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TY Thursday: Loyal Donors Matter Most

November 3, 2016 by Dennis Fischman Leave a Comment

loyalty

Who is your organization’s best friend?

Every nonprofit organization has one: the most loyal supporter.  The person who gives as often as she can, or as often as you ask.  The one who volunteers for all your events and brings her friends.

You’d like a thousand like that.  You’d like to clone her.  What if you could?

Businesses have time-tested strategies that create loyal customers.  Some of these strategies work especially well on social media. Nonprofits can adapt and adopt these strategies to thank our donors, volunteers, and supporters.

Danny Maloney, CEO of the social media firm Tailwind, lists “4 Ways to Turn Social-Media Fans Into Raving, Loyal Customers”:

  1. Use a targeted approach.  Find the people who are already talking about you on Facebook, Twitter, and the web at large.
  2. Let your fans know you’re listening.  “If they took the time to share a blog post you wrote or to give you a positive review, be listening for it and thank them.”
  3. Target your special offers.  Businesses give loyalty discounts.  What can you give your most loyal supporters that they would enjoy: a chance to write for your blog? lunch with a celebrity who also supports you? an award?
  4. Curate compelling content.  That’s jargon for finding and sharing information that interests your supporters.  It could be an insider analysis of where their favorite legislation stands in Congress. It could be a video that explains the issue you and they both care about.

Sharing this content with your most loyal supporters makes them feel smarter and happier because they’re associated with you.  It shows them your gratitude. It keeps them coming back to your social media.

And it keeps them advocating for your organization, increasing awareness of you among their friends…who may become your next most loyal supporters.

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Fundraising Tuesday: Write the Best Fundraising Letter of 2016!

November 1, 2016 by Dennis Fischman Leave a Comment

Girl escaping ISISIt was only April, and I had already received the best fundraising letter of 2015. And they had me after the first sentence.

MADRE wrote:

Dear Rona and Dennis,

I have an extraordinary story to tell you about how six teenage girls escaped from the extremist group ISIS–and into the care that MADRE partners in Iraq provide, thanks to you.

All right, I quit. After that sentence, you want to hear the story, right? My piddling little blog post is not nearly as important as six teenage girls escaping from ISIS.

And that’s the point.

  • MADRE found a compelling story.
  • They made it personal. (“One night, 16-year-old Ola managed to slip the drugs meant for her into her captors’ teapot.”)
  • They made it topical and created a sense of urgency. (ISIS!)
  • They connected it to their work.
  • And they used the magic word, “you.”

Because of all that, you want to know what happens next. You’re probably cursing that Dennis Fischman guy who’s talking about how the letter worked–instead of just letting you read it.

Do your donors feel that way about your appeal letters? Do they give them a quick glance and file them, or recycle them?  Or…would they feel cheated if they couldn’t read them to the end?

How Good is Your 2016 Fundraising Letter?

I challenge you. If you think your letter might  be the best fundraising letter I’ll see in 2016, take a moment right now and share the first sentence of that letter in a comment. I’ll tell you what I think, and so will other readers.

Go!

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TY Thursday: When You Say Thanks, Steal from the Best!

October 27, 2016 by Dennis Fischman Leave a Comment

steal from the bestAre you trying to come up with an original way of thanking your donors this year? Don’t worry too much about that. Instead, follow comedian Milton Berle’s advice: “If you’re going to steal, steal from the best.”

(It must be good advice. Other people stole the quote from him!)

Steal These Top Ten Thank-You Ideas

There are lots of models for saying thank-you out there. Here are my top ten.

  1. Michael Rosen shows you how to thank your most loyal donors. (You should certainly make your supporters feel as appreciated as a big corporation like Marriott does with its guests!)

2. Ann Green tells you to create a thank-you experience that begins with the thank-you landing page on your website and goes on through email, mail, and phone calls.

3. If you’ve ever considered using video for your thank-yous to donors, take a look at these examples presented to you by Bloomerang.

4. Joe Garecht says you can take the classic thank-you letter to a whole new level. Take a look at his sample letter. And Pamela Grow’s thank-you letter template, too!

5. While you’re at it, take a look at my blog The Ideal Thank-You Letter Went Out Today–one of the most popular I’ve ever written–because you want to know the single most important thing about thanking your donors.

6. Gail Perry gives you a checklist of do’s and don’ts if you want to write a killer thank-you letter.

7. It’s a lot easier to say thanks if you develop an “attitude of gratitude” in everyday life. Mary Cahalane shows you how thanking donors can make you happy.

8. A thank-you can win the trust of your donor. Kivi Leroux Miller says your TY can be specific about how the gift is being used and show results: two things donors say they want above all else!

9. Rachel Muir tells us about The Best Thank-You Letter I Never Got, in her guest post on John Haydon’s blog. Do you donate? Can you put yourself in the shoes of the donor? Follow the golden rule of nonprofit writing.

10. Does someone at your nonprofit say, “Let’s just send out the same letter we sent before”? Lisa Sargent suggests you do a thank-you letter audit–and she provides a 17-point checklist to help you show the skeptics where you could be doing better.

Because Your Donor is Worth It

Are you as good at building loyalty as an airline?

pilot thanks you

Thank you for flying our nonprofit!

Every time I’ve flown in recent years, I’ve heard the flight crew say something like this upon landing. “We know you have many choices for your air travel. Thank you for choosing North-South-East-West Airlines.”

Your donors have many choices about what to do with their money. They could give it to another nonprofit in your field. They could give it to a completely different cause. They could blow it on pizza and beer. They could leave it to their grandchildren.

But they chose to make a gift to you. You are better off because of it. And you want them to make that same choice next time.

So, it’s worth sending that donor the best expression of thanks you can. Especially when you have so many good ideas to steal!

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