How & Why to Engage Your Board in Stewardship Practices Rebecca Jacobson, MPH SCANPO Weekly Wednesday Webinar, August 19, 2015 .

How & Why to Engage Your Boardin Stewardship Practices

Rebecca Jacobson, MPH

SCANPO Weekly Wednesday Webinar, August 19, 2015

www.developmentforgood.com


Today’s Goal

To introduce a paradigm shift

regarding fundraising.


Donor Retention is a critical aspect of

fundraising and must be an active concern

and priority for all nonprofits.


Poll #1

Does your organization ever look at

or talk about Donor Retention rates?


Training Objectives

1. To provide enough justification to convince you and your Board to begin talking about Donor Retention.

2. To convince you to calculate your organization’s Donor Retention rate over the past several years.

3. To give you a starting place for effective and “doable” Donor Stewardship practices that you are comfortable asking Board members to engage in.


About Rebecca

After 20+ years in nonprofit, launched Development for Good

Why development consulting?


Attendee Overview

19 Executive Director/CEO’s 19 Development Staff 3 Marketing/PR/Programs 2 Board members 7 Other


Sectors Represented

2 Arts 2 Consulting 4 Business 4 Conservation 6 Health services 6 Youth Services 8 Education (Lower & Higher) 9 Human services


Donor Stewardship – What is It?

The administration of gifts

The ongoing relationship with a donor after a gift has been made

A process by which the organization develops a relationship with a donor and strengthens and preserves that relationship over time


Donor stewardship is about

relationship building which leads to

deeper donor commitment and more

long-term financial support.


Why Current Donors Matter

The average nonprofit has: a 60-70% chance of obtaining additional

contributions from existing donors

a 20-40% chance of securing a gift from a recently lapsed donor

less than a 2% chance of receiving a gift from a prospect

- Roger Craver, “Retention Fundraising” (2014)


Fundraising Effectiveness Project (FEP)

Established in 2006 by Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) and Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy at the Urban Institute

Conducts research on fundraising effectiveness

Publishes the annual Fundraising Effectiveness Project Survey


Donor Retention Over the Past Decade

2006: 50%

2013: 39%, lowest rate in 8 years

2014: 43%, first upward trend in since the

2007 drop

- 2014 Fundraising Effectiveness Project


Donor Retention2012-2013 Fundraising Year

3,576 survey respondents

Median Donor Retention: 43%

- First-time Donor Retention: 23%

For every 100 new and recovered donors, 102 were lost through attrition



Calculating Donor Retention Rates

Need to work with your database administrator

May need to utilize software technical support to figure out how to pull the right comparative data

If you don’t have a donor database, it could be labor intensive; get help from a volunteer, intern, or Board member


All Donors Retention Rate

1. Get your donor count from 2 consecutive full years (number of unique donors, not number of donations).

2. Count the number of donors who gave to your organization in year one (e.g., 2013).

3. Count the number of donors from the same pool who gave in the second year (2014). This does not include new donors in year 2.

4. Divide #2 by #1.

5. This is your retention rate from year 1 to year 2.


First-time Donor Retention Rate

1. From the same 2 years, count the number of first-time donors in the first year (again, number of unique donors, not number of donations from them).

2. Count the number of donors from the same pool who gave in the second year (2014).

3. Divide #2 by #1.

4. This is your first-time donor retention rate from year 1 to year 2.


Look at Your Retention TrendsOver Several Years

How do you compare to the median from the 2014 Fundraising Effectiveness Project?

– 43% all donors– 23% first-time donors


Donor Retention Impact

A 10% upward trend in donor retention can

DOUBLE the lifetime value of donor giving.


“Taking positive steps to reduce donor and gift losses is the least expensive strategy for

increasing net fundraising gains.”



Questions/Comments?


More of the Paradigm Shift:

Donor Stewardship should be an

ongoing fundraising activity.

All year long, all the time.


Why Engage Board Members

Stewardship is an imperative yet

“non-ask” fundraising activity.

Eliminates the “I’m not comfortable

asking for money” barrier.


Where to Start: Thank You Calls!

When donors received a thank you call from a board member within 24 hours of the

organization receiving the gift, the donorgave 39% more (on their next gift) than the other

donors who did not receive a call.

- Penelope Burk


How to Engage Board Members

Start with buy-in from your board leadership

And start small


Educate Your Leaders about Importance of Donor Retention

Share the research and your retention rates with Development Chair and Board Officers

Get buy-in to add “Donor Stewardship” as an ongoing fundraising activity

Request that someone be named (or volunteer) as Stewardship Chairperson (someone who is strong at and comfortable with relationship building)


Add Donor Retention as an Agenda Item at the Next Board Meeting

Share the research and your retention rates

Explain Stewardship as a “non-ask” fundraising task

Ask for a Stewardship volunteers; must be comfortable making calls and/or hand-writing thank you notes

Stewardship should become part of every fundraising discussion at board meetings; volunteers should share their stories about the phone calls and what they learned


Stewardship Volunteers

Need to be responsive on short notice

Can articulate your organization's mission and talk about programs and services

Need phone callers AND note writers


Establish Stewardship Tracking System

Staff person who administers donations must supply donor info to Stewardship volunteers and record outcomes

Keep is simple but consistent

Record in donor’s database record: the steward, date/method contacted, any info or feedback provided by the steward


Basics of a Donor Thank You Call

NO ASKING!! For money, in-kind, event attendance, etc.

Seeking a basic human connection

Try to understand donor’s motives and interest in your organization

Take notes to be entered into donor database


Stewardship Priorities

1. First-time Donors

2. Loyal / long-term Donors

3. “Large” Donors


First-time Donor Thank You Call

– A 5 minute call; perfect for Board members!– Suggested Script:

Introduce yourself and your role in organization Thank you for your recent donation of $XX Why did you choose to give to our organization? How can we make you feel your donation was

worthwhile? Do you have any questions about programs &

services? End with another Thank You


Long-term / Loyal Donor Thank You Calls

– Suggest donors who have given every year for past 3-5 years– A 10-minute call; staff should provide donor’s giving history– Suggested Script:

Introduce yourself and your role in organization We’re reaching out to our long-term supporters just to call

and say thank you for supporting us. Why did you originally start giving to our organization? ASK THEIR OPINION: do you have any suggestions of

things we can be doing better? Do you have any questions about our programs & services? Thank You


Large Donor Thank You Calls

– Development staff, Development Committee, ED and/or Board should decide minimum giving level for calls

– A 10 minute call– Suggested Script:

Introduce yourself and your role in organization Thank you for your recent donation of $XX, our Board

wants you to know how much we appreciate your support.

Why did you choose to give to our organization? How can we make you feel your donation was

worthwhile? Do you have any questions about programs & services? Thank you


If the Phone Call Goes Longer and Becomes Engaging

Take an interest in learning about the donor

Be a good listener and take notes to pass back to staff for the donor database record

Share about yourself, personal and what you love about the organization

Try to make a sincere connection


If You Don’t Reach the Donor by Phone

Leave a detailed voice message!

Include your name, connection to the organization, reason for your call (thank you!) and your call-back number with an invitation to give you a call back

Consider making a second call a few days later at a different time, especially for “larger” contributions


When You Don’t Have a Phone Number for Your Donor

Write a note!

– Use personal note card, NOT organization’s stationary

– Hand-write, don’t type

– Same premise and content as thank you call but a hand-written note instead

– Invite donor to give you a call and include your call-back number


Keep the Conversation Going

Have Stewardship volunteers share their donor conversations at every Board meeting

Development staff and leaders keep up with Donor Retention research and best practices and share with the Board


Set Retention Goals

Ideally, your Board will vote on an annually retention goal for all and first-time donors

Calculate annually as part of year-end processing

Report and discuss with the Board along with year-end financial reports


Organizational Differences

Modify these Stewardship approaches

for your organization’s size

and Board capacity.

But start somewhere!


Final Word on Stewardship

“The only way to truly steward your donors

is to draw them into a deeper relationship

with your organization. Deep relationships

require a give and take, and a greater

association than simply writing checks.”

- Joe Garecht, www.thefundraisingauthority.com


My Consulting Services

Facilitate board discussion or basic development training starting at $350

Provide more in-depth training or Board retreat on Fundraising Best Practices

Write Fundraising/Development Plan

Work with staff to establish stewardship practices and systems


Poll #2

Based on what your heard today,

how likely is it that you will try to calculate

your Donor Retention rates for the most

recent fundraising year?


Questions/Comments?


Contact Me

Rebecca Jacobson, [email protected]

803.361.3122

How & Why to Engage Your Board in Stewardship Practices Rebecca Jacobson, MPH SCANPO Weekly Wednesday Webinar, August 19, 2015 .

Documents

retention fundraising

donor retention ratesneed

donor database

lapsed donor

todeeper donor commitment

fundraising year3

comdonor stewardship

board members