PART II Welcoming and retaining our donors

1. WORKSHOP ON DONOR ACQUISITION AND RETENTION PART II Welcoming and retaining our donors Too few donors retain loyalty to one or more charities. What are we doing wrong? What can we do right?

2. Issues for Today’s Presentation • Why are our donors leaving us? • “The fault is in ourselves, not in the stars” • What donors want and expect • Not all donors are the same • Welcoming our new donors • Keeping them with us • Re-activating them

3. What Donors are really wondering • Can I trust you with my money? • If I give, what can you do? • What did you do? • Do you appreciate me?

4. Reasons why donors say they left Study conducted by Adrian Sargeant, Indiana University in 2001 * Factors we can do something about

5. Factors reducing Donor Loyalty • Recognition. Inappropriate or insufficient. • Personal benefit vs. altruism. Donors looking for some benefit in return for their gifts. • Peer pressure. Donors who made a gift under pressure from their peers. • Service. Donors who felt service was poor.

6. What Donors Want • To be recognized and valued for the gifts they make • To feel good about their giving • To understand how their money is being used and what difference it makes • To be inspired • To feel involved – a part of something • To be impressed by the charity • To be asked their opinion • To know they are really listened to

7. What is Relationship Fundraising? Textbook Definition: “An approach to the process of donor exchange based on the long-term value that can accrue to both parties.”

8. Relationship Fundraising If you use a Relationship Approach it affects: • How you will find a donor (Telefacing and F2F) • How you get to know the donor • How you keep in touch with the donor • How you ensure they get what they want • Ensures that you keep checking that they are getting what was promised

9. Why care about Relationship Fundraising? • Long-term, it costs far less than transaction-based fundraising • It costs ten times as much to acquire a new donor than to keep one. • It leads to “donor churn and burn” • It poisons the fundraising market for everyone. • The uneducated donor is the donor who never returns.

10. Transaction-based vs. Relationship Fundraising

11. So don’t treat them all the same way Not all donors are the same!

12. New Donor Namaste! Someone who has just given, but only for the first time. We know very little about his/her future giving patterns. We do know there are Four groups….

13. 1. Responders People who have responded to an appeal, but have no intention of developing a relationship with the organization. These people have just been caught at the right moment, with the right appeal message. There is little we can do to persuade these people to donate again. This group represents about 60 per cent of all people who made a first donation.

14. 2. Potential donors Have a general interest in the cause Can be motivated to give again Need to be renewed in the same way as they were recruited Can only be considered confirmed donors once they have given two or more times Represent about 40% of acquired donors

15. 3. Passive donors Satisfied to just give to the organization, without getting more actively involved. Can be very loyal but do not expect a lot of involvement or feedback. Do care passionately about the organization. Are also candidates for monthly giving. Represent about 25% of the total names acquired

16. 4. Motivated donors Want a deep commitment to the cause Are loyal donors, but have to receive excellent donor care Willing to advocate for the cause and maybe participate in other activities, e.g. volunteering, events, and even fundraising Represent about 15% of the total acquired donors

17. There are All kinds of donors!(Chart adapted From A. Sarjeant and E. Jay “Building Donor Loyalty”) Acquired Donors Confirmed Donors Investment potential Strength of relationship

18. Donor communication Make donor communication part of your appeal cycle. Build the relationship between donor and CEO. Design and package newsletters as appeals. Send at least 3-4 newsletter appeals per year. Send an annual report. Focus newsletters on themes that have been mentioned in appeals. Send occasional “special report letters”.

19. Types of Communications • Welcome package • Newsletters, mailed and emailed • Renewal solicitations • Campaign updates • Annual reports • Greetings for holidays and birthdays • Invitations (think annual meeting, even a virtual one) • Website (think video) • Special, exclusive offers and appeals • Social media (Facebook, Twitter...)

20. The New Donor WELCOME Process Thanking and welcoming Sending out the welcome pack and questionnaire Follow-up telephone calls Follow up with special welcome appeals Integration of new donors into the House Renewal cycle

21. First Impressions Make All the Difference • Receiving Donations • Thank first: • Enter data second: • Deposit money third (TED) • Find out what each donor wants • Develop the best possible welcome programme • Speed of response • Contents and format of package • Telephone follow-up, when appropriate

22. The Welcome Pack Thank you letter and tax receipt Questionnaire Send a follow-up email and/or phone call Develop a database to “flag” donors’ preferences

23. The Welcome Letter Thank you letter from CEO • Thank and thank again • Introduce the CEO • Describe the types of relationship being offered • Mention occasional phone contact for updates and emergencies. • Feedback on acquisition theme • Give the letter a personal look. • Include tax receipt

24. The Questionnaire • Explain its purpose: “To understand you, the donor, better and to be able to provide you with the best information available on: • How your money was spent • What is happening in our world (children, animals, human rights) • What you have empowered our organization to do • How we can help you do more in the future • Your privacy preferences • Your preferences on how we communicate Introduce each question with an explanation.

25. Questionnaire topics 1 Personal statistics (assure privacy) • Date of birth (both for age as well as to know the birthday) • Telephone numbers (home and mobile) • Email address • Profession • Educational level • Marital Status and number of children • Income range (Optional)

26. Questionnaire topics 2 Programme Interests, scoring 1-5, e.g. • Immunization • Hunger • Education • Emergency Programmes • Health Issues • Providing clean water • Better nutrition • HIV/AIDS prevention

27. Questionnaire topics 3 Contact Preferences • Interest in sustained giving (Automatic monthly) • Email preferences. Email newsletter? (multiple, occasional or no email contact) • Emails in emergencies? • Willing to accept occasional telephone calls?

28. Questionnaire Topics 4 Reporting • Annual reports, • Occasional publications. • Field reports • Newsletters

29. Questionnaire Topics 5 Other Giving Opportunities • Legacies • Friends get friends • Interest in committed giving (monthly)?

30. Questionnaire Topics 6 Giving Behaviour What other charities they support? What causes they are interested in supporting: children, health, animals, environment, religion, etc Why they support us?

31. Follow-up telephone calls Allow two weeks for receipt of questionnaires Plan telephone campaign to non-respondents eliminating those who have opted out Try to reach all new donors within 6 weeks of initial gift Based on Q. results, place each donor in a category for further contacts Develop house renewal cycle

32. Donor communication Make donor communication part of your appeal cycle. Build relationship between donor and CEO. Design and package newsletters as appeals. Send 3-4 newsletter appeals per year. Send an annual report. Focus newsletters on themes that have been mentioned in appeals. Send occasional “special report letters”.

33. Monthly Donor Cultivation Cycle • Report • Welcome • Ask Ask Report

34. Exercise Imagine you are planning a Donor Contact Cycle (DM or other media) How often do you want to contact your donors? When do you want to contact them? When do you want to send them a newsletter? Before or after an appeal? Complete the forms in groups of two

35. Typical Mail/F2F cycle

36. THANK YOU! Richard M Pordes, LLC 99 Dolphin Cove Quay Stamford CT 06902 A-34, Hauz KhasNew Delhi 100 016 Richard@ PordesLLC.com +91 88 605 332 88 +1-203-570-2223