Our Ask An Expert series features real questions answered by Claire Axelrad, J.D., CFRE, our very own Fundraising Coach, also known as Charity Clairity. Today's question comes from a fundraiser whose boss wants them to do a donor survey, but they aren't sure where to start or what to ask. [...]
The answer my friends is a resounding YES! Numerous studies reveal donor satisfaction is the single biggest driver of donor loyalty. According to world-renowned fundraising researcher Adrian Sargent, donors indicating that they were ‘very satisfied’ with the quality of service provided being twice as likely to offer a second or [...]
Alfie Kohn, the awesome education and parenting expert says this over and over as a sort of golden rule of parenting. I would argue that it’s great advice for any person in any relationship, but especially for fundraisers looking to connect with donors. When you’re talking, you’re focused on yourself, [...]
If you have some monthly donors now, congratulations. Please allow me to share some recent statistics with you on why these small recurring donors are so powerful: Average monthly gift between $24 and $36, that’s between $288 and $432 a year! Typical way monthly donors pay: 80% credit card, 10% [...]
“Plans are worthless, but planning is invaluable.” - Peter Drucker You may recall that I had the good fortune of being a Peter Drucker fellow. I think of his teachings often, and I have even dedicated my upcoming book to him, “Fundraising Truths to Live By,” which should be out [...]
Think of the last time you went out for groceries, stayed at a hotel, rented a car, or downloaded an app. Chances are you received some kind of customer satisfaction survey. For-profit businesses understand that in order to retain customers and improve their offerings, they need to continuously collect and [...]
There’s no shortage of things the experts say fundraisers should be doing: handwritten notes, donor visits, thank you phone calls, bequest marketing; the list goes on and on. It can be overwhelming when you’re bogged down planning an event that your leadership team insists on, or when you’re simply trying [...]
What is it that drives donor loyalty? What are the determinants of longer term value? These are questions we’re often asked at Bloomerang and we’ve been working to develop measures that all our clients can use to track how well they are doing at bolstering future donor retention. We know [...]
The other day I received a solicitation in the mail from an organization I made a donation to a few years back. I have yet to make a second donation. Let me tell you the story. A few years ago, when I was finishing my MBA, one of my professors [...]
When my twins were toddlers and we played hide and seek they covered their eyes to hide. Or crawled under the living room rug. Not a great hiding place! They thought that if they couldn’t see me I couldn’t see them. As fundraisers, we often play an adult version [...]
Asking your donors why they are passionate about the cause is always a good idea. But how often do you ask them how they feel about your organization? It might be a better idea than you think. Roger Craver of The Agitator and DonorVoice fame has developed a simple donor [...]
As a project sponsor and advisory group member of the Rogare Fundraising Think Tank, I frequently travel to the UK to meet with the board and discuss its on-going research. As you can imagine, this involves interactions with many airlines, hotels, rental car companies, travel agencies, restaurants and other businesses [...]