WGHA’s Agency (formerly “Party with a Purpose”) is an annual event targeted to Seattleites ages 25-34. Each year the party raises awareness and funds for a particular global health issue (different issues are chosen each year).  Kristen and Jessica and the Agency board have learned a lot about what makes young donors tick.  The biggest question to ask when you start thinking about attracting young donors: are you really ready to attract young donors? We’re a different breed than what you may be used to, and it may require a whole new set of strategies for your organization.

• We’re much more likely to get involved because of our friends instead of your mission. For a while, I happened to be the only 20-something I knew carrying a torch for circus in Seattle, but after bringing my friends to events like Circus Open Mic and SANCA (School for Acrobatics and New Circus Arts) trapeze shows, they can speak about the impact of circus on childhood obesity, and some are even on the heels of attending their first circus fundraiser (and first fundraiser, for that matter). Help us get our friends involved by creating a social aspect to your fundraising (and friend-raising) approach.
• Forget about snail mail. “If we get mail from you, we’ll wonder why you spent the time and money to print and stamp it. A witty email will catch our attention much better,” says Kristen. Email also gives us an instant chance to follow up with you by providing us with a link to register for your event, donate to your organization, or just learn more via your website or social media. Plus, you’ll earn major environmentalism points.
• Don’t expect major gifts—yet. Gifts of $25 or $50 are big for us: encourage giving at this level. If ten of our friends throw $50 your way at your event, you’ve earned what for many organizations is a major gift with almost no solicitation time. Remember, in the two years since this party started, many young donors have gone from interns to coordinators to managers, which means we have a lot more discretionary money than we used to. Keep us coming back every year and you’ll see a return on your investment.
• Entertain us. Agency had elements like a silent disco (where everyone puts on headphones and dances in a big group to their own tunes) and a red carpet photo booth. Mission-centric? Nope. Hilarious and memorable? You bet. Agency’s “purpose” in 2010 was diarrheal disease among kids around the world – not the sexiest topic, or the easiest to raise money for, but Agency made it work. The party sold out and was able to raise awareness for through lots of creative educational opportunities before and during the event, not to mention donate 100 percent of ticket proceeds to organizations that fight this disease. When’s the last time you saw an organization with enough moxie to get folks all dressed up and out for a night on the town to talk about poop problems?
• Appeal to our creativity. We’ll volunteer for your organization, but we don’t want to be licking stamps (see earlier tip on disdain for printed solicitations). Chances are we studied something really cool in college and are eager to trot it out: we might be experts on graphic design, or DJing, or underwater basketweaving, and you can bet we can help make your organization more innovative and get noticed with these skills. Spend some time getting to know us.
• Not ready for us yet? That’s okay. We can be a lot to handle when you start from scratch. But all nonprofits, especially organizations with a focus on arts, education, or with a membership base, may want to think about getting ready for us as your current donors and subscribers age out.
• Oh, and a really cool video never hurt anyone.

How does your organization approach young donors? Have you had successes (or utter failures)? We at TCG want to hear about it! Email me at blairf@collinsgroup.com, or, better yet, continue the conversation with TCG (@CollinsGrp) and me (@feehanbe) on Twitter.

You can read more about the 2012 Agency event here: it’ll be a shining example of throwing conventional fundraising out the window to make way for new and as-yet un-thought-of ideas about targeting millennials.

After two years at TCG, I recently had to put into practice everything I have absorbed as part of the fundraising consulting world to write a personal appeal letter for a cause near and dear to my heart: the annual Walk MS event for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Greater Northwest Chapter. I thought that I would knock that letter out of the park! I work with
fundraising professionals every day! I know how to do this. Then I stared at my computer screen for a really long time. I knew it wasn’t easy, but I didn’t expect how hard it would be to actually write my own letter versus the support I provide to our consultants every day on the same topics. Here are a few of my personal lessons learned.

Get specific

Explain clearly and succinctly the who, the what, the how, and the why. Who is the organization you are fundraising for? What they do? How does their mission impact people?  In
addition and, perhaps most importantly, why are you involved? Even though you are most likely writing an appeal to people within your social and professional networks, don’t assume they
are familiar with your organization or cause.

Make it personal

Donors respond to stories. They want to know the stories and reasons as to why you are choosing this particular cause to spend your time and energy on to raise money. If you connect a personal story to your case statement, it’s much more effective in reaching your audience.

Make it bold and true

Explain your fundraising goals clearly and often. Tell your potential donors exactly how much money you are trying to raise and why. My fundraising goal is a seemingly arbitrary $2,665,
but it’s not. This number represents my out-of-pocket medical costs for the year. By personalizing my fundraising goal and making it symbolic of a greater cause, I am asking my donors to emotionally connect. And, I’m proud to say, the MS Walk has been able to exceed our fundraising goals every year.

Cultivate those relationships

Your donors know you so you must tailor your appeal to each person so they aren’t put off by receiving a boilerplate request. Use your network and social media to broaden your reach. Thank your donors for supporting you and update them on the status of your fundraising efforts. Most importantly, ask your current donors to speak out for you. Last year, one of my team members
invited her good friends (whom I hadn’t met) to join the team. They had such a great time at the MS Walk that I not only got a shout out in their annual Christmas letter, but was able to cultivate repeat donors for future efforts. We’ll all be walking at the April MS walk together. Want to join us?

Year-end gift acknowledgments and tax receipts are going in the mail. For many development professionals, January is the time of year for shifting gears, perhaps from a winter appeal to an upcoming signature event, or from fundraising for operations to planning for a special purpose campaign. And while you know that major gifts fundraising is an ongoing, season-less process, this time on the calendar often challenges staff and volunteers to stay motivated and inspired.

Whether you just finished your fiscal year or are in the middle of one, here are six steps your organization can take to move your values-based relationships forward and further your mission in the coming months:

1. Acknowledge hard work. After summer planning, the fall frequently is the busiest time for staff and volunteers engaged in your development efforts. Now that it’s winter, take time to thank those stakeholders who have been cultivating, soliciting and stewarding relationships with donors and prospects. Recognize these efforts at your board and staff meetings and with a personal call or note before planning begins again this spring.
2. Engage your full board in thanking supporters. In a “perfect” fundraising world, all board members are involved throughout the major gifts donor cycle. Between now and perfection, ask board members to personally sign gift and tax letters during your next board meeting.
3. Devote time to data in order to evaluate progress and opportunities. Budgeting for philanthropic income often is based less on strategy and more on “the gap” between fees, membership, tuition, and other sources of earned revenue. Whether you met, exceeded, or fell short of your year-end target, analyze the donors who you acquired, who upgraded, who renewed, and who lapsed. What do the numbers tell you about where your development team should be spending their time this winter and spring?
4. Reach out to those donors who made a first-time major gift, and to those regular donors who didn’t. Use year-end results to “tweak” your prospect list. Sit with those prospects that made a new or upgraded major gift, and ask about their motivations. What other information would they like to learn about your organization? Who would they like to hear from, and how frequently? Would they like to get more involved, and if so, where might they fit in? For those supporters who did not give in 2010, invite further conversation about changes in their personal priorities or circumstances.
5. Refresh your case for support. The “new normal” means fundamental shifts in revenue sources for nonprofits in every sector. Make sure the story you are sharing reflects current realities, but always lead with the relevance, urgency and community benefit of your mission.
6. Remember why major gifts are a priority for your development program:
   • According to GivingUSA, almost 85 percent of charitable gifts come from individuals.
   • Research indicates that prospects are more likely to give, give again and give more when asked by a peer.
   • Donor-centered, face-to-face relationships will foster a deeper, mutual understanding and investment in your mission and vision than the most exciting event.
   • Retaining and upgrading current donors, vs. acquiring new ones, is good business. According to best practices, it costs $1.50 to raise a new $1.00. Investing in meaningful relationships takes time, but the ROI is well worth it.

After you have celebrated, acknowledged, and analyzed your year-end fundraising results, use the coming weeks to validate or shift your development priorities. Understanding your successes, challenges, and opportunities will reengage loyal volunteers and reinvigorate dedicated staff!

Looking for more ways to prepare for 2012? Join our webinar on January 24th for an interactive discussion on getting your shop in order: click here to register for this free webinar!

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.

All of us at The Collins Group are also donors – somewhat picky and perhaps overly critical donors given the nature of our work, but donors nonetheless – and as it happens from time to time, we swap donor “horror stories.” With the holiday season in full swing, we felt it was time to share some of these true tales with you.  May your fundraising efforts never resemble these!

Assume the Best—and Follow Up

A staff member made a major gift to her employer’s capital campaign. A few years later, she accepted a job at another organization.  With one year left on her pledge, the staffer let the fundraising shop know that she was committed to fulfilling it. Fast forward another year: the donor and her husband are new parents. In the midst of this happy chaos, the charity sends the couple’s final pledge reminder, which disappears in a pile of diaper coupons, junk mail, and holiday letters. The sleep-deprived couple never noticed that they haven’t received the pledge reminder and are astonished to learn later that their pledge was written off.

Take away:  Assume the best.  We all get busy.  Most donors want to honor their agreements and fulfill their pledges. If someone misses a payment, it’s most likely an oversight.  If you don’t receive a pledge payment from a donor, pick up the phone. Too shy to pick up the phone?  Send a gentle inquiry letter, or ask the person who first solicited the gift to reach out.

A Lead Donor is Always a Lead Donor

A board member stepped up to lead a charity’s multi-million dollar capital campaign. Affiliated with the organization for 15 years, she made what was for her an enormous six-figure stretch gift in the form of a five-year pledge.  A year or so after the campaign successfully completed and with two years left to complete her pledge, the board member accepted employment at a related organization. From that moment forward, staff from her former organization froze her out. They made no attempt to remain in contact—no phone calls, pledge reminders sent unaccompanied by a personal letter, and a special invitation to her organization’s event was unceremoniously declined.  Will this organization ever receive another significant gift from her? No way. Have they lost tremendous good will and excellent word of mouth? Absolutely.

Take away: Unless your donor tells you explicitly that he never wants to hear from you again, he is your significant donor—no matter when the gift was made or what other organization he supports—and as such deserves your ongoing honor, recognition, and personal attention.

Timing is Everything

A young woman received medical care at a hospital for the first time. Three months after being treated she received a letter from the hospital.  Assuming it was a bill, she opened it, only to discover that she was being solicited for a gift to the hospital’s foundation.

Take away: Make sure your annual giving request could not be mistaken for a bill, and institute a rule—new patients are not added to mailing lists until at least six months after being treated.

Always Send a Thank You

A long-time former board member attended an organization’s fundraising event. She made an outright gift, noting on the gift card that she wished to be contacted about making another contribution.  Not only did she not receive a thank you for her gift, no one from the nonprofit responded to her note.

Donors, especially potential major donors, often test nonprofits to see how they respond to a gift. One donor’s rule: if she doesn’t receive a personal contact for a gift of $250 or more, the organization is dropped from her giving list.

Take aways:  A thank you note for a gift of any size is not only gracious good manners, but the foundation of donor retention.  Educate yourself on donor retention.

Keep the donors you have.  The easiest way to raise more money is to keep the donors you have, and one of the best ways to keep your donors is to make sure you honor and treasure not just their gifts, but their desire to support your mission.

Thirty-five nonprofit leaders and researchers came together to determine how we can increase giving, and what resulted was a report laying out 32 separate recommendations. You can find the report here.

Growing Philanthropy’s recommendations can be summarized into four key areas:

1. Enhancing the quality of donor relationships
2. Developing public trust and confidence in the sector
3. Identifying new audiences, channels, and forms of giving with strong potential for growth
4. Improving the quality of fundraising training and development

Reading through the report and recommendations, I almost feel like cheering. On the topic of tackling the high turnover rate among fundraisers, the authors of the report note the need to educate executives and board members on relationship-based fundraising, not the short-term, transaction-based method of getting the check in the door. Certainly, our organizations have short-term financial needs, but if we don’t look beyond the dashboard, we still won’t know where we are going.

In their advice to board members, report authors Sargeant and Shang caution that “holding the chief executive and his or her fundraising team to account on a range of short-term and ‘siloed’ metrics will only be counterproductive, damaging philanthropy and undermining the cultural shift that we aim to achieve.”

If we believe these recommendations will benefit the sector, we all have roles to play: advocating, educating, and challenging ourselves and those around us. As a consultant, I’m encouraged by this report and am looking forward to building trainings for boards and staff that don’t shy away from these bigger ideas for fundraising.

If you want a very readable, quick synopsis to share with your colleagues or boards, check out a manifesto for smarter fundraising here.

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!

In my almost 20 years in the fundraising trenches, I’ve dealt with my share of volunteers who wouldn’t give and wouldn’t ask. Now, they said they’d give, and they said they’d ask, but they just never quite got around to doing either. Assigning good donor prospects to these volunteers would just go to waste, and I’d wind up calling them myself.

So I asked myself, “Self, why are you putting me through this rigmarole only to lose six months of traction and have to make the same calls I could have made in the first place?” Answer: “Fughetaboutit! I’ll just do it myself.”

But then I encountered a really great volunteer. She gave and she asked, and she did both very well. She moved the organization light years in the amount of time I would have moved it a few inches.

And that’s what a great volunteer can bring to your organization. It’s up to you to find them and support them like gold because, well, they are. Here are six strategies to consider:

1. Your best donors are the pool for your best volunteers. We err in thinking that because someone is a big-time donor that we shouldn’t bother them to volunteer as well.  Bother them. They’re invested. They’re believers. And they’re your first best source.
2. Following Tip #1: Never, never, never allow volunteers to ask for gifts when they haven’t first given themselves. Some kind people believe that they are doing you a favor by volunteering their time but not their money. They’re not. Trust me, when these volunteers show up on a call, they have a neon sign on their forehead that reads: “I haven’t given, but you should!”
3. The Rule of One. Don’t ask a fundraising volunteer to do more than one thing. Ask them to open one door, set up one visit, make one ask, etc. Follow that one thing through to its conclusion before asking them to do the next thing.
4. Precondition success. If you’ve got a good, but scared, volunteer, give her or him an easy call to make first. Choose a prospect you know will step up. Heck, call that person yourself in advance of your volunteer’s call to grease the skids if you have to. Give your volunteer the opportunity to taste the sweet nectar of success.
5. Face the fear. Yes, this is scary stuff! If you sense your volunteer is scared, ask what she or he is scared about and work through it together.
6. Less is more. To get the most of a good volunteer, you need to devote time, energy and sweat equity into that person. Only do that with the ones who will get the job done. Managing three good volunteers well will get you much farther than managing a committee of 10 so-so volunteers poorly.

Give these strategies a try the next time you are looking to engage volunteers in your fundraising endeavor. Over time, you can turn what can be a fundraising liability into your biggest asset.

Particularly helpful were the “Solutions Salons” roundtables where each of us were able to share a vexing social media problem and receive immediate feedback from our peers. The conference was held at Microsoft’s beautiful Conference Center in Redmond which offers giant coolers of free sodas. Free sodas are very tempting to those who work for and with nonprofits as evidenced here.  Read a full recap of the day using storify.com, courtesy of Mixtape Communications‘ Zan McColloch-Lussier.

Another great presentation I was lucky enough to be part of recently was Maria Ross of Red Slice explaining the “Seven Deadly Sins of Branding” at the Association for Women in Communications luncheon. Maria succinctly explained the steps of building a brand identity in understandable terms. Repeat after me, “A logo is not a brand. A brand is your promise to your community.”

Have to started planning for 2012? TCG has some helpful presentations coming up in the next few weeks. If you happen to be in Medford next week, check out TCG’s Natalie Lamberjack and James Plourde presenting “Developing Annual and Long-Range Fundraising Plans” as part of our ongoing partnership with the Nonprofit Association of Oregon. We’re excited to have a full day to explore this topic with our Southern Oregon friends.

Aggie Sweeney will present on “Trends in Giving: What Can We Expect in Our Community?” for the North Sound Development Association on November 15th. She will  share national, regional, and local leading indicators for giving and the direction it is expected to take through 2012, highlighting key findings from the Giving USA 2011 report, the most recent Philanthropy 400 and High Net Worth Donor studies, and mix that with knowledge of our local community to help us see what ahead.

As part of WVDO’s ongoing Development Series (of which we are the sponsor), Aggie and James will present a two-part presentation (November 17 and December 1) on launching successful campaigns. Click here to register!

What have you attended lately? What should we mark our calendars for next? Share, please!

The common assumption is that fundraising is a field full of naturally gregarious types who thrive on social interaction 24/7. While there are many fundraisers in this category, the truth is there are many of us who deeply enjoy our interactions with colleagues, donors, board members, and volunteers, but also draw our energy from being alone to reflect.

For introverts (and sometimes extroverts, too), the thought of speaking to a large audience can be distressing. However, we are in a profession where we are regularly called upon to speak to large groups of donors, sponsors, community groups, or the media. While we may appear comfortable, it requires extra effort for introverted fundraisers to step into that space where we draw energy from the external environment (audience) instead of from within ourselves.

I’m currently enrolled in a Persuasive Communications class with Michael Shadow as part of the Masters of Nonprofit Leadership program at Seattle University.  He has been a speech consultant to United States presidents, corporate CEOs, and nonprofit sector leaders.  As someone who aspires to excel in an extroverted world despite my natural introverted tendencies, I hang on to his every word.

The bottom line is this: If we can harness the power of persuasive speech, where we fall on the introvert/extrovert spectrum is irrelevant. You can be confident the audience won’t discover your secret introverted personality because the speech will be well-delivered.

Here are some nuggets I’ve gleaned during class on how to “speak audience,” courtesy of Michael Shadow.

1. Don’t begin a speech with thanks or praise. Acquire and focus the attention through a story, example, quotation or lyrics.
2. Share universal stories. People need to perceive themselves within the stories you share during your speech in order to stay interested.
3. Don’t get lost in your notes. Leave the bottom third of each page blank so you can quickly glance down to prompt your next point instead of reading to the bottom of the page – this pulls your head down and distracts both you and the audience.
4. This is a speech, not an essay. Include only one idea per line and then leave a space and move to the next thought. It’s easier to remember your thoughts if you organize them in this way.
5. Prepare, prepare, prepare. Begin with your ultimate goal for the speech and work backwards. Think about who is in the audience, how they see themselves, and what their image is of you. The speech isn’t about you; it’s about meeting the needs of the audience.