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.

HAD it.

I am tired of giving donations to causes that either need it, or have asked me, or because I am moved by their work and you know what I hear back?

Nada. Nothing. Zilch!

We are very, very HARD on our clients (just ask them). If you want to work with us, together, you need to respect the people who help you. We have this fancy-schmantzy name for it – we call it “donor centered fundraising”, which to dumb it down, means – you CARE about and FOR your donors. It means you take the time to craft special appeals that your donors will care about – not the same thing you did last year with a new stock image…

It means, you know, treat them like individuals who are doing something VERY special for you.

If you don’t care about your donors, then we want nothing to do with you. And they won’t either.

Here’s what I am proposing – a money back guarantee. Hey – if Sears can do it – you can do it.

If I give a donation to you – and you don’t THANK me, ACKNOWLEDGE my existence, TELL me how I’ve helped, treat me with a bit of RESPECT within – hmm – let’s say 30 days – I can ASK and GET my donation back.

Am I crazy?

You shouldn’t be ordered by the government to do this or brow beated by your peers and colleagues to do it.

But I plead with you, right now – GO FOR IT.

I would give to ANY charity in a heartbeat if they had this guarantee. Who wouldn’t?

I bet the first client I can convince to do it will reap some fantastic benefits.

Do you think you could do it?

If you are interested – a year ago (via Idea Design) I did 5 really quick video’s about my biggest tips here. Share your own tips and tricks in the comments.

Direct Mail Fundraising Letter Tip: Write about a real live person – NOT just your mission statement or programs

Direct Mail Tip: Sell only 1 thing at a time. If seeking donations for summer kids’ camp, don’t shift to estate planning

Spend extra effort to ensure that a 1-time donor becomes a 2-time donor – it’s KEY to long-term donor relationship #fundraising

Copywriting tip: Read your draft copy ALOUD; anywhere u stumble, revise; smooth it out

Direct mail fundraising ltr tip: Try using “handwritten” marginal notes in blue or red ink

Hook your paragraphs together with “connective” words – ex: And But Then Why – to build; keep reader moving

Longer letters DONE RIGHT kick butt

If using 2 letters in your direct mail package, use a P.S. on only 1 of them

Lift letter should be signed by a different person from the main letter in your direct mail package

Lift letter should use a different typeface from the main letter in your direct mail package

Lift letter should be a different color paper from the main letter in your direct mail package

Lift letter should be a different size from the main letter in your direct mail package

Direct mail tip: Mixing typeset w/handwritten teasers on outer envelope can boost response

Direct marketing letter tip: Occasionally use 1-sentence paragraphs for emphasis. Even 1-word paragraphs are great.

Write to one person, not thousands or millions.

Our first SOFII Star of the month is… John Lepp, Agents of Good

The SOFII team were unanimous – the first SOFII star of the month had to be awarded to John Lepp. Over the past year, John has shown such dedication, patience and expertise in building the new SOFII site. All of us from SOFII are very grateful to all of his hard work and we are really pleased with our new website!

John has long been an admirer of SOFII. He loved the idea that there was an online, ever-evolving museum of fundraising which he could access, at anytime. However, John freely admits that he found SOFII difficult to use because of the overload of links and images. Instead of merely complaining about the problem, John decided to do something about it. Realising he and his business partner Mark Haak had the skills to completely redesign SOFII and improve its functionality; he got in touch with SOFII’s founder Ken Burnett and offered his services.

Ever since, John and the team at Agents of Good have undertaken a massive project (bigger than any of us realised) involving sweat, blood and tears and undoubtedly a good few curses along the way. Despite this, John has approached the project with superhero-like patience, commitment and determination. His light hearted approach and acceptance of our technical limitations made him a joy to work with.
So, thank you John for believing in SOFII and for playing such an important role in shaping the future of fundraising. We really needed your talents and are very lucky that you decided to share them with us.
And special thanks to….

Dean Reeds for all of his hard work and patience with the new website – we couldn’t have done it without you.

Truth be known, there are many others who deserve to be acknowledged who have done more than their fair share of work to get to this point.

Dean Reeds, programmer and great guy, has had the patience of 1000 saints as we have changed our minds over and over on every little detail you can think of. And totally hasn’t freaked out. Not publically anyhow.

Kimberley Mackenzie, SOFII’s unofficial cheerleader, supporter, fundraiser… every time I needed a brain to pick, she was there. Every time I needed some insight or support, she was there. Every time I wondered if we would ever get through this, she reminded me we would.

Mark Haak, partner and designer. Helped greatly to create the look and feel as it is/and will be when we launch next week. He had no idea what I was talking him into well over a year ago. And he never complained when he found out.

Carolina Herrera, SOFII octopus. She has had her hands on everything, since the beginning. She has helped, supported and keep us all moving along regardless of what else was going on around her.

Ken Burnett. Ah, Ken Burnett. Ken and I need to share a pint or two, (you buy mine Ken and I’ll buy yours). Without Ken’s vision of a online showcase of fundraising that people from all over the world can learn and steal from, we wouldn’t be here. His leadership, patience, guidance, persistence and humour has made this journey worth it. I thank you Ken.

And finally, you. Thank you “YOU”. You are what we do this for. YOU are not only the star of the month, but the stars of SOFII. It exists for YOU because regardless of what we have done, you are the ones who have created it with your thoughts, successes, failures and knowledge. We are creating a legacy that (hopefully) generations of fundraisers will find insightful, useful, inspiring and world changing for many, many years to come.

We are soft launching this week for a last sneak peak for a few folks with a full on launch the week following (baring some major mishap) and we look forward to your thoughts.

Extra thanks and love to whoever photoshopped the poster.

A QUICK UPDATE: The New Sofii is now live… Head on over and let us know what you think.

“We are paying for 4 colours why aren’t we using them?”
“Why can’t you cram more photographs in?”
“Can you add more fonts?”
“This looks pretty plain…”

I’ve wrote before about being appropriate. Did you know that the more design elements we use in a piece detracts from the overall message? Did you know that one of the most boring and esthetically displeasing fonts in the world (no offense Courier) is one of the best for overall comprehension? Readability?

I know… I know… You want it to look interesting so people will read it… People don’t look at boring stuff do they?

Let me tell you something; a good designer can make your ‘thing’ pretty, but a great designer will make sure your ‘thing’ communicates and is understood. You need to realize the more you force a designer to add colours, swooshes, photos, fonts, bars and embellishments, the more you strip the ability of someone to comprehend what you are asking them to do or what you want them to know.

Do not mess with the focus and concentration of your donors. Ask for one thing. Get the point across as quickly and and as simply as possible. Every single design element should be there to help support the message.

Often the things that seem the most boring are the most effective.

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”…

Agents work from your donor out. We think from your donor’s perspective. We start with your objective and create the irresistible call to action that will inspire your donor. We work backwards from there to build the compelling case and figure out how you’ll get noticed in your donor’s mailbox and inbox, but more importantly be remembered in their heart and mind.

We’ve been haunted a bit lately talking to clients about “big ideas”. Names omitted to protect the guilty, but I had a call from an ED who asked me how I could “make us a million dollar viral video for YouTube”. I calmly explained we needed a million dollar idea. YouTube was just the vehicle where it would play…YouTube is not an ATM.

And I sat in a fancy US charity’s office as their agency pitched flashy images and talked a lot about “stickiness”. Why did I feel like the wet blanket asking whether it was for donors or prospects? And when they scratched their heads and said it was for donors, I was a soaking blanket asking whether donors really wanted/needed/would respond to the “hard hitting and gut-wrenching” stuff?

Consultants yammer about creative, “integrated” campaigns. I do too. Come on, other consultants reading this blog – you do to!

Stop.

Connect with charities about the core objectives, measuring the results, segmentation – who are you talking to? And what do you want them to do?

We love big ideas. We pitch big ideas. We shake our fists at campaigns without a big idea. But the big idea doesn’t guarantee success in direct marketing.

Guarantee your success in direct marketing by:

1. Defining your objective – and how you will measure the results tied to it
2. Knowing who you are talking to – possibly to multiple segments in different ways that recognize and respect their relationship to you
3. Clearly calling them to action
4. Building your case for support and consider how to stand out
5. Developing thoughtful, convenient but most importantly appropriate response devices

Ees? Krow sdrawkcab! [haven’t had your coffee yet? That says “See? Work backwards!”...backwards!]

I was chatting with a client and she says “…how you do have time for blogging and social media? Doesn’t it take, like, ALL your time and energy? I just don’t have time for that. No way.”

I’ve been creating and consuming social media content as part of my daily (hourly) routine, so was a bit of an out-of-avatar-experience to see someone else’s perspective. And their perspective was: “Ugh.”

Feeling a bit like a rite of passage here as I give my top 5 reasons for charities to love social media.

Your followers and fans are real human beings with their hands in the air saying “I’m interested in you. I care about your perspective on something that matters to me.” Unless, of course, you already have enough of those people kicking around.

It’s a 2-way dialogue with no forced timeline. Direct mail, telemarketing, face-to-face/door-to-door…these more traditional direct marketing channels have a fixed timeline, often measured in the amount of time before they stop reading/listening.

Intimacy. Yes, social media is intimate. You can define and refine what people know about you. You establish your own voice and tell your own stories. To people who have self-identified as caring about what you have to say.

You’re both a guru and a grasshopper every day. You broadcast, listen and engage all at the same time. And while you can learn from ‘social media experts’, you can also teach.

Making a commitment to providing fresh content on your website and connecting with the world through social media takes time and sustained energy. So what did I say to my client? “Yep, building relationships does”.

Those of you who are counting have realized that this is only 4 reasons. That’s because the 5^th isn’t about your charity. It’s about me. Within seconds, I am connected to the ideas and insights and perspectives of brilliant colleagues I admire and passionate clients I respect from all around the world. And they share with me what they are thinking. Twitter is an amazing filter.

I’ve never called Ken Burnett and said, “Inspire me. Tell me what you’re working on or thinking about. Right now.” I’ve also never called charity:water and said “send me a great photo that perfectly captures who you are and what you do.”

I just don’t have time for that. No way.

For your information you can follow Achilles on twitter at @AchillesMazda

Here is a video about google alerts as well if you want more information.