Marc A. Pitman's Blog, page 36

Get jazzed when a donor says “no”!

As I wrote earlier this week, some of my coaching clients are being transformed by the idea of keeping on going until we get no. This concept is helping them keep up their endurance in asking. And it's helping donors really connect to causes that matter to them.

So I'm thrilled that "Go For No!" author Andrea Waltz will be giving the October webinar for The Nonprofit Academy! "Redefining Rejection: Learning to go for no!" will be held Wednesday, October 8 at 1 p.m. Eastern.

Join the Academy or just register for the webinar

You can join us for this training (and get information about the recording) by either:

Joining the Academy for as low as $19/month at: The Nonprofit Academy

Or registering for the one-time webinar at: http://thenonprofitacademy.com/upcoming-events/

Either way, you'll get this great training - a training that can transform your fundraising success. It transformed mine!

In addition to regular coaching, 24/7 access to over 50 trainings and resources, and a private community of fellow fundraisers, members of The Nonprofit Academy get a brand new webinar each month. So joining makes a lot of sense! The Nonprofit Academy really is affordable fundraising training and constantly updating to help you fund your cause!

The post Get jazzed when a donor says “no”! appeared first on FundraisingCoach.com.

Sometimes, you need to go for no

I just finished writing my latest "Question Marc" column for FundRaising Success magazine answering a question from "Panicked in Pasadena."

Panicked was that way because donors weren't responding to her solicitations. Can you relate?

We stop too soon

One of the tips I wrote about in the article was this: grab a list of all your assignments and list out the date they told you "non". Can you do it?

As fundraisers and nonprofit leaders, we tend to give up too quickly. We tend to attempt a solicitation - or even have a meeting and attempt follow up - but get no response from the donor. Rather than persisting until they tell us "no" (or "yes"!), we fill in the silence with our own narrative. "They must not want to give this year." "They must not like us anymore." "This isn't a good time for them."

Unless the donor hasn't told us now isn't a good time, how dare we rob her of the opportunity to invest in her values! (Click here to tweet that.)

Learning to "Go for No!"

Next month's training for members of The Nonprofit Academy will get a full webinar from Andrea Waltz, one of the authors of Go for No! - Yes is the Destination; No is How You Get There. Her book has transformed fundraising for many of my clients.

Here are a couple benefits from going for "no":

Going for no helps you respect donors

Donors' worlds don't revolve around our nonprofit, so often they need more communication than we are comfortable giving. In a recent blog post, the Veritus Group talks about needing to try 6-7 times to connect with a donor! We usually give up after 3 or 4, don't we. Or 2!

If we stop attempting, we're really making a giving decision for the donor. We wouldn't pull out a donor's checkbook and write the check for them. Why would we preemptively tell a donor they don't really want to give to us? Especially if we've already received indications that our cause fits their values?

We need to respect the donor enough to let them say no themselves.


Going for no keeps us going when we're "hot"

One of the key lessons in Go for No! is that most average fundraisers stop after getting a "yes." Above average fundraisers keep on going until the get "no's." (The authors of the book write about salespeople but it's the same here with fundraisers.) Often, when we have a great solicitation, we simply stop. Have you noticed how much easier it is to ask for a gift after you've just received one? Use that momentum! Go on to the next solicitation, or call to schedule one!

Preparing for year-end giving

Look back at your list. If you can't put a date for when a donor told you "no," get out there this week and ask them. Follow up in various ways: a call this week, an email or text the next, a note the third. Mixing it up will help you find the way to best communicate with your individual donors.

And it will help you reach your fundraising goals!!

The post Sometimes, you need to go for no appeared first on FundraisingCoach.com.

Ebola, Apple’s iPhone 6, and your nonprofit’s successful fundraising

Apple iPhone 6 Lines in NYC,
Photograph by Kate Arnold Fitzpatrick

Today the Apple iPhone 6 hits the streets. People are lining up by the hundreds like the line going around the block in this image from New York City.

Are they lining up that way for your nonprofit's fundraising?

Yesterday I published an article on LinkedIn's Pulse called Ebola, iPhone 6, & your nonprofit's fundraising. In it I look at how storytelling might play a role in people's response to causes and products getting more-or-less equal press. In the next 7 days, the world will spend about 81/2 times more on iPhones than it would cost to contain the Ebola outbreak.

What people do with their own money is up to them. I think nonprofits can learn from Apple's power at communicating to customers, a power missed in the messages about the Ebola crisis.

Read the entire post at: Ebola, iPhone 6, & your nonprofit's fundraising (https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/article/20140918140632-8616660-ebola-iphone-6-your-nonprofit-s-fundraising)

The post Ebola, Apple’s iPhone 6, and your nonprofit’s successful fundraising appeared first on FundraisingCoach.com.

3 inexpensive tools to make your year-end giving amazing

In creating an Ask Without Fear! training for the executive directors of the Jewish National Fund of Canada, I was reminded how important September is for the vast number of nonprofits. Even for those like JNF that have religious holidays in the coming weeks, the end of the calendar year can be when a nonprofit's budget is made.

So here are three things to do now to make sure this is the best year-end yet!

Three tools to make this your best year-end yet


Read Roger Craver's Retention Fundraising

Last week, I spent less than 3-hours reading Roger Craver's new Retention Fundraising. This is the best book yet for describing how to keep donors and why you'd want to. The chapters are short enough to keep you engaged; the content compelling enough to keep you writing notes and jotting down ideas.

This one book will help you develop a list of actions to work on now to help donors remember to give in a few months. More importantly, it will help you discuss what is truly important with your board, CEO/Executive Director, and staff. It will also help you get the right language to use in your fundraising appeals.

Retaining donors is the least expensive way to fundraise. This book will show you how. You can read my review of Retention Fundraising here: http://fundraisingcoach.com/2014/09/03/raise-money-donor-retention-without-throwing-money-away/

(If you're not into reading books, Roger recommends our recordings called "The Donor Retention Project." You can learn more about that at http://DonorRetentionJazz.com/.)

Listen to the free Stewardship School class

Last week, Shanon Doolittle and Vanessa Chase gave the best nonprofit training I've heard in a long time. Intense, fun, face-paced, and incredibly practical. These two women give you a 5-step outline for interacting with your donors over the next four months. Most of the steps can be done a little or no cost. But at great reward.

I think "donor fatigue" is more about donors getting tired of us doing an awful job treating them like humans. Shanon and Vanessa show you how to stop that!

You can view the entire training for free at: http://fundraisingcoach.com/free-donor-stewardship-school-class/

(Shanon and Vanessa also gave an even more detailed stewardship calls for members of The Nonprofit Academy. Membership starts at $19/month and you'll get access to this and a growing library of 50 other trainings, templates, and tools. Learn more at: http://thenonprofitacademy.com/why-membership/)

Get your free copy of "The Nonprofit Storytelling Field Guide & Journal"

The creators of The Nonprofit Storytelling Conference are giving away a brand new book called "The Nonprofit Storytelling Field Guide & Journal." Having a library of organizational stories (including donor stories) makes all of your fundraising and donor retention easier. This guide shows you how. The book is currently free, all you need to do is pay the shipping. All the details are at: http://nonprofitstorytellingconference.com/free-book/


It's not too early to plan for year-end fundraising

Ideally, you've spent the summer getting your year-end fundraising plans finalized. But even if you haven't, September is a wonderful time to work on donor retention and your year-end giving. These three free or inexpensive tools will help set you up for the best year-end yet! (If you do what they suggest, of course!)

The post 3 inexpensive tools to make your year-end giving amazing appeared first on FundraisingCoach.com.

How to raise more money through donor retention – without throwing money away

I spent Labor Day morning reading about the labor of fundraising. I am so glad I picked up Roger Craver's book, Retention Fundraising! These three hours will be with me for years.

I'm not new to this. I've been studying donor retention for over a decade. My first product, "Creating Donor Evangelists" leveraged studies done by Gallup and for commercial organizations like Build-A-Bear Workshop to show that donor relations was the most important part of fundraising. But Roger's book showed me aspects about retaining donors that will be affecting my work for years.

A product of years of research

To write this book, Roger immersed himself in three years of study, including a 3-year study of 250 organizations that empirically shows the way to retain donors. Fortunately, Roger keeps his writing style incredibly readable!

He builds a great case for the importance of keeping donors year after year. There are statistics, dollar amounts, and charts. Lots of information that will help even a hardened CEO "get" why investing in donor relations isn't an "expendable" option.

The "why" and the "how"

If you've been around fundraising for the past few years, you've heard that it's important retain donors. And to look at the "lifetime value" of donors. But you rarely are told HOW to measure that. The search is over. Roger includes the formulas for discovering how many donors you're retaining, how much each donor is worth, and even what aspects of your fundraising program donors care about -- and what they don't care about at all.

While you should do the work to find out about your donors, even if you don't, this book tells you the seven best areas to focus your retention efforts.

A wonderful resource

This book is terrific. I found myself underlining sentences, circling paragraphs, and marking up pages. I even found myself pulling my phone out to store some pages in my Evernote account so they'd be available for ready access!

Retention Fundraising is available on Amazon. The accompanying resource website is at http://retentionfundraising.com/

The post How to raise more money through donor retention – without throwing money away appeared first on FundraisingCoach.com.

Free Donor Stewardship Class!

We're rapidly moving toward the most generous time of the year. Many nonprofits see 30% or more of their annual donations in December. But according to recent studies by Google, September is when donors start making their year-end giving decisions.

Will you retain your donors this year?

I've asked Shanon Doolittle and Vanessa Chase, the founders of the Stewardship School, to give a special free class for readers of this blog! And they've said you! I'm thrilled because I know how busy they must be with their next Stewardship School session starting soon!

Come with your questions

Join us, September 2 at 2 p.m. Eastern. Shanon and Vanessa will talk about what you can do now to say thank you and show gratitude before year-end asks.

Be sure to bring your questions to this tutoring hour!

To register for free, use simple form below. This class will be recorded so registering here will allow you to get the recording.

You can't afford to lose donors. And you need systems in place now in case you have a huge influx of donors like those from the #ALSicebucketchallenge and Myley Cyrus' mention of My Friends Place.

Sign up for this free class now!

(c) The Fundraising Coach, LLC

Get 100 donors in the next 12 weeks? Learn how: 100 Donors in 90 Days!

Are you ready for donors using LinkedIn?

In teaching nonprofit social media, I call LinkedIn the "little engine that could."

Started in late 2002, LinkedIn has seen many social media platforms rise and fall. (Anyone remember Friendster or MySpace?) But LinkedIn keeps trucking along. And in my non-scientific experience, it is the preferred social media platform of many executives. They tell me where the other platforms seem a free-for-all of personal information, they like LinkedIn's focus on work. It feels safe to share your resume and interact professionally with others.

These professionals are your donors.

Your donors are using LinkedIn

And in a recent article by The Economist called "LinkedIn Has Already Shaken Up The Way Professionals Are Hired – And It's Just Getting Started," users aren't just limited to executives. Managers and even those in more "service" related jobs are turning to LinkedIn.

According to the article, here are some of the ways they are using LinkedIn:

Employers are using LinkedIn to develop a short list of people who could fill positions that might be opening in their company.

Students are using LinkedIn to see where people go in their careers after graduating from certain colleges.

Staff members are using LinkedIn to check up on the new hire who starts today.

And job seekers are using LinkedIn to scope out what working at a company might be like based on their profile and those of the people working there.

If they are used to doing research on LinkedIn, it's only a matter of time before they turn LinkedIn's tools on to your nonprofit.

Donors are checking out your nonprofit

As I reminded Fundraising Kick subscribers last week, Google reports donors start researching donations in September! What would they find if they did their research on LinkedIn?

Here are some ways to find out:

Google your nonprofit's name with the name LinkedIn

In your favorite search engine, type: [your nonprofit's name] LinkedIn

You'll likely see your organization's LinkedIn profile page as well as any profiles from people who've listed your organization as an employer. What does it reveal? Is it representing your organization the way you'd like it to be represented?


Review your senior leadership's LinkedIn profile

Donors like to give money to organizations with leaders they can trust. Do the profiles of your top leaders inspire trust?


Check out the profiles of your board members and key volunteers

LinkedIn provides a section for listing "Volunteer Experience & Causes." Are your board members and key volunteers listing your nonprofit there? This may be an easy place to engage them. After all, volunteering can enhance a person's resume, just like it can enhance a college application. (But don't force them. It is their profile. They can use it as they want.)

If these results aren't what you'd hoped for, create a plan to start making that change.

Not just for donors

Of course, LinkedIn isn't just for donors. Fundraisers can use it too. You can use it to research donor prospects. Check out their profile and see how they represent themselves. This can help you craft your initial approach or communicate during a solicitation. (Just remember that users can see who's viewed their profile.)

You might also want to experiment with using LinkedIn to set up actual meetings. In a Movie Mondays video, fundraiser Rebecca Zanatta said she had a much higher rate of successfully making appointments through LinkedIn rather than regular email. She thinks it might be because prospects were able to use her LinkedIn profile learn more about her before replying. You can see her video at: http://bit.ly/NPusingLinkedIN

Finally, you can use LinkedIn's tools to congratulate donors and board members on job changes and accomplishments. Be careful with these. They can be triggered by odd things, even something as simple as a person just updating her profile. It's best to say something like, "[Name], from LinkedIn, it looks like you're celebrating a new job. Is that accurate? Regardless, it was great to see your name in my inbox!"

Your turn

Fortunately, most of these LinkedIn tweaks can be done fairly quickly. Which ones do you think you'll do?

While you're at it, I'd love to connect with you on LinkedIn. You can find me at: http://linkedin.com/in/marcapitman

(c) The Fundraising Coach, LLC

Get 100 donors in the next 12 weeks? Learn how: 100 Donors in 90 Days!

Don’t waste time trying to copy the #icebucketchallenge

Every week, I send a fundraising coaching email to nonprofit CEOs and Executive Directors. These Kicks are designed to remind them to get out from behind their desk to interact with 5-10 major donors and prospects. I rarely share these Fundraising Kicks with anyone but them. But this week there will be hundreds, possibly thousands, of board conversations about their nonprofit can copy the uber-successful ALS ice bucket challenge.

These conversations are a waste of time. They're a waste of time because they're asking the wrong questions.

Don't get me wrong. I've participated in the ice bucket challenge. (My video is above.) My mother passed away due to ALS last fall, so I'm thrilled that ALS is getting this much media attention. But it will be a distraction for fundraising professionals around the world.

Here is the entire Fundraising Kick email, just as it was sent. It includes suggestions on what to direct that well meaning board enthusiasm toward.

Subject: Don’t waste time trying to dream up a copycat #icebucketchallenge

Good morning, Kickers!

As leaders of your organization, I need to be frank. The ALS ice bucket challenge is amazing and something to be celebrated. Anything that gets so many people talking about charity is wonderful.

But please stop letting your board waste staff resources trying to figure out how to copy it for your nonprofit.

As of Saturday, the ALS Foundation is reporting a total of $62.5 million raised from existing donors plus 1.2 million new donors. Let’s celebrate that. Yes, if it happened for them, it could for you.

Tortoise and the hare

As far as I can tell, this wasn’t initiated by the ALS Association. This was created by fans. Even that is only partially true. Despite media crediting a man named Pete Frates with getting this going, it seems dumping cold water on your head for charity was being done for other nonprofits in previous years. It may have even morphed out of the much older tradition of “polar bear plunges.” (The research is murky so if you have better sources, please tell me.)

The point is, this sort of sensation is usually initiated by fans of nonprofits, not the organizations themselves. So rather than trying to be the next ice bucket beneficiaries, get your board focused on how to create relationships that move donors to raving fans of your nonprofit.

Then, when a fan sees a cool fundraising idea, she will see how it works for your nonprofit.

Three steps to being ready for the next big thing

I promised to keep these Kicks brief but so I’ll leave you three things to help your board get focused on so you’re ready for the next big thing.

Invest in a great donor database & learning how to use it

You’ll only be able to create fans if you’re able to reliably communicate with existing donors. And having these systems in place will help you be ready to collect new donor information should you be the beneficiary of the next big thing.

Invest in telling your story superbly

Fans will be more likely to have you top-of-mind if you can tell them compelling stories. Fortunately, storytelling is a well studied art. I give training I my “Who’s Telling Your Story?” (http://fundraisingcoach.com/storytelling/). But there are literally dozens of great storytelling tools out there. There is also a terrific conference coming this November dedicated to helping you tell your story well. Check it out at: http://nonprofitstoryconference.com/

Remain consistent in fundraising, especially major gifts

Finally, keep doing what you’re doing. Don’t grow weary. It’s exciting to think about hitting the lottery, but the odds are against you. And you have no control over winning. But you do have control over making you 5-10 calls this week. And reaching donors with appeals 2-4 times this fall. And learning to create systems to steward donors well. (There is even a Stewardship School starting up this month. You can learn more here: http://bitly.com/StewardshipSchool.)

Your mission this week

Keep reaching out to 5-10 major gift donors. This week, it might be easiest to do thank you calls. Letting them know how much you appreciate their support.

You might even congratulate them on their #icebucketchallenge video. : )8

To your fundraising success,

Marc

P.S. The Stewardship School leaders are doing a special tutorial for FR Kick and Ask Without Fear subscribers next Tuesday, September 2 at 2 p.m. Eastern. To register, or to have staff register, go to: https://qc125.infusionsoft.com/app/form/stewardshiptutoring

How are you responding?

That was my Fundraising Kick email to nonprofit leaders this morning.

How about you? How are you responding to the pressure to copy the ice bucket challenge? Let us know in the comments!

To get these fundraising coaching email every week, sign up at http://fundraisingcoach.com/fundraisingkick/

(c) The Fundraising Coach, LLC

Get 100 donors in the next 12 weeks? Learn how: 100 Donors in 90 Days!

KindleUnlimited offers a great marketing opportunity for your library!

A few weeks ago, Amazon announced KindleUnlimited. For $10/month, you can read from their list of books, and listen to some of them on Audible.

Doesn't this sound like charging for what libraries already offer?

Start where your donors are

In my book on raising library support, I talk about the importance of talking the language of your donors. Here is a great opportunity! Almost everyone knows Amazon. And people are talking about KindleUnlimited. A quick Google search on "KindleUnlimited" shows thousands of posts about Amazon's new service.

So why not do a blog post or pitch a story with your local media like this one in the Wall Street Journal "Why the Public Library Beats Amazon — for Now."

This gives you a terrific way to show the leaps and bounds your library has been making in providing books, ebooks, audiobooks, and other digital offerings. You don't have to bash Amazon or be negative. You could simply show how much better your catalog is than theirs, and remind people they have access to other library's catalogs too. You could share that your library offers more choice, allowing readers to find information however they prefer: print, CD, DVD, or digital. Even on their Kindles.

And you offer this for free.

You have a powerful opportunity to ride a media bump. Will you seize it?

Year-end fundraising idea: If you're writing your library fundraising year-end appeals, you could make your appeal related to KindleUnlimited too. It might include: "While we're thrilled at any attempt to help people read more, thanks to donors like you, we are able to stay committed to keeping it open to people regardless of ability to pay."

(c) The Fundraising Coach, LLC

Get 100 donors in the next 12 weeks? Learn how: 100 Donors in 90 Days!

How to get new donors

As a fundraising coach, one of the most common questions I get is about how to get new donors for a nonprofit. The question was well summed up in this question from an Ask Without Fear! email newsletter subscriber:

"How do I acquire new donors? I find that people keep saying donor acquisition is given way more attention than retention. I find retention articles are a dime a dozen but it is difficult to find quality articles on acquisition."

It’s great to read about donor retention, or how to call donors, but what if you don’t have any donors yet?

So I reached out to some experts around the world and share eleven of them on my new article "11 Experts on How To Get New Donors."

I normally include the entire article here on the blog. But there are so many good ideas, and it is so long, that I posted it in the articles section. Check it out. There are tips on direct mail, working with corporations, even one that refers to getting new donors as having a "champagne taste on a beer budget"!

The full article is at:

http://fundraisingcoach.com/free-articles/getting-new-donors/

(c) The Fundraising Coach, LLC

Get 100 donors in the next 12 weeks? Learn how: 100 Donors in 90 Days!