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Fundraising Tuesday: Make It Convenient to Give

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write checkA reader asked:

Why might one give to a charity online when a check costs the charity less money to process?

Now, that is a good question–and a thoughtful donor! Yes, the nonprofit organization you want to help will get and keep more of your donation if you send a check. Why?

The companies that process online donations (by credit card, Paypal, etc.) don’t do it out of the goodness of their hearts. They charge the nonprofit a percentage of each gift. When you donate to your favorite charity, Aardvarks for Peace, the aardvarks get more of it if you write a check than if you give online.

Why Nonprofits Welcome Online Gifts

online donationEven if it costs them a little bit more, nonprofits should welcome online gifts.

Some donors do all their business online.

If you ask them to write a check, they’ll look at you aghast and then give their donation to some other nonprofit.

Most donors find online gifts more convenient.

If the donor is suddenly struck with the urge to donate, it takes less time to go the organization’s website, find the donation page, type in credit card information, and hit send than it would to take out the checkbook, find a pen, write the check, record it in a check register, stuff, seal, and stamp the envelope, and dump it in the mail.

Monthly donors find online MUCH more convenient–and you want monthly donors!

Imagine writing a check every single month. Now, imagine setting up a monthly donation online that will go out automatically. Which is more convenient for the donor? There’s no comparison.

And you want to encourage people who have already shown some commitment to your nonprofit to solidify that commitment by becoming monthly donors.

About 90% of monthly donors renew their donation the next year. That solves a big problem for your nonprofit.

  • If a donor gave to you once last year and not at all since then, the chances are less than 30% that they will renew.
  • Even if they gave to you two years running, the statistics show that only about 60% will renew the third time. That means you’re losing something like one donor out of three!
  • Monthly donors are your most loyal supporters. Thank them over and over, communicate their success, and you may keep them forever. Their lifetime value will far exceed any fees you pay for accepting donations online!

Do you want to make your online donations page produce more gifts? Do you need a strategy for creating “forever donors”? Email me and let’s set up a time to talk.

 

Nonprofits, Are You Telling Your Donors “I Don’t Know You”?

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Do you know me?You probably donate to some nonprofit organizations. You may even attend their events.

What if after you attended an event, the nonprofit called you and showed they had no idea who you were?

This Really Happened to Me

I attended a thought-provoking webinar about creating a monthly giving program at your nonprofit. The Nonprofit Know It All, Danielle Johnson-Vermenton, gave the webinar, and you can find her follow-up talk on video. I recommend it!

The company that sponsored Danielle’s webinar shall remain nameless. Here’s what they did: they sent me an email afterwards that assumed I was a nonprofit organization.

Now, you know me, right? I’ve worked for nonprofit organizations. I consult to nonprofit organizations. My mission is to help nonprofit organizations win loyal donors.

But Communicate! Consulting is a business. You know that. You read this blog, and perhaps you follow me on Facebook or Twitter.

This company didn’t do its research. And it showed.

Lesson #1 for nonprofits:

Before you send email to a prospect, know as much about them as you can. Otherwise, you may be offending the people you're trying to attract. Click To Tweet

What Happened Next (it gets worse!)

I politely wrote the company back and thanked them for providing the valuable webinar. Even though I’m not a nonprofit, I explained, I work with multiple clients who might be interested in your product. Let me take a look at it on my own and compare it with some others in the field. Please touch base with me in a couple of weeks.

Fine.

Two weeks later, the company rep reaches out to me by forwarding the original message.

I was miffed. Had she forgotten we had ever been in touch before? Or did she think that somehow, I was the one who owed her a follow-up message? Either way, I did not feel like a valued customer.

Lesson #2 for nonprofits:

Know the history of your relationship with the people on your email list. Refresh your memory before you write. (A good database or CRM helps!) Click To Tweet

How Nonprofits Should–and Should Not–Automate Their Messages

When a potential supporter shows they’re interested in your nonprofit, you want to respond right away. But because you work at a nonprofit, you have many other things to do. It’s hard to find the time to respond before the interest fades.

Automation could be the answer–if you use it wisely.

Most email platforms, like MailChimp or Constant Contact, will let you set up auto-responders. When a person out there signs up for your email list, they get an immediate reply. When they sign up for an event, they get information about the event, and so on.

It saves you time, and it gives the potential supporter what they’re looking for.

What could go wrong? Well, exactly what happened to me!

The first message I received was a canned message. The automation filled in my name and email address and sent out the same content it would send to a nonprofit.

The second message could also have been automated, if the company’s system was set up to repeat the same email to anyone who didn’t respond to the first.

And in either case, what saved the company time might have just lost them a customer–or several customers, if I had decided to recommend them to all my clients!

Lesson #3 for nonprofits:

Use automation to make your messages more personal, not less. Set up your system for the different audiences you hope to reach. Click To Tweet

 

 

 

How to Lose Dennis Fischman as a Donor

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“Dear Bernard…”

I’ve been reading The Nation all my adult life.  I’ve subscribed to it for thirty years.  And I used to give a donation every month–but not any more.

“Bernard, don’t let them win!”

Sorry.  There are other progressive organizations.  Hell, there are other progressive magazines.  If I want to do my part to keep the right-wingers from stamping corporate logos on people’s minds, I can give my money elsewhere.

“Bernard, we want you back.”

Too bad.  Because my name is not Bernard.

Now, you might think I’m being petty here.  I do read The Nation ever week, right?  And I pass along each week’s issue to a friend who reads them too.  What’s more, the magazine has moved into the 21st century with a good website and a diverse set of contributing editors that keep it lively and on point.

Why should something as minor as the wrong name lose me as a donor?

First, because no one’s name is minor to them.

Second, because if they’re making this mistake with me, how many others are they offending with similar mistakes?  Why should my donation fill a hole they’re digging themselves, because they can’t get a person’s name right?

Third, because when I point it out to them, they don’t respond.  I reply to the emails.  I tweet the editor personally.  And yes, I’m going to call them and find a human being to speak to live.  But that’s not the donor’s job. And most donors won’t do it.  And you will lose them, maybe for a lifetime.

Is your nonprofit telling donors they are irrelevant?

As a donor, do you feel welcomed and cherished?  Or do you feel nameless?

May 5 update: the fundraising staff finally responded and promised to do better.  Let’s hope the social media staff learn too!

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