storytelling for fundraisers | tom ahern | june 18, 2018 · 1 1 storytelling for fundraisers | tom...
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Storytelling for Fundraisers | Tom Ahern | June 18, 2018
This is what your target audience looks like.
“I’m getting push back from management that it’s too cheesy and sickly sweet.”
Moceanic student, on how her new appeal was received internally; 2018
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“WHAT IF EVERYTHING I KNEW WAS WRONG?”
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The 100% Fallacy•We could get a 100% response rate. (Giggle.)•Anyone can be our donor (Values must match.)•Any donor is a great donor (WRONG!)•Once acquired, a new donor is likely to stay a long time: “Ours for life.” (4-6 years.)•We need younger donors. (Low ROI except for monthly giving.)
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The person in charge of direct mail
was disgusted.
“Abysmal!”1.6% response rate for acquisition
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The person in charge of direct mail
didn’t know this.
Respectable acquisition response rate?
½ of 1% and up
(mail 200, receive 1 gift)
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Cumulative renewal response rate annually
40-70%
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The 100% Fallacy•We could get a 100% response rate. (Giggle.)•The shiny new thing will save us (Delusional.)•Anyone can be our donor (Values must match.)•Any donor is a great donor (WRONG!)•Once acquired, a new donor is likely to stay a long time: “Ours for life.” (4-6 years.)•We need younger donors. (Low ROI except for monthly giving.)
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A. What percentage of crowd-funding campaigns reach goal?
[ ] Almost all[ ] About 50%[X] A third or less
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A. What’s a good response rate for a print donor newsletter?
[X] 5% of your list gives[ ] 25% of your list gives[ ] 50% of your list gives
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The 100% Fallacy•We could get a 100% response rate. (Giggle.)•The shiny new thing will save us (Delusional.)•Anyone can be our donor (Values must match.)•Any donor is a great donor (WRONG!)•Once acquired, a new donor is likely to stay a long time: “Ours for life.” (4-6 years.)•We need younger donors. (Low ROI except for monthly giving.)
Source: Mark Phillips© 2018 Tom Ahern 12
EVERYONE CAN FIND A HAPPY MATCH HERE
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The 100% Fallacy•We could get a 100% response rate. (Giggle.)•The shiny new thing will save us (Delusional.)•Anyone can be our donor (Values must match.)•Any donor is a great donor (WRONG!)•Once acquired, a new donor is likely to stay a long time: “Ours for life.” (4-6 years.)•We need younger donors. (Low ROI except for monthly giving.)
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A. How likely are volunteers to give money, compared to non-volunteers?
[ ] Half as likely[ ] Just as likely[X] Twice as likely
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88% of dollars raised comes from 12% of the donors
~ Jay Love, Bloomerang, quoting the Fundraising Effectiveness Project; April 2017, via Pam Grow
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The 100% Fallacy•We could get a 100% response rate. (Giggle.)•The shiny new thing will save us (Delusional.)•Anyone can be our donor (Values must match.)•Any donor is a great donor (WRONG!)•Once acquired, a new donor is likely to stay a long time: “Ours for life.” •We need younger donors. (Low ROI except for monthly giving.)
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A. How long will an average donor give to a charity?
[ ] 1-3 years[X] 4-6 years[X] 7-10 years[ ] more than 10 years
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Monthly donors
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The 100% Fallacy•We could get a 100% response rate. (Giggle.)•The shiny new thing will save us (Delusional.)•Anyone can be our donor (Values must match.)•Any donor is a great donor (WRONG!)•Once acquired, a new donor is likely to stay a long time: “Ours for life.”•We need younger donors.
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“87% of millennials donated to charity last year” ~ Huffington Post
Is THAT where the real money is? Low ROI ... unless
you acquire them as monthly donors.
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Source: Richard Shotton tweet
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The 100% Fallacy•We could get a 100% response rate. (Giggle.)•The shiny new thing will save us (Delusional.)•Anyone can be our donor (Values must match.)•Any donor is a great donor (WRONG!)•Once acquired, a new donor is likely to stay a long time: “Ours for life.”•We need younger donors.•All donors are created equal.
Not all donors are created equal: the $100 split
...the control group got an emotional appeal and a personal story about a participant in the nonprofit’s program; the test group received the same letter, plusan additional paragraph talking about the “rigorous scientific methodologies” on which the nonprofit’s program was based. Jerry Panas, April 2018
The researchers found an interesting split in the data: effectiveness data significantly harmed response among smaller (under $100) donors (.6 percentage points lower response rate) and helped response among larger ($100+, but you probably guessed that) donors (one percentage point higher response rate).
One might say (and I do) that this highlights a dichotomy in how people give: smaller gifts are heart gifts; larger gifts are head gifts.
Nick Ellinger/The Agitator/January 2018
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The Biggest Fallacy of All?
•“Donor communications are easy. If you can read and write, you’re good to go.”
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Source: Tom Belford, The Agitator
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Branded
Generic
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Source: Mark Phillips, April 2018
ONLINE GIVING, AS IT IS NOW
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This new research produces TWICE as many donations. Are
you keeping up?
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The cover on the right raised 317% more in gifts; they changed 8 things
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The cover on the right raised 317% more in gifts. Why?
Warmer name
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The cover on the right raised 317% more in gifts. Why?
Subtitle clarifies purpose of publication
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The cover on the right raised 317% more in gifts. Why?
Big face and eye contact draw reader in
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The cover on the right raised 317% more in gifts. Why?
SIMPLE and FAST: One story, not two
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The cover on the right raised 317% more in gifts. Why?
Front-page boss has been replaced by the story of
someone the donor helped
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The cover on the right raised 317% more in gifts. Why?
Old focus: what programs doNew focus: what donors do
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The cover on the right raised 317% more in gifts. Why?
“You” is in the small type, at the end of an article few will read
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The cover on the right raised 317% more in gifts. Why?
“You” in the BIG type
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They’re the only fundraising activities you can hope to succeed at with almost no
training...
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“I see so many small organizations on these never-ending event & grant treadmills....”
Source: Pam Grow, 2018, 20K Twitter followers
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The median amount donated or sponsored in the last year is $100.Charitable Giving in the USA 2017, Charities Aid Foundation
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A. Which gives you the highest Return on Investment (ROI)?
[ ] Direct mail appeals[ ] Events[X] Gifts in wills (bequests)[ ] Major gifts fundraising
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You spend $1, you make how
much?
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How to DOUBLE your fundraising revenue
• Move 10% of your donors to monthly giving.• Persuade about 3% of your donors to upgrade their
giving to the $500 level or higher.• Get 5% of your donors to include you in their Wills.
Hilborn Charity eNEWS, via Future Fundraising Now, 2017
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Comparisons of Lifetime Value (LTV)
•LTV of a one-time donor (U lose $): $50/average?•Gives same amount for 10 years (rare): $500•Converts to $10/monthly gift for 10 years (conversion takes work): around $1,200•Becomes a $1,000/annual donor: around $9,000•Leaves a charitable bequest: $50,000 or more
Looking at LTV helps you prioritize your activities and investments. It is Dr. Adrian Sargeant’s most important metric.
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LTV tells fundraisers to focus on...
• persuading more donors to sign up as monthly donors
• moving mid-value donors into higher giving
• marketing charitable bequests
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Dr. Adrian Sargeant, the world’s foremost researcher into fundraising matters
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Why this workshop isn’t called“how to market planned giving”
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“Some say bequests constitute at least 80% of so-called planned gifts; others say 90% or more…”
Source: Mal Warwick
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The Plan
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How to market bequests (minimum)
•Make a list of anyone who’s given 3 times or more.•Create a Legacy Society (a special group to join and be honored by).•Send your list a letter once a year, asking them to consider joining your Legacy Society by adding charity to their Wills.•Repeat ad infinitum.
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“I see so many small organizations on these never-ending event & grant treadmills....”
Source: Pam Grow, 2018, 20K Twitter followers
How bequests saved a charity...
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2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
TOTAL $4,517,759 $5,154,302 $6,653,715 $5,320,060 $5,729,104 $6,345,489
bequests $731,643 $745,751 $2,258,660 $1,912,605 $2,521,307 $2,510,340
annual donors
21,846 21,017 19,872 17,508 16,893 15,484
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Had your predecessor 10 years ago fired up a competent bequest marketing program, today your organization would be swimming in money.
So, what’s your excuse?
It takes one letter annually.
Put bequest marketing on your calendar for next week. Nothing happens until you start.
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Soon, too
CDC life expectancy
looms
retiremajor illnessmarry 1st time
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They’re called “life events.”We all have them.
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have kidsbuy 1st house
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29%
43%
15%
7%4%2%
WHAT are you waiting for ????When did people leaving a gift to charity in 2015 write/amend their wills?Source: Mark Phillips, Bluefrog
Bequests come in quicker than you might assume = within 1-4 years.
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The prize?
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“All but the biggest major gifts are chicken feed in comparison to legacies.”
Stephen Pidgeon, How to Love Your Donors (to Death) (2014)
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Source: Pareto Fundraising
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Sources of giving in Australia
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Source: Pareto 2015
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Same data inc legacies (bequests)
www.seantriner.com © TOM AHERN 2018
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The rich are irrelevant.
(Good to know.)
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...there is no correlationbetween either income or wealth with the likelihood of giving by bequest.
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Source: Mal Warwick, quoting Robert F. Sharpe, Jr., around 2005
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[Bequest] marketing ... is about getting a small number of very large gifts from your ‘average’ donors. These are the donors who aren’t on your radar screen already, who aren’t interested in tea and banana bread with a planned giving officer, but who are very loyal to your cause.
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It may seem counterintuitive, but actually, those with the greatest net worth are not normally your best or most likely prospects for a bequest.
You need to look for men and women who are long term and consistent donors. This is especially true of those who give four or more times a year, several hundred dollars a year. They are your very best prospects for a bequest.
The greatest percentage by far are bequests from men and women who leave estates of $2 million or less.
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Source: Jerry Panas, August 2016
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Trending
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“The ASPCA asked this question of its database: Who exactly leaves us bequests? The answer: donors who give often but not very much.”
Kevin Schulman, DonorVoice webinar, Sept 2016
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The strongest predictor of likelihood that someone will make a charitable bequest:
childlessness
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Source: Russell James III, 2014
In Australia, Germany, Italy and the US, the proportion of childlessness among women in their late 40s has doubled over the past three decades.
2012 Yale Center for the Study of Globalization
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Start a legacy society.
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“You can’t thank them when they’re dead.”
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What is “social proof”?
“Hey, look! People like me do things like
that...”
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Editor: Sally Kirby Hartman
“Synthetic family”
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Source: Seattle JFS 2018
Where’s the social proof?
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Look to your board first.
Encourage ALL board members to make bequests ... and publicize these in your newsletter and other publications. Source: Marts & Lundy.
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“I always find the best way to get rid of a bad board member is to ask them for a legacy - they usually resign on the spot!”Richard Radcliffe, 2018
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Keep your expectations in check...
“A recent look at one charity I've worked with found 50% of those saying they had left a gift in their will had gone on to do so.”
Stephen George, Sept 2016
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The advantage of endowment?Eternity of a sort
How do we deal with the existential challenge of knowing we’re mortal? We seek “symbolic immortality.”
Dr. Claire Routley
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Source: Lisa Sargent
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What he saw in permanent endowment: “He liked the fact that he will be doing something good with his money long after he is gone.”
Source: Sally Kirby Hartman, 2015
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Oldest endowment?Est. by bequest 1249 at Oxford.
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Have an offer for info.
(Because it’s a multi-step sale.)
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A plain-spoken information piece people can request.
> NO jargon!2011
2015
2017
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“Dr. Death,” mega-researcher Richard Radcliffe
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A “Joy Brochure,” not a “Death Brochure.”
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All fundraising copy should sound like someone talking.
-- George Smith, Tiny Essentials of Writing for Fundraising
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Key brochure messages
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“Bequests are life-driven, death activated....”
Essential point from “Dr. Death,” Richard Radcliffe
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Writer: Sally Kirby Hartman
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Translation: In suffrage for the souls of benefactor members (collected May 2018)
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You donʼt have to be rich to make a meaningful charitable bequest.
People want to give back. A legacy gift is a fabulous way to do just that.
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Family first....
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NEVER stop talking about it
REPETITION IS YOUR BEST
FRIEND
“Drip, drip, drip. Planned gifts are prompted by life events – death, birth, marriage, health, travel, retirement.” [People write or rewrite a will on such occasions.] “That’s why it’s so important to have a regular cadence of marketing messages. Because you never know when the time might be right.”
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Source: 2012, Jeff Comfort, Georgetown; via Phyllis Freedman’s Planned Giving blog
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Send reminders
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You can be a FRIEND of the COLUMBIA GORGE forever! Just add a gift to your will ... and join our popular FOREVER GORGEOUS LEGACY SOCIETY.
You can be a FRIEND of the COLUMBIA GORGE forever! Just add a gift to your will ... and join our popular FOREVER GORGEOUS LEGACY SOCIETY.
In email footers:
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On your website’s homepage:
“Hero Shot”
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Recurring ads in your newsletters
“Hero Shot”
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“Hero Shot”“Hero Shot”
Ads in publications your donors will see© TOM AHERN 2018
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Ads in your newsletters
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Essential!
One more time...
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“It never occurred to me!”“It never occurred to me!”“It never occurred to me!”“It never occurred to me!”“It never occurred to me!” “It never occurred to me!”“It never occurred to me!”
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Send your best prospects a special letter every year, warmly inviting them to join the Legacy Society.
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Opening: Thank your donor deeply ... humbly ... for years of help.
Middle: Put the Legacy Society offer in front of them, without coyness. Ask for their consideration, not an immediate action. “Next time you review....”
End: Thank your donor some more.
PS: Offer free information about charitable bequests.
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My simple letter formula
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Myfreehow-toe-newsletter…www.aherncomm.com
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