David Love’s Fundraising Tips
David Love is on our board and has been raising money, mostly for the environment, for over 50 years. David’s book summarizing fundraising lessons learned is available here: https://hilborn-civilsectorpress.com/products/green-green. Enter SN20 at checkout for a 20% discount.
- Create breathtaking, inspiring value and impacts — donations will follow
- Think big – big ideas can lead to big donations
- Vision First – Vision is making your version of the world visible to donors. Vision excites emotion, and emotion motivates donors to make the first gift.
- Mission follows Vision – Donors support a mission that is clear and concise.
- Then it’s All About the Donors
- Donors give because they are interested in the journey.
- Donors will engage at different stages of the journey – they join, they may leave, they may come back.
- Take them along and share honestly with them.
- They join you because they deeply believe that what you are doing is important (they believe in your mission).
- They want to know where you are going, what the milestones of success are, and what the greatest challenges are.
- Thank yous should be personal, sincere, relevant, and inspiring.
- Treat donors like people, not ATM machines.
- Fundraising facts
- It is a competitive world — only 6% of charitable dollars go to the environment. This has remained essentially the same over the years.
- The 80/20 rule
- 20% of your donors give 80% of the money — and these numbers are creeping their way towards 90/10.
- Legacy Gifts — For more permanent NGO initiatives, remember that anyone can leave a legacy gift.
- It’s about donors’ fundamental value: being remembered over time by contributing to things they deeply care about.
- Long-time donors deserve to be asked properly about donating to your organization in their will.
End-of-Year Fundraising Insights from Kim Bilous, VP of Development
Kim is VP, Development for Small Change Fund, and a lifelong and vocal advocate for nature and a healthy environment. At SCF, she is responsible for plotting strategic direction and growth of the organization with the team, working closely with our partners and donors.
Most charities and non-profits raise the majority of their revenue from individuals in the last months of the year. Here are some thoughts on preparing for your year-end asks:
a) Make a plan that plots out some good communications ahead of any fall appeal and sets the timing for your asks and follow up. Include a work-back schedule. It sounds like more work…but this will save you time in the end.
b) Create some good and high-value communications (ahead of ask) right now to your donors and potential supporters, confirming for them what you are accomplishing or working towards. And don’t forget to say thank you as much as you can for their interest and help.
c) Check that your supporter and prospect contact information is tidy and correct. People do care about how their name (and address) looks in your correspondence to them. Please share any contact information changes you find with SCF so we can also be better stewards. Take this opportunity to segment your lists – create a “donor pyramid” and assess the best ways to approach each donor. A more personal touch will create better results.
d) As you are considering writing your appeal(s), if it feels awkward to you, you might want to try using an AI tool to get you started, then you can personalize and colour in what is missing. There are many on the market – willy.ai is a tool that can be tested free of charge. I am also happy to help and review any copy!
e) Consider appealing for an early “matching gift” from a single donor or group of supporters before you go out with a more general appeal – for instance a joint matching gift from your Board or Advisory Council – this can inspire both the early donor(s) and your prospective donors!
f) Recurring gifts are magical. Your donors may be happier giving a smaller gift monthly than one annual gift. Do offer and encourage that option in your communication IF that is fitting for your project.
We really respect how busy you all are, and that most of our partner organizations are volunteer-led. We are happy to help you as you prepare for the fall fundraising season. Looking after our supporters in these simple ways can make the difference between one-time or on-going donations. Don’t hesitate to contact Kim and/or your Project Lead for any support or review.
Check out this resource: Nine secrets to writing successful grant proposals
For those of you with supporters who take advantage of gifting publicly traded securities, we have a new form to make that process easier. One of the many opportunities to make giving easier.
And last – if you are interested in some great learning about direct mail and taking care of donors, check out the short videos available from Jen Love and John Lepp of Agents of Good: https://agentsofgood.org/directmailclinics. This sample might whet your appetite.