Retention

In a report titled “Myths of Monthly Donor Programs” on the Mal Warwick Associates Web site, Canadian consultant Harvey McKinnon talks about how easy it is for a nonprofit to lose annual donors to those organizations with more aggressive monthly donor campaigns. “When a donor joins a monthly donor club it has consequences. She may even start reducing her single gift donations to other nonprofits — perhaps yours! — because she has committed a greater share of her charitable funds through monthly donor programs. Here’s an example to illustrate my point: A donor, Ms. Cindy Williams, regularly gives a total of $1,000 a

Leave it to ASPCA’s Steve Froehlich to sneak a little banter about one-night stands into a session at the DMA Nonprofit Federation’s 2008 Washington Nonprofit Conference. Hey, the guy knows how to keep an audience on its toes. In the session titled, “Repeat After Me … I Will Give Again: Cementing Relationships that Garner a Second Gift,” which Steve co-presented with American Red Cross’ Margaret Carter and Convio’s Brian Hauf, he started off with this provocative question: “Before I begin, I’d like everyone who has ever had a one-night stand to think about how they felt the morning after.” (Needless to say there was

As we embark on a new year, so too have begun the membership/donor renewal efforts for many organizations.

In its whitepaper Courting the Mid-level Donor, fundraising consultancy Carl Bloom Associates offers these tips for doing just that: * Study giving history. Although base-level donors often are one-up givers, you might be able to develop some mid-level donors among them by studying giving history for multiyear donors who tend to increase giving amounts. Consider testing a stretch appeal to these individuals with a special offer that emphasizes recognition, as described in the next point. * Plan your mid-level offers carefully. These donors will want meaningful opportunities to participate in your mission, including invitations to special events, lectures and behind-the-scenes meetings with staff. And

Christmas in July isn’t the newest marketing idea thought up to boost cash flow for organizations whose donation streams drop when temperatures rise. It is, however, highly effective.

No one wants to listen to complaints every day. Whether the complainer is a spouse (“Put your dirty dishes in the dishwasher!”), one of your kids (“Why can’t you take me to the mall?”) or a donor (“Stop sending me so much mail!”), it might seem easier to ignore the situation than to do something about it.

But just as you don’t want your spouse to file for divorce or your child to hitch a ride to the mall from a stranger, you also don’t want a valuable donor to say goodbye to you.

The growth in recent years of online contributions to disaster-relief organizations clearly illustrates that Web fundraising has come of age. Consider the online giving that the American Red Cross has generated following major disasters: $64 million related to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks (2001); $140 million in the wake of the Southeast Asia tsunami (2004); and $479 million after Hurricane Katrina (2005). Also telling is that the percentage of individual donor funds raised online (excluding corporate contributions) grew from 29 percent for Sept. 11 to 55 percent for the tsunami, illustrating that donors have become increasingly comfortable giving over the Internet.

One of the most frequent questions I hear as a fundraising consultant is, “Do you believe in using premiums to recruit donors?” It disturbs me, because it almost always is positioned as a “yes” or “no” question. But it’s really not that simple.

On one hand, premiums can be viewed as a wonderful cure to the problem of low response rates. The offer of a low-cost/high-value item as a reward for a contribution often will generate much higher response rates than offers that provide nothing.

Let’s face it. As direct-response fundraisers, we don’t spend enough time trying to renew lapsed donors. Most of our effort goes into acquisition and current-donor programs — and for good reason.

Current-donor mailings generate the bulk of your income, so that’s always your first priority. And even though most acquisition mailings lose money in the first year, they do create future donors. (Note: If you’re making money or breaking even on your acquisition mailings, you’re doing a great job. You should request a raise from your boss immediately, and write to us here at FundRaising Success and tell us how you’re doing it.)

Sending a timely, relevant thank-you letter in return for a gift is the prudent and polite thing to do — both in our private lives and in fundraising. It’s all about preserving a relationship, communicating appropriately, and establishing and maintaining a personal style.

Ms. Manners taught us the rules of etiquette when writing personal thank-you notes, but what about a donor program with thousands of people to thank? What are the rules? And who gets to write them?