Communicate!

Helping you win loyal friends through your communications

How to Build Loyalty for Your Fundraising Events

by Leave a Comment

Events fundraising is a hard way for a nonprofit to make a living, but it gets easier when you can count on loyal donors. Here’s a guest post by Dan McCarthy with five solid suggestions for building loyalty.

Are you the head of a charity or other non-profit organization? To carry out your mission, you will need to hold fundraising events. Of course, you are going to need money to be able to accomplish that.

Support give help donate words concept with sketch people

Money doesn’t just fall out of the sky, so unless you have a hefty piggy bank yourself, you are going to have to reach out to donors and get very buddy-buddy with them to ensure that they remain loyal and long-term supporters. Here are five ways to build loyalty for your events.

1. Emphasize the Cause

There are a hundred other organizations donors could donate their money to instead. If they chose yours, then it’s because they agree with your dedication and approach to the cause. Make it known that their contribution, however big or small, is making a difference to that cause.

You can also send newsletters to your donors with the latest stories regarding the issue. If your group advocates for animal rights, then send email or traditional mail that touches upon subject matters like:

  • Animal adoption programs
  • Documentaries showing graphic images of animals in slaughterhouses
  • Statistics regarding animal deaths in their natural habitat due to human encroachment

If you have the budget, create your own monthly or bimonthly magazine. This gives donors the sense that your organization is legit and truly passionate.

Always keep your donors in the loop. The more they’re aware about the cause that the general public may not be privy to, the more likely they are to remain sympathetic and continue to send contributions your way.

2. Measure Donor Satisfaction

Whatever purpose your organization serves, there are likely similar ones with bigger name recognition. If you don’t measure your donor’s satisfaction, they may donate their money elsewhere. Use surveys to find out what your donors expect from you.

Here are some questions you might ask in a survey:

  • What type of awareness campaign would you like us to organize?
  • Would you prefer a more localized campaign or a more national or global outreach?
  • On a scale of 1 to 10, how effective would you rate our campaign? If 5 or below, please explain why and how we might improve.
  • Would you like to see a bigger presence on social media or do you prefer a more traditional outreach (e.g., flyers, door-to-door, tradeshow booths)?

3. Provide VIP Membership for Top Donors

Some donors contribute higher amounts and more consistently than others. These are your top donors that you want to make every effort to keep. Acknowledge their contribution by giving them VIP treatment.

How might you reward loyalty by major donors? Here are some ideas:

  • Front row seating for awareness events.
  • Promotional gear personalized with the donor’s name.
  • Special mention of the donor in your next magazine or newsletter
  • A customized plaque awarded to the donor during your event. (Make it a surprise by not telling the donor in advance.)

Everyone likes to be acknowledged, even donors who are donating for a good cause. VIP treatment makes your donors realize that their contributions aren’t being taken for granted.

4. Keep Changing Your Campaign Strategy

If your group holds an awareness event every year in the same manner, in the same venue, and at the same time of year, donors may grow tired of the same old method held time and again. So how might you change things up?  Consider these ways:

  • Add a child-friendly program to your event to encourage donors and members to get their kids involved.
  • Shift the focus while retaining the core cause. If your organization advocates for an end to national child hunger, then host a one-time event that instead focuses on global children malnutrition.
  • In lieu of a typical awareness campaign, use the funds in a different manner. Using the same above example, perhaps instead organize a food drive for low-income families with children.

5. Share the Results

Share with your donors the results of your event. This includes the total number of attendees, the number of signatures on a petition, the number of views on an awareness video, and so forth.

You can also make it more personal by letting them know  how their specific contribution made a difference.  For example:

  • Your $100 donation will feed a family of four for two weeks.
  • Your $1,000 donation alone covers half the venue rental cost.
  • Your contribution of $200 pays for the adoption fee of 10 abandoned dogs that would otherwise be euthanized.

It’s all About Nurturing Your Donors

Just as businesses nurture their leads, you have to nurture your donors to ensure they’re with you for the long haul. It certainly takes work, but the payoff is huge; it ensures that you have long-term allies that will stand with you and provide the dollars to keep your organization afloat.

Dan McCarthy is an Event Manager at Ultimate Experience, an event management company organising fundraising events in the UK. Dan has 5 years of event project management under his belt. He has worked on many successful events, and currently he shares his knowledge by writing on the company blog. Follow him on Twitter @DanCarthy2.

The Key to a Good Appeal Letter

by Leave a Comment

IWJ appeal letterA good appeal letter is not about the nonprofit organization.  It’s not even about the impact of its work.  It’s about the donor.

This appeal letter I received from Interfaith Worker Justice is not the ideal appeal letter–but it has one strong point.

The graphic says to the donor, “You are the key.”

The graphic stands out from the text.  It’s even more visible because the envelope bore the same graphic in the same color scheme.  My eye was trained to look for it before I opened the envelope.

“You are the key.”  That’s the message that made me, the donor, want to read the appeal letter, even though it could have been written much more effectively.  It’s also the message that makes a donor want to give.

How are you sending that message to your donors?

 

Are You Listening, Nonprofits?

by 4 Comments

The main thing a nonprofit organization should do online is learn how to listen.

not listening

Your community is online, talking. Why aren’t you listening?

Did you ever say to yourself, “I wish I knew what my donors were thinking”?  Or “It would be great if clients just told us what they need. I can’t read minds”?

Online, people tell you what they think, feel, want, and desire.  Online, you can read minds.  But only if you talk less and listen more.

First, Find Your People

People are talking about what they care about online all the time.  The key is to find your people, talking about the issues that matter to your organization.

Start with the people you already know: the people on your mailing list.  Take a sample of them and search for them online.  What social media do they use?

If they’re on Facebook, set up a Facebook interest list and add them to it.  That way, any time you go on Facebook, you can see what those specific people are talking about.

If they mostly use Twitter, you can also create a list.  You might find that you spend most of the time you’re on Twitter looking just at that list (which will help you cure the feeling that you’re drinking from a fire hose!)  And you can do the same for other social media.

Then, Listen

Spend a little time each day getting to know your supporters.  What do they post about most often? Are they sports fans, foodies, readers?  Are some of them heatedly discussing a local or national issue?

Going online is like walking into a party where people have already begun to mingle. Once you have figured out what their conversation is about, you can find ways to contribute.  That will raise your visibility and gain you good will. In the long run, it will lead to more volunteers and donors.

But don’t go in and start trying to change the subject to what your organization is doing.  You’ll find people excusing themselves and heading to another corner of the room!  When in doubt, listen longer.

Do Some Research

The next time you open Facebook, try searching for pages liked by people who like [your organization].  You can do it in two steps:

 

  1. Find your organization’s numerical Facebook ID. (You can go to http://www.findmyfbid.com/ and type in the name of your Facebook page, and it will tell you the number.)
  2. Then, go to Facebook and search on https://www.facebook.com/search/your ID/likers/pages-liked. (Where it says “your ID,” put in the numerical ID before you search.)

 

Run that search and Facebook will tell you:

  • All the pages that your followers have liked, and who liked which page.
  • How many people, total, like that page.
  • Other pages that people who like a specific page also like.
  • Which of your own friends liked that page (if you are using Facebook as an individual)

You can read about seven different ways to use this information in my blog post “Find and Attract the Audience You Want.”

Listening to a Broader Community

It makes sense to start listening to the people who know you best already.  What if you want to hear what a broader range of people think about you and your work?  Then you should set up a Google Alert and use hashtags on Twitter to search for:

  1. The name of your organization.  (Be sure to look for misspellings and abbreviations, too.)
  2. The names of your partner organizations and your competitors.
  3. The field you work in as the public thinks of it.
  4. Key words associated with your work.
  5. The phrase “I wish” and any of the first four items on this list.  That’s a good way to understand what people want and are not getting already.

 

How Valuable is Social Listening?

Take a tip from someone who does social media for a living, Candie Harris.  (What you’ve been reading is partly her ideas “translated” from business to nonprofit.)

As a former brand marketer, if someone had told me I could have access to the hearts and minds of my most loyal consumers (as well as my competitor’s), my first question would be: “How?” My second question would be: “How much will it cost?”

Social listening can give nonprofits “access to the hearts and minds” of clients, donors, prospects, volunteers, even policymakers who affect our work–and all it will cost is time.

Is your organization using social listening now?  Please share your experience!

Would you like to listen to what your supporters have to say online but feel you don’t have the time? Drop me an email at [email protected] and let’s see if we can find an affordable solution for you.

Yes, I’d like weekly email from Communicate!

Get more advice

Yes! Please send me tips from Communicate! Consulting.

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.