1. A Donor Is
Not An ATM:
How To Inspire Donors
Through Spectacular
Stewardship And
Cultivation
2. Angel A. Aloma
Food For The Poor, Inc.
Lisa Maska
Lautman Maska Neill & Company
Moderator
Jennifer Vanderveld
Marine Corps Heritage Foundation
A Donor Is Not An ATM:
How To Inspire Donors Through Spectacular
Stewardship And Cultivation
6. Three important questions:
Why is passion necessary?
What is the Unique Selling Point (USP) that
we all have in common?
What is the connection
between these two?
Telling Stories
11. How do we get to know them?
Talk to your best donors as often as possible.
Emotional Inquiry Study (EIS)
12. FIND OUT:
Why do they really give?
How do they feel about their giving?
What do they love about our mission?
Why do
you give?
Because it
makes me
feel good.
17. The many enemies
of donor-centricity:
Organizational/Founder/
CEO-centered copy
18. The many enemies of
donor-centricity:
Silos - Contradiction: who we hire vs. what we expect
Direct
Mail
Web Donor
Relation
s
Major
Giving
But if I direct
donors to the
web, it will skew
my test results…
Who gets
credit?$$$$
That’s my
donor!
19. The many enemies of
donor-centricity:
Scarcity of touches and timely gratitude
20. The many enemies of
donor-centricity:
One way relationships.
The donor gives us:
• their fortune
• their time
• their effort
Besides the good feeling of
giving to a worthy cause,
what do we give to them?
21. The many enemies
of donor-centricity:
Donor restrictions on
giving and how to give.
29. MCHF staff count = 12
We are a small shop but powerful force.
Basics:
–Two individuals handle all phone calls
–Two full time/two temps handle all data
entry
• Over 100K gifts annually
VP of Development & ED
35. Real Life Example
Cultivate in Appeals
LCpl John Smith
–In various appeals, gave four gifts in three
years
–Donations varied from $100 to $1,000
–Gave additional gift toward membership
for $1,000
36. How does MCHF cultivate
and steward in major gifts?
A little piece
of their
Museum!
37. Real Life Example
Cultivate in Major Gifts
LCpl John Smith
–Gave $1m when asked
–He routinely comes to NMMC to see how
his “investment” is doing
39. Angel A. Aloma
Executive Director
Food For The Poor, Inc.
954.427.2222
aaloma@foodforthepoor.com
Lisa Maska
Lautman Maska Neill & Company
202-296-9660
lmaska@lautmandc.com
Jennifer Vanderveld
Vice President of Marketing & Development
Marine Corps Heritage Foundation
703-630-3691
vanderveld@marineheritage.org
Thank You!
Notes de l'éditeur
To better tell the stories of our mission
Our stories
Without passion we cannot be convincing to others when we tell our stories
To those who benefit from our work; to our staff; to our donors
When you love what you do, it feeds your passion, which in turn gives you energy, which in turn allows you to fulfill your mission, which in turn makes you love what you do!
Because we bring light to the darkness of poverty;
to the darkness of ignorance; to the darkness of environmental tragedy;
to the darkness of suicide; to the darkness of unspeakable cruelty to animals;
to the dark suffering of refugees and displaced people;
to the darkness of natural disasters.
We bring the light of healing to the darkness of innumerable illnesses.
We bring the light of dignity and sustainability to the darkness of financial instability.
You cannot inspire donors that you do not know.
We had a branding/communications firm do in-depth interviews with 60 of our top donors with amazing results and insights that helped us to better communicate with our donors
Why do they really give?
#1 – To feel like decent human beings
#2 – To follow in Jesus’ footsteps
#3 – To show their faith is alive (salvation)
#4 – To help the poor
How do they feel about their giving?
#1 – Joyful, as if they are giving to God
#2 – Grateful that we make their desire to help a reality
#3 – Emotional, because they are doing God’s work
#4 – Blessed to be able to share their good fortune with the poor
What do they love about our mission?
#1 – Our low administrative and fundraising cost ratio
#2 – That we are dealing with the poorest of the poor
#3 – That their donations are saving the lives of children
#4 – That we do what we say we are going to do
#5 – That we are transparent with our fulfillments
(I do not have notes for this slide???)
“Pyramid of Good” (Graphic of pyramid from our research)
We discovered that our donors considered working directly with the final recipients of the mission – missionary work – as the peak of their Pyramid of Good. I suspect this may be common to many nonprofits. The rung below the peak is support of these missionaries. Whenever possible make your donors feel good about this support and, even further, you can inspire them by making them feel that they are “missionaries in spirit.”
Explain that every donor has a “moral identity” (who they are) and an “ideal moral identity” (who they want to be). Research has shown that donors (particularly women) respond more generously when you use language (written or spoken) that brings them closer to their ideal moral identity. Give examples.
Lip service vs. internalization – FFP’s awakening in Holland (IFC)
80% of donors that stop giving to a charity gave reasons of “feeling distanced by charity”. The donors want to hear about themselves. FFP gained great advantages from changing to donor-centric copy – more mail, yet better retention.
Explain contradiction of hiring people with sales background as fundraisers and then expect them not to be competitive about credit. Explain FFP’s new vision for fundraising that is working to alleviate the problem of donor ownership and credit wars with increasing success.
It’s incredible that there are still organizations that do not see the benefit of proper, timely thank you messages when their donors express generosity through giving. At FFP 6-7% of our total cash income comes from our thank you program. We should study and test the best way to thank our donors in the way that makes them feel appreciated. Examples of timely thank you’s, creative thank yous and thank yous as appeals.
FFP gives prayer through their prayer partners and web, both by staff at work and also personally with donors by phone. Banana bark cards, made by the poor of Haiti are given to our donors as a gift from our organization. We give our best donors access to our executive director, the offer of mission trips to see their work firsthand, and we develop friendships with awards, notes, cards, phone calls and personal visits.
Donors must be free to give to whatever program interests them within our missions and through whichever channel they choose. Always encourage multi-channel giving. Channels do not own donors – the donor owns the mission and the channel.
Explain advantages of sustainers over single gift donors – longer life, easier upgrades, contributions to other campaigns and increased incidence of planned gifts – and the strategies FFP has employed in order to increase sustainers – Angels of the Poor – in all fundraising departments, particularly Speakers Bureau, Major Gifts, TV, Donor Relations/Phone Center, Angels of Hope and Web.
Explain FFP’s efforts to upgrade donors through four levels of giving from $50 to major gifts with a combination of phone and DM, incentivizing callers for both achieving $$$$ goals and graduation to next levels – discuss options for orgs without phone centers.
Quick mission statement – We preserve and promulgate Marine Corps history through various programs but the most visible one is NMMC
- NMMC opened in Nov 2006 just down 95 near Quantico, VA
- We welcome around 500k visitors annually and in 2014 welcomed our 4m visitor
- We are free
- NMMC covers USMC history from 1775 until 1975, current campaign to complete the Museum and tell the post-Vietnam history through today
- In March we will break ground to finish the Museum.
- These are the main areas that we use for cultivating our donors.
I won’t go into our entire staff but here are the basics:
Two individuals who handle phone calls
– these two individuals primarily handle ALL calls BUT anyone in our office can answer the phone and help the donor
We instill an ownership mentality in knowing how our programs work
Every single staff member believes in the mission – preserving Marine Corps history!
Data Entry
- Processing house handles 65K gifts annually, MCHF handles 40k BUT MCHF data entry staff makes sure all names, addresses, salutations are correct through various processes
- In 2014, we will have processed over 100k gifts with this small team at just over $4m from DM. I tell my BoD all the time…that these individuals are the key to our organization…if we mess up a gift, we loose a donor
- In my view (and the view of an ED I worked for years ago) – the #1 rule is to get the name right!
- In our world, if you mess up a rank, then we just lost a donor.
- Our data entry folks make sure all of our data is entered in a timely fashion so the all important thank you can get out the door quickly.
- I actually consider these folks just as important as our ED.
VP of Development & ED
- Without a dedicated staff, we could not do what we do and that comes from the top down.
- ED & VP of Dev are in constant communication – over donors, direct mail, major gifts, cultivation, etc.
- ED reads EVERY SINGLE dm package
- ED signs every single tku for gifts $250+ - he watches for patterns of giving, address indicators (Park Ave, NYC) and other odd connections
- He reminds us constantly that the donor is our investor – it’s his money NOT our money.
LAUTMAN – can you put images of MCHF acquisition package here? Would like to see name labels, photo cards, and letter if possible.
- MCHF acq package is mission focused – 4 pages with name labels & photo cards
- Photo cards include two images – one from WWII and one from today’s campaigns – why? Both images relate to our mission of preserving ALL Marine Corps history!
- Why do we put name labels in our packages? Easy – they are pride purpose driven. When you drove here today or traveled here, how many cards or folks did you see with USMC bumper stickers or hats with “Vietnam Vet – Marine Corps” worn by folks?
- We try hard to remember that the donor mind set really = MCHF mindset – they tell you what they want. Our donors LOVE to share their USMC pride…we just help them out!
- If we don’t hug the donor from the start, they won’t hug us back later
Real Life Example –LCpl John Smith (names are with held to protect the innocent)
- This example started years ago for us
- Gave $100 through Oct Acquisition
- 6 months later gave $1000 through May Acquisition
- Talk about a red flag! Who gives $1000 through acquisition!!!!
- What’s the take away – watch your donors…they tell you how interested they are in your mission. Have your processing center warn you about gifts over a certain threshold. You then can call the donor immediately and thank them. MCHF views any gift over $500 as serious intent.
LAUTMAN – can you put images of MCHF appeals here? Would like to see bumper stickers, calendars (front & back), vet day cards, note cards, name labels, Renewal of Support package, Iwo Appeal, Karen Kelly
You got it….we use more pride driven tactics – bumper stickers, calendars, Veterans Day cards, and name labels…we’ve even tried posters and note cards
- MCHF is driven to give the donor what they want which is pride in their Marine Corps.
- By giving them calendars & bumper stickers – the donor can scream from the roof tops their Corps pride.
- Instead of holiday cards…our donors get Veterans Day cards…even if they aren’t a Vet, they appreciate the sentiment. We pull at their Marine Corps heart strings!
- Our processing center emails me with any appeal gift over $1,000 so we can call immediately and thank.
- Again, ED signs all gifts over $250 and looks for patterns/addresses
Real Life Example –
Let’s look back at LCpl Smith and see what he has done in appeals
He gives us $2850
His $1,000 gifts are outliers…he wants to be part of our mission
He is invested
ED begins to call, visit and “chat him up” for a large donation
MCHF considers all gifts of $100k to be a major gift.
- How do we keep them invested when they make their first $100k gift? Why this flag case of course! The flag is flown over the Museum and then nicely framed
- They get the standard comp invites, they get a non-dm President’s Update letter, hand written notes/calls throughout the year from ED
Real Life Example –
Well, we have seen LCpl Smith come to us through acq, now let’s see where his appeal giving got him….he is firmly invested!
We continue to cultivate him and other major givers
We realize he has more money (let’s be honest, if you have $1m, you have more) but we remember it’s his money NOT OURS FOR THE TAKING.
We never turn our backs on major givers, we continually cultivate them
In 2014, we went back to 13 of our original major givers and received additional donations from them
Thank you
- These two words (in any language) should be said over and over again to your donors.
- Without their support, you could not do what you do so tell them thank you.
- I would like to say thank you for coming to this presentation
- I love sharing what we do, our mission and how we accomplish our mission
- Remember to share with each other how you cultivate/steward – you never know what we might pick up from each other