As many of you might have noticed it has been quiet on Sue’s Muse for the past week. With the best intentions in the world I simply have not been able to make time to post to the blog.
I will be taking a wee break … collect my thoughts about the current status of the fundraising climate … and will return in early April!
All the best!
Regards,
Sue
I am a big fan of FREE!
Of course, there are those that look at that word more sceptically … and relate that if it is free, it can’t possibly be any good! I totally disagree … especially when we are talking about sharing FREE ideas, lessons learned and fundraising advice!
This is why whenever I present at a conference … I list a number of publications such as Fundraising Success Magazine and eMarketer as great FREE resources for attendees.
Another is the Online Discussion held by Chronicle of Philanthropy. This is one FREE discussion that just might be worth your time.
Regards,
Sue
Chronicle of Philanthropy - Online Discussion Tuesday: Social Networking Tools
Join us Tuesday, February 17, at noon Eastern time for an online discussion about the difference among sites like Digg, Facebook, and Twitter — and how charities can use these tools to connect with potential supporters.
The guests:
Chris Garrett, an Internet marketing and new-media consultant in Yorkshire, England, and author of ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income. He founded OMIQ, a company that helps businesses with their online media.
John Haydon, a sales consultant in Boston and the publisher and founder of the Web site corporatedollar.org, which offers marketing advice to small nonprofit groups. Mr. Haydon is also the author of a recently released electronic book, Twitter Jump Start: The Complete Guide for Small Nonprofits.
The Chronicle’s online discussions are free and open to everyone. People who ask questions in advance have a better chance of getting answers.
Organizations and nonprofits nationwide are scrambling to raise their budgets, continue providing programs and simply trying to keep their heads above water during the current economical crisis.
Yet with all of this going on … The Kennedy Center is looking beyond its own four walls and offering a new program that shares its years of management experience with arts groups across the country.
According to a recent article by Washington Post writer, Jacqueline Trescott – The Kennedy Center is launching the “Arts in Crisis: A Kennedy Center Initiative.” The “Initiative” provides an opportunity for arts administrators to talk with the center’s staff about the challenges they are facing including decreasing income and audience attendance.
Although this might not avert the continuing drop in arts offerings, staff cuts and, in a number of cases, bankruptcy … it is refreshing to see an organization reach out to provide ideas and support and be a true mentor to others.
Groups can go to the “Arts in Crisis” website to register to get advice or become a mentor. Congratulations to The Kennedy Center’s president, Michael Kaiser and two of its far-sighted board members … who had the vision to see how this type of investment will payoff in the long run.
Regards,
Sue
Millard Fuller, the founder of Habitat for Humanity and The Fuller Center for Housing, died yesterday.
What can you say about a man who gave away his wealth to fundraise for a small church-funded African American school in Mississippi, spent time in Africa on behalf of the Church of Christ and then returned to the USA with a concept of building no-interest housing for the poor - a concept that he made into reality?
Who today has not heard of Habitat for Humanity International? From this simple concept begun in 1976, a number of other nonprofit organizations, such as Rebuilding Together and Brad Pitt’s New Orleans Make It Right project, are now working towards the same dream … to rid this country of substandard housing and homelessness.
“Millard Fuller’s drive and relentless commitment to affordable housing captured people’s imagination and changed lives around the world,” said J. Ronald Terwilliger, chair of Habitat for Humanity’s International Board of Directors.
In an earlier interview with the Chicago Tribune Mr. Fuller stated, “We want to make shelter a matter of conscience.”
Habitat has built more than 300,000 houses around the world, providing more than 1.5 million people with safe, decent and affordable housing. I think we can all agree that he succeeded.
I have been asked by a number of clients and colleagues what results organizations have seen across the board for 2008 year-end giving. As expected … the results have been varied.
Nick Allen, one of the top consultants in online fundraising, and his team from Donordigital has just released some results they have seen for December 2008 vs. December 2007, in their latest enewsletter.
DONORS STEADY, AVERAGE GIFTS DOWN
Average gifts were down 20% to 35% in December 2008 compared to December 2007, but the number of donations was about the same. That’s what we’ve seen for several clients. The good news is that most donors continue to believe in the organizations they support. They continue to give, but – no surprise — they’re not giving as much as they did last year, especially at higher giving levels.
At the Target Analysis Internet Benchmarking meeting last week in New York, some organizations reported the same trend, while others reported year-end 2008 hit projections. Many groups were seeing a drop in $500+ gifts, which can have a big impact on average gift!
Search marketing showed similar trends — fewer Google users were searching to make donations. Those who did gave less on average than last year. Even so, search remains a vital part of many organizations’ year-end campaigns with ROI ranging from 5:1 to 20:1. Most search donations come from search on “brand terms.”
Because as many as half of search-driven donors may already be on an organization’s donor database, some believe it’s not worth buying brand terms (or getting them free via a Google Grant). But in the same way that Comcast buys “Comcast”, you want to do everything you can to make it easy for donors to find you, whether they are looking at organic or paid search results. And the ROI numbers prove it.
So if you fall into the 20% - 35% in average gifts raised, it appears that you are not alone! And to no one’s surprise your loyal donors continue to remain your loyal donors … just perhaps not at the level they have donated to in the past.
And, along with other online techniques and strategies, “Search” continues to play a significant role in online gifts. It is evident that everyone is continuing to be more conservative in their donating patterns … and I think it is safe to say that, until we see a significant shift in the economy, this will continue to be the rule rather than the exception.
Best advice … continue to use the tools, strategies and techniques that have made your your fundraising plans successful in the past … cultivate and steward your donors, build trust in your brand, and share your challenges and successes with your donors.
Regards,
Sue
Once again, we find ourselves discussing the effectiveness of communicating through emails vs. social networks. Just yesterday, I led a roundtable discussion on this very topic at the DMANF Conference in Washington, DC.
According to a new report released by Epsilon, deliverability rates were almost exactly the same in Q3 2008 as they were in Q3 2006. Open rates and click-through rates dipped during the same period, but only slightly. Good news indeed for folks who use this type of communication to build constituent relationships, share information and appeal to donors.
“Despite concerns about the declining effectiveness of advertising and the challenging economy, e-mail continued to perform consistently in 2008,” said Kevin Mabley, senior vice president at Epsilon, in a statement. “We anticipate increased reliance on this highly measurable and engaging method of customer interaction [in 2009].”
In my October 17th Blog “Email or Social Networks - How do you Communicate?” I shared some of the latest statistical reporting on the use of Social Networks as a communication tool. Social Networks continue to show a gain as the communication preference of choice for younger audiences. 53% of those aged 18 to 24 and 42% of those aged 25 to 34.
Why? The most mentioned reasons are: More messages in email boxes are viewed as irrelevant and Social Media Sites empower users to interact with the brand on their terms.
So, for now, this report reinforces the notion that in order to be effective, marketers need to use all lines of communication available to them … to build, engage, excite and evangelize their constituent file!
Have a great weekend!
Sue
The celebrations have ended … cabinet secretaries have been approved by congress … including a new Secretary at Treasury! We are now all holding our collective breath to see how and when the newly proposed stimulus package will affect the American public … which means … how it is going to affect nonprofits in reaching their goals?
The new Treasury Secretary, Timothy F. Geithner, has pledged to quickly launch initiatives to jump-start both the credit markets and the broader economy.
“We are at a moment of maximum challenge for our economy and for our country,” he said. “In the world we confront today, Treasury has to be and Treasury will be a source of bold initiative.”
So what does this mean for fundraising? It means that, just as many of you have already figured out, there is no quick and easy fix!
If bold initiatives are called for … then being proactive, rather than reactive, is what organizations need to be moving towards in order to remain viable and solvent!
So - what steps can you take to be more proactive in your direct response fundraising efforts?
1- Analytics - is the name of the game. Review your year-end stats - and go to your best performing file selects first, adding in less effective selects depending on your budget, both on and offline.
2- Messaging - make certain you share the challenges that your organization is facing in appeals and describe specific steps you taking to meet the needs of those you serve. Never forget that “donors are stakeholders” in your organization. Constituents are more likely to support your nonprofit during difficult times if they understand that you have a plan to meet the current challenges.
3- Cultivate and Steward – send updates and newsletters that clearly outline your issues, the strategies you have taken to address them and the successes you have had to date. This type of communication will keep donors and supporters informed about the progress you have made and the challenges you continue to face.
Being proactive and sharing with your loyal donors and supporters might just surprise you … they really do want you to succeed!
Regards,
Sue
That’s right … YOU ARE TOPS! What am I talking about? … according to a recent article in the U.S. News and World Report … ‘Fundraiser’ is, once again, ranked as one of the top careers in 2009.
The article outlines many of the day to day responsibilities of a fundraiser … and no, it is attending a lot of parties and picking up checks … but rather the article shares how a good fundraiser spends their time building donor relationships … cultivating and stewarding gifts … while recruiting, inspiring and training both staff and volunteers.
No surprise here … it is one of the main reasons I chose this type of nonprofit work years ago.
But I would like to take a moment to honor all those great friends, colleagues and mentors who, over the years, have not only reinforced my decision … but have shared their ideas, strategies, skills and profound optimism … that no matter how tough it gets out there … we are all in this together!
These professional relationships have seen me through the good times and the bad … sharing ideas, offering encouragement and sometimes just listening to me rant!
It didn’t take an article to tell me YOU ARE TOPS!
Regards,
Sue
There are a number of truths in fundraising … but one of the most profound is “YOU DON’T HAVE A DONOR UNTIL YOU GET A SECOND GIFT!”
Only 35 percent of new donors ever make a second gift. Direct mail acquisition to acquire new donors is an investment … your investment is generally recouped after you get a second gift, additionally, new donors on your file become prospects for your major gift and planned giving programs. Pretty heady stuff … you simply have to keep filling that pipeline!
I tell clients when they have acquired a new donor … “You now have a suspect!” So how do you go about getting that second gift?
At a recent fundraising conference, reported in the NonProfit Times, Lynn S. Edmonds, president of LW Robbins Associates, shared her “5 Key Steps to Getting a Second Gift.“ Key steps included:
· Prompt and thoughtful thank-you letters. This includes important “not-to-take” steps, which are sending acknowledgments too late (maybe by batching monthly or using bulk postage), sending transactional-focused “donation receipts” and getting the data wrong.
· New donor welcome kits. This recognizes the donor’s status as a new and much appreciated friend.
· Early second gift appeal. Get new donors to repeat their original gift. Mailing after a prompt acknowledgment, but before the first regular appeal.
· Presenting donors with your strongest renewal appeals up front. This means offering early matching gift opportunities, newsletters with an appeal letter to show proof of stewardship and other strong renewal controls.
· A first-year anniversary package. This can be from 10 to 13 months after the original gift date. Try to recapture the motivation behind the initial gift. Tell donors it is now at the time when they gave before, and urge them to give again at this same time one year later.
Second gifts don’t come automatically … this is great advice on taking that first step towards building a donor relationship … and turning a first time donor into a loyal supporter!
Regards,
Sue
No matter where you were in the country or the world today … you could not help but be moved by the events taking place in Washington, DC. The peaceful transfer of power … the huge gathering of citizens from all walks of life … the message of hope and the call for service made by our new president to all Americans.
After a lifetime of working for nonprofits - I know first hand what a difference ONE Volunteer, ONE Donor, ONE Nonprofit Professional, ONE Organization can make … and how each can effect positive change! Now we are all being called upon to meet the challenges ahead.
Many have already been motivated, as reported today in the Chronicle of Philanthropy. Many more are ready to answer the call.
It is an inspiring time in the country. But, no rose tinted glasses here … in our business … the fundraising business … we understand the challenges we face to raise dollars in order to meet the demands for services - nationally, internationally and in our local communities.
Today we celebrate … tomorrow we begin again … to answer the call.
Regards,
Sue
