by Kerry Jones | Jun 17, 2022 | Fundraising
Monthly donors are magic for nonprofit organizations. On average, monthly donors contribute the largest—and most consistent—portion of the donation pie. But these power players come with a catch: Acquiring recurring donors takes more patience and planning than snagging the occasional one-time gift.
That’s where we come in. We’ve compiled a series of resources that offer foolproof, step-by-step instructions to help you develop the gift program that, well, keeps giving.
Build a monthly gift program that works
Let’s start with the basics: goals, outlines, and knowing your donors. Asking yourself targeted questions about the goals of your campaign is a great way to trim unnecessary tasks from your program agenda. What’s the average monthly gift amount you’re aiming for? How many monthly donors would you like to accrue in a year’s time?
Developing an outline for your monthly giving program framework will help you clearly define expectations at every step of the process. How will you measure success and how often? When do you plan to send your donors an email or give them a call? What content will you include in your outreach?
Then, an investigation of your donors’ motivations and similarities will help you learn how to both retain your current gifts and find more people interested.
Current donors don’t want their generosity stretched by monthly giving requests that appear to demand too much. Luckily, there is a way to tastefully invite donors to your program without appearing inconsiderate. The key is to rely on carefully crafted segments: monthly givers, major donors, and smaller donors, for example.
Plan your monthly donation appeal strategically, ask for monthly gifts when you have time to cultivate donors over time, and be sure to acknowledge existing donors’ past support. And don’t forget the most simple steps, like adding ‘one-time gift’ or ‘monthly gift’ check boxes to every online donation form and reply device.
If the gist of your fundraising appeal is “donations help us,” you probably won’t get much mileage out of your campaign. It’s time you start thinking like a donor. Asking what’s in it for them? is step one in boosting your campaign’s creativity with original incentives. Try setting a fundraising target, making a campaign video, or setting up a rewards program with tangible benefits. Abundant bonuses (and LOTS of gratitude) for monthly givers will keep their motivations strong and their subscriptions active.
Knowing your success metrics will help you evaluate if your monthly giving campaign is meeting its goals or needs a remodel. Learn how to calculate donor retention and attrition rates, donor lifetime value, and gift retention. And for campaigns in need of a new suite of retention strategies, test out thank you email templates and impact-forward email appeals. Your spreadsheets and annual reports will thank us.
When your donors sign up, don’t miss the opportunity to gather data from them about their likelihood of giving for the long term—or losing interest quickly. Evaluating their sign-up experience, as well as a few other indicators, can help you extrapolate trends. Do donors tend to unsubscribe if they are over or under a certain age? Or do limitations to your payment method cause donors to drop out? Learning the factors that are and are not within your control can help you optimize your users’ experience.
Learn from these nonprofits doing the monthly-gift-thing well
Learning the tools to build your campaign is half the fun—but diving into what’s possible is a great way to get your team hyped. These nonprofits lead by example with creative approaches to their monthly gift campaigns. Elevate your strategy by borrowing monthly gift ideas from the best in the business.
This comfort care home sent special personalized cards to new donors right away to communicate the personal impact they have.
At Hildegard House in Louisville, Kentucky, their mission is to provide compassionate care for individuals who are isolated as they experience the end of their lives. When their executive director learned the benefits of monthly giving, she first became a monthly donor elsewhere to learn the dos and don’ts of donor communication. She quickly saw the benefits of personalization and consistency, so she maximized connection with regular newsletters, holiday cards, event invitations, and in-person thank-yous.
This family service provider opened their monthly giving appeal with a personal story both compelling and uplifting.
Jewish Family and Children’s Services offers necessities and life-saving care to vulnerable people in crisis. Their email is the paragon of concise storytelling that hits the reader fast with emotions. They first thank donors and welcome them into their giving community. Then they share the story of their client, Vivienne, who struggled to buy groceries with her heart condition and no family. They shared what it meant to Vivienne when JFCS showed up to her house with groceries and aid. This example ropes readers in quickly and shows how their organization is the answer to their clients’ needs. Then, they share how monthly gifts can continue to provide care—and how to start giving.
This safe water and HIV/AIDS support organization uses page-filling images to hook the donor, then progress bars and impact blocks to connect readers to their projects.
Blood:Water fights the HIV/AIDS crisis and water crisis in Africa by partnering with local grassroots organizations for sustainable development. The NGO considers itself a “development organization” and centers its long-term impact in its organization’s design. Naturally, their email visuals also had to be impact-forward and tell a gripping story. The reader first sees an explanation of the crises laid over commanding photos of natural water. They then see impact blocks explaining the local organizations they support and the ways donors can choose to help. Finally, their progress bar encourages donors to give by providing a specific amount they are working towards—and emphasizing their proximity to that goal.
This girls’ education nonprofit marketed monthly donors not only as generous individuals but as a valued community.
With a few changes, you can transform a group of people with nothing in common into an exclusive club. That’s what She’s the First did when they started their monthly giving program. The nonprofit works to support girls’ education and rights, so they called their monthly donors the “Front Row” after the most excited students in the classroom. Within the Front Row, they also created tiers for different gift groups including “Girl Champions” for donors giving over $100/month and “Equality Advocates” for donors giving over $50/month. Most importantly, donors in each group are listed and celebrated in each email—with abundant gratitude for their contribution to the cause.
This global health organization launched its monthly giving program with branding distinct from its other campaigns.
Watsi is an international healthcare organization that provides health care to people worldwide by funding a series of local health teams based around the globe. They set up their monthly gift program, called the Universal Fund, with a new branding initiative that dominates their website landing page. They gained more traction promoting their Universal Fund in a way that’s visually distinct from their organization, including inspirational photos and background information. Critically, Watsi also attracts sustainers by giving them information about the individuals their donations are helping—and sending follow-up emails on each patient’s care and progress. Compared to Watsi’s more general marketing initiatives, the Universal Fund employs a dignified and intimate look into the care its patients receive.
by Kerry Jones | May 3, 2022 | Copywriting, Marketing, Social Media
There’s a reason you listen to podcasts your friends recommend. There’s a reason that you ask to “speak to a representative” when you get an automated voicemail. There’s a reason your boss asks for references and your politicians run door-to-door campaigns:
People trust information when it comes from people.
It may seem obvious—nobody likes propaganda, impersonal video ads, or yelling monosyllabic commands at an answering machine. But nonprofit marketers underestimate the power of human voices for human messages, especially when it comes to their nonprofit’s social media strategy.
With the rise of the influencer economy, the ethical tilt to product marketing, and relationship-focused branding, it’s clear that the social media milieu is moving towards maximized personalization. Have you noticed how car commercials now sell family vacations instead of extra cup holders? Perhaps unsurprisingly, it sells to talk to customers like the people they are.
For a nonprofit organization, telling stories with honesty, personality, and humanity is critical in every step of your communication strategy. Here are the best ways to craft humanized social copy made by real people (you!) and for real people (your community!).
1. Match your marketing to your message
With so much going on in the day-to-day of a typical nonprofit, social media strategy can often fall to the wayside. Without a concerted effort, it’s easy for nonprofits to make their own (incredible, powerful, transformative) impact sound lifeless in a post. So what needs to change? What makes written words sound human?
- Write with emotion. How does your cause make you feel? Frustrated? Inspired? Overwhelmed? Hopeful? All of the above? Add a dose of that to your copy. Meet your reader in the world of emotion and channel the feelings they experience when learning about your work.
- Write to your audience. People speak differently to their boss than they do to their best friends—so know who you’re speaking to. What vocabulary is unique to them? What tones do they respond to?
- Write with kindness toward imperfection. Sometimes we forget to donate. Sometimes we are uninformed about issues. Sometimes we recycle incorrectly. Make sure your reader knows you aren’t perfect, either; they’ll appreciate your kindness and feel open to your call to action.
Looking for an example? Girls Computing League does a great job bringing their unique voice to their Instagram. Working to bridge the gender gap in STEM fields, they provide scholarships to girls in STEM and invest resources for girls in low-income schools.
Their account vibrates with life by speaking directly to girl coders and the people who support them. Posts include TikToks using popular sounds to talk about being underestimated by men in their field, posts on STEM women in history, or educational posts on writing a professional email. Their excitement about women in STEM industries is palpable in the voice of frustration, sass, and encouragement in each post.
2. Promote messages that vibe with your values
Want people to recognize your name? Start with helping them recognize your values.
Whether you care about climate justice, ending world hunger, or arts programs in schools, the good news is you are not the only one who cares. Reels, stories, and infographics are great tools for cross-promotion with the people, organizations, and brands fighting the same fight.
Repost your amazing donors’ content. The Karam Foundation reposted a story from a donor who supported them with a marathon fundraiser. St. Jude pinned a video on their TikTok celebrating accounts that link to their fundraising page in their bio. Appreciating current donors? Check. Demonstrating support to new donors? Double-check.
Link to organizations doing similar work. Urban Indigenous Collective cares about supporting Indigenous people, so this post with links to the American Indian College Fund was a great way to demonstrate their values. It establishes their account as a place for UIC content, but also as a bulletin board for organizations supporting Indigenous people.
Promote your partners. Are local businesses helping you with an upcoming event? Do companies donate to your cause with the purchase of select items? Girls Inc. benefits from purchases made at Macy’s and Thinx and celebrates these partnerships with posts like this.
3. Show us what success looks like
Repeat donors feel connected to the story of your impact—and they want to continue being a part of it. Compared to emails and newsletters, social media tends to be more visual and interactive—so it’s a great place to make your impact more visual and interactive, too!
Mercy Corps posted about a Ukrainian refugee family’s journey and the medical supplies, food, cash, and support they were able to give them. Notably, this post doesn’t use pity to tell their story in an undignified way but instead shows the family’s journey and the agency they display as they plan their next steps. Kudos to you, Mercy Corps.
Organizations like Hand on Heart WWP, which serves people experiencing homelessness, also do a great job of showing their impact. It’s not respectful to take pictures of vulnerable unhoused people, so Hand on Heart posts photos of large piles of sleeping bag donations and care packages instead. Other houseless aid groups often lean on pretty infographics of their impact stats, but they can feel hollow, making donations feel less tangible. Hand on Heart owes its social media success to videos like this that put donors in the room with the amazing resources they purchase.
4. Tell us what happens behind the scenes
We love the design and polish you put into your infographics, your videos, and your curated color scheme. But sometimes, your produced facade hides your real story. For donors who want to know that your nonprofit is legit, trustworthy, and effective, try these posts to help pull back the curtain.
- Give us a tour of your facility. Show off your youth center, your animal shelter, your school, or your office! Even if it’s messy or busy or chaotic, donors want to see where the magic happens. The Cattery cat shelter has a beautiful TikTok tour of their facility that shows off all the ways they provide for their furry friends.
- Introduce your team. Whether through a video interview, a post, a story, or a TikTok, donors want to know your volunteer coordinators, your accountants, and your CEO. You can talk about why they are special to your operations (“Diana is the master of managing receipts”) or what they do on the side (“Diana’s two dogs, Lucky and Frankie, have been with her for ten years. It’s no coincidence she is so passionate about animal rights.”) If you have confidence in your team’s work, donors will too. This ”meet our team” post from Site Design Group does a great job of introducing their staff.
- Introduce your board members. If your website’s board member bios feel a little tired, try this approach. Post about your board members in action: photos of them with the family they mention in their bio, working with your volunteer team, or answering fun questions relevant to your mission. Massachusetts Avenue Project has creative “Meet the Board” posts on their Facebook page.
- Product tour. If your nonprofit donates products like hygiene care packages or boxes of books, show donors what they look like! Tell us about your materials, your delivery style, and what makes your products valuable and unique. Days for Girls, a menstrual health NGO, uses the highlight feature on Instagram to explain the features of the DFG pad and what comes in their full kit.
- Day in the life. TikTok “day-in-the-life” videos are really popular right now—and they can be great for a nonprofit to show off how you spend your time and where donations go. What does a day in the life look like for a community organizer? A youth leadership camp counselor? An animal shelter staff worker? What would surprise people about the work you do all day? Community Action Partnership has a great day-in-the-life TikTok showcasing how their Health Coordinators support their community. Check out a few nonprofits we love following on TikTok.
- Sneak peeks as you prep for events. If you want to boost excitement for an upcoming event, “sneak peek” posts are a great way to drum up anticipation. If you’ve got an auction at your gala, show off the prizes people can bid on. If you have a tree planting event for Earth Day, show off the saplings that need a new home! Give donors the inside scoop about how your event space is looking, how excited your staff is, and all the fun bonuses they can look forward to. United Way of Greater Baytown Area made a Facebook post leading up to their Volunteer Appreciation Awards to get people excited.
It’s not hard to be human, but it does take intentionality.
Humanizing your nonprofit’s social media doesn’t have to be hard, but it does take effort. Luckily, it’s worth it—both to build community and foster ongoing support. Speaking to current and prospective donors like real people will make it easier to create and foster long-term relationships, connect with your supporters, and spark even more impact for your mission! Win win win.
by Kerry Jones | Feb 12, 2022 | Fundraising
If news about Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), the blockchain, or this guy who became a millionaire selling his deadpan selfies has left you confused and scared, we get it. Luckily for you, we read about NFTs so you don’t have to. Even luckier for you, fundraising with NFTs is transforming philanthropy, and we know how you can get in on that action.
First things first, what are NFTs?
Tokens can be any kind of digital art (think: profile pictures, video game avatars or in-game tools, even a signed tweet). Non-fungible describes unique items that are valuable because you can’t replace them. I can trade my five-dollar bill with any other five-dollar bill and have the same amount of money: that’s fungible. But I would never trade this one-of-a-kind collectible painting by Jonah the sea lion for just any sloppy finger painting. It’s non-fungible. In short: NFTs are like collectible trading cards you can make, buy, and sell with internet money.
What do you do with NFTs?
NFTs are traded with cryptocurrency (think: bitcoin) on a decentralized database called a blockchain that protects your purchases. An NFT you buy on the blockchain shows everyone who has ever owned it before you, so you know the $10k penguin NFT you purchased is from the actual artist, not a scammer. The most popular platform for trading NFTs is OpenSea, which uses the Ethereum blockchain, so you pay for NFTs in Ethereum cryptocurrency (ETH).
How does fundraising with NFTs compare to other auctionable assets?
Compared to organizations auctioning off, say, a famous painting, selling an NFT has a few benefits:
- Anyone can mint an NFT, but not anyone can paint like Picasso
- Famous paintings can be forged, with NFTs that’s much harder
- They’re flexible—tokens work with different entities across gaming universes
- There’s plenty of room for collaboration between various artists or businesses
- And, oh yeah, NFTs are selling for more money than famous paintings these days
Here’s the best part…
Many donors are interested in giving to organizations in the form of cryptocurrency or NFTs. This gives your nonprofit the option of either holding the funds as an endowment (to let the investment mature) or converting the donation to a more stable currency. Plus, tax-wise, it’s a win-win. Organizations don’t pay taxes on donated NFTs they sell or receive as gifts. And donors don’t pay capital gains tax on NFTs they donate. (This does not constitute tax advice, always speak to a tax professional about your unique situation.)
Interested? Sites like the Giving Block make it easy to set up accounts for crypto donations.
Nonprofits who have made fundraising with NFTs work
There’s a wealth of famous NFT creators who have donated proceeds to worthy causes. But you don’t need to be a successful NFT artist to get in on the action—there are plenty of ways to get started on your own. Here are a few nonprofits that have figured it out and are fundraising with NFTs.
The creators of NFT4Good wanted to use NFT proceeds to raise money for Asian-American community members as part of the #StopAsianHate movement, so they set up an open-edition collection of 88 influential Asian-American Pacific Islander digital card NFTs. Cards sold for $88 each through MerchNFT. The proceeds of this campaign went towards the Asian Pacific Community Fund, which distributes aid between nonprofits supporting Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities. NFT4Good was able to embed the message of their cause into the design of their NFTs with descriptions of the work each figure did on the card. They also imbued the cards with exclusivity by cutting off the purchase or sale of their tokens on the last day of their campaign.
The Make-A-Wish Foundation is a giant in the fundraising community—and for a good reason. Recently, they’ve been at the forefront of fundraising by partnering with multiple corporations to benefit from the brands’ NFT auctions. Through a Dave & Buster’s campaign, users bid on a 3D original Dave & Buster’s Game Token and raised $3,800 for Make-A-Wish via Sweet. Macy’s also launched a campaign auctioning a collection of 10 tokens capturing iconic balloons of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Macy’s donated all auction proceeds to Make-A-Wish and minted 9,500 free NFTs, which would donate 10% to the charity with each future transaction. The featured brands celebrated the excellent press from their donation and the passive brand marketing through NFT trades. Make-A-Wish got a larger platform to court new donors. Everybody won.
Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF) is a foundation that funds cancer research, awareness, and support for families of sick children. But rather than go through large corporations or famous NFT creators, they made the tokens themselves and announced the auction on Twitter. In honor of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, they minted three gold-ribbon NFTs set at 0.1 and 0.2 ETH ( $243.06 and $486.11). The NFTs were not elaborate, but each token explained how much time in the lab the donated funds would buy, ranging from one to ten hours of cancer research. It’s easy to see how the foundation could persuade generous donors!
Open Earth develops digital infrastructure that monitors climate efforts and tracks global progress on climate change measures. Instead of minting their own NFTs, they turned to the Social Alpha Foundation (SAF), a philanthropy group that sponsors social impact projects with privately gifted cryptocurrency. With SAF’s support, they hired talented NFT artists to produce eight tokens themed around environmental protection and sustainability. Tokens sold between $20k and $6 million on a platform called Nifty Gateway. The RNDR network generously joined this campaign to buy an offset of 500 metric CO2-equivalent tons through the Madre de Dios forest conservation project in Peru (that’s the equivalent of removing 108 cars from the road for a year). By turning to crypto-philanthropy experts and engaging with million-dollar artwork sold on the blockchain, Open Earth could maximize its fundraising impact and save a forest.
We know that NFTs are hard to understand—but, when fundraising with NFTs is done well, it could mean magic for your nonprofit. If you’re interested in embracing the latest fundraising trends, consider implementing NFTs into your strategy. Whether that looks like a small-scale campaign or a larger partnership, NFTs offer a unique way to engage with donors, try something new, and leverage the latest digital economies for good.
by Kerry Jones | Nov 12, 2021 | +Good Newsletter
1. Time 🕙 to optimize your company’s LinkedIn.
We love LinkedIn’s new dark mode option! Not only does it give our eyes a break, it’s also a great opportunity for you to make updates to your company page. Now’s the time to get rid of transparent backgrounds, adjust your banner image, and optimize your SEO. Learn how to strengthen your LinkedIn page with these easy steps.
How to optimize your LinkedIn company page. [via Social Media Examiner]
2. The secret to weekly meetings your team will enjoy. 🤫
Do your weekly meetings boost your team productivity—or deplete it? It’s normal for meetings to get off track, but there are also easy ways to make the most of your weekly check-ins and save your team time. Create a collaborative agenda, keep your team engaged, and show those meetings who’s boss!
How to run meetings that don’t suck. [via databox]
3. Make the most of your gratitude. 🤗
Donors love being thanked, but nothing sours the mood like a thank-you gone wrong. Instead, give your donors the celebration and recognition they deserve! Make sure you aren’t making common mistakes with your acknowledgments—and prep for a successful season of gratitude.
6 Mistakes nonprofits make with their thank-yous. [via Nonprofit Marketing Guide]
4. The subtle art of saying “no.” 🚫
If you live a non-stop life—at work or at home—you’re probably pretty great at saying yes. Your yeses can increase your productivity —but they can also be exhausting. If you’ve been on a yes spree, this is your invitation to recharge with some ‘no’s! Enhance your life with the power of ‘no’—it may be even better than you expect.
The importance of saying no. [via Ignited Fundraising]
5. This virtual whiteboard 📋 is your new best friend.
If you like your meetings concise and your teamwork efficient, say hello to your new favorite workspace! Miro is a virtual whiteboard that houses your meetings in a space with all your team’s other tools. Collaborate on a single shared digital platform that makes it easy to be creative with your team. Check out the Miro templates—and all of the compatible apps—now!
Explore Miro now! [via Miro]
by Kerry Jones | Nov 8, 2021 | Work Smarter
Enough is enough. This has gone on for too long, nonprofits. You know what this is about.
Your typing fingers work too hard. They need a break.
We know nonprofit work means plenty of hours behind a computer, and that often feels like an exhausting bummer. But we don’t make the rules. We don’t even like the rules. Nonetheless, nonprofits require communication and dynamic web content. That used to mean a lot of typing. But those fingers need to rest.
Enter: transcription services. Save time (and effort) creating content, and support your nonprofit’s communication plan with free and low-cost tools available online.
What are transcription services?
Transcription services are tools (driven by either skilled professionals or magical software) that turn audio data into written text. They are able to distinguish between speakers, languages, and words, and can use real-time audio data or recordings. Most software uses AI to accurately transcribe audio, but for slightly more money, you can pay professionals trained in shorthand.
Why transcribe my audio?
Transcription services not only save you time, but they also save your audience time. Imagine you’re in a hurry and need to catch a train. Would you rather listen to an announcer read a list of all scheduled trains, or read it yourself? The same goes for your audience.
Visual information is faster to take in than audio information. This means displaying text—even with your video or audio content—saves time spent reading.
Visual text can also broaden the audience your content can reach. Whether users are visual learners or have difficulty hearing, the transcribed text demonstrates you made content with them in mind. Plus, adding transcribed text to your content makes it easier for search engines to find.
Compared to audio, written text is also easier to share virtually—which comes in handy for nonprofits with remote workers.
I’m sold. But how exactly can my nonprofit use transcription services to save time?
We’re glad you asked. Transcription services have lots of versatile uses, so we put together a list of six ways they can save time and bring new life to your audio content.
1. Turn a public conference call into a blog post.
It’s 2021 and Zoom fatigue is real, so your donors may not accept your public conference call invites. No problem! Just transcribe the meeting, and distill the transcript into the most useful information. Whether that’s your success metrics or your frequently asked questions, you have content ready to repurpose for your blog.
2. Turn a video interview into a blog post.
Video interviews are great visual elements to liven up your website or boost your Youtube channel. But once again, the user in a hurry doesn’t have time to fast-forward through them. So why not turn that interview into a blog post? Post the video at the top of your blog and the transcript below. That way, you can keep the interview long while accommodating both the reader in a rush and the viewer with time to kill.
3. Turn a virtual interview with an expert into social media content.
Expert testimonials are great at demonstrating the efficacy of your nonprofit or diving into specific program areas. With transcription software, you can interview experts virtually and plug their testimonials into your content. Expert quotes about your area of service make great how-to infographics for Instagram, compelling posts for Twitter, and intriguing blog headlines. You can even add them to the opening pages of your Annual Report to drive home your work’s success.
4. Turn personal testimonials into quotes for your landing page.
Donors and potential donors love to see heartwarming proof of your impact. If you have testimonials or interviews from those you serve, ask for permission to use those transcripts as enlarged quotes on your landing page. Written quotes on a site’s landing page can be both visually striking, and emotionally gripping—basically, marketing gold. And they provide the added benefit of anonymity for those who want to share their experiences without sharing their image.
5. Turn board member interviews into an ‘About Our Team’ page.
If your board members are central to your operations, maybe they deserve a bit of real estate on your website! But let’s skip the overworked paragraphs and make this easy. Ask them each a few questions about their work and motivation, cut the extra out of the transcript, and you have the body of an ‘About’ page. If you want to stretch those interviews for more content, extend the interviews and create a blog series on your board members!
6. Transcribe meetings for virtual or absent team members.
In a world of remote and hybrid work models, not everyone will attend every meeting. Instead of assigning someone to take minutes and email the file later, use a transcription service to capture what was said. Compared to frantic meeting notes with bullet points and no context, your transcript can capture the points made as speakers make them. Plus, you have the ability to go back through the transcript and search for keywords if there was something important you missed.
Easy-to-use Transcription Services
There are a lot of fantastic transcription services to choose from. Best of all, many of them are free or available at a low cost.
For transcribing software that uses AI, we recommend Happy Scribe or Otter. Otter is excellent for live transcriptions and adding notes and images. We love Happy Scribe for video captions, and it’s also great for transcribing across languages.
For transcription services that use real-life professional humans to improve accuracy, we recommend Rev. Rev files are shareable with Dropbox and Google Drive; their team transcribes audio files overnight and you don’t need to edit mistakes.
Why not make your work easier?
Your time is valuable to us. (And so is the well-being of your tired fingers!) Make things easier for yourself and find the transcription service that works best for you.
