Solving Communication Conundrums For Major Gift Donors looks at 10 ways you can improve your communication with your donor prospects.
Here’s the good news: We’ve never had such a robust array of channels and choices to communicate with one another. Here’s less than good news: We’ve never had such a robust array of channels and choices.
As I move into my seventh decade, I continue to be fascinated by the art and science of communications. It’s been integral to the way I’ve earned a living and have led my civic and personal lives. You can’t be an effective fundraiser without strong written, verbal and digital communication skills.
Many of us started our careers in communications and PR before transitioning to resource development. It made us more successful fundraisers, especially in the make-or- break space of major gifts.
Though I wish I could do it more effectively, I make every effort to keep up with new trends, but on the other hand, I am admittedly a creature of a lifetime of habits and personality quirks. For example, I like to write and recognize I need to do a better job of conveying my thoughts more succinctly.
Meeting face to face remains the gold standard in discovery, cultivation, solicitation and stewardship of major gifts. In today’s 24/7 world it seems that no one has enough time. Too often more time is spent traveling to and from than actually meeting with the donor prospect.
When you can’t meet in person, what is the appropriate way to communicate with the other party?
There are no right or wrong answers. Decisions will be greatly influenced by the purpose of the communication, the relationship with the other party, and urgency of what you need to accomplish.
As a fundraising trainer/consultant, I conduct a large share of my business virtually, especially working with people out of state, and even out of the country. This has expanded my market exponentially.
So, when the choice is between videoconference, e-mail, text, cell phone, or social media, how do you determine which is the best fit? Here are some basic guidelines we bet your non-profit find useful.
No.1: Always start by finding out the preferences of donor prospects covering choice of channel and time of day. With many of us working on a hybrid basis and/or remotely from home, this decision-making increasingly presents new challenges in an environment of constant bombardment from all media channels.
No. 2: When you haven’t met the other party before or haven’t seen them in a while, videoconference provides the advantages of putting a face to the name and providing visual clues which furnish as much information as words spoken.
No. 3: I prefer e-mail many times over texting benefiting from the efficiency of composing from the keyboard rather than tapping on smart devices. E-mail is so much suitable for going to depth necessary for business projects.
No. 4: I am becoming part of a minority; everyone is falling in love with texting (especially younger generations). I only find it appropriate for simple linear messages like your wife asking you to pick up a carton of eggs. Texting has several drawbacks including being cumbersome to get into detail, file, and too often even to identify the sender.
No. 5: To paraphrase Mark Twain, the death of direct mail is greatly over exaggerated. Surprisingly, younger recipients especially enjoy receiving it, perhaps because they find it a novelty. A 2024 survey showed that 92% of millennials said direct mail influenced a purchase decision — and 72% of Gen Z said they’d miss getting physical mail if it stopped showing up.
No. 6: Multimodal communication works. On average a person needs to hear a message seven times on average for it to sink in. Print, digital and telephonic communication can and should be used to effectively reinforce each other’s impact.
No. 7: As much as possible I make the best effort to respond (to people I know or organizations that I respect) within 24 hours, even if it’s just one sentence requesting more time to respond in detail.
No. 8: Spam is running amok and scaring people from picking up the phone from unknown sources. This is weakening the strength of the telephone for legitimate purposes.
No. 9: My growing appreciation of the effectiveness of cell calls is based on their immediacy and, once reaching the other party, of achieving clarity and confirming understanding of essential information.
No. 10: Saving the best for last, I will always remain a huge fan of sending handwritten notes via snail mail. How many of them do you receive? It will empower you to stand out and be remembered by the recipient.
Give careful thought before sending any communication. There is a fine line between communicating too much and too little. For sure, different generations and personalities have different preferences and styles. We must respect these differences and learn to appreciate that everyone has their reasons for the communications channel, frequency and way they communicate. Non-profits need to land on the best fitting strategies to connect with and motivate donor prospects to make gifts of time, talent and treasure.
Solving Communications Conundrum For Major Gift Donors was first posted at MajorGiftsRampUp.com
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