Today, a few friendly reminders from your Agents of Good about donor acquisition that puts donors – not your charity or your workplan – at the heart of the conversation.

Start as you mean to go on. Your donor acquisition message should resonate with your mission. If you’re stretching – or getting into ‘mission drift’ – with what you think is sexy right now but not really at the core of what you do, proceed cautiously. Donor acquisition is expensive enough – don’t fall for the trick of trying to get as many people in the door as you can, if the message using you’re bringing them in the door won’t be heard again.

And while you’re at it, create dedicated content on your website about the focus of your acquisition message. Whether you’re using direct mail, email, phone, face-to-face or a combination of methods, make sure your acquisition message is echoed on your website, ideally right on the homepage.

Your URG. The Agents have developed this concept called URG – your Unique Reason to Give. Really think about what you do better than anyone else and what makes your cause completely unique and special. And build your donor acquisition message with this at the centre.

Don’t Count the First Gift. Well, not really. Of course, when those first gifts come in, celebrate each one. Revel in the fact that you rose above the noise of our daily lives, inspired someone to act and moved someone to give. But then keep moving. Focus – ideally in advance – on what you’re going to do to secure that more important second gift. A thoughtful welcome package or welcome series. And a second gift ask – at the right time with the right message.

Chuck Your Thank You Letter. Create a brand spanking new thank-you letter or email that completely echoes your acquisition appeal. Fill it with donor love. Make sure your letter is about your donors as much as it is about your cause. Send it promptly. Promise your donors that you will keep them informed about their gift at work for your cause. And keep your promise.

Focus on Your Offer. What is the basic offer of your acquisition message? If it doesn’t cut right to the chase, and spell out clearly what you want, and more importantly what your donor can help you achieve, tighten it up.

Ask For One Thing. Don’t clutter up your acquisition reply form or web form with a bunch of crap – monthly giving, legacy giving, volunteer opportunities, events. OK, they aren’t crap. But they don’t belong here. They belong in a thoughtful and appropriate follow-up message. If you are going to have one extra thing, talk about what you’ll do with the donor’s information. Privacy statements are dull, but the spirit behind them is important: we promise we won’t do anything with your information that you don’t want us to.

Tell A Story – Or 2. Statistics, facts and other ways you demonstrate impact are vitally important affirmation messages. But make sure you tell a story, connect your donors with something that will speak to their heart, not just their brain.

Test Something. Anything really. But don’t waste the opportunity to not learn something about your message. Test a longer letter. A different subject line. Something.

Count Donors. Not Dollars. Your objective is to acquire new donors. Try to focus on the number of new donors who have joined your movement, not how close you are to breaking even on the investment. Of course, that’s an important consideration. But the more important consideration is the new people – living, breathing, caring and loving human beings – who have just joined your movement to make our world a better place.

SweetTweets: shows you your most popular tweets of all time (or since you started tweeted based on RT’dness)

First tweet: an app that can show you your first tweets to any user you follow (even if it is “yah i love coffee too lulz #coffee4evah”)

HashSmoker: an app that erases any new tweet stream you establish using any hastag (very popular with college kids)

Tweetaggedon: an app that blows up your account and erase every tweet you ever tweeted.

tweezer: an app that allows you to identify people who clearly should not be in your tweetstream and you can get rid of them – thx to @unmarketing

T’Creep: an app that allows every tweet from any person be forwarded to your phone, email, tweetdeck, twitter, hootsuite, for ever. Even if they set up a new account under a new name.

Twit-pid: an app that checks the stupidity of your tweet before you post it – so you don’t tweet something really dumb…

Twidder: an simple little app that 87 people use, thinking that it is twitter – and they don’t understand what the big deal is…

Twenius: an app that makes all of you tweets use really big and impressive words that no one understands but still respect.

Twhine: an app that removes any whiny words out of your tweets.

Twootfour: an app created by a Canadian (of course) that allows you to tweet no more than 24 times in one day

Twunchuation: an app that makes sure you say “you’re” instead of your, etc. #neverlooklikeanidiotagain

Tweathalizer: an app you have to blow in before you are allowed to tweet… (to make sure you aren’t loaded – duh).

tweetular: an app that makes it look like hundreds of ppl are RT’ing you and @’ing you…

FTW: an iphone or blackberry app that does crappy little fireworks on your display when you achieve something random #likegetacoffee

last one: tweener: an app that lets you quickly RT everything everyone says a half second after it’s tweeted

Any other brilliant ideas? Please share!

My daughter Sadie spent a few precious minutes (as long as she ever sits still) on the lap of her great grandfather recently. They shared their love of the natural world looking at the bright orange Oriole and the vibrant Indigo Bunting, and whenever she saved a bug from the pool she proudly brought it to him. He beamed.

My other great grandfather, my dad’s dad, (whose name was Gage but we called him Charles) died before Mason was born. And I came to wonder what would happen if Mason sat on his lap with our iPad. Once he got past the magic of the touch screen, I think he would find the real magic in the language of action that technology has given us.

“Favourite” is a verb to my kids. “Mason, can you favourite this video?” asks Sadie when it’s not her turn. “Favourite” is an action.

“Follow” is also active. In my grandfather’s mind, a follower would likely just be someone other than the leader. But following in our language now is half of a relationship. An active, engaging relationship based on mutual interest and an ongoing conversation that happens when you want, where you want.

If Mason talked about his apps, or something viral, Charles would likely would think he was contagious.

As a man who raised four energetic boys, I think my grandfather would plug in to our language of action, and the technology of interaction.

Mason is a digital native – he never knew a world without an infinite amount of information at his fingertips. Would my grandfather have the same struggles with what I am calling “digital imperialist parenting”? Just as history has shown us empires that insist they know better than the indigenous peoples – do I know more about technology than Mason just because I am his mummy?

After about half an hour of tv/iPad/computer my internal alarm goes off and I think “you need to get outside and run around”. But when what the kids are engaging with is actually expanding their horizons, does it make sense to unplug?

So Google Earth is OK but YouTube parodies about poop and farts aren’t?

After I put the kids to bed last night, I revisited this site done by Arcade Fire: www.thewildernessdowntown.com

And I imagined Charles sitting with Mason on his lap, watching Mason enter our address. They would share a few precious minutes together, and Charles would point out where they play ball hockey together on our driveway, and where they hold hands when they cross the street on the way home from school.

Our language changes us. And we change our language. But love and action (and interaction) endure.

On Facebook.

Me and 21 million (almost 22 million) of his closest friends received this post in our feed this week:

Rather than setting a goal of millions of dollars for this campaign’s first big deadline on Thursday, we’re setting a goal of 450,000 grassroots donors. So far, 404,954 people have stepped up to own a piece of this campaign. Will you join them?

And the teaser below reads: “We believe that the true strength of our campaign is the number of everyday people owning a piece of it…”

When we talk to our clients about donor acquisition, we always talk in donors first, then dollars. If you are building your movement, inspiring people to join your cause, you will think of them as people, not as payments.

Check out the site here: http://www.barackobama.com/get-involved

I came to Twitter last year with a fairly singled minded mission – to learn the ropes and become a relatively competent official tweeter for my non-profit organization.

Six months later, and I realize that the recipe for success is far simpler than I first realized. And more importantly, I learned that Twitter can do your organization more harm than good, and one surprisingly common mistake can end up damaging your relationship with your donors, volunteers and potential supporters.

I talk about many things on Twitter, personal, professional and political – and of course, as a fundraiser, one of my favourite things to tweet about is the great work of non-profit organizations.

Last week, after a particularly enthusiastic rash of non-profit related tweets, something started nagging at me.  Of all the organizations I mentioned, complimented, and retweeted,  it seemed that I heard back from very few, if any. So, I decided to investigate.

When I went back through my tweets from the past week, I had a disturbing realization: of the ten organizations I tweeted about or at, I heard back from only two.

To be fair, we all have off weeks – so I dug a bit deeper. And sadly, that number was pretty consistent – I’m only hearing back from about 20% of the organizations I tweet about.

Obviously, this is a huge missed opportunity – but more importantly, it’s a significant threat.  I’m an active supporter of about one-third of the organizations that were steadfastly ignoring me, and the warm fuzzies that I usually feel when I think of them started rapidly cooling.

So, the recipe for success is pretty simple – respond to me when I tweet about you. A simple thanks will do – sadly, any reply at all will make you stand out at this point.

And the recipe for disaster? Just follow in the footsteps of the 80% of non-profits: ignore your supporters, and simply keep using your Twitter account like a 140 character public announcement system for all that great work you’re doing.

Has your experience been similar, or do your hear back from more than 20% of the non-profits you tweet about? Who do you think is doing a particularly good job of building relationships with their supporters on Twitter? I’d love to hear from you – leave a comment below, or tweet at me. I promise you’ll hear back! J

@EmmaLewzey is a proud small shop fundraiser and CFRE. She’s working towards a socially just world at The Redwood, a safe haven for women + kids fleeing violence, and learned everything she knows about Twitter by following the superstar relationship builders @agentsofgood: @agentjenlove and @johnlepp.

After a few meetings this week and a bunch of reading, I am astounded at how much attention is given to specific channels in our sector and, how often I hear that because their donor doesn’t give to a specific channel, then that channel must be dead.

If charities spent as much time focusing on the ask/offer/message of what they want their donors to do, support and WHY they should care as they do on the channels they deliver their messages – what a different world this would be.

Donors don’t give to the channel. They give to the campaign.

Give your donor a reason to care, be frank with what you want, tell them how they will help, spread across channels evenly and you will win.

Scribbles:

Wendy Mesley: “Trust is not being given to institutions but to individuals.”

Sean Triner (@seantriner) on “witnessing”. This is brilliant. Sean insists that all fundraising letters must tell stories. And now he’s taken that one step further to insist that there is an element of witness – so that the letter signer can say “I saw this for myself”.

Alan Clayton (@claytonburnett): “What we say doesn’t matter. What matters is what your donors hear.”

Alan Clayton (@claytonburnett): “Why do some fundraisers fear asking for money when donors love to give.”

Alan Clayton (@claytonburnett): Lamposting: where charities pass around the creative and let everyone piss on it.

Alan Clayton (@claytonburnett): People give to make a bad feelings go away. They also give to get more “good” feelings.

Jon Duschinsky (@jonduschinksy): 4x? – we may need to ask “why” four times in order to get to a real, inspiring answer. Example: “Why do you need this money?”

1. Because we need to raise $x for our budget. WHY?
2. Because we need more money to run this program. WHY?
3. Because this program is funded entirely by donations. WHY?
4. Because vulnerable families need our help.

Donna Raetsen-Kemp (@donna_raetsen) quoting David Ogilvie: “You’ll never bore anyone into paying attention.”

Photos:

@frasergreen reports back about what donors have told him they think about a lot of charities.

John and Tara Lepp chilling on the eve of Congress

@danpallotta speaks to the delegates about his book, Uncharitable.

Tweets:

RT @johnlepp: #afpcongress emotion is in every gift that is made -Alan Clayton

@snotforprofit “Social Media for Fundraising (is a bit of a boondoggle)” my presentation from #AFPCongress: http://ow.ly/3kdYb

RT @LeahEustace: As soon as you start talking about more than 1 person in your story, response starts to drop (rsch fact) #afpcongress

RT @johnlepp: Demonstrate impact: 90% stories, 10% stats-@thattomahern #afpcongress

There were many, many, many amazing tweets and tidbits of information… if you have the time – go through the stream and have a read.

There was video:

STTV actually recorded a number of interesting interviews and clips – see them all right here at STTV.

- Jen Love’s last tweet as she headed out the door…
Well #afpcongress its been a slice. Mama Love headed home to the 2 reasons I’m devoting my life to NFPs: Mason, 5 and Sadie, 3

As she said – “it is a reminder of both why I work in our sector, and why I need to stay connected with the Congress energy.”

The one theme I heard over and over confirmed what I feel in my heart of hearts. Great fundraising is about emotional storytelling and the needs of your donor. Forget branding, fancy titles, big words and egos, disregard quick fixes and hot trends, ignore naysayers and fear, bypass all of it.

Tell the stories about your cause that your donor needs to hear. The good ones because they helped, the sad ones because the need continues, the angry ones because of the injustice, the scared ones – because of the world we sometimes live in. Tell them all with great emotion and care – because that’s what makes us human.

My brain personally is still full of so many memories and moments, revelations and epiphanies, I would need about 10 more posts to share them all.

One of my last tweets as I said goodbye to old colleagues and new connections was: Using twitter for you or your charity is like being a part of a constant conference. Full or learning and new people. #afpcongress

Jen and I would love to know – what were your Congress highlights? Share your blog posts, slides, images and stories all here.

I failed to mention there is a great tool called Tweetchat. Tweetchat allows you to use a browser and focus just on the conversation or event you are at.

I would also push you to follow Pamela Grow’s great Friday afternoon conversations about fundraising with a focus on small charities at #smNPchat

This fall, don’t think about your fundraising.

Seriously.

I hear you already.

-         “But Jen, we raise most of our money in fall and early winter.”

-         “But, but Jen, we always do our donor acquisition in the fall.”

-         “But, but, but Jen, ARE YOU CRAZY!?”

This fall, don’t think about your revenue target. Don’t think about your organization’s pressing needs. For God’s sake, don’t think for a second about your half hour staff meeting with your team to dig out last fall’s fundraising packages and “strategize” about how to update by changing a few words and resend.

This fall, think about your donors.

Challenge yourself to really focus on your donors. Work toward creating fundraising campaigns that will make your donor stand up (or even better SHOUT) and say “YES! I am with you!”

Don’t believe the hype. Your consultant or agency might have a fancy way of presenting you ideas or creative, but that’s the last step. Not the first step.

Here’s where you start:

1. Set a clear objective. Not a revenue target based on slightly higher than last year’s results. An objective. Something like “raise $100,000 to fund 1,000 surgeries”. Or “help us buy a new truck to deliver fresh produce to families in need”.
2. Create an irresistible call to action – demonstrating how your donors can take action to solve a problem, heal a wound or save something precious.
3. Build a compelling – and honest – case for support. Explore your USP (unique selling position) – and tell your donors how you and only you can make something magical happen with their gift.
4. Now – and only now – think about your creative approach and how you will draw people in. Explore how to make your message shine with an image and copy for your outer envelope – or maybe not. Consider your subject line and e-blast header art.

Your Y-E-A-R E-N-D S-P-E-C-I-A-L

All charities have a version of your year-end special. You all call it something different (Annual Mailing, Fall Mailing, Christmas Special, Holiday Appeal, Fall Campaign) – but you connect with your current and past supporters (by mail, phone, email or all of the above) to ask them to give, right?

My son is a big shot strutting into senior Kindergarten now, so we’re all about spelling. And yes, you can have your apple juice and cookie when you really, REALLY look at those words.

Year End. The holidays. Family. Kindness. Your donors are thinking about the same things in their own lives. So urge them to think about what the holidays mean to them, and to your clients, or your cause. Families in poverty are hungry for hot meal. Polar bears are struggling to survive on a shrinking piece of ice. And help them solve the problem. Your donor – and only your donor – can help you meet your objective and make a difference. Still stuck? Try a matching gift.

Special. Make it special. Memorable. Innovative. Silly. Something that fits – and makes your offer more interesting. Here’s where you can have some creative fun. Of course, you’ve set your objective, created your call to action and built your case. So the fundraising offer rocks. Now, make it special. No, putting holly around the reply coupon and corner of the envelope does not count. Have the frightened polar bear write the appeal. Have Santa write it. YES!

Donor Acquisition

We’ve covered your fall contact with your existing supporters. Check. You’re also probably thinking (worrying, agonizing, bashing-head-against-wall) about finding new donors for your cause. Well, don’t think about what you’re going to raise from your acquisition (or how much it will cost). Don’t even think about how many gifts you will get. Think in donors. People. Real live human beings who have never done so before but have been inspired to give to you.

This just in – your fall acquisition is not a single campaign. It’s the start of each donor’s journey with your cause.

This is especially important if your consultant, agency or organization relies on mission-vacant, cluttered-and-complicated and endlessly-irritating premium packages. Oh I know, you tested it once and now you can’t go back. You know the old ladies really love that stuff. I’ve heard it all.

But since this is direct marketing, if your results are good, do it. But please, build a strategy to follow-up (mail, e-mail, newsletters, e-newsletters, welcome kit) with thoughtful and mission-focused pieces and appeals. Premium-acquired donors likely don’t distinguish yours from the other premium packages they have given to, so if you want to build loyalty and increase the long-term value of your acquisition donors, make sure they know who you are and what you do. Not just how pretty your premium is this fall.

Go Multi-Channel

@agentjenlove (my charming Twitter avatar) is writing this part. Are you shocked that she sounds just like me? If you look her up online, would you be shocked that she looks just like me? You shouldn’t. If your online presence isn’t authentic and a reflection of who you are and what you want to say, don’t bother. Even if you are online as the voice of your organization, you can still tell stories, build relationships and engage as (gasp) a real person.

Twitter, Facebook or any kind of social media are simply tools for you and your cause to be connected to hundreds, thousands of others. Do the numbers matter? No. What matters is that the connections are meaningful, intimate and allow you to be engaged in conversation with people (yes, people) who have self-identified as caring about what you have to say. Read my full blog on Twitter here.

The key word about social media is engage. Social media folks will talk about the 4 C’s: connect, converse, convert, care. You find, follow and are followed (connect). You discuss, share and learn (converse). You inspire them to act, and give (convert). You report back, show them their work in action, thank them (care).

You can use social media right now to thank a volunteer, echo some media coverage, share excitement about a new program or give a boost to your fundraising. But hand-in-hand with any kind of social media is a reason for your fans and followers to check you out – and come back for something fresh. So making a commitment to social media also means making a commitment to a blog or some other way to offer fresh, new content to your audience.

Those of you who are active on Twitter, I like what I see in terms of broadcasting (you tweet) and you are listening (you reply and retweet), but don’t fall into the too-much-chatter trap. Your Twitter page should always be a snapshot of the personality you want to embody and give an impression of your leadership on issues, response to situations and overall body of work. If too many of your tweets are about what you had for breakfast or how hot it is in your office remember how that will look to a potential new follower who finds you.

Now What?

You have the opportunity to reinvigorate your fundraising program this fall. Create a donor-centred approach that works because you designed it with your donor in mind. And remember that come January 1, 2011 you will be reconnecting with all these wonderful donors to ask them to renew and join your movement again for next year, convert to monthly giving and consider leaving you a legacy.

Nope, it’s not seclusion. Or seduction, secretion, sexualisation, sanitization, sentimentialization, septuagenarian or sesquipedalian.

Gold star for anyone who got it. Segmentation.

Seriously – I’m starting to wonder whether some charities think the $70,000 database whirring away in the corner of the server room is, as once suspected, a giant rolodex for the ED to look up phone numbers. Why do you bother with a fancy database, training and attending conferences to learn about direct marketing if you send the same email (or letter) to your whole file?

As good Agents, we’re not just being Provocateurs. Here are just 2 examples from this week alone. Names removed to protect the guilty – and lazy.

Case #1: E-Blast received Tuesday.

Subject: Newsletter from [charity] Executive Director (really?)

Content: Very difficult financial times for us. Having a strong base of supporters like you is so important. I am personally more passionate than ever about finding practical solutions. I hope we can count on your ongoing support. [link to newsletter].

Confession: I’m not a donor. But I have signed up for your e-news (and follow you in social media) because I care about your cause. So don’t talk to me like I’m a donor. Inspire me to join this amazing movement. With good direct response writing, you’d only need to change a paragraph, maybe just a few sentences. Come on!

Case #2: Mailed copy of newsletter with personalized note.

This looked promising. A real letter, just for little old me? Great! Let me read it before I dive into my newsletter. I am, after all, a generous monthly donor. And I give monthly because I want to give every single day to a cause close to my heart. I’m reading…reading…then the crushing realization. No mention of the fact that I’m a monthly donor. In fact, an ask to JOIN the monthly giving program. I have a few tweeps that would say #epic #fail.

1990s movie fans will remember this famous movie quote: “Pop quiz, hotshot. There’s a bomb on a bus. Once the bus goes 50 miles an hour, the bomb is armed. If it drops below 50, it blows up. What do you do? What do you do?”.

Yes! Speed. A classic so-bad-it’s-good movie: “Pop quiz, hotshot. There’s a charity going too fast, not taking time to really talk to donors. Hoarding names and throwing them without really thinking about it into blasts, DM packs and TM calls. Once the donor is pissed off, she loses interest. Pissed off 2, 3, 4…50 times, she blows up. What do you do?”

Answer: I’ll give you a clue – it starts with a “S” and ends in a “N”…