The Little Words Mean the Most

at least 20 years, trying to get donor comms down to 2 words

 

this is close maybe

 

 

 

Yeah, I got a valentine from a charity today...

 

 

right? what's more important than GIVING TUESDAY and assorted other asks????

 

 

Dear Tom,

Today and every day, you really are EVERYTHING that's right about this world.

You show up.  You recycle whenever possible.  

You smile at strangers.  You vote even when it doesn't seem to matter.  

But you don't stop there.  

You jump into action for a friend in need.  You share your food with the hungry.  

You feel outrage in the face of cruelty.  

You just can't contain your goodness and love, Tom.  

And because I don't tell you enough, let me tell you again right now...

you're saving the lives of these suffering, abandoned children.

Thank you for being everything that's right about this world.  On this Valentine's Day and everyday: you inspire me, Tom.
 

With love and gratitude for Beautiful You, 

Beth Beall
Vida Joven Exec. Dir.

 

 

 

Hello, John Haydon, it's too late late I know

 

WE all

so many!

 

"know" i or ownlittle ways

the crowds mobs swarms who

want to THANK U U can't hear us cen U or maybe U cen

that deaf noise our foreheads banging hard

wishing you were here still

 

still

 

still

 

still

 

still

 

still

 

still

 

still

 

 

still

 

 

 

Case book, 2nd edition: "It's the donor's story, not yours"

 

Seth Godin is renowned for his good advice.

         He's a Stanford MBA, a successful serial entrepreneur, and the New York Times best-selling author of more than a dozen mind-bending marketing books. Of the many guru bloggers I follow, Seth is the most consistently useful. His insights into consumer behavior are sharp and actionable.

         As he has said, "The story’s about the donor."

         "Every time someone donates to a good cause," Seth points out, "they're buying a story ... a story that's worth more than the amount they donated." Immense treasure hides in that observation. "It might be the story of doing the right thing," Seth explains, "or fitting in, or pleasing a friend or honoring a memory ... but the story has value. For many, it's the story of what it means to be part of a community."

         Please scribble down (or have tattooed on your forearm) three points:

• Once a gift is made, it's no longer exclusively your organization's story. Now it involves other people (every donor).
• Donors hope to purchase a role in your organization's story with their gifts. And, as Seth says, that role is worth something ... for personal reasons connected to the donor's self-identity.
• Hence, dear fundraisers and donor-stewardship specialists: If you do not reinforce that hoped-for role in the organization's story, "your" donors will find other charities to love. Guaranteed.

         When people make a gift to charity, they're proving something to themselves (maybe others): This is who I really am. Yet, most charities, to judge by their communications, apparently couldn't care less.

         As Jeff Brooks points out:

Your donors are not your donors — as in, an asset you own or control. But your organization is their charity — something they use to accomplish their goals.

         Keep this distinction in mind, and your fundraising will be a lot better.

        

Magic wand finally available for general use: "Donor-centricity"

 

Here are some recent reports from the fundraising frontlines:

• "...as you know we are disciples ... our fundraising has increased 40% over the past five years." (2020; $20 million-annually metro animal-rescue operation)
• "WOW THANK YOU! Christmas appeal results: $81K to date; best year previously was $63K; avg. gift $83; best year previously was $65" (2020; Australian hospital)
• "...been putting your training into practice. Last year we made more than $200,000 additional revenue ... our Gift Catalog yielded over a million dollars." (2020; international faith-based aid charity)
• "...since January 2018 our regular [monthly] donors have nearly doubled (from 620 to 1066) and cash giving more than tripled." (2020; UK political advocacy group)
• "...our online donations doubled this year!"
• "...366% uptick in giving."
• "Donations linked to the newsletter increased 50%...."
• "Donations linked to the newsletter increased 150%...."
• "In just four years, our legacy society doubled in size."
• "Our best year ever."

         What do all these enviable leaps in income have in common?

         Just one thing: "donor centricity." The "approach"? Donor centricity. All these fundraisers took the "risk" of adopting, as the central preoccupation of their communications, donor-centricity (vs. organizational-centricity).

 

 

 

To maximize income: Tell the donor's story

 

"The story’s about the donor," Seth Godin tells us.

 

He's 100% right.

Whatever's above 100%? He's right about that, too.

Seth is a Stanford MBA, a successful serial entrepreneur, and the best-selling author of more than a dozen mind-bending marketing books. Of the many guru bloggers I follow, he is the most consistently useful. His insights into consumer behavior are sharp and actionable.

"Every time someone donates to a good cause," he points out, "they're buying a story, a story that's worth more than the amount they donated."

There is immense treasure buried in that observation.

"It might be the story of doing the right thing," Seth explains, "or fitting in, or pleasing a friend or honoring a memory ... but the story has value. For many, it's the story of what it means to be part of a community."

Please scribble down (or have tattooed on your forearm) three points:

• Donors buy into what you've assumed is your charity's, wholly-owned story. (I.e., it's not your story anymore.)
• The role those donors purchased with their trusting gift is worth something to them personally ... each for a different reason. That gift reinforces the donor's self-identity. E.g., "I am a good neighbor because I chipped in." (I.e., it's not really about you, whatever charity, is it?)
• If your charity doesn't seek to reinforce that role, you'll soon lose that person as a donor. I speak now to all of you who hold any title similar to "Director of Donor Engagement." [Synonyms include "donor relations" and "stewardship."] (I.e., get this wrong and your charity's long-term sustainability is fraught.)

When a person makes a gift to charity, they're proving something to themselves (and maybe others): This is the kind of person I am.

REWARD that, as Lisa Sargent would insist. Every gift to charity has the potential to extend a person's story in a meaningful and positive direction.

Most charities couldn't care less. Or so they act.

 

 

The evolving table of contents for my updated book about cases

 

Section Three

 

Polishing your case:

 

The art and science of persuasion

 

 

36. Experts talk cases [various useful points of view]
    
37. Goldfish pay more attention (but they can't make gifts) [be faster]
38. Obeying Dan Hill: The first few seconds matter most [even faster]
39. Did you hear the news about emotions? (Your boss didn't, I'm guessing.) [get in the game]
    
40. For example: "Rage philanthropy" [see?]
    
41. Identity-based fundraising: the "Is this me?" test [latest science]
    
42. Raising hope: Features vs. benefits [back to some crucial basics you might not yet know]
    
43. Images: How to pick a cover photo for your case brochure [self-auditing]
    
44. Bigger [why it's not about your org.'s wonderfulness]
    
45. Offer your donors an enemy to defeat [MORE: why it's not about your org.]
    

 

 

Are most charities unwittingly in the "go-away" business?

 

You have to wonder.

         I don't really expect all that much from any charity I support. I'm not looking for rides to the airport or artisanal cheese plates. As our household's income grew over the decades, Simone and I made donations to more and more good causes. Hey, we didn't have kids (which fully explains that second home in France). We also had a reassuring retirement fund socked away (so we wouldn't end up homeless, as a friend or two had finished up). And so — yeah, sure; why not — we could afford occasional gifts to charities that made us feel better because they were fighting the very things we wanted to fight.

         So now we give to 30 or so charities a year.

         I quickly saw that most nonprofits were lousy at prolonging my pleasure, though.

         "Here's all I want from you," I finally wrote in a book. "Tell me I'm a reasonably good person. Don't go crazy. But just tell me that my help matters." Even so: most of "our" charities remain hesitant, self-absorbed, indifferent, narcissistic, negligent, uncouth, dumb, rude, demanding, stiff, formal, and/or cold.

         Poor lovers get replaced quickly. Just saying.

         Examine your own dating past if this surprises you.