Little Things Can Leave Big Impressions With Your Donors

Various research studies and anecdotal feedback from fundraisers illustrates that a memorial gift to honor a departed loved one is one of the strongest motivations for giving that donors both demonstrate and feel. 

Recently, a close personal friend of mine passed away after a long and joy-filled life. Her family selected two nonprofits quite near and dear to her heart to receive memorial gifts in lieu of her flowers. I made an equal level gift to both groups. 

To date, one of the organizations has yet to acknowledge the gift, or even cash the check.

By comparison, within 1.5 weeks (and I live some distance away from both organizations), the other organization cashed the check and sent me a very meaningful thank you note, excerpted below:

 Thank you for your contribution in memory of (naming my friend), who was small in stature, but large in life.

Without a doubt, she was a guiding force for where we are today. Her philosophy of service (goes into the details of her specific service to the organization). We are so grateful she gave her time and talent to us.  Your donation supports our work, which was an important part of her life.

The letter is signed by the organization's development director. When you receive a memorial gift, yours could be signed by your board president or another volunteer leader. 

It's possible the second organization who sent nothing got busy and overlooked seemingly little steps like depositing a check or acknowledging a gift. However, the organization who was prompt in both depositing and acknowledging my gift left a big impression. Their little extra step tells me my donation matters to them, and reinforces how much my friend both mattered to and loved this organization. I will absolutely keep this impression in mind when considering future gifts.

Whether memorial or otherwise, how are you acknowledging your current gifts? What little things could you add today to make a big impression with your donors?

Photo credit above: http://www.flickr.com/photos/comedynose/
 

Good Things Come in Small Packages: Solid Small Nonprofit Performance in 2012

Blackbaud recently released a report, How Nonprofit Fundraising Performed in 2012.  As a small nonprofit, it can be hard to not feel overwhelmed by limited resources, strong fundraising structures of larger organizations, and any number of limitations. 

However, the news in this Blackbaud report is solid for smaller nonprofit organizations. Some highlights of the 2012 report include (all results are based on year over year data) : 

• Overall charitable giving grew 1.7%. 
• Giving to large nonprofits grew by just 0.3%
• Giving to medium sized nonprofits grew 2.7%. 
• Giving to small nonprofits grew 7%.

Why did small nonprofit fundraising grow so significantly in 2012? Reasons may include:

• As the economy continues to recover, donors are choosing smaller organizations based on greater perceived need.
• Smaller organizations may be devoting more efforts towards their case for support and becoming more effective in their fundraising efforts.

Whatever the reason, 2012 fundraising results seem to indicate that for donors, good things come in small packages. For full details, you may download the full report here.

How do your organization's results compare to these 2012 results? What do you think?

Photo credit above: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alt-n-anela/

Your Potential Major Givers May Be Next Door

CCS Fundraising and the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University recently released a comprehensive study of major gifts, "Where Do Million Dollar Gifts Go? Who Gave Million Dollar Gifts? Who Was Most Affected by the Economy?" 


This report contains relevant information for nonprofits of all sizes. What matters is that a "major gift" is whatever your organization defines it to be, wherever your fundraising and gift levels are right now. 

For perspective, major gifts can be defined as a gift at five to ten times the highest annual gift you currently received. A major gift can be made towards a specific need of your nonprofit, towards an endowment to support your operations in perpetuity, as examples. Major gift donors may be anyone - a wealthy local business owner or your next door neighbor.

In essence, the CCS and Lilly Family School report found that major gifts are most likely to be from donors "next door," given to local organizations. Some highlights and demographics from the study include:

• The report examined 20,941 publicly-announced gifts of $1 million or more between 2000 and 2011. These gifts totaled $271 billion.
• The number of gifts made each year in the study period varied significantly with the economy. 
• 60% of million dollar or more donor gifts were made to organizations in the donor's state or region. 
• 44% of these gifts came from foundations, 35% from individuals, 14% from corporations and 7% from bequests. 
• Health, as well as arts, culture and humanities nonprofits benefited the most from million dollar plus gifts given and received locally. 
• 90% of bequest gifts went to nonprofits local to the donor.

 You may find the full report here.

Among the lessons for small local nonprofits from this report are:

• It may be worth mentioning bequest options to your existing donor base. 
• Foundations and individuals are making most of the major gifts. With limited resources, it may be worth focusing your outreach there. 

What lessons will you take back from this report to your favorite nonprofit?  

Photo credit above: http://www.flickr.com/photos/49889874@N05/
 

Connection Ideas for Your Grassroots Nonprofit Fundraising

Are you an all-volunteer nonprofit looking for connection ideas to grow your fundraising? Here are 5 ideas for your consideration:

1. The Grassroots Institute for Fundraising Training offers affordable on demand online training at $20/webinar. For more details, click here. 

2. The Iowa State University Extension and Outreach offers various classes in Linn County as part of its 2013 Nonprofit Management Academy. For more details on available courses, click here.

3. The ForImpact/The Suddes Group offers these great framework thoughts for the asking mode it's important to keep at the forefront of your ongoing efforts here.

4. Sandy Rees of GetFullyFunded.com shares the top takeaways from her recent Association of Fundraising Professionals International Conference presentation, "From Awkward to Awesome: The Beginner's Guide to Donor Relationships" in this You Tube Video. 

5. Grizzard Communications shares a webinar, "Engagement Strategies for Higher Donor Retention" in this You Tube video.

What connections are you using to grow your fundraising?

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Photo credit above:http://www.flickr.com/photos/shieldconnectors/