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Fundraising Tuesday: Send the Right Message

July 12, 2016 by Dennis Fischman Leave a Comment

Learn to adapt

Adapt your message to fit the way you’re sending it

You know that the only way to convince donors to give is…by asking them. You also know that if all you do is ask, they will get tired of hearing from you, quick.

People who give to your nonprofit organization want to know their donation is making a difference.

They may also want to hear more about the cause they care about, so they feel smarter and more well informed after receiving your message.

And occasionally, they may be happy if you just make them smile!

You can keep your donors happy with great storytelling and useful information through a variety of channels, from print to email to social media. You can even share the same content through those different channels. But you will not win any friends by automatically pushing the same message out through print or email as you do through Facebook or Instagram.

Adapt the content to the medium you're using if you want your donors to get the message. Share on X

Your message in print

Fewer organizations are sending paper newsletters these days because of the cost of printing and mailing. If you are sending a print newsletter, that means you have less competition–but you have to make your donor want to read it. So:

  • Write great headlines. If the headline is boring, your article will never be read.
  • Include captivating photos. One person is better than a crowd, and a person in action is best. Make sure the caption reinforces the message.
  • Use visual design to break up the page. Subtitles, bold and italic print, bullet points and plenty of white space will make your newsletter more inviting to the reader’s eye (and avoid the dreaded “wall of text”)

You can send a longer article in print than you can on electronic media as long as you follow these three tips. A longer article full of  thoughtful content can seem more authoritative and more valuable than lots of short bites. Not everybody will read it, but those who do will come away feeling, “That was a good way to spend my time. I learned something.”

Your message by email

I see a lot of email newsletters these days–but few that are really done well. Email is different from print, and it’s vital to adapt your content to match.

Don’t:

  • Email your print newsletter as a PDF. Many people cannot or will not open the attachment–and it sends the message that you’re stuck in 2006.
  • Use the subject line “The Something Agency Newsletter.” The readers who don’t delete that message will file it away for later…and never get around to it.
  • Cram it full of unrelated articles. Better to send more email, more often!

Do:

  • Send the email in the name of a real person. For example, my email comes from Dennis Fischman, not just Communicate! Consulting.
  • Write the subject line last. Once you know what the email is about, write an arresting title. Not “Our agency’s work in the public schools,” but “No sixth-grader should have a sexually transmitted disease”–readers will open that email!
  • Make it mobile-friendly. More than half the email messages sent today are opened on a tablet or mobile phone. Make sure to reach over half your audience!

Your message by social media

social media in palm of hand

Social media: handle with care!

Social media are different from print or email because, well, they’re social.

Before you think about sending a message through social media, try listening to your donors for a while. Find out what they’re interested in. Engage in conversations they’ve started. Try to act like a friend, not an advertising agency.

When you do have something to say on social media, though, remember that not all social media are created equal.

Facebook aims to be the Swiss army knife of social media. It’s possible to share short messages, longer posts, photos, links, and video all on the same platform.

It’s much harder, though, to make sure your followers see anything you put up. Fewer than 6% see any particular post, on average. So, you must aim to win the loyalty of your Facebook followers. If you can persuade them to sign up to be notified when you post, you’ve struck it rich.

Twitter is perfect for fast-breaking information. If you can get your followers to live-tweet your events, you will reach many more people than attend in person!

Twitter reaches an audience that’s hungry for information, so it’s an especially good medium for sharing links to your blog posts or newsletter articles. Because it moves so fast, the trick is to tweet the same material multiple times during a day or week. Use the same link but vary the text you use to attract readers to click the link. Also, use one to three hashtags with your tweet to let people who are interested search for that topic and find you.

Pinterest and Instagram are built around photos. With a camera in everyone’s pocket, it’s easy to snap photos, edit them, and place them in online albums you can share with supporters. Hashtags are even more important here, and you can use a greater number than on Twitter.

YouTube is still the premier place to share videos. Your agency can use video to capture interviews with people you help…or to say thank you to your donors.

There are plenty of other social media, and it’s important not to let that fact overwhelm you. I recommend starting small, and learning to use one medium very well.

Your message? It really belongs to the donors

No matter which channels you use, remember that your message must serve your donors–and not just your agency–if you want them to read, view, or listen to what you send. So, tailor your message to their interests even more than you adapt it to the communications channel you’re using. Your donors will thank you.

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TY Thursday: When & How to Treat Your Donors Like Friends

July 7, 2016 by Dennis Fischman Leave a Comment

When your personal friends speak to you, do they only recall the gifts you gave them?

No. They wouldn’t be your friends if they did.

Your real friends know what matters to you and what hurts you. You have a history of shared memories…and in that history, “I got this flower vase from Jen” is much less important than “Jen and I go on the Walk for Hunger together every year, and then we go out for pizza.”

You treat your friends with the same love and care they show to you.

Does your nonprofit treat donors like bank accounts? Or do you treat them like friends? Share on X

You can. You should. And a good database will make it easier.

Find out how. Read my guest post, 5 Ways Nonprofits Can Treat Donors Like Friends, on the Bloomerang blog.

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TY Thursday: One Good Gift

June 30, 2016 by Dennis Fischman 1 Comment

giving-gift-love-1902073Can you write a thank-you letter so personal and so memorable that the donor will want to keep it forever? Yes, it’s possible. But some of us are better shoppers than we are writers.

Why not give a gift bag, too?

I agree: you can’t buy gifts for every single donor. It would take too much time and cost too much money.

Imagine, though, the amazement that would spread across your selected donor’s face when you presented gifts chosen especially for him or her!

The Most Personal Thanks You Can Give

It’s not how expensive a gift you choose that shows your donor how much you appreciate her. It’s the way the gift uniquely fits them.

My wife Rona and I have been going to the same doctor for twenty-five years, and every time we go, we chuckle at the classic posters on the walls. They say things like “Dr. Tanner’s Tonic Tames the Nerves,” or “Drink Coca-Cola to Calm Your Stomach.”

We appreciate the humor–from a doctor who keeps up with the latest medicine! So, when Rona and I were on vacation and saw a $9 book full of that old-style advertising, we had to buy it for Dr. Bershel. We wrapped it up with a bow, stopped by her office, and left it for her.

The doctor left us voicemail AND sent us a card to tell us how excited she was by the gift. “I’m going to blow up some of the pages in that book and make them into new posters!”

It didn’t cost very much, but to her, it was priceless.

How to Give Thanks in a Gift Bag

If you want to make a donor happy the way we made our doctor happy, you’ll need two things.

First: know your donor.

Find out what he or she really likes. Ask your staff and Board members, “Who knows this person?” And do your research online. Finding out their favorites may be as simple as visiting their Facebook page.

If they have a taste for something unusual, even better! Giving a “cat person” a gift for their cat is easy: there’s cat merchandise everywhere. Giving a ferret fancier a gift card for The Book Ferret…now, that shows that you have really noticed who they are (besides a checkbook).

Second: know where to find what they like.

If you are the letter writer and not the shopper in your office, delegate this task. Perhaps your agency does a Secret Santa or a Yankee Swap. Who is it that always looks forward to it and always comes up with the best presents?

Ask that person if you can send them on a very important mission–and give them the budget to do it. Let them do it on their own schedule, because the donor is not expecting it so there is no deadline.

For the person who enjoys shopping, the chance to put together a thank-you basket for your donor won’t be a burden. It will be a gift!

 

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