In fundraising, we’ve spent decades perfecting donor-centered language – polished, warm, affirming. And there’s value in that. But as we lean further into equity, honesty, and shared power, we’re realizing something: partnership requires candor. Community centric fundraising built on that sort of trusting partnership is the future.

You can’t build trust on flattery. You build it on clarity.

That’s what my new resource is really about. It’s not a script. It’s not a list of ways to smooth over discomfort. It’s a toolkit for having honest conversations with donors – without losing connection, mission, or respect.

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve been asked this question: "What do I even say when a donor asks [fill in the awkward, unexpected, or slightly skeptical question here]?"

If you’ve worked in fundraising for more than five minutes, you’ve felt that moment. Someone hits you with a curveball – maybe it’s well-intentioned, maybe it’s a little tense – and suddenly your mind goes blank. You want to respond with confidence and kindness, but your brain’s still trying to find the first word.

That’s why I created The Real Deal Fundraiser’s Quick Guide to Donor Questions.

It’s a free resource packed with clear, kind, mission-centered answers to the questions we all get asked – and sometimes dread. Whether it’s “Why do you need my gift if you already got a big one from [another donor]?” or “Can I trust you’ll use my money wisely?”, this guide helps you find your footing and keep the conversation moving in the right direction.

Underneath it all is a simple framework I first learned in phonathon and have used ever since:

Listen. Acknowledge. Support. Continue.
It’s not a script – it’s a mindset. And it works.

• Listen – Really listen. Not just to the words, but to the tone and subtext.
  If someone says “I’m retired,” don’t assume what that means. Are they joyfully gardening between river cruises, or feeling anxious on a fixed income? Same phrase, very different needs.
• Acknowledge – Show them they’ve been heard.
  “Sounds like you’ve had a big transition recently,” or “You’ve earned some rest after working hard for so long.”
• Support – Make your case with warmth and clarity.
  “We have donors in all life stages who support the mission in different ways.”
• Continue – Bring it back to the goal of the conversation.
  “I know you really care about [cause/mission]. We’d love to have you involved in a way that works for you – let’s discuss some options.” Then offer monthly giving, IRA Rollover gifts, etc.

This isn’t about avoiding tough topics. It’s about having the tools to meet them head-on – with empathy, strategy, and the kind of language that invites real partnership. Here’s an another example:

Donor: “What percentage of my gift actually goes to the mission?”

You: "Totally fair question. 100% of your gift supports our mission. That includes the people, infrastructure, and tools that keep programs going strong. We believe in full transparency, and you can always review our IRS Form 990 to see how resources are stewarded."

Pro Tip: Don’t shy away from the unglamorous parts of nonprofit work. They’re essential.

​Want to see the rest of the answers in the freebie? It’s loaded with examples. You’ll see how to apply this framework in real situations, with real donor language, and keep things moving forward without losing the heart of the conversation. Every answer in this guide is rooted in respect for donor autonomy and full transparency – two values that keep relationships healthy and real.

Think of it as a conversational compass – something you can adapt to your voice and situation – rather than a one-size-fits-all speech. You’ve got the passion and the instincts. This will help you put it into words – quickly, confidently, and with the clarity today’s donors (and communities) deserve.
​
Cheers!

P.S. Like this kind of insight?
Subscribe to Real Deal Fundraising and get my best articles, tools, and curated resources every week – including webinars, videos, and free downloads.

If you liked this…

• 4 Power Questions to Ask Donors That Build Rapport and Lead to Major Gifts
• Discovery Visits Demystified: Tips for Effective Donor Meetings
• The 3 Questions Donors Ask About IRA Rollover Gifts (and How to Answer Them)
• What to Say to Donors in Uncertain Times: The Near, Dear, Clear Fundraising Framework
• Leveraging National Estate Planning Awareness Week for Planned Giving Success

Ever open your email and feel like your brain’s going to short-circuit?

You're not alone. Seventy-four percent of U.S. adults say they feel overwhelmed by email. More than half of U.S. consumers (56%) say they’ll unsubscribe if they receive four or more marketing messages from the same company within 30 days. And it’s not just Boomers. Eighty-one percent of Gen Z and 78% of Millennials say they wish it were easier to disconnect from digital devices.

These are your future major donors asking for fewer pixels and more presence.
​
That’s the opening fundraisers need. The real opportunity isn’t another email subject line tweak or fancy GIF. It’s a return to what’s real: mail and phone. Tangible. Human. Hard to ignore.

​This isn’t nostalgia talking. It’s data. And it might just be the smartest pivot you make this year.

In the race to do more, cheaper, we forgot what actually works.

Physical mail gets opened 80–90% of the time, while emails land between 20–30%. Direct mail spending has even grown recently – reaching about $39.4 billion in the U.S. in 2023.

And here’s the kicker: when mail and digital work together, results jump. In one test, donors who received both mail and email were 60.5% more likely to respond to the mail piece than those who got mail alone.

That tracks with what I saw last year. Inspired by the project Postcards to Swing States, my team handwrote and mailed over 200 postcards promoting our Giving Tuesday match. It was a standout success. Part of the magic was the form itself: a postcard is immediate – no envelope, no delay, just message received.

The phone didn’t stop working. Most programs just stopped dialing.

Organizations that add professional telemarketing to their strategy see an average 27% increase in annual donations compared to those relying solely on mail or digital campaigns.

Why? Because personalized calling does what algorithms can’t – it builds connection.

And that connection drives results. DCM’s 2023 telefundraising trends report found that contact rates have remained stable since the pandemic – holding strong at about 2.5 contacts per hour. Advocacy and political campaigns saw average gift amounts rise by 19% between 2018 and 2023, thanks to high-touch calling models.

I’ve seen the impact firsthand. Last year, I worked with a college to rebuild their phonathon from the ground up: stronger management, better scripting, and smart segmentation. In 2022, they raised $134,317. This year? $396,309. And their youngest alumni – graduates since 2020 – are showing a participation rate over 17%. That kind of traction doesn’t come from wishful thinking. It comes from consistent, human contact. 
​
Telemarketing gets a bad rap, but it’s still the only channel that delivers personalized conversations at scale. It’s strategic because it’s still deeply personal.

So if you think phone is “old school,” think again. It’s working better than ever – for those who use it well.

Here’s where things get interesting: Millennials and Gen Z aren’t avoiding analog as expected but they are getting burnt out on digital.

More than 80% of Gen Z (80%) and Millennials (78%) say they share interesting mail with someone else. That’s a viral loop, but with ink and paper.

They’re open to analog – especially when it connects to the digital world. QR codes. Custom URLs. Interactive print. That’s not outdated. That’s modern engagement with real presence.

Gen X? They’ll still take your call and they appreciate personalized pieces.

Boomers? They’re the MVPs of mail. They read it, they act on it, and yes – they still pick up the phone when the number’s familiar.

We’re in the relationship business, not just the metrics business. Somewhere along the way, digital promised us scale and forgot to tell us we’d lose connection.

If you want your message to stand out, don't just add to the digital pile-up. Get in someone’s mailbox. Pick up the phone. Make it personal. Make it human.

Analog hasn’t vanished – it’s been waiting. And right now? It’s the cleanest path to cutting through.

This isn’t a call to throw out your digital playbook. It’s a nudge to rebalance. To layer your strategy. To stop thinking in either/or.

You don’t need to call everyone or mail every donor. Segment. Experiment. Pair analog with your digital. Measure. Adjust.

I’ve been doing this long enough to tell you: this is where fundraising is heading next.

I’m betting on analog. Because I’ve seen the numbers. I’ve seen the results. And I’ve seen how a phone call or handwritten postcard can do what a hundred emails never could.
​
Let’s go back to what works. Not because it’s old – but because it still moves the needle.

This isn’t a blip or a nostalgia play. The signs are clear: digital fatigue is rising, mail spend is climbing, and younger donors are just as responsive to tangible, personal outreach as their parents and grandparents.

We’re not at the plateau. We’re on the upswing.

That’s why the institutions that recalibrate now – layering mail and phone back into their strategies for all generations – will see the payoff not just in annual giving but in the major gift and planned giving pipelines for decades to come. Early engagement drives loyalty, and loyalty drives legacy.

The inbox is saturated. The mailbox and the phone line are open. The organizations willing to seize that opening today are the ones who will own the donor relationships of tomorrow.

Fundraising’s next edge won’t come from squeezing another 0.2% out of your email subject line. It’ll come from showing up where people are actually ready to listen.

Cheers!
​
Jessica

P.S. Like this kind of insight? Subscribe to Real Deal Fundraising and get my best articles, tools, and curated resources every week – including webinars, videos, and free downloads.

If you liked this…

• Phonathons Are STILL Not Dead – Busting the Biggest Myths About Calling Donors
• 31 Ways to Hit the Refresh Button on Direct Mail
• Kickstart the Year: Setting Annual Giving Projections for Success
• Spoilt for Choice: Why Giving Donors Direction Works
• 10 Traits All Former Phonathon Callers Share

Works Cited:

• GlockApps – Email Fatigue and Overload
• GetApp – Why Users Unsubscribe
• Quad + Harris Poll – Gen Z & Millennial Digital Disconnect
• Postalytics – Direct Mail Stats
• Winterberry Group – 2023 Direct Mail Performance
• NextAfter – Mail + Email Synergy Study
• Callin.io – 27% Giving Increase via Telemarketing
• DCM Telefundraising Trends – Contact Rates + Gift Growth
• Lob – 2025 Direct Mail Consumer Insights
• USPS Delivers – Generational Preferences for Mail & Phone

When I worked at the University of South Carolina from 2005 to 2010, I was proud of the cases I built. I wrote compelling scripts and talking points for our phonathon team – clear, detailed, airtight.

I led with numbers, and they were good ones. I talked about the decline in state support, the rising importance of a college degree in the job market, and the long-term economic impact of thriving public universities. I knew the statistics on student loan debt inside and out. I framed the problem clearly and gave donors a chance to be part of the solution.

And it worked. To a point.

​Looking back, those appeals were sharp – but they leaned heavily on logic and numbers. That clicked with some donors. But others? Not so much. Those appeals weren’t wrong. They were just incomplete for the wide range of minds we’re trying to reach.

Fast forward to 2012. I was at The University of Southern Mississippi, learning how to write copy for direct mail. I started ghostwriting letters for different deans, department chairs, and students. At first, I stuck to what I knew: the stats. But it didn’t feel like enough.

I needed a broader emotional range.

So I started interviewing the letter signers, weaving in their voices and their vision – what this place meant to them, not just what they wanted donors to do. That’s when I started seeing the power of storytelling.

When I came to work at Starr King School for the Ministry in 2015, I had to stretch again. The usual notes in higher ed fundraising – nostalgia, school pride, career outcomes – didn’t resonate with a justice-minded, largely layperson donor base. These were Unitarian Universalists who cared deeply about their values and how the school perpetuated those values in the world.

I needed to connect the dots with emotion, shared purpose, and a clear sense of what their giving could do.
​
That meant telling stories that didn’t just inform – they moved people.

Somewhere along the way, I realized this shift wasn’t just about moving from stats to stories. It was about recognizing how different people make decisions.

One person might want the spreadsheet. Another wants the story. A third just wants the ask – clear and bold. And someone else? They want to feel like they’re part of something bigger before they commit to anything at all.

That’s when I remembered a model I’d seen back in 2007, from Mark Murphy at Leadership IQ. It mapped out the four main persuasion styles – and it helped me understand why my old appeals worked for some and left others cold.
​
Here’s the gist:

There are two axes:
• Emotional → Unemotional
• Linear → Freeform

Put those together, and you get four types of decision-makers:

This is where I naturally live. I want the stats. I want the logic. I want the argument that makes sense.

If you're reading this post and wondering, “Where’s the ROI?” – you might be here too.
​
That’s the kind of appeal I built early in my career. And it worked with people like me. But that’s not most donors.

Think of the board member who scans your whole appeal in 14 seconds and writes the check anyway.

They don’t need the backstory. They just want the point. What do you need, what will it do, and how much are you asking?
​
Closers are decisive. If you wander, they’re gone. You need to be bold, clear, and fast.

These folks are organized and thoughtful. They care about the story and the structure. Think of the alum who replies with a thoughtful email after every annual report – who joins the volunteer committee and follows up on the agenda.
​
They want a beginning, a middle, and an end. They respond when you connect emotionally but still give them a path to act.

Picture the alum who tears up thinking about the choir trip to Italy in 1983. They’re not interested in bullet points. They’re here for the moment – the meaning.
​
They want to feel something. And if your message is too structured or too clinical, they’ll check out. But if you pull them in with a meaningful quote or a powerful scene, they’ll stay – and they’ll give.

In major gifts, you can tailor every ask. You’re sitting across from one person, learning what moves them, and crafting your pitch accordingly.

But in annual giving? You’re writing to the whole list. That means your appeal has to layer styles – something for each persuasion type.

• Stats and logic for the Data Scientists
• Clear action steps for the Closers
• Warm structure for the Directors
• Emotional storytelling for the Storytellers

Don’t write the appeal that would convince you. Write the one that can meet your donors where they are – all of them.

When you're working on your next appeal, ask yourself:

• Does it have a story?
• Is there data to back it up?
• Is it structured clearly?
• Is there a moment of emotion?
• Is there a clear ask?

​
Fundraising is communication. And great communication connects.

This is one of my favorite things to teach. Reach out – I’ve got frameworks, real-world examples, and plenty of lessons learned the hard way.

Cheers!
​
Jessica

P.S. Like this kind of insight? Subscribe to Real Deal Fundraising and get my best articles, tools, and curated resources every week – including webinars, videos, and free downloads.

If you liked this…

• Don’t Add Another Event Until You Read This
• Why Most Fundraising Plans Fail (and How to Build One That Doesn’t)
• The Problem with Totes and T-Shirts: Why Freebies Can Undermine Fundraising
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When it comes to nonprofit fundraising, one thing is clear: Your mission is the heart of your organization. But while your cause drives everything you do, a strong, memorable brand is what helps you stand out and attract the major gifts that will take your work to the next level.

Whether you’re at a large, established institution or running a smaller startup nonprofit, your brand should reflect who you are, what you stand for, and how people can get involved. A polished brand boosts credibility and builds trust, but a memorable one moves people to action.

Before thinking about logos, colors, or marketing campaigns, start with the foundation of your nonprofit brand: your mission. What drives your organization? What problem(s) are you solving? What’s your CEO’s vision for the future? These aren’t just feel-good statements – they should be at the core of every message you share.

Example: The Monson Free Library

This small library in Maine has embraced its fun and quirky side by creating TikTok videos that showcase the staff’s personality while highlighting their programs. By tapping into the creativity and passion of their team, they’ve built a brand that’s as unique and welcoming as their services. The community now sees the Monson Free Library as more than a place for books – it’s a place to have fun, get involved, and support something bigger than themselves. Learn more.

Actionable Tip: Start by asking yourself these questions:

• What do we stand for?
• How do we create positive change in people’s lives?
• What kind of emotional connection do we want to build with our audience?​

Answer these clearly, and you’ve got the heart of your brand. Everything else builds from there.

When you think of branding, visual elements like logos, color palettes, and fonts come to mind. These are crucial for creating a consistent, professional presence. But let’s be real – sometimes, nonprofits get so caught up in the “rules” of branding that they lose the ability to stay nimble. There’s a balance between maintaining brand integrity and being flexible enough to seize opportunities in the moment.

Many nonprofits create brand guides with rigid rules for logos, colors, and language. And while I love a good style guide, if these guidelines slow you down or make it harder to engage donors, it’s time to rethink them. A major gift might hinge on a timely, heartfelt social media post or a quick thank-you email. If your guidelines require three layers of approval for every little thing, you could miss your moment.

Example: The Trevor Project

The Trevor Project underwent a major rebrand in 2019, replacing a formal font and muted colors with a bolder typeface and a vibrant, colorful design. The updated branding, along with fresh messaging and visuals, emphasized inclusivity, hope, and support for LGBTQ+ youth. The change strengthened their identity as a safe, approachable, and supportive organization while making them more visually appealing to young people. See their rebrand.

Actionable Tip: If your branding guidelines feel like red tape, ask yourself:

• Does this branding choice serve our mission, or is it just a formality?
• Can we be more flexible in how we communicate without losing integrity?

​Now, let’s talk about the most important aspect of branding – your story. Whether you’re crafting an email appeal, a social media post, or a campaign landing page, your messaging should inspire action. Major donors don’t just give to organizations; they give to stories they believe in. That’s why it’s essential to center your messaging around the people you serve and the change you’re driving in the world.

People want to feel emotionally connected to your cause. Show them the impact they can have through the eyes of those you help.

Example: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

St. Jude’s branding and messaging revolve around powerful, emotional stories of families whose lives have been transformed by their medical care. These stories create a deep personal connection, inspiring donors to give and stay engaged. Explore their storytelling approach.

Actionable Tip: Incorporate donor-centered language into your messaging:

• Focus on what the donor’s gift makes possible.
• Share authentic stories of people whose lives have been impacted by your work.
• Use visuals (photos, videos) to bring your cause to life.

A memorable nonprofit brand is more than a logo or a catchy slogan – it’s a vehicle for connection. It drives donor engagement, cultivates long-term support, and inspires major gifts. To build a brand that resonates, focus on three key principles:

1. Be flexible enough to adjust messaging and tactics based on current events, donor feedback, or unexpected opportunities. Don’t let rigid branding guidelines hinder meaningful engagement.
2. Be authentic in your communications. People give to organizations that feel genuine and trustworthy, so let your mission shine through every touchpoint.
3. Be consistent in your message and visual identity across all channels – your website, social media, and email appeals. Consistency builds recognition and trust over time.

Branding isn’t about flashy logos or catchy taglines – it’s about making an emotional connection with your supporters. When your brand reflects your mission, values, and unique story, it becomes a powerful tool for attracting major gifts and building lasting relationships.

Your nonprofit’s story is powerful. Make it memorable. Make it matter. And don’t be afraid to let your passion shine through.

Now – it’s your turn. Have you been through a rebrand? Was the process the transformation you hoped for? Do you feel your branding guidelines and processes support your fundraising work or hold you back? Let me know in the comments!

​Cheers!

PS - I hope you’ll continue the conversation by subscribing to Real Deal Fundraising. When you subscribe, you’ll get my e-newsletter, which includes the best articles on fundraising, productivity, and cool stuff every week. The whole thing is curated awesomeness as well as freebies like webinars, instructional videos, and whatever else I can put together to be helpful to you!

If you liked this...

• What Worked for Us on Giving Tuesday 2024: Lessons Learned and Wins to Celebrate
• What Fundraisers Can Learn from TikTok Shop
• Trends and Predictions: Nonprofit Fundraising in 2025
• Spoilt for Choice: Why Giving Donors Direction Works
• ​31 Ways to Hit the Refresh Button on Your Direct Mail

As a fundraiser, I have never felt like there was enough time to get everything done. I’d often start the day with the best of intentions, focused on raising money and cultivating donor relationships—the "main thing" in our work. But then, other tasks would creep in: emails, scheduling, reports, and urgent but less critical projects. Over time, I learned to shift my approach, adopting strategies that helped me stay focused on what truly matters while keeping everything else under control. Here’s what I discovered that transformed my productivity and mindset.

One of the biggest lessons from recent years is how much technology can simplify donor engagement while saving time. Here are my go-to virtual tools and strategies:

Zoom for Donor Meetings

• Use Zoom (or a similar videoconferencing software) for efficient 1:1 major donor conversations. A video call can create a personal connection without the time and cost of travel. Many donors appreciate this since it is saving the organization money.
• Coordinate small group meetings with donors and organizational leaders, like the president or executive director. These virtual roundtables help build relationships while respecting everyone's schedules.

​
Blast Emails That Feel Personal

• Take advantage of bulk email that looks more like a simple Outlook or Gmail email to set up discovery visits or follow-ups. Crafting messages that feel personalized (even in bulk) increases your response rates and saves you hours compared to calling donors individually.

As we turn the page to a new year, it’s the perfect time to reflect on the incredible impact your donors have made on your organization. Donor appreciation isn't just about wrapping up last year's success - it’s about laying the groundwork for lasting relationships that will sustain your mission well into 2025 and beyond.
​
In nonprofit fundraising, donor retention is key. It’s much easier (and more cost-effective) to retain a donor than to acquire a new one, which is why a thoughtful approach to showing gratitude can be a game-changer. Starting the new year on a note of appreciation can make all the difference in keeping those relationships strong. Here are six creative and practical ways to show your gratitude this New Year:

Instead of sending out traditional holiday cards, why not opt for a New Year’s card? It’s a great way to stand out, especially since January mail isn’t competing with the December rush. At my current institution, where we serve a multi-religious community, we steer clear of specific religious holiday cards, but New Year’s cards offer a respectful and inclusive option.

This isn’t just about sending a card; it’s about showing donors they’re valued as you enter a fresh chapter. By sending a message of gratitude and well wishes for the year ahead, you remind them that their support is crucial to your mission’s success.

Why It Works: A New Year’s card avoids the crowded December mailbox, acknowledges diverse traditions, and sets a positive tone for the year ahead.

You see, this incredible story is one of many uncovered by their Chatty Cat Phonathon callers during their recent “check-in” calls. I wanted to know how they took their phonathon remote, continuing to provide student employment during this crisis while also doing important work for the university.
​​​​
Here are my questions and Jamie’s answers:

"Within the Western Carolina University Division of Advancement, we’re using our best callers to conduct ‘check-in’ calls with our alumni during this quarantine time.  They are sharing the student experience and listening to the alumni experience during these short, scripted calls."​

"The callers are finding that the alumni are pleasantly surprised by the call, and many are eager to chat and share ideas, stories, and experiences. The callers flag records of alumni who are doing unique and/or front line COVID work and those are shared with me for story leads.  

I work with our Marketing and Communications colleagues on bringing the strongest of these story leads to them on a weekly basis.  Completed alumni story profiles are used on our alumni website (alumni.wcu.edu), our social media channels, and our alumni e-newsletter.  

Most of the stories that our Chatty Cat callers hear are about our alumni who are teachers, nurses, public administrators, hospital administrators, researchers, and manufacturers (particularly in areas for parts for ventilators and PPE, personal protective equipment), and we’ve had some who are specialized in unique areas like funeral home owners and leaders in cruise line sanitation.  

The Chatty Cats have also spoken to several alumni who serve on our Board of Trustees, and those Trustees have provided very complimentary notes on their chats with these students.  Overall these calls strengthen our Catamount community and allow for relationship building around a common struggle for us all.  For those alumni who have said ‘how can we help’ the student callers reference one of our student emergency funds and guide the alumni to give.wcu.edu/relief for gifts."

What software are we currently using for the call center/remote calling?

• "Guided Fundraising by Blackbaud, which is what our “Chatty Cats” (student callers) traditional use in the on-campus call center.  Our Director of Annual Giving, Jonathan Brooks, has also trained some of the other development staff on Guided Fundraising for other cultivation and stewardship purposes."

Any additional training for the remote callers besides our regular training?  

• ""We set up a Microsoft Teams site for our remote callers to use as base-camp, and the remote calling is limited to our most well-trained callers. Mr. Brooks had two ‘on-boarding’ sessions before calling began. These were conducted via Zoom. The training sessions covered a refresher on the platform interface and any updates and modifications that had been made since they were last on the phone, which had been a few weeks by then because of spring break, extended spring break, and North Carolina stay home orders. The training sessions also covered new scripts and conversation guides for these simple ‘check-in’ calls, new coding, and overall expectations regarding their remote work. We extended the remote work offer to callers who were meeting all performance metrics and did not have any policy/procedure violations on their record."

How is the supervision going? Have we had to add additional supervision tools/tactics? How often do we “meet” with them as a group, individuals, etc.? ​

• ""Supervising is going well, and other than leveraging Zoom, there has been no new technology adopted to manage the callers. They formally meet as a team once per week, and our Director of Annual Giving holds formal one-on-one sessions as needed. He is on call for ad-hoc meetings at the students request 24/7.  The callers have made 3,800 calls so far, and 1,010 Chatty Cat email follow up messages have been read by alumni as well.  503 alumni have shared updates and stories with our callers."
  

​​Will the callers do any solicitation calls when you switch over to relief fundraising? 

• "Our student worker contracts end the 2nd week of May, so we will utilize them for #GivingTuesdayNow student emergency fund work, but then we’ll run out of time."

"Yes, our development officers have each used this same ‘check-in’ call model to call through their portfolios, and most have followed these up with emails for next steps.  Our front-line fundraisers have noted the great ability to learn more about their donors and prospects with these simple calls, and have been encouraged by the donor’s willingness to really connect over the phone.  Most have been happy to have someone to talk to.  ​

​Our Director of Donor Relations is mailing handwritten notes to hundreds of donors who give unrestricted gifts as an extra touch-point during this time as well.  Our Alumni Engagement Office has partnered with Development Staff to create Alumni Zoom Socials, which we launched with our Triangle Alumni Club (Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill area) last week.  We have 16 additional Zoom social hours scheduled for the next 3 weeks to connect with our alumni."

As a higher education professional for over 17 years, Jamie Raynor gained early experience in academic affairs for several years before turning her focus and her profession to development and advancement initiatives. In her temporary role, she currently serves as the interim vice chancellor for WCU's Division of Advancement for Advancement Services, Alumni Engagement, and Development staff, also serving on the Chancellor's Executive Council. Her permanent role as Assistant Vice Chancellor includes the supervision of major, planned, and annual giving professionals in the development office. She also manages a portfolio of corporations, foundations, and individuals to secure major and planned gifts. 

Have you been utilizing the unique talents of your phonathon callers during this crisis? Why or why not? Did this case study make you feel any differently about trying it out? If social distancing measures persist into the Fall semester, how do you plan to handle your phonathon? Let me know down in the comments.

And if you liked this content, please subscribe to Real Deal Fundraising. You'll get my FUNdraising Friday emails, which are jam-packed with interesting, useful, and funny content to keep you sharp and motivated!

Cheers, 

PS - If you liked this article, you might like: 

• Is Phonathon Really Dead?
• Planning for the Unexpected
• The Only 3 Interview Question You Need to Hire Phonathon Callers Who Stay
• 10 Traits ALL Former Phonathon Callers Share
• What makes for great rapport building? Plus, a list of rapport building questions

PPS - Want to use your time isolating at home to become an All-Star fundraiser? Join me for my new course, All-Star Annual Giving. Registration just opened! All-Star Annual Giving is a fully online 12-week course with 9 modules covering all areas of annual giving strategy and execution. If you want to roll into the semester with a fully fledged plan to raise more money than you've ever raised before in your annual giving programs, you need to be in this course.

If you’ve found yourself rewriting the same appeal three times -- or wondering if it’s even okay to make an ask right now -- you’re not alone. In a year marked by economic uncertainty, political tension, and donor hesitation, fundraisers are feeling the weight of every word.

The solution isn’t silence. It’s clarity. And that’s where Near, Dear, and Clear comes in.

How can we keep our donors connected to our organizations in this unstable environment?

Back in 2020, when it became clear that I would not be allowed to travel anymore for work, I fell back on a maxim I heard somewhere early in my fundraising career. It rhymes so that’s convenient and an aid to memory.

Near
Dear
Clear

In any circumstances where rapid change is taking place, we must take great pains to keep our donors near, dear, and clear. What does that mean as a guide to practical action?

Let’s take each part of the maxim in turn:

PS - I hope you’ll continue the conversation by subscribing to Real Deal Fundraising. When you subscribe, you’ll get my e-newsletter, which includes the best articles on fundraising, productivity, and cool stuff every week. The whole thing is curated awesomeness as well as freebies like webinars, instructional videos, and whatever else I can put together to be helpful to you!

PPS - Want more messaging tools that build trust and drive giving - without gimmicks? Inside my Smart Start Fundraising System course, we unpack the words, frameworks, and mindset shifts that actually move donors to action. [→ Get on the list here.] Course launches 06.03.25!

What if I told you that there was a source of annual fund dollars out there that could cost you 18 cents to raise a dollar and raise those funds very quickly in a short period of time?
 
And what if I told you that you probably were not currently utilizing this particular source of revenue for your institution? You would be interested, right?
 
Let me tell you what the secret source of revenue is . . . Facebook ads.
 
Yep, Facebook ads. Believe it or not, I recently did a test in which I ran Facebook ads for year-end fundraising and the cost to raise a dollar was as low as 18 cents.
 
In all honesty, this test grew out of the fact that I work for a very small shop and I’m the only fundraiser. I needed to come up with a calendar year-end giving campaign for our social media. Last year I spent a lot of time crafting unique messages to be used for each day in December. This year I was just running out of time and had no real creativity left in me.
 
So instead, I decided to craft three very targeted year-end promotional messages and boost them significantly with Facebook ads. I had a little bit of extra money in my budget that I re-purposed in order to do this. Not a ton. I'm talking less than $1,200 to experiment with.
 
So I divided my ad dollars up between three boosted ads. The first two were to promote general giving. One was targeted to those outside of our normal constituency on Facebook (people who don’t currently like our page). The second I boosted specifically to people within our community (who currently like our page).  
 
The third leg of this campaign was a specific boost to encourage our constituents to become “sustainers” (recurring monthly donors). All three of these campaigns were successful.
 
First, our campaign outside of our normal constituency reached over 44,000 people who may or may not have ever heard of the school before but had our affinity with the religious community that we serve. We also garnered 14 new page likes.
 
In the general year-end giving part of the campaign, over 500 people clicked on our giving website. We got 24 gifts out of this campaign, totaling almost $5,000. The results came out to only $0.18 to raise a dollar! This was revelatory to think that we could not only do public relations and communications work, developing our constituencies on social media, but at the same time raise some serious money
 
The monthly sustainer campaign was also quite successful. We did not spend very much on that campaign, only about $100 but we got 4 new sustainer donors. These new donors represent $65 monthly (or $780 more per year). That doesn’t even fully represent the lifetime value of those monthly donors. If you just take the first year of value from those monthly donors then it was 34 cents to raise a dollar for this micro-campaign. I would argue it is well worth it when you consider that most of these donors will roll on from year to year as ongoing monthly donors
 
I was surprised that something like Facebook ads could actually work for fundraising. I think my bias against it is because we want these digital mediums to be a free way to reach people. We know they have power to reach people but don’t want to pay for it.
 
And yet, we know that mail and phone are worth the investment. Why are we not willing to invest real money in the digital mediums yet?
 
Facebook (at least) is here to stay. It’s a reliable way of reaching people and we should start thinking about Facebook (and other forms of social media) with the same mindset we use when we think about phone to mail.

Namely, that you have to spend money to make money.
 
We need to start being smart about spending part of our fundraising budget on social media. Run some tests. Look at them with an eye to return on investment. Track the same kind of statistics that we track for phone and mail fundraising, including cost to raise a dollar.
 
If you haven't been utilizing Facebook ads in order to grow your constituency on Facebook and raise real money, I would encourage you to undertake a test. Maybe run your fiscal year-end campaign or use it around a day of giving or some other point of urgency.

​You can gain new donors, new Facebook fans, and real money. You can do all those things to the tune of 20 cents to raise a dollar. I would argue it is worth the investment. Can you lobby for a little extra money in your budget ($500 or $1,000 or $2,000) to experiment with this medium? If it works, put it into your plan for next fiscal year.

Do you already do Facebook ads? If not, is this something you could try? Let me know how it goes.

As always, comments and questions are welcome and encouraged!

Cheers,

Jessica

PS - If you liked this post, you might also like these: 

• 5 Steps to Promote Your Video
• All About Giving Days
• The 30 Minute Fundraiser
• Crisis Communication
• Getting Communications and Development Staff to Function as a Team

​
PPS - If you found this article helpful, please comment and let me know. Also subscribe to Real Deal Fundraising so you don't miss a post! You'll get my  guide to Call Center Games for Free!​​

Building and maintaining a culture of philanthropy is hard work. It is deep work that takes years to build and moments to destroy. But having a healthy culture of philanthropy makes work more fun and makes fundraising easier. It’s worth having a periodic check-up to assess how your institution is doing.

Answer these questions for your institution:

Board Support

• Does your board of directors (or board of trustees) support the organization as current year donors at 100% participation?
• Board support is a sign of stakeholder investment. It also shows that your closest advocates are current with their support. The level of the support doesn't matter so much as the consistency and recency of that support. PS - It's easier to ask for others to give if you are a current donor.

Staff Support

• Does your fundraising staff support the organization as current year donors at 100% participation?
• Does at least 50% of your organization’s overall staff (and faculty) support the organization as current year donors?
• Again, staff support is a measurement of stakeholder investment. Does your staff (especially your fundraising staff, believe in the mission enough to back it with their personal funds? The level doesn't mean as much as the participation.

Alumni support (or Grateful Patient support)

• This category assesses whether those served by your organization’s mission give back to the organization later. This is a sign of institutional effectiveness.
• What is your alumni (or similar) participation rate? You’ll know whether this is good for your organization or not. The level at which this metric is outstanding varies widely from institution to institution.

Fun Factor

• Does your organization frequently have concrete signs that fundraising is seen as an enjoyable community endeavor? (For example, an annual gala, a stewardship picnic, a “Dancing with the Deans” competition, etc.)
• List what you currently do to put the “fun” in fundraising.
• Write down three new ideas to improve your fun factor.

Communications

• How often do your constituents hear from the organization without a fundraising pitch?
• Do these communications include stories of impact?
• Are you communicating in different media? Email, print, video, etc?

Stewardship and Donor Relations

• Do you have meaningful giving societies?
• Do you have a person designated to assist donors with any “customer service” type issues? 
• How is your data management and data integrity? Nothing kills a philanthropic feeling like your name being wrong on an invitation.
• Stewardship is not just the purview of the staff member with "donor relations" in his or her title. It is an office-wide perspective of service and connection. From your front desk associates to student workers/interns to your accountants on staff to gift officers and especially advancement services and gift processing staff, improving donor relations should be everyone's primary objective.

Other questions to think about:

• Does your organization show the impact of giving clearly and broadly?
• For major donors, do you create unique reports and experiences that connect for them their gift to the impact in the world?
• Do you see expressions of gratitude at all levels of the organization? Where could your organization do better?
• Are the needs of the institution are clearly expressed for donors of all levels using different media?
• Does the institution set expectations for giving through specific asks, giving society thresholds and endowment minimums?
• Are fundraising goals embraced by both fundraising staff and program staff/faculty?

How did you feel about the assessment? Where are you doing well? Where should you improve? 

As always, comments and questions are welcome and encouraged!

Cheers,

Jessica

PS - If you liked this post, you might also like these: 

• Goals versus projections
• What should a strategic plan contain?
• Planning for the Unexpected
• Conducting a Benchmarking Study
• My Exhaustive Event Planning Checklist

PPS - If you found this article helpful, please comment and let me know. Also subscribe to Real Deal Fundraising so you don't miss a post! You'll get my  guide to Call Center Games for Free!​​