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Welcome to Vantage Business Support & Insurance Services
VANTAGE has been servicing the nonprofit industry for over 35 years. Over the years we have accumulated much knowledge, contacts and experience in helping to establish nonprofits and help them grow. As such, we will be publishing a semimonthly newsletter geared toward providing nonprofits with the latest news, products, and guidelines to assist in their success and growth. Please feel free to comment and/or request topics that are important to you for us to research.
Thank you for being a part of the VANTAGE family.
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Please view our products list in the right sidebar.
This is just a sampling of what we feel would be important to you. We have much more to offer. If you have any questions or need more information please contact us at 877-886-8277 or click the link below.
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Are You Engaging Donors or Disengaging Them?
 Donor engagement has become a critical part of most organizations' fundraising strategies. And it is important. Donors have come to expect more communication and information from the groups they support.
But all engagement is not created equal. As with most things, the potential rewards come with some risks. For example:
To keep in touch with what's going on out in the consumer world, I participate in this program called e-RewardsOpens in a new window. Every so often I fill out product surveys so companies can build a database of details about my personal life and then sell it. In exchange for my privacy, I earn Valuable Rewards points I can redeem for things like a free night at the Holiday InnOpens in a new window or a subscription to GlamourOpens in a new window magazine.
A few months ago, e-Rewards decided that we members needed more engagement. So it started sending little involvement exercises like trivia questions and guess-the-picture puzzles.
Suddenly, the corporate-speak emails I'd gotten used to, like, "Based on your e-Rewards(R) profile, you are invited to participate in a research survey," began to be augmented by "fun" messages like, "Guess what? It's 'What's That?' Wednesday!"
The folks at e-Rewards must have gotten some initial responses, because the people creating these engagement emails quickly got carried away with themselves. So much so that the number of lets-just-kick-back-and-do-something-crazy emails sometimes outpaces the surveys.
If they'd researched their own file, they'd know - by my age if nothing else - that I'm not within the target for this kind of thing. People like me are too busy, and the games they send are too juvenile. So now, whenever the subject line threatens that possible whimsy may be forthcoming, I delete the emails without opening them. Consequently, I'm probably deleting a few surveys and missing some Valuable Rewards points.
The consequence for e-Rewards, though, is much greater. It is likely to lose some revenue because the frivolous emails have driven me to pay less attention to its communications overall.
For nonprofits, the risk is similar. Ongoing engagement can keep donors up-to-date and keep you in their minds. But to make sure your cultivation pieces cultivate instead of alienate, you have at least four challenges:
First and foremost, make the message relevant. And by relevant, I mean relevant to your financial supporters. They are not the same as your advocates, petition signers or FacebookOpens in a new window sharers.
Second make sure it goes to the right people. You already talk differently to different segments of your file. Make sure your cultivation communications reflect those differences as well.
Third, carefully consider whether engagement is really even part of part of fundraising ... or whether it's actually part of donor communications (and budget accordingly).
Fourth, don't overdo it. That motivation is really what they want from you.
When you ask donors to give, you're asking them to take an action that gives them a sense of accomplishment. If your non-ask emails become so numerous and uninvolving that they become part of the background noise in your donors' already overcrowded mailboxes, their attention will start to drift.
Remember that you're sending these communications to donors. Your most important job is to keep them motivated to donate.
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DISCLAIMER OF LIABILITY
Our firm provides the information in this e-newsletter for general guidance only, and does not constitute the provision of legal advice, tax advice, accounting services, investment advice, or professional consulting of any kind. The information provided herein should not be used as a substitute for consultation with professional tax, accounting, legal, or other competent advisers. Before making any decision or taking any action, you should consult a professional adviser who has been provided with all pertinent facts relevant to your particular situation. Tax articles in this e-newsletter are not intended to be used, and cannot be used by any taxpayer, for the purpose of avoiding accuracy-related penalties that may be imposed on the taxpayer. The information is provided "as is," with no assurance or guarantee of completeness, accuracy, or timeliness of the information, and without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to warranties of performance, merchantability, and fitness for a particular purpose.
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Nonprofit Products
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VANTAGE has a wide range of products designed to sustain nonprofit success and growth. These products include:
Health Insurance Exchange
Group Medical
Group Dental / Vision
Business Liability
Directors & Officers
Errors & Omissions
Sexual Misconduct
Workers' Compensation
Employee Theft
Crime
Commercial Auto
Umbrella
Property
Product Liability
Start-up Assistance
Grant Request Preparation
Business Formation
Legal Assistance
Human Resources
Marketing
Business Planning
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