Fundraising is Beautiful

Consider this: Most nonprofit organizations want "real relationships" with their donors. But they communicate with donors as infrequently as possible, and when they do, they tend to talk only about themselves. What kind of relationship-building is that?

We'll examine three ways to walk the talk if you really want to build relationships with donors:

1. Communicating frequently enough.
2. Talking to donors about donors.
3. Reporting back to donors about the impact of their giving.

Donor acquisition -- in any medium -- has a fundamentally different "ecosystem" form donor cultivation. Knowing the difference will make you far more effective in both.

We discuss the differences in response numbers, cost, messaging, and long-term impact between acquisition and cultivation.

Before you know anything else about fundraising, there are three basic assumptions you should know about it:

1. Fundraising is all about specificity. It's the specific change you're asking the donor to help make with their gift. Abstractions and generalities fail to move donors to action.
2. Fundraising is about building relationships. Don't think of donors as ATMs that dispense money from time to time. Think of them as friends who do cool things with you. It's a two-way relationship. Both sides give and both sides receive.
3. Fundraising transforms donors. When you know they amazing things that happen in their lives when they give to you, you'll enjoy fundraising a lot more. And you'll do a better job.

Working with these basic truths is the key to success.

Here are 12 fundraising tips -- most of them super-easy and ready to try immediately -- that can boost your fundraising results, this holiday season or any other time of year.

The coming weeks are the probably the most important of the year for your fundraising. Here are practical tips for both direct mail and online fundraising that can make the most of the generosity your donors feel as the year comes to an end.

A donor writes a letter to the president of the organization. It's an articulate critique of what the donor dislikes about their fundraising: It's simplistic, repetitious, and emotional. What do you do? What do you say? We read an actual letter from a real donor and talk through the right -- and wrong -- response. There's a disastrously bad response that many organizations make to letters like this. There's also an affirming, correct, and revenue-enhancing response.

Storytelling that persuades donors to action isn't magic. You just have to make sure your has these elements:

• It's about the donor (not about your awesome organization)
• It leads to the donor taking action -- entering the story
• It's unfinished -- you want to donor to create the satisfying end to the story.

Do you ever wonder if your donor communications are truly donor-focused? Check what you're saying against this list:

1. Donors are the heroes of most of the stories you tell.
2. Donors get prompt, detailed, and frequent information about the impact of their giving.
3. Donors has control over how you communicate with them.
4. Design is appropriate for donors -- not aimed at internal audiences.

Your nonprofit website does a lot of things. If you want it to be helpful to your fundraising, make sure it has these three elements:

1. Information that tells them than can trust you.
2. A clear statement of what you do.
3. Easy-to-use donation form(s).

That's not a complete list of everything you should have -- just three musts you' shouldn't let slip. These things will help you raise more money, both online and offline.

Are you getting too much fundraising revenue? Do you need fewer donors to support your work? Here's how you can help solve that problem:

1. Write and design for your coworkers (or yourself).
2. Change the subject between your acquisition and cultivation messages.
3. Educate your donors.
4. Develop your website differently from your offline messages.
5. Have sloppy donor data.