Taking steps to reduce your donor attrition actually is the least expensive strategy for increasing your fundraising income. In fact, if you’re looking to save money on your fundraising costs, focusing on retention is the smart thing to do. What are you doing to reach out and touch your donors—you know, those wonderful people who make your work possible?...
If everyone is so focused on donor retention, why do people have trouble with the concept of “donor relations” and “donor experience”?...
Every fundraising ask for a gift consists of humans playing various parts to achieve a common purpose. The ultimate purpose of fundraising is to secure large gifts if possible. It is not easy and rather complex. After obtaining a large gift, it always is wise to dissect the ask and seek ways to improve strategy and performance. The next ask always is around the corner...
Fundraisers have a heavy burden, especially when there’s a long list of rules to follow in our fundraising communication to please all the internal pundits. It’s easy to lose focus on the experts in donor loyalty—the donors themselves. So what are the building blocks for donor loyalty?...
An integrated donor experience is critical in the digital age. You have more touchpoints with your donors than ever before, and you have to be keenly aware of how they are experiencing your organization. In order to make sure you are fully aware of your donor’s experience, we need to back up and talk about…
There’s a new way of thinking coming along that is shaping the future of fundraising. It’s a move away from the narrow idea of simple “fundraising” that focuses on “money.” It’s a move toward a much broader, more holistic notion of “philanthropy.” It’s a special land. It’s where fundraising is valued and considered an important part of…
Online and telemarketing donations have a unique feature that few other direct-marketing interactions have: You still are communicating with donors once they have made their donations. Obviously, a large part of this post-donation interaction should be aimed at confirming that the donation was made and sincerely thanking the person for contributing to the cause. But…
If there is one area of "moves management" that never has sat well with me, it’s the word "stewardship." Stewardship is what you are supposed to do with donors after they give you gifts. The reason I don’t like it is that it conveys more of a passive approach to the relationship with your donor...
Donor retention should be at the forefront of every fundraiser’s mind. Your ultimate goal when raising funds is bringing donors—who feel committed to your mission and want to continue donating year after year—to the table. Simply put, your job is easier when you know you can count on a group of loyal donors time after…
You might find it a bit odd that the CEO of a fundraising technology company might be writing about old-fashioned methods of personalizing communications. I recently had an in-depth discussion with a prospective customer regarding the extent of bulk personalization that is attainable via mail merges, through the hundreds of fields of standard and custom…
