Gratitude Amplified

Hello, and welcome to this webinar. We’re so excited. It’s asked Sabrina here with us to talk about gratitude amplified. My name is Julia, I am the Communications Manager here at DonorPerfect. And I have the privilege of getting this whole thing Read More

Hello, and welcome to this webinar. We’re so excited. It’s asked Sabrina here with us to talk about gratitude amplified. My name is Julia, I am the Communications Manager here at DonorPerfect. And I have the privilege of getting this whole thing started. Very excited as we see those joining us in the room. Thanks for being here. A few just housekeeping reminders. First, if you have any questions, there will be time for q&a at the end of the session, you can put your questions in the question tab of the control panel. And we will make sure to flag some of those questions to be answered at the end of the webinar. Secondly, this is being recorded, and a day or so you’ll receive an email with the recording. And we’ll be able to send that your way. So don’t worry if you’re not taking notes quick enough. Take take it all in but you’ll get a recording afterwards. And lastly, you can find a handout and the handout part of the panel and Sabrina will lead us to that handout throughout her presentation. Alright, so let’s get started. Are you ready, Sabrina? I am ready. I was so ready. I hit the button in anticipation. That’s okay. Let me let me read your bio here and then I’ll hand it right over to you. Okay, thank you. Sabrina Walker Hernandez is the president and CEO of supporting world hope she has over 25 years of experience in nonprofit management, fundraising and leadership. One of Sabrina’s greatest successes is that she increased operation revenue from 750,002 point 5 million over an eight year period, as well as being responsible for the planning and operations of a $12 million dollar comprehensive capital campaign in the third poorest county in the United States. She has also facilitated numerous workshops with hundreds of nonprofits professionals, and is a master trainer for Boys and Girls Clubs of America. Sabrina is certified in nonprofit management by Harvard Business School, and as a best selling author. She currently serves on the board of directors for village in the valley in Edinburgh, Rotary SOS Foundation, and env. See Harris foundations, then city of the RG B Museum of South Texas history and the Edinburg Eken, Economic Development Corporation, wow, Sabrina, I can’t blame you have time to sit and talk with us today. I’m so excited, you have a very, very small plate of people you serve. So we’re so excited to learn from you today and take it away. Thank you, thank you so much. It sounds like a lot. But let me just say this upfront, only two of those boards are fundraising boards. Because trust me, I wouldn’t do that to myself, the rest of those boards, I get to give out money. And so I’m bringing to you from that perspective, I get to give money, and I get to give out money. So this is from someone who sits in both of those capacities. And so that’s why I love talking about gratitude. And making sure that you understand the importance of stewardship and thinking and inspiring donors. So as was mentioned a little bit about me, Julia did a great job.

I will just say this, that I help nonprofits and small businesses build relationships that increase revenue. And these are pictures of me doing things that are outside of my comfort zone skydiving Swimming with dolphins rappelling off buildings, I can add to my list that I just did in the month of May. I did

what did I zipline across the rainforests in Belize, I do these things. Because usually with my friends or my husband and a forced me outside of my comfort zone, and every time I get sat outside of my comfort zone, something fabulous happens. And so some of this information that you hear it may be outside of your comfort zone, but it’s okay. That is where growth happens. And I invite you on that journey. And so what I do, just to highlight is I do training webinars and workshops, keynote speaking, leadership board and strategic planning retreats, executive and fundraising, coaching and consulting. And so, what I’m about to teach you or share with you, again, I used over the 15 years that I was the CEO of my nonprofit now I was with the organization for 20 years, I served. When I first came in, I was in direct services. I worked with first time juvenile offender teenagers, and I moved into operations for five years and then I did 15 years as a CEO. And I was the only I was the second CEO of that organization and is 50 year history. So I inherited a

lot. And sometimes when you, you when you are the founder of our organization, a lot of things on in writing. And so I inherited, then put some systems in place and inherit it from a great person and name is Mary Florida. So I always like to speak people’s name because she was a great mentor. But when I inherited organization, again was a $750,000, we moved that budget to 2.5 million, we completed a $12 million comprehensive capital campaign, we started an ingrown endowment, had about a half a million dollars in it and had an operating reserves of 180 days of cash. And we were on the Texas Mexico border in a third poorest county in the United States. Now, I say that, and I repeat it, I know Julius said it. But I say that because I not only do I want you to step outside of your comfort zone, I want you to also for moments to spend your negative self talk about

the community in which your organization is located. Because I’ve heard it all, well, we’re in a small town. So there’s not a lot of deep pockets here, or there is no corporations. And you know, bigger cities have more advantage, or I’m in a bigger city. And there’s a lot of competition. And so everybody has challenges. Every single one of us has challenges whether you’re in a small town, or you’re in a big metropolitan, we all have challenges. And this approach can be used regardless of what your market is. And so I invite you again on this journey. So let’s talk about it. Let’s talk about the elephant in the room. Let’s say 85% of donors do not give a repeat gift, because they did not receive a thank you.

Let that sit in

85% of donors

do not give a repeat gift because they’ve failed to get a thank you.

Now most studies agree

that it costs nonprofits about 10 times more to bring in new donors than it does to keep an existing donor.

For every for each 100 new donors nonprofits bought in, they lost 99.

So you’re spending your time and money courting new donors every year. And the old ones who already have bought into your mission, who are sold on your costs, who have shown up.

Because they haven’t received the thank you and been treated properly. They leave. That’s not good business. It makes no business sense that for every 100 donor you bring in, you lose 99. And so we’re trying to again, reverse that. And how do you start to reverse that process, you have to start reversing that process by showing your donor some genuine love.

You got to keep your current donors deck because that’s smart business, you got to raise more money. And you got to move your donors up the ladder to repeat gifts, and stop working so hard to get new donors. So there is a ladder that donors are moving towards. And I’ll talk about that ladder really quick. Because I don’t think we sometimes look at the big picture of what we’re trying to do with the door. So the ladder picture ladder. The first thing the rung on the ladder is they are a suspect, right? I’m wonder could they give us a potential little to that and you move them up to a potential door? Right? Then you move them up to a first time donor.

And that’s usually what they stay for with us. They said the first time don’t Alero because we don’t treat them well. We don’t say thank you. We don’t have a plan in place for that first time donor so we don’t get them up to a repeat donor. And and from a repeat donor, we want to get them to a major donor. And then from a major donor. We want to get them up to a monthly donor perhaps but from month to a sustaining donor all the way up to plan giving where people leave you in their will and request that doesn’t happen by accident. You have to have a plan in place and it needs to be intentional. I apologize. I am having a little technology issues here. So when we are talking about that, what we’re talking

Going about is really having a good stewardship plan in place. And so basically, you think of stewardship, I like to think of stewardship, like a marriage, right? So you’ve gone through this courtship process, you’ve asked them to marry you. And now you got to keep them. And so what do you do to keep them? Well, you have to do

the same thing you did to get them. You got to share special moments throughout the year, just like a couple is holiday, you got to celebrate holidays. So are you sending them something at the holiday time you celebrate anniversaries? Do you have it in your CRM system, with the date of their first gift, celebrate birthdays, are you sending your donors birthday, happy birthday messages, thinking of you text, you know, we appreciate your videos, showered them with a little attention, it will make the partnership that much sweeter. So think about stewardship. The Thank you process, just if you would think about a couple, it’s a partnership, right? So if you keep that in mind, and it helps with this thing we call stewardship. The other thing is understanding where stewardship plays in the fundraising process. And I love talking about this fundraising process, because I sat in your seat for many years, as you know. And when I first inherited the seat, I would get frustrated with my board. Because I would be like, my on my board doesn’t do anything or, you know, I wish I can get them to do this, or I need this and I’m just not getting what I need. And I will get frustrated because I was wearing so many hats, and I couldn’t focus and I was all over the place. And, and so because I’m a process person, I have to stop and say, Okay, I only have this many hours in the day.

And I know to be a good CEO, I need to make sure that the money comes in, take care of the money all and I need to take care of the board. Because if I can take care of the board, they will help me get the money because I can’t do it all by myself.

So

I come up with a process. And this is the process that I adopted. And I’m sharing it with you because it made a huge difference. So what is fundraising? So 10% of fundraising is identifying. That’s identifying potential donors.

That’s just getting the name just for tinnitus. I name two people, you know, Pierre here here, that’s identifying, going to someone else’s event, and picking up their brochure, their program, and it has the list of who gave it is that thank you ad in a newspaper, I still get a subscription to my Sunday paper because some people still put their Thank you ads in there. And seeing who gave is all of those things that’s identifying. That’s 10% of fundraising, it is qualifying. So the other 10% is qualifying. Just because they gave to another organization doesn’t mean they’re gonna give to your organization. They’re your mission needs to resonate with them. You know, some people, even if you take a look at myself, I have a diverse background. I’m a veteran of the US Army Corps. I spent 20 years in youth development, I adopted two animals from the animal shelter.

I am a giver, I believe in giving to girl

Girl invested programs. So you have to qualify me, right? My name is on list. But you would think because of that I was supportive of you know, you would think okay, she was a friend, she was support veteran to support veteran programs. Our she was this and if my go to programs that I usually support is going to be around equity.

I’m a true believer in equity, youth development, and animals. So in order to learn that about me, you have to qualify me, right you have to look into who I am and what I do. So 10% of fundraising is that and then 60% of fundraising, which is my most favorite part is cultivation, that’s building the relationship that is face to face meetings, that is asking for advice. That is um, you know, towards repair facility if your facility base is all those things that you do to court someone or date

Some point, and then 5% of fundraising is asking. That’s where the fear of the five comes in. That’s where a lot of times of frustration comes in. Right? So it’s in getting your board members to fundraise and you understanding where to spend your time. If you know this formula, then what at this point? Where are you spending your time, you should be spending your time and 60% and cultivating, which is build the relationships, and then only 5%. And asking, because if you cultivate, right, the act is very easy. And sometimes you don’t even have to ask as you build a case so well, and then 15%. And what we’re here to talk about is gratitude, stewardship, saying thank you, that’s maintaining the relationship. So if you look at maintaining the relationship and saying thank you is 15%. And cultivation is 60%, which is building the relationship that 75% of fundraising

is relationships, building them, and maintaining them. Right. And so that is where I chose to spend my time and I chose to spend my board members time, I’d let go the frustration and say, Okay, if I can get my board members to focus on cultivation and stewardship, then everything else is going to be a piece of cake. And so that formula works. So I wanted to make sure I pause and say that. So why did it work? It works because relationships, which is 75% of fundraising, plus results, sharing your impact equals reoccurring revenue.

Relationships, plus results, equals reoccurring revenue.

So you have to make donor retention a priority. If you want to survive and thrive in today’s competitive marketplace, period. This is not a negotiable. Because if you don’t, what you’re going to continue to do is get 100 new donors and lose 99 of them. And every year, you’re going to have to start the process over and it’s going to cost more time and more time and time is money. There can be no arguments or excuses, because securing donors on it to lose them is not good business. So how do you do this? What are the three P’s of a successful donor stewardship retention? three P’s try to keep it simple, right? You need a prop. Thank you. You need a personal thank you. And you need a powerful demonstration of the gifts impacts, relationships, plus results, equal reoccurring revenue,

relationship, or prompt, thank you. A Personal Thank You results, a powerful demonstration of the gifts impact

equals reoccurring revenue. And the more you incorporate these three P’s into your own going donor acknowledgement, recognition and communication, the greater success you will have in retaining. And not only retaining, but upgrading your donors. That is the goal. Remember, you’re moving them up this lap? It’s a strategic process. And so you have to get good. So hot. Thank you. What does that mean? donors want to be thanked within 24 to 48 hours of receiving the gift. So

how do you do that? Right? How do you send that? So let’s say I send you I send you a donation, you already know that your automatic system is going to send a thank you. I don’t count that.

I know that hurts some people to their souls, I don’t count that.

I’m going to say this is automated, that’s fine. But what I want you to do is don’t use that canned message from the automated system. At least go in and try to personalize that a little bit. But I want you to add to this, I want you to send a handwritten card

to show your you’re genuine and show them that their funds are being used as mentioned and affirm that their investment will make a difference and give them concrete examples. So I have someone asked how do you do that? How do you do that within 48 hours? That’s impossible. First of all, let me say is within 48 hours of it landing on your desk right now

And so it’s not within 48 hours of them sending us It landed on your desk. So here’s an idea to get you started. At the end of each Boardman meeting, have board members write thank you cards and sign them, do not address them to anyone,

collect them and have a stockpile on your death. So when the gift comes in, you simply add the name, sign your name and send them off. But let me get into any even more details for you. Because this is what I would have to do, I have my bag of being pants, I had a script, I would pass out the pins, I would pass out the scripts. At the end of the board meeting, each board member would do two of those cards, I collected them, and I put them on my desk. And so when the gift came in 24 to 48 hours, then I would just again, Stein, my name with those pants, get get your pants back, because that’s a nightmare. You don’t want the board members using their own pants, because then you’re like, oh, what pen what color? You’re trying to streamline processes. As I say, pass out the pins, pass out the script.

And so then you add and then you send it out. And as the gift is a certain size, you can also recruit a group of board mailings, members willing to make a few phone calls on a regular basis. So you can determine that and we’re going to talk about who gets a who gets a phone call, right? If, depending on depending on what you determine. It could be $1,000 or could be $10,000. But the point is you have some identify board members and you know who your board members are that you can count on, that you reach out to and say, Hey, Sabrina just gave a $10,000 gift. Here’s her number here. Here’s your cell phone number. Can you call her and just say thank you. And here’s a little script that you can refer to doesn’t

have board or you can have board members hosted an annual donor think Athan as at a designated board meeting. Right. So I like doing these two you come in to think Athan, you give them a list of the each board member gets a list of five people that they’re going to call and give them a script, you take about 20 minutes you make those phone calls, some people are going to answer the phone some people are not but what’s going to come up from that is the people that do answer the phone are going to be shocked. They’re going to say thank you. There might be some conversations that come up, you might find engaged some even more information about the donor, you bring your board members back together, what did they learn? What didn’t they learn, and you’ve created some for education, as well. So these are just some ideas to get you started in that process.

Don’t make it complicated. You can do when I say a personal best prompt, when I say a personal thank you make sure that it is donor centric language. When you write the script for your board members to say, right, you need to make sure that it’s donor centric language. And here’s an example

that you can see here,

you need to

here’s an example. So let’s take the middle one I work with supporting vital health care workers and saving lives, then instead do you make it a tweak your gift, your gift, right make it about the donor is your gift, so is changing those words up. Here’s another one. Every time I hiked the beautiful trails in our state park, I’m reminded of the importance of protecting the man we love. And we’ve already achieved so much together sounds good on the surface, but it’s very organization centric, switch it make it donor centric. Every time I hike the beautiful trails and our state park, I’m reminded of the importance of protecting the land we love and because of your generous support this land or bring joy for generations to come. You’re giving the donor credit, it’s donor centered. And so remember that is slight changes and words. And when you are doing this activity with your board every at the end of each board meeting, update your thank you notes with the new success story. So the beginning and the end of the note will stay the same what you’re doing is changing the middle. And not only is that going to help your board members and how’s it going to help your board members is you feeding them different stories every month. Stories that they can go out and share at the Chamber meeting or at the rotary meeting or wherever they are with their family members and not

Only that is going to help the thank you notes stay fresh, regardless of when the donor gifts, because maybe the donor is going to give a couple of gifts. And you don’t want to have a canned thank you that they receive, even if it’s handwritten, that says the exact same thing every time. So that’s how you make a personal. And you make a personal connection. Because donors want to be connected,

want to feel connected to the mission, they need to feel connected. And so you need to make sure that that is happening as well.

Because that is the goal, right? And

you don’t want, again, a mass email holiday greeting card, you want something that is more personalized, and you want you want to address the donor by their name. And, and not only address the donor by the name, but share a story that has emote filling.

So we give plenty of examples about that. So here is an idea because I don’t like saying do this, do that do this like that without giving you some idea of how to get those things started. So set up personal visits, this won’t make sense with every donor. But folks who you’re cultivating for a major gift or significant upgrade is the very first thing you can do very best thing you can do when you’re trying to create that personal connection, face to face rings Keane, you can send a video, thank you, you can record it yourself using your smartphone or your CRM system. It’s just you know, you’re talking and waving and smiling. You send a video from someone, your donors gift made possible. Maybe if it’s not you in front of the camera, maybe it’s gonna be a kid because I work with kids. So maybe it’s from a kid, you send a note from someone, your donors gift made possible. That that is, again, I work with you. So I know that it was easy for me. Our kids would make cards right in the arts and crafts, and I would grab those cards and have those on my desk too. Sometimes the thank you will come from the board members, sometimes we come from the kid, it could be it can come from a client, like if you have a guy, if this is about guide dogs, it could be a painting of the animals paw print, you have to get creative, how are you going to make that personal connection.

And then it’s a powerful demonstration of impact. donors don’t care about what you do.

Those are outcomes.

Or outputs. donors don’t care about how many people you see those are outputs donor wants to understand that the impact that they’re having. They want to know that they helped. They want to know that they’ve changed lives. They want to know that their investment in your nonprofit is making a real difference in the world that their investment in your nonprofit is making a real difference in the world. And so make sure that you understand that your donors want to hear stories about your successful outcomes. They want to know how the investment had an impact. So you need to put us systems in place where you collect and organize and share stories about all the wonderful things that are happening in your organization. And in share these stories, share them in the thank you cards. That’s why you’re going to change up the thank you cards every month, share them in the newsletters, share them in annual report, share them in your social media fi share them when you meet with donors, and again in your thank you letters. So it’s about showing that powerful demonstration of the gifts impact and making multiple ways in which you share that.

And you you have to connect the dots between your donors gifts and actual impact. Because donors want to know where their hard earned money is accomplished is what is accomplishing, accomplishing and how we know this because they tell us there’s so many studies out there. Here’s just 46% of donors in the four reasons tag to not having meaningful info 60% Want impact and success stories. 70% of donors would increase their investment if they received what they need it from charities which is a thank you. 75% of donors use information about a nonprofit impact in their giving decisions 75% of donors list

information on results achieved, right? information or results were achieved with their gifts as the top requirement to off for motivation for future giving. So this powerful demonstration of gift impact is critical. And so here’s some ideas to get you started.

Now, this is one of my favorites to talk about, because it involves making sure your board is also equipped and remember, again, setting your seat. So 60% of fundraising is building relationships. 15% is maintaining those. And so how do you share this information with your board, what you include it as mission moments and all of your board and committee meetings and volunteer activities. They need to hear stories about the people they’re helping. And so here’s an example. I told you, I work with you, I will have a kid come in for at the beginning of every board meeting and talk to the board members to say this is my name. This is what school I go to. This is why I come to the after school program. But I’ve also seen a zoo do this. They would have they would bring in this is the one I’ve heard the snake into the committee meeting. And they would say, Well, this is this is this kind of snake. Now I’m not a big snake fan, right. But this is what this is. And this is what he does. And this is the and people get to touch the snake and all that. What do you think the board members or committee members talked about? After that meeting, they went on and told everybody about how they was at this meeting, and they bought into snake and this is then this and it comes up and says I serve on this board.

This is what we’re doing, you have to make that connection for your board members, your committee members and your volunteers. Right. And now if you work with

an organization that deals with more sensitive issues, such as the unhoused, or let’s say battered spouses, then you just have to get creative and how you present that mission moment. Right? It could be Mutale. video telling it telling the story from a different perspective. Maybe it’s the unhealth is from the box because the box goes from being the moving box,

the box that you stayed in, and to the moving box into your new home, that could be one way that you do mission moments. Or you can change the mission moments up just a little bit and call them. Mission mingles. And that’s where you pair up your board members. And they you simply say you give them three minutes to talk to pair it with each other, get to know each other. And you put the question out there, you know, why are you serving on this board.

And they talk to each other, and then they come back. And if anything resonates, resonate with you,

and they’ll they’ll share.

The whole goal is to make sure that you’re setting the tone. Right, you’re setting the stage for gratitude, you’re setting the tone for the mission, you’re feeding your board members stories, you’re giving them that feel good. So don’t forget to include that.

too. You can add a video with testimonials from someone you’ve held to your website, to your E newsletter to your blog or to your email signature.

You can add testimonials from people help to your donor on a roll and or share via social media. These are some ideas to just get you started.

Here’s the thing is needs to be ongoing communication because that is the foundation of real donor love. In this case, absence does not make the heart grow fonder. You want to avoid giving your donors the impression that you don’t care about them. You want to avoid them feeling like an ATM machine. We all know that feeling. That other friend don’t call unless they need something. Right? And or you don’t call them and eventually it fizzles out and you stop thinking about each other. You don’t want that the goal is to stay at the top of mine. And I know some people question like, man, we do these newsletters. I don’t even know you know, the open rate is not that high. I don’t even know why we’re doing it. Keep doing it. I’m a monthly giver at an organization, two different organizations. One is very good about their stewardship.

Um, they send a newsletter. Sometimes I don’t open the newsletter. But I see it, I see the subject line I see is coming from, I’d say, I don’t feel like nor every now and then I’ll click in and see what’s going on. And then the next quarter, I’ll get a little handwritten thank you car from them. I’ve got a Christmas card at them from them. And then I have another organization I give to, and I don’t get any of that.

And I’m like, if I wasn’t so lazy, I will cancel the ACH.

Because I don’t feel connected.

And so don’t be afraid. Make sure you reach out more than a few times, you have to connect emotionally on a frequent basis. Donors need to be reminded how their money is being applied towards the results that are lasting and effective. They want to hear from you.

It is okay. They want to hear from you.

So they that you got to make them feel awesome. You got to report on outcomes they care about. You got to make them feel in the know and part of the special community and ask for feedback, advice and opinions. So this is all critical. So here’s some ideas to get you started. I kind of talked about some of those ideas just based on what an organization is doing for me. But sin postcards are email messages during the holidays. New Year’s Valentine’s Day, Easter, Fourth of July Thanksgiving Christmas, send a minimum of two gratitude messages a year by snail mail.

Because donors will more than likely see those

emails make me nervous. So if you start flooding me with emails, like I said, I may or may not read it, it makes me think of you. But don’t I prefer snail mail? Because I don’t get any mail. How many of you don’t get any mail and the only mail that you really get is you’ve been approved for this credit card. So it’s gonna make you stand out in the box when you get a handwritten gratitude or Happy Easter. Happy Valentine’s Day. I haven’t gotten a Valentine’s Day since

middle school? Well, my husband gives me about but really a Valentine’s Day card. How about that sending a Valentine’s Day card from your organization is going to stand out? How else what else can you do, you can pick up the phone and ask for feedback or advice. Because personal phone calls is one of the top ways to cultivate a relationship

as well as inviting them in to an A volunteer opportunity. Getting get the board involved, again, assign each board member five accounts, five people to touch five times a year. So that’s a pretty good one that I will use for my board. Remember cultivation and stewardship, cultivation is stewardship, that 75% of fundraising. So I didn’t care if my board members did that 5% which was asking, because I can do that if they build the relationships and maintain the relationships. And so being intentional about that those five accounts, doing five touches. That’s where I needed my board members to focus. And then again, focus on genuine heartfelt messages showing the donor how they are making a difference. But all of this my friends, all of this takes planning and sometimes we don’t slow down to plan for success. Why? Because we’re wearing multiple hats, but I’m telling you we have to slow down and take time to plan for success. And that’s creating a stewardship plan. And his stewardship plan for your nonprofit will help you not only build better relationships with your donors, but it will help you increase loyalty and ultimately result in in with more donations over time. So it’s pretty simple to create a plan

and I’m sharing that with you because this is something I really want you to take away from with the steps so form a donor stewardship Task Force segment your donors and categories new new donors Laura zones using the CRM system that’s why DonorPerfect all of these systems you need develop a stewardship and recognition opportunity

was a Cindy handwritten cards on important dates like birthdays inviting your donors to participate in volunteer opportunities, inviting them to major events, lunches gala sending surveys asking them for feedback.

exploring their interests creating and sending reports on both the impact of the donors gifts and the word and then outlining your communication strategy and stewardship matrix. So what does that look like? Here isn’t a perfect example for you, for the donor stewardship matrix is divided up into categories acknowledgement, recognition, reporting, and ongoing engagement. But if you notice, the is divided up into categories, right, first time donors loyal donors, and it tells you exactly when this comes gifts comes in, and they fall in this category, this is exactly what they get. Now, for my Type A personalities out there who’s just going to screenshot this and say, okay, board, this is what we’re doing. Don’t do that. You can use this as a draft, take it to your board, or your committee and doesn’t draft and say, Okay, let’s really think about this for our organization, how are we going to do this and customize it for our organization, and get feedback from them, because you, you also have to build a relationship with your board.

And they need buy in, if you’re gonna, if this is going to happen today, I have to touch people five times, they need buy in in the process. So you just can’t screenshot this, give it to them and say, Hey, this is what we’re doing.

Remember that? Now, here’s some lessons I’ve learned over the years, running a small nonprofit without a resource development team. Any of that, when I first

learned that stewardship is so important, and I didn’t have that fancy matrix that you saw before. And I knew I just needed to get started. And it wasn’t about relationships at that time, which I’m telling you, you need to focus on relationships. But you also need to just focus on saying thank you, here’s a quick formula that I would use. I donors gave $99 or less, that was one zero, so they got one touch. That was thank you card. If they gave $100 to $999, they received two touches, because that’s two zeros, they might have got a thank you card and a video. If they gave 1000 to $999,000. That’s three touches, thank you card video, in vital or tour. If they gave $10,000.09 $199,000 they receive four touches. You know, thank you card video,

invite for tour, and maybe an invitation for hands on volunteer

opportunity. But you get the point for every zero that donor gifts that equals into a twitch. So that was just something to get started. And I wanted to share that because I know everybody’s in a different place. But there’s 26 ways to thank donors and you’re going to get a ebook. And here’s some of those ideas. We’ve talked about them. Share handwriting notes, right? Share.

Not only handwriting notes, share the progress no matter how small it is offering next step but again, you don’t ask them for money. Send a thank you email, send a thank you text, record a video, call them on the phone, send a postcard from a behind the scenes. thank your donors on social media on YouTubes and a first time donor package Annual Report host the cultivation event. I call these house parties request their feedback and follow through on what you learn send anniversary cards social media posts, distribute photo books donation, thank you letter E. E newsletters and blogs, event programs and event programs donor gifts printed newsletters Planetree in their memory and Tao public Thank you there’s so many ways, pay it forward, make a home or cooked dish or dessert a thank have thought you are going to get a PDF of 26 ways of saying thank you and these some of them are different from what I just went over.

Right? And so the goal is to get out there and to say thank you to your donors and build genuine relationships with them. That is the whole goal. build genuine relationships with them. share the results with them. So then it become reoccurring gifts and you can move them up that donor ladder. We have to be more strategic about how we do things because stewardship works. There have been studies

At ease over and over again,

there’s the reports that the doors centric way to door engagement has a significant effect on both donor retention and gift value upgrades.

And it shows that when people receive focus, attention, average gift values increase 39%.

So let that sink in.

It makes no sense for us to continue to put all this effort into things spinning our wheels, because you’re wearing multiple hats. So you need to be strategic about how you use your time,

because you want to use time.

Now, how are you going to use that time, let’s be strategic about how we’re users at that time, and focus on stewardship, because it makes no sense to be on that hamster wheel.

And you are gaining 100 donors and losing 99 Every year, and you get right back on that hamster wheel. And you start doing this whole process for a whole new set of donors. So let’s start loving on our current donors and stop set obsessing about strangers, and really show them some donor love. I got one story I’m going to share. And then I’ll see if there’s any questions that are out there, I want you to be clear that you are establishing relationships with your donors.

So I have a donor and that I’m not running my nonprofit anymore. But I will make them a homemade sweet potato pie, we became very close. Because take them to lunch, talk to them pick up the phone, all of those things, we made a connection because we’re both from the South East area and sweet potato pies is where we grew up. And so I found that out and start making a sweet potato pie. I am retired, y’all, I have been retired for five years, do you not know I still have to make a sweet potato pie for this person. Because the year I retired and didn’t make the pie, they called me out on it. And that’s still the connection that the organization has with this person. And so it works. It may take a little time. But stop spinning the wheel

and be strategic about your time. And focus. 15% of fundraising is saying thank you 60% Is cultivation, the same thing you do to get them is the same thing you have to do to keep them

and get your board members involved in that process, getting your board members involved in cultivation and stewardship. And the top six ways just so I can make sure it’s clear is face to face meetings, taking people out to lunch to breakfast, whether that’s to introduce them or to say thank you. Zoom is face to face. The pandemic taught us that

is picking up the phone and making personal phone calls is engaging with them and events, not special events where you’re asking money, but maybe perhaps like a cultivation event, which we talked about, like a house party environment on a tour or roundtable discussion

is getting them engaged in a hands on volunteer opportunity.

asking for advice.

Making sure they get communication like the newsletter, or following you on social media. Those are the top six ways to cultivate and to thank your donors. Let’s not forget about that. Because that’s gonna lead to relationships plus results equals reoccurring revenue.

So I’m gonna stop talking, and I am going to stop the share my screen and see if there’s any questions. This has been so great, Sabrina, thank you so much for all these ideas, really wonderful practical things that we can put into practice today. So excited for myself and for the people who have been listening on the call. We do have a few questions. So I’d love to go through some of these with you. Many people have mentioned that they’d love the recording. So just a reminder, yes, you will get the recording. And like someone asked if they could see the matrix hide again that will be in the recording so you can pause the recording and take all the notes you want on that slide. I remember the first time I saw one of those. I like copied and pasted it ever

everywhere so I can try to remember all those great ideas. So thank you so much for sharing that. Okay, let’s see some of these questions. So one of them,

one person asked, I think this is a good one to start with, what’s the difference between cultivation actions and thanking actions. So they’re the bulk, like I said, there’s not a lot of difference between the two. But cultivation is when it’s a new donor and or potential donor, and you’re trying to get them to give right, and then they become a donor, and then that becomes stewardship. So again, the same thing you do to get them

same thing you have to do to keep them. And if you equate that to dating, the same thing you did to get your let’s say, if you’re married, the same thing you did to get your spouse is the same thing you have to do to keep your spouse you got to celebrate, you got to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, all of those things. So it’s just about where you’re at in the process, the activities are saying, it’s just about where the donor is in the process. Great. This question was asked a few ways, but what do you do if you don’t have the contact information that you need to reach that donor? So maybe you want to send them a handwritten note, but you only have their email address? Or maybe you don’t have any contact information at all. So that can become a challenge. But here’s what I this is what I do oftentimes,

I email people, you know, usually when they use an online and they purchase something, and you just have the email, I literally out, email them. And I’ll say, hey, I want to send you a personal thank you card. Do you mind? Share your mailing address? And usually they will. And if they don’t, then they don’t you send them a video, use a unique DonorPerfect, send a video, you know, you have their email. So but the whole goal is to personalize the Thank you. It’s not that automatic standard. Thank you. So if you don’t have their address, you can reach out and ask for their address, and ask for it to be shared. And usually nine times out of 10. They will, especially if you explain what you’re trying to do.

Great idea.

I’ll say this, there’s a Hunter Hunter IO, that you know, you can do a little stalking.

You get free information. Like,

yeah, the internet has everything now, right? That’s

okay, these next couple of questions are about signing the handwritten note, you sign the handwritten note from yourself or from the CEO or Executive Director? Is the development director, a good enough roll for them to sign the note? What do you think that is up to you? That’s why you’d form your matrix. So here’s the deal. You could say if a gift comes in between 500 and $1,000, then the development director is going to sign as I say, if the gift is more than $1,000 in this CEO, if so you determine that with your matrix, right. So you might say any gift that’s above $5,000 is going to be our CEO and our board chair that’s going to sign off. You determine that the plan?

Okay, what about if do donors ever get upset that they’ve been mailed too often? The cost of mailing the cost of the cards? And do you recommend using stamps versus metered mail?

With meter male you have to I do know this what meter male and you have to send a certain amount of quantity. So it’s probably going to be stamp in this case. And no, they don’t get upset. I’m not saying that’s why I say at least twice a year, you send something snail mail, just twice a year, and it’s gonna make it stand out. I on the museum board that I serve on, they send out

once a quarter. So it’s also dependent upon your budget. But at minimum twice a year is a good thing. And yes, automated is great. I’m not knocking automated, but you stand out when you send something via snail mail these days.

Okay, can you elaborate a little more on what thank Athan might look like? Oh, yes, I think it really depends. And so I’ve done a couple of ways. So I’ve done a think Athan, where is 20 minutes at the board meeting? And I pass out a script to the board members and I pass out five names with cell phone numbers, and they call those five names in that 20 minutes and they deliver their Thank you scripts right and that’s how it’s done. I’ve also done a thank Athan where the where is board members and

clients, and we are in a room literally. And we have our phones. And we spent two hours making calls. And I give them pizza and food and they build connections and they all come together. Right? We had designated two hours to make these calls everybody from this time, this time, we’re just calling people in thanking them. Now I’ve done it where I reached out to like sprint, because the cell phones at first I was worried about you know, people not gonna want to use their cell phones, I need to make that available to them bla bla, so I reached out sprint and say, Hey, Sprint, I want to do this. And then you have all these phones on display. And they actually had phones that they gave us that we could check out and we used for I think a THON, but

most of the people use their own cell phones anyway, they didn’t even use the available folks to them. So now I wouldn’t even do that. I just here’s the list of names. Here’s what you can say. And let’s just call people who say thank you. Okay,

this is a great comment. I love this comment. Someone said, Sabrina, you’re awesome. Why would you prioritize for a nonprofit with two employees? Myself, the director, and one admin. I know it is so hard. So what what I prioritize, I would prioritize cultivation. But our let me rephrase that I work prioritize getting my board involved in cultivation, and stewardship. That’s what I would prioritize, how can I get spread this wealth, and have my board get involved with this process? Because you can’t do it all yourself. And I sat in that chair for years, and I did not have a resource development person, and it was just me. And you can stress yourself out. And you don’t want to do that. So how can you get your board more involved in that process. And that’s where the intentionality comes in. By doing what you call a five by five plan. Each board member has five accounts, which is five people that they are responsible for. And they’re responsible to steward and cultivate those people.

And they have a plan. And then in your monthly meeting, you talk about well, okay, how did you? What did you do with your five accounts this month, and everybody reports back on it? And that’s where the accountability comes in.

Great.

Okay, maybe time for one more. We’ll squeeze one more in here. How do you choose which donors are great to meet face to face? That you haven’t met with in the past? How do you move from some of these letters or phone calls to face to face meetings? So that is,

that is a call the part the part of prospecting? And

what’s the best way to do it? Because I’m a real practical kind of advice giving this is what I would do. And this is how I did it, type person. And so that that is where qualifying really comes in. Right? What is the capacity of this person to give to our organization? For us the thrust whole was if someone had the capacity to give and minimum of $500 or more, because again, we were in a smaller community, then our goal was to at least get a face to face meeting with them. How do we get those face to face meetings? It was all about relationships? Are they a rotary member?

Are they a chamber member? Who which of our board members? Are you in Rotary? Oh, you know, this person? Can you set up a meeting with them all your chamber? Can you set up a meeting, especially in the smaller communities, in all communities is relationship based, right? And that’s why having the right board we do sidetracking. But that’s why having the right board members is so critical, because it’s about their circle of influence, and who they know. And not. Not even knowing directly, but who’s connected to that circle. So if you want a meeting with this person can what’s the degrees of separation?

So it all goes together? Yeah, it’s a it’s a big tangled web of fundraising.

We so appreciate your time today. The comments have been overwhelmingly positive. Everyone has learned something today, and we’re so grateful. So thank you so much for being here. Thank you for the attendees. It’s been a jam packed hour. So looking forward to seeing all the things that come out of all that we’ve learned. Thank you so much, Sabrina and thank you attendees for being part of this. Perfect