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Tuesday, November 18, 2008
A Perfect 10!
As you can see from the picture, we had some excitement last week in the office with the release of Version 10.0 of our installed desktop edition of DonorPerfect.
The fun started early in the day on Friday when we posted over 300 "It's a Perfect 10.0" signs around our headquarters in Horsham, PA. And since our army of dedicated software developers, trainers, sales, marketing, and support personnel marches on its stomach, we also made sure that 100 donuts and 10 bagels were available.
Throughout the day we conducted Version 10.0 trivia. We put everyone's name in a hat, and pulled out 10 people. They then rolled dice to see who would play the trivia game- nearest to 10 won. If they answered the trivia question correctly, they received $10 (and since the answer was always, "Version 10.0" everyone won!). Next, the winner had two chances to roll a 10 on the dice, and in our last trivia contest of the day, Pam Stockunas, one of our incredible employees in our Support department, claimed the $100 prize.
Many thanks goes out to everyone in all departments to make this our best release ever. A new Special Event Module, (included free- no extra fees), and improved integration with Microsoft Excel will make it easier for our clients to raise more money more efficiently than ever before!
ps - And what happened to all those posters after Friday? A group of 'rogue' employees decided
to wallpaper my office with them. They're still up in my office- I kind of like it!
Labels: Version 10
Monday, November 03, 2008
Obama's Runaway Fundraising Success
My partner, Doug Schoenberg, just posted a blog posting about Barack Obama's fundraising success.
Of particular interest was the notion of recruiting donors to match donations, and then facilitate communication between these donors who would otherwise never interact, further building community and commitment from the new donor.
It looks very compelling, not only for new donor acquisition, but for increased conversion rates for single gift donors to multiple gift ones.Labels: social fundraising
Saturday, October 18, 2008
International Fundraising Cuisine...
For the first time, we exhibited at the International Congress on Fundraising, held around this time of year near Amsterdam, Netherlands. This year they had record breaking attendance, and it was fantastic to get a world view of fundraising that's different from our own.
For example, person to person is BIG in Europe. It works like this: charities hire 18-25 year old solicitors with good looks, put them in uniform, and have them patrol the downtown area of major European cities, especially in the UK and Scandinavian countries. In fact, people now have a word for it- they call them "Chuggers", as in Charity Muggers!
Despite what they are called, the programs are indeed successful. It's my understanding an average Chugger will sign up a new donor once per hour. In addition, they don't ask for a one time gift- oh no, they are going much higher. They are actually able to persuade strangers to sign up for a monthly giving program, with an average monthly gift of $10 US.
As one can expect, attrition rates can be high- but they are actually very comparable to traditional pledge non-electronic programs and averages about 15-20% / year (Meaning the renewal rate is about 80-85%).
However, once a donor lasts into the second year, then their behavior matches that of a more reliable donor, and the attrition rate drops into the single digits.
Recurring revenue is critical for any organization, and it's one of the main reasons why these programs (at least from the non profit's perspective) are very popular. While 'Chugger' fundraising hasn't taken off in the US (and it might never), monthly giving programs can still be established through traditional solicitation requests, including direct mail and on-line fundraising.
In these uncertain economic times, organizations that rely on this type of recurring revenue certainly sleep easier at night as they know, with laser like precision, their future revenue stream.Labels: Chugger, International Fundraising, Monthly Giving Program
Saturday, October 04, 2008
Tales from the Road
I just finished exhibiting at the National Catholic Development Conference, held this year in Orlando. Typically referred to as NCDC, this conference hosts over 700 development professionals from about 500 catholic organizations across the US.
It's our fifth year exhibiting at the conference, and our first, in at least 10 years, that our booth and materials did not make the flight. Apparantly, they were hijacked to Texas instead, and we had to activate "Operation Conference Backup". Luckily, after a quick infiltration of a local 24 hour Kinkos shop and with help from our marketing gurus, we whipped up some materials and booth in
Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales"
just a few hours. Special thanks goes to both Chad Kashub and Sam Goldenberg for stepping up to the plate and helping out over the weekend.
The conference proved to be a major success as we were able to demonstrate our latest version of DonorPerfect, Version 10. Version 10 sports some new features, including a completely integrated Special Events module that makes it easy to plan, coordinate, and execute almost any kind of special event.
It's easy to record event details, such as venue information, expenses, and even auction items. Invite groups of constituents at a click of a button, and record responses just as easily. The module even tracks teams or tables in a drop-and-drag interface, making these assignments painless. Finally, over a dozen reports track the progress of the event, and comparison reports make it easy to evaluate one event against another. It's simply awesome!
Surely, the chief buzz at the conference was the state of the economy and its effect on giving. Though there were some exceptions, most people were resigned to the fact that this year would be tough and they were preparing for a decline in most revenue categories as compared to last year. An exception seemed to occur in major gifts and planned giving, which at least anecdotally, seemed to be on the rise.
The next several weeks will be very busy for us as we release Version 10- it's going to be very exciting! Labels: NCDC, Version 10
Monday, September 22, 2008
Update...
It’s going to be a busy next few weeks.
At the end of this week I’ll be in Copenhagen, Denmark and meeting with one of our largest international clients. They look to expand their implementation of DonorPerfect Online across the world, and are looking forward of using our multiple currency tracking and local custom settings to make each system work with their unique government regulations.
After returning for a brief home visit, I’ll be once again attending the National Catholic Development Conference (NCDC). This year it’s being held in Orlando, Florida, so my family will be joining me for some R&R and a couple of visits to Disney. Luckily, my father in law is joining us and he has graciously agreed to help with the kids while I’m at the convention.
Finally, at the end of this month we’re releasing our latest version of our desktop software, DonorPerfect Version 10. It’s like Christmas morning each time we release a new version- I can’t wait! Version 10 will be sporting some advanced features, including an integrated Special Events module to easily track, manage, and schedule almost any kind of special event. Like all of our new improvements, it was developed with flexibility in mind, and should fit any organization’s special event process like a glove. As always, the upgrade is provided as a FREE benefit to all of our clients enrolled in one of our support maintenance programs.
We’re targeting the release later this month- stay tuned!Labels: Disney, Update
Monday, September 15, 2008
5 Tips to Raise More Money in a Down Economy
The state of the economy has certainly been the talk in our industry, especially as it relates to giving forecasts as we approach the holidays. However, it’s not all doom and gloom. Even during the last recession (2001), individual giving still rose from the previous year- though at a paltry .5% increase and when adjusted for inflation was actually a decrease (source: http://www.homepages.indiana.edu/062102/text/giving2.html).
Here’s 5 quick tips for a successful fundraising campaign this year to try and break the trend:
- Be honest. Mention the economy in your appeal. One of the reasons people give is to help others not so fortunate.
- Offer an upgrade path. As outlined in my previous blog entry, encourage people to give more than in the past (while still offering their same support level).
- Offer a monthly giving program or pledge option. Donors usually contribute more when they have the ability to spread out payments over time.
- Offer a credit card option. Average donations for credit card gifts are up to 20% higher than other forms of payment.
- Be persistent. The number one reason people give is because they are asked. In fact, it usually takes 3 to 4 ‘impressions’ before people make a donation.
Any more ideas? Share them here!Labels: DIrect Mail Campaigns
Monday, September 08, 2008
The Secret to Asking the Right Amount...
It's turning in that time of year again where non profits across the country are preparing their direct mail file for their largest direct mail fundraising effort- The Holiday Ask.
It's so important that in a study conducted by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, they found that:
"The Secret"
"...the researchers also asked respondents about how much of their giving occurs from Thanksgiving to New Year's. On average, people make 24 percent of their annual donations in those six weeks--or about twice what one would expect if giving were equally distributed throughout the year."
--Source: Giving and Volunteer Research, The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University
Since about 1/4 of the total giving is made during this important time frame, it's even more important to make sure that your direct mail campaign not only targets the right donors, but that it also targets the right amount for each donor. In fact, since the number one reason people give money to charity is because they are asked, then it also holds true that you should make sure to ask the right amount.
You certainly wouldn't want to ask a major donor for a $25 gift when they are capable of giving $500 or more. Likewise, asking a new donor for $500 when their largest previous gift was $30 is also nonsensical. The secret is to ask more than they gave in the past but not too much more to dissuade them from giving at all.
As a result, direct mail operators have for years used 'secret' formulas to calculate the ask amounts in the direct mail piece. Using a combination of research, experience, a little voodoo and a bit of luck, these experts can take your donor file and create the perfect ask amount for each of your donors.
Typically, to take advantage of this tactic, direct mail vendors will require these pieces of information for each donor:
- Last Contribution Amount
- Last Contribution Date
- Maximum Contribution Amount
- Initial Gift Amount
Other fields to consider include the dates of both the maximum and initial gift amounts. For users of our DonorPerfect CRM fundraising software, it's very simple to include these calculated fields with your export- in fact they are always included in our standard donor export.
Now, what happens if you aren't taking advantage of a direct mail vendor's expertise? Is there anything you can do? The answer is YES! Basically, all of these 'next ask' variants rely on a combination of the donor's history to reasonably predict an upgraded gift amount.
For example, one could simply use the Maximum Gift Amount * 1.20 and round off to the nearest $5. This way, you could maximize your potential by asking for amounts that are 20% more than their maximum gift.
Another variant would be to simply take the Last Contribution Amount and again multiply it by 1.2 rounding off to the nearest $5.
Yet another way that works is to blend both the last contribution amount and maximum gift amount, and take a certain percentage of each, add them together, and then round. For example:
(70% * (Maximum Gift Amount) + 30% * (Last Contribution Amount)) *120% =
New Ask Amount
Finally, one should always show at least three ask amounts in the direct mail piece, along with a spot for "Other"- for those cases where we completely missed the mark, or when the donor may have won the lottery!
As with any direct mailing, you should test, test, test, and then test some more. Though the above tactics are generally recognized as a good rule of thumb, each organization is different and like the infomercial says, "Your results may vary."Labels: Ask Amounts, DIrect Mail Campaigns
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