First-time donors aren't donors

A donor isn't really a donor until he or she has donated a second time.

Why?  Because of all the reasons people often initially give:

• supporting a walkathon or similar
• in honor or memory of someone they care about
• sweepstakes
• "go away" money 

But, if she donates a second time, it's because she cares about the work of your organization.  So, how to get (and keep) donors more involved?

Mal Warwick's book How to Write Successful Fundraising Letters (a must-own for any fundraising communications professional) has an entire chapter devoted to creating a welcome package for your new donor, complete with examples.  In sum, keep it warm, keep it personal.  Inform the donor about the work of your organization in order to reassure him that donating was a good call, that his money is going to make a difference.

This post on SOFII features the legendary Tom Ahern.  He shows you, step-by-step, how he wrote a letter specifically aimed at those who gave gifts in memory, in order to convert them to real donors.  It is such a useful read, even if that's not exactly what you're doing.

What has worked for you to keep first-time donors "in the family"?

What mixing up friends can tell you about crafting appeals

Like many of you, I am on Facebook.  Do you ever—just momentarily—get friends on Facebook who have the same first name confused?   Especially if their profile picture isn't of them.

I can't be the only one, can I?

It got me thinking:  if I, while reading Facebook, an activity that I apparently enjoy, still only skim names (causing me not to absorb a person's last name, thereby getting people with the same first name confused), what does that say for the people who read your fundraising appeals?

Now, some people will sit down with your letter and read it carefully, all 2 or 3 or 4 pages of it.  But most will just skim it, while holding it over the trash can (how treacherous for your dear appeal!) and deciding whether to reply or pitch it.

Obviously, you want them to reply.  Immediately, before it falls off their radar.

So this is our challenge as fundraising communicators:  we have to evoke emotions strong enough to compel people to act, and we have to do it in such a way that it will happen even when they only skim our letter. 

This is why we leave a lot of white space.  Why we strategically use bold font, underlining, bullet points, and some combination of the three.   Why we repeat our message and call to action.

After you spend all that time carefully reviewing your letter, try to skim it.  Invite others to skim it—really, tell them to make sure they skim. Then find out what they got from it, and how it affected them (if at all).  Before sending it out, make the necessary changes to get your message across when you have a reader who isn't really reading.

Cultivate trust and money will follow

Once, I was looking at reply slips received back from an acquisition mailing.  One person wrote in the margins of the slip, "I am taking your word that you help people with this money."

I believe that most donors, especially first-time donors, feel this worry.  But one person felt it so strongly that he wrote it in a message to us.

Donors give because they believe their money is going to make a difference.  That new donor, who doesn't have a relationship with you yet, is going to feel concerned that she is throwing her money away.  She needs you to convince her that she is investing her money into a worthwhile cause she cares about. 

Neuromarketing has a blog post about words that build trust.  Apparently, literally saying "You can trust us," well, works.  Some of the other words aren't relevant to a nonprofit, like "fair price." But check it out, it's something to think about in your messaging, especially in your acquisition mailings.

This is also something to think about with regard to your welcome package—part of your messaging should be reassuring the donor that he made the right decision to donate (so he'll donate again!).

Are freebies a good way to get donations?

In an earlier post, I wrote about including free return address labels with solicitations, using the reciprocity principle to persuade individuals to donate.  I wondered if, rather than motivating people to give, it could possibly alienate them instead.

This Dear Abby column addresses this practice; it's actually a follow-up column because she got so much mail on the issue.  Says Abby: "Letters from readers complaining about charitable donation requests with labels arrive in my office on a daily basis..."

Some highlights:

"My view is, if they're using my donation to send gifts, then they really don't need my money.  They should be using donations to help whomever or whatever it is they're soliciting for."

"There's nothing 'free' when organizations try to guilt us into sending money.  My solution for all this junk is, use the labels and anything personalized if I like them; if not, destroy them." 

As a fundraiser, I find this woman's story pretty horrifying (italics mine):

"Last year, for about six months, I collected all the requests for donations I received.  Abby, the total was 532 requests from 119 organizations!...I no longer feel guilty about tossing them.  I sent all of them letters requesting they delete my name from their lists.  118 ignored my request...I give the notepads and other enclosures to Goodwill and shred the labels...I donate less than I ever have in the past because I feel so hounded, so in my case, it has worked against them."

One would think that organizations continue this practice because, well, it works.  But comments like these, from people who are sick and tired of it, give us something to think about.  You can read the Yahoo! comments below the column for even more. 

I want to know what you think—is including freebies with your solicitations a good idea?

Controversial spacing choice, and other easy tweaks in design

Yes, content, as they say, is king.  But a few tweaks to the look of your fundraising materials can help increase the amount of money you raise.  Earlier I wrote about fonts, readability and the impact they can have on the amount of money that comes in from your communications.  Now, additional tips: 

Ugly fundraising can be good

Future Fundraising Now reminds us about the importance of readability, and warns us that slick design isn't always better.  For one thing, a message with a more modest appearance can stand out among all the fancy stuff out there.

Additionally, a less-polished look helps add authenticity to your pieces.  Your fundraising letters, newsletters, and the like all need to inspire people to believe in your cause and give to support it.  You don't want people to look at what you send them and think, "looks like they spend the donations they get on fancy design." 

Avoid the "corner of death"

This post on Neuromarketing is about "the corner of death," or, the lower-right-hand corner.  Eyetracking research tells us that corner is a bad spot to put your logo or anything else you want people to pay attention to.

Controversial spacing?

Yes.  I mean spacing between sentences.  There is a lot on the web about this topic.  It seems that most people believe that one space after a period is sufficient, and that two is glaringly redundant, a waste of space.  However, read this sentence (hat tip) and let me know what you think:

He went to see Dr. On on On Dr. On his way home he crashed.

Sure, that's a strange sentence (sentences?).  But if you can, indulge me a bit more, and skim (don't read, remember people only skim what you send them) this:

This change is happening all across the U.S. Senator John Smith will be discussing the topic at the luncheon.

Now try this:

This change is happening all across the U.S.  Senator John Smith will be discussing the topic at the luncheon.

Do you see what I'm saying?  As I've said before, make it easy for your readers and they'll repay you.  My advice is: use two spaces between sentences.

Pronoun power

In his book How to Write Fundraising Materials That Raise More Money, Tom Ahern encourages fundraisers to take their fundraising communications and circle in red every instance of the word "you," including you'd, you'll, your, you're, yours, yourself, you've.

This is a fantastic and simple idea to ensure your communications are truly donor-centered.  Not only should red circles dot the page all over, there should be at least one "you" in every paragraph, ideally in the first sentence. 

Also remember that the letter should feel like a letter from a friend.  So as much as possible, avoid using "we" to speak for your organization.  Use "me," "my," "I" and the name of the organization when discussing its work.

But remember: it's not about you or your organization; it's about your donor.  Your donor doesn't give to your organization, your donor gives through your organization to affect change that she believes in.

Two important words

Copyblogger isn't nonprofit-focused, but we can still learn a thing or two from there to apply to our world.  This post is about two very important words:

• you

• because
   

Let's start with the word you.  The fundraising community talks a lot about being "donor-centered;" that means making it all about your donors.

So instead of "We removed 600 pounds of trash from the river this year," write "Thanks to your donations, 600 pounds of trash were removed from the river this year."  Use "you" and "your," instead of "we" and "our." 

On to because.  In one chapter of Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive, the study about cutting in line for a copy machine is discussed.

In this study, when a stranger asked someone if he or she could cut in line, 60% of people agreed.  When he/she added, "...because I'm in a rush," the number of cooperators grew to 94%!  So powerful is the word "because" that even when the reason given was "...because I have to make copies," (what a weak reason—of course you're there to make copies) the percentage was still 93%!

You need to explain, clearly, what your organization does (thanks to its fabulous, kind, generous, caring, wonderful donors).  But don't tell, show—make it jump off the page and pull your donors' heartstrings.

Write about your donors, give them a compelling "because," and they will support your cause.

Make it easy for your readers and they'll repay you

Want to know an easy, proven way to get more donations through your fundraising communications?  It's using the Flesch-Kincaid readability test on your writing.

If you use Microsoft Word, running the spelling and grammar check will also give you a Flesch-Kincaid grade level.  Go to "Word Options" and choose "Proofing." Make sure "Check grammar with spelling" is selected.  Under "When correcting grammar in Word," select "Show readability statistics."

You want to get a grade level no higher than 7; fundraising letters written higher than that level have a lower rate of return.  This is a tested, statistical reality.

The Flesch-Kincaid test uses a formula that rates text based on average sentence length, and average word length by syllables.  So, if you need to lower the grade level given for your writing, shorten your sentences and choose words with fewer syllables.  However, avoid choosing words that are shorter but less well-known.  That may lower the grade level rating, but won't actually increase the ease for your reader—this is one of those instances in which a human is smarter than a computer.

Also keep in mind that the Flesch-Kincaid analysis treats semicolons like periods.  Do your readers a favor and, if you've used any semicolons, rewrite in order to separate that single sentence into two.

And if you don't use Microsoft Word?  Use this to determine the Flesch-Kincaid grade level of your writing.

Donating money makes people happy!

Good news for fundraisers, the data are in and they show that spending money on others makes one happier than spending money on oneself!

Why?

"It's partly because giving to others makes us feel good about ourselves. It helps promote a view of ourselves as responsible and giving people, which in turn makes us feel happy."

So when crafting your next appeal, think about how you can cultivate those feelings in your donors. Can you remind them of what a strong supporter they've been to your organization, so they can think of themselves as a caring, generous person, feel good about it, and want to continue that feeling? How about showing them the difference their support makes, so they feel responsible for something important?

But: don't talk too much about money.  There is a reason we fundraisers use words like "support," and I think it's because we intuitively know what another study proved (mentioned in same link as above), that

"the simplest reminder of money has all kinds of negative effects...It makes us...less likely to help others, less likely to donate to charity..."

That reminds me of another study that showed that people spent more at a restaurant if the menu didn't have dollar signs.  Can you use this information, say, when designing your reply envelopes?

Are your appeals the absolute best they can be?

I sure love checklists, because they're simple ways to make sure your communications will perform as well as possible.  (As seen earlier here on my blog.)  Do yourself a favor and check out this list of ideas from Showcase of Fundraising Innovation and Inspiration.  It's terrific!

I have a few things to say about it:

• It's fantastic that they use neuromarketing ideas. (#1-6)

• Note #7—reciprocity.  As SOFII say here, "use with care and prudence," so as not to cause "obligation to descend into resentment."  I say stick with this part of that idea: "Perhaps there are better things [than items] you can 'give'...such as special access, insider information – or even gratitude..."

• I love the (non-mandatory, non-monetary) pledge for new donors to "‘continue [her] regular gift for as long as [she] can afford it'" in #8.

• #12's idea about limiting the number of donors for a project with special benefits is incredible.  If you ask me, that's what the point of #7 is—talk about your special access!

  How can you apply these principles to your fundraising?

Some science behind persuasion

Fundraising communications professionals aren't the only ones who want to influence people; so do business marketers, salespeople, politicians...the list goes on.  Thanks to the diversity of folks who want to sway others, there is a good amount of research devoted to the science of persuasion.  There is an article in Business Week about scientifically-proven principles for influencing others, which includes:

• Liking: People like those...who like them.
  Or, be friends with your donors.  This is why fundraising letters should sound like a letter from a pal—a pal who really appreciates everything you've done for him, of course.
  
  
• Reciprocity: People repay in kind.
  The Business Week article actually uses nonprofit fundraising in this example, the good old "free personalized address labels included" tactic.  I would be interested to see some more recent research about this technique, as I wonder if it is starting to turn donors off due to the market being saturated with it.  People may tire of getting items they didn't ask for, but the idea of reciprocity (you helped me, now I feel compelled to help you) in humans is timeless.
  
  
• Social Proof: People follow the lead of similar others.
  Katya Andresen's blog has a great article about what happened when researchers put a clear donation box in the entrance to a gallery.  You should read the article if you haven't, but in (very) short: people gave more when there was money in the box than when the box was empty.  Takeaway: people want to fit in, and most people don't want to be first.  So, if you have a sign-up sheet, sign a few people in at the top so that no one has to be first.  If you want to use a thermometer showing how far along you are in your goal, don't share that thermometer until you have received some money already.  If you are going to have a live auction, make sure you have someone in the audience who is willing to be the first to bid.
  
  
• Authority: People defer to experts who provide shortcuts to decisions requiring specialized information.
  Good fundraising materials tug at the heartstrings, but donors have to trust that you know what you're talking about.  The best way for this to happen is for your organization to become a trusted authority on your subject(s)—think of the reputations of the ACLU or the World Wildlife Fund.  You can also quote other respected sources discussing your organization or the problem it aims to solve.