ARTICLE
3 Strategies + 6 Tips To Boost Generosity At Your Nonprofit
PART 2
In Part 1 we looked at results from the recent Generosity Commission Report and how it’s important for you to shift your culture to meet the current moment. Here we’ll get specific with 3 of 6 concrete strategies you can employ to meaningfully speak to the needs of today’s and tomorrow’s constituencies, while also meeting your own. [We’ll look at strategies 4 – 6 in the final installment, Part 3, of this series.]
Let’s get specific: 3 strategies + 6 tips to boost generosity
Besides fundamentally reframing your approach from fundraising to philanthropy, from selling to helping, and from competition with other nonprofits to collaboration — hugely important cultural shifts discussed in Part 1 – here are specific recommendations for meeting prospective donors where they are. Consider them your new core strategies.
In the past, you may have considered some of these strategies “back burner” items or things to do “on the side,” as time allowed. No more. Not if you want to meet people where they are. Remember, your goal (why you do what you do) must encompass building community, facilitating human connection, and creating opportunities for people to find meaning.
1. Donor retention on steroids – Make it monthly
I implore you to make soliciting recurring donations a priority. Maybe in the past you weren’t set up to manage monthly giving effectively. Or maybe you thought this was a presumptuous ask. It’s time to change things up! People today are used to a subscription economy. They are charged online on a recurring basis for a myriad of services (e.g., bill paying; food deliveries; books and magazines, and much more). Philanthropy is on the subscription bandwagon, too!
- Online monthly giving has grown by 40% in recent years and is trending across all sectors.
- Monthly giving accounted for a full 28% of all online revenue last year.
- Retention is a phenomenal 80 – 90% compared with under 20% for new one-time donors and just 45% when ongoing donors are added to the mix.
- Donor lifetime value skyrockets from 1.73 years to 8.08 years among monthly donors. In fact, the average annual value of a recurring gift is 10.3 times higher than the value of the average one-time gift!
So, you better believe prioritizing monthly giving will make a big difference. Plus, it’s easier to manage than in the past. If you haven’t seriously considered this in a while, look again. There are more payment options, and there are more companies that will handle the administration for you. Here are some examples to inspire you.
TIP 1: Make a monthly or recurring contribution your priority ask. It’s easier to start donors off this way than having to convert them. And, if you do attempt to convert, your best window is within 30 days of the initial gift. So why not consider: (1) calling out monthly giving using a tabbed donation form; (2) having a monthly box pre-checked on your donation form as the default; (3) offering an expanded range of monthly gift options to give the donor greater autonomy; (4) using a monthly only form for memberships (see here, for example); (5) using a monthly giving pop-up/lightbox (which has been known to result in a 24% increase in recurring gifts), or even (6) offering an incentive (e.g. a matching gift) for donors who give monthly. Clarity is important, of course, so don’t forget to include a companion box with the option to “Please make this a one-time gift.” Ideally, you would test different donation form variations to see which perform best for you. Yes, it’s work. But the outsized benefits – (1) larger total donation amount (e.g., $10/mo. vs. $100 one time), (2) increased lifetime value, and (3) more converted donors – make it worthwhile.
TIP 2: Check out the five monthly giving landing page examples below.
MONTHLY GIVING DEFAULT EXAMPLES
Charity: water
KALW Public Radio
MONTHLY GIVING INCENTIVE EXAMPLES
Feeding America
MONTHLY GIVING POP-UP EXAMPLE
Humane Society
2. Major gift fundraising — From A to Z
Fewer people giving gifts, but the overall value of donations going up, means you – whatever your size — must engage those individual major donors. Begin with folks hiding in your own database – you’ve likely got the raw material. You just need to develop a written plan to move people to their highest levels of passion. If you’re just waiting for 5, 6, and 7 figure gifts to drop into your lap, you’re going to miss out. Remember, the Generosity Commission Report shows the money is there; you just have to look harder.
TIP 3: Devoting time and attention to your major gift strategy doesn’t have to be a full-time job. Try just these two things: (1) Prioritize your organization’s top 5-10 donors, making sure you have a plan in place to check in with them quarterly, and (2) Make thank you calls to mid-level donors who give above-average gifts, inviting them to engage in ways that qualify their interest in increased support.
TIP 4: Major gifts isn’t rocket science. It’s just a process most of us aren’t taught. Consider enrolling in a course like the Veritus Group’s Certification Course for Major Gift Fundraisers. It’s packed with all the tools you need to put systems in place to make a huge difference in your fundraising bottom line. You’ll get experts who know exactly what works/what doesn’t work, examples, Q&A, peer group calls, and everything you need to walk away with an actionable plan to ask for and receive transformative gifts!
3. Legacy giving for all – A value bonanza
Make promotion of legacy giving, and gifts from assets generally, a priority. This will generate increased streams of revenue both today and tomorrow. For today, a groundbreaking study by Dr. Russell James J.D., Ph.D., CFP®, found nonprofits that consistently received gifts of appreciated stocks grew their contributions six times faster than those receiving only cash. For tomorrow, organizations who develop a steady stream of maturing legacy gifts find they’re even able to budget for a certain amount of bequest income (based on year-over-year averages), confident in the knowledge that every year or so unanticipated income will flow into your nonprofit’s coffers. It just takes focused attention.
TIP 5: Talk to supporters about the legacy they’d like to leave. This helps them connect with their own values – and personal story – in a way that activates the meaning/purpose proposition most humans seek. As people begin to think about the world they’d like to leave for future generations, you can guide them towards ways they can accomplish these objectives through your organization. Bequest donors don’t need to be rich; lots of small bequests add up.
TIP 6: If you learn to ask for gifts from appreciated assets you’ll get more generous gifts. ‘Framing’ can establish a persuasive reference point for would-be donors. Researchers have found people don’t treat all their money as if they have one big pool of it. Rather, they have separate mental accounts. When they spend, they keep track of expenditures based on the mental account it came from. Gifts from income come out of their “small bucket wallet,” from which a $1,000 contribution may seem too large a percentage of disposable income. Gifts from assets come out of their “big bucket wallet,” from which the gift may seem a relatively small percentage of investment income or total wealth. Most donors would love to make an outsize impact if they could. And if they have appreciated assets, they can. Include giving options in all your materials, including gifts of stocks, qualified charitable distributions from IRAs, gifts of other non-cash assets, and gifts from donor advised funds (a “big bucket wallet” if there ever was one). Make giving this way as easy as giving cash. (Note: Firms like The Giving Block offer forms to enable different giving options).
Donation landing page with asset giving options – BBB Wise Giving Alliance
In Part 3 of this 3-part series, we’ll look at three more strategies to meaningfully speak to the needs of today’s and tomorrow’s constituencies, while also meeting your own. Stay tuned!
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