10 steps to making your donor the hero with your year-end

#FRDNY 6/17/16

Prepared by Big Duck, [email protected] 1

10 Steps to Making Your Donor the Hero With Your

Year-end Campaign #FRDNY

Vice President, Big Duck

@Farra @BigDuck

#FRDNY

Farra Trompeter

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Senior Vice President Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy

@ParentProjectMD

#donorlove

Will Nolan

What we’ll cover today

•  Making donors heroes and why it matters! •  What this looks like in action •  10 ways to make your donor the hero •  Resources

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Making your donor the hero

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Insertpicofmarvel

We’re not the first ones to recognize the appeal of a good hero.

From Winning the Story Wars by Jonah Sachs/ Free Range Studios

But how you tell your hero’s story could be the difference between phenom…

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And flop (sorry, Ben baby)…

But fear not, there’s an awesome goal that makes your quest worth it.

POLL: What % of dollars from donors did you receive in December? •  10% •  30% •  50% •  85% •  Not sure

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Source: Network for Good, http://www.networkforgood.com/digitalgivingindex/

The big bad that stands in your way

http://upload.wikimedia.org/

Unless you defeat low donor-retention rates, you may not earn as many year-end gifts.

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Just how big is this problem?

h"ps://bloomerang.co/blog/infographic-2015-fundraising-effec<veness-project-survey-report/

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Treating your donor like a hero can save year-end season •  Your best prospects (donors!) will feel

celebrated, important, and more likely to give again

•  Donors will see the dramatic appeal and importance of your mission

•  Donors can understand their role and feel part of the team

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So how can you build the kind of year-end hero story that breaks records and inspires a sequel?

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Case Study

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Year-end ‘15, PPMD… •  Anticipating approval of two drugs that

would benefit a small percentage of families

•  Was expecting to fund research that holds promise for every family

•  Guided by PPMD’s role as the strength of the Duchenne community

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The theme

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Campaign calendar •  Direct mail – 1 package in early Dec •  Email – 9 messages late Nov-early Jan

–  1 Thanksgiving email, campaign intro –  7 appeals with match offer (incl 3 emails on last week of

the year) –  1 campaign report-back & thank you

•  Social media – Five/week Facebook and Twitter posts over the course of the campaign

•  Lightbox and homepage slide live throughout campaign

•  #GivingTuesday #FRDNY

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2015 results •  Total raised: $1,505,277 •  Total gifts: 1,054 •  Email response rate: 0.12%

(double the benchmark) •  Cost to raise a dollar: $0.20

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Ways to make your donor the hero of

your year-end campaign

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1. Get to know your hero’s origin story •  Who are they? •  Why do they support your work? •  What is their super power?

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1. Get to know your hero’s origin story •  Who are they? They know and love

someone living with Duchenne •  Why do they support your work?

They’ve received support from the PPMD community and have had a hand in your accomplishments.

•  What is their super power? Improving and extending life; determination in the face of incredible odds

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Understand your donors before your quest starts… •  Talk to them

–  Interview donors by phone – Ask quick questions at events – Send out a survey

•  Invite them to give feedback •  Listen!

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“Dana”

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2. Use the right theme to draw your hero into your quest

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Your theme should… •  Feel like it’s a matter or life or death (or

at least have a bit of drama!) •  Be urgent and timely. It needs to be

addressed, right now. •  Relate clearly to your core mission. •  Present a role for your donor—the hero!

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Ways to identify your theme •  Hitch a ride on

news “waves” •  Make your own news •  Relate your mission

to the holidays •  Pose a challenge

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3. Map your hero’s journey

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h"ps://managemen<sajourney.com/

Elements of your story •  Problem—We need solutions to help

the whole Duchenne community •  Solution—With your support, PPMD

can fund the early-stage research we need to help every single family

•  Timeline—Thanksgiving to 12/31 •  Action—Give, spread the word •  Goal—Raise $200,000

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4. Select the right channels to engage your hero •  Where are they? •  Where are you? •  What will you gain

from additional channels?

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5. Maximize the superpowers of each channel •  Mail — Fundraising, expanded stories •  Email — Deadline-driven fundraising, short,

informal updates •  Established social media — Storytelling,

conversation, drive traffic to web •  New social media — Excitement, storytelling,

drive traffic to web •  Web — Online giving, other online actions,

destination for email & social media

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6. Make the most of opportunities •  Tie the campaign into things you’re

already doing? (events, newsletters, email signatures, etc.)

•  Ask partners to post or send a message about your hero’s quest

•  Ask public figures to lend their voice to your campaign

•  Create conversation about your mission

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7. Give your hero the right “suit”—a consistent look

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Make campaign-customized… •  Homepage slide or lightbox •  URL in direct mail appeal •  Newsletter promo •  Social media artwork •  Follow-up requests to spread the

word via social media

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8. Build dramatic tension, craft your calendar around deadlines •  Timeline is roughly 6 weeks •  1-2 direct mail appeals •  6-8 emails •  1-2 Facebook and Twitter posts/week with varied content •  Increase frequency around deadline •  #GivingTuesday

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9. Set it up for a sequel w/ a report-back in all channels

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Celebrate donors’ impact

10. Plan to capture & analyze the results of your quest

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Identify the tools to capture these metrics: •  Open/clickthroughs/response rate •  # of donors from different sources •  Total dollars raised •  Average gift •  Donation page conversion rate •  Year-over-year change •  Cost to raise a dollar

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h"p://mrbenchmarks.com/

Compare against self, others

Bonus ideas •  Send hand-written notes •  Ask board members, staff, or volunteers

to make some phone calls •  Empower donors to be fundraisers •  Explore advertising on social media •  Invite a small group of donors to give

feedback to your campaign

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Don’t wait till year-end!

h"p://www.franksonnenbergonline.com/blog/trust-me-27-ways-to-build-trust-and-credibility/

Questions?

Have no fear…

h"p://castabigger.net/

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Resources

Posts •  Blog: www.bigducknyc.com/blog

–  “3 questions all fundraising should be able to answer”

–  “Five high-value ways to help prep for next year-end fundraising season”

–  “So, THAT happened…Reflections on December online fundraising campaigns”

–  “What to do before making the hard asks” – Quick tips for writing effective year-end

emails” #FRDNY

Books •  Winning the Story Wars by Jonah Sachs •  Building Donor Loyalty by Adrian Sargeant and

Elaine Jay •  Keep Your Donors: The Guide to Better

Communications & Stronger Relationships by Tom Ahern and Simone P. Joyaux

•  Seeing Through a Donor's Eyes: How to Make a Persuasive Case for Everything… by Tom Ahern

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Research •  M+R Benchmarks: http://mrbenchmarks.com/ •  Blackbaud: Show the Love [eBook]

http://bit.ly/npexperts-2014-npengage-launch •  Fundraising Effectiveness Project

http://afpfep.org/ •  NTEN: Nonprofit Donor Engagement Benchmark

Study http://www.nonprofitdonorengagement.com/CD_Nten_BenchmarkReport_Final.pdf

•  Urban Institute: Donor Retention Matters http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/412731-Donor-Retention-Matters.pdf

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More questions? Let us know. Will Nolan Farra Trompeter PPMD Big Duck www.parentprojectmd.org www.bigducknyc.com (201) 250-8440 (718) 705-8092 [email protected] [email protected]

Thank you. Please use your FRDNY app

http://crowd.cc/s/f5yk to fill out the session survey

10 steps to making your donor the hero with your year-end

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