Last month The Fish Chick presented a keynote at the Central Coast NFP Forum, hosted by Fortunity.
The team at Fortunity have very generously shared the full presentation on donor relationships and fundraising.
From this presentation you will learn:
For many organisations, this is the time of year to start preparing a direct mail Christmas Appeal.
Direct mail is a fantastic tool used to connect with new donors, engage loyal donors and generate income for your cause. So it’s important that you do all you can to get it right.
Fish has put together a little checklist of the nine most important questions you should ask of your appeal.
The Nine Most Important Questions to Ask of Your Appeal
Be sure to speak to the donor needs, not those of your organisation.
Be sure you know your audience. Visualise them and your desired response from them. With DM you want audience to open, read and donate.
Organise your material. Tell them what you’re going to tell them, tell them, and tell them again. First and last times are most critical. Transitions are the readers’ road map.
You need to draw the reader in. Create a picture in their mind about what is happening. Be specific. And be relatable.
The signatory should be the most influential person in the organisation who is willing to put their name to the letter. This needs to be the same person every time so they can build a relationship with your donor base. (If you want a different view point, have a story within their letter)
Balance emotions with facts, but be sure to make facts relevant so people understand. Balance ‘benefits’ and ‘features’. Personalise as much as possible even if with ‘you’.
Use correct basic grammar, but remember it must be conversational as more will be read and remembered. Use everyday language not jargon. It’s a conversation on a piece of paper.
You want bite sized chunks – short words, sentences and paragraphs. Repetition. Alliteration. These need to be deliberate aspects to your material.
Ideally you will have three direct asks. One in the first 50% of the letter, one just before signature and one in the P.S.
The CAF Australia Giving report 2019 looks at trends in giving in Australia and displays key findings.
This infographic provides a fantastic summary of that latest report, but you can also read the full 16 page report here on Good2Give’s website.
Good2Give is a not-for-profit organisation that makes it easy for businesses and donors to give, and publishes the latest research, knowledge, data and statistics on giving in Australia, New Zealand and from around the world with the CAF Global Alliance.
The Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission (ACNC) has recently released the Australian Charities Report for 2017.
The Australian Charities Report 2017 is the fifth annual analysis of the information the ACNC receives from charities in their Annual Information Statements. Download the full report here.
Key findings include:
If you’re on the Sunshine Coast later this month, Bianca will be speaking at the 2019 Australian Camps Association Conference.
‘Telling Our Story’ is the theme for the event, being held on 27 and 28 June, and The Fish Chick will be presenting on story telling for donors.
Telling your story to a potential funder is no less important than sharing it with supporters or the community, but sometimes it can be trickier as questions can be complex and word limits are tight.
As someone who has extensive experience working with small organisations, Bianca’s presentation will be informative and provide effective tools to writing better grants, learn where to access them and understanding the philanthropic grant environment in Australia.
You can find out more about the conference here.
