Communicate!

Helping you win loyal friends through your communications

Navigation Bar

  • About
  • Services
  • What Clients Say
  • Contact

Fundraising Tuesday: Show Me You Care

April 5, 2016 by Dennis Fischman 1 Comment

careToday I received a letter in the mail from my health insurance company.

You are taking a certain medicine, they said, so every year, you should have a certain kind of blood test.  Are you doing that?  Will you ask your doctor to make sure?

The company called the letter a Care Alert, and everything inside it reinforced the message, “We Care.”

The envelope didn’t: it looked as if it might have been one of those Explanations of Benefits that don’t explain anything at all.  And of course, one of the reasons they care is that if I look out for myself, I can avoid serious health risks that would end up costing the insurance company a lot.

Still, the message itself was caring.  It was personalized, and it treated me like a responsible adult who can make good decisions with the proper information.

A Modest Proposal: Show You Care

I would like to propose that nonprofits aim at making all their communications as personal and as caring as the letter I received.

What would it take to do that?

  1. Knowing, and remembering, a lot about your supporters.
  2. Thinking, “How can I make my agency useful to this person?”  What topics matter to him or her?  What information would she or he find useful–not in a general way, but here and now?
  3. Calling on them to take action…and showing them how.

The tools exist to make all this possible.  Databases, constituent relationship management software and processes, email tools, various programs that remind you it’s time to send this kind of message to this specific person: they’re out there, and not that expensive.

But is your organization willing to spend the time and attention it takes to treating every client, constituent, prospect, or donor with at least as much care as a health insurance company showed to me?

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email
  • Pocket
  • WhatsApp
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Print

10 Reasons Your Nonprofit Should NOT Be on Facebook

August 20, 2015 by Dennis Fischman 7 Comments

John Haydon wrote the book on Facebook marketing.  He has invited me to guest post on his blog, and I’m about to ruin his business.

You shouldn’t be on Facebook.  Here are ten reasons why.

Ten Reasons Your Nonprofit Should Not Be on Facebook

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email
  • Pocket
  • WhatsApp
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Print

Personalized Fundraising: The Right Tools Help

June 9, 2015 by Dennis Fischman 1 Comment

Feel like a numberYour supporters aren’t numbers. Why are you keeping track of them with a spreadsheet?

A recent study by Software Advice, a consultancy that helps nonprofits find software, found that 52% of the organizations they studied currently use general-purpose software, such as Microsoft Excel or Google Drive, to manage data. That includes all the data on their donors and prospects.

I feel your pain, nonprofits. You’re strapped for time and short on money. That makes you use the tools you already have–especially if they’re free.

But free is not always the best price.

What it Costs You to Use Free Tools

Using Excel or Google for your fundraising database may be fine if all you want to do is look up what you know about one person. Suppose, however, that you want to:

  • Send a carefully crafted email to only those people who have given more than $100 as a donation and who live in the zip codes closest to your office.
  • Keep track of registration for a gala or other event.
  • Print call sheets for a phone-a-thon.
  • Automatically send a welcome message and a series of follow-ups to new members.

You can’t do any of those directly from free tools.

If you want to send a targeted email message, for example, you might have to create a distribution list in Outlook, export it to Excel, import that to an email marketing system like MailChimp or Constant Contact, compose and schedule the email, and then enter the results back in Outlook–all by hand. What a waste of time! Don’t you have better things to do?

Better Tools for the Personal Touch

“Nonprofits have always tracked donors and contributions, but increasingly, buyers are requesting robust constituent relationship management (CRM) systems and outreach tools,” says Janna Finch of Software Advice, the author of the study.

Why invest in that kind of tool? The paradox is that the more high-tech systems let you keep in touch with your donors and supporters in a more personal way. As Finch explains:

CRMs let nonprofit staff track information beyond a supporter’s name, address and contribution amount, including specific interests, professional experience, relationships, participation in activities, and more. Leveraging this knowledge, fundraisers can create a personalized message that targets a group of supporters that is more likely to turn a fence-sitter into an active donor, advocate or volunteer.

The Power of Personalized Asks

It’s a sad truth that big corporations like pharmacy chains and health insurance companies treat me more personally than the causes I support. Part of the answer is to invest in tools that will let you, the nonprofit, track your relationship with me, the donor, and let me know you care.

Quoting Janna Finch of Software Advice again:

“Here’s a comparison to illustrate the power of personalization. The first is a sample of a generic ask letter sent to all supporters; the second is personalized and targeted to past donors who are also teachers working in a school district the organization serves.”

Generic: Once again, we’re holding our annual drive to collect contributions to supply underprivileged students with school supplies for the upcoming school year. Since our organization relies on the generosity of individuals such as yourself, would you consider a donation to our cause?

Personalized: As a teacher, you are undoubtedly aware of how having the necessary school supplies impacts a student’s educational experience. Thanks to your $100.00 donation last year, 23 underprivileged students in your school district started the year fully-stocked with supplies. Would you consider another donation this year to ensure every student has all the supplies he or she needs?

Neither of these is the ideal appeal letter–but the personalized one will win every time. And you can only write the personalized letter if the data are ready to hand. A CRM tool will help you let the donor know he or she is not just a number to you.

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email
  • Pocket
  • WhatsApp
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Print
  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • Next Page »

Yes, I’d like weekly email from Communicate!

Get more advice

Subscribe to Blog via Email

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

Copyright © 2023 · The 411 Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in