As the days grow longer, the weather gets nicer, and the school year comes to an end, many of us start to yearn for the lazy days of summer. I know I do! Even though summer usually means long weekends and vacations, it doesn’t mean you should take a vacation from your nonprofit’s donors.
>Donors might not be as accessible from June through September, but you can still make an effort to stay in touch with over the summer. As we know donor retention is down to 39%, and 46% of donors stop giving for reasons connected to a “failure to communicate” according to Penelope Burk’s book, Donor Centered Fundraising.
What does that mean for you?
I suggest a year-round communication plan that ensures supporters know you are thinking about them and that their gifts are helpful and appreciated any time of year. Make a plan for keeping people informed and stick to it, even this summer.
Here are my summer suggestions:
- Stay in touch via a monthly eNewsletter with updates that are 250 words or less. These short, compelling messages should cause the readers to feel something about your work while also providing factual information. Less is more in length.
Format to use: Share a short story or quote from a client. Tell what’s working, briefly. Give an example of what’s missing (i.e what you need more of to serve more people). - Maintain your schedule of donor thank you calls as financial and in-kind contributions arrive. Ideally these are made by a volunteer within 48 hours of receiving the gift. Leaving a voice mail message can have as much impact as speaking directly with the person. And now they know for sure you noticed their gift and it matters to you that they made a contribution.
- Invite a selected group of supporters to participate in a summer event. Invite them to your client picnic, a special day at camp, or to stop by for a short visit in the morning when people are lined up to be served by your food bank.
It’s the personal invitation that counts. Keep the amount of participation time short and allow the donor to bring their family or a colleague. Most importantly make sure the time spent is meaningful. Have a client shake their hand and thank them for their support or have them arrive just in time to see the kids get their end of camp awards.
Remember: The donor doesn’t have to attend the event to have the invitation be of value. The phone call inviting them keeps you on their radar and reminds them of how important they are to your organization. - Have some of your clients create handwritten thank you notes to send to selected supporters.This is a great exercise in teaching youth about the value of thanking others or giving elderly clients a feeling of helping out. The note reminds your supporters that there are real people being touched by their contributions.
Best of all, by creating connections that keep your work on your supporters minds all year wrong will increase the impact of your all-important year-end appeal.
