Description
Book SynopsisWritten by fundraising experts Tom Ahern and Simone Joyaux,
Keep Your Donors is a new, winning guide to making disappointing donor retention rates a thing of the past. This practical and provocative book will show you how to master the strategies and tactics that make fundraising communications profitable. Filled with case studies and based in part on the CFRE and AFP job analyses,
Keep Your Donors is your definitive guide to getting new donorsand keeping themfor many years to come.
Table of ContentsPreface xxiii
Acknowledgments xxv
Chapter 1 Beginning at the Beginning: The Context for Everything Else 1
Why the Larger Context Matters 1
Philosophical Framework 2
This I Believe 3
Building Community 3
Building Community Redux 7
Effective Organizations 8
Key Components of Effective Organizations 8
Effective Fund Development 9
In Conclusion 10
INTERMEZZO #1 Why? 11
Chapter 2 The Red Pants Factor: A Story about the Power of Questioning 13
Finding Your Own ‘‘Red Pants Factor’’ 15
A Postscript from Black Dress 15
INTERMEZZO #2 What Do All the Words Mean? 17
Chapter 3 Key Components of Effective Organizations: Part of the Larger Context for This Work 19
Adopt an Organizational Development Approach 19
Limitations of Technical Fundraising 20
Turning You into an Organizational Development Specialist 21
What the Organizational Development Specialist Needs to Know 22
Build a Culture of Philanthropy 23
Concept of Corporate Culture 23
Culture of Philanthropy 24
Meaningful Questions 25
Personal and Organizational Commitment to Conversation and Questioning, Learning and Change 27
Learning Organization Theory 27
Systems Thinking, the Cornerstone of Learning Organizations 28
Conversation at Work 29
This Is Hard Work 33
Value of Research—Your Own and That of Others 33
Collecting Data from Your Organization 35
Translating Data into Useful Information 35
Qualified Opinions Only, Please! 36
A Curious Conundrum 36
Corollary of the Curious Conundrum 37
In Conclusion 38
Chapter 4 What Relationships Are and Why We Have Them: The Art of Human Interaction 41
Relationships Are Everything 41
A Radical Notion 43
Relationships Require Choice 43
Types of Relationships in the Nonprofit/NGO Sector 44
Your Philanthropic Relationships: How Your Organization Relates to Its Donors of Time and Money 44
Relationships with Other Organizations: How Your Organization Relates to Other Community Organizations 44
Relationships within Your Organization: How the Various Parts of Your Organization Relate 45
Advocacy and Public Policy Relationships: How Your Organization Promotes Public Policy that Fosters Healthy Communities 45
Relationships Are Definitely Not Transactions 46
Do Donors Really Want Relationships? 47
Watch a Good Relationship Builder 48
Key Concepts in Relationship Building 48
Sincerity 49
Closeness and Boundaries 50
Diversity and Cultural Competence 51
Values 53
Dynamism and Change 54
In Conclusion 54
Appendix 4A Values and Mission of the Equity Action Fund at The Rhode Island Foundation 59
Chapter 5 Five Rather Deadly Sins: Warnings about Relationships and Solicitation 61
Sin #1: Separating Fund Development from Philanthropy 61
Sin #2: Treating Giving as a Financial Transaction Rather than an Emotional Act 62
Are You Treating Your Donors like Automatic Teller Machines? 63
Sin #3: Trespassing on Personal and Professional relationships. Please Promise that You Won’t! 64
How Do Your Board Members Feel? 65
But Lots of Organizations Do This and We Need the Money! 65
Sin #4: Universalizing Your Own Passion. Instead, Find Theirs—or Leave Them Alone and Move On! 66
Sin #5: Asking Prematurely 67
More Visibility Does Not Produce More Gifts 67
Ensuring Visibility with Your Prospects and Donors 69
Don’t Solicit Unless You Know that The Person Knows Your Organization 69
Not Sins but Certainly Worries 70
Are You Worried about Donor Fatigue? 70
Are You Worried about All That Competition for the Same Donors? 71
In Conclusion 72
INTERMEZZO #3 Direct Mail and Relationship Building 73
Chapter 6 Eight Steps to Develop and Nurture Relationships: It’s What I’m Buying that Counts 75
Developing Your Relationship-Building Program 77
Steps in Relationship Building 77
Step #1: Identify the Predisposed 78
Step #2: Get to Know the Predisposed 78
Step #3: Understand Their Interests and 78
Disinterests, Their Emotions, and Their Motivations and Aspirations 79
Step #4: Identify What You Have in Common and Define the Mutually Beneficial Exchange 80
Step #5: Nurture the Relationship to Develop Commitment 80
Step #6: Evaluate Interest and Readiness for the Request 81
Step #7: Ask and Thank 83
Step # 8: Monitor Progress and Measure Results 85
In Conclusion 85
Appendix 6A Evaluating Prospect Interest, Readiness, and Capacity and Designing the Ask 86
Chapter 7 Identify the Predisposed: Finding New Prospects for Your Organization 89
Who Are the Predisposed? 89
Introducing the Concept 89
But What If They Are Reluctant? 90
Fund Development Professionals Help Organizations Identify the Predisposed 91
Collect and Analyze Public Lists 91
Listen to Your Friends and Colleagues 92
Host Cultivation Gatherings 93
Creating Opportunities for People to Self-Identify as Predisposed 94
How the Women’s Fund Uses These Four Steps 95
Building Relationships (and Identifying the Predisposed) at the Apple Store 97
In Conclusion 98
Appendix 7A Learning about People Through Conversation 99
Chapter 8 Understanding the Fundamentals of Marketing and Communications: The Right Message to the Right Person at the Right Time 103
Communications: For Many, It’s All They Know of You 103
Fund Development Is a Type of Marketing, and Uses the Same Methods 104
It’s Not What You’re Selling, It’s What They’re Buying 107
Targeting: How You Find Needles in a Haystack 109
Segmentation: How You Increase Penetration Of A Target Market 112
Frequency and Reach 113
What Is Branding? 116
In Conclusion 118
Chapter 9 Emotions: The Decision Makers 119
Introduction 119
Orbitofrontal Damage and Its Implications for Fundraisers 120
Emotional Triggers: An Introduction 121
Up to 135 Triggers to Choose From 122
Emotional Twinsets: Raise the Problem, Be the Solution 125
In Conclusion 128
Appendix 9A W. Gerrod Parrott’s List of Emotions 130
Chapter 10 Relationship Building: Details about Steps #3 and #5: Getting to Know You 133
Step #3 in the Relationship-Building Process 133
Getting Started 134
Keep Going! 136
What Kind of Information Do You Want to Know? 136
A Few Strategies for Getting to Know Your Donors and Prospects 137
A Reminder about Step # 4 140
Step #5: Nurture the Relationship to Development Commitment 140
Role of Customer Service 140
Some Preliminary Thoughts about Cultivation 141
Creating Opportunities for Connection 143
Ways of Making Emotions Tangible and Expressing Feelings 144
Cultivation as a Community-Building Process 144
Ideas for Nurturing Relationships 145
Using Incentives to Nurture Relationships 151
Using an Individual to Cultivate a Particular Relationship 151
Debrief after Cultivation 152
In Conclusion 152
Appendix 10A Building Relationships with Your Constitutents 154
Appendix 10B Member Survey of the Audubon Society of Rhode Island 162
Appendix 10C E-Mail Survey from the Audubon Society of Rhode Island 168
Appendix 10D Women’s Fund of Rhode Island Marking Milestones Brochure 170
Chapter 11 Creating Your Relationship-Building Plan: Write It Down 173
Good Process Produces the Best Results 174
Plan Practicalities 174
A Different Approach 175
In Conclusion 176
Chapter 12 Planning Donor Communications: Staying in Touch 177
Introduction 177
Writing a Plan 178
Building an Annual Donor/Media Communications Calendar on the Schwartz Plan 179
In Conclusion 185
Chapter 13 Characteristics of Effective Communications: How the Sausage Gets Made 187
Action is the Objective. Reading Is Optional 187
An Honest-to-Goodness Secret to Success: Write a Creative Brief First 189
There’s an Onslaught, and You’re Part of the Problem 190
You’re Selling Feelings, Especially Hope 190
You’re Selling a Feeling of Importance, Too 190
Interest Me (or Else) 191
How to Interest Donors and Prospects: The Big Four 193
How to Interest Anyone: Four Chances to Win 195
Self-Interest: Why Greed Is Good (For Your Organization) 198
Make Offers 199
Passing the ‘‘You’’ Test 200
Don’t Talk So Much about What You Do. Talk about Why It Matters 201
Have Themes 201
You’ve Heard of ‘‘Values Voters’’? Meet ‘‘Values Givers’’ 202
In Conclusion 203
INTERMEZZO #4 What’s the Role of a Fundraiser? 205
Chapter 14 Are You Really Donor-Centered? Are Your Donors Truly Loyal? Why Building a Better Mousetrap Doesn’t Work Unless Your Donors Are Mice 207
Some Facts about Donor Retention 208
Donor-Centrism: The New Old Thing 209
Acquisition Is Easy. Retention Is Tough 209
‘‘Donor-Centric’’ Is Another Way of Saying ‘‘Building Trust’’ 210
Why Donor-Centered? Shouldn’t Mission Be at the Center? 211
Simple Demands of Donor-Centricity 212
Donor Loyalty and Donor-Centrism: Inextricably Linked 212
What Is Loyalty? 214
Passive Loyalty 214
Active Loyalty 215
Lifetime Value 216
Are Donors Loyal to Your Organization or to the Cause You Represent? 216
Current Donors Come First 217
Helping Your Donors Dream 218
It’s Relationship Building, It’s Not Education 218
Engaging Donors with a Targeted Gift 220
Acquiring a New Donor 221
You’re Invading Their Privacy 222
Many Nonprofits Cannot Afford Bulk Direct Mail Acquisition Anyway 222
Create an Exclusive Program to Bond with First-Time Donors 223
Your Organization Can Speak Out—But Does It? 225
In Conclusion 226
Chapter 15 Telling a Story: Then What Happened? 229
Why Tell Stories? 229
What Is a Story? 230
Fundraising Stories Report Results, without Lingering on Your Inner Workings 231
Anecdotes versus Statistics: Which Are Better? 232
Handling the Trophy Statistic 234
Use Statistics like a Spear 235
Have Themes, Then Tell Stories that Illustrate Those Themes 235
What Makes a Story Work? Sensory Detail 237
In Conclusion 239
Chapter 16 Communications and Social Styles: Did You See What I Mean? 241
Everything but the Words 241
What Does ‘‘Social Style’’ Mean? 243
Assertiveness and Responsiveness Come First 243
Assertiveness: Measuring How Others See You as You Try to Influence Their Thoughts and Actions 244
Responsiveness: Measuring How Others See You as You Express Your Feelings 244
What’s Your Social Style? 246
Are You Comfortable? Are Others? 247
Are You Versatile? 248
A Few Caveats 248
In Conclusion 249
Chapter 17 Conversation Nurtures Relationships: Asking Questions to Learn More 251
A Quick Aside: Questions Related to Solicitation 252
Purpose of This Conversation 252
Honoring Conversation 253
Active Listening 254
Listening . . . Sort Of 254
Observing 255
Genuine Inquisitiveness 256
Starting a Conversation: Why Talking about the Weather Is Good 256
What Is Important to Those in Your Relationships? 257
Here’s a Framework That Might Help You Discern What’s Important 258
Your Donors and Your Mission 260
Ask Your Donors Why 260
Ask Questions about Your Organization Specifically 261
Ask Questions about Your Cause 261
Ask About Their Giving Habits 262
Find Out Their Values and Beliefs 262
Conversation with Donors at the Rhode Island Foundation 263
In Conclusion 265
Chapter 18 The Case for Support: Why Should Anyone Give You Money? 267
Introduction 267
Preliminary Steps 268
A Good Case Is, at Heart, an Inspiring Tale 268
What Kinds of Information to Collect? A Checklist 271
Building a Case in a Single Meeting 276
Why Does Your Organization Do What It Does? 277
What Have You Accomplished? 277
Why Is Your Organization the Best Organization to Do This Work? 277
What Do You Do? 278
How Do You Hold Yourself Accountable? 278
Who Are Your Target Audiences? 278
Which Emotional Triggers Would Move Your Target Audience(s) to Act? 279
Going from A to B: Answering Three Basic Questions 279
Why Us? 280
Why Now? 280
Why You? 280
Types of Case Statements 280
Internal Case 280
Feasibility, Planning, or Draft Case 285
Public Case 285
In Conclusion 287
Appendix 18A Thoughts about Creating a Case for Support 289
Appendix 18B Housatonic Youth Service Bureau: (Established by Six Concerned Communities in 1991) 294
Appendix 18C Volunteers in Providence Schools: Case Statement for Operations 297
Appendix 18D Audubon Society of RI: Internal Case for Donor Support 302
Appendix 18E Talking Points: HousingWorks RI 2006 313
Chapter 19 The Donor Newsletter: How You Cultivate (i.e., Retain) Donors 321
Introduction 321
What the Research Says about Donor Newsletters 322
What Do Donors Want from Your Newsletter? 323
Seven Common Flaws that Undermine Donor Newsletters: A Checklist 326
Flaw #1: Doesn’t Deliver News that Donors Care About 326
Flaw #2: Doesn’t Put the Donor Center Stage 327
Flaw #3: Isn’t Very Friendly 327
Flaw #4: Skimps on Emotional Triggers 328
Flaw #5: Doesn’t Tell Stories 328
Flaw #6: Expects People to Read in Depth 328
Flaw #7: Doesn’t Have Real Headlines 328
The Flaw You Fix First: Headlines 329
How to Find the Story Behind the Headline 330
Electrons or Paper? High-Performance E-Mailed Newsletters 332
Your E-Newsletter’s Subject Line Makes All the Difference 335
Electrons and Paper: Other Advantages of E-Newsletters 336
E-Newsletters Must Be Opt-in (A Good Idea for Everything, Really) 338
Fast, Easy, Still on Paper: The ‘‘Newsyletter’’ 339
Simplicity Itself: A Proven Formula for a Donor Newsyletter 340
In Conclusion 341
Appendix 19A Boys & Girls Club of Pawtucket Newsletter 342
Appendix 19B Example 1: Women’s Fund of Rhode Island Newsyletter 346
Appendix 19C Example 2: Women’s Fund of Rhode Island Newsyletter 348
Chapter 20 The Web Site Home Page: Click. Search. Do. Read? Not So Much 351
Why Web Sites Are Completely Different 351
Is Your Home Page Ready for Newcomers? 352
Getting Off on the Right Foot: The Importance of a Tagline 353
What Must Be on the Home Page, Krug Says 354
In Conclusion 355
Chapter 21 Tips for Writing: Think First. Write Later 357
Introduction 357
Your Fifth-Grade Teacher Was Right: Outline 358
An Easy Way to Outline: Ask Yourself Questions First 358
Know the Point of Your Story and Start There 361
Write about Benefits, Not Features 362
Write Less 363
Write for Speedy Reading 364
Beginning with a History Lesson, and Other Common Flaws 366
In Conclusion 368
Chapter 22 Readability: Visual Aspects of Good Communications 369
Welcome, Browsers! 369
How We Look 371
From Gutenberg to Wheildon 371
Anatomy of a Failed Annual Report 373
In Conclusion 376
Chapter 23 Monitoring Progress and Measuring Results: How Effective Are Your Communications? 377
‘‘Is It Working?’’ How to Measure Your Results 377
Measuring the Unmeasurable 381
Get Your Thoughts in Order Before You Begin to Write: A Checklist 382
Evaluating Your Donor Newsletter: Eight Tests 384
Measuring the Effectiveness of Public Relations 388
Standards for E-Mail Solicitations 389
In Conclusion 390
Chapter 24 Monitoring Progress and Measuring Results: How Good Is Your Relationship-Building Program? 393
Why Evaluation Matters 395
Deciding What to Measure 396
Measuring Performance and Evaluating Results 397
A Practical Example 398
A Suggestion for Measuring Some of Your Qualitative Results 399
Analyzing and Interpreting Evaluation Results 400
Communicating Evaluation Results 401
Possible Performance Measures for Relationship Building 401
From the Prospect/Donor Perspective 402
What You Do to Nurture Relationships 403
Charitable Giving Measures that Reflect Donor Loyalty 404
Monitoring Progress 404
In Conclusion 405
INTERMEZZO #5 You and Your Organization: Sprinting into the Future 407
Chapter 25 Coda: Philanthropy’s Moral Dilemma 409
Politics of Power in Philanthropy 410
Moral Dilemma Facing Philanthropy 410
Power, the Silent Haunting 411
Privilege, the Driving Nature of Power 411
Understanding the Two Types of Philanthropy 412
Tradition Dominates 415
Have You Noticed: The Less Social Justice We Have, the More Philanthropy We Need? 416
We Are Complicit 416
Philanthropy as a Democraticizing Act 418
Attacking the Moral Dilemma 418
In Conclusion 420
Appendix 25A Questions about Privilege and Power 422
Appendices
A. Joyaux’s Concept of Enabling Functions, Skills, and Attitudes 425
B. Basic Principles of Fund Development 427
Resources 431
Index 435
