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TY Thursday: Open the Doors to Donors

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opening doors

Should you invite your donors to visit your programs? How open should the doors of your nonprofit be?

We’re not talking about a donor appreciation event here, or another fundraising gala. The question is, should you give the person who has donated to your organization the chance to see the organization at work, and how?

Yes, Invite Them In

Tina Jepson of Causevox has suggested:

Allow donors to get to know your organization on a more personal, intimate level by offering a behind-the-scenes look at your nonprofit operations with a tour, lunch and learn program, etc.

(This is #13 on her list of 20 thank-you ideas your nonprofit can try. Check out the whole list!)

Ann Green thinks holding a donor open house is a way to “do something special for your donors.” And F. Duke Haddad of the Salvation Army agrees.

In truth, the only way you can receive 100 percent feedback and emotional ties is by having someone visit your organizational facilities to meet the cast of those in your organizational orbit.

I have to agree, too. Donor appreciation events are fine–and they give the donors the chance to meet one another, so they double as networking events. That’s a tangible way to say “thanks” to your donors!

But appreciation events are separate from the daily life of your nonprofit. Attending those events won’t let the people who support your organization see their gifts in action.

And seeing that is what will motivate them to make that next gift.

Not So Fast!

Before you rush to propose to your organization that you open the doors, however, think about it from the program staff point of view.

Bringing donors in to observe the program could disrupt what you’re supposed to be doing with and for the clients that day.

It could thrust staff into a role they haven’t prepared for and don’t feel good about performing.

It could be a liability issue, if there’s any chance the donors could harm or be harmed. Or it could backfire. Let’s be honest: not every day in the life of your nonprofit is something you’d like donors to carry around with them when they think about their donation dollars at work.

At the very least, it’s going to create extra work. So, if you’re going to invite donors to visit, the way you bring them in is crucial. There needs to be something in it for the staff and the program participants, too!

How to Open Your Doors and Be Happy

Here’s one of the best suggestions I’ve heard for how to bring your donors to the programs: Have a volunteer day.

Figure out something that actually needs doing (not a make-work project). Invite donors to pitch in along with staff and clients to get it done. Give them chances to relax and just talk together.

You, the development officer, should circulate, make introductions, and answer questions as they come up. Take a moment somewhere along the way to thank the donors for what they have already given and what they are giving today, by showing up.

If you have a client who wants to tell his or her story, give them a chance. But please, don’t micro-manage the event. The donors are not there to see you. They’ve come to see what a good organization they’re supporting, and feel good about themselves.

Have you already invited your donors to volunteer at your organization? What advice would you share about planning ahead and making the day a happy one?

TY Thursday: A First-Time Gift is Not a Wedding Ring

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shut up, give me moneySometimes I think nonprofits have an invisible sign above their desks, directed to donors:

“Shut up and give.”

How else do you explain the way we keep on writing donors the way that’s most convenient for us, and not for them?

Or the way we persist in asking them for a new donation before we’ve actually said “thank you” for the old one?

For more shake-your-head proof that we are taking donors for granted–treating them like cash machines and not like human beings–consider this pet peeve from my friend Carol.

A First-Time Gift is Not a Wedding Ring

Carol read last week’s blog and wrote me:

I had an experience of giving generously to an organization and then realizing that my impulse was one of very poor judgment in terms of my financial situation.  Subsequent mail from the organization has basically asked me where I am and to send money in the same amount as soon as possible as the funds are very much needed.  Very poor form! I have been tempted to send a note but have decided that silence is the better option.

From the organization’s point of view, it seems, they’ve been jilted. Carol made them a vow of lifelong devotion, and then she left them at the altar.

But Carol doesn’t see it that way. She made a gift. Did that commit her to making the same gift happily ever after? Certainly not–particularly if she couldn’t really afford it. And she is offended that the organization is holding her to a promise she never made.

I bet you have some Carols on your list of lapsed donors. They, too, have decided “silence is the better option.” You might feel they have abandoned you, but they believe you have a lot of nerve to think they owe you.

How Not to Take Donors for Granted

Fortunately, some of us do understand how to woo our donors. Carol adds:

A different organization with similar goals has been nothing but kind and appreciative. After getting a request following my increased donation amount to another arm of the organization, I noted that I already donate to that program and had just increased the amount.  I received a note to the effect that the mistake had been corrected, with thanks for my being of such support.

This is also a group that initiated a meeting for me with a regional director after I was unable to attend a local event for which I had registered. We had a lovely dinner with pleasant conversation, including an update on several programs–no pressure of any kind, just a learning experience and a getting to know you evening.  One certainly catches more flies with honey and the personal touch.

Taking donors for granted is destroying their good will. Treating your donors right is the best thank-you. What are you doing to make your donors feel they’ve truly been thanked?

Fundraising Tuesday: Who Are You Calling “We,” Nonprofit?

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When it comes to fundraising appeals, we in the nonprofit world are stuck on ourselves.

How can that be, we wonder? We’re not self-centered. We care about our mission. We care about our clients.

We’re not in it for personal gain–or we surely would have chosen another profession! How can it be that we’re constantly writing about ourselves?

Yet take a look at the last appeal letter your agency sent out. Did it contain:

  • Statistics on how many people “we” helped?
  • Explanations of “our” programs?
  • Stories about what “we” did that changed client’s lives?

We, the nonprofit vs. they, the donors

What we’re trying to do with those letters is make a case for the donor’s support. What we’re succeeding at doing–far too often–is making them feel insignificant.

Saying “We need your help” is not convincing when the rest of the letter is about what “we” did without the donor even knowing. Worse, it puts us on opposite sides of the fence: “we” who do, and “you” who admire.

Yes, that organization sounds great, the donor thinks. So what? What’s that got to do with me?

That’s the question your ideal appeal letter must answer.

All of us, together

Think back to the end of 2016. At home, in the mail, you got a ton of letters asking for money. Was there one that made you excited about giving?

If so, I’ll bet it got the little things right. It called you by your name. It referred to your giving history. It packed some punch in the postscript.

But that’s only what it took to get you to read the letter. What made you remember it, and feel excited about it, and want to give?

The letter that makes you feel like you were there in the midst of the action all along.

The letter that says the success stories are your successes.

The appeal letter that makes the donor the hero of the story.

That’s the one that stays in the memory. That’s the letter that donors want to keep, and quote, and show to their friends.

And that’s the letter that your nonprofit organization wants to write.

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