Development Fundamentals: Cultivating Donors for Life Kelly Pullin, Analytics Supervisor

Heather Rocheleau, Account Supervisor

Our time together…

• New donor conversion

• Integrated cultivation

• Upgrade giving

• Retention

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Direct response fundraising cycle

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New donor conversion

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Heart of the Donor™ survey says…

When asked what some organizations have done after the donor gave the first time that encourages them to support the organization again, three factors rose to the top:

•Explained the specific mission of the organization to me (76%)

•Made me feel that my gift really made a difference (72%)

•Gave me information about exactly what my gift helped accomplish (71%)

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First impression counts

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• Receipting 48-72 hours from initial gift

• Automated digital receipt

• Thank you calls

• Thank you letters

• Welcome package / brochure

Send a thank you note worth saving

• Acknowledge the amount, the date of gift and tie back to acquisition piece

• Make donor feel valued no matter the size of gift

• Tell donor what the gift accomplished

• Handwritten note and phone call for major gifts

• Include a donation envelope

• Ask donors how they want to be involved

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Mel Trotter Ministries, Grand Rapids MI

• The importance of a timely thank you

•December 25th: 1st gift - $1,000 online donation

•December 25th: Email from Mission thanking for donation

•December 25th: Email from donor: “Because of your personal, heartfelt and immediate gratitude I am giving more. Blessings to you and your important ministry to those less fortunate.”

•December 26th: 2nd gift - $2,500 donation

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Integrated cultivation

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Cultivating, upgrading and retaining

• Monthly or semi-monthly appeals to communicate, affirm and ask

• Personalized asks based on donor behavior

• Integrated themes, messaging and creative to maximize impact

• Copy that reflects your brand and messaging

• Test, test, test!

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Cultivating, upgrading and retaining

• The right investment for the right audience

• Use audience segmentation to group donors by their commitment level (R-F-M, plus)

• Tailor communication streams – low/lapsed, regular cultivation, middle/major, monthly donor conversion, multi/single channel.

• Set performance goals for audiences

•Monitor donor performance metrics and allow fluid movement between streams.

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Contact frequency and layering

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January February March AprilBroadcast weeks: 12/30 1/6 1/13 1/20 1/27 2/3 2/10 2/17 2/24 3/3 3/10 3/17 3/24 3/31 4/7 4/14 4/21

Key themes and photosPrint MailE-mailWebsiteOutdoor

Holidays/Events 4/20

Easter

Radio

Direct Mail CultivationMarch appeal 3/10 4/14

Cultivation (in-home date) 1/13 2/3 2/20 High Value Custom Easter 4/1 Mid-April appealJanuary appeal February appeal 4/1

3/10 April appeal Mid-March appeal

NewslettersIn-home dates 3/18

Easter Newsletter

E-mail Urgent Easter Message

Year End Last Chance Feb Cold Weather Hit 1 Hit 2E-appeals 12/31 1/15 2/5 3/5 3/20 4/9 4/15

1/7 Jan Cold Weather Hope Tote E-Newsletter 4/17Thank you Hit 3

Online Display

Paid Search

Social MediaVolunteers, Hope Totes, Thrift Store, Pictures 7x+ 7x+ 7x+ 7x+ 7x+ 7x+ 7x+ 7x+ 7x+ 7x+ 7x+ 7x+ 7x+ 7x+ 7x+ 7x+ 7x+

Tie in with Direct Mail 1x 1x 1x 1x 1x 1x 1x 1x 1x 1xEaster/Lent Easter/Lent

TelemarketingThank-you Calls

Safe shelter/cold weather Hope Tote/EasterCold weatherThank you/cold weather Easter meals

Personalize based on past behavior

• A national organization with a successful January campaign decided to test the same offer in July.

• Donors who gave to the January campaign were specifically thanked and asked to give again; other donors with recent giving received standard messaging.

• The donors whose recent gift was specifically acknowledged responded at more than twice the rate of their peers.

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Response rate more than doubled!

Newsletter

• Donor stewardship opportunity

• Fulfill on organization mission statement

• Update your donors on client success

• Let them know where their donation went

• E-newsletter integration strategy

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Events

• Executive Director dinners or luncheons

• Radio events

• Open House, tours, graduations

• Volunteer/Community involvement

• Food/GIK drives (Hope Tote)

• Banquets/Galas

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Telemarketing

• Thank you call – brief, no ask

• Made by staff, volunteer, program member, or phone outreach company

• Phone outreach to those donors who are beginning to lapse

• Year end calls to middle and major donors– affirm support and request holiday gift (gift conversion works in conjunction with direct mail)

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Telemarketing increases revenue and retention

• 4 Rescue Missions implemented phone calling for the first time in addition to the mail during the fall fundraising season. Learnings show:

• 1 year lapsed donors - retention rates up 18%

• 2 year lapsed donors - retention rates up 32%

• 3-4 year inactive donors - retention rates up 31%

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Digital

• Website

• People come to research your organization

• It should represent your organizations’ promise and identity

• Seamless donation funnel

• Critical to refresh website content frequently, to ensure repeat visitors – perform site optimization

• Tracking

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Website optimization lifts conversions

• The test variation achieved a 35% lift in conversion rate.

• The test reached a statistical confidence level of 98.5%.

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Control Variation Test Variation

Digital integration

• SEM and Display Banner Advertising

• E-communications

• E-mail

• E-Newsletters

• Strong drive to website from direct mail appeals

• Social media – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram etc.

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Upgrade giving

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Effective strategies to upgrade giving

• “Upgrade” means more than a larger gift amount; increased annual giving is an upgrade

• RFM Segmentation – Recency, Frequency, Monetary value

• Tactical dollar handle strategy to upgrade existing donors

• Stretch asks paired with the right offer

• Frequency of appeals influences annual giving

• Cultivate donors into monthly givers, major donors, planned gift donors, GIK donors, etc.

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Monthly giving: good for you – and your donor

• Monthly donors consistently deliver more annual revenue per donor than comparable single gift donors

• Increase predictable annual revenue

• Improve donor retention

• Increase long-term donor value (LTDV)

• Expand future planned gift prospects

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Primary audience

• Rapid responders

• Donors who contribute 3+ gifts in the first three months of their affiliation with the organization

• First gift in acquisition, second to thank you receipt, third to first cultivation appeal

GOAL: Ideally 5% to 30% of your donor base should be monthly givers.

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Donation page pop-up increases conversions to monthly giving

• Strategy:

• Reach the donor at the optimal time

• Reinforce the additional impact

• Make it easy to convert from a one-time giver to a monthly giver

• Utilize an appropriate donation ask

• Results:

• 92% increase in monthly donations YOY (194 vs. 101)

• Nearly 6:1 ROI

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Major donors

• 80% of income will be given by the top 20% of your donors through personal major gift efforts and planned gifts

• Build the relationship and take the time to get to know your donor

• 1:1 personal interaction

• Donor profiles

• Wealth screening

• Lead generation mailings

• Custom communication stream

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Middle/major donor campaign strategy

• We have found success with multi-touch campaigns, tailored specifically to middle/major donors.

• In the first 45 days of this campaign, we raised over $250,000 for our partner.

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Planned giving

• Over $41 trillion is changing hands from this generation to the next

• Average estate gifts are running between $50,000-$100,000 each

• 40 to 1 return on investment

• Once a donor includes you in their Will, their annual fund giving on average will more than double.

• Educate donors about this additional giving opportunity.

Visible Major Donors

Hidden Major Donors

Retention

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Retention can be improved by…

• Remembering that you are in a relationship with your donors

• Understanding what your donors want from you

• Use that information to begin an active dialogue

• Applying principles of good customer service

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Direct response fundraising cycle

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Let’s recap

• Second gift conversion begins with building a relationship

• Cultivate relationships based on mutual benefit – your organization’s promise

• Keep your donors engaged through cultivation and retention efforts

• Upgrade your donors through intentional dollar handle, segmentation and personal communication strategies

• When donors lapse, use a multi-channel approach including direct mail and phone outreach to reactivate their giving

• Show gratitude… often!

• Provide opportunities to volunteer and engage beyond monetary contributions

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Questions?

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Thank You

Kelly Pullinkpullin@russreid.com

Heather Rocheleauhrocheleau@russreid.com

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