FundRaiser Blog

The FundRaiser Software Blog is an excellent resource for nonprofit organizations looking to learn more about fundraising, donor management, membership management, and much more.

Do's and Don'ts of Texting Donors

TextingDonors

Dear Kim,

I am wondering about texting our current and lapsed donors to ask for money? We have a donor base that tends to be young and we have lot of phone numbers (sometimes we have a cell number and not a snail mail address). I think this would work well because it is much more efficient than writing and calling and a lot of people don’t use their phone for calling anymore. My ED wants me to check with someone else. What do you think?

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A Kind & Common Sense Approach to Donor Relations

A Kind & Common Sense Approach to Donor Relations

 

Dear Kim,

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Nine basic truths of fund-raising

Nine basic truths of fund-raising
 

The nine basic truths of fund-raising listed below are taken from the introduction to my book It’s a Great Day to Fund-Raise, and they are the foundation of my successful career as a development officer for and consultant to nonprofit organizations.

Organizations are not entitled to support; they must earn it.Successful fund-raising is not magic; it is simply hard work on the part of people who are thoroughly prepared.Fund-raising is not raising money; it is raising friends.You do not raise money by begging for it; you raise it by selling people on your organization.People do not just reach for their checkbooks and give money to an organization; they have to be asked to give.You do not wait for the “right” moment to ask; you ask now.Successful fund-raising officers do not ask for money; they get others to ask for it.You don’t decide today to raise money and then ask for it tomorrow; it takes time, patience, and planning to raise money.Prospects and donors are not cash crops waiting to be harvested; treat them as you would customers in a business.

Learn more about how FundRaiser can help you acheive your fundraising goals

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Collecting Donor Phone Numbers

Collecting Donor Phone Numbers

Dear Kim,

I have a multipart question.  We want to start doing thank-you calls but often don’t have donor phone numbers. Is it creepy to get their phone number from the white pages? Should we require a phone number on our donation page so we can capture phone numbers going forward?

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Upgrading Donors

Upgrading Donors

Dear Kim:

You often advise asking people who have been giving you a certain amount of money for many years to consider giving more.  But how do you do that without making them feel you were not grateful for what they have already given?

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First Steps To Starting Donor Management

First Steps To Starting Donor Management

Kim Klein's blog on Steps for Raising $20,000 is a great article to use to show exactly how FundRaiser can simplify donor management.  If you look at the steps suggested to the student in order to raise funds for their trip to Costa Rica, you'll see how each step can be simplified and tracked using FundRaiser.

Database programs are for storing and using information, and we suggest using FundRaiser to store as much information as you need to have for all the aspects of your fundraising efforts. It's not just about donors, although that's certainly a big part, but look at the other aspects to this particular effort.

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Key to Successful Fundraising: Appreciating Our Donors

Key to Successful Fundraising: Appreciating Our Donors
 Dear Kim,

I am new to development and I have heard several contradictory things about the kinds of acknowledgements I should be sending to donors. Someone said we are required by law to send a thank you for every gift and someone else said you have to subtract the value of anything you send to the donor. Then someone else said that you only have to thank people who give over $250 and someone else said you are not allowed to thank people unless they request it and on and on. I know you say, “Thank before you bank” but that doesn’t sound like a law as much as a good habit.

~Help!  

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The Importance of Upgrading Your Donors

The Importance of Upgrading Your Donors

ORGANIZATIONS THAT WANT TO GROW and thrive in this century need to be clear about three things:

1. Givers give. In the United States, 70 percent of the adult population makes regular donations to nonprofits. Many thousands more give money in much more informal ways such as helping homeless people asking for money on the street, buying raffle tickets and products from schoolchildren, and giving money to friends and relatives in need. More people give away money than vote, than volunteer, or than attend any house of worship. These people are going to give to your organization, or they will give to another one.

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Asking for the Money: "If you don't ask, you don't get" -- Part 2 Meeting with donors for a Big Ask

Asking for the Money: "If you don't ask, you don't get" -- Part 2 Meeting with donors for a Big Ask

read part 1 Preparing for the ASK

The Opening: How It’s Handled Will Determine Its Outcome

The first meeting should not take place in a public space such as a restaurant with its distractions and interruptions. Solicitors should begin by talking with prospects about professional and personal interests, mutual friends and acquaintances, places and times where their lives may have crossed. However, solicitors should not forget why they are there. Quickly, but naturally, discussion of the campaign should be worked into the conversation. Solicitors should mention their own personal involvement and commitment to the organization as a way of explaining why it is of such great value to the community. They must convey how important the current fund-raising campaign is to the organization’s future. When appropriate, a tour of the organization’s facilities and the opportunity to meet others involved with the organization should be offered. Finally, solicitors should ask prospects to consider supporting the organization by making a pledge in the suggested amount.

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Accepting 'No' & Moving On

Accepting 'No' & Moving On

Dear Kim,

I am the executive director of a small environmental justice organization focused on organizing a community to stand up to a large and highly polluting CAFO (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation.) We have recently had some victories but need to keep pushing. One of our board members comes from quite a wealthy family and he has been very generous himself plus raised a lot of money from family and friends. But recently we needed an extra $10,000 very quickly so I went to him and he said he couldn’t give anything right now. I didn’t say anything but I was really upset. The man has more money than all of us put together! I need to get him to change his mind. How can I do that?

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Donors Surveys: Acting on Findings and Recommendations

Donors Surveys: Acting on Findings and Recommendations
Acting on the Findings and Recommendations

Once a donor survey has been completed and you’ve received a report of its findings, conclusions, and recommendations, you’re ready to start the toughest part of the process. Now, you have to listen and pay attention and act. You have a wonderful opportunity to benefit greatly from what your donors told you about the pleasure and satisfaction they derive from their support to your organization, as well as to be alerted to their concerns and cares. You work as best you can to “fix” the things that need fixing, according to what the donors told you. And you need to continue and to enhance the cultivation practices which are the most desired and satisfying to your donors. This will surely help in great measure to maximize your chances for their giving to continue, and it will provide opportunities for even larger gifts in the future.

What if the Donor Survey Tells You What You Don’t Want to Hear?

Make sure that you take the time to go over every aspect of the donor survey. Don’t skip over negative things that on first reading seem minor. It is folly to take the time to conduct a donor survey, spend the money on it, and then risk alienating people important to the organization by ignoring the survey’s recommendations. An organization that ignores some or all of a donor survey’s findings is making a mistake that can damage the organization.

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Donor Surveys: Questions to Learn About Your Donors

Donor Surveys: Questions to Learn About Your Donors
What Do You Know About Your Donorsand What Do They Know About Your Organization?

If we’re going to ask people for money, it sure helps if they think highly of both our organization and its mission.

Do they see our mission as vital and valid?Are we perceived as being successful at carrying out that mission?Has our organization earned and maintained trust and respect?Have we been efficient stewards of donations and resources?Has any controversy been associated with us?Have questions about any of our leaders arisen?Do people believe we are the right organization to address what we declare in our Mission Statement?Do they know enough about us to have formed any deeply held opinions?Learn About Your Donors

Methods to learn the opinions and impressions donors have of your organization can be implemented in a number of ways, including mail, e-mail, telephone, focus discussions, and face-to-face meetings. Whether comprehensive one-on-one interviews, or a mix of any of the other options, surveys do not need to be complicated research instruments. A simple questionnaire (or format, for personal meetings) can be tallied either by hand or, if you structure the questions right, on a simple computer spreadsheet.

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Segmenting Lists

Segmenting Lists

Dear Kim,

I am about to take the plunge. For years I’ve listened to many fundraisers stress the importance of segmenting your donor lists. For a variety of reasons including laziness, being too busy, and poor software, I have not yet done this.

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How a Christian Radio Station Got Back On Track By Responding Quickly to Listener Letters

How a Christian Radion Station Got Back On Track by Responding Quickly to Listener Letters

About 15 years ago, key members of CrossTalk ministry took a step back from their work, and realized they weren’t getting where they wanted to go. “We had a lag of four to six weeks in responding to people who contacted us. When we got around to contacting them they were irritated and didn’t care anymore. We were failing,” says Caleb Weiss, Development Director.

Caleb knew that donor management software could help, but theirs was more of a liability. “We had some kind of membership tracking software at that time. It took more work to use than it saved. We were also using several Excel spreadsheets. We needed a software product that would help us do our job without having to put so much into it.”

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Case Study: BRING Recycling is #WorkingUpstream to create a compelling campaign for #GivingTuesday

Case Study: BRING Recycling is #WorkingUpstream to create a compelling campaign for #GivingTuesday

BRING Recycling is adding #WorkUpstream – an online campaign starting on #GivingTuesday , December 1st – to their traditional end-of-year fundraising strategy. The social media portion of the campaign targets new donors from their Facebook and Twitter followers, says Ephraim Payne, Development and Communications Director at BRING.

New donors attracted through social media outreach will be added to the FundRaiser database as contacts, allowing for regular follow-up. “It allows us to reach them in a more focused way than we can through Facebook or Twitter,” says Ephraim. “We’ll be able to include them in our donor appreciation and cultivation communications.”

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6 Ways to Stay Quick and Genuine with Your Thanks

6 Ways to Stay Quick and Genuine with Your Thanks

Thanking donors seems like something so basic that we shouldn’t even have to talk about it. But more mistakes, with more devastating results for donor loyalty, are made in the thanking of donors than anyplace else. So, let’s go over six rules for saying “thank you” that are absolutely essential.

Thank a donor immediately. Send out a thank-you note for a gift no later than the day after the gift is received. Nothing is more important than a prompt thank-you.Be humble. Don’t act as if or communicate the thought that you were expecting the gift as something that was the donor’s responsibility to do.Praise the donor’s generosity. Do not stint. Let the donor know how important the gift is.Praise your donor’s leadership. Anyone who gives is a leader and should be treated as such, and call attention to the fact that their gift will influence others to give.Thank donors for past support. When you receive today’s gift remind the donor how appreciative you are of past support, but do not talk about future support. Do not say thanks out of one side of your mouth and hint at future requests out of the other.And finally, never let a hint of disappointment show. Never, ever show a lack of gratitude for a gift, whatever its size.

There are two things that must be remembered about saying thanks. Donors expect it, and they deserve it.

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What Lies Down the Membership Road?

What Lies Down the Membership Road?

Dear Kim,

I sit on the advisory committee of a regional program whose mission is to fight racism and educate the public about celebrating diversity. They are hoping to increase their coffers by starting a membership program. I agreed to do some research into:

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Case Study: Lessons Learned about Moving Donors Up the Giving Ladder

Case Study: Lessons Learned about Moving Donors Up the Giving Ladder

In part 1 - Raelene Pullen, Development Director at the Figge Art Museum, shares how she is successfully uses FundRaiser Professional to engaged more donors and increasing donations.

FundRaiser Professional is important in evaluating ROI (Return On Investment) of the events organized by Raelene Pullen. “After an event, we are interested to see the relationship between donations received by the Museum and the donor’s attendance at recent events. How do the donations that come in from those prospects compare to the ones that come from people who haven’t attended? This makes visible the impact of the event and that way of cultivating these relationships,"says Raelene.

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Case Study: Figge Art Museum Moves Donors Up the Giving Ladder, part 1

Case Study: Figge Art Museum Moves Donors Up the Giving Ladder, part 1
Figge Art Museum
Amy Martens and Raelene Pullen at Figge Gala Event

Figge Art Museum is on the move, and so are their donors-- moving up the giving ladder! Raelene Pullen, Development Director at Figge Art Museum, is very deliberate about the steps she takes to communicate with donors and encourage them to become more involved in the museum. Her fundraising software, FundRaiser Professional  is crucial to the process. 

“One of the most important things I’ve learned through this work and using FundRaiser is the need for data organization and entry. We use the coding in FundRaiser in a way that allows us to communicate with donors in a dynamic way. We have clarified what kind of information we need to record and maintain so when we need it, we have the information we need.  Our intention has been to use highly specific information to target and move donors up the giving ladder,” says Raelene.

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How can memberships benefit my nonprofit organization?

How can memberships benefit my nonprofit organization?

Membership programs may have many practical benefits, but the biggest benefit to an organization is their potential to increase donor loyalty. Someone who sees herself as a member of an organization will generally feel more ownership and involvement in an organization than someone who sees herself just as a donor, even if the member never has any more concrete involvement than simply giving money.

In addition, enrolling a donor as a member gives a concrete reason for sporadic donors to become regular donors, at least once a year when their membership renewal comes due.

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Wait a minute, while we are rendering the calendar
giving levels donor recognition donor donor targeting importing csv security social media donor relations tribute gifts arts legacy giving overview GoFundMe project entering auction gifts donor slip adding personal notes to letters correspondence fundraising letters government grants merge fields donor loyalty #GivingTuesday motivation understanding giving trends Codes the Ask monthly giving premiums personalizing letters membership benefits happiness Crowdfunding Campaign Facebook campaign membersip benefits user interface spreadsheets donor prospects donor source segmenting donors mailing major gift prospects GivingTuesday appeal letters Cloud tax summary letters Personalizing follow up Company culture grassroots campaign auction reports development director foundations donor advised funds passwords transparency vacation Thanksgiving disaster relief email Resiliency announcements case study budget Volunteer module event management donor preferences training fundraising data analysis Facebook online donations new leadership planning custom page features membership programs endowment campaign phoning donors operating systems pledges Network for Good National Change of Address giving history large donations increasing giving amounts alumni merge notes banquet memorial giving donor retention donor profile charity golf tournaments gift acceptance policy ROI nonprofit fundraising LYBUNTS office End of Year Letters Task List grants updates donor attrition on site training how to handle auction gifts change of address updating texting donors solicitors technical support upgrade new features volunteering NCOA processing Importing Data New Year brick campaign FundRaiser Hosted donor attrition rate Reporting to IRS SYBUNTS annual campaign building donor relationships campaign management targeted mailings raffle small donations Alternative Addresses capital campaign prospects ticket sales flash sales holiday giving product news password protection corporate sponsors donor engagement communications online donations mission driven direct mail Tickles FundRaiser Basic volunteers planned giving ticketsales repeat donors support gift entry word processor community arts nonprofits welcome packet moves management operational costs In-Kind gifts recurring gifts Congratulations campaign Constant Contact add ons Reminders in honor of donations mode code community broadcasting letter templates customer service FundRaiser Spark thank you letters donation history Snow Birds new nonprofit data entry accounting software tech tip relationship tracking appeal gift notes field PayPal new donors animal rescue holiday customer portal spare fields pictures donor retention rate Donor Portal salutation letter how-to videos role of nonprofits donor contact information Excel data conversion motivation code community supported gardens lapsed donor user spotlights upgrading donors advanced tab correspondance holiday letters Thank You Groupings look and feel training tip annual maintenance plan board members backing up data major donors publicity materials new version general anonymous donors

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