This year’s Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) DFW Philanthropy in Action Conference transitioned to a virtual format, and organizers did an excellent job bringing quality programming to AFP members like me in a time when social distancing was still the safest bet.
While Project Partners has been a sponsor and exhibitor and my associates and I have served as speakers at past AFP conferences, I was just a grateful attendee this year, learning right from my computer screen. It was great!
If you were unable to attend, I have summarized notes I took from each session - “sound bites” that I planned to bring back to the Project Partners team. Since you are part of our tribe, I am sharing them with you, too, hoping you find them as interesting and helpful as I did. Please let me know what you think!
Below are my notes from the 2021 AFP DFW Philanthropy in Action Conference, separated by subject matter. I have italicized what I thought were the very best points:
Value of Recurring Gifts:
We are in a “subscription economy” (think movies, clothing, groceries, news, and much more).
Network for Good states typical donor retention rate is 45%; subscribers/recurring gifts retention rate is 70%; Netflix boasts a 90% retention rate.
Lead with a subscription opportunity, followed by the one-time gift opportunity.
Think “people, process, technology” when developing a multichannel communications strategy.
Using a story of the beneficiary juxtaposed with the donor story enabling the gift is an effective approach.
Consider personal “Thank you” videos. (Now a new feature in the Network for Good software.)
Questions that Initiate Valuable Donor Conversations:
Why does this cause interest you?
How did you first connect with our cause?
Who introduced you to us?
How has this charity impacted you and your family members or friends?
What inspired your first gift?
What makes you a consistent supporter?
What motivated you to support us?
How would you like to make an impact?
What legacy would you like to leave?
Tips and Background for Planned and Major Giving:
The number of donors increased in 2020, during a world-wide pandemic. What does that tell us?
The best return on investment is philanthropy.
70% of donors contribute through habit and give in the last month of the year.
20% of donors are emotional givers.
10% of donors are strategic and quiet; picture the “Millionaire Next Door.”
“Wealth Accumulators” like what the money they’ve earned “buys” and can have a natural desire and heart for helping others.
“Instrumental” donors pursue a dream. They do not make gifts; they make investments. These donors are people-oriented and ask hard questions. They are usually open to a testament gift.
Smart organizations ask for gifts from net worth, not just discretionary income.
Most organizations lack a fundraising strategic plan, which is a critical roadmap and important to donor cultivation which helps create a donor pipeline.
The average gift officer only spends 10% of their time in direct personal contact with donors in their portfolio, whereas they should be spending 75% of their time with donors.
Fundraising is neither fast nor easy, and there is no magic.
The key to fundraising success is having conversations with donors over time.
Hiring a support person that interacts well with donors may be a good approach before adding another gift officer.
Always and continue to follow-up with donors.
Implementing Donor-Centric, Cross-Channel Communications:
Cross-channel means online and offline congruently.
Phone is often the lacking piece in a multi-channel approach.
It is not always necessary to ask; cultivate through valuable content and stories.
Front-load the communications schedule, but continue consistently.
Appeals that mentioned a donor’s previous giving were 247% more effective, especially for lapsed donors.
Personalize the appeals. It is shown to be more successful in increasing donations.
Examples of integration include a postcard that drops in advance of an online campaign or emails sent prior to a mail drop.
Donor retention depends on our contact with donors within 30-45 days after receiving a gift.
Capture more email addresses in all possible ways.
Do not use video on conversion or giving pages. Giving rates drop significantly.
Use data to craft your strategy. Reference www.nextafter.com research.
Engaging Diverse Communities in Philanthropy:
The foundation of philanthropy consists of values and engagement.
Words, gifts, relationships - what is the common ground with those you are trying to engage?
Listen and learn from members of the community. Admit what you do not know.
Vocabulary is different and that difference can be significant. Always consider what your words mean.
Community elders are very important. Have an advisor.
Engage members within the diverse community, but do not plan to mine the community by just taking from it. Interact with the community and add value.
Making Your Ask the Donor’s Idea:
The “blended ask” of 2020 included infrastructure and operations. That is likely to continue.
Listen 75% of the time and speak 25% of the time.
Use their own words in making an ask. For example, “Since you asked what you can do to help us….” or “Since you mentioned that you are most interested in early childhood education….”
If the donor has not made their interests known to you, review emails, minutes, past conversations, comments made in meetings or at events, to uncover common ground.
Acknowledge their past support and update them on impact.
State the common ground. For corporations, that could simply be: “our missions align.” For Foundations, “I learned from your announcement that your funding priority this year directly relates to our program.”
Continue to advance the donor’s hero story.
Building a More Diverse Board:
Board composition should include a variety of skill sets, and board members must be trusted, valued, and respected.
“This is the moment” for equity. It matters.
“Equity can feel like oppression if all you’ve known is privilege.” Fight through the discomfort and hard conversations to achieve a more diverse board.
Social inclusion activities should also evolve with a more diverse board. Board meeting dates and locations may need to be adjusted.
Board responsibilities equal strategy, fundraising, and oversight. A more diverse board generates more support from the community.
A good reference is BoardSource’s DEI website.
No matter what your mission is, it is your job to connect the mission to diversity.
Recognize other reasons than race or ethnicity that new board members were recruited – their business acumen, marketing savvy, educational experience, etc.
If we were to make a real commitment to equity, what would it mean to our cause, our impact, our community, and to those we serve?
Ask every board member to give at a level meaningful to them.
Post open board positions to LinkedIn, VolunteerMatch, etc. (We would add to engage with BoardBuild, one of our treasured clients and collaborators. BoardBuild just received a DEI grant for their work from the North Texas Community Foundation and posting your open board positions with BoardBuild is free.)
Do not just ask board members of color who they know. All board members should be involved in identifying prospective board members with diversity in mind.
Tips for Successful Digital Fundraising:
NextAfter’s recent A/B testing for online donation pages tells us to use plain text versions; use more words of value to the donor; and use more text on the landing page that connects the mission and gifts.
As fundraisers, we often fail to see what our donors see, hear what our donors tell us, or speak our donors’ language.
Interest/Involvement/Investment is the digital donor mountain, so give donors a rope to climb the mountain - a value proposition.
Identify where donors are falling off the mountain and use data to influence greater giving.
Donor appeal emails should look like they are from a friend, so use plain text. People give to people.
Repeat reason to give as part of the giving form or donation form.
The most important element to someone opening the email is the sender. Order of importance is the sender, subject line, pre-text.
Test personalizing the email via a merge and test plain text over html. Send the raw link like you would to a friend, rather than a button.
Professional fundraisers are the translators that connect with a donor’s empathy, provide clarity, and exude emotion.
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As a final note, there is nothing more rewarding than being part of a community with fellow fundraising professionals. I have benefited greatly from my AFP membership and past service on the board. Please join us today.