crystal ball webinar 1 14 09 final

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Gazing Into The Crystal Ball:Gazing Into The Crystal Ball:Individual Giving in 2009Individual Giving in 2009


Past is Prologue…or is it?Past is Prologue…or is it? The American people are the same

generous souls they were in the past 40 years, when total giving increased every year but one...

But fundraising is different today. What approaches and messages will work when the economy is contracting and multi-media is expanding?

Helping non profits meet and exceed their fundraising goals


Good News FiguresGood News Figures

According to Giving USA 2008: Charitable giving exceeded $300 billion

in 2007 for the first time in history Giving rose by 3.9 percent in 2007 Boomers are the fastest growing donor

segment – and they are getting increasingly wired



Good News FiguresGood News Figures

According to a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll: 3 of 4 dollars donated in 2007 came from

individuals; the rest were from corporations, foundations and charitable bequests

90% of people 65 and older donated money to a charity in the past year

8 in 10 Americans donated money or volunteered time to a charity in the past year



Good News FiguresGood News Figures Non-Profit Times says 8 out of 10 appeals

are opened and looked at; direct mail still is the best-read medium

Vertis’ Customer Focus Poll, Non-Profit:59% who give use direct mail for philanthropy62% say the most important factor is the

personalized nature of appeals; 59% say timing; special offer 32%; urgency 30%



Bad News FiguresBad News Figures

According to the USA TODAY/Gallup Poll: 66% of Americans expected to donate

the same or more in 2008 as they did the previous year, but 72% said their finances would affect their philanthropy.

U.S. companies donated an average of 0.8% of their pretax profits in 2007, down from 1.4% in 2004.



Bad News FiguresBad News Figures The top 8% of households based on

income and wealth, which is responsible for more than 50 percent of charitable giving, have been most affected by the current economic crisis.

Only 6% of all households gave online in 2007, according to Giving USA



Good News/Bad News FiguresGood News/Bad News Figures

In a survey conducted by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University:

Fundraisers experienced more success with direct mail in the first half of 2008 than they predicted in December 2007.

All other fundraising techniques met with less success than predicted.



According to a survey of nonprofits conducted by the DMA’s Nonprofit Federation in late 2008:

40% received smaller gifts from fewer donors 33% received larger gifts from fewer donors 14% received smaller gifts from more donors 8% received larger gifts from more donors 61% were doing the same as or better than ‘07


Good News/Bad News FiguresGood News/Bad News Figures

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Forecast: Partly CloudyForecast: Partly Cloudy

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According to Boston College's Center on Wealth and Philanthropy:

Because high-net worth donors tend to plan their contributions a year ahead, the full impact to giving levels may not be felt until later

Charitable giving levels may not be affected as much or for as long as feared During the dot.com bust, giving increased by 1%. One year after the 1987 crash, giving was up 7.1%.



Forecast: Potentially StormyForecast: Potentially Stormy The Perfect “F” Storm: food prices,

fuel price volatility, financial market turmoil, falling employment figures

If incomes decline significantly, the impact on charitable donations is likely to be much greater this year.


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Forecast: Partly CloudyForecast: Partly Cloudy

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Direct mail is predicted to remain the most-used medium for individual donations over the next 10 years…

But 37% of prospects will turn to your website before making a decision to give by mail



Focus On: Improving the Long- Focus On: Improving the Long- Term Value of Your DonorsTerm Value of Your Donors Recognize the relationship and make a

big deal about it: Acknowledge the contribution with a thank you note. Send a new donor welcome kit.

Engage using meaningful content delivered through multi-channel efforts — newsletters, regular updates, surveys, tax statements, invitations.



Focus On: Improving the Long- Focus On: Improving the Long- Term Value of Your DonorsTerm Value of Your Donors New and easy ways of giving should be

introduced: pledge opportunities, honor/memorial, monthly, and planned giving options.

Earn trust with operational openness; document your good stewardship.



Focus On: Improving the Long- Focus On: Improving the Long- Term Value of Your DonorsTerm Value of Your Donors Widen the scope of your existing programs

or add new ones — a static organization loses support of donors over time.

Ask again within 6 months of the first gift, suggesting reasonable upgrades. Analyze results.

Listen to donors. Regularly solicit feedback about what they want.



Donor Cultivation SummaryDonor Cultivation Summary

Recognize the relationship Engage New ways of giving Earn their trust Widen the scope of your programs or add new ones Ask again within 6 months and analyze results Listen to them



Focus on: Turning Prospects Focus on: Turning Prospects into Donorsinto Donors Mission clarity: What are your goals? Organizational effectiveness: how efficient

are you in fulfilling your mission? Testimonials and endorsements: use a

powerful story from someone who has been helped in a tangible way; get endorsements from celebrities whose support lends credibility.



Impact made by the gift: specifically, how will you put donations to work over the next 12 months?

Values: clearly demonstrated ideals of your organization will coincide with their own, bolstering the case for support.


Focus on: Turning Prospects Focus on: Turning Prospects into Donorsinto Donors


Accomplishments: what did you achieve with donated funds in the past 6-12 months?

Transparency: openness builds trust; show them the money!

Educate, but don’t forget to ASK. Evaluate your results.


Focus on: Turning Prospects Focus on: Turning Prospects into Donorsinto Donors


Prospecting SummaryProspecting Summary Mission clarity Organizational effectiveness Testimonials and endorsements Impact made by the gift Values Accomplishments Transparency Educate and evaluate results



Focus On: ContentFocus On: Content For older donors: use stories to elicit an

emotional response For Gen X and Gen Y: report results, detail plans

and offer involvement options For Baby Boomers: use both emotional and

factual approach For all audiences, include details on where their

donations go Use pie charts to demonstrate good stewardship



Focus On: BrandingFocus On: Branding Create a specific landing page for your direct

mail recipients that has a “look and feel” consistent with your DM campaign

Be brief! State your mission, invite them in. Make prominent links to:

Financial information Videos Ways to donate

pURLs can be used for personalized asks.



Focus On: StyleFocus On: Style Don’t obsess about sentence structure… make it

conversational and readable For direct mail:

Personalize the ask based on donor history For emotional appeals, longer is okay, but… Keep paragraphs short – 5 lines or less Use 11 or 12 point type Preserve white space with good margins and

generous line spacing



Focus On: StyleFocus On: Style For your landing page:

Shorter is better – no scrolling required! Use a readable “screen font” Offer some new information. A bit more detail

and mention it in your mail piece. Graphically resonant Big donate now button



Focus On: Making Your CaseFocus On: Making Your CaseTo make a solid case for support, describe how

your experience, achievements and plans will: Save lives, Improve lives, Create hope for the future, Achieve greater cost efficiency, Expand programs to do more, and… How this will be of potential benefit to donor



Focus On: Setting Achievable Focus On: Setting Achievable GoalsGoals Limit acquisition to renewable new donors.

Don’t solicit too far afield from your mission Be judicious in using premiums

Choose one: growth in donor file or revenue? Keep to schedule and stay on course until

results are clear



Focus On: Reducing the BudgetFocus On: Reducing the Budget

Allocate resources where they most impact net income – maximize efforts to core donors

Carefully monitor your lapsed segments by year of lapsed to reduce risk of over-mailing

Mail conservatively to event attendees and memorial donors, and segment them properly

Keep data clean and updated Think twice before giving away premiums or

enclosing non-essential inserts



Focus On:Focus On: Long-Term SuccessLong-Term SuccessFind ways to elicit multiple, upgraded gifts from each donor:

Acknowledge gifts Send welcome kits to new donors Ask again within 6 months Offer secure on-line and monthly giving options Send Newsletters or other updates Provide year-end tax statements Create Donor Loyalty and Cumulative Giving

programs that can be recognized using giving history Give good reasons for donors to upgrade;

acknowledge when they do Multi-channel marketing – do it now!



Focus On: Short-Term StrategyFocus On: Short-Term Strategy Look for Challenge Grant opportunities – donors will

appreciate the positive effects a compoundied gift Emergency Appeals for Social Service organizations –

now is the time, but don’t over-use it! Focus on donor’s emotional identification – their

sense of caring. Donors who are able to give more will upgrade to compensate for others who can no longer afford to contribute.

55% of Americans said friends and family have the most influence on their decision to give to a charity, so cultivate your donors!



Fundraising is a marathon, not a sprint.

Use every technique available to you to generate a gift, but don’t conclude success or failure on immediate results alone.

You’re in it for the long haul … your ROIs are profitable only when you’ve started the renewal phase.

Organizational patience, foresight and fortitude will reward you in the end!

ConclusionConclusionHelping non profits meet and exceed their fundraising goals


• These slides will be available on the website at www.drsol.org/news tomorrow.

• I will be sending a brief follow-up survey tomorrow and I hope you will take a moment to complete it.

THANK YOU FOR JOINING US.THANK YOU FOR JOINING US.

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Wrapping up:Wrapping up:Helping non profits meet and exceed their fundraising goals

http://www.drsol.org/news


We’ll begin with any questions submitted via the chat feature and then open up the floor.

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Time for questions:Time for questions:Helping non profits meet and exceed their fundraising goals


Contact:Contact:For more information or for permission,

please contact Marcia Scowcroft.


crystal ball webinar 1 14 09 final

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