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Arts Organizations: To Get Gifts, Tell Stories!

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ImprovAll you fundraisers who work for human service organizations, you have these heartwarming stories to tell–about children learning to read, or families getting food to eat.

But I raise money for a theater company. Can I use storytelling in my fundraising too?

I heard this question last week when I presented a Nonprofit Academy webinar called Where’s the Story? Discovering Stories that Drive Donations. But it wasn’t the first time I’d heard it. And every time I hear it, it makes me want to cry.

If your nonprofit is an arts organization, storytelling is in your organizational DNA. It’s in the drama you put on stage, or the moment you capture in paint, or the music you present to a live audience. You take the randomness of everyday events and shape it, so people will stop, look, listen, and wonder. That’s what a good story does too.

So yes, arts organizations, you can tell stories to your donors. In fact, they are the perfect audience for them! But it’s up to you to find and craft those stories. Here’s how.

Stories are about people

The first thing to do is figure out the protagonist of your story. Who is the story about?

I think that’s what was puzzling the webinar participant who worked for the theater company, the one who asked me that question. She was probably thinking about things like the schedule of plays this season, or the artistic choices involved in the direction and staging, or the great reviews the production has already received, and asking herself, “What’s the story here?”

And she was right. Those are not stories–because they have no protagonist, no central character to follow.

You can turn statements into stories

Focus on a protagonist with a problem, and you can transform dry facts into dramatic stories. For example, you could take a list of titles of plays and turn it into this message from your Artistic Director:

Antigone-613X463“As 2016 goes on, I have been dreading each day’s news. One act of mass violence has followed another around the globe. I look to political leaders, hoping for solace and wisdom, and instead I see them spreading fear and hatred.”

“Here in our theater, I shudder…and I wonder, what can we do as a theater to bring us back to our a sense of our shared humanity? The 2017 season is our answer. We begin with Antigone, a story of a woman caught on the losing side of a civil war who refuses to put loyalty to nation over loyalty to family…”

Notice! Instead of a list, now you have:

  • a person (your Artistic Director)
  • facing a challenge (how do I stop feeling overwhelmed and make a contribution to a more peaceful world?)
  • and overcoming it (through this year’s program)

That’s classic narrative. You’ve turned a statement into a story. And your donors are going to notice, too.

Stories speak to an arts audience

The thing is, unless your Artistic Director is really well-known and loved, it’s not her or his story your donors want to hear.

As fundraising expert Tom Ahern puts it, donors are only really interested in two things. “What did you do with the money I gave you?” and “What difference did it make?”

And the difference they want to hear about is probably not that it made the AD feel worthwhile, or even that it gave jobs to dozens of actors and set painters.

What difference do the arts make to the audience?

Your donors are interested in the experience of the arts. They know what it’s like for them to walk around a Rodin and look at it from all sides, or hear unexpected music in the subway, or go to a play. They want you to make sure others share that experience.

Raisin in the Sun

Raisin in the Sun

Can you find audience members who will tell any of these stories?

  1. “I never liked Shakespeare. When they tried to teach it to me forty years ago in high school, I tuned it out. But then my wife dragged me to your production of King Lear, and I wept for a man looking back at the ruin of his life. Now the words make sense, and they make me think about my own life.”

2. “I thought my family was the only one where parents and children fought about how to stand up proud against people who want to put us down. Now that I’ve seen Raisin in the Sun, I will never look at my parents the same way again.

3. “My mind was whirling. My heart was downcast. Your production of Stomp was better than medicine. I am going back tomorrow!”

If I gave money to your organization and heard these stories, I would rejoice. And give again.

What’s another story you can tell that would move your arts supporters to give?

 

TY Thursday: Actions Thank Louder than Words

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Action speaks louderAre you trying to come up with more and better ways to thank your donors? Sometimes, what you need is not a new and improved thank-you letter, video, gift, or donor appreciation event.

Sometimes you just have to give the donors what they want.

What do the donors want?

Tom Ahern, the dean of donor communications, says the content donors want is the answers to the questions, “What did you do with the money I gave you? What difference did it make?” And they want the joy of feeling they have helped make the world a better place.

Take Tom’s advice and you’ll know what to put in your newsletter (and on your website, and on your social media)–and what to leave out. Put in stories about real people whose lives are better “because you helped.”

Everything else–the grant you got, the award your Executive Director won, the amount of money you have to raise before your fiscal year end–is what you should leave out. Unless you can find a way to present it so that your donors feel great about themselves! Then, include it. But check with some actual donors first!

Kivi Leroux Miller, who’s always both practical and inspiring, says donors want giving to be easy–and after they give, they want you to know who they are.

Take Kivi’s advice. Giving can be easy if your website has a good landing page and if once they give, you immediately acknowledge the gift (so they know “it worked!”)

Knowing who your donors are is so vital, and yet so neglected! “It’s amazing how little many nonprofits can tell you about their donors beyond their giving history, and that makes good marketing and fundraising tough,” Kivi says. If you know what your donors care about–including interests that don’t seem at first to touch on your mission–you can send communications that make them feel “This was written just for me.”

Joe Garecht, The Fundraising Authority, says donors want non-reciprocated value. In other words, be generous to them, too! Don’t just trade return address labels for a donation.

Take Joe’s advice. Find ways to be helpful to your donors, without expecting anything in return, “such as when you come across two donors who might find value in working together in their businesses, and offer to set up and attend a lunch meeting to introduce them.”

Customer service is the best thank you.

People in business know that their customers’ experience with them is reason those customers come back–or don’t. No amount of advertising can overcome a customer’s interaction with an employee who is rude, inattentive, poorly informed, or just plain unhelpful.

For nonprofit organizations, donors are our customers. Yes, they are “buying” services for other people–our clients! But customer service is still the key to seeing those donors again. Let’s put it in terms that fit the nonprofit sector:

The best way to thank your donors: think about what matters to the donor--and give it to them. Share on X

What have you done for your donors that they will remember with a smile?

Thank-You Thursday: Pick Up the Phone

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thank donors by phone

Does everyone like a thank-you call?

Sometimes the best thank-you letter a donor can get isn’t a letter. It’s a phone call.

Ideally, you’d do both. When the donation arrives, call and say, “You’ll be getting an official thank-you letter in a couple of days–but I wanted to call and thank you personally.”

Or, after you know the letter should have arrived, follow it up with a call. “I wanted to thank you again and tell you how much I appreciate your gift.”

What Calling to Say Thanks Does for Your Nonprofit

First off, you will feel great about talking to a donor.

Sure, there may be an awkward moment at the start of the call. The donor isn’t used to getting called out of the blue to be told “thank you.” (Sad,  but all too true!) She or he may be wary, thinking you’re about to ask for yet another gift.

When the donor realizes that you took the time to call just because they did a good thing and you want to acknowledge it, they are delighted. They may end up thanking you!

Second, you may learn more about the donor.

If you get a live person on the call and not a voicemail, they may be in the middle of something, or just not talkative. You respect their time, thank them, and move on. But if they seem open to conversation, then do what Tina Cincotti advises:

Say — “I don’t want to take up much of your time but would you be willing to share with me what inspired you to first give to ___________ (org name)?”

You can also ask things like:

  • Why does this cause matter to you?
  • What interests you most about our organization?
  • What expectations do you have of the organizations you support?
  • How often do you want to hear from us?
  • Would you like to be involved with us in other ways beyond being a donor?

(And don’t forget to make a note of what you hear, in your donor database!)

Third, even if you leave a voicemail, you build trust.

Your donor’s relationship with you follows a predictable path: first they get to know you, then they decide they like you, and finally they come to trust you. Leaving a personal message is a step along that path.

What all this adds up to is: your nonprofit makes more money!

According to Tom Ahern, first-time donors who get a personal thank you within 48 hours are 4x more likely to give a second gift. And you want that second gift, since donor retention rates skyrocket from 22.9% to 60.8%.

So, let’s see.

Don't call. That first-time donor never gives again. Call. They give and keep on giving. Share on X

Seems like a simple choice, doesn’t it?

That’s why Gail Perry says using the phone to thank donors is “highly profitable fundraising.” And Steven Shattuck of Bloomerang says you should call every new donor: no excuses!

How to Make a Thank-You Call

Who should call your donors? The best people to make those thank-you calls are Board members and volunteers. Like the donor, they have given time or money, or both, because they care about the organization and its mission. They reinforce the donor’s decision to give, because they are other people “just like you” who give.

Should your callers follow a script? They should have a script (and look at the Gail Perry and Tina Cincotti links above for examples. But they should feel free to adapt it so it sounds like their own voice. That’s particularly important when leaving voicemail. If the donor thinks it’s a sales call, she or he will hang up before hearing your gratitude. A conversational tone of voice can keep them listening.

How long should you stay on the phone? That depends entirely on the donor. If the reaction you hear is, “Oh, that’s so nice! Thank you, goodbye,” don’t try to extend the conversation. If the donor is willing to have a conversation with you, so much the better. If you reach voicemail, say what you mean to say, slowly, with feeling, and that is that.

Thank-You Calls to Mobile Phones

I’m a baby boomer. Most donors are my age or older, and we’re used to getting phone calls on our land lines (or what we used to call just “the phone”).

Increasingly, though, Generations X and Y are starting to give…and increasingly, the mobile phone is the only phone they have. On mobile phones, it’s a nuisance to see that you’ve missed a call, go to voicemail, and play it back. So, leaving voicemail on mobile is not effective: few people are picking it up.

The etiquette among younger donors is that if you call them and they recognize the caller, it’s up to them to call back. (If they don’t, then it’s your problem!) So how do you use the phone to thank a donor who’s mobile?

Text them. At least, that’s what a mobile phone expert told our friends at Blue Avocado. Actually, he advised matching the channel of the thank-you to the channel of the gift.

If someone makes a donation as a result of a text, text them right away with a thank you. A day or two later, send another thank you by email so they get two thanks. If they donated as a result of an email, send them a thank-you email right away, and then follow it up with a snail mail thank you.
Do you call donors on the phone to say thanks? What’s the one conversation you remember the best?

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