Building Your Annual Giving Program. Introductions. Some Types of Fundraising Programs

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Building Your Annual Giving Program

Annual Fund Advisory Committee Training November 5, 2010

Lincoln, NE

2010 Annual Affiliated Fund Training Session B3: Building Your Annual Giving Program

Introductions

• Your Name

• Your Affiliated Fund

• Why you care about your affiliated fund (no more than 10 words!)

Some Types of Fundraising Programs

• Annual Giving

• Ongoing, multi-faceted

• Capital Campaigns

• Time-focused, specific dollar amount

• Project Fundraising

• Varied time, specific cause

• Planned Giving

• Long-term outlook

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Learning Objectives

To understand

• Different components an annual giving program can involve

• The importance of annual giving

• The heart of your case statement for annual giving

• Lessons from other affiliated funds

Possible Components

• Direct mail

• Special events

• Donor visitations

• Telethons/Thank-a-thons

• Corporate appeals

• Internet fundraising

• Commemorative gifts

• Public support campaigns

Why an Annual Giving Program is Important

• Enables you to set goals

• Cultivates donors to increase giving level

• Solicits new donors to broaden support base

• Identifies new leaders and volunteers

• Identifies major gift prospects

• Gets people in the habit of giving

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Why an Annual Giving is Important

• Builds public ownership

• Strengthens relationships

• Teaches rural development philanthropy

• Helps you get to the heart of your case

• Allows you to say “thank you”

#1 Reason for One-Time Donors

The way they are treated after making the gift.

• Not thanked in an appropriate way

• Hit by a barrage of additional appeals

Thank Donors 3 to 7 Times

• Personalized handwritten notes / Phone calls

• Lists in newspaper, programs, reports

• Invitations and recognition at events

• Survey them for opinions

• Say thank you in person when you meet

• Handmade cards from children

• Just generic receipt letter of thanks from NCF (NO!!!)

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Presenting your Case and Honing your Messages

Get to the Heart of Your Case

• Use “visual vocabulary” to describe what your fund means to your community.

Get to the Heart of Your Case

• Use your Right Brain!

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What’s in your Frame?

Shickley Community Foundation Fund

• Richard Walter, 2nd Vice Chair

Shickley Community Foundation Fund

Shickley

• Serves town and school district in southeast Nebraska

• Town 370 population

• School district 700 (includes town)

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Shickley Community Foundation Fund

• 1991: Original Foundation established

• 2001: Affiliated with Nebraska Community Foundation

• Website:

www.shickleycommunityfoundation.org

Shickley Community Foundation Fund

Why the fund was formed:

• Earnings from fund will help with future needs

• Transfer of Wealth: Needed to capitalize on the opportunity

• Result of Challenge Grant: Raised

$278,000 for unrestricted endowment

SCFF

Annual Giving Strategy

Ongoing Small Givers:

1. Younger Families: Longhorn Club

• $25 a month / $300 a year

• Four agreed; wrote letters to others; follow- up calls

• Now 27 families renew annually; in our fourth year

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SCFF

Annual Giving Strategy

2. Annual High School All-Alumni Reunion

• Brochure with reunion invitations

• PowerPoint presentation at event each

• Many small checks annually

• Two Memorials ($15,000 and $18,000)

SCFF

Annual Giving Strategy

3. Current Donors: Holiday Letter

• Year-end thank you and holiday letter

• Includes soft-sell on tax benefits and planning

• It’s Been Good!

SCFF

Annual Giving Strategy

Medium to Large Givers:

4. Grain Bank

• Farmers deliver grain to elevator and turn over ownership to NCF

• Elevator sells grain and NCF deposits proceeds in SCFF

• 8 Gifts of grain (6 are multi-year pledges)

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SCFF

Annual Giving Strategy

• Cumulative Results after Challenge Grant

• Half of our families are donors / 165 families

• Over $400,000in unrestricted endowment

• $1.8 Min known expectancies (estate gifts)

• And in the Community

• $17,000 +given back in grants each year

• $100,000in cumulative community grants

Sage Advice for Colleagues

• Credit Contributors Equally: List contributors alphabetically; not the amount of the contribution

• Use “Thank You” stickers as community events: I contributed to the Shickley Community Foundation Endowment Fund

• If possible, get your high school alumni mailing list!

• Encourage monthly EFT contributions through NCF

Shickley Community Foundation Fund

McCook Community Foundation Fund

Mark Graff and Youth Change Reaction

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McCook Community Foundation Fund

McCook

• Located in southwest Nebraska

• City population is 7,500

• [email protected]

McCook Community Foundation Fund

• Founded as an affiliated fund in 2001

• To serve the whole community-not just a single organization

• Saw positive examples in Phelps County and Holdrege

• Launched “Founders Campaign”

• ($1,000 or more)

McCook Community Foundation Fund

Annual Giving Program

• Need for marketing and operational support

• Hired the first Executive Director

• Established membership categories:

• Sustaining –– $100/per year

• Founder –– $1,000

• Builder –– $2,000

• Pacesetter –– $5,000

• Leader –– $10,000

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McCook Community Foundation Fund

• Initial Founders drive exceeded expectations

• Successful planned gifts and designated gifts to various accounts

• Annual drives less successful

McCook Community Foundation Fund

Previous Annual Giving Tactics

• Direct mail campaign in December

• Request $100 annually

• Personalized with FAC signatures Results

• Confusion with current Founders

• Conflicts with other annual giving campaigns

McCook Community Foundation Fund

New Tactics

• Late summer timeline / Avoid other drives such as United Way

• FAC making personal contacts

• Phone

• Personal visits

• Personalized mailings

• New promotional brochure to support campaign

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McCook Community Foundation Fund

• Sage Advice for Colleagues

• Revise online giving: Simplify decision bullet by adding the title “Annual Membership”

• Consider lowering annual giving level: Create two levels starting at $25/year

• Increase value added for membership renewal:

• Discount on annual banquet fee

• Regular e-mail newsletter

• Recognition in annual report of all donors not just Founders

The WealthSpring Fund

Reggi Carlson, Secretary

The WealthSpring Fund

• Established in late 2006 upon the retirement of Maxine Moul, NCF Founder

• Statewide fund / Rural focus

• Website:

nebcommfound.org/fund/wealthspring

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The WealthSpring Fund

• Launched through Founders donations of $1,000

• Most Founders joined in 2007

• Grants from Cooper Foundation and Lincoln Benefit Life provided start-up money for marketing and grantmaking

• Currently 41 Founders ~ 110 donors

The WealthSpring Fund

Annual Giving

• First letter campaign November 2007

• Massive list of 600+

• Handwritten note cards inserted to people we knew

• Response: 36 gifts and pledges;

$15,000; $10,000 from 2 donors

The WealthSpring Fund

Annual Giving

• Subsequent Letter Tactics

• Reduce list to 350 / Target more

• Continue note cards

• Response: 43 gifts and pledges;

$13,000

• Continue to add names

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The WealthSpring Fund

Annual Giving

• Pre-Mothers Day Cards

• Handwritten and sent to all donors

• Soft-sell on honoring mother with a contribution

The WealthSpring Fund

Annual Giving

• October Thanks

• Handwritten thank you notes to all donors

• Include a report with pictures of grantee stories and list of new grants just made

The WealthSpring Fund

Annual Giving

• November Letter

• Drops before Thanksgiving

• Has emotional, visual language of need and solution for one woman

• One page only / Brochure “maybe”

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The WealthSpring Fund

Annual Giving

• Year-round

• Develop and maintain database

• FAC requests personal “honor” gifts given to WealthSpring for birthdays and holidays

Sage Advice for Colleagues

• Handwritten thanks immediately

• Emotional, visual appeals

• Include that “we are volunteers”

• Personalize letters with inside address; include reference to past gift

• Include a response envelope

The WealthSpring Fund

• Richard Walter – Shickley

• Mark Graff – McCook

• Reggi Carlson – WealthSpring

Building Your Annual Giving Program. Introductions. Some Types of Fundraising Programs