Communicate!

Helping you win loyal friends through your communications

Navigation Bar

  • About
  • Services
  • What Clients Say
  • Contact

Fundraising Tuesday: 3 Ways to Ask for Monthly Donations

October 12, 2021 by Dennis Fischman Leave a Comment

There’s every reason your nonprofit should ask donors to make monthly donations. Monthly donors:

Give more. As Sarah Fergusson points out, “Many moderate donors make great candidates for your monthly giving program. For instance, a donor who gives $100 per year may not have the capacity to become a major donor who gives upwards of $1,000 annually. However, they might be able to give $10 a month, increasing your nonprofit’s yearly earnings by $20.” Multiply that by a lot of $100 donors and it adds up!

Keep on giving. Monthly donors rarely become lapsed donors. They renew from year to year. According to Network for Good, Monthly giving programs typically enjoy retention rates over 80% after one year and 95% after five years.

Make additional gifts. People who give monthly donations are among your most loyal supporters. So, as Amy Eisenstein says, “Donors give at modest levels for recurring gifts and at much higher levels for special, occasional projects.”

Contribute a huge amount over a lifetime.  Consider this information from monthly giving expert Erica Waasdorp:

Right now, the average recurring donor gives between $24 and $36 a month—that’s $288 to $432 per year! Just think, if they keep giving monthly for 5 years, that’s $1,440 to $2,160. Starting to get really interesting, right?

And that’s not even considering that people who give monthly donations are the most likely group to leave you something in their will!

How Do You Ask for Monthly Donations?

Let’s say you’re convinced that asking donors to give every month is a good thing for your nonprofit–but, you’ve never done it before. How do you begin?

A quick look at my mailbox give us three different ways to ask.

In the postscript

My wife and I support RESPOND, an organization based in Somerville, MA working to end domestic violence. At the end of a fundraising appeal, Jessica Brayden, the CEO of RESPOND, asked us:

P.S. Have you thought about becoming a monthly donor? The sustaining support we received from our monthly donors throughout the Covid-1i pandemic has given us the flexibility to meet the changing and growing needs of survivors. Visit respondinc.org/donate to get started!

What’s great about using this method is that people read postscripts. The P.S. is often the first thing donors look at in your appeal letter–after their own name! So, if you use the P.S. to make it quick and easy to sign up for monthly donations, chances are you will get them.

On a buckslip

You’ve seen those little extra enclosures that some nonprofits tuck into their fundraising appeals, right? The technical term for that piece of paper is a buckslip. It’s called that because historically, it was the size of a dollar bill. No matter what size it is, it can make you big bucks–if you use it to ask for monthly donations.

That’s what Greater Boston PFLAG did. The buckslip they enclosed with their fundraising appeal is 8″ x 5″, it’s entitled OTHER WAYS TO GIVE, and it includes too many things to my mind: Employer Matching Gifts, Bequests, IRA Charitable Rollover, to name a few. But crucially, it tells me:

Monthly Giving

Your monthly gift to Greater Boston PFLAG provides reliable support for our year-round work to create a safe, inclusive, welcoming society for LGBTQ+ people. Check the relevant box on reverse side to give monthly. You can cancel at any time.

In a separate appeal

Does your nonprofit have long-time, loyal supporters? The kind you know will give every year, or twice a year, without fail? These are people who care about your mission. They may be actually looking for more ways to support what you do!

A special appeal letter may be just the right approach to ask these dedicated supporters to start giving monthly donations.

Planned Parenthood took just that approach to ask my wife and me to become monthly donors. Look at what they did:

  • Used an unusual size envelope (so it wouldn’t look like regular mail)
  • Printed this message on the front of the envelope: “Your Exclusive Invitation Enclosed”
  • Explained the program in a letter that called us “supporters who have demonstrated an extraordinary commitment.” (Gee, they noticed!)
  • Included a separate note from the President and CEO
  • Branded every piece of paper with the words “Monthly Giving Program”–even the reply envelope!

If a donor is giving for the first time, or the second, it’s possible you might want to take a softer approach. The postscript or the buckslip might introduce them to the idea (and some people will accept that introduction right away).

However, if you know that Rona and Dennis Fischman (or a donor on your list) stands with you, has your back, and is in it for the long haul, you should ask them directly to start giving monthly donations. By asking, you are recognizing–and deepening–the special relationship they already have with your nonprofit.

Share this:

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

Fundraising Tuesday: Making a First Impression

June 15, 2021 by Dennis Fischman Leave a Comment

There’s an old saying: “You never get a second chance to make a good first impression.” Nowhere does that saying apply more than when you write a fundraising appeal letter.

Whether the donor even opens the letter depends on the envelope. Whether they give it a second glance depends on whether or not you get the name right–and what you say in the postscript–and whether you’ve made the letter easy to read.

Now, let’s say they start to read those words you, the writer, thought about so long, and worked and worked to get just right.

If the first sentence of your appeal letter doesn't compel your donor to read on, you may just have wasted your time sending it. Click To Tweet

And that would be a shame! So, what can you do in the very first sentence of your fundraising appeal to spur your potential donor to read the rest, and donate?

First Sentences That Pull Donors In

Here are the first sentences of some fundraising appeals I received recently that made me read the rest of the letter:

It wasn’t Mai’s decision to call the police. (RESPOND, an agency working to end domestic violence)

In a few weeks, a high-priced team of lawyers will ask the Supreme Court to stop you from helping farm workers. (United Farm Workers)

Imagine you are 15 years old and you woke up this morning as your detention center roommate was being rushed to the hospital with a fever, sore throat, and a raspy cough.  (The Sentencing Project)

$15 doesn’t sound like much, I know. It could buy a nice lunch or a few fancy coffees…or it could provide emergency relief, lifesaving medical treatment, clean water and sanitation…right now. (International Medical Corps)

It’s personal. (Community Cooks)

It’s just an “LGBTQ Safe Zone” sticker. Yet, when you put it up in your synagogue, JCC, day school, or other communal space, you just might change the world. (Keshet, for LGBTQ equality in Jewish life)

Maria left an unsafe home and a volatile relationship and found her way to a shelter in Cambridge earlier this year. (Second Chances)

How many times have you seen a homeless woman on the street, and passed by with neither of you any better off? (On the Rise)

How a Great First Sentence Works

If you’re like me, you receive dozens of appeal letters over the course of a year. What was it about these examples that caught my eye and made me want to know more?

  1. Story. The first sentences in the letters from RESPOND and Second Chances put me right into the middle of the action. As a reader, I had to find out what happened next.
  2. Surprise. The International Medical Corps and Keshet spotlighted a small action I could take that could have a dramatic result.
  3. High stakes. The Sentencing Project made me imagine a teenager who could be getting Covid-19, a matter of life and death.
  4. Emotion. Some of these letters frightened me. Some inspired me. Some made me discontent with the way things are now. Some made me smile at the thought of how things could be.
  5. The letter was about me…and someone who needs help.
    • The UFW got me to bristle at the thought of “high-priced lawyers” taking away my right to give.
    • On the Rise made me think about how it would feel to have a genuine relationship with that woman on the street.
    • Community Cooks captured the essence of why most people donate: because it’s personal.

Notice what these first sentences didn’t do

All these first sentences avoided the deadly weaknesses that send so many appeal letters to the recycling bin, unread and unanswered.

They didn’t speak in generalities, but got down to cases.

They didn’t talk about what matters to the organization: the fiscal year coming to an end, or a budget that has to be balanced, for instance. In fact, they didn’t mention the organization at all.

Instead, all of them pinpointed what would matter to me, the donor. They literally put me first.

Two Ways to Make a Good First Impression with Your Next Appeal Letter

When do you write your next fundraising appeal letter? Maybe you’re working on it right now. Here are two things you can do make that first sentence a winner.

Find it in what you’ve already written. Take a look at your current draft. Are the first few sentences (or paragraphs!) humdrum? Did it take you a while to get to the part that’s going to be exciting to the donor? Then you can either move the exciting part ahead of routine part,  up to the first sentence–or just cut the beginning you have now and begin with what the donor will want to hear.

Write the first sentence last. If you’ve got a lot of good material but nothing to make the donor have to read it, put yourself in the mind of the person who’s picking up your letter in the mail. What is there about what you’re saying that you can say simply, briefly, in an exciting way?

Make that the first sentence, before it goes in the mail. You’ll make a good first impression–and more money for your cause.

Share this:

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

TY Thursday: I Thought You’d Be Interested in This

September 28, 2017 by Dennis Fischman Leave a Comment

being interested

One of the best ways you can thank a donor is to show them you know what they’re interested in–and talk about their interests.

How do you do that? Here’s a good example.

A Personal Email to a Donor: Me!

My wife Rona and I are longtime supporters of RESPOND, the Somerville, MA based organization working to end domestic violence. Their Chief Development Director, Danielle Kempe, knows that. So, look at the personal email she sent me just this week:

Good morning Dennis,

Hope all is well!

I just heard a client success story for our programs office that I thought you’d be interested in too.

This August, we moved a resident into her own apartment/independent living. She was excited to have her own space in her own name. As we did her exit interview, she said what she was most grateful for and would remember was RESPOND being there for her as she went through the immigration process.

In these times when immigration reform is at the center of every discussion, families are in fear, and it is one of the reason why people are afraid to report domestic violence, RESPOND was more than just a roof over her head. While at RESPOND, she was able to get a green card, take ESL classes, obtain gainful employment, and is set to start college classes. The safety planning tools will help her keep safe from her abuser, and the empowerment RESPOND provided will keep her strengthened for her future.

All the best,

Danielle Kempe

P.S. Hope to see you at our open house! Details below.

Why This Email Interested the Donor

As Development Director, Danielle has RESPOND’s database at her fingertips. She knows the recency, frequency, and monetary value of the gifts that Rona and I have made over the years: not that large, but consistent.

Danielle also knows we care about the safety and dignity of immigrants. How does she know that? I suspect it’s because she made a point of meeting with me after a a few months on the job, and we discussed it then. She probably went back to the office and made a note in the database of the donor’s interests. That’s what I would do in her place.

interested in immigrants

You can tell Rona and I are interested in immigrants!

Danielle and I have followed each other on social media for a while, too, and she’s seen some of the posts I’ve put up, and my photo with the words “#HeretoStay-I Support DACA” on my personal Facebook page. If she’s really good, and her database allows it, she has my feed at her fingertips too.

Show Your Interest to the Donor by Recognizing Theirs

Can you do as well as Danielle at RESPOND did? Ask yourself:

  • Do you know the names of your loyal donors?
  • Do you understand what they’re interested in, besides your organization?
  • Are you taking steps to find out? And,
  • Are you unselfishly giving them information they will enjoy that makes them say, “That organization really knows me”?

The more the donor believes you are paying attention to them as a person, the more they will feel you’re not just looking at them as a wallet. You have a relationship.

Now, that’s interesting!

Share this:

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

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