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- Hello, Joy Olson of BlockBuster Fundraising,
and I honestly cannot believe this is
Thanksgiving week, 2017.
Incredible!
Where does the time go?
Well, I know that you have...
Are somewhere in this range of you probably
sent out an early your first appeal letter,
and you've probably sent out a wonderful,
hand-addressed note, Thanksgiving card,
especially to your major givers,
and your monthly donor givers,
and now you are thinking about, of course,
Giving Tuesday and your year-end appeal.
So let's, this week, take and examine
a few key reasons that people will choose
to support your cause.
How can you make sure that you hit those points
and provide a clear and compelling answer to the question
"Why should I give to you and not some other organization?"
Because that's what they're thinking.
I don't know about you,
but I donate to quite a few non-profits
and I am just inundated already
with so many requests for donation.
So how am I going to decide?
How is your donor gonna decide?
Do you have a clear and compelling response
ready to answer this question?
You need to.
And you need to be able to think it through,
write it out, script it,
and be able to say it and say it clearly.
Because this is going to be something that's very important
as you go through this annual appeal.
You really need to have what they call
a non-profit value proposition.
That's quite a phrase,
but it's really very true.
You need to know exactly the perceived value
of what your ask is worth.
Does that make sense?
Is giving a donation to your non-profit worth it?
What value will I receive or create
by offering you a donation?
Or even recruiting my friends to donate to you?
If you cannot oFfer a clear and compelling reason
why your donor should support your cause,
then really you are not able to illustrate
the value of your non-profit.
It's not the donor's job to seek out the value.
And it's their job to research
your approach, your mission to better understand
the value of their donation.
That's your job.
So in your annual appeal, really in everything we do,
but in your annual appeal,
because that's where we are right now,
you've got your best month
for getting donations in the door,
you need to make sure the perceived value
of their gift is clearly understood
and (sing songs a drum roll) completely in their favor.
It is making a difference to their life.
And also, try very hard to get a matching donation
here at year end.
Because perceived value,
that's why matching donations are so effective.
And it's also why promises that
"100% of your donation will go directly to this program!"
They're very effective because of the perceived value
of the contribution.
So statements like these are often referred to
as non-profit value propositions.
And we mentioned this last week
and I thought to myself,
"Well, I wonder if I made clear
"what a non-profit value proposition is?"
and so I found really some good example of this,
to a particular blog I'll put the link
and you can go look yourself.
But you've discovered how to articulate
the value of contributing to your non-profit,
your appeals are going to become so much more effective.
Believe me.
So let's take a look right now at understanding
non-profit value propositions.
To truly understand and identify
your non-profit value proposition
will take some homework.
You gotta take some time here
and effort and think this through.
But once you really nail this down,
you're going to see a huge difference
in the effectiveness of your fundraising appeal
because you are gonna know exactly
how to take that appeal to the donor
and give it tremendous value.
Value for them, not just for you.
The experts say that you can
and should have more than one value proposition.
In fact, your non-profit value proposition
should be a collection of the most believable
and persuasive reasons that people should
support your cause.
But it's perfectly alright,
and I think preferable in my opinion,
to use one non-profit value proposition in one appeal.
You have to cover it all.
And that brings up an important point too,
and next week we'll get more into thank yous,
but when you talk to your donor,
even when you give your donor a thank you note,
you don't thank for everything in the world,
you thank them for the last gift they gave,
the specific reason they give,
and the specific reason that that gift
is going to make so much difference.
Alright, more about that later,
but I think that's an important part.
Don't write these thank you notes after Giving Tuesday
or for your fall annual appeal thanking them for the world,
"Thank you for making our organization work"
and blah blah blah.
Thank them for exactly what they gifted,
the reason, and what a difference it's gonna make
for that particular person,
to that particular child,
to that particular animal, you get it.
Alright.
So, back to non-profit value proposition.
There are two parts to an effective
non-profit value proposition.
Okay, part number, a clear statement of value.
A clear statement of the value.
Support that makes this value believable.
You need both of these elements,
one and two, the clear statement of the value,
and support that makes this value believable,
you need both of these to make your
non-profit value proposition effective.
A lot of non-profit, unfortunately,
forget about or ignore the second point
of making the value believable.
You don't wanna make that mistake.
You can't say "This gift is gonna help us save the world."
Nobody's gonna believe that, that's ridiculous.
So don't make that mistake,
you gotta support it with something believable.
Alright, people need to believe in the perceived value
suggested by your non-profit,
and suggested by your particular appeal.
And if you don't provide the evidence necessarily
to support this value,
then it's just gonna be seen probably as
"Ah, this is too good to be true."
Or "This is just hype."
Take this for example.
"Give $5 and you'll cure cancer!"
That's ridiculous, right?
So you realize you're not gonna cure cancer with $5.
It's not a value proposition that seems believable.
And you wanna keep in mind that you're talking
about the over all value of their donation.
There are many things that people,
that your donors can perceived as valuable.
So you need to move beyond the features of the donation,
and focus more on the benefits.
As a stock broker,
features/benefits was so important,
to know the feature and the benefit,
the feature and the benefit,
the feature and the benefit,
because the features really is nothing
without the benefit to the donor.
So for example, if someone makes a $100 donation
to a homeless shelter,
the value is not just in the cash.
In fact isn't the value in how many people
can be fed with that money?
And go a step further.
How did being fed that day benefit those individuals?
What were they able to do now
that they didn't have to worry about being hungry?
The better you are at articulating
the benefits other people receive
because of the generosity of your donor,
the higher the perceived value will be.
And not all of your non-profit value propositions
need to be unique,
but you do need to make sure
that some of them are unique.
Because unique value proposition
help people understand why they should give to you
and not just some other organization.
I attended a webinar yesterday,
via the internet, Rachel Mueller,
and she said that there are over 1.7 million
non-profits right now.
And they are out there.
So you really need for your donors to understand
why they should give to you
and not to some other non-profit organization,
and that's where your well-thought-out unique
value proposition is gonna come in really handy.
Because it's gonna help your donors understand
why you're different,
and you're unique value proposition often
will have a much stronger influence
on people's perceived value of your organization.
Make sure, make certain,
that you have a few powerful unique value propositions
identified now before December
and be sure to include them
in your year-end fundraising appeal.
Really you should start including them
in every appeal that you do.
But this is kinda like a hopeful,
I mean helpful inspiring new idea
for that last letter that you really add this to your tools,
your content tools.
Once you have all of your
non-profit value propositions finalized,
be sure to share them with the entire non-profit staff.
Because, especially if you can get some of this done
before Giving Tuesday,
and with your peer-to-peer fundraisers
because you can let them know.
The next time one of them is asked
"Well, why should I give to this non-profit
"that you love so much,
"instead of another one that other friend loves?"
Your peer-to-peer fundraiser,
your staff, your volunteers,
your donors that are peer-to-peer fundraisers,
they'll have a clear and compelling reason
to give them right there,
and it will be unique and it will be strong.
Okay?
So you want to remember this.
You need to have a clear and compelling reason
why people should give to your non-profit
and not some other one.
Make that a goal for your next and final
2017 communication plan.
Whether it's in your emails,
direct mail, you get the point.
And social media, too.
And these reasons should be identified and documented
as your non-profit value propositions.
Remember that your non-profit value propositions
need to be believable and supported.
Don't promise everything.
It's about one project,
one protagonist, you get the picture.
Alright?
And use that in your thank you, too.
Thank them for that unique value proposition
that they supported.
And these propositions will be more powerful
then anything else that you are really doing.
I think that you're going to be excited about it
and next I'd like to touch
maybe just a moment on feature benefits.
Hold on, here we go.
Now let's look for just a few minutes
at features and benefits
and how to use features and benefits
in an effective fundraising appeal.
Because if someone wants to learn more
about your organization,
the more prepared you are,
the better off it's gonna be
because you can explain things quickly and easily,
and you can discuss your programs,
and you can rattle off a list of services,
but before you know it
the person you're speaking to is reading their phone,
texting, their eyes have glazed over,
and you realize you've completely lost their attention.
How can you keep them interested?
Why weren't they interested in what your answer was?
You started out with the features of your non-profit
when what the person really wanted was to know the benefits.
Got that?
"What's in it for me?"
That is really on your donor's mind.
"Fine, you do this, this, this, this, this, this, this,
"but what's in this for me?"
And non-profits struggle with this a lot,
because benefits are not always tangible.
(laughs) You have to brainstorm,
you have to work them through and it needs to be emotional.
So the features, easy to rattle off.
The benefits, you have got to take that extra step.
And it's essential that you do take that extra step
to articulate the benefits of donating
right now to our cause.
And it's so true, especially true in fundraising appeals.
So these people, these people...
Your donors, your wonderful donors,
they need to understand the benefits. (laughs)
Alright, and if you're worth weight at all
as a development director,
you're going to be able to really give them
this clear understanding of the benefits
that their potential donation is going to make right now.
And you're going to be able to tell them,
and make them feel,
like it is really a good investment for them.
So let's look at feature/benefits right now
and how you can use feature/benefits
to make your fundraising appeals a little more effective.
Alright?
Okay, here's an example from an animal rescue organization
because I love animal rescue organizations.
So let's say that the animal rescue organization
is preparing for their annual fundraising drive.
And they identify the following features
of this particular campaign drive.
Number one, the donations will be used to feed
and provide shelter to abandoned animals.
Number two, donations will be used
to purchase additional medical supplies
needed to nurse abused and abandoned animals back to health.
Feature number three, regular updates
on the stories from the organization
will be sent to all donors.
And feature number four, donations are tax deductible.
And that's another scary thing this year,
because when this new tax bill is over and done with,
that tax deductible benefit, sense of urgency benefit,
may not be something that we still have
that gives us such a good sense of urgency.
Okay, so now we've got the features,
let's talk about the benefits.
The benefit of feature one,
they can feel good knowing that their contribution
helped feed and provide shelter
to hungry and homeless animals.
Benefit of feature two,
they can be proud that their contribution,
their donation helped heal sick and wounded animals.
Benefit of feature three,
they will remain connected to animals
that they helped heal and shelter
by seeing photos and receiving updates on their progress.
Many non-profit are calling these impact reports now
instead of newsletters,
and I think that's a terrific idea.
Keep reminding those donors the impact,
the good works that their donations are doing.
And the benefit of feature four,
they will save some money by owing less to the IRS.
So that is probably a very, maybe simple,
but you certainly see the difference
between features and benefits from that example.
And now how can you use this information
for your benefit?
A common mistake, mistake number one,
when dealing with feature benefits and appeals is
don't take too long to get to the benefits
of making the donation.
You don't wanna ride and on and on
and discuss all the features,
and yakety yak and blahbety blah.
You want to get to the benefits.
These are the programs, these are our programs,
and here's what we will do with your donation.
That information is important,
and it should be certainly included in your appeal,
but it's much more effective
to explain the benefits first.
By doing so, you will get your audience excited
about making that contribution up front.
Don't make them listen to a long explanation
of all your features before you give them
any of the benefits.
They just don't have the time.
You know, they're in a hurry,
they're busy, they don't wanna read forever and ever.
"What's in it for me,
"I know blah blah blah all your features."
why would they sit and through listen
to all of your features
if they still don't know the value of making a contribution?
Their eyes are gonna glaze over.
And you're gonna lose them.
So start with the benefits.
Let your donors know the impact they'll have,
the difference they will make,
the gains that they will receive first.
This is going to pique their interest,
it'll keep them excited,
it'll get them excited to learn more about you
and what you offer.
And once you get them excited and interested,
then you can talk about your features.
And you'll have a future together.
Now they have a reason to listen and to care.
Now that they're invested,
they've invested their interest
with this piece of direct mail or email,
they will give you their full attention.
So provide benefits before going into
the details or the features.
That's going to result in effective fundraising.
Alright, your appeals are going to get
so much better results.
So remember that the features are the descriptive facts
about your programs, products, and services,
but benefits are what result from the features.
They are what the donor gains.
Benefits are more effective than features
at moving people to take action.
And you need to understand the features and benefits
of contributing to your non-profit,
but benefits are really...
"What's in it for me?"
What is the benefit to your donor?
Why are they gonna feel good about supporting this?
So you need to, in your appeal,
start by explaining the benefits,
then discuss the features.
Whew, okay!
Well, that's about as much annual appeal advice
that I'm sure you can stand at this moment in time.
You're busy, you've got a lot to do.
Remember to, during this holiday season,
as a development director,
stick around the office, be available.
If you're not in the office,
you should be out talking face-to-face
with your major gift peeps.
I know that you've all got families
and this is a very busy time of year,
but this is your primo time of year.
As a development director,
there is nothing more important than these...
What is it?
I can't even believe how fast it's going,
but maybe 40 days you've got left
to really work with your donors?
So be available because this is when a lot of us,
50% of our donations come between now and December 31st,
come in the doors.
So, go get 'em.
Have a happy Thanksgiving.
I hope you have a wonderful time with your family,
I hope you're excited about your
year-end plans fundraising wise,
and I hope that there are little things that we can do
along the way here at BlockBuster to excite you
to make a little tweak here,
change a little bit of this,
just have fun with fundraising.
That's what's it's all about.
JoyOlsonGroup.com, more information,
BlockBusterFundraising.com, our blog
and housing a lot of our videos.
And speaking of videos,
over 200 free fundraising videos on our YouTube channel.
So, happy Thanksgiving, have a great week!
Bye bye.