Two of Ajah’s fundraising experts recently participated in the Association of Fundraising Professionals’ Fundraising Day in Toronto, and came back with a number of insights we’re eager to share with you.
Here’s a report from Fundraising solutions manager Raymond Soussa:
I found Fundraising Day in Toronto to be a very informative experience, and wanted to share a few highlights that I took in from the sessions I attended.
One topic I found particularly interesting was how to use metrics to provide the framework for fundraising success:
Even though giving patterns can be unpredictable, quantitative metrics and measurements can play a big role.
Try conducting a trend analysis to see which months bring in the most donors, and to set monthly objectives accordingly, rather than work on a quarterly basis.
Donor diversification is needed for sustainability. Focusing too much on major gifts can be dangerous in case a big giver pulls out.
It goes without saying, but tracking every action of the prospect research pipeline in a donor management software is essential, with the same amount of energy dedicated to each stage (identify, qualify, cultivate, solicit, steward).
Interestingly, the ask-to-answer time for major gifts (gifts of around 100k) is around three months whereas the ask-to-answer time for medium-sized gifts (from 10 to 25k) is around 8 months.
Disqualifying prospects should be celebrated as much as qualifying them!
And here are some key takeaways from discussions on best practices for prospect research:
It’s important to find a balance between planned giving, annual giving and major gifts giving.
When writing a proposal, having a clear budget is important because funders want to see a return on their investments. Knowing exactly what you will do with the money you are asking for is vital.
Don’t neglect US foundations. A lot of them have a history of giving in Canada, and they have the capacity to give bigger gifts.
Use all the social media platforms when researching prospects. Twitter is very useful because it’s usually the first platform where individuals record their interests.
Of course, another topic organisations are increasingly grappling with is digital fundraising:
Investing in a high-quality website (at least $30,000) and a professional photographer is very important and beneficial in the long-term
A good story is what will lead the way to raising money. However, digital memory is shorter than print memory, so once a story becomes popular on the website or on social media, you can invest in it to get the most out of it
Use Google analytics to figure out exactly who your audience is. A good exercise would be to actually create an imaginary person that you would like to target (you can even name them!)
Finally, I gained a number of practical insights on how to amplify your ability to close gifts:
78% of donors have never been asked to make a planned gift. Even if you have a great relationship with a donor, don’t expect to be in their will without asking.
The future of giving will be the transfer of assets, not cash. Canadian donors are older rather than younger and “Boomer” donors fear running out of money more than death.
The most important highlight of this session was about encouraging fundraisers to form relationships with the financial advisors of their donors. They will be the ones having the conversations that the donor will never have with the charity, and this relationship is extremely useful for setting up planned gifts, of life insurance in particular.
We hope these insights can help you find greater success in your own efforts. Happy fundraising!