Thursday July 17- Reporting

Hi !

🛣️  This bloody road remains a mystery: What’s cookin this week

In this week’s enews…

• The ask/thank/report/repeat process

• Ways to report back to supporters

• Learn from the good: Stuffed toys for kids who need it most

• Great post: How to ask donors to cover processing fees

• Strategy Insider: Gratitude game

• Customer service reps

The solution to the Triple E (enews easter egg) from last week: The lyrics to this Big Red commercial. Yes it’s an earworm but a great one!

Three months ago I shared a reader survey with you. One of your top three fundraising pain points: “We don’t report impact enough to our supporters.”

With year-end campaigns right around the corner, you need to put time and effort into impact reporting before you make that all important ask.

Let’s dive into it.

⚫️ This sudden darkness fills the air: The part we neglect 

It’s mid July. Which means…

Yup, year-end is juuuuust around the corner. That time of year where nonprofits collect a large part of their annual donations.

The craziness is upon us.

For the next few weeks, each edition of this enews will look at pain points related to the year-end campaign and how to help your December campaign exceed your goals.

Let’s discuss the ask/thank/report/repeat cycle of fundraising.

Nonprofits know all about the “ask” part. Ask away, raise money.

A donation is not the end of the road- it’s just the beginning. That’s why the “thank” component is critical. Always lead with gratitude! And continue thanking supporters every chance you get.

It’s the “report” element where I see a lot of organizations failing. Or at least not doing what’s needed.

People donate because they want to do good in their community. They want to help. They want to make the world a better place.

Which means your nonprofit MUST report back to supporters, letting them know the impact they’ve had. If they give but aren’t sure if their gift helped or not, there’s a good chance they won’t give again.

(It’s part of the reason for the 💩  retention rate in our sector.)

I’ve written in past issues about impact reports. I understand that for some of you, especially in small shops (LOVE YOU GUYS!), creating an impact report is beyond what you can do.

But an impact report isn’t the only way to communicate the effect of a gift. There are plenty of other ways to give your audience all the feels. (Example: Watch the video in this post)

✊ Stand up and face the enemy: Let em know

It’s summertime. Work? Ugh.

As a friend WhatsApped me yesterday:

But here’s the thing: Now’s a good time to work on reporting and considering ideas for reporting you can share in the leadup to the year-end campaign.

Important: 4 benefits of sharing impact data with stakeholders (NUMBER ONE!!!)

Here are reporting ideas you can incorporate into your emails, website, blog, social media posts etc.

Follow up stories: A donor gave to a specific campaign? Tell them how their gift solved the problem you outlined in the ask. Let them know how the person/family is doing. (How to tell a good impact story)

Testimonials: Let the beneficiary speak directly to the donor! Send an email which is written and signed by the person who was helped thru the donor’s gift. Create a connection between giver and the person impacted. That personalizes the gift for the donor. Another way to do this… (Guide to collecting and using testimonials)

Short videos: Get your phone out and record. Show programs and services in action. Have one person speak and thank donors for helping them. Put a staff person and/or volunteer on camera talking about the impact of gifts. Use video to share impact of a gift. Send a link to the video via email and text. Post it to social media.

Infographics: Create an infographic which shows impact of the collective donations from supporters. Make sure to thank the community for making an impact. (Remember: One of the reasons donors give is to feel like they’re part of a larger community of do-gooders.) Speaking of using data for good…

Data: Build some pie charts, graphs and other data visualizations so people can see impact. Growth in number of people helped, rise in test scores at school, meals distributed, hours invested in finding a cure. (How to get data viz right)

☕️ time: Invite a donor to meet you for coffee. Thank them. Share impact with them. Answer any questions they might have about the organization or your programs. Do this with one donor once a week. There are 19 weeks till December. Imagine the impact of 19 givers feeling good about their gift…

Fun event: Let’s take monthly givers, some of your best donors. How about an ice cream and karaoke event to thank them? Use the event to share how their monthly donations are impacting people in the community (show a short video, some testimonials, programs in action). Then let people mingle, eat, sing and enjoy.

Phone call: You already know that I think phone calls are highly underutilized by nonprofits. 19 weeks, 6 calls a week. 100+ donors know the impact of their last gift before you hit them up at year-end. Not time consuming. Supporters will remember the call when you ask.

Website: Use email, text and social to drive traffic to your website where you’ve posted impact information. (Here’s how to show impact on your website- with examples)

Yes, you have to invest time, effort, a little money and peoplepower in sharing impact. But it’s ONE OF THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAYS to lead up to your next ask.

When a donor knows the impact of their last gift they will give again. That means higher retention, higher donor lifetime value.

And you know what that means for the people your organization serves!

P.S. If you’re gonna send out an impact email, I’d suggest NOT including an ask. Let the impact of a gift (and your gratitude/thanks from a beneficiary) stand alone. Give readers all the feels, make them smile. They’ll remember that good feeling the next time you ask.

😱 We’re gonna scream until we’re satisfied: Learn from the good- The Lost Stuffy Project

In this section I will share with you something good being done by a nonprofit that you can learn from.

We have all read and seen the devastation the floods in Texas caused. Most horrifying was the story of the campers from Camp Mystic who perished in the floods.

The Lost Stuffy Project stepped up to help in a small way. They are reuniting kids with stuffed animals they lost because of the floods.

Parents contact the organization. The nonprofit searches for a similar stuffed animal to the one that was lost, buys and ships it to the family.

Think about a child who has lost everything and is reunited with (a replica) of their favorite stuffed animal. Even if it brings a little comfort it’s a big deal.

Sometimes it’s the little things in life that mean the most…

🏃 What are we running for: A little of this and that

In this section I’m going to share with you great content I’ve picked out that you can learn from.

1. The right way to ask donors to cover processing fees. MUST READ! (4 A Good Cause)

2. 4 ways to show appreciation to volunteers (Nonprofit Learning Lab)

3. K.I.S.S.- for you and your donors (Ann Green)

4. Picture perfect fundraising (CauseMatch)

5. How to market workplace giving on your website (Double The Donation)

🚨  It’s a do or die situation: Strategy Insider- Deep Dive: Gratitude game

In this section I’m going to share with you how I build strategies for nonprofits. Each week I’ll share another piece and over the coming months you’ll see how everything fits together.

Always lead with gratitude.

Gratitude leads to higher retention and higher lifetime value.

So there’s a 100% chance I’ll be looking at a nonprofit’s gratitude game when conducting my deep dive audit.

That means I’ll be checking

• The content of thank you letters (is it heartfelt, warm, full of donor love or business like?)

• Thank you emails

• Thank you videos

• Messages on screen post online gifts

• Further follow up with thank you (emails? Calls? Postcards? Meetings?)

What I’m looking for: Does the organization have a gratitude attitude? Do they consistently and constantly thank their supporters and community at large? Because if not, that has to change. Immediately.

So far I’ve shared with you my deep dive into fundraising, marketing, platforms, interviews, competition, the Board, grants, organizational processes and gratitude. Next week I’ll be discussing content.

🫱  Won’t anybody help us: Good service

Those customer service rep jobs can be hellish. Dealing with angry and frustrated customers. That’s why when I get good service from the rep, I will make sure to say, “If a manager is listening in to this call, X was great! Helpful, courteous etc.”

Those people don’t get paid anywhere near enough.

I’ll be back next Thursday. Have a great weekend!

P.S. I listened to “Sometimes Love Just Aint Enough” on an endless loop while working on the enews. It’s a beautiful song sung by Patty Smyth (any Scandal fans out there?) and featuring Don Henley (The Eagles and fantastic solo career).