your website successfully secured donors, but how do you keep them giving year after year?
TRANSCRIPT
Your Website Successfully Secured Donors, But How Do
You Keep Them Giving Year after Year?
Your PresenterJay B. Love
• 30 Years of Technology Leadership • Over 20,000 Database Installations • Former Founder & CEO of eTapestry • Former CEO of Master Software/Fund-‐Master • AFP Board Member • AFP Ethics Committee Chairman • Center on Philanthropy at IU Board Member • Innovation Fund at Butler University Board Member • Gleaners Food Bank Board Member • Co-‐Chair of Indianapolis YMCA Capital Campaign
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Do you know your retention rate?
In our surveys, less than 45% of fundraisers knew their current donor retention rate.
Do you know your retention rate?
Fundraising Effectiveness Project (FEP) A project to help nonprofit organizations
measure and compare.
Participating Donor Software Firms: • Donor2/Campus Management Corporation
• PhilanthrAppeal (FundTrack Software) • DonorPerfect Fundraising Software
• The Raiser’s Edge ® (Blackbaud) • eTapestry
• Avectra • Bloomerang
• Sage Software • MatchMaker FundRaising Software
• Telosa Software (Exceed!) • Metafile
Fundraising Effectiveness Survey »
2013 Results »
2014 Results »
http://www.afpneworleans.afpnet.org/International/RepResdetail.cfm?ItemNumber=28547
43%! (highest since 2007)
Donor Attrition Over Five Years
# of Donors Attrition Rate
Donors Remaining After 1 Year
Donors Remaining After 2 Years
Donors Remaining After 3 Years
Donors Remaining After 4 Years
Donors Remaining After 5 Years
1,000 20% 800 640 512 410 328
1,000 40% 600 360 216 130 78
1,000 60% 400 160 64 26 10
So what?
So what?Improving donor retention rates by just 10% can increase the lifetime value of your database by 150-‐200%! - Dr. Adrian Sergeant,Bloomerang Chief Scientist
Donor retention math »
# of Donors in Current 12 Months (from the previous years pool)
divided by # of Donors in Previous 12 Months
Calculating your retention rate »
https://bloomerang.co/retention
What do online donors look like?
Online donors »
http://www1.networkforgood.org/online-‐giving-‐continues-‐grow-‐charities-‐across-‐country
Online donors »
http://www1.networkforgood.org/online-‐giving-‐continues-‐grow-‐charities-‐across-‐country
Online donors »
http://www1.networkforgood.org/online-‐giving-‐continues-‐grow-‐charities-‐across-‐country
Online donors »
http://www1.networkforgood.org/online-‐giving-‐continues-‐grow-‐charities-‐across-‐country
• Online giving accounts for less than 10% of all charitable giving • (only 2% according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy)
• 30% of annual giving occurs in the month of December. • (10% of annual giving occurs on the last 3 days of the year.)
• Branded giving pages account for 54% of online giving. Branded giving pages raise six times more in contributions than generic giving pages.
• P2P (peer-‐to-‐peer) growing the fastest • Employee Giving is the largest online segment
Online donors »
How do we retain donors?
• 5% -‐ thought charity did not need them • 8% -‐ no info on how monies were used • 9% -‐ no memory of supporting • 13% -‐ never got thanked for donating • 16% -‐ death • 18% -‐ poor service or communication • 36% -‐ others more deserving • 54% -‐ could no longer afford
Why nonprofit donors leave »
https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140520191728-746287--infographic-why-donors-stop-their-support
• 5% -‐ thought charity did not need them • 8% -‐ no info on how monies were used • 9% -‐ no memory of supporting • 13% -‐ never got thanked for donating • 16% -‐ death • 18% -‐ poor service or communication • 36% -‐ others more deserving • 54% -‐ could no longer afford
Why nonprofit donors leave »
https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140520191728-746287--infographic-why-donors-stop-their-support
• 5% -‐ thought charity did not need them • 8% -‐ no info on how monies were used • 9% -‐ no memory of supporting • 13% -‐ never got thanked for donating • 18% -‐ poor service or communication • 36% -‐ others more deserving
Poor communication = 89%!
Why nonprofit donors leave »
https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140520191728-746287--infographic-why-donors-stop-their-support
Donor communications » “Successful donor communications are quite simple. At heart, they are love letters to donors & prospects, woven through with clear cries for help.” - Tom Ahern, Bloomerang Donor Communications Head Coach
http://aherncomm.com
https://bloomerang.co/blog/infographic-‐the-‐great-‐5-‐donor-‐communications-‐experiment
https://bloomerang.co/blog/infographic-‐the-‐great-‐5-‐donor-‐communications-‐experiment
$5 experiment »• 48/50 email receipts • 17/50 snail mail letters • 3/50 hand written notes • 0/50 phone calls (19 asked for phone #s)
• Acknowledge offline gift within 48 hours • First-‐time donors who get a personal thank you within 48 hours are 4x more likely to give a second gift.
• Acknowledge online gifts within 1 hour • Send payment processor email • Send branded email from organization
How to improve retention »
Email acknowledgements »
https://bloomerang.co/blog/5-‐ways-‐to-‐excite-‐and-‐keep-‐new-‐online-‐donors/
• Survey within 90 days • Snail mail should include handwritten note • Call ALL new donors (if you ask / receive phone # on donation form) • A three-‐minute thank-‐you call will boost first-‐year retention by 30%.
• Schedule in-‐person meetings • Make second ask quickly and appropriately
How to improve retention »
Acknowledgement segmenting »Above average gift amount
At or below average gift amount
Seattle’s Lakeside Upper School counts … Bill Gates among its alumni. Rumor has it a fundraiser for the high school called Gates, who asked: “How much is everyone else giving?” About $75 he was told. “So put me down for $75,” said Gates.
-‐-‐ Forbes, Jan 22, 1996, p. 16
Pay attention to dollar retention »
Who can do the thanking? »• Board members • Volunteers • DoD • ED
https://twitter.com/Mercetheseries/status/474366392712847360
Acknowledgement via social media »
Acknowledgement via social media »
Acknowledgement via social media »
Volunteers are 10x more likely to donate to your organization than non-‐volunteers. (source)
Thank.
Them.
Duh.
Acknowledgement via social media »
Acknowledgement via social media »
• Utilize communication preference • Make the donor the star of the show
• more “you” than “we” • State exactly how donation will be used • Communicate impact
Acknowledgement content tips »
Monthly giving »
Source: Target Analytics, 2009 DonorCentrics US Recurring Giving Benchmarking Analysis
• Make it an option on donation forms • Suggest donation amounts • Ask quickly after the first gift (upgrade)
Monthly giving »
P2P donors give to the fundraiser, not the org! 1. Have the fundraiser contact last year’s donors. 2. Have the fundraiser re-‐introduce the charity in the gift acknowledgement. 3. Start a dialogue in the first follow-‐up.
P2P acknowledgement »
https://bloomerang.co/blog/3-‐tips-‐for-‐improving-‐p2p-‐donor-‐retention/
• It’s not about you. It’s about the donor. • Get that second gift. • If you ask for a phone #, call. • Make social media a communications preference.
• Segment and personalize.
Final thoughts »
Free educational resources »
https://bloomerang.co/resources
•Daily blog post •Weekly webinar •Downloadables •Nonprofit Wrap-‐Up •Bloomerang TV
