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| | A Message from Atul Tandon |
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A donor in the hand is worth two in the bush
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Gaining a new donor takes time and can be quite frustrating. From the first ask to the last, we are sometimes left scratching our heads wondering how long it will take to secure new gifts, if at all. As more people are losing jobs, retiring or leaving the workplace, United Ways must work even harder to retain our current supporters.
Research shows that it costs more to get new donors than to keep the ones you already have and it's a lot easier to win back a lapsed donor than to find a new one. So, what should United Ways do?
1) Create a Loyal Contributors Program. Focus on the donors who are loyal to your United Way. They are the ones who will support you in good times and bad and the ones most likely to make a planned gift. And remember...planned giving is the ultimate churn tool.
2) Create strategies to engage Tocqueville donors. If you lose one Tocqueville donor, it takes two to replace them. Be sure to keep them actively involved with your United Way and be sure to recognize them.
3) Upgrade your donors. If you are actively engaging your donors and keeping in contact with them, upgrading them makes sense. Remember...one of the main reasons donors don't give more is because we fail to ask.
Donors are important to the success of United Way...whether new donors or ones we're trying to retain. But before you spend all of your energy on trying to secure one or two new donors, make sure you concentrate on creating the best experience for the donors you already have.
-Atul
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The Resource Development Paradox | |
Those of us in our 40's and older will likely remember the old TV show "Kung Fu". The wise Master Po would pass on wisdom to his apprentice "Grasshopper" through seemingly contradictory sayings. By the end of the show, the insight would be clear. If Master Po were in the fundraising industry, his message would be, "Focus on the long-term so you may increase current results."
What?
Our recently completed Data Base II survey seems to back up Master Po. From 2005 to 2009, annual campaigns declined $192 million or by 5%. The vast majority of United Ways that focused exclusively on annual campaigns experienced similar declines.
Yet during that same period of time, United Way endowment funds grew $55 million, or an increase of 5%. This increase happened despite the record market declines that reduced many endowments 20% to 30%. These endowments were likely distributing at least 5% of their principal annually rather than reinvesting these funds to achieve growth.
So what fueled this growth? During the period 2005 to 2009, over $226 million new gifts were contributed to United Way endowment funds in the form of outright gifts or bequests. United Ways that diversified their resource development efforts discovered they could offset declines in annual gifts by increases in their endowments.
There is also growing evidence of a multiplier effect. Those United Ways actively pursuing planned giving and growing their endowments actually achieve higher annual campaign production than those that do not. The evidence is also clear that individuals who make planned gift commitments continue to be increasingly loyal annual donors.
So as you make plans for 2011, heed the wisdom of Master Po... "Focus on the long-term so you may increase current results."
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This question was posed to several United Way resource development staff and others in different metro sizes. Well...the question was worded as such, "If your United Way would never again acquire any new donors, what one main thing would you do to make sure you retain the ones you have?" Below are answers from some of your peers.
Talk to them and let them know they are valued.
Inform, involve (ask their opinion) and visit!!
Get them to volunteer with United Way.
Have a relationship with every one of them...a real relationship not the one where we take their money and say thanks.
Articulate results made possible because of donor investments; and gain "heart and mind share" by telling a story that personalizes the results.
Listen and learn their needs. Respond to their needs. Create product to meet those needs. Communicate results of their giving.
Develop a strategy to collect as much personal data (home address, home email, home phone number, family info, birthdays, anniversaries, etc.) and make sure you make annual touch points with them.
Keep them engaged through social media, face to face conversation, provide real life results on their investments.
Use the churn tool.
Show them the impact of their dollars. Having the planned giving conversation is the best way I know of to retain donors. *Thanks to all who provided input.
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Tanni hasn't given, and according to her handwritten note...she never will. That's because her name is actually Tammi.
The famous quote from Romeo & Juliet, "What's in a name?" is easy to answer for United Way donors...motivation. But it's killed almost instantly when we call them by the wrong name or a misspelled name.
I got started in development at another nonprofit in the Washington, DC area some years ago. We mailed around six direct mail pieces a year. On some occasions we received returned mail with a hand written message from the donor saying, "you won't receive any more money from me until you spell my name correctly!" I thought...this person is not happy. I forwarded these to the data entry person assuming she would make the correction. And hoping she would take her time entering names so she wouldn't accidentally hit the "n" key when she should have hit the "m" key.
Something seemingly as small as spelling a donor's name correctly can have a great impact on your United Way's resources. It means you value your donors and aren't taking them for granted. The same way we ensure our high dollar donors are pleased, we should do the same for our donors who don't give as much.
Every year, try to clean your database in some way. If this means contracting a company to help you get rid of duplicates or spell check your donors' names and addresses, then do it. Donors hate it when they make the sacrifice of giving to you their precious resources and you can't even call them by their correct name. Trust me, I know. With a name like Quina, I get called everything.
So, do you want to know what's in a name? A rose by any other name isn't a rose. And a donor by the wrong name may no longer be your donor.
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Are you getting the most out of your relationships?
Are your campaigns declining? Are your donors, volunteers and advocates defecting? Do you understand what your constituents want from United Way?
More importantly, are your donors, volunteers and advocates getting what they want-or are they turning to another cause instead of United Way?
If you answer YES to any of these questions, now is the time to invest in a new business strategy to optimize resources, operations and community impact by developing a Relationship Management competency at your United Way.
Ideally, when you are competent in managing the relationships with your key donors this will mean that you: know more about your donors; use what you know to customize and tailor your communications and match your United Way offerings to your donors; provide a great experience to your donors; and finally your donors will do more as a result - give, advocate and volunteer to achieve your education, income and health goals.
Of course everyone should be managing relationships with their donors right now. Why do you need to do more? Why is this different from what you're currently doing? We're really talking about managing relationships as a total organization. You'll be more formal, disciplined, integrated and strategic in order to maximize your relationships and reach your education, income and health goals.
The very first step you should take is complete the Relationship Management Online Self-Assessment. Have your senior team take the Self-Assessment so that you have an organization-wide picture of your strengths and weaknesses to manage relationships.
You can access additional tools, resources, and recorded webinars here. | |
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José Ferrão joins UWW
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José Ferrão is the new Vice President, International Field Engagement at United Way Worldwide.
He previously worked at United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley where he served as the COO and SVP of Marketing for the past three years. José is Portuguese by birth and grew up in Mozambique and South Africa and has a wealth of international work experiences spanning many decades.
In his new role as the Vice President, International Field Engagement, José will have overall responsibility for developing the framework, strategies and work plans for the International Field Engagement department.
Welcome to UWW, José!
Read more. |
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International News |
The United Way Mumbai Helpline was honored with the BCI Continuity & Resilience Award in the 'Continuity & Recovery Initiative in Public Interest' category on September 30, 2010 at a ceremony held at the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower, Mumbai. This recognition comes in the wake of a successful Malaria Eradication campaign, validating the pioneering work being done by United Way Mumbai Helpline in the city of Mumbai.
United Way Mumbai is the only non-profit to be recognized with this award. |
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Money is like manure. If you spread it around, it does a lot of good, but if you pile it up in one place, it stinks like hell.
-- Clint W. Murchison | |
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