Nonprofit Fundraising-Fund Development

New research PROVES how massively important saying thank-you really is!!

Yes, I know that you know that saying thanks is important. Your mom told you so, right? Or maybe your grandma? At least someone told you so.

But now we have actual academic research carried out by the amazing team at the Philanthropy  Centre and a team of philanthropic psychologists at Plymouth University, U.K. (Make sure you subscribe to the Philanthropy Centre!!!!!)

Hey, people out there. This is real and valuable and applicable to any organization no matter the size. Imagine what the findings will do for your fundraising!

• The summary: Even subtle changes to communications have the ability to profoundly influence how good donors feel as a result of reading that communication. AND! There’s evidence that the recommended practices have the potential to increase average donation amount, response rate, and how good the donor feels and….
• A few specifics: How/when to use an email thanks. Thanking donors who give most frequently. And……………….Download the research! Apply it!

Report authors: Professor Jen Shang. Professor Adrian Sargeant. Kathryn Carpenter. Harriet Day.

Sponsors…YES!!! Donors… The marvelously wonderful organizations that made this possible. In alpha order: Bloomerang Inc,  Institute for Conversational Fundraising, and Pursuant Inc.

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So now I’m going to play around with thank yous.

Hello research sponsors Bloomerang, Institute for Conversational Fundraising, and Pursuant. WOW! OH MY GOSH!! So absolutely marvelously wonderfully important for the nonprofit sector and world of philanthropy…

Without your leadership support, Pursuant, my clients wouldn’t know how massively important thank you is. Sure my clients know it’s important. But there’s so much else to do and…. So thank you Pursuant for your ongoing support of the Philanthropy Centre’s research.

Gracias, Kent. We haven’t talked or seen each other in ages. How wonderful to see your support of critical research for fundraising. We’ve got a long way to go to strengthen fundraising – and your support helps us all move forward. Thank you so much.

Hey Bloomie peeps… You know I love you. And again, you’re sponsoring critical research about donor retention. Thank you et merci!! With donors like you, we can help nonprofits around the world. Thank you again.

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And here’s just a bit of what our sponsors – our exceptional donors – say about the research findings. Their testimony reminds us of what great research can do.

“If charities were as studious and deliberate about thanking as they are about asking for philanthropic support what a difference it would make!” Kent Stroman, Principal and Founder, Institute for Conversational Fundraising™

“…The time and effort used for proper acknowledgements is easily justified based upon the results of this study where significant increases in funding were realized!” So says Jay Love, Chief Relationship Officer and Co-founder of Bloomerang. 

“…Cultivation and acknowledgement is vital to building strong, long lasting and authentic relationships with donors.” Rebecca Gregory Segovia, Executive Vice President, Pursuant 

I’m going Down Under again. I am so lucky!

The Extraordinary Donor Journey is off to Auckland (December 3), Melbourne (December 5), Brisbane (December 6), and Sydney (December 7).

All day long with Guy Mallabone, Stephen Pidgeon, Bernard Ross, and me, Simone! Imagine the learning and insights, joking and laughter.

Check out the details and schedule and each location by clickinghere.

Read all about us 4 presenters and our topics in this brochure.

Hope to see you there!

You know those typical panels….with a bunch of foundation reps sitting up front and making mini presentations and then you ask them questions?

Feel like you ought to be there because it’s “face-to-face” with grantmakers. And if you don’t go, your boss will be pissed.

But really…Did you learn anything more than what you could have found on the internet? Hmmmm…..

A NEW masterclass for really greedy nonprofits … March 4-6, 2019.

New research shows how to double donations. How cool is that?

And guess who your instructors are? Adrian Sargeant and Tom Ahern.

Where? Someplace improbable, like Lord of the Rings or The Game of Thrones improbable (hint: Scotland, on scenic and legendary Loch Ness; in a venue with a Michelin-rated chef; includes a single-malt whisky-tasting bar to encourage deep, peaty conversations)

 Who’s attending? Well, first of course, there’s YOU … and then there are your other high-performance, really-worth-knowing classmates … and these two experts who speak internationally to rapt audiences … trapped in a small-class setting.

So, yeah, there’s science.

But mostly you get friendly, encouraging, cheer-leading-even (Tom has a story of high-school hijinks), prayerfully supervised, critiqued-by-experts PRACTICE.

It’s a 3.5-step process:

• You come up with stupid ideas.
• You come up with better ideas.
• You come up with breakthrough ideas.

And you’re launched … into the next stage of your career’s advancement … the one where you make WAY more money for your charity employer. 

What’s it like being there?You sit, casually dressed, in an old hunter’s lodge, above Loch Ness. That’s your classroom.

Dress warmly if you like to be outdoors. It’s March; in the very midst of some of the most spectacular hiking country on earth (if that’s you).

Also a great place to read a novel by the fire. Or write some of the deepest, most moving pages in your diary.

Also a great place to walk a few meters … and then hurry back into the bar for a double of that one you liked so much last night.

Just click here.

Yes, there is right stuff to learn in this profession of ours. The fundraising thing.

And there’s wrong stuff…or irrelevant stuff…or OPINION instead of EXPERTISE.

So here are some great resources to learn the right stuff and develop yourself and help you tell your boss and board to stop the opinionating and focus on the expertising.

MOCEANIC!!  You MUST MUST visit and join us and learn and share and………

• Sign up for e-news and free fundraising tips and online courses and all kinds of cool useful important stuff!
• WOW! Check out the Moceanic crew like co-founders Sean Triner and Christiana Stergiou. Add in Jeff Brooks. And advisors like Roger Craver and Adrian Sargeant and Tom Ahern and Harvey McKinnon and Ken Burnett and me, Simone and more!

BLOOMERANG!!! I’ve decided NOT to talk about donor/fundraising databases. Instead…Get yourself a marvelous donor retention tool.

• Loyalty is the Holy Grail of any business (Thanks, Roger Craver 2009). LifeTime Value is the best of the best.
• Adrian Sargeant’s donor loyalty research is what you want to apply all the time. (And that’s the algorithm for Bloomerang.)
• Bloomerang is so user-friendly that your 5-year old pal can show you how to use it.
• Bloomerang also has a regular blog and free webinars – whether you use that donor retention tool or not.
• P.S. Tom Ahern communications stuff is also imbedded in this donor retention tool.

So those are just two thoughts for this week.

I don’t think so. The biggest reason anyone gives is because they’ree asked.

Do you think my neighbors wait around wondering if I need a cup of sugar? Nope. I knock on the door and ask, “I’m making cookies and I don’t have enough sugar! Could you give me a cup?”

Our communities – our world – need philanthropy. And, philanthropy needs fundraising.

“Philanthropy means voluntary action for the common good. Fund development is the essential partner of philanthropy. Fund development makes philanthropy possible by bringing together a particular cause and the prospects and donors who are willing to invest in the cause. The goal is to acquire donors of time and money who stay with the charity. This is done through the process of relationship building. With the donor at the center, fund development nurtures loyalty and lifetime value, thus facilitating philanthropy. You know if your relationship building works because your retention rates rise and the lifetime value of your donors and volunteers increases.

(From Keep Your Donors: The Guide to Better Communications and Stronger Relationships – by Tom Ahern and me.)

Did you think that was all of the CRQs created from Cohort 28? NOT HARDLY!

Here are more questions for your chats with donors – and chats with other fundraising professionals…

1. Tell me about a time you were curious.
2. What is your most cherished memory of giving?
3. If you had all the time, money, and volunteers in the world…what would you put it towards?
4. When you think of all the philanthropic investments you’ve made, which gives you the most joy? Which ones are the most proud of? How did you feel?
5. What legacy do you want to have? How do you want to be remembered? Why is this important to you?
6. What makes you irrationally angry?
7. What makes you hopeful?
8. What experiences have led you to show interest in an organization?
9. If you had all of the funding without any restriction, what philanthropic organization would you create?
10. After I brought up my faith, ask me to dive more into why [philanthropy] was part of my faith.
11. What impact has philanthropy had on your life personally and professionally?
12. How did you choose to work for the organization you have worked with?

YES YES YES!!!! CRQs… Cage-rattling questions. 

Anyone who ever reads anything of mine knows how I adore and admire and desperately want LOTS of CRQs.

So here are some CRQs from Cohort 28, the new cohort for the Masters in Philanthropy and Fund Development at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota.

Try asking your donors these questions. Because every donor could be invited to share his/her/their philanthropic story.

1. Tell me about the path that brought you here today.
2. What drives you to get up, go to work, and do your best each day.
3. What is worth fighting for?
4. Tell me about yourself – share with me your life’s journey.
5. What are your interests? Passions?
6. What unique hobbies do you enjoy?
7. Who are some people who have influed your charitable life?
8. What is your favorite thing about giving?

The recurring series that occurs every summer when I’m teaching in the marvelously cool masters program in philanthropy and fund development at Saint Mary’s University of MN.

The first week of class is over… I’m reading papers from Cohort 28. The assignment: Interviewing a classmate to learn the the classmate’s philanthropic story.

The stories are so cool…how these colleagues wrote about each other. The feelings. Caring. Admiration. Respect.

Imagine a colleague saying something like the statements below…. Or saying something like this about you…

♦ “Both personally and professionally, this philanthropic powerhouse positively impacts people’s lives.

         ♦ How do you want to be remembered? “That I never hurt anyone purposely.”

♦ “My passion is to inspire other peoples’ passion.”

                      ♦ A woman of this caliber has a philanthropic journey that is only beginning.

♦ “There is a lot of work to be done in our world. I hope I can – in some small way – chip away at it.”

♦ She joined a sit-in protest at her comfort level. The next thing she knew, she had busted through her comfort level.

♦ A humanitarian to the core, [he] lives every hour of each day in service to his commitment to make the world a better place.

               ♦ It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped.

                        ♦ Asked, “why would you do that?” She responded: “Why would you not?”

          ♦ She doesn’t just talk the talk.

♦ “I hope I’ll be remembered as a ‘listening ear.’ Being there for people. Being present when needed.”

I know you love your organization. I hope that’s why you work there.

But just because you love your organization does NOT mean that I will love your organization. AND OH MY GOSH… If you educate me, that won’t make me love and give either.

Real life is NOT NOT NOT like the movie Field of Dreams (If you build it, they will come!) NO NO NO NO… And no matter how visible you are and how much you think you’ve educated me… I won’t fall in love.

People pay attention to what interests them. For example, I’m not interested in sports of any kind…ever never never ever!! Even when my alma mater is playing. My alma mater where my parents met and my dad taught and and and…

I know how awful the environmental mess is. I believe in global climate change. I believe we humans are deeply fecking (Irish) up stuff. But I don’t give much to the environment. That’s not my favorite cause.

Your visibility — trying to shove me hard into awareness — does NOT NOT NOT make me a donor.

Just read Jeff’s blog: How Awesomeness Syndrome can torpedo your fundraising. Then watch the Awesomeness Syndrome video imbedded in Jeff’s blog.