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TY Thursday: Share Fond Memories with Your Donors

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Can nonprofits learn something about thank-yous from Facebook memories?

Facebook memories

You’ve probably seen them on your own Facebook feed. Memories from a year ago, or two, or five, pop up at random intervals. In truth, some of the memories are pretty random, too. (Do I really need to see that on this date in 2010, my email was down?)

But every once in a while, Facebook really gets it right. My niece Fay celebrated her bat mitzvah nine years ago. Last year, as she was graduating from college and getting ready to move to California for her first job, Facebook showed me photos from her bat mitzvah. Seeing that memory put a smile on my face.

And it also made me wonder: can nonprofits say “thank you” to donors by sharing good memories?

Memories Make Relationships

Marriages are built of memories. So is the relationship between the donor and your  nonprofit. When that donor thinks back to a time they are happy about, or proud of–and you were a part of it–it’s bound to make the donor associate that pride and joy with you.

What could you do to remind them of that time? Here are a few ideas:

  • Find a photo of that donor volunteering for your organization. Email it to them, or post it on social media and tag them. “Janine, do you remember when you and Joe packed school supplies into back packs for a hundred kids from low-income families who were just starting school? We remember! Thank you!”
  • Find a photo of that donor having a great time at your organization’s event. Email it to them, or post it on social media and tag them. “Randy, remember when you won the safari at our auction? We do! Look at the expression on your face!”
  • Recognize long-time donors by reminding them what they accomplished. “In 2006, you helped prepare Cheri and dozens of other parents like her to give their newborns a healthy home. In 2010, you helped her make reading to her son James a part of the daily routine. With this current gift, you have helped James get free lunches all summer. What a lot you have accomplished with your donations! Thank you!”

I’m sure there are other ways to share good memories with your supporters. Have you tried anything I have mentioned here, or some other approach? How did it work out for your nonprofit?

Fundraising Tuesday: Up Close and Personal

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personalOne of the seven reasons your nonprofit is not raising as much money as you want is that you’re not making those appeal letters personal.

Making it personal means more than sending out a mass mailing that calls donors by their names. If you’re not doing that already, please start! “Dear Friend” letters are the clearest signal that the person receiving the letter is not really your friend.

But mail merge is old hat. It doesn’t make anyone feel that you, the nonprofit, know anything about them, the donor. There are better ways to tell the donor “You’re my hero.”

Make It Personal by Sending the Right Letter

The donor wants you to know whether or not they have ever given before. If you don’t know that, you don’t know them. If you don’t know them, why should they give?

Send a different letter to previous donors than people you're asking to give for the first time. Share on X

Simple, right? But in my personal experience, nine out of ten appeal letters used exactly the same language to me that they would use to someone who had never given them a penny!

Fix this by segmenting your list, writing different letters to prospects, lapsed donors, and renewing donors, and acknowledging the date and amount of the previous gift.

Make It Personal by Talking about MY Issues

Let’s say you run a community center. I came to an event where you highlighted your youth programs, and I was so impressed that I donated on the spot.

At the end of the year, you sent me an appeal letter, and it talked all about your Meals on Wheels program for seniors. It said nothing about youth.

What are the chances you’re going to get a donation from me again? Slim and none.

Appeal to people based on the things you do that actually appeal to THEM. Share on X

With a good database, you should have no trouble keeping track of my giving history and my attendance at events. With the right tools, you can even tell which of your emails I opened, showing what topics I was interested in. (And you can tell a lot about me just by listening.)

Write Me a Personal Note

It used to be a no-brainer for Executive Directors, Development Directors, or Board members who knew the donor to write a personal note on appeal letters.

People, we are going in the wrong direction on this! 90 out of 106 letters arrived in my mailbox with no personal touches whatever–even when my wife and I have known the person sending the letter for many years.

Fix this by composing your appeals long enough in advance to add those personal notes…and doing so. It will pay you back in donations, this year and for many years to come.

Start Small with Social Media

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starting small

Start with what you can handle

If your nonprofit organization is large enough, you may have staff specifically assigned to social media.  if it is new enough, you may have started online before you opened an office!

But many nonprofits are small, few are rich, and only a tiny number have social media in their DNA.  You may be one of the many saying to yourself, “I know I need to do something with social media, but how do I start?”

I’ve been there.  A few years ago, I was the only communications person at a community-based nonprofit organization.  (I was also the development person, and the outcomes person…but that’s another story!)

I knew that my agency couldn’t possibly do Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, Youtube, and the next new thing that came along–let alone do them well.

Here’s what I think will work for you: start small.

  1. Start with your website.  It’s not social media as such, but everything you do leads back to it.  When someone arrives on your website, will they find something that’s valuable to them?  Is your site attractive and easy to navigate?  And a really simple thing that too many of us overlook: do all your links work?  If you can do only one thing online right now, it should be to improve your website.
  2. Know your audience. You don’t have time to send out messages at random hoping some of them will touch your readers’ hearts. Click on the link for a humorous guide to audience research.
  3. Think about your objectives. Let’s imagine you succeed beyond your wildest dreams in getting the audience you address actually to pay attention.  What do you want them to do as a result?  Try to narrow it down to one primary objective for each specific audience.  I know how hard that is.  Do it anyway.
  4. Now, pick one medium.  Ideally, it should be the one your supporters use. If they’re on Facebook, choose Facebook.  If it’s Youtube, choose Youtube.  Practically speaking, you will probably pick the medium that your supporters use most which your organization uses already.  However you pick, do pick one, and only one–and then concentrate single-mindedly on learning how to use that medium better.

Give yourselves at least six months to become really good at connecting with your supporters on just one of the social media you use.  That’s do-able, isn’t it?  Try starting small, and watch your influence grow.

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