Future Fundraising Now

Do ALL your board members donate?

Should board members be required to donate to their organizations?

Joan Garry says: ABSOLUTELY at Should Board Members Be Required to Donate?

And she's absolutely right.

The main reason:

...because the two most powerful words in “ask choreography” are “JOIN ME.”

Some institutional funders specifically require 100% board giving. Other donors, volunteers, and all kinds of stakeholders are encouraged when the ultimate leaders and insiders have skin in the game.

(And show me a non-donating board member, and we'll likely see a sour micro-manager who makes every board meeting a torment of useless conflict. Not always, but frequently.)

Now here's the important thing: The amount a board member donates is not the issue. Requiring a minimum amount -- even if it's a "give or get" goal -- is a big mistake. It guarantees that you will have a board that lacks the diversity you need to succeed as an organization.

You should have board members who can only give "small" amounts. No amount is unimportant. Participation is what matters.

But you should not have non-participating board members. They are a drag on your organization.

Two ways to be a better nonprofit -- and raise more funds

A great way to do better fundraising is to be better.

Let me tell you about something that's better. It's a line of blank notebooks called Moleskine. The small one that I use costs around $10. Pretty dumb, huh? I could get a notebook at the drugstore for under $2. And every time I go to a conference I bring home two or three little notebooks for free.

Yet I shell out ten bucks for a Moleskine. Because it's better than the other options:

1. It has better features

The paper is acid free, so it won't turn brown and crumble in a few years. The pages are rounded off, so they don't get dog-eared. It's bound so it can lie open flat. There's a ribbon bookmark. There's an elastic strap that holds it shut. The oilcloth cover looks and feels nice.

All around, it's well made and a pleasure to use.

Other manufacturers have noticed and are selling high-end notebooks. Some probably even better than Moleskine. Or at a lower cost. That's why Moleskine's second advantage is so important ...

2. It has a better story

This isn't just any notebook. It's been around for a long time, and was supposedly used by some very cool people, like Picasso, Van Gogh, Mallarmé, and Hemingway.

Travel writer Bruce Chatwin was obsessed with his Moleskines. Part of the story is that the original manufacturer died; when Chatwin tried to buy some at his favorite Paris bookshop, he was told, "Le vrai moleskine n'est plus." That quote is always in French in the Moleskine story -- it flatters me that they tell it to me without a translation -- of course I understand the (very easy) French!

Moleskine reeks of creativity, sophistication, and quality. The features and the story come together to make it almost irresistible. I know writers who swear Moleskine notebooks are part of what makes them able to write well.

Can you do this with your nonprofit mission? Actually make it better and give it a better story? Think about it...

How to create better features

• You could be noticeably more effective than the usual organization. But it would have to be in a way the non-experts could understand and appreciate.
  
• You could leverage donors' gift in some powerful way.
  
• You could acknowledge donors' giving in some very exciting way.
  
• You could make donors part of a community or group that they love belonging to.
  

How to tell a better story

• Connect with your donors' aspirations better than others.
  
• Really give them something they can brag about when they give.
  
• Connect to a great heritage that donors would be proud to be part of. (This might be an especially powerful for some religious and cultural organizations.)
  
• Have amazing spokespersons (living or dead).
  
• Strongly affirm donors' beliefs about themselves.
  

You can't make this stuff up. You have to make it real.

But it's possible to make it real, if your entire organization is part of the effort.

And the reward? How cool would it be to become the "Moleskine of Nonprofits"?

(This post first appeared on May 3, 2017.)

Charity watchdogs are strangling nonprofits

I hope you read The Agitator's post that might this outrageous claim:

Charities need more debt, less revenue diversification, less leanness (bigger reserves), and higher overhead.

(Do The Opposite?)

You might be thinking, If we did those things, the watchdog agencies, the press, and even our donors would throw a collective hissy-fit, and we'd be in deep trouble!

But consider research on financial data from 130,000 charities from 1982 to 2012:

• Having a higher overhead generates 15% more program spend over 10 years.
  
• Having less revenue diversification results in 17% more program spend over ten years.
  
• Maintaining above median level reserves yields 32% more spending on programs.
  
• Having an above-median interest expense ratio contributes about 11% to program spending over 10 years.
  

All in direct contradiction of the common press narrative that nonprofits should operate in a constant poverty/desperation mindset. And the numbers that get us good watchdog ratings. Many boards are on board with the narrative too, and keep their organizations from accomplishing what they could.

Start your fight against the poverty mindset close to home. Work on your own leadership to get them thinking about what really works to fund your organization. And together, maybe we can take on the watchdogs and the press.

The real reasons donors donate

Why do your donors give?

Is it because your organization is awesome and doing a great job at something important?

Yes, but not really.

The real reason they give is something inside their own heads, according to the Better Fundraising Blog at People Make Donations to Tell Ourselves...

Here's why they give:

You and I make donations in order to tell ourselves who we are.

Of course, you need to be awesome. You owe that to your cause, yourself, and your donors.

But when it comes to asking, you are on your donors' turf. And you'll do a lot better by speaking your donors' internal language, and show them how their donation makes them more truly and deeply who they are.

What that means is if you want to do well in fundraising, your messaging should...

... tell donors that they’ll love giving to your organization. Your fundraising will need to tell them that your organization has the same values that your donor has. Your fundraising will need to communicate, “people like you give gifts to this organization.”

You can ignore this reality -- most fundraisers do. You'll just raise less money for your cause.

The most interesting fundraising questions I've been asked lately

One of the fun things about having a blog is that people you don't know ask questions. That gives a sort of insight to what is puzzling and worrying people in the fundraising industry.

Here are some of the most interesting questions I've been asked lately:

1. When a donor gives, how long should I wait before sending another appeal?
   
2. We just hired a digital specialist who says we should have completely different fundraising program online than we do in the mail. Is that a good idea?
   
3. Our walkathon is super successful, bringing in hundreds of new donors every year. But few of them ever give another donation. What are we doing wrong?
   
4. My newsletter gets no response. Literally zero. How can I change that?
   
5. I have a limited training budget for myself and my staff. What's the best way to use it?
   
6. The portion of our donation revenue coming from digital channels has grown every year -- and direct mail revenue is static. My boss says it's time to stop spending our money on direct mail and switch entirely to digital fundraising. Would that be a good move?
   

Do you have questions like that?

How would you like a personalized face-to-face answer to your questions?

Good news. You can get that now. You can schedule an in person (Zoom, actually) session with me. On your schedule.

Here's how click this scheduling link and you'll be able to schedule a free 25-minute zoom call with me or one of the other fundraising experts at Moceanic.

Yes, free. No obligation to do anything but ask a question and get help with your fundraising.

It's very easy. Low key. Fun.

And you might discover something important. Or at least get a sympathetic ear!

Schedule your meeting now!

5 things worth knowing about fundraising

Want to avoid some painful and expensive fundraising mistakes?

Check out this post from YUCKS Enterprises, at 5 Universal Truths About Fundraising:

1. Donors are not ATMs. It would be easier if they were just machines -- you just punch in a code and money comes out. But they are human beings. If you want them to give, you need to treat them as human. That means listen to them. Show them how your cause connects with their values. Be thankful. Show them they matter.
   
2. People have the Right to Say No. In fact, most donors, most of the time do say no to our fundraising. That's why building a relationship matters: it can turn "no" into "not now."
   
3. Those who Dislike Fundraising Often Have Money Anxiety Issues. Everyone has a relationship with money, and some have a very difficult and painful one. That's what causes many in our industry to seek ways to avoid asking. Or to ask in weird ways. Understanding yourself (or others) can help you overcome this deep and wide barrier to fundraising.
   
4. If You Want Money, Ask For It. The Good Book says, Ask and it will be given to you. The unstated but just as powerful corollary to that is Don't ask, and you'll get zilch. You can hope people will just show up with donations. But it rarely happens.
   
5. Reverse Engineer Everything You Can. If you want your next campaign to work, model it after a campaign that worked. There are times for re-inventing the wheel, but it's a lot more work, and a lot more likely to fail.
   

Top 5 blog posts of the month

ICYMI: the 5 most-read Future Fundraising Now blog posts from the month of May:

1. When we write like robots
   
2. An easy email welcome series that will help you keep your donors
   
3. Try the "Grandmother Question" to improve your fundraising
   
4. Why you should "preach to the choir"
   
5. What your fundraising can learn about being relevant from Adele