Three donor-building benefits of true personalized communications

Ah, personalization!  The direct response fundraising tactic that warms every donor’s heart, boosts response, and makes every appeal seem to the donor as though you are their best friend.
Right?  Perhaps — but it’s not so simple.

In this day and age,personalization must strive to be just that — personalized.

As much as possible, based on production capabilities, data availability, and cost constraints, you need to personalize the salutation versus simply using the “Dear Friend” generic approach.

You also need to be saying to the donor “I know how to spell your name . . . I know when you gave your last gift . . . I know your birthday . . . I know how much your last gift was . . . etc.” 

Once you have these basics ingrained into your head and that of each of your staff, you have the underpinning of a successful fundraising appeal.

The next step is to personalize ANY and EVERY communication to a donor — over the phone, through the mail, and through digital basics.

Personalization is basic and must, as much as possible, become routine.

Personalization: the baseline for your communication strategy.  Why so basic?

Think about it.  When you answer a call or place a call to a family member, friend, or colleague you never say, “Hello Friend, how are you today?”  No, you warmly greet the person
by their first name or Mr./Ms./Mrs. as appropriate.  Period. End of story.

Today people are much more savvy and tuned into “techniques” and shallow or insincere communication.  They just are.  So when you use their names, avoid tactics that are overly formulaic, insincere, and contrived.

Perhaps it’s the younger generation, perhaps it the economy, perhaps expectations have simply risen over the years.  Whatever the reason — donors want to be treated like human beings . . . like a person. And not just as a person, but as someone who is respected and spoken to with an authenticity based in genuine sincerity.

Phony or insincere approaches can be sniffed out from a mile away and when uncovered will hurt not just your reputation but your fundraising efforts. 

Exceptional customer service. Isn’t this what we are talking about after all?

To be continued…

Have you ever wondered what you could say to change someone’s mind or convince them to do something they should but don’t want to?  If you said yes to those questions you probably have dealt with a teenager in your life.  If you haven’t, just wait a few years.

All kidding aside.  What is it that helps people change their minds or beliefs? I don’t think it’s giving them more facts.  Facts are important but the reality is we don’t make decisions based on facts alone.  I think that’s one of the reasons why our political system is the way that it is.  Polarized.  The same facts are filtered by belief to come to the “right” conclusion.  Unfortunately in our polarized world depending on where we start we’ll end up in different places with the same facts.

It’s our story that influences how we understand the facts.

What has made some of the best known politicians so great is their ability to give the public a new story.  Roosevelt and Churchill in World War II, Kennedy in the early 1960s and Ronald Reagan in the 1980s.  All had the power to give you a new story with which to put the facts of life around you.

Have you ever sat around the campfire telling stories? They’re both entertaining and relationship building, aren’t they?

That’s what we’re called to do in our communication with donors.  Stories don’t just entertain; they allow people to make decisions . . . to change their position without losing face.  Jesus understood that better than anyone else.  His stories – parables – have had a  powerful impact on how people live their lives for more than 2000 years.

He used story to convey the messages he wanted to change people’s lives. Imagine just telling the facts or the point.  In his parable about the pearl of great price, Jesus could have just relayed the facts. The Kingdom of Heaven is valuable.  Does that really have the same impact as: “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46 When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.” (Matthew 13:45-46)

The story brings humanity to the facts. In Annette Simmons’ book “Whoever Tells the Best Story Wins” she writes: “The missing ingredient in most failed communication is humanity.  This is an easy fix. In order to blend humanity into every communication you send all you have to do is tell more stories and bingo-you just showed up.”

She also writes: “stories interpret raw facts and proofs to create reality. Change the story and you change the meaning of the facts. “Man stabs son” could be interpreted as a murder or a life-saving emergency tracheotomy, depending on the story that you tell. To understand the power stories wield is both an incredible opportunity and awesome responsibility.”

Are stories really that powerful?  They are to me – and they are to your donors.  I still remember a luncheon speech by Joseph Sugarman(famous direct response marketer) from nearly 30 years ago.  What made it memorable?  He relayed his information and principles by telling stories of his successes and of some of his memorable failures.

Some of the very best appeals that I’ve ever had the privilege to help produce did the same thing.  They relayed the information needed to create a compelling offer wrapped in a powerful story.  When it’s done well, every aspect of our humanity is involved.

So, what’s your story?

Have you crafted it yet?  Does it read like Sgt. Joe Friday with “just the facts” or is it fully complete so that as the donor reads your communication they can see in their mind’s eye exactly what’s happening in Technocolor®?

I hope you’ll take a few minutes and think about your story now.  What about it works and what about it can be shored up? In fact, take a few minutes and write it down for me.  I’d love to hear your story and the story of the organizations you have the privilege with which to serve.  Perhaps we could spend a few minutes around the campfire telling stories and being encouraged by the great work that your organization is doing.

(By the way, if you’ve figured out how to get through to a teenager, would you let me know?  Please.)

 “Are you nuts? People hate mail.”

 That’s the response I often get when I suggest an organization communicate more frequently with their donors.  This is at a time when many organizations are looking for ways to cut down on their mail frequency to donors and prospects. 

 So why do I suggest that you consider mailing more frequently?  It’s because over the last 30 plus years in this business I’ve learned a dirty little secret that most people don’t want you to know.

 Here it is:  people like . . . no . . . they love mail.

 They just don’t want you to know it.  Take a few moments some time and watch people go to the mailbox and open it and find no mail in it.  There’s a slump in their shoulders . . . their walk back to the house is a little slower.  They may even look around to see if anyone saw that they had no mail. 

 Why is that?

 People like mail . . . if only sometimes to complain about it.  And it’s not just older people like me.  It’s young people, too.  Check out a college or university post office sometime.  Watch the students walk up to their mail box and peer in before they even attempt to open the box.  If there’s no mail in it, they quickly turn and walk away as if they were never there. 

 Let me ask you this: if you received a letter from your best friend every month, would that be too much?  What about some photos or a “thinking of you” card every couple of weeks?  Is that too much?

 If you’re like most people the answer is a resounding “NO!” 

 It’s not so much the frequency of mail people don’t like as much as it’s the irrelevance of it.  It’s only “junk” if they don’t want it.  And what donors don’t want is more letters that tell people how you do what you do and why people should give to you. 

 Worse yet are the letters that don’t speak to donors at all.  Your donors aren’t some stranger down the street you don’t know, they’re your friends.  So why don’t you talk to them in the same way you’d talk with your friends.  They want to know what’s going on with the organization especially if your communication is donor focused. 

 That’s because when you’re telling them the stories of people whose lives have been changed as a result of their giving, it’s about them not you. 

 At the end of the day, the more you communicate with your donors the more impact you’ll have in their lives and the lives of those they’re trying to help.  In the 4th Chapter of his letter, James writes that “You do not have because you do not ask God.  And when you ask you do not receive because you ask with wrong motives.”  This applies to donors, too. 

 According to the Apostle Paul, the winner in every gift transaction is the giver.  In Philippians Chapter 4 Verse 17 Paul writes: “Not that I desire your gifts; what I desire is that more be credited to your account.”  Putting it that way, you’re only helping people to receive the blessings of their own giving.

Simple design changes can increase donation form completion rates.  Here are suggestions 5-12 to improve your site’s performance:

5. Include short copy and graphics to reinforce the reason why the donor is making this gift.  Copy should recap the need and the impact that will be generated by the donor’s gift.  A photo to reinforce the message is also a valuable component.  Ideally, the copy should be donation specific, that is, it should be related to the need and the life-changing impact and giving intent that motivated the person to click to make the donation rather than a general benefit associated with your overall ministry. 

6.  Limit non-essential copy.  Many organizations try to use donation forms to collect information about what brought the donor to the site, why they are giving, and other information.  While this information can be helpful in marketing communications and fundraising planning, the donation form is not the place to collect this information.  Some research indicates that over 75% of web visitors abandon forms because the task is viewed as too daunting.  We would suggest collecting this information using a follow up email survey to keep your donation forms simple and straightforward.  Understand the right balance — provide enough copy to engage web visitors and not so much that it distracts them.  If you choose to include this information on the forms, be sure to test its impact on click through and form completion.

7. Use appropriate ask arrays.  Your online ask arrays need to accommodate a broad range of donors based on their giving potential.  Your ask arrays need to address the donor giving a $25 gift as well as those giving $250, $500, and larger gifts.  Every ask array should include an “other/fill in the blank” amount.  The lower value gift options not only apply to small single gift contributions, they also serve as monthly gift levels. 

8. Include “seals of approval” as part of the donation form.  These seals reinforce that your organization is trustworthy and worthy of the donor’s support.  At DSA, we typically design client pages to include them in the footer of the donation form as well as the general page footer. 

9.  Include options to donate by phone or mail.  While I have not tested this for some time, providing donation page visitors with a phone number to make a donation and the option to print a form to mail in a check increased overall donations.  You will be able to track the impact of including these options by using an 800 number that is unique to your website and including a code on the printable donation form that links the gift to a specific web giving opportunity.  While web giving might still be low for your organization, understand that nearly all first-time web visitors will vet your organization online prior to giving.

10.  Include email opt-in option.  Donation forms can be a significant source of email acquisition.  It is important to include an email opt-in option as part of the form.  At DSA, we understand this is a great spot to build an online relationship with web visitors.  We provide them the option to communicate with us online through a check box that states: Yes, I would like to receive email updates from YOUR ORGANIZATION.

11.  Thank-you pages and auto-responders.  The messages in the thank-you page and auto-responder should reiterate and reinforce the reason that the donor made the gift and the impact that the donor’s gift will have.  The thank-you messages are critical to building the donor relationship and engaging the donor to continue to give.  Generic thank-you communications miss the opportunity to connect with the donor based on his or specific interest and can potentially raise questions if the gift is going to be used as intended.

12.  Measure and test results of your donation forms.  Anayltics is vital to understanding how your donors interact with your donation forms, so it’s vital to evaluate their performance.  Beyond donation amounts, there are a number of results that need to be measured.  One of the most simplistic factors to measure is click-through and completion measures, but each organization has different metrics that must be considered.  The goal is to maximize revenue from interested web visitors. 

Develop your plan

You can improve your site’s donation form performance based on these factors.  So grab a cup of coffee, a pad of paper and take some time to evaluate your donation forms and develop a plan that will lead to increased donation form completion, new monthly donors, and increased revenue.