Donor stewardship
Stephen Mally Bequests, Birthdays, Donor care, Donor stewardship, segmentation
Remembering birthdays is an important step for donor stewardship
My birthday is 5 January. It's a day I hear from many people on Facebook, LinkedIn, email, the telephone (live calls and SMS), and, of course, in person. Handwritten birthday cards are, for many, a thing of the past. Most who I hear from are family, personal friends, and colleagues/customers. I also hear from companies I do business with – airlines, family heritage websites, and others who know my birthday. It is rare I hear birthday greetings from charities I support. Remembering donor birthdays is an important step for donor stewardship.
On my 2018 birthday, I heard from two charities. This year, one non-profit organisation took the time to send me a Happy Birthday email, McGrath Foundation. McGrath Foundation sent me the birthday email at 10AM the day prior to my birthday. This email not only wished me a happy birthday, but it also thanked me for my support of McGrath Breast Care Nurses – doubt the donor care!
Simply wishing a donor a happy birthday is fantastic. In this case, McGrath Foundation used the opportunity to thank me for my ongoing support as a regular donor.
What are other reasons to track birthdays?
Other reasons to track your donor's birthdays, which include:
Marketing segmentation.
Bequests marketing.
Bequests forecasting.
How do non-profit organisations obtain birth dates?
Obtaining birthdays from donors is a relatively easy task. Charities obtain dates of birth through the following:
Appeal response devices.
Donor screening.
Supporter surveys.
Electronic screenings of the database.
Asking the donor in person, via email, or the telephone.
All CRMs allow for you to track someone's date of birth. For donor's who are shy abut sharing their birth year, most will allow you to track the date of birth without tracking the four digit year. If they do not allow for the tracking of what is called a "fuzzy date", non-profit's typically create custom fields for DD, MM, and YYYY.
McGrath Foundation is not the only charity I support tracking my date of birth. I have informed others of my birthday when I signed up to be a regular donor, responded to their supporter survey and when I have responded to an appeal. McGrath Foundation is the only charity taking the time to utilise the information this year to wish me happiness on my birthday.
Charities that remember a donor's birthday standout in the minds of the donors who are remembered.
Stephen Mally Ask, Donor stewardship, Fundraising, Stewardship, Thank you, Thank you calls
A thank you call per day
Stewardship calls are the easiest calls to make. Often times thank you calls are the most surprising for a donor to receive because donors do not expect them. It's true. Donors expect calls asking for money, requests to purchase lottery tickets, and other asks. It's rare a call from a nonprofit organisation has the simple purpose of saying "thank you".
Make one thank you call today. Call a donor who has given for the first time. Call a donor who has given for the past three consecutive years. Call a donor who has increased their level of giving year on year.
Make a thank you call every day or at least one time per week. Document the call in your customer relationship management (CRM) system. Measure and monitor the results of the calls. I bet you will see further engagement by those you call.
There are many reasons to call donors. Calling to make an ask does not have to be tbe only reason.
Stephen Mally Charities, Charity, Donor care, Donor stewardship, Nonprofit, Stewardship, Thanksgiving, University of Queensland, Wisconsin Alumni Association
Happy Thanksgiving, USA
It's Thanksgiving in the USA and, by now, many will have enjoyed a meal surrounded by family and friends. I woke up this morning to several Thanksgiving greetings from nonprofit organisations including the following from Share Our Strength, Boston Children's Hospital, The Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, and SpeakEasy Stage Company:
Earlier this year I wrote about one of my favourite donor care messages from University of Queensland.
Messages such as these, and the one I received early week from the Wisconsin Alumni Association, are wonderful ways to show the love for your donors. These stewardship pieces are cost effective to produce and very fruitful in sharing the joy. These pieces are also great motivators for people to continue their support by making an immediate gift at calendar year end.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone, worldwide! And, to the charities taking the time to send these messages of gratitude out – thank you! You not only made this donor feel good, but you also added variety to my in box this morning, which is full of "black Friday" sales offers from retailers. Kudos.
Stephen Mally Charities, Charity, Donor care, Donor stewardship, Fundraising, Infographic, NFP, Non-profit
Now here's an infographic!
Last week I wrote about the importance of telling your story via words and pictures in order to accommodate the two ways adults absorb information. I shared a terrific infographic received as part of an electronic direct marketing communications from my university, the University of Wisconsin.
I was pleased to receive another great example from MS Queensland later in the week. I am a MS Queensland lottery buyer (I love to take a chance on their great prizes and also to support MS Queensland). MS Queensland sent a stewardship or donor care email to all their lottery buyers. The infographic really displayed the difference the lottery program plays and the appreciation MS Queensland have for their lottery buyers.
Stephen Mally Charities, Charity, Data cleansing, Data hygiene, Donor care, Donor stewardship, Fundraising, NFP, Non-profit, Stewardship
Call from University of Queensland hits all the marks
I received a call from a University of Queensland student on Monday night.
I am a sucker for these calls. It reminded me of the type of calls I receive from my alma mater, the University of Wisconsin. This call from University of Queensland was superb.
The student, a female, thanked me repeatedly for my generous support of the university. She asked me why I give to the university, noting I am not a graduate of the university. Again, she thanked me for my support. She then confirmed, edited, and enhanced my contact details. Finally, she told me about an emergency fund, "Greatest Needs", to help students in financial crisis and discussed the ways in which this fund helps students to remain in school rather than exit, before graduation, due to financial crisis.
She asked me to support the university once more by making a gift that night. I gave.
I gave because of the quality of the call and because this caller convinced me University of Queensland cared about my support, cared enough about me to check the data in their database and to keep it up to date, and cared enough to educate me about the emergency fund. I was convinced I needed to open my wallet and commit to giving again. Further, the call was not just about the next gift. The call was about stewardship, about data quality and, then, about fundraising. This multifaceted call proved to be a good use of University of Queensland resources and of my time. The call from University of Queensland hit all the marks.
Stephen Mally Charities, Charity, Donor care, Donor stewardship, Fundraising, Infographic, NFP, Non-profit, Stewardship
Infographics tell a story
Remember when you were a child and you loved it when your parents read you a book? You would listen to the story, but you really paid attention to the pictures. As adults we are really not much different. We appreciate the words in document, but we also value the pictures. As the 1971 Rod Stewart song is titled, Every Picture Tells a Story.
The University of Wisconsin, my alma mater, recently sent an electronic communications to alumni to highlight recent university rankings. They used an infographic to highlight the terrific standings. Each year, U.S. News & World Report rank the nation's universities and the University of Wisconsin typically ranks in the top tier in a variety of areas. People love a winner and promoting these rankings offers an opportunity for Wisconsin to tell us how valuable our degree is in present day, as well as an opportunity to prove the money we are investing as alumni is paying dividends. Further, universities use this as an opportunity to attract new fundraising or additional gifts from those of us who may have already given this year.
How is your non-profit organisation using infographics to tell your story? You likely already have information together to tell a donor care or stewardship story. You likely put this type of information in writing. Why not translate it to an infographic, as well? Remember adults are pretty split in terms of absorption of information. Some adults learn by reading text and others by visual representation. Play to both audiences to be sure you capture the attention of the majority.
For universities in Asia-Pacific, U.S. News & World Report announced a global edition of the rankings as coming 6 Oct! Perhaps your alma mater or perhaps your university employer will be listed in this global edition.
How about a shout out to the University of Wisconsin for their outstanding achievements and for ranking so high amongst US universities? On Wisconsin!
Stephen Mally Charities, Charity, Donor care, Donor stewardship, Fundraising, NFP, Non-profit, Stewardship
Treat complaint calls like a gift
None of us like to get complaint calls or negative feedback. In fact, we hate it when someone complains about our non-profit organisation. People might complain about the mission of our organisation, the services we provide, or some other matter.
Each of us needs to treat complaint calls like a gift. Complaints calls are an opportunity to reconnect with the person making the complaint and to address issues within our organisation.
Some pointers when receiving complaints:
Respond the same day the complaint is received.
Even if your first response only tells the person you are investigating the matter and sets an expectation as to when the person may expect a full response.
Show gratitude when the complaint is received.
Let the person lodging the complaint know you appreciate their feedback.
Fully investigate the complaint.
Gather all the facts in order to respond intelligently.
The customer is always right may not always be right.
It is OK to point out the facts to the customer without shifting blame to the customer or making the customer out to be the issue.
Respond in the most personal manner possible.
If the person lodged the complaint on Twitter, send a direct message to ask them for contact details in order to call them. If the person wrote via email, try to send them a personal note via Post or, again, call them. Often times the personal touch will diffuse situations.
It is OK to escalate, but empower staff of all levels.
It is acceptable to escalate the response to those at the top of the hierarchy, but you also must empower staff of all levels to resolve issues.
Exam internal systems and protocols.
Improve performance, so another individual does not repeat the complaint in the future.
Track complaints in your CRM.
Tracking in your CRM will allow you to measure and monitor patterns.
In the age of Twitter, TripAdvisor and other forums, complaints are prevalent. Using them as an opportunity to re-engage with the person and also as an opportunity to "fix" issues within make the complaint well worthwhile.
Stephen Mally Charities, Charity, Donor care, Donor stewardship, Fundraising, NFP, Non-profit, Stewardship, thank you notes
Just say 'thank you'
I received a thank you email from a charity this week – the McGrath Foundation. The subject read "Thank you, Stephen, we couldn't have done it without you". McGrath Foundation was not asking for money. The Foundation did not ask me to take any action.
The McGrath Foundation simply thanked me.
We do not thank each other enough in our personal and professional lives. Charities do not and cannot thank their donors enough. Too often, we as fundraisers have our hand out making an ask for a gift rather than our hand out to thank the donor. Often times a simple thank you will generate an additional gift and even a larger gift.
How often does your charity send a thank you to donors without making an ask? Have you picked up the telephone to thank a donor and to simply check to see how they are doing? When was the last time you wrote a hand written thank you note to a donor instead of sending an email? Go the extra mile (kilometre) and see the difference it makes.
McGrath Foundation placed a subtle message in their thank you email – the email told me they are halfway to their goal of 110 nurses. I interpret this line as a simple update. I might read that and believe McGrath want me to make a contribution to help the Foundation achieve the goal. I might read it and feel the need to help. McGrath Foundation hopes I feel gratitude by this email and, at the same time, no doubt hopes it generates some needed income. This stewardship email may be a wave as part of a campaign. Nonetheless, the focus of the email is on expressing appreciation and it makes recipients feel good.
Stephen Mally Charities, Charity, Charity data, CRM, Data cleansing, Data hygiene, Donor retention, Donor stewardship, NFP, Non-profit
Three steps to better data hygiene
This last week I was fortunate to be part of a talented panel of speakers talking about data at the Australian Event Manager's Forum. This Forum meets once a quarter to talk about case studies and issues relating to the NFP sector and to event management.
I shared with 60 people in attendance the fact I receive a call each week from a non-profit organisation asking for help in finding the "right fundraising software" for the organisation. The charity wants to find software that will deliver not only in the event space, but across the organisation. For some organisations, FundraisingForce conducts constituent relationship management (CRM) searches to find the right fit.
Conversations can be had about the requirements of the organisation in order to find the right fit. But, put aside the software for a second and think about the practices that exist (or are likely absent) across the organisation.
Too few in the charity space focus on the detail in a single supporter record in the database. We are too busy worrying whether the software we own does this task or that task. We are too busy completing transactions and tasks (i.e. booking a donation, getting the tax appeal out) that we do not take the time, while in possession of a supporter record, to do what I have called CEE a record.
Change of Focus – Day to Day/Hour by Hour Data Cleansing
C – When in possession of a supporter's record, no matter who you are in the organisation, Confirm the contact details with the supporter or Confirm the record is complete when you simply open a record to view information.
E – Edit anything in the record the supporter tells you or you view as incorrect.
E – Enhance anything in the record you see missing. Mobile phone numbers and email addresses are missing from about 70% of most charities supporter records.
Do the above day to day, hour by hour.
Monthly Data Cleansing
Once you have the day-to-day practices in place, you must focus on the masses. First, at the close of each month, someone on your team must troll the data base to look for known issues – incomplete records – addresses missing a post code, addresses missing a suburb, state, titles missing, etc. Make this one person's job.
Cleaning up the house once a month makes it a lot easier for major clean-ups.
Annual Data Cleansing
Your organisation needs to perform Data Hygiene at least once per year before a big mailing or event.
Data Hygiene is the practice of cleansing the data, using a service provider who will access the Australia Post National Change of Address, NCOA, file on your organisation's behalf. The service will also use other data sources and may enhance the data to offer you dates of birth, phone numbers or other enhanced information valuable for major gift and bequest efforts.
Why do annual Data Hygiene? I have over 300 charities in my direct marketing mystery shopping study. I have lived in three apartments during the time the study has been underway. Some charities are mailing me at my address 3 apartments ago. I only receive the mail because I continue to renew my mail redirection service with Australia Post. Most Australians only renew their mail redirection once at best, if at all.
Of the 300 charities in the study, only 3 have found me at my correct address.
What do the other 297 charities do when a person does not file a mail redirection service? What do the other 297 charities do when a person does not continue to renew the mail redirection?
Why don't charities conduct an annual Data Hygiene process? They put it in the "too hard" bucket. They put it in the "too expensive" bucket.
Too Hard
It is "too hard" if you do not understand the process. If you tried it once and it was "too hard", find a supplier in the market to conduct the process and document it for you once. We can then transfer the knowledge to you to make it easy and allow you to be self-sufficient each time thereafter.
I don't buy this argument. It is very expensive to acquire a new donor. Sure Data Hygiene costs NFPs. But, it is less expensive to run a data hygiene process than it is to acquire a new donor. It is less expensive to do the Data Hygiene process annually than it is to continue to mail pieces, which do not reach their intended recipients.
Unless you practice good Data Hygiene, the work done in terms of event fundraising, donor acquisition fundraising, and other areas do not matter.
Stephen Mally Charities, Charity, Charity data, Donor care, Donor stewardship, Fundraising, NFP, Non-profit, Stewardship
Donor care gone wrong
I checked into a Doubletree hotel last week and I found a box of chocolates and a note written to…not me, but Ms Jensen. I have been called a lot of names in my lifetime, but never Ms Jensen.
When I received this note and the chocolates (which were placed in front of a television with the words "Doubletree welcomes Stephen Mally" on the screen), it made me think about the importance of accuracy in donor care.
It made me think about the first thing someone does when they receive your non-profit organisation's annual report or when they walk into the lobby of your building. The donor looks for their name on your donor honour wall/honour roll.
Things can go very wrong at this point. We have all lived this nightmare – wrong spelling, wrong person, incorrect dollar category, or…a missing name altogether.
I receive calls from people this time of year as they prepare donor listings for annual reports, donor walls, and other forums. "How do I accurately get lists out of The Raiser's Edge?", "Why are my anonymous donors coming out in a variety of ways", "How do you track the way the donor actually wants to be listed on the donor wall?'.
Make a new year's resolution. Ask donor's how they want to be listed in public forums. Create a place in your donor database to track donor listings. In The Raiser's Edge, this place will be an Additional Addressee on the Addressees and Salutations Tab. Asking the donor for their preference, in advance, will save you the headache at end of financial year. Additionally, set a policy and a procedure for tracking anonymous gifts from donors.
Taking the time now to determine the processes for thee types of donor care activities will save you headaches on New Year's Day!