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TY Thursday: Send an Impact Report to Thank Your Donor

January 18, 2018 by Dennis Fischman Leave a Comment

It’s a new year. By now, your 2017 fundraising is done. The big question for 2018 is this: Will you see checks in the mail (or clicks on the Donate button) from the donors who gave last year?

You have a right to worry. In the U.S., only 30% of first-time donors to nonprofit organizations renew their first-time gift the next year. You read that right! If you’re like most nonprofit organizations, more than 2 out of every 3 new donors will give to you once and then forget all about you.

You can curse your fickle donors. You can forget about them until next December. Or…

You can turn that first-time gift into a renewal.  In one week. This week.

Here’s how.

The One-Week Impact Report

A massive earthquake killed thousands in Nepal and India on April 25, 2015. The massive 7.9 magnitude earthquake hit Nepal with devastating force less than 50 miles from the capital, Kathmandu.

Nepali girl near Kathmandu

Nepali girl near Kathmandu

My wife and I know people who come from Nepal, and the images of the devastation touched our hearts. So, within two days of the earthquake, we made a small donation of $50 through the international charity Global Giving.

We received a report from Global Giving about what they were doing with the donation and what difference it made.  Not in December. They emailed us on May 6–one week after our first-time gift!

Global Giving made a convincing case that they knew the organizations on the ground that could use the money well. They told us what those organizations were doing. For instance:

The Nepal Youth Foundation is providing emergency supplies to hospitals, sheltering and caring for people discharged from hospitals who cannot return home, particularly women and children.

Global Giving didn’t stop there. “You can click on the link to any of the individual projects to see the updates they’ll post about how they are using the funds,” they told us. “We have also posted a link to frequently asked questions on the page.”

All this for a $50 donation. All this, in the first week.

When Rona and I give again to Nepali relief, why wouldn’t we channel our donation through Global Giving?

A First-Time Gift Deserves More Than a Thank You

Now, I know a lot of nonprofit organizations are still struggling to send a timely, personal thank-you letter. And if you’re one of them, absolutely, do all you can to make that happen. But that’s the minimum that donors expect.

As fundraising consultant Alan Sharpe says:

The secret to getting donations for your non-profit is to give donors what they want. People give to causes to make a difference in others’ lives. And what donors really want to know is how their donation will help people.

Are you telling donors the impact of their first-time gift? Start! Do it this week…and continue throughout 2018, to make next December even better.

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Fundraising Tuesday: Nonprofits, Learn From My Cat

January 9, 2018 by Dennis Fischman Leave a Comment

Clark-2112

Do you donors know where their money is? Take a lesson from Clark Bar’s vet.

“Uh-oh, we’re almost out of Clark Bar’s medicine,” I thought. “Time to order it again.”

Clark Bar was a venerable gentleman cat of 18 years. He had a problem with his thyroid, so I gave him soft tablets of methimazole mixed in with  his wet food. I ordered the tablets from a compounding pharmacy out of state.

When I submitted the order by email, I received an acknowledgment immediately. Then, the pharmacy called to let me know they would be talking to the vet, to get authorization for the refill.

The next day, they called to say they expected to receive the authorization within hours and would fill the order as soon as they did. They emailed me to let me know when it was filled, and they sent me the FedEx tracking number for the shipment.

All in all, it took less than two days for Clark Bar to get his medicine–and I never wondered for a minute where my money had gone or what I would get in return.

Can your donors say the same?

Your donors are looking to you to mix up a cure for a problem they care about. It’s probably not their own problem, any more than Clark Bar’s thyroid was mine.

But your donors care. They care intensely.

Are you leaving them wondering what difference their donation is making, from one annual report to the next? Or are you helping them follow it at every step, through great stories in your newsletter, email, blog, and social media?

Communication is the Best Medicine

Show your nonprofit donors how they’re making an impact on their cat–I mean, their cause. They’ll order (I mean, donate) to you again.

And here’s a shout-out to Porter Square Vet and BCP Veterinary Pharmacy, for their great communications.

P.S. Clark Bar passed away in September 2015, rejoining his sister Lois in that great cat show in the sky. But I am still grateful to the pharmacy that made sure I knew he would  get the help he needed.

Do you want loyal donors? Please, make sure your donors know what you are doing with the money they give.

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Thank-You Thursday: Making “Impact” Personal

June 29, 2017 by Dennis Fischman Leave a Comment

donor impact

Tell a story to show the difference the donor made

Previously, I told you how Global Giving made me decide to renew my donation for Nepal earthquake relief, only one week after I first gave. They won me by telling me the impact my donation is already making.

I’m a junkie for that feeling of making a difference! And I’m not alone.

Why Donors Renew their Gifts

One of the biggest reasons donors renew their support for your organization is that you tell them what difference their donation makes. And one of the biggest reasons they stop supporting you is that you don’t tell them what you did with their gift (and all the good that happened as a result).

But what’s the best way to make the impact of their donation seem real?

Making the Impact Personal

Northeastern University told my friend Amy Wyeth the impact her donation made. Or more exactly, Nicole Bourque told her.

Nicole is a Northeastern student who dreams of becoming a Physician Assistant. She called Amy on the phone, thanking her for her donor renewal. She followed up with an email, and told Amy her story.

“I grew up in a small town in southern New Hampshire, where people watch out for one another,” Nicole said. At the university, she was president of a student body that drew attention to the ways our health system serves some people better than others. In her career, Nicole plans to bring primary medical care to communities that don’t have enough healthcare.

Nicole thanked Amy personally for the chance to attend the university.

Without the financial support of donors like you, many of the scholarships I received would not exist. And I would not have been able to pursue my education here.

Amy was impressed. Wouldn’t you be? Here is a real person, feeling the impact of Amy’s donation right now, and thanking her. What better proof could a donor ask for that their gift was making a difference?

Don’t Wait for Next Year

It’s always a good time to thank people for their gifts–and it’s always a good time to start working for donor renewal. Tell personal stories that show impact when you:

  • Automatically acknowledge an online gift
  • Send a thank-you letter within a week of the donation
  • Send a welcome series of emails following the initial donation
  • Publish your newsletter
  • Post to social media
  • Meet your donors face to face

What’s the best story you know that shows donors how they’re making a difference?

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