|
Year’s end: Close on gifts, wrap up loose ends
By June Bradham
Q. The summer is over and my organization wants to prepare for our final push before the end of the year. What should we focus on?
A. The fall represents a different dynamic for nonprofits than for other folks. When everyone else is unwinding from the busy summer season, nonprofits are gearing up for their busiest time of year and making plans for the following year.
As the year draws to a close, many donors scramble to get their tax-deductible donations in under the wire. Remember that half of all charitable gifts are given in the last three months of the year. For this reason, it is an excellent time for an annual fund or pledge card mailing and to try to close any pending major gifts. If you send monthly or quarterly newsletters, be sure to include (along with news about exciting projects or upcoming events) an envelope for gifts.
Sometimes, donors just need a gentle nudge to remind them to give.
Amid this somewhat chaotic time, there is also opportunity to get organized for 2008. You should assemble your team, discuss challenges they faced in the past year and offer solutions.
Based on their input and your experience, you should then create an organizational plan that calls for:
• Evaluating current and projected budget.
• Comparing your 2007 benchmarks to those goals you achieved.
• Reevaluating of your marketing/communications plan and adjusting for better results in
2008.
• Identifying conferences or other professional development events you and your colleagues should attend.
• Contacting advisers to review any tax law or other legislation that will go into effect (or expire) Jan. 1, 2008.
• Renewing association memberships and making sure your contact information is up to date.
Q. We are about to launch a multi-million dollar campaign but we realize our image in the community could be better. How can we use PR and marketing to ensure that donors’ perceptions of us will not adversely affect our campaign?
A. In my experience, it is nearly impossible to run a campaign without first knowing everything about how the community perceives the organization. When managing a campaign, among the first things to do is interview influential community members to better understand what they see as the organization’s strengths and weaknesses.
As you craft PR and marketing, remember that although bolstering your reputation in the community is important, what is more important to your fundraising efforts is your reputation among prospective major donors. And, where marketing and PR tend to craft a general message that appeals to everyone, the message you need to create for these big donors has to be targeted and sharp.
And it has to be personal. Sending a newsletter whose salutation reads “Dear Donor” will not help you win donors. Instead, make a list of your top prospects and schedule some time together. Make certain they know you are not coming to their office to ask for a gift but instead to get their opinions.
This type of meeting, or phone call, will have several positive outcomes:
• You will develop stronger relationships with prospective donors.
• You can explain things in much greater depth than any press release could.
• Your donor will have a chance to ask questions and offer opinions.
• You will have cultivated this donor.
In addition to these personal phone calls and meetings, less-targeted public relations efforts are still in order. While your critics are concerned with your reputation today, this campaign is about your organization tomorrow. You want to assure the naysayers that whatever difficulties you’ve faced in the past, you’ve surmounted them and are building a better organization for the future.
Tailor all public relations and marketing efforts to address concerns before, during and even after the campaign. If you uncover the concern that “This hospital has $50 million in the bank.
Why do they need donations?” develop language to address it. “We require these reserves in case of emergency and to maintain our level of credit against which we may borrow in the future,” for example.
It is imperative, therefore, that every staff member adopts the same language and that every piece of communication that leaves your office handles the issue in the same way. A consistent and oft-repeated message is the one your donor community will remember and eventually begin to embrace.
This goes for your milestones and achievements as well! Get good news out into the community through releases, newsletters and Web site updates and ensure that your entire staff is talking up the success. Everyone likes to get behind a winner.
June Bradham is president of Corporate DevelopMint, a fundraising consulting firm with offices in Charleston, Greenville, Blowing Rock, N.C., Atlanta, Ga., and Richmond, Va. E-mail her at cdm@corporatedevelopmint.com.
|
E-Mail This Article
Printer-Friendly Version