Future Fundraising Now

How to thank donors, and measure the impact of your thanking

Fundraisers are smart about asking. We test it all the time. We try big ideas and small tweaks. We fine-tune our audiences

What we don't understand as well is thanking those donors we find and move to action.

We know from our personal lives how important follow-up is. What you do after the gift or event is what sets the direction of the relationship.

It's quite likely it's the same in fundraising.

Katya's Nonprofit Marketing Blog gives us some ways of thanking that will most likely improve the donor relationship, at The 10 vital rules of thanking, pleasing and keeping donors:

1. Know your donor
2. Always thank your donors
3. Thank them early
4. Thank them often
5. Thank them accurately
6. Express gratitude
7. Focus on emotion
8. Give the donor credit
9. Be specific about impact
10. Make it personal

The smartest thing would be to test these (and other) thanking techniques. Since a simple response test, like we do when we test our asking, can't measure success, you have to track what donor do in the 12 months after you test something. A successful thanking technique would result in better retention, higher cumulative giving, or other desirable behaviors. An unsuccessful one would have no impact, or possibly a negative impact.

Boring tips for a great website

From John Haydon's blog, Ten Ways To Make Your Nonprofit Website Simply Awesome:

1. Professional Design
2. Intuitive Navigation
3. Fewer Choices
4. Good Redirects
5. Consistent Page Layouts
6. Pictures of People
7. Mobile Versions
8. Answers to Common Questions
9. Strong SEO
10. Sharable Content

Note that few of these things are all that sexy. Just good-old getting stuff right.

Probably the most impactful item on the list is the least "exciting": #9. Search engine optimization (and/or search engine marketing) requires a lot of not-visible, highly detailed, downright drudgery -- but it can really drive a lot of the right people to your site for the right reasons.

It's almost always that way: The things that make the most difference for your organization are the least glamorous. The big success stories are from organizations that understand that, not the ones that chase the fad of the moment or sexy, thrilling wonder-drugs.

The mystery of the unopened fundraising appeals

One of the most amazing things about Uncle Maynard's Treasure Trove of Direct Mail Knowledge is that nearly every piece in it has been opened. Uncle Maynard takes his philanthropic duty very seriously. Despite the fact that he gets a big pile of requests for funds in the mail every day, he opens and considers nearly all of them.

But there's one type of mailing in there that more often than not came to me unopened:

Thick, oversized envelopes stuffed to the gills with high-end freemiums. We're not talking address labels here. There were things like gloves, calculators, flags, blankets. High-value stuff. Actually, crappy and cheap versions of high-value stuff.

Why doesn't Uncle Maynard open them? He grew up during the Depression. He doesn't throw stuff away. But these mailers have worn him down. In fact, this is the only complaint about his direct mail that he's voiced to me: They send me all this stuff I don't need.

I hope these mailers are responsibly testing, and their packages continue to generate acceptable response. I also hope they've got their eyes on the long-term value these mailings generate. Because the typical potential downside of this tactic is that it brings in large number of low-dollar, low-involvement donors. The initial response is high, which could mask the fact that you're creating a list that's in an constant state of churn and failing to generate acceptable net revenue.

It's possible to have a "successful" direct mail program that brings in a lot of donors and dollars -- but creates a cash drain on the organization that's invisible because they aren't paying attention to the right numbers.

I have no inside knowledge about these mailers. They may be doing just fine. But I've seen the numbers on some organizations that were using similar fundraising tactics who were caught in a death-spiral they couldn't escape.

As long as more Uncle Maynards out there don't open the envelopes, the problem will continue to grow.

More from the Trove

What fundraising is really about

From the Fundraising Collective blog, great insight at I want doesn't get... a four year old talks fundraising:

... fundraising is about relationship building. It's about having a coffee with someone and having a chat. It's about finding out what they care about in the world and asking them what they would like to change or have an impact on. And then it's about discussing whether your organisation can help them to do that.

In the general fundraising world, we don't have the luxury of chatting and caffeine.

But it's the same thing. Fundraising is about showing donors that our work fits in with their mission.

They aren't supporting us; we are supporting them.

You raise money by talking about their goals and dreams and beliefs. Not by persuading them you are wonderful and deserving of their money.

Subject lines that bring home the bacon

From Constant Contact Email Marketing blog, 15 Truths You Must Know To Create Almost Perfect Subject Lines. Here are the truths that best apply to fundraising:

• People won't act unless told to do so
• People are skeptical of most emails
• People do NOT like to have their time wasted
• People are more likely to act when they feel a sense of urgency
• People care more about the sender than the message
• People hate being misled
• People want things to be personal, just not too personal (don't put the recipient's name in the subject line!)
• PEOPLE DO NOT RESPOND TO CAPITAL LETTERS AND EXCLAMATION POINTS!!!!
• People actually do like being teased (Those weird techniques you see on direct mail envelopes? They work here too!)
• People hate being sold to

Don't hide the rough stuff from your donors

A lot of fundraisers make a huge mistake that they think is a favor to their donors: They soft-pedal and tone down the scope and depth of the need they exist to meet.

They're afraid it's too harsh. Too painful. Too likely to discourage donors.

In the case of poverty-fighting organizations, the dominant images are of happy, healthy, shiny-faced children. Messaging about the problem after it's already been solved.

Big mistake. And not a favor to donors at all.

The Passionate Giving blog says it well at How To Transport Your Donor Into The World's Suffering:

Rather than protecting our donors from all the reality of the need we should be using media, picture, choice of words and stories to literally take the donor right into the action -- right to the scene.

Remember, the reason a donor gives YOU the money is so you can DO what they want to do but can't. So they give you the money to do it on their behalf. That is the essence of fundraising – that's how it works. I think it's your obligation to tell things like they are.

Your donors can handle the rough stuff. They want to handle the rough stuff. Because with you as a partner, they can change it.

Want to know who complains about tough images most often?

It's non-donors. Those images painfully and undeniably demonstrate the price of their non-giving. That's unpleasant. No wonder they complain.

But donors? They don't see hopelessness, degradation and personal failure. They see an opportunity to make the world better.

That's why you owe it to your donors to be clear and unflinching about the need you face.

It's good fundraising. And it's good humanity.

Easy ways to improve email fundraising

Email marketers are a good source of handy information for us fundraisers. They're always testing and studying with their huge email files. That's where this post, 5 New Email Marketing Tips Based on Recent Studies, from Totally Uncorked on Marketing gets some handy new tidbits:

1. Send your e-mail marketing at the beginning of the week when open rates are higher.
2. Test personalizing your e-mails -- it may have a negative effect on open and click rates.
3. Email more frequently than once a month. (Emailing infrequently is the likely path to shrinking your list.)
4. Keep email subject lines between 28-39 characters.
5. If a large part of your recipient list uses mobile devices, try keeping email messages in the 50KB range to ensure they load quickly.

There's backup behind each of these. Check them out.

Fix that fundraising landing page!

The landing page is often where online fundraising goes to die. You need to pay a lot of attention to getting that page right, and you might be surprised what "right" is.

Here's a start, from the KISSmetrics blog: 50 Ways To Seduce Your Web Visitors With Persuasive Landing Pages.

Here are some of those 50, the ones most suited to fundraising:

• Observe the rule of one. Do just one big thing on the page.
• Don’t be clever. Clever headlines often fail.
• Be urgent. Encourage people to act now by providing a deadline.
• Use the word you.
• Reduce your text.
• Use symbols of trust.
• Remove sidebars. When Conversion Rate Experts removed their right sidebar sign-ups increased by 25.9%.
• Remove top navigation. Removing your top navigation bar can increase sign-ups by 100%.
• Reduce barriers. Research suggests that fewer form fields increase signups.
• Stand out. Make your call to action button bigger, use a contrasting color, and increase your font size.
• Have your form above the fold.

Go check it out. They're all good.

Don't believe everything you read in fundraising blogs

I recently read a blog post headlined roughly Why you should never rent a mailing list. (I'm purposely paraphrasing here; I'm also not going to link to it because that wouldn't be nice. If you want to find this particular blog and its post, you're going to have to do some digging.)

The content of the post was a list of mishaps and horrors that could (and apparently did) happen when amateurs get in over their heads on the list rental market. Things like being overcharged and getting insufficient response.

But those things don't happen to experienced professionals. Being savvy and successful at renting lists protects you from the typical disasters. Like most things in life, going in half-cocked and unprepared usually means you'll have a bad experience.

So what you get from reading that blog post is an admission of inexperience -- positioned as useful knowledge. "Don't rent mailing lists" is incredibly bad advice for most organizations. These guys sent in the Cub Scouts when they should have sent the Marines. And they were too inexperienced even to know that they created their own problem.

Not everyone who reads the blog will know that. Like most blogs, it positions itself as an authority, a thought leader, a resource for nonprofit organizations. And with a combination of good-looking design and an authoritative voice, it seems the part.

There's no quality control on the internet. Anyone can say anything, and there may be little to warn you that they are clueless. One hint is this: When they make a blanket statement that you should not do something that thousands of organizations do successfully all the time, you might want to take the advice with a grain of salt.

So caveat lector -- reader beware. Just because it's on the internet doesn't mean it's good advice.

Organization finds a Donor of the Year

Here's something cool from Uncle Maynard's Treasure Trove of Direct Mail Knowledge.

Check out this large carrier envelope (it measures 11 x 6 inches):

It's from Help Hospitalized Veterans (HHV). Most of the package is dedicated to a sweepstakes, a fundraising tactic I don't approve of and never recommend. But if I were wearing a hat, I'd take it off to everything else about this package.

The boldness of the proclamation is wonderful. All these guys know about Uncle Maynard is that he shows up on lists of donors. If you think about it, that makes him special. HHV says very special.

The letter inside starts like this:

As you may know, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are over 300 million people in America. Unfortunately, just a fraction of those citizens have cared enough to donate to worthwhile causes, time and again.

However, according to our records, you, Mr. Maynard _, are one of the unselfish ones. A person who was kind enough to give back to those less fortunate, to a cause of great importance. As such a person, you have earned our respect and recognition as A WASHINGTON Donor of the Year

In honor of this recognition, we have enclosed a special certificate for you to frame and hang on a wall in your Seattle, Washington home. Look on it with pride.

Enjoy it in good health!

A lot of organizations would be unable to take the next step, because somebody would say, "Yes, but there are thousands of people on those lists!" As if that diminishes the significance of Uncle Maynard's generosity.

"But surely the donors will know that they're just one of many thousands!" They may or may not. That's not what matters. The important things are whether it gets their attention and makes them feel good.

Here's the certificate:

(Yes, that's an attached gold-foil seal on there!)

This probably seems over-the-top. In a way, it is. But let me tell you this: It's probably not possible to over-praise your donors. (Unless you tell lies about them.)

What I love about this package is that it understands one of the most important but most often ignored rules of fundraising: It's about the donor, not about your organization.

More from the Trove