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Fundraising Tuesday: Now That’s a Story!

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storytelling boardThe organization had a lot of money to raise: for an elevator, a new roof, and to pay salaries.

The Board President wanted the Board members to practice telling their stories to potential donors. But all she was hearing were generalities and grand narratives.

So I told the Board a story.

The Tale of the Rigged Raffle

When my wife and I first set foot in our synagogue in 1990, shortly after we moved to Somerville, MA, it was because two friends separately invited us. Rona and I are very different kinds of Jews. I tutor kids for bar and bat mitzvah. She goes to shul when there’s a wedding, a bar or bat mitzvah, or a holiday. Not just any place would suit both of us.

We went to a Sunday brunch first, to see if we’d like the people.

They sat us down across from two of the older members, Morrie and Ada. Morrie was the type who, five minutes after he met you, he’d know where you grew up, where you lived now, what you did, and what committee you should be on. In the same amount of time, Ada would know all about your family (and make you feel like part of hers).

During the brunch, we were invited to buy tickets for a raffle. Being the warmly welcomed guests, we thought we’d pitch in for a ticket or two.

The people who managed the raffle made sure that we won. Our prize? A bottle of Manischewitz sweet red wine, as big as my head!Manischewitz bottle

Rona and I looked at each other, bemused. What were we going to do with our new-found treasure?

Then Morrie leaned across the table and said in his hoarse Yiddish-accented voice, “The custom is to donate it back to the Temple for kiddush (the blessing over wine after services).”

“We will be happy to donate the bottle back to the Temple!” we said.

Shortly after that, Rona and I became members. We’ve been there over twenty-five years. And the Board was the current governing body of that same synagogue.

Now That’s a Story!

What made my anecdote memorable?

  • People–Rona and me–with a problem: would we ever find a synagogue that fit us?
  • They meet new characters (and I do mean characters): Morrie and Ada.
  • They encounter a new problem: how to make ourselves at home with a place that thinks a giant-sized bottle of Manischewitz is a prize.
  • They receive advice and help (donate it back) and reach their destination (a place where we could belong).

Are You Telling Winning Stories?

Your nonprofit organization should be telling real stories every chance you get. Tell them in person and on the internet, in y0ur newsletter and in your appeal letter…and in your thank-you letter!

Storytelling connects your organization with the supporters you want–especially if you make the donor the hero of the story. But don’t leave the success of your storytelling to chance.

Rig your stories with people, problems, helpful characters, challenges, and solutions. That way, you know who will win: both you and your donor.

(P.S. They’re installing the elevator at our synagogue this summer.)

TY Thursday: A First-Time Gift is Not a Wedding Ring

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shut up, give me moneySometimes I think nonprofits have an invisible sign above their desks, directed to donors:

“Shut up and give.”

How else do you explain the way we keep on writing donors the way that’s most convenient for us, and not for them?

Or the way we persist in asking them for a new donation before we’ve actually said “thank you” for the old one?

For more shake-your-head proof that we are taking donors for granted–treating them like cash machines and not like human beings–consider this pet peeve from my friend Carol.

A First-Time Gift is Not a Wedding Ring

Carol read last week’s blog and wrote me:

I had an experience of giving generously to an organization and then realizing that my impulse was one of very poor judgment in terms of my financial situation.  Subsequent mail from the organization has basically asked me where I am and to send money in the same amount as soon as possible as the funds are very much needed.  Very poor form! I have been tempted to send a note but have decided that silence is the better option.

From the organization’s point of view, it seems, they’ve been jilted. Carol made them a vow of lifelong devotion, and then she left them at the altar.

But Carol doesn’t see it that way. She made a gift. Did that commit her to making the same gift happily ever after? Certainly not–particularly if she couldn’t really afford it. And she is offended that the organization is holding her to a promise she never made.

I bet you have some Carols on your list of lapsed donors. They, too, have decided “silence is the better option.” You might feel they have abandoned you, but they believe you have a lot of nerve to think they owe you.

How Not to Take Donors for Granted

Fortunately, some of us do understand how to woo our donors. Carol adds:

A different organization with similar goals has been nothing but kind and appreciative. After getting a request following my increased donation amount to another arm of the organization, I noted that I already donate to that program and had just increased the amount.  I received a note to the effect that the mistake had been corrected, with thanks for my being of such support.

This is also a group that initiated a meeting for me with a regional director after I was unable to attend a local event for which I had registered. We had a lovely dinner with pleasant conversation, including an update on several programs–no pressure of any kind, just a learning experience and a getting to know you evening.  One certainly catches more flies with honey and the personal touch.

Taking donors for granted is destroying their good will. Treating your donors right is the best thank-you. What are you doing to make your donors feel they’ve truly been thanked?

Fundraising Tuesday: Who Are You Calling “We,” Nonprofit?

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Enough about me, what do you think of meWhen it comes to fundraising appeals, we in the nonprofit world are stuck on ourselves.

How can that be, we wonder? We’re not self-centered. We care about our mission. We care about our clients.

We’re not in it for personal gain–or we surely would have chosen another profession! How can it be that we’re constantly writing about ourselves?

Yet take a look at the last appeal letter your agency sent out. Did it contain:

  • Statistics on how many people “we” helped?
  • Explanations of “our” programs?
  • Stories about what “we” did that changed client’s lives?

We, the nonprofit vs. they, the donors

What we’re trying to do with those letters is make a case for the donor’s support. What we’re succeeding at doing–far too often–is making them feel insignificant.

Saying “We need your help” is not convincing when the rest of the letter is about what “we” did without the donor even knowing. Worse, it puts us on opposite sides of the fence: “we” who do, and “you” who admire.

Yes, that organization sounds great, the donor thinks. So what? What’s that got to do with me?

That’s the question your ideal appeal letter must answer.

All of us, together

Think back to the end of 2016. At home, in the mail, you got a ton of letters asking for money. Was there one that made you excited about giving?

If so, I’ll bet it got the little things right. It called you by your name. It referred to your giving history. It packed some punch in the postscript.

But that’s only what it took to get you to read the letter. What made you remember it, and feel excited about it, and want to give?

The letter that makes you feel like you were there in the midst of the action all along.

The letter that says the success stories are your successes.

The appeal letter that makes the donor the hero of the story.

That’s the one that stays in the memory. That’s the letter that donors want to keep, and quote, and show to their friends.

And that’s the letter that your nonprofit organization wants to write.

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