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Fundraising Tuesday: The Wake-up Call

March 19, 2024 by Dennis Fischman Leave a Comment

Did you ever read the first line of a fundraising appeal and feel, “Wow, that is a wake-up call”?

That’s what happened to me when I opened the appeal letter from Pine Street Inn, the largest homeless services provider in New England.

Pine Street Inn bench

To most people this is a bench, but to some it is a bed. Share on X

That’s what the first line of Pine Street Inn’s appeal said, and I couldn’t go on for a moment after that. I HAD to stop and think. I looked at that photo. My eyes rested on that orange leaf, a sign that the weather was turning cold. And eventually, in the background, I saw the shadowy figure of the person approaching the bench, to bed down for the night.

It was so powerful. And respectful.

Lots of nonprofits struggle with how to show the urgent needs of their clients without demeaning the clients themselves. It can be done! I’ve written before about how to tell a client’s story with their name and photo–and with their full consent–in a way that makes donors think of them as partners.

But Pine Street Inn managed to make me put myself in the place of that homeless person without even mentioning them individually. With that tag line, and that photo, they won my attention. So, when I opened the letter and the call to action said, “Will you help someone who is homeless?”, I was more inclined to say yes.

The appeal letter could have been even better if it had:

  • Said “we” (meaning the organization) less often and “you” (meaning the donor) even more than it did.
  • Called me by my first name.
  • Spelled my last name right!

But the photo and the thought “To most people this is a bench, but to some it is a bed” have stayed with me long after the end-of-year appeal.

I picture that person walking over, perhaps wiping off the bench, wet from the rain. I picture them laying down a raincoat, or a sheet, or just their body on the hard wooden bench. I imagine them trying to fall asleep in the cold. Then, I see the light of morning as the sun rises and they are still outdoors.

It’s a wake-up call for donors.

 

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Fundraising Tuesday: You Asked. Now What?

December 13, 2022 by Dennis Fischman Leave a Comment

By the time you read this, I hope you have sent out your ideal end-of-year fundraising letter. Maybe you did it by mail. Maybe you sent it by email. Either way, it’s tempting to sit back and let it do its work.

Don’t give in to temptation! There’s more to do if you want to stay atop your donors’ mind…and donation list!

Your appeal is one of many, many appeals your donors are receiving this time of year. (Just look at your own mail or inbox and you will agree.) To make yours stand out, it cannot be one and done. Here are some ideas to bring your appeal to the top of your donors’ list.

What to do after you ask

  1. Follow up a letter with email.
    • In the From: line, send the message in the name of a real person.
    • Make sure you choose a Subject: line that will make the donor perk up and open the message.
    • Talk about what the donor wants, not what your nonprofit wants.
    • Include a link to your Donate page–twice or three times!
  2. Follow up a written message with a phone call.
    • Prepare a good script.
    • Train your volunteers.
    • Invite your Board to get involved. Following up an ask will be easier for many of them than making the ask themselves!
  3. Follow up a personal message by talking to all your donors on social media.  Now is the time to make the donor the hero of the story.

“Here is a person who’s struggling, and you can help them get over the hump and have a happy ending.” There is no better message to post in December!

December is different. As Double the Donation points out, “30% of annual giving happens in December, with about 10% of all annual donations coming in the last three days of the year.”

The rest of the year, telling success stories helps donors feel happy and proud that they gave to your organization. But in December, you want to make the donor feel that the ending of the story is all in their hands. When you call, or email, and especially when you post, bring them to the brink, and then ask. And always make it easy to give by including the link to your donation page!

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Troubleshooting Your Year-End Giving Challenges

December 21, 2021 by Dennis Fischman Leave a Comment

A guest post by Carl Diesling, DNL OmniMedia

The final three days of December are some of the most significant fundraising days of the entire year. But, when December comes around, will your nonprofit be looking back upon a successful year-end giving season or a series of challenges that prevented you from reaching your full fundraising potential?

Year-end giving in 2021 is rife with challenges both new and old, but that shouldn’t hold your organization back from funding your mission.

In this guide, we’ll cover two challenges that nonprofits are facing with the 2021 year-end giving season, as well as solutions to help your nonprofit confront them. For more tips, explore DNL OmniMedia’s guide to year-end giving.

Let’s get started.

Challenge: Balancing in-person, virtual, and hybrid events

Last year, in-person fundraising events were either pivoted to the virtual sphere or canceled outright as COVID-19 safety protocols prevented in-person gatherings beyond individual households. Now, with vaccinations widely available, in-person events are an option for your nonprofit once more.

While some thought the return of in-person events meant a return to normalcy, that has been far from the case. Instead, your nonprofit is facing a complicated year-end event atmosphere in which all of your supporters are seeking different experiences. For example, you’ll have groups that:

  • Feel safe returning to in-person events.
  • Feel unsafe and uncomfortable with the return to in-person events.
  • Enjoyed digital fundraising events and would like to continue with that format, regardless of safety concerns.
  • Are eager to return to in-person events as soon as possible.

Now, your nonprofit has to decide whether to host virtual, in-person, or hybrid events (or, a combination of all three). Only hosting one of the three puts you at risk of isolating a segment of your supporter base.

Solution: Create a strategy that incorporates a variety of event types to appeal to all supporters.

Incorporate virtual, in-person, and hybrid events into your year-end fundraising strategy to ensure you offer opportunities that appeal to all. Consider the following ideas for each event type:

  • Virtual Events: Livestream a comedy show, concert, or cooking course and raise funds through ticket sales.
  • In-Person Events: Host an outdoor walk-a-thon in which participants raise peer-to-peer funds in anticipation of their efforts during the event itself.
  • Hybrid Events: Host an in-person auction event and allow virtual participants to attend and place bids via virtual auction software.

Note that some of these events may require an investment into new virtual fundraising software solutions, such as livestreaming software, general virtual events software, or even event-specific software such as virtual auction software. You can also turn to your current event software to see if there is existing functionality to support new event types. For example, TeamRaiser, Blackbaud’s peer-to-peer solution, can be used to support virtual and hybrid events alongside in-person events.

Challenge: Decreased team capacity for intensive fundraising efforts

The year-end fundraising season represents the busiest time of the year for your nonprofit in all senses— you have more donations coming in, marketing communications that need to be shared, and events to host.

At the same time, nonprofits aren’t known for having an abundance of staff resources. You likely have a few team members who wear many hats, each of whom is responsible for crucial aspects of your fundraising effort. It can be challenging to cover the basic functions of your nonprofit, let alone try new efforts, like innovative new fundraising opportunities that can diversify your fundraising revenue and add stability to your mission overall.

The last thing you want is for your year-end fundraising campaign to stagnate due to limited staff capacity. However, it wouldn’t make sense to increase the size of your team permanently for the year-end season alone.

Solution: Partner with a nonprofit consulting firm to fill any gaps in your team’s capacity.

A nonprofit consultant can extend your team’s capacity during the year-end season, helping you maximize this valuable fundraising opportunity and optimize your strategy for the future. DNL OmniMedia’s guide to nonprofit consulting firms discusses a variety of consultant types that your organization can partner with for specific aspects of your strategy, such as:

  • Technology Consultants: This team can conduct a nonprofit technology assessment, help you choose new software solutions to invest in, implement any new solutions you purchase, and optimize your current technology to perform at its highest level.
  • Marketing Consultants: This team can develop branding materials and key messaging for your year-end campaign, design marketing materials, and analyze the success of your outreach efforts to continue improving them going forward.
  • Fundraising Consultants: This team can help you research prospective donors, develop fundraising goals and calendars to achieve them, and pursue innovative fundraising opportunities to diversify your revenue streams.

It’s important to find a consultant that not only specializes in the specific service you need but also in the type of organization you are. For example, DNL OmniMedia specializes in nonprofit technology consulting for mid-sized and large nonprofits. However, other consultants specialize in small and growing nonprofits as well.

The 2021 year-end fundraising season is rife with challenges new and old. However, these obstacles don’t need to hold your nonprofit back from reaching great heights in the year-end season. Whether investing in new fundraising software and diversifying your calendar or bringing in a new team member for the season, there are strategies to help your nonprofit troubleshoot your year-end giving challenges.


Carl Diesing DNLCarl Diesing, Managing Director – Carl co-founded DNL OmniMedia in 2006 and has grown the team to accommodate clients with on-going web development projects. Together DNL OmniMedia has worked with over 100 organizations to assist them with accomplishing their online goals. As Managing Director of DNL OmniMedia, Carl works with nonprofits and their technology to foster fundraising, create awareness, cure disease, and solve social issues. Carl lives in the Hudson Valley with his wife Sarah and their two children Charlie and Evelyn.

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