Want to develop a social media strategy for your nonprofit organization that really makes a difference? Learn what two social media gurus shared at their recent webinar: Build a Better Nonprofit Social Media Strategy.
Little Green Light salutes The Seattle Foundation's GiveBIG campaign, which collects a pool of matching funds to augment any contributions made by individuals to participating organizations on the Seattle Foundation website during a designated day.
We are often asked about the best way to deal with the difficult task of tracking gifts that people commit to make sometime in the future, especially when dealing with monthly donations. The question is, should we use the pledge functionality all the time? Like so many things, the answer is, "it depends." To help you think about how and when to use the pledge functionality, we've put together the following post.
Growing a school's annual giving program is no easy feat. When Sacred Heart School in Boston assigned Mary Roberts with the task, the majority of donations that came in to the almost 100 year old school were unsolicited. Mary needed to develop an outreach strategy that would allow her to connect with the school's 6500 alumni. And she required a way to help keep it all organized. That's where LGL came in....
Anna McDonnell has turned philanthropy upside down. And her unique approach needed a creative solution. Anna credits LGL with providing her with a customized solution that addressed her biggest challenges. Read more....
When Jenna Sytman did the math, she was really quite stunned. A million dollars over the next three years. That's how much she projects she will be able to increase her organization's dues contributions from its members.
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America SCORES, a national nonprofit comprising 14 affiliate offices, recently selected Little Green Light as their donor management CRM.
Flex Importer is the tool in LGL that lets you import any kind of information about your constituents and their related activities. It has always been flexible and powerful, but we've recently made it a lot better too. Here's a quick summary of the new improvements:
- Get a detailed review of every change
- Save and undo individual records
- Undo an entire import, removing all changes it made
Yesterday I had the pleasure of serving on a panel at the Northwest Development Officers Association annual winter conference in Seattle, WA. The panel discussion, titled Data Drives All, was about data and how nonprofits can use data effectively and how they can avoid some of the pitfalls that come from the torrent of data coming at us every day. I had 3 key take-aways from the discussion.
We're excited to announce that our Constant Contact integration is now available to all LGL customers, and that LGL customers new to Constant Contact will receive a 25% discount on email marketing.
It's a good practice to send out year-end tax receipts and/or statements to your donors. It's a nice way to both give them the information they need to file their taxes, and thank them again for their support. It's also a good opportunity to let them know how their support has helped your mission, which is critical for donor retention (and just makes good sense).
For those of you who haven’t yet checked out Wufoo, now’s the time. Make it your 2013 resolution! Why? Because LGL’s integration with Wufoo offers a spectacular way for you to bring in some really valuable information in to your LGL account auto-magically.
Ever wish you could just type someone's street and ZIP Code information within LGL and get a full address nicely populated (not to mention CASS-certified)? Now you can, with help from SmartyStreets. SmartyStreets "makes address verification easy" and best of all, it has an excellent API and provides a free account with unlimited use to non-profit organizations.
6 Steps to a Successful Appeal: Part six of a six-part series
To make the most of your annual giving program, set clear goals and then incorporate measurement tools into your plan. A successful plan will include regular evaluation of your strategies' successes and failures, and allow for the flexibility to make changes to address shortcomings or enhance windfalls. Some key metrics you might want to track include total amount raised, retention rates, new donor acquisition, and your non-ask ratio (i.e., cultivation/stewardship activities vs. solicitations). For more information on fundraising metrics, see Peter Drury's Fundraising Dashboard.
6 Steps to a Successful Appeal: Part five of a six-part series
Good practices in gift acknowledgment and accounting have a beneficial effect on your donor relationships.
To ensure that donors understand the value and your appreciation of their gift to your organization, it's important to have a gift acknowledgment process in place that's pertinent, personal, and prompt. Pertinent, meaning that your thank you matches the intention of the gift. If a donor is giving to a scholarship fund, don't send a thank you for their contribution to your capital campaign.
6 Steps to a Successful Appeal: Part four of a six-part series
Utilizing the personal information you've collected and maintained in your database about your constituents is vital throughout your annual giving campaign. Each step in a comprehensive annual giving campaign is dependent on having accurate information about your constituents and incorporating that into your outreach strategies. From ensuring the proper addressing of newsletters, solicitation letters, and acknowledgments to effectively segmenting your constituents based on documented interests and affinities, personalization plays a big role in the success of your appeals. It is well established that personalized letters asking for support of the mission (addressed to an individual by name) and signed by a member of the organization who knows the constituent personally, with a PS note too, will succeed much more than an impersonal “Dear Friend” letter.
6 Steps to a Successful Appeal: Part three of a six-part series
Developing a comprehensive cultivation and stewardship plan for each segment will improve your annual giving campaign results.
As you develop your annual giving program, it’s important to incorporate multiple touch points throughout the year to effectively engage your constituents in your mission. The goal of your cultivation and stewardship plan is to have your constituents invest in your mission, and ensure that they will give a gift. It's important to note that the solicitation of the gift is just one part of the plan- without a proper foundation of informing your constituents about your mission, and getting them involved in your work, a gift is harder to come by-especially one that will be repeatable. And, repeatable gifts are the bread and butter of an annual giving campaign. For more information on the importance of stewardship and cultivation, and the three I's of cultivation-Inform, Involve and Invest-see our blog article 'Smart data collection and segmentation can drive your fundraising strategy.'
6 Steps in a Successful Appeal: Part two of a six-part series
Segmentation is the practice of categorizing constituents into mutually exclusive groups based on a set of criteria, such as giving history and expected future giving or affinity for your organization. It can help you focus your appeal and maximize your fundraising efforts. It's important to note that on average, nonprofit organizations have a 60-70% chance of retaining the donors they already have, a 20-40% chance of recapturing lost donors, and a less than 2% chance of acquiring a gift from a prospect. A segmented approach allows you to focus the bulk of your efforts on those that are most likely to support your organization.
6 Steps to a Successful Appeal: Part one of a six-part series
The following are keys to building a successful appeal for any non-profit organization or school:
- Take your donor information seriously
- Use your data to drive strategy
- Be more personal in your approach
