But once they’ve contributed this second donation (or the golden donation), the chance that they’ll continue donating to your organization rises to about 60%.

Therefore, your initial sign of appreciation for your new donors is incredibly important to retain their support for the long haul. We recommend creating a cultivation timeline for your first-time donors to show your appreciation, encourage them to get more involved, and eventually make your second appeal. You can see a sample of this type of timeline below:

As you can see, this timeline doesn’t simply provide a single opportunity to say thank you, but has several opportunities to do so. Therefore, you can incorporate multiple donor appreciation ideas in your own iteration of a new donor cultivation timeline.

Let’s dive deeper into four of the ideas that you’ll find on these timelines, each providing an additional opportunity to show donor appreciation.

Immediate Donation Receipt

Most of the time, donors will give their first donation using some sort of online platform. This is one of the virtual fundraising trends that will not disappear anytime soon, but will likely become stronger over time.

Set up your fundraising software so that a donation receipt is sent immediately after the contribution is received, whether it’s for a campaign hosted on a crowdfunding, peer-to-peer, or donation page. Craft this message to say an immediate “thank you” to the donor, also using their name and specific donation amount for personalization. It will also act as a confirmation that the donation was, in fact, received by your organization.

Follow Up Phone Call

Within 48 hours of a donor contributing to your organization, give them a quick call! This may seem like an outdated strategy, but it’s incredibly personal and allows you to make a personal and memorable connection through appreciation. Plus, in our study on the matter, we found that the retention rate for new donors increased by around 25% if multiple appreciation calls were made to supporters within 90 days versus if no calls occurred.

Create a script that your development team can follow during these follow-up conversations with your new supporters. Customize these scripts based on the segments of supporters who are being called. Then, make sure everyone is up to date on the latest donations so that they can make these phone calls in a timely manner.

Survey 

Surveys are a great way to both get your new supporters involved and to show your appreciation for them. It shows that their opinions matter and are an important part of your organization’s plans going forward.

Send a survey after you’ve called and had a couple of other interactions with each of your supporters. Then, be sure to ask informative questions that will also help you optimize the new donor experience for the future.

Additional Information About Your Mission

Donors don’t give to organizations—they give to missions. Showing your supporters the extent of your mission and the work that you do in the community is a great way to show them how their contributions make a difference.

Provide additional information about your organization through welcome packets, newsletters, and other resources. Be sure to discuss your various projects in the community to show the impact of the donations that your supporters make.

2. Donor Appreciation for Recurring Donors

Recurring donors give at a consistent rate, usually on a monthly basis. These supporters don’t necessarily need to be stewarded towards additional gifts on a regular basis. Every now and then, you may want to approach them. However, on the whole, you should steward them to keep them interested in your organization and your mission.

The key thing to keep in mind here is to not fall into the “set it and forget it” trap with your recurring donors. They should never forget about your mission. If they do, when it’s time for them to rework their personal finances, you might lose your valuable recurring donor!

Recurring donations account for anywhere from 3% to 9% of most nonprofits’ overall funding depending on the size of the organization. Plus, a good recurring donation program provides consistent funding for organizations and increases the retention rate. You don’t want to lose these supporters!

Instead, show appreciation for your recurring donors by not asking for money. Instead, find other ways to involve these supporters and to show your appreciation for them.

Event Invitations

Host events that simply provide a “thank you” to your supporters rather than asking them to contribute to your organization. These events may be a luncheon, happy hour, or another opportunity to have a good time.

In addition, events are a great way to mingle with your supporters and create lasting relationships and connections with them. The invite shows that you care and the opportunity to network with them builds up relationships. You can read more about appreciation events later in this article.

Volunteer Opportunities

Volunteering may not immediately sound like an appreciation idea, but hear us out! When you start a volunteer program, you give your supporters a chance for an up-close view of what your mission is accomplishing. While you can tell your recurring donors about their impact that they have on your mission, they’re more likely to develop a personal connection with your organization if they can see that impact as well.

Be sure to incorporate appreciation into the calls-to-action as you’re working with recurring donors to encourage them to volunteer. You might offer to meet after the volunteer experience for a happy hour or work appreciation into your recruitment messaging. For example, you might say, “Hugo, thank you so much for your gifts to Hope Rains, the campaign providing clean water to communities in need. If you want to meet those who have benefitted from your contributions, consider volunteering at this week’s water purifier assembly!”

Bonus! Your supporters who volunteer also may have the opportunity to increase their monetary contributions to your organization as well if they qualify for volunteer grants through their employer’s corporate responsibility program.

Program Updates and Communication

Just as your new donors want additional information about your mission as a whole, your recurring donors will want to know about the progress that your organization is making in the community. Be sure to communicate this progress clearly and consistently to your recurring donors.

Send email newsletters with updates about specific projects and post social media posts regarding the various activities your organization is involved with. Then, of course, be sure to say “thank you” to everyone who makes this progress possible. Be sure to keep in consistent contact with your recurring donors, always showing them their impact on the mission at hand. This lets them know where their money is going and allows you to give a specific “thank you” for their impact.

Thank You Letters

Do you have a leap of excitement when you check the mail and notice that there’s a letter in there for you that’s not a credit card or utility bill? We do too and so do your donors! Studies show that people also absorb and retain information better when they read it on paper than on a screen. This means that donor appreciation letters can make a splash for your supporters.

Write personalized letters that will capture your supporters’ attention. This shouldn’t replace an initial confirmation email or a digital thank you, but it does help solidify your strategy and provides another medium on which you’re showing your appreciation. To make sure these letters are personalized, leverage your donor segments and craft messages that each will find engaging. Then, ask your executive director or development officer to personally sign the letter.

Appreciation Gifts

If you’ve ever run a 5K for charity, you know that the most exciting part of the activity is receiving your free t-shirt at the end of the race. That t-shirt may even become your favorite one that you’ll wear until it has holes along the seams. You may not remember the exact amount that you paid for the race or your finishing time, but whenever you wear the shirt, you’re reminded of the organization and the mission you supported.

This is the reason appreciation gifts are so important and effective. While t-shirts are a classic option, they’re certainly not the only one. Branded merchandise and gifts of all shapes and sizes make for a great way to show your appreciation for your recurring supporters’ contributions. Plus, they’ll think of your mission each and every time they see the gift.

3. Donor Appreciation for Major Donors

Major donors make up the backbone of successful fundraising strategies. According to this article, $410 billion was given in philanthropy in 2017 and 49% of the funds donated were by the top 1% of donors. If that’s not enough, DonorSearch found that 88% of nonprofit funding usually comes from the top 12% of donors.

Because of this grand impact that your major donors have on your strategy, it makes sense that you should put a little bit more emphasis, time, and effort into appreciating them. The only thing better than a major gift now is another promised major gift in the future. Saying thank you is the first step to stewarding these supporters and cultivating additional contributions for the future.

Publicly Highlight Major Supporters

While you’re bound to have some supporters who want to give anonymously, the majority of people appreciate being recognized for their contributions. Public recognition is a great way to give a shout-out to your most impactful supporters, plus it gives others a level to strive for.

You might decide to highlight a “donor of the month” on social media platforms or shout out to them at organization events so that you can give proper recognition to each of your major supporters who want this kind of attention. Be sure to check with them first before highlighting their story for the world to see. You could also highlight major donors in regular documents like your annual report. This allows you to tie the contributions made by these supporters directly to your success from the year.

Personalized Appreciation Letters

We mentioned that appreciation letters can be used for your recurring donors, but it’s also a great strategy to reach your major donors! While you may use segmentation strategies for your recurring or lower-level supporters to show appreciation, you should write completely individual letters for each of your major supporters.

You might decide to start with a thank you letter template to be sure you hit all of the important elements of this letter, but you should make sure the final version incorporates more personalized elements. For example, including information about your major donors’ motivations for giving is a great way to make a personalized connection with them.

Exclusive Event Opportunities

Again, events are a great way to get any of your supporters further involved with your organization and your mission. But major donors should have some preferential treatment given the level of their importance for your organization. Exclusive events allow your major donors to mingle with one another and with your team.

These events can be in conjunction with fundraising events (like galas), but it’s always good to have a healthy mix of both fundraising and stewardship events throughout the year. Therefore, make sure to include events in your regular schedule that will be exclusively available to your major supporters.

Gather Feedback and Insights 

Many of your major donors and stakeholders want some additional insight into your programming than you would typically give for your supporters. They also may want to give your organization additional feedback about your activities given the fact that they’re funding such a great portion of them.

Schedule meetings with your major donors and stakeholders to give them the opportunity to share their opinions about your organization’s current programming and activities. This gives you the opportunity to address any of their concerns, and it gives them the opportunity to also share their concerns and present new ideas for your team.

Donor Recognition Wall

Donor recognition walls are a classic idea to commemorate your major donors. Featuring their names on a physical or virtual wall allows you to share their involvement with the community, providing public recognition for their contributions.

Create an in-person donor recognition wall at your organization in a well-traveled location. This enables your supporters to see their own names on the wall as they pass by. Plus, other prospects and donors might see the names of major donors and feel incentivized to give in order to be recognized alongside them.

4. Donor Appreciation Event Ideas

Earlier in the article, we’ve discussed the benefits of hosting donor appreciation events. The majority of events your supporters are invited to attend are likely fundraising-focused, meaning the hosting organization has an underlying motive to attain funds from the attendees. It often becomes an expectation for donors to give an additional donation during the event itself.

However, when you take a non-fundraising approach and don’t ask for money, you can focus solely on creating connections with your supporters and building on relationships. Essentially, events where you don’t ask for funds ensure the focus of the event is entirely on your supporters themselves, not their wallets.

At the core, these events are designed to build trust, respond to donors’ questions, and help demonstrate the alignment between your donors’ interests and your organization’s mission.

There are some inherent risks to these events. You might receive some backlash about hosting events that have no immediate return on investment. You also can’t host too many of these events; usually just one big one will do the trick! These events will give you some ideas for how you can raise more by not asking for donations at your next event.

Donor Luncheon or Dinners

Who doesn’t love free food? Donor luncheons and dinners provide the perfect space and opportunity to enjoy a good meal while networking with supporters, encouraging them to mingle with one another, and say thank you for all of their contributions.

You might put together a short presentation or have a speaker chosen to give a group-wide “thank you” for the contributions made to your organization over the year. Depending on your donor management software, this can be a breeze to set up or take some time. Be sure to also include updates about the nonprofit’s progress and impact of gifts to take this presentation further.

Virtual Facility Tour

Essentially, a lot of the ideas that you could use for your virtual (or in-person) fundraising ideas can be taken to the stewardship sphere if you host them for free. A facility tour is a perfect example! Many of your donors, especially those who started donating during the age of social distancing, may not have seen your office space and work sites before. Showing them where the magic happens is a great way to say “thank you.”

For instance, if you’ve just finished a capital campaign that would help expand your office space, you might record a virtual facility tour that supporters can see so that they know what the campaign accomplished.

Happy Hour

Happy hours are a great virtual or in-person way to relax and get to know your supporters. For less formal organizations, you might ask your supporters to meet you at a local restaurant or bar for a happy hour. Or, if you’re a part of a larger or more formal organization, you could even rent out a nice spot for a happy hour to take place.

Make sure you provide conversation starters or topics that your supporters can use to mingle with one another. You should also make sure your major gift officer has the opportunity to talk to prospects during this time and get to know them on a personal level. Similar to the luncheon or dinner idea, you might decide to host a short speech during which you can give a blanket “thank you” to all supporters who contributed.

Holiday Celebrations

The holidays are an ideal time to show your appreciation for your supporters. Many holidays have gratitude and appreciation at their core, making it a great time to bring everyone together, celebrate, and show your appreciation for donors. Plus, this provides a memorable experience that you can use as a launching pad for an annual celebration.

The classic idea is to host a winter holiday celebration where you can celebrate the end of the year with your supporters. The only problem with this is that focusing on stewardship could collide with or overshadow your end-of-year fundraising season, potentially causing you to miss out on year-end donations. Instead, you might choose a different holiday season like a Spring fling, Independence Day, or Valentine’s Day to center your event around.

5. Donor Appreciation Gifts Ideas

Who doesn’t love receiving a present? Donor appreciation gifts provide a platform to say thank you to donors at all levels. You might even decide to provide different types of merchandise or gifts for each level of supporter at your organization.

Sending gifts makes supporters feel appreciated. Plus, you can receive additional benefits from this type of appreciation strategy. When merchandise is branded to your organization, your supporters will think of your mission every time they see the merch or use items from a goodie bag. Educational materials can provide additional information about your mission, making it a great way to connect with donors while also informing them further about your organization.

Branded Merchandise

Branded merchandise provides two different benefits for your organization. First, it provides a tangible item to show your appreciation for everything your supporters do for you. Second, it serves as a reminder of your organization and your mission over the months or even years.

The classic merchandise items include things like t-shirts and mugs, but you can also get incredibly creative with this idea and design anything related to your organization or your mission as a whole. For example, if you work to provide technology to schools, you might brand a power bank with your organization’s logo and with your dedicated color scheme.

Books or Educational Materials

Educational materials are a meaningful way to give supporters an inside look at your organization’s activities and the reason for your mission. Plus, they make a great donor appreciation gift!

Let’s say there was a particular book that influenced your leadership to launch your organization; try giving that book out to your supporters! You might even try to host an event with the book’s author if you really want to go the extra mile.

Baskets and Goodie Bags

When you put together branded merchandise, you’re likely going to have a number of different items to give away or sell. You may even have a number of different designs for your various campaigns. For supporters who go above and beyond, you can put together baskets and goodie bags of these items for them to enjoy.

You might even host little giveaways that all of your supporters are automatically entered into with a number of themed baskets or giveaways. This will not only show your appreciation but also provide additional incentives to give!

Coupons and Discounts

You likely host a number of activities, events, and maybe even conferences that your supporters are invited to attend. And chances are that many of these opportunities aren’t free. As a sign of appreciation for those who donate to specific campaigns or above certain amounts, try offering coupons or discounts.

Again, this is an incentives program that provides a token of appreciation for supporters who contribute. For example, you might provide a discount to your annual holiday party registration for everyone who donates to your year-end campaign.

Wrapping Up

Donor appreciation is the launching pad for stewardship and retention. It’s the first step to building lasting relationships with your supporters. Therefore, be sure to put together a concrete strategy of your own to say “thank you” to each of your donors.

You can use the various ideas and appreciation approaches throughout this guide to help design your strategy and ensure it’s up to scratch.

If you’re looking for additional advice for building relationships with supporters, consider perusing the various resources below:

• Nonprofit CRM | Complete Guide to Choosing the Best Solution. See how having the best CRM to meet your specific needs results in better relationships with donors.
• Bloomerang’s Guide to Donor Retention. Learn more about donor retention and the impact that it has on your fundraising efforts as a whole.
• Nonprofit Annual Reports [+ Template!]. See how you can create your annual report to best steward your supporters, plus check out some awesome examples to get started.

The post Donor Appreciation: Creating a Strategy (And 22+ Ideas!) appeared first on Bloomerang.

• Essential DEAI Reading for Nonprofits
• Sample Policies, Templates, and Tools
• Webinars on Nonprofit Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
• Podcasts
• Peer Groups for People of Color in the Nonprofit Sector
• Agencies Focusing on DEAI
• Additional Curated Lists and Resources
• For Event Organizers
• Speaker Directory

We update this page as we become aware of and create new resources. Please send additions and revision suggestions, as well as general feedback, to dei@bloomerang.co.

Essential DEAI Reading for Nonprofits

Bloomerang is committed to amplifying the voices of people of color, the disabled, and LGBTQ professionals working in the nonprofit sector. If you would like to contribute an article to our blog, email press@bloomerang.co. Guest bloggers will be compensated for their submissions.

• Why Do Nonprofits Struggle with Diversity?—by Kishshana Palmer, CFRE
• 4 Steps for Bringing Up Equity and Inclusion At Your Nonprofit—by Mazarine Treyz
• The RACE to Philanthropy—by Michelle Drinks
• 3 Ways To Decolonize Your Nonprofit—by Neesha Powell-Twagirumukiza
• Dear Philanthropy: These Are the Fires of Anti-Black Racism—by Will Cordery
• Have Nonprofit and Philanthropy Become the “White Moderate” that Dr. King Warned Us About?—by Vu Le
• Why Are We Still Struggling with Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Nonprofit Governance?—by Elizabeth A. Castillo
• Options and Opportunities for White Social Justice Leaders—by Dani Robbins

• Reparations, the Duty of White Philanthropy, and Posture Necessary to Fulfill It—by Chris Conroy

• Why Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Matter for Nonprofits—from the National Council of Nonprofits
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Nonprofit Bylaws—from NEO Law Group
• AWAKE to WOKE to WORK: Building a Race Equity Culture—from Equity in the Center
• Race to Lead—from Building Movement Project
• The Groundwater Approach—from The Racial Equity Institute, LLC

Sample Policies, Templates, and Tools

• Conscious Style Guide
• Hello Seven Guide To Inclusive Language
• Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity Policy Template
• The Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Toolkit
• The Inclusivity Crawler

Webinars on Nonprofit Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

• Whiteness at Work: Reset 2020—from equity at work – June 11th, 2 pm EST via Zoom – Desiree Adaway will offer free training to share concrete ways we see white dominant culture manifest in organizations and actions to mitigate them
• Getting Ahead of the Curve with Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity—from Candid – Carly Hare, National Director/Coalition Catalyst at Change Philanthropy will discuss with a birds-eye view of actions being taken across the sector with regards to DEAI and ground the language and frameworks being used.
• An Important Conversation: Diversity and Inequity in our Fundraising Communications – presented by Lynne Wester and Avery Howard from the University of Tennessee
• Jodi-Ann Burey webinars
• Beyond the Board Statement: How Can Boards Join the Movement for Racial Justice?—from Nonprofit Quarterly, nationally recognized governance, strategy, and equity consultants Vernetta Walker and Robin Stacia have an in-depth set conversation about how boards of directors can and should join the movement for racial justice.

Podcasts

• Bring Your Own Chair – Episode 8 – Dominique Calixte: Peer Mentorship for Young Women of Color in the Nonprofit & Philanthropic Sectors
• Name It! Podcast – from Helen Choi and Mazarine Treyz

Peer Groups for People of Color in the Nonprofit Sector

• The Rooted Collaborative: A Community for WOC Fundraising Professionals (Facebook)
• Blacks In Nonprofits (Facebook)
• AADO African American Development Officers
• F3 Fabulous Female Fundraisers

Agencies

• Equity at work—equity, inclusion, and social justice-centered programs designed and delivered by Desiree Adaway, Ericka Hines, and Jessica Fish
• EmbraceRace—a multiracial community of parents, teachers, experts, and other caring adults who support each other to meet the challenges that race poses to our children, families, and communities
• The Adaway Group—a black woman-owned consulting firm that brings together multi-racial teams to work on projects related to equity, inclusion, and social justice
• The Equity Paradigm—a group of diversity practitioners, adult learning facilitators, researchers, organizers, change agents, and passionate social justice activists who are dedicated to equipping mission-driven leaders and organizations with the language, tools, mindsets, and strategies for holistically advancing equity in their spheres of influence
• Deaf-Friendly Consulting—creating a deaf-friendly world is a two-way effort between businesses and consumers. DFC offers a variety of services to help businesses reach inclusion goals and deepen their toolkit of deaf-friendly actions.

Additional Curated Lists and Resources

• Anti-Racism Resources for White People
• Scaffolded Anti-Racist Resources
• Ally Resource Guide
• Anti-Racism Resource List
• Free Courses to Help You Become a Stronger Ally and Have Inclusive Conversations
• Anti-Racism Resources for Nonprofit Folx—from Giant Squid Group
• Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity—from BoardSource
• Great Charity Speakers—from Mandy Johnson
• 13 lists of ways to learn and show up as antiracist* in this world—from Jen Bokoff
• National Deaf Center on Postsecondary Outcomes

For Event Organizers

Bloomerang will commit to sponsoring events and conferences only if speakers from diverse backgrounds are represented. We also strongly recommend events and conferences have the following in place:

• an equity statement
• an accessibility statement
• accessible pricing

Speaker Directory:

This list of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) consultants, fundraisers, and thought leaders includes those we have welcomed as guests on our webinar series and at our events or have seen speak personally.

• Jen Shang
• Elaine Lou Cartas
• Neesha Powell
• Cherian Koshy
• Ruth Peebles
• Charmaine Torma
• Karen Osborne
• Dr. Debra Jenkins
• Dr. Bev Browning
• Vu Le
• Andrea Somerville
• Jazzmine Marie Nolan
• Tycely Williams
• Michelle Drinks
• Felicia Harris
• Antionette Kerr
• Edith Molina
• Dannese Mapanda
• Jaime-Jin Lewis
• Kishshana Palmer, CFRE
• Alice Ferris
• Art Taylor
• Chris Hammond
• Jennifer Yarbough
• Ligia Peña, CFRE, MInstF
• Desiree Adaway
• Brooke Richie-Babbage
• Ericka Hines
• Frankie Gonzalez
• Rob Monroe
• Rahel Mwitula Williams
• Cassandra Bentley
• Ciara Ginyard
• Ian Adair
• Frank Velasquez Jr
• Adetola Olatunji
• Denise Jacobs
• Aliguma Young, MBA
• Cherrelle Duncan
• Kristal M. Johnson
• Paul Nazareth
• Christal M. Cherry
• Rickesh Lakhani
• Dominique Calixte
• Shanette D. Brazzell
• Marshall White
• Mallory Mitchell
• Helen Choi
• Rena Henderson Mason
• Suzanne Griffith
• Melissa Johnson Hewitt
• Whitney Wade
• Faren Jones, MPA, CFRE
• Terri Broussard Williams
• Robin Stacia
• Vernetta Walker
• Antoinetta Mosley, MPA

The post Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion (DEAI) in the Nonprofit Sector appeared first on Bloomerang.

During the coronavirus outbreak, fundraisers are being bombarded with advice urging them to reach out to their donors now.

As is the case during any situation, the more you segment your communications for specific audiences, the more likely those communications are to resonate with the recipient. Now, however, is a critical time to take inventory of your most valuable supporters (can’t lose people) and reach out contextually.

The following list of 10 supporter segments should be your top priority. What you say to these folks doesn’t have to look wildly different. Pick up the phone, break out the stationary, or fire up your personal email. Say thanks, recognize the type of supporter that they are/their past support, and remind them you’re still here and that you’re still providing services that are invaluable (or will resume doing so soon). But most importantly, check in to see how they are doing.

Here’s the list:

1. Top 80% of your funding (probably <20% of your donors) – Following the Pareto Principle, a majority of your funding is likely coming from a small, select group of donors. This is the only segment where gift amount comes into play.

2. “Long-term-loyals” (3-5+ years of giving) – According to Jerry Panas, these are the donors most likely to leave you a bequest later in life, regardless of their age, wealth and giving amount right now.

3. Monthly donors – With household budgets about to tighten, it’s possible that monthly expenses will start to go on the chopping block. Support for your org won’t be if you have checked in to say how much they’re appreciated. Do it now before the economy worsens.

4. Longtime corporate sponsors – Some of these folks may be especially hurting right now. Check in to see how they are doing. Perhaps have a board member or the head or your org reach out to their owner or CEO.

5. P2P fundraisers – Not, P2P donors. P2p fundraisers, the folks that in the past have gone out and done Facebook birthday fundraisers or ran a 5k for you. You might be leaning on them very soon to raise money for you again on social media.

6. Those who actively engage with you on social media – These are ideal, future P2P fundraisers, as well as those who can spread the word more broadly when you might need it. Start keeping track of who is and has in the past liked, commented and shared your posts.

7. Volunteers/members who have not donated – With in-person volunteerism likely prohibited, perhaps monetary support can be a replacement for volunteer hours. Members or direct service recipients (think YMCA) who cannot come on-site for classes, workouts, etc. may be willing to donate above their membership fees to keep the facility afloat.

8. Those with scheduled pledges – Similar to monthly donors, this is expected revenue that you don’t want to miss.

9. Board members – Do you have 100% board giving? Now is the time to ask if you’ve been avoiding the issue. Get them involved in calling, emailing or writing the other nine groups in this list. Messages coming from board members will have just as much if not higher significance than your staff.

10. New donors within 90 days (this should include Giving Tuesday and Year-End donors) – These are the donors at most risk of lapsing (other than P2P and Memorial/Tribute donors). Retention rates here are around 20%, and your window to retain them is already closing. Research shows that the faster you thank a new donor, the better:

• first-time donors who get a personal thank you within 48 hours are 4x more likely to give a second gift.
  (McConkey-Johnston International UK)
• a thank-you call from a board member to a newly acquired donor within 24 hours of receiving the gifts will increase their next gift by 39%. (Penelope Burk)
• the faster you get a second gift, the higher the gift amount (AnalyticalOnes)
• Bloomerang research found nearly-identical results.

A lot of these folks may be waiting to hear from you – if they’re anything like the donors interview in Penelope Burk’s Donor Survey – so don’t delay.

“I could always expand giving a little, but I try to hold back in case there is a major need at one of the organizations I support. I always like to have a little in reserve in case a special need comes along.”

“There were two instances this year where I made gifts over and above what I had intended and they both involved personal contact from someone in the development office (director or gifts officer). Being thanked for my previous gift was much more persuasive than receiving multiple emails and direct mail letters.”

Many of these segments will include small donors. Don’t let your lizard brain disregard them. They are now more important than ever!

If you haven’t run an NCOA, deceased suppression, or another type of append (email, phone, etc.) recently, now is the time to do so to ensure that your communications are received.

Who else have you reached out to? Let us know in the comments below!

The post 10 Important Donor Types To Communicate To During the Coronavirus Outbreak appeared first on Bloomerang.

In the documentary Walk With Me, Buddhist Thich Nhat Hanh is asked by a young girl how she can get over the sadness of the death of her dog.

After contemplating the question for a moment, he suggests that she think of a cloud.

“Suppose you look into the sky and you see a beautiful cloud. And you like the cloud so much, and suddenly the cloud is no longer there. And you think that the cloud has passed away. Where is my beloved cloud now? So if you have time to reflect, to look, you see that the cloud has not died, has not passed away. The cloud has become the rain. And when you look at the rain, you see your cloud. And when you drink your tea, mindfully, you can see the rain in the tea. Your cloud in your tea.”

John Haydon passed away over the weekend. A talented musician, doting father, loving partner, sharp dresser and almost frighteningly-prolific creator, John impacted thousands of fundraisers through his advice and trainings.

His passing is an immense loss to the nonprofit sector.

Often time, nonprofit professionals have no choice but to cobble together disparate tactics and best practices from multiple industries and disciplines in order to create a comprehensive, multi-channel fundraising campaign. You could get advice on how to boost Facebook posts, set up an email drip sequence, or optimize a landing page for form completions from almost anywhere, but John was arguably the best at contextualizing a vast array of digital strategies for nonprofits, specifically. What made him particularly effective was that he had an underlying knowledge of what made fundraising work. He understood donor motivation, psychology, and behavior.

“Is thanking donors obligatory, something that must follow giving? The real power of thanking donors is realized when the goal of thanking is forward-looking, focused on developing and deepening donor loyalty. Thanking is not about the past, it’s about the future.” — John Haydon

At the height of his productivity, John was writing blog posts and books, distributing newsletters, producing webinars, speaking at conferences, and broadcasting live on social media. Even while undergoing treatment for his cancer, he still found a way to work on a final book.

Like so many professional relationships these days, I first met John online. But though they were far outnumbered by the online interactions, the offline interactions were natural, effortless, effervescent even. It seems like a cliché to describe a practicing Buddhist as kind, inviting and considerate. But that was John. It’s why you’ll see so many tributes to and memories of him over the coming days.

I used to think that the Buddhist perspective rendered death into something of a trivial concept. After all, dying in the 21st century age means leaving behind digital artifacts, indexed and searchable.

But what I learned in getting to know John, specifically over the last couple years, is that perspective manifests in how one prepares for the inevitability of death, in a manner that is anything but trivial.

After receiving his diagnosis, John started a Facebook group named “Watch John Beat Cancer.” In the preface to his forthcoming book, he described it as “…a way for me to put a specific and wildly positive intention out into the universe (“Watch me!”) with the love and support of my friends. I knew I could beat cancer if I had friends cheering me on, sharing their cancer stories, or sharing a GIF just when I needed it most. But the best part is seeing people make new friends through this group.”

Even in creating something ostensibly for himself, it became his final gift: to bring people together. And in doing so, he taught us all something about mindfulness and bravery. We got to watch someone beat cancer.

So goodbye, for now, John — and thanks for being the cloud in our tea.

The post Remembering John Haydon appeared first on Bloomerang.

Not since 2013 when the Leonardo DiCaprio-led movie adaptation was released has there been such a timely reason to encourage supporters to break out their flapper dresses and three-piece suits for a night of dancing and (possibly prohibited) libations.

But is the 100 year anniversary of an era enough reason to adopt this somewhat overdone theme?

Here are three reasons why you should reconsider hosting a 1920s or Great Gatsby-themed fundraising event:

1. The Not-So-Roaring Twenties

“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”

You might think that because the 1920s were a period of economic prosperity that your attendees will be feeling extra generous the night of your event. However, it’s hard to divorce that prosperity with the dread of the The Wall Street Crash of 1929 on the horizon.

In 2020 and beyond, when the threat of another recession (or worse) is ever-looming, the theme might have the opposite effect. The last thing you want at a fundraising event is for your attendees to be thinking about economic volatility.

From a more practical standpoint, the theme also creates a barrier to entry for attendees in the form of era-appropriate attire, resulting in either an extra expense to acquire the clothes, leaving them feeling alienated if they do attend without dressing appropriately, or keeping them from attending altogether.

2. The Nonprofit Brand

“Angry, and half in love with her, and tremendously sorry, I turned away.”

Unless your nonprofit provides flapper dresses to underprivileged youth, you would be hard-pressed to find a connection between your brand and any of the cultural aspects of the era or themes of the Great Gatsby novel itself. In fact, many of those themes may be counter-intuitive to your mission, causing brand confusion at best and alienating constituents at worst.

While some progress was made during the era, such as women’s suffrage, this was for the most part an era of extreme wealth, race and gender inequality.

For those considering an explicit Gatsby-theme, keep in mind that the major themes of the novel include social stratification, greed, materialism and betrayal. The novel also famously ends in (spoilers!) a murder/suicide.

If your nonprofit is attempting to directly or indirectly alleviate any of these societal issues (which is probably most of you) this isn’t an era that I’d rush to idealize.

For peak authenticity, any 1920s-themed gala should include an interlude wherein the police bust up your party and pour out all the booze on the sidewalk.

— Abigail Jarvis (@abigailljarvis) January 30, 2020

3. The Academic Research

“And I like large parties. They’re so intimate. At small parties there isn’t any privacy.”

A ground-breaking 2017 report from Adrian Sargeant, then a Professor of Fundraising and Director of the Hartsook Centre for Sustainable Philanthropy at the University of Plymouth, outlines for the first time what overarching factors may have a part to play in distinguishing genuinely outstanding fundraising events from merely ‘average’ ones.

Nowhere in his findings is the suggestion that anything resembling a fancy gala, let alone a 1920s themed one, is a good idea.

In fact, the primary finding was that a fundraising event should not be an event where individuals pay for the privilege of enjoying the activity, but instead an experience creating attendee empathy towards your mission.

The study goes on to define 9 Steps to Great Fundraising Events:

1. Provide a donor-centric experience that transforms the attendee
2. Put your attendee in the middle of the fight for your mission
3. Follow-up to greatly enhance experience
4. Focus on transformation
5. Drive emotion with storytelling
6. Invest in your team (avoid burnout)
7. Constantly drive innovation
8. Focus on technology
9. Create board champions

What does an event like that look like? Look no further than Save the Children’s “Forced to Flee” event, described in Campaign Magazine as an event that:

…led guests on a journey which aimed to bring to life the real experiences of children affected by conflict and violence and their search for safety.

Groups were led into the space and were given a number, a headset through which to listen to real stories of children affected by these issues and a child’s rucksack.

During their journey they experienced the children’s endeavours [sic] to reach safety, passing through camps, being in a classroom with gunshots across walls, windows and blackboards and eventually reaching a play area, which represents the work that the charity does in areas of conflict to bring play to children.

The experience lasted approximately 45 minutes and was devised by agency Pd3, with guests able to meet with Save the Children staff and supporters afterwards.

Ellie McLeod, head of special events at Save the Children, said: “We’re overwhelmed with how the experience was received. I’m extremely proud we were able to deliver the stories of children authentically and provide a connection to the plight they have endured.

“‘Powerful’ was the word I was hearing from almost all event guests as they came out of the experience. The success we’ve seen is testament to my team and Pd3 who have worked tirelessly to deliver something so different, which shows forward-thinking in immersive, educational and impactful event delivery.”

You might be thinking to yourself “But our donors, especially major donors, like parties!”

Sure, it is possible on some level to create empathy for your service recipients at a fancy gala, perhaps through an emotional video played between meal courses (I made my living for almost a decade producing these videos), or a heartfelt speech from someone who your org lifted out of poverty.

Putting aside for a moment that “our donors like parties” is likely an assumption and not the result of feedback, there is also nothing in the body of knowledge to suggest that galas play any meaningful role in major gifts.

Again, we have research on this.

In 2015, Amy Eisenstein, ACFRE, author of the book Major Gift Fundraising for Small Shops, conducted a study into the critical success factors that enhance major gift fundraising. She teamed up with Adrian Sargeant and Rita Kottasz, who was then a research consultant at the Centre for Sustainable Philanthropy at Plymouth University.

They found the top 10 factors that led to major gift success were:

1. Donor Retention
2. Prospect Research
3. Staff Tenure
4. Staff Training (informal)
5. Staff Education (formal)
6. Donor-Centered Culture
7. IT Systems
8. Volunteer Engagement
9. Board Engagement
10. Metrics

Each item has actionable suggestions that you can read more about in the study, including:

• There is a strong correlation between the range of training and educational opportunities afforded to staff and overall fundraising performance. Each additional form of training/education is associated with an increase of $37,000 in income.
• Individuals who have been in their jobs for longer periods are more successful at generating major gifts.
• The quality of the IT systems in place to support fundraisers is a key factor in driving the number of major gifts received.

Simply put, if a gala is prioritized higher than any of the above items, your priorities are out of whack. Up-scale fundraising events often have a high opportunity cost, cutting into your ROI while burning out staff.

It’s interesting to see how many parallels there are between the event research and the major gift research, especially as it relates to staff burnout and board involvement.

As the spouse of a fundraiser who planned and executed an annual gala for almost a decade, I can attest to the dread and misery associated with the weeks leading up to it, as well as the marked relief following its conclusion.

So think long and hard before planning your next Gatsby Gala. After all, “there are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy and the tired.”

However, animal welfare groups can and should spend the next 10 years holding “Great Catsby” events.

The post 3 Reasons Why Nonprofits Shouldn’t Have 1920s/Gatsby-Themed Fundraising Galas appeared first on Bloomerang.

The following is an excerpt from Robots Make Bad Fundraisers – How Nonprofits Can Maintain the Heart in the Digital Age by Steven Shattuck, published by Bold & Bright Media.

The “email welcome series” is a frequently-recommended tactic for communicating with new donors while saving staff time in the process.

The idea being that when a donor makes their first gift, they’re queued up to receive a series of emails (three, five, etc.) over a period of time (a few weeks, a month, etc.) with each email spaced out appropriately.

But is this really a good idea?

I think that, in general, automation and stewardship are mutually exclusive. Automation is great, but it can’t compete with or replace the personal touch (at least not until the robots are smart enough to wipe us out entirely anyway).

New donors, whose donor retention rates are typically around 20%, are perhaps the worst cohort of constituents to automate any type of communication towards for three reasons:

1. research tells us that personal touch points increase first-time donor retention rates
2. they are the donors you likely know the least about – among your new donors might be very different motivations, interests, etc.
3. the series may exceed the “honeymoon period” when an ask for a second gift is ideal

Unless your organization has a high volume of lower dollar amount first-time donations, a multi-touch email series immediately after the first gift would not be my recommendation, even if it did also include a formal thank you letter in the mail.

Here is my take:

1. The personal touch reigns supreme

There is a mountain of research that says a personal touch point within 24-48 hours of that gift is the best first touch:

• First-time donors who get a personal thank you within 48 hours are 4x more likely to give a second gift. (McConkey-Johnston International UK)
• A thank-you call from a board member to a newly acquired donor within 24 hours of receiving the gifts will increase their next gift by 39%. (Penelope Burk)

I don’t think an automated email or emails that every new donor gets can be considered a personal thank you. We’re talking a phone call, handwritten note, voicemail and even a 1:1 email.

In today’s digital age, these touch points will stand out among the hundreds of emails we receive daily.

John Lepp from Agents of Good tells recently told me the story of a friend of h is in the donor love department at UNICEF Italy that ran a test on sending a handwritten, heartfelt card within 48 hours of getting a gift (from any donor) and a call on the anniversary of giving or on a birthday.

The results were a 30% yearly increase in retention and a 50% increase in donor lifetime value.

Andrew Olsen, CFRE recently told the story of a hunger relief org he worked with that eliminated paper thank you letters to online donors to save money on print and postage. They lost $300k to lower retention and fewer gifts the next year.

2. Not all new donors are built the same

There’s no better donor to get to know than a first-time donor. Without knowing the motivation for their gift, or what in particular they are interested in with regards to your programs/services, I’m not sure on what basis you would populate the content for an automated welcome series.

You’d either have to make assumptions about all of your new donors, or be forced to cover every single topic all at once and hoping that something sticks.

This is particularly problematic for organizations that have a wide service offering. If you’re an environmental organization, how will your email welcome series account for donors who are interested in wildlife versus those who are interested in the forests? Sure, it’s safe to assume that the donor will care about both, but targeted communications will always win out over a one-size-fits-all approach.

Even those with a very targeted mission focus run the risk of missing the mark with a donor.

Two donors who each made their first gift online and each gave $25 can be very, very different types of donors. Consider a donor who gave to you because they had a loved-one die from the disease you’re trying to eradicate, versus a donor who donated because they saw that a college roommate was raising money for you, or gave a memorial gift at a funeral home, or saw a television ad and donated in the moment.

Communicate to these donors the same way at your own peril!

Not only will gleaning and contextualizing donor motivation and gift channels reward you, but donors also like to be asked!

You’ll also see this emphasized in research from DonorVoice (of the top seven reasons cited by loyal donors for why they keep giving, the #4 item was that “the donor receives opportunities to make views known.”

3. The Honeymoon Period

There is no reason to wait an entire year to ask for a second gift. In fact, asking within 90 days of the first gift is a research-based recommendation. However, if a first-time donor is getting automated emails from you that do not ask for a second gift, you run the risk of missing that window of opportunity.

Analytical Ones found that the amount received in a second gift drops the longer you wait to ask for it:

Our own Bloomerang data confirmed as much, specifically in cases when that new donor is called within the first 90 days:

There is definitely a honeymoon period for new donors, but success is incumbent upon doing a good job thanking the donor personally, telling them stories and getting to know them so that you contextualize and personalize that second ask (rather than just automated an appeal on a set schedule that every single new donor gets).

So what should you do instead?

Lori Jacobwith has a great first-time donor communication plan that, while hard to automate, does check all of the boxes that research tell us, and sets you up for an effective appeal:

1. Board thank you phone call (within 3 days)
2. Thank you letter/note in the mail (within 1 week)
3. Monthly email newsletter
4. Tour invitation (within 6 weeks)
5. Appeal for 2nd gift (within 90 days)
6. Thank you letter if second gift received (within 1 week)
7. Donor survey (within 6 weeks of second gift)

I think this is pretty solid; but you could definitely push a survey sooner. The tour invitation is a great idea if you have a facility or location that can be toured. Not only will they see your mission in action, but you’ll inevitably make small talk and possibly learn about their motivation (replacing the need for a survey).

Thinking again about that “90 day honeymoon period” it might be wise to create a stewardship plan that zooms in on those first three months:

Even though that sounds like a lot of work, it’s worth it. The retention rate on first-time donors is around 20%. So if your cost per acquisition is more than the donation amount from the first gift, you have negative ROI right off that bat. You have to get a second gift to get back above break-even. So spending time here is financially justifiable.

Is automation making things worse?

Not only is the first-time donor retention rate an abysmal 20%, but it’s been on the decline over the last five years:

Could it be that we’re leaning more on automation to communicate with these new donors?

Or is because more first-time gifts are made online, where retention rates are typically lower than gifts made offline?

One way to truly make automation work for you is to make sure that the automated communications online donors receive from you are less transactional and more appreciative.

Pay special attention to:

1. Confirmation page (the page of your website donors are redirected to after donating)
2. Automated receipt email (sent from your donor database/payment processor/online giving provider)

These two things can be optimized to thank the donor warmly, tell a story, preview future impact and maybe even collect information through a survey (“what prompted you gift today?”). These should be generic enough to apply to all donor frequencies (since every online donor will see/get them) but still communicate impact.

All that being said, If I was running a development department and wanted to increase my first-time donor retention rates, I would do the following:

• Make sure the website confirmation page and automated email receipt are engaging and not transactional (one-time fix)
• Create a standing report of new donors this week (or today if gift volume is manageably low)
  • View that report daily or weekly (whatever frequency is chosen)
• Have board members ready and available to call those donors within 24 hours
  • Equip them with a call list and loose call scripts/guidelines
    • If no board member availability, fall back on staff members
• Get a thank you letter to new donors within a week
  • Make sure the letter recognizes them as a new donor “welcome to the family!”
  • Include a handwritten note/signature (just to let them know we spent some time on the letter after printing
• Get them subscribed to the monthly email newsletter
• Send a personal, 1:1 email to the donor inviting them in for a tour
  • Again recognizing them as a new donor that we want to get to know

If you absolutely cannot do this for new donors, then an automated email series might be better than nothing. But you’d still run the risk of sending content that is one-size-fits-all.

Will automation win out someday?

Probably, but not yet.

Someday our software will have such sophisticated AI and machine learning that we’ll be able to deliver one of several automated emails cadences based on a specific combination of a donor’s gift amount, gift channel, gift method, geography, demographic and motivation (assuming it can collect or infer that at the time of donating), but until then (and maybe even after) I’d put my money on the personal touch.

Have you had success with an automated email welcome series and think I’m wrong? Tell me why in the comments below!

The post Are We Sure An Automated Email Welcome Series For New Donors Is A Good Idea? appeared first on Bloomerang.