On the surface, charity seems like a mystery. Why do perfectly sensible people give away their hard-earned money – often sending it off in the mail or the digital ether, never to see it again?

I believe one of the most important reasons is tension – the unpleasant, painful contrast between how the world is and how we think it should be. Unfortunately, many nonprofits today are shying away from the tension that energizes action. Their brand guides command them to appear hopeful and happy, as if everything is blissfully under control.

This is a mistake.

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Adrian Sargeant and Jen Shang of Indiana University released a report   on growing philanthropy in the United States, which states, “Despite an increasing effort on the part of nonprofits, individuals today give no more than their predecessors did over four decades ago.”

The report goes on to say, “Forty years of increasingly sophisticated fundraising practice, the development of planned giving vehicles, the appearance of the Internet, and the rise of new digital channels have done nothing to move the needle on giving. Yet, while giving has remained static, demands on the sector have not.” According to Giving USA, in the United States, charitable giving is estimated to be around 2% of average household disposable income.
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As longtime industry leaders, Grizzard’s executives are frequently asked to share their views on various issues pertaining to nonprofit fundraising and direct marketing. Check out some of their thoughts and responses here.

30 Fundraising Tips in 30 Minutes (.pdf)

As we enter the fourth quarter, all the signals are pointing to a very challenging fundraising season.

We all know that typically good economic news translates to good charitable giving news.  But with declines in the stock market YTD, continued high unemployment, increasing pressure on the housing market and dropping consumer confidence levels, there is not a lot of good news yet to inspire nonprofit donors to give more generously.

But there will still be “winners” and “losers.”  The question is, what are you doing to make sure you not only survive the giving season, but also exceed your organization’s expectations?

It seems like all the talk these days is about getting your Website donation page ready or how nonprofits should deal with all the new Facebook changes.  Don’t get me wrong; these are great reports and blogs that every fundraiser should read and subscribe to, but are these things going to produce fundraising dollars and success right now?

Major Donors Will Deliver Fundraising Dollars

With the significant challenges immediately in front of us, I think nonprofit fundraisers should focus on the areas that are going to deliver dollars today.  And that would be your major donors.  I recently saw a report from a fairly large chapter-based organization.  They have consistently generated $3.9 million annually from their $1,000+ donors for each of the past four years.  But when you dive into the details, they are staying flat only because they are generating about one-third of the total from first-time $1,000+ donors.  If you look at their donor retention rate, it is running at about 50 percent.

If they had retained 75 percent of the donors who gave at that level, they would have generated $7 million more over the four-year period.  Why was the retention rate so low?  Because they were focused on generating “new” money, and they totally dropped the ball on cultivating relationships with their existing major donors.

Cultivate your major donors now

My advice is to put everything in perspective and follow the money.  Cultivating stronger relationships with your major donors is the most important thing you can do right now.  Here are some things you can do:

• Call and invite major donors for a tour.
• Thank your donors for their past support.
• Show major supporters what their giving has accomplished.

What are you doing to strengthen your major donor relationships – before the fall giving season?

In the last couple of years, every meeting I attended with any non-profit organization where we talked about fundraising, marketing, or donor engagement, without fail, the subject of marketing to a younger audience was a point of discussion. It was a time of trying to figure out how to get them engaged, because we all agreed that financially they do not or could not support a cause. We all agreed that they could possibly volunteer to start, then, eventually, become financial supporters. Well, the research shows that “twenty something’s” do make monetary donations, but give in their own very distinct way.

Everything I read says that the Millennials are going to be the best-educated generation. According to Pew Research, the three most important things for Millennials in life are: to have a good marriage, to be good parents, and to help others. Helping others is one of their top priorities. They are engaged, they are connected and they care deeply. They are willing to spend a few dollars more on cause related food, drinks and even beauty products. They use portals like Crowdrise, and not only donate themselves, but also engage their friends to do the same. They want to make a difference but on their own terms. There is an immense opportunity with the Millennials but most organizations do not make a true effort to approach them, in fact most ignore them.

Organizations should really consider their approach. We all need to make an effort to understand, listen and engage the Millennials because they are ready to hear the message of need and help. However, if the message we send does not speak to them, we are in danger of losing a whole generation to indifference.

Here are the three most important skills to possess:

1. Listen.
Do you know what your donor values most? Why did they give money to your organization in the first place? How do they feel about the progress being made about your cause? How does their family relate and equate? How often do they want to hear from you? What did they think of your last communication? What excites them most? How can you ignite their passion into action? If you don’t know the answers to these questions, then stop talking and listen to your donor’s hopes and dreams for a better tomorrow.

2. Write.
You must be able to document your organization’s case for support. Here is a formula for designing a compelling rationale for people’s financial involvement. First, establish a reason for existence. Relate the problem you are solving. Second, explain what you are doing now to solve the problem. Third, invite engagement by presenting your constituents as part of the solution. Fourth, almost every single successful fundraising effort has a compelling offer at the core of its strategy. Be specific on how their donation will be used. Fifth, explain why it is critical for your constituent to act immediately. Create urgency. Sixth, describe what society would be like without you. At times, charities are the only stop-gap for their particular cause. Educate us. Cast a vision polar opposite of what you dare to achieve. Gloom and doom perhaps, but slap us with reality and we will notice.

3. Speak.
Practice does make perfect. The more you verbally tell your organization’s story the better you will become at it. Tell the story from your own perspective. Why are you personally involved? It is easier to communicate what is already inside of us than trying to tell someone else’s reasoning. Be clear, concise, creative and consistent in your story telling. Try and communicate your organization’s entire rationale for being in just 30 seconds without sounding like an auctioneer at Sotheby’s. Somewhere I heard a professional speaker say once, “If you need me to talk for two hours, I am ready now but if you need me to speak for only 5 minutes, then I will need two-weeks to prepare.” Everyone appreciates a great presenter when they hear one and sadly the opposite is true as well.

If you were in New York last month for the Direct Marketing Nonprofit conference, you may have witnessed the spirited debate on whether donors under the age of 50 were worth pursuing. Traditionally, when fundraising was dominated solely by direct mail, the data did support that donors under the age of 50 were not viable prospects.

That was then.

We just wrapped up a large generational study based on giving behavior over a two year period. These results are based on real giving, not perceptions from a survey. Now that direct mail is not the sole channel for cultivating donors and donations, younger donors are much more viable prospects.

Donor value over time is based on three metrics:

1.     Retention

2.     Gift frequency

3.     Average gift size.

Younger donors are notoriously difficult to retain. That hasn’t changed. Less than one-in-three of them will give a gift in their second year. Older donors – particularly those over 65 continue to be extremely loyal.

When it comes to gift frequency, we see a similar trend. The older the donor the more likely they are to give multiple gifts.

If we came to a conclusion now, we would think, “Yeah, those younger donors are slackers.” But, hold on to your hats. When we look at average gift size, a different picture is painted. Donors under the age of 50 give on average twice as much per gift compared to their older counterparts – mainly because the channels younger donors give to – like the internet – are larger. [NOTE: There are no gifts skewing this trend. All large gifts were excluded from this analysis.]

The result, when you multiply these 3 metrics together, is rather interesting. The average 24-month cumulative value of the under age 50 donor is actually the highest of the three age groups.

The conclusion here is pretty clear:

Every organization needs a plan to engage younger donors.

While younger donors may give less frequently and are generally more difficult to retain, their average 24-month cumulative value is higher than other age groups, and given that they have the longest potential span for donating, they are the most valuable to engage and cultivate further.

Have you done an analysis like this for your donors? Does the same bear true?

As always, please subscribe to our blog, tweet us, or simply say hi on Facebook and give us your thoughts. And, please share this with your friends.

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you’ve seen the recent Old Spice commercials with “the man your man could smell like”:

And perhaps, you have seen the recent campaign Old Spice carried out on YouTube? In near real-time, the team behind this project responded to tweets, Reddit comments, blog posts, and more. Example:

This campaign has been amazingly viral if you ask me. I mean, how can we go around saying “Silver fish catch” without our friends knowing what we’re referring to? We simply have to make sure they are in the know, and that is the beauty of this campaign. So many people find it funny that they just have to share it with their friends. After saying “have you seen this,” you and I suddenly have an understanding. We have a shared joke…that, in the end, only furthers the growth and virality of the Old Spice Guy.

Wouldn’t we all love to have that? Frankly, some of us do.

How often have you looked at your marketing or fundraising efforts from the recipient’s perspective and asked “What’s in this for me? What do I get if I sign up for the newsletter, follow you on Twitter, or make a holiday donation?”

The nonprofits that do this are the ones that do not define an email campaign with a 1% open rate as being successful. They settle for nothing less than a 60% open rate. They do not hope people share their message. They know people will because there is inherent value in forwarding the email newsletter, following on Twitter, or hanging that calendar they got in the mail so that all of their friends can see it.

So, which nonprofit out there will be the first to have the fundraising version of the Old Spice Guy?

As always, please subscribe to our blog, tweet us, or simply say hi on Facebook and give us your thoughts. And, please share this with your friends.

Everyone says social media is all about relationships, interaction, engagement, and transparency, but I would widen that out and say that the donor relationship has to be a real relationship. Nonprofit marketing dollars cannot only be focused on acquiring new donors and asking donors in the database for additional money. There must be a focus on building a meaningful relationship on the donor’s terms.

Some donors want you to acknowledge their stories. Do you have a process for receiving and acknowledging them? Try a personal phone call, 2 sentence email, tweet, or another channel that that specific donor prefers…not just the channel you prefer.

Some donors want to contribute by sharing their stories, pictures, or videos. Do they know how to get them to you and are you able to share them with your other donors?

Some donors want to hear a heartfelt thank you and find out how their $50 is being used.

Whatever the case may be, the donor has given you something – a donation. At the very least, they have bought a little recognition. If you take the time to give them a response they value through a channel they prefer (email, phone, etc), you have a much better chance of them being a repeat donor than you do the donor is made to feel like an ATM.

Really, seriously, take a moment to think. Do we have donors that want something more from us? Are we giving it to them? How can we make them feel like they are partners in this and not just enablers, ATMs, or something else that might just make them feel used?

As always, please subscribe to our blog, tweet us, or simply say hi on Facebook and give us your thoughts. And, please share this with your friends.

Grizzard’s Mission Team has served Rescue Missions across the United States for decades. In the battle to end homelessness, we have helped with nonprofit marketing, fundraising, direct mail, digital, social media, and more.

To find a short case study, visit the Rescue Missions case study page.