Do you ever feel like you’re treading water…and not really making a difference?
That’s how I was feeling the other day. I’d just heard some sad news, I’ve been administering chemo to Wally, the wonder pup, and this election has me on edge.
Then Dawn’s email arrived. Here, I’ll let you read it…
“I don’t expect you to remember me. I am the co-founder of an animal and nature sanctuary in upstate NY. I have taken several of your courses and read your blog. I have been the primary fundraiser for our organization for the last 30 years. I have no training in marketing or fundraising. I am a social worker by education. But we have always been a grassroots organization with a following based on my teaching in animal communication. I have also taken several classes/lectures from Tom Ahern over the past few years.
You have said that you like to hear feedback from your students, so I have been thinking of you all through the day today and finally stopped to write to you. I am sending you so much gratitude. You also took some time and talked to me a couple of times on the phone that was very helpful. My goal in taking your classes was to be a better fundraiser for sure. However, it also was to be an effective director/board/VP to eventually oversee someone else who could help with fundraising for our organization. I didn’t want to be one of those directors that you and Tom talk about always getting in the way and not listening. I wanted to be educated. And of course I wanted to increase our donations.
When I first met you, we were putting out an 8 page newsletter twice a year as our primary fundraising. We had our own in-house donor base software program that was actually ahead of its time and worked well for us. But it was becoming obsolete with software limitations. We would bring in about $12-$18,000 each newsletter with year end being the bigger one. We do very well with bequests and that has been keeping us going well with our bigger financial picture. But we do need to raise $350 – 400,000 in donations each year. We do really well at retaining donors. Many of our donors have been with us 20-28 years. We were on the right track there, but needed some new interest – and that is where we were lacking.
Since taking your classes and listening to your feedback, we made some significant changes in 2023 and 2024. We scaled back the newsletters to 4 pages and expanded to three times a year. We started mailing them in envelopes instead of flats last year. We always had a reply envelope, but we added a reply device this year – which was a first for us. We also made our articles shorter and easier to read.
We have always had a policy to thank every donor no matter how big or small. Letters go out within 48 hours. We used to add hand written notes from one of us directors for everything over $500. Now, every single donation letter gets a personalized, hand written note by me on them. And we send a special hand written card and welcome to first time donors as well.
The other thing we did is to switch to DonorPerfect. That was a huge investment for us and it took many months but we have had that for all of 2024 now. Best change we ever made.
And the last big addition this year is a new hire of a part-time Community Outreach Coordinator. She is a perfect fit for us and comes from a marketing background as well as non-profit background. She is young and she has tons of energy and she is truly tied to our mission. Our fundraising world has just expanded. And donor love and retention is chief in her priorities. We have meshed very well together. She has expanded our outreach in social media and in our local communities bringing our organization out there to more people but also bringing people into our organization. That is key.
So the results are coming in, and that is what I wanted to share. Thanks for reading all of this even this far.
We just finished a significant fundraising campaign in the month of September. It was multi-faceted and tied in with our September newsletter. We got the best result ever!
In September 2023, the results were: 169 donors for a total of $14,001.
In September 2024, the results were: 396 donors for a total of $79,553 (this included a $25,000 donation for a match)Our 3rd Quarter stats were:
2023 – 459 gifts for a total of $ 97,710
2024 – 764 gifts for a total of $121,657Thanks to you, I have a calendar that maps out my fundraising deadlines and detailed plan of action. Our December newsletter is at the printers now to be mailed the day after election day.
And there was a local giving day here in our area that we participated in for the first time this year. Out of 330 non-profits, we ranked number 8 for total $$ raised. And we were second place for number of donors. And all of those ahead of us in the ranking are much bigger orgs – two of whom had $1million single donations.
One big note we are seeing in this third quarter is an increase in 1st time donors. And already, many of them have donated a second time already. We also have had a huge influx of donations from lapsed donors. They were still on our list but we hadn’t heard from then in 4-6 years. It is stunning how many of those we had this last quarter.
Something is working!
I am sure you hear this all the time but we are so incredibly grateful for all you share and put out there as resources for us.
Thank you! Thank you!
I know we have more work to do. But I feel like all the work I’ve put in this so far is really paying off.
To see this all this year when others have declining donations, has been nothing short of amazing to me.”
Reminder: this stuff works. When you commit to the model and work it.
I called Dawn to thank her for her email. She wrote back:
“Thank you for your very kind words about our mission. We truly live that mission here every day. In a world so full of anger, intolerance and chaos, our sanctuary is an oasis that we try to keep as clear as possible. It truly is about humans learning to live in their hearts. The animals here make us remember that every single day. I am beyond blessed for the life I live. It is filled with busy days and sometimes annoying employee management things. But at the end of the day, I have so much to be grateful for.
Please feel free to use my email as a testimonial. It is fine to use my name.
And one last anecdote for the day. As our office manager was leaving for the day, she stopped me as I was walking by her desk and told me that she was so excited. She just watched a free webinar on fundraising. And she said to me… “oh my gosh, we are doing this all wrong! There are so many things we need to change!” I managed to catch my breath and ask her for an example. She told me for one thing we need to start texting all of our donors…. a lot. She had to go but she will talk to me tomorrow.
So, I have no clue where this is coming from but I thought of you instantly and how you say “free” is killing us. I will tackle this tomorrow and explain the importance of knowing who our donors are etc.
Meanwhile, I’m paying attention to what is actually working.”
Thank you, Dawn. My clients and students have taught me invaluable lessons and graciously helped me grow as a nonprofit professional. It’s an immense privilege to experience this kind of love and connection.
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I can’t wait to meet with you personally.
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