Research tells us that the primary reason new and loyal donors give, or give again, is because they understand the impact of their gift.  How can your organization communicate its impact effectively? As your holiday appeals come to a close, schedule time in January to see if you can answer the following five questions about your top donors. Then take the time to tweak or perhaps revisit your existing stewardship plans, or to make 2012 the year you formalize your stewardship efforts.

1. Why is your organization a philanthropic priority? From the Seven Faces of Philanthropy to newer approaches to different types of donors, research indicates that donors give for complex reasons, and that those reasons may vary within a household.
2. What does the donor hope to better understand from their partnership with you? Some donors may care about a specific program, while others may take a more holistic view of your mission. Still other donors may look to your organization to keep them informed about the sector or community context in which you work.
3. How does your donor prefer to receive information about your organization’s impact? Some donors may highly value regular face-to-face encounters; others may prefer a personal note they can read at their convenience.
4. With whom does the donor wish to stay connected? Some donors expect to develop a relationship with your organization’s professional leader; others may prefer the opportunity to meet periodically with program staff, or a board member.
5. When does the donor want to hear from you? Some donors welcome monthly contact; other donors may feel bombarded if you reach out to them more than a few times a year.

The Collins Group will be closed from December 26 – January 2. Watch for our Mid-Year Checklist in early January! It will include several tips for refocusing and recharging your staff and volunteers to get the most out of your organization’s fundraising efforts.

The Seattle Foundation (TSF) took additional steps to motivate donors by raising funds for a “stretch pool”: $500,000 that nonprofits received based on the percentage of donations they earned throughout the day (if a nonprofit earned one percent of the total GiveBIG funds, they received one percent of the stretch pool). Needless to say, the community embraced the giving event with open arms. GiveBIG 2012 looks to be bigger and better than ever, involving more nonprofits and encouraging more philanthropy across the city. Pretty amazing!

Did you know…

• 13,000 individual donors gave on June 23^rd, with 18,000 transactions (meaning many donors gave to more than one organization)
• 904 nonprofits received GiveBIG donations
• The average gift size was $189.99
• 85 percent of nonprofits attracted new donors, while 64 percent had previously lapsed donors return to give
• 16 percent of nonprofits raised additional funds outside of TSF’s stretch pool to further incentivize their donors with stretches or matches on the day of GiveBIG
• TSF employees worked from 5:30am-1:30am on the day of the event, and kept the technology running without a crash the whole day (in contrast, when Texas did a similar initiative their technology went down, and they had to record thousands of transactions over the phone!)
• Reel Grrls produced a five-minute documentary about GiveBIG, following around key executives and nonprofits recording the success of the day
• Many nonprofits used GiveBIG to jumpstart their social media programs, finding new ways to reach out to donors

Looking ahead to 2012:

• Bigger and better: TSF hopes to increase the scope of GiveBIG, partnering with more nonprofits and increasing the stretch pool in 2012. TSF is also looking into ways to offset transaction fees, to ensure as much money as possible ends up in the pockets of NPOs
• Mobile giving: From a text-to-give campaign at a Sounders’ game to an optimized website for your smartphone, you’ll be able to donate right from your pocket wherever you happen to be
• Education opportunities: TSF hopes to educate more donors about GiveBIG, giving them plenty of notice about how dollars make a difference on the day of the event
• Partnering with the Sounders: TSF will once again partner with the Sounders to ensure a stadium full of people cheering for Seattle philanthropy and making a difference by donating to volunteers or with their smartphones

We love the GiveBIG challenge. What do you need to prepare for the 2012 event? How can we help you or the community get ready? Share your ideas!

Giving days are growing in number (and contributions) around the country. Minnesota’s “Give to the Max” Day raised $24 million from 80,000 people in 2009 and 2010. Last year, the Colorado Gives Day raised $8.7 million for 530 charities, far exceeding its goal of $1 million.

Giving days maximize the fundraising tools and strategies that every campaign should employ: urgency (“today is THE day to give”), leverage (“your donation will go farther”), visibility (multi-modal approaches and community-wide messaging), and ease of giving (in this case, online giving).

The Seattle Foundation has provided a toolkit to nonprofits to help them encourage giving via communications and social media strategies (http://www.seattlefoundation.org/nonprofits /GiveBIG/).

Given this amazing opportunity, I hope participating nonprofits are giving the same thought and planning to how they will steward their donors and first-time donors who invest in their missions during giving day. Don’t forget to “ThankBIG”!

Here are some ideas:

• Use all the same communications and social media channels as GiveBIG used to thank your donors and announce the results of GiveBIG giving for your mission
• Don’t stop there! Put these dollars in the context of the impact they will have in the community and share personal stories that illustrate how donor investments are making a real difference
• Continue to follow-up with donors regularly with impact updates and stories, using technology to find engaging ways to do this: videos, blogs, and social media channels
• Consider a casual event to bring together donors to celebrate success. Find a mission-relevant opportunity or space, or ask well-known supporters host such a gathering
• Follow-up with donors through phone calls or surveys to thank them for support and find out how they’d like to hear from you and other ways they might wish to support your organization

We’d love to hear from you. How will you make the most of GiveBIG?

How much should I budget to give per year? A ten percent tithe is common for religious denominations. I grew up Catholic and it was my job every week to drop our family donation envelope in the basket. We donated because we were a member of that community and it was our duty and our privilege to support it. But now, I consider myself to be a member of multiple communities now and it is my duty and privilege to support all of them.

According to the 2010 Giving USA annual report, in 2009, individuals gave 2.1 percent of their disposable income to charitable causes. My personal giving last year was about 2.3 percent, so I’m right with the pack. Ten percent of my net income to philanthropic causes is too much of a stretch for my single-earner/parent household, but could I do five percent?

What I can do for sure is be more organized and thoughtful about my giving. Instead of adding all my receipts up after the fact and being surprised at what I gave (or didn’t), I’m going to decide what percentage of my income can be set aside for charitable giving and plan out my 2011 gifts.

To help in this task, I’ve created a very simple Personal Annual Giving Plan tool in Excel. I’ve filled in some organization examples and amounts. You can delete and fill in your own. The base net salary I’ve used as an example is $50,000. Five percent dedicated to annual giving would be gifts totaling $2,500. What would it look like if you gave five percent of your disposable income to charitable organizations? Is it possible? If not, what’s reasonable for you?

Some highlights of the study include:

• Just as the strength of the donor-nonprofit relationship heavily influences offline giving, the online giving experience has a significant impact on donor loyalty, retention, and gift levels. Small improvements to the online experience can make a big difference in donations.
• Giving on social networks is significant, but donor loyalty is highest on nonprofit websites that build strong connections with donors. Personality matters on these websites: The loyalty factor for donors acquired through generic giving pages is 66.7 percent lower than for donors who give via nonprofit-branded giving pages.
• Analysis of cumulative online giving via different pages powered by Network for Good shows that donors who gave via nonprofit websites started at the highest level and gave the most over time. Those who used giving portals started lower and gave less over time. Those who used social giving opportunities gave the least initially and added little afterward.
• Recurring giving is a major driver of giving over time and should be strongly encouraged in the giving experience.
• A third of all online giving occurs in December, and 22 percent of annual giving happens in the last two days of the year. Online giving (by dollars) on December 31 is concentrated between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. in each time zone.

Click here to access the full study and accompanying data, including stand-alone charts and a discussion forum.

[The Interactive Playroom] is the next great thing in animal sheltering. In the first week after the playroom premiered on September 30, 2010, it was featured in the media 30 times; 17,000 visitors viewed the site; 6,500 people played with a kitten; sponsored donations went up 37%; kitten adoptions went up 14%; and website traffic increased 52%. “We hoped the playroom would inspire people to remember the joys of having a cat and adopt. Obviously, it has gone far beyond that,” says Barbara Baugnon, OHS Marketing/Communications Director.

Click here to read the full article from Maddie’s Fund.

Yesterday, I pulled my mail out of the box and found a solicitation from this organization. Really? I just gave to you two weeks ago and you’re asking again already? If I give again today, will you ask again in two weeks? I was annoyed and the letter went straight into the recycling.

Last night, as I was preparing dinner, I got a call from the advocacy arm (PAC) of a nonprofit I support. I listened to the caller’s spiel patiently while I chopped carrots and radishes even though I had already decided that I would not be supporting the PAC because I was focusing my gift on the nonprofit and couldn’t do both right now. When she finished, I explained why I wouldn’t be giving to the PAC and steeled myself for the inevitable, “But THIS effort is really important, too, and you should support both.” But you know what she said? She said thank you. She said, “Oh, you are? Thank for supporting our organization. We really appreciate your support. You have a nice night now.” I was taken aback. She didn’t push and ask for an additional gift? Yahoo! Thank you, organization, I appreciate you listening to me. Next time, I will consider increasing my gift.

AFP came out with a great story on this topic today. Read it here.

If you’re unsure where to start when it comes to tracking the success of your online messaging or fundraising check out the recently released 2010 eNonprofit Benchmarks Study from M+R Strategic Services and the Nonprofit Technology Network.  The report is available for free download here and includes benchmarks for email messaging, online fundraising, and online advocacy segmented by sector.  It’s a great resource to help your organization start thinking about ways to track and analyze your online activities.