My pal Steven Screen is one of the best fundraising copywriters in the U.S. Seriously! He and his friend Jeff Brooks have a great podcast called Fundraising Is Beautiful. You might want to check it out.
One of the things they like to promote is their rule of thumb for effective fundraising:
Ask > Thank > Report > Repeat
I like this concept. It's smart! We all know that too many nonprofits just ""Ask > Ask > Ask. So, "Ask > Thank > Report > Repeat" is much better. But I think it's missing one very important additional element— ENGAGEMENT! Therefore, I think the following works better:
Engage > Ask > Thank > Report > Repeat
Valuable engagement opportunities will involve your supporters on a deep, emotional level.
Here are just a few ideas to show you what I mean. You can provide:
- Offers to get involved (such as a chance to volunteer)
- Offers to participate in events (such as walks, rides, golf outings, galas)
- Offers to take a tour (of a hospital, for instance)
- Offers to watch a video
- Offers to download an eBook or infographic
- Offers to send a letter to Congress (for advocacy)
- Offers that give supporters a chance to tell their story (so they can explain why they care)
- Offers that give supporters a chance to give you their feedback (via a donor survey)
- Offers that give supporters a chance to meet you, your staff, your volunteers, or your leadership (face-to-face, via a webinar or a Google Hangout)
- And others offers... the list is endless
Sadly, most fundraising is absent meaningful engagement because it's time-consuming.
But, nowadays you can leverage technology to provide fantastic one-to-many engagements. Without engagement your relationship with your supporters will focus more on the transaction. Engagement will bring the transactional nature of donating up a level— to a serious, emotional relationship.
What do you think?
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