Getting the Most Out of Annual Giving
July 2009For the past nine months, our attention has been on the deteriorating economy and its dramatic impact on our fundraising programs. Now, we are beginning to see some indications that the worst is behind us — response rates are climbing from the very soft winter months.
What’s working?
- Multi-channel campaigns that are integrated into an organization’s overall marketing platform, or larger programmatic goals.
- Involvement devices. Connecting with today’s donors is crucial since they are often looking for creative ways to be involved with organizations beyond just writing a check.
- Value. Offering a discounted membership rate as an incentive to rejoin is working to bring back lapsed members. Don’t have a traditional membership program? Test reduced gift strings to lapsed members.
- Personalization. Recognizing a donor’s past support—including the amount and timeframe—has helped many clients increase second gifts from recent givers and win back lapsed donors.
- Geographic targeting. With marketing budgets shrinking and many donors supporting local organizations, it may be time to reevaluate where you are mailing.
- Matching gifts. Offering a matching gift challenge helps increase urgency and allows donors to make their donations go further. In today’s economy, donors may not be able to upgrade as much as in prior years. Matching gifts allow donors to do more with their contribution.
We’re not out of the woods yet, but with careful planning, creative execution and stellar programs, folks are definitely seeing better results than they have in a long time!
Schultz & Williams is a national consulting firm based in Philadelphia; providing management, fundraising and marketing consulting for nonprofit organizations, along with full-service direct marketing, database and creative/production services.
