A Covid success story and its six key takeaways!
2020 was a wild fundraising year. #AmIRight?
Anecdotally I can say that those organizations and their fundraisers who put in their best effort to tell great stories, clearly asked for something in a thoughtful way, did extremely well last year.
I wanted to take a moment to share our top 6 takeaways from a year end appeal we worked on with our friends at St. Thomas Elgin Hospital Foundation. Spoiler - it did 515% better than the year previous. That’s not a typo.
Special Agent Rachel Zant and I worked with Amanda Balaban, the STEGH Annual Giving Specialist on this appeal.
Here are Rachel’s top takeaways:
• You can use the same story more than once. Ross’s story was featured in a newsletter earlier in the year, which might have stopped us from using it again. But, both John and I felt the story was so compelling that we could easily tell it from a different perspective (such as how difficult the experience must have been for his beloved wife June) and it would be even more effective. Plus, the story hadn’t been used in a direct mail ask. In my work with other charities, I often use the same story across various channels. An successful fundraising email can be adapted and used for a direct mail appeal a few months later, for instance.
• You must be honest and authentic. Right from the lead sentence in the letter: “I’m not going to lie.” — we are being very open and honest with the donor. If times are tough then tell your supporters! Things ARE tough. They’ve been tough all year. But when everyone works together and pitches in — does their part! — then we can and we WILL make it through. A lot of fundraisers are wondering if they can still “ask" using COVID, for instance. My answer: if your charity or your beneficiaries are still being affected by it, then absolutely! Be honest about and authentic in how you communicate your needs and the issues you’re facing and it will come through to your donor. Trust me, like a good friend, they will respond accordingly.
• Your donor is the hero of the story. I’m sure you’ve heard this before! You’ll notice the letter doesn’t go on and on about how great the hospital is for keeping Ross alive. It brings the donor into the story as a major character, working alongside of the medical teams to care for Ross. In every letter I write, the donor becomes the hero of the story. Their gift is the reason for the success — or their gift can be the catalyst to save lives in the future. Everyone wants to feel that their gift, no matter how big or how small, is going to actually make a difference.
Here are mine:
• The fundamentals work. Have a look at this pack (shared below). Creatively it’s very simple. Testing tells us anything other than a #10 envelope is going to do well. We didn’t use a tagline or image - often those give away all the intrigue. A 2 page letter, written in 14 point type with a clear explanation of the problem, the solution, and the action we are asking the donor to take. It has a clear ask and even explains what the money will be used for! The reply form is full size and only asks for a single cash gift. Now isn’t the time for 1,000 check boxes! We designed a simple ornament that could be returned with the gift. Donors love sharing bits of themselves with the organizations they love. When was the last time you asked your donor to share a bit of their story with you? We designed a simple lift note. “Lift” notes lift response. That’s why we use them. They also let you add to the case for donor support. We include a postage paid Business Reply Envelope and make it as easy as possible for the donor to send in their gift.
• Invest the energy where you’ll see the greatest reward. Most organizations get 80% of their gifts from 20% of their top donors. Mid to high level, loyals, monthlies, donors who have indicated they have left a gift in their will to you. Pulling packs together for these donors - all in house creates a lot more work but you will see an instant return as a reward for this work. Large 9” x 6” or 9” x 12” envelope, with hand written name and address, first class stamp, flat and full size two or four page letter, personalized and printed off your ink jet, hand signed and marked, paper clipped to the full size and personalized reply form and paper clipped to the over printed insert or a photograph or an additional sticky with a personal note - these packs will SMASH your results.
• Do your work with love. We love fundraisers like Amanda. Amanda would show up every day, with her sleeves rolled up, ready to learn, ask questions and do the hard work. And it’s paid off. This pack outperformed last years by 515%. You have to be quite obsessive over this type of work. You have to be prepared to do a lot of hard work to ask the right questions, find the stories you need to move donors to action, to spend the time sending thoughtful thank you notes for every single gift you get from these amazing people we call donors. And ideally, you do it with love in your heart fully appreciating the privilege we have having manful conversations with these amazing humans everyday. This is so vitally important to successful fundraising.
If you are looking to ramp up your next appeal, Agents are standing by.
Amanda with a few of her returned BRE’s!