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Written by Simon Scriver

The end of AmazonSmile

Amazon has recently announced that it will end its charity donation scheme, AmazonSmile.

It will end by February 20th with some financial assistance given by Amazon to help with the transition.

For the last 10 years, organisations have been able to link to Amazon and earn a small commission on any spending that came through your link.

Like an affiliate scheme, exclusively for charities. There’s no additional cost to you or the customer - it’s just a ‘reward’ that Amazon offers you for bringing them more business.

In theory, Amazon would also bring you new donors - those who found you by searching AmazonSmile - but in reality the chances of this happening were pretty slim.

While Amazon would have you think they’re super generous, the payment comes from their advertising budget - 0.5% is a cheap ad.

It’s one of the lowest-paying affiliate schemes out there.

Still, for many organisations, it’s been an easy win - a steady stream of commission earned from product links (think, for example, recommended books or suggested groceries).

Is this a good opportunity for charities to break up with these kinds of programmes?

Or can a well-used affiliate scheme provide a steady stream of additional income?

Where do you go from here? Even if you haven’t been using AmazonSmile, are the alternatives something you should be exploring?

Well, like everything in fundraising, it depends.

Personally, I think all charities can benefit from a smart partnership with a supplier that brings value to your audience. My first website, a Traveling Wilburys fansite when I was 17, generated a decent amount of monthly income by linking to a couple of music stores that stocked their then-hard-to-find music.

I would earn up to 20% of what people spent - an amount that spiked when George Harrison died and when Roy Orbison’s widow recommended my site.

These days, even Fundraising Everywhere has an affiliate scheme.

A well-placed link to a relevant product is what makes the virtual world go round.

As charities, we’re mindful of our ‘call-to-action’ within any writings, presentations and posts.

What is the logical next step our supporter is going to want to take after this interaction?

A request to donate or volunteer or subscribe is something we’re used to peppering into our communications, and those direct actions should always take priority.

But if that’s not appropriate or relevant enough, an affiliate link can be a perfect win-win-win.

This might be a link to purchase a book one your event speakers just recommended.

It might be a pet food of choice that you recommend to adopting families.

It might be a handy tool that so many of your service users have benefitted from.

It could even be Christmas cards.

Affiliate schemes are a fantastic source of income when the transaction sits logically within the work you’re already doing.

So where to now?

As we say goodbye to AmazonSmile, remember there are more generous solutions out there, like Give As You Live and easyfundraising.

And please do let us know if there are any particular platforms you’d like to see showcased at our FundraisingTech conference.

Also consider Amazon’s regular affiliate scheme Amazon Associates. This offers similar benefits to AmazonSmile but often pays more!

Or negotiate agreements directly with suppliers. These might even include exclusive discounts that you pass on to your audience.

Affiliate schemes can make for a good starter corporate partnership with no initial cost to the company. A relevant, transparent partnership can benefit everyone.

We think that the right partnership can change the world.

If you want to learn more about partnerships that can elevate your charity missions, join us at Corporate Partnerships Everywhere on March 16th 2023.

Corporate Partnerships Everywhere is brought to you in partnership with Remarkable Partnerships (of course!)

Simon Scriver at TEDxDublinInstituteofTechnology

Written by Simon Scriver

The dream: Creating accessible learning for everyone

When Nikki and I launched Fundraising Everywhere in 2019 we wanted to create a fundraising community and training events that were affordable, accessible, engaging and human.

We wanted to elevate speakers to new audiences and give them the same opportunities we had been so fortunate to have had ourselves.

All of the speakers at our first conference were paid.

We did this by securing sponsors and by offering a profit share to everyone involved.

Ever since then we've been very vocal about speaker payments and our belief that conferences should always value the time of the people that make their event a success.

Your speakers need to be paid. If you can't afford to pay people fairly then you can't afford to do it.

Speakers of course don't have to accept payment, but a standard policy of no payment or putting speakers in the awkward position of having to ask for financial support is an outdate practice.

Let me share the journey I've been through as a professional speaker...

My journey as a professional speaker

After several years as a successful fundraiser, I had learnings to share.

My good friends at The Wheel came to me with a chance to share my wins, mistakes and learnings with a room full of charity staff and volunteers.

I was fortunate enough to be paid by The Wheel. I was privileged enough to be in a job where could take time to work on my training session. I had a supportive partner and a supportive board who saw the benefit of my doing this.

Your speakers need to be paid. If you can't afford to pay people fairly then you can't afford to do it.

I was privileged. I worked hard to create an opportunity for myself...but I'm aware no matter how hard some people worked they would never have that same opportunity.

I put the time, money and effort into trying to be a better speaker. I started Toastmasters...a life-changing experience you're probably sick of hearing me talk about. It cost me €5 and a few hours each week.

I continued to deliver training. The majority of the time it was unpaid.

Often there would be a personal cost.

I had to cover my own time.

My own travel and my own expenses.

I was privileged. I worked hard to create an opportunity for myself...but I'm aware no matter how hard some people worked they would never have that same opportunity.

I was fortunate enough to be able to do that. It allowed me to get better and eventually I started to get more and more speaking opportunities.

I've been able to earn a living from presenting and speaking. Despite my overwhelming anxiety and insecurities, I love it. I'm so happy that I've had the chance to become a better speaker, even to the point that I represented UK & Ireland at Toastmaster's world speaking championship (I was disqualified because I went over time).

My first international conference was AFP Congress in Toronto. It's still probably my favourite conference. I'm grateful to the wonderful Amy Pawluk and committee for taking a chance on me, and every year at Congress for the rest of my life I will make a point of thanking Amy.

AFP paid for my travel and accommodation. The trip still cost me money, but I was privileged enough to have the means to cover it.

I've spoken at conferences such as ICON that don't even pay expenses. Their invitation for me to speak cost me approximately €3,000 plus the loss of billable hours.

All of the speakers at our first conference were paid.

The big opportunity gap

The majority of people working in the nonprofit sector can not afford to pay hundreds let alone thousands for speaking opportunities.

As a result, the shareable skills and knowledge of our sector sits behind a gatekeeper.

Potential speakers who can teach us how to be more successful aren't heard because they can't afford to share.

Every once in a while, I'll post on LinkedIn that speakers need to be paid. Every once in a while, someone disagrees, dismisses or calls me naive. They always look like me. Their reasoning generally boils down to the idea that speakers should invest in themselves and that the exposure is invaluable.

Let me attempt to gather all my responses to that fallacy here:

  1. Start by Googling 'exposure as payment' and look at one of the millions of articles or memes scoffing at this. Then consider that maybe, just maybe you're on the wrong side of history.
  2. That's a big investment. Even if that €3,000 creates a huge return, most of us don't have that kind of cash lying around.
  3. Exposure for what? Another unpaid piece of work? At some point someone has to pay...why is it that your conference gets a pass?
  4. Not everyone needs exposure. Not everyone is an agency, salesperson, or desperately in need of affirmation like you and me. One might even argue that the fundraisers we'd benefit most from hearing are the ones that don't need any exposure because they're too busy working.
  5. Not everyone wants exposure. Imagine! Your conference tags some poor fundraiser on LinkedIn and one of their major donors see that they're delivering a session titled "5 reasons your donors are like aggressive otters".

Shareable skills and knowledge of our sector sit behind a gatekeeper.

Changing things for the better

Let's face it...expecting your speakers to offer unpaid labour is another outdated practice we've fallen into the trap of accepting because it's always been that way.

Potential speakers who can teach us how to be more successful aren't heard because they can't afford to share.

Our sector suffers because of it.

So let's change it:

If you're a speaker or potential speaker then know your value. Ask for payment or true value exchange.

I'd love to hear your thoughts, your own journey and your suggestions.

And if you'd like to chat about sponsor opportunities, speaking opportunities, or any of the work we do at Fundraising Everywhere then I'd love to hear from you.

You can get in touch with me here: [email protected]

Photo by Ravi Sharma on Unsplash

Written by Simon Scriver, Co-Founder of Fundraising Everywhere

The Burning Platforms

With both Facebook and Twitter finding themselves in precarious situations, we’ve all been reminded of the risk of relying on any social media platform to connect with your audience. It’s important that part of our ongoing communications strategy is to encourage followers to also connect and subscribe through other traditional channels such as email and telephone.

It’s not just about the risk of some tech bros destroying a platform you’ve grown to rely on. It’s also about controlling your own data and not leaving your brand’s visibility at the mercy of an algorithm you have no say in - social media notoriously has terrible response rates compared to other media.

We need to be attempting to connect with our audience elsewhere in an ongoing effort to diversify our marketing channels, add people to your database, and collect the data you need to build up a full view of your donors to steward them properly.

Here are 7 ways to do this:

1. Offer a Free Download (Lead Magnet)

Downloadable resources such as fact sheets and helpful guides are a great way to bring value to your social media followers while capturing their contact details and consent. Think beyond your annual reports and consider what resources you have at your fingertips that will appeal to your audience.

Aim to help and educate. Infographics, cheat sheets, and ‘5 ways to…’ assets all do really well here.

With both Facebook and Twitter finding themselves in precarious situations, we’ve all been reminded of the risk of relying on any social media platform to connect with your audience.

2. Host a virtual event

Livestreams and pre-recorded video events allow you to engage supporters and bring them in to your organisation in a way that hasn’t previously been possible. Bring them behind-the-scenes, let them hear from beneficiaries and connect directly to your staff. Plus, they offer lots of touchpoints (ie. registration; before, during and after the event) to prompt your attendees to stay in touch through email, telephone and post.

Talk to our friends at everywhereplus.com to find out how easy this can be and what support is available to you.

3. Surveys


Surveys aren’t just for learning about your audience and letting them know they have a say. They’re also super for moving people off of social media - people love sharing their opinions and a mailing list ‘ask’ fits nicely at the end of your survey questions.

They can be as simple as one quick question - it’s about getting your followers to take that step and allowing you to gather more details.

It’s not just about the risk of some tech bros destroying a platform you’ve grown to rely on. It’s also about controlling your own data and not leaving your brand’s visibility at the mercy of an algorithm

4. Contests


Like surveys…who doesn’t love a contest?

That gift-in-lieu you haven’t been able to use could make a great contest prize. (Don’t forget to check the rules and regulations in your country around the running of online contests).

It might even just be bragging rights…challenge your followers to get every quiz question right…and while they’re there, encourage them to subscribe.

5. Drive to a blog post with data capture

You and your organisation are experts in your field.

If you’re not already, you should be sharing that expertise in regular blog posts. They show your worth and position you as a useful resource.

Blog posts sharing ‘how to’, explainers, FAQs and news/updates are all great ways to get social media followers to click a link and visit your website.

There’s then a great opportunity to suggest your email mailing list within your blog, at the end or through pop-ups.

6. Direct asks

Like all things in fundraising and marketing sometimes it’s as simple as just asking.

Share a direct link to a form to joining your mailing list regularly and give your followers a reason to join.

Make it sound appealing! Rather than joining a mailing list, share the benefits - such as early access, useful information, exclusive perks and a connection to community.

7. Hand raisers

Discover what people care about by running ‘hand raiser’ campaigns; ask them what they care about, what changes they want to see in the world, or run fun polls.

Not only will your list grow from this light-touch and fun interaction, the answers they give help you build a picture of their motivations for that all-important stewardship work.

Check out my full session On Demand:

A Step-by-Step Guide To Growing Your Mailing List

Use discount code ‘ELONMUSK’ to download it for free.

The deadline for this role has passed and we are no longer accepting applications.

Fundraising Everywhere Community Manager (Work with us to choose your own job title!)

Hours: 30hrs per week structured around our events schedule.
Salary: circa €28,000 / £24,000
(full-time equivalent circa €35,600 / £30,000)

Reporting to: Senior Management

Location: Remote and flexible. Work from where you want, when you want.

About the role
This person will be responsible for engaging with, understanding, and representing our respected Fundraising Everywhere community. While our members are always first and foremost, the role also extends to engaging with potential/existing/past speakers, sponsors, affiliates and partners, and the wider fundraising community.

You’ll ensure everyone in our community - the reason we exist - has a voice and is heard. You will help Fundraising Everywhere continue to deliver content and services that is in-line with our community’s wants and needs.

You will spot opportunities for us to improve events and work with the wider team to share leads, further sales opportunities, and trends. You'll also lead on event curation: You'll draft event programmes, develop content ideas, and lead on identifying and approaching potential speakers worldwide in line with our EDI Commitment.

Your role includes:

Key relationships

What we offer

What we’re looking for

Someone who

Don’t worry if you haven’t worked on virtual events before, we will provide training on this when you start.

About us

Fundraising Everywhere: We care a lot about making professional and personal development accessible and affordable so all fundraisers have the skills and confidence to change the world. We do this through online events and Membership that puts the fundraiser at the heart of what we do.

Everywhere+: We keep the sector connected to the people who matter with engaging, accessible and effective virtual events. We’ve worked with over 200 third-sector organisations to host webinars, stewardship, engagement and conferences that put the attendee experience at the heart of everything. Oh, and we make it fun too.

You can find more about our values and how we work here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UiYpxfRVuNdAXVVYIQnevvc7-cgkHFvQ/view?usp=sharing

For more information

If you have questions about us or the role, please contact [email protected]

To find out what we’re like to work with, please get in touch with our references who will be happy to send some details.

Referee (Nikki): Andy King [email protected]
Referee (Simon): Dana Segal [email protected]

The deadline for this role has passed and we are no longer accepting applications.

Virtual Event Livestream Engineer (Work with us to choose your own job title!)

Hours: 20hrs per week structured around our events schedule. (Applicants who would like fewer or more hours will also be considered)
Salary: circa €19,200 / £16,200
(full-time equivalent circa €35,600 / £30,000)

Reporting to: Senior Management

Location: Remote and flexible. Work from where you want, when you want.

About the role
Joining our existing team of Livestream Engineers to increase our capacity, this person will be responsible for the live production of our clients’ and our own virtual events. After receiving the final event briefing from our Account Managers and clients you will bring our events to life, supported by our team. Following the event programme, you will use a simple point-and-click interface (for which you’ll receive full training) to activate various speakers, branding, messaging and media content. You’ll co-ordinate our virtual backstage area, communicating and supporting our speakers and staff.

Your role includes:


While we do everything in our power to ensure a smooth event, things can go wrong. You will be the calming presence backstage that reacts quickly and follows our own emergency procedures to minimise downtime.

Key relationships

What we offer

What we’re looking for

You:

While experience in virtual events and livestream software is preferable, full training will be given.

About us

Fundraising Everywhere: We care a lot about making professional and personal development accessible and affordable so all fundraisers have the skills and confidence to change the world. We do this through online events and Membership that puts the fundraiser at the heart of what we do.

Everywhere+: We keep the sector connected to the people who matter with engaging, accessible and effective virtual events. We’ve worked with over 200 third-sector organisations to host webinars, stewardship, engagement and conferences that put the attendee experience at the heart of everything. Oh, and we make it fun too.

You can find more about our values and how we work here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UiYpxfRVuNdAXVVYIQnevvc7-cgkHFvQ/view?usp=sharing

For more information
If you have questions about us or the role, please contact [email protected]

To find out what we’re like to work with, please get in touch with our references who will be happy to send some details.

Referee (Nikki): Andy King [email protected]
Referee (Simon): Dana Segal [email protected]

The deadline for this role has passed and we are no longer accepting applications.

Administrator / Co-Ordinator (Work with us to choose your own job title!) 

Hours: 30hrs per week structured around our events schedule.
Salary: circa €28,000 / £24,000
(full-time equivalent circa €35,600 / £30,000)

Reporting to: Senior Management

Location: Remote and flexible. Work from where you want, when you want.

About the role
This person will be responsible for the implementation of (and building upon) the administrative procedures and processes involved in our virtual events and training hosted on Fundraising Everywhere and Everywhere+.

You will be accountable for top quality service and consistency for clients and attendees during events and during moments of engagement with the production team pre-event. You will keep track of progress and deliverables to ensure the smooth running of our services while being available for last-minute changes and adjustments as required.

Your role includes:

While certain client demands require the use of various tools (such as Slido, teleconferencing, etc) experience of these is not necessarily required. Instead the right candidate will be someone who can learn new tools, understand how they integrate with our business, and spot features and opportunities that can enhance experiences.

Key relationships

What we offer

What we’re looking for

You are a process-minded person who enjoys problem solving and learning new skills. You like discovering new online tools and putting them into practice. But most of all you're organised, proactive, reliable and consistent.

We are looking for someone who:

Don’t worry if you haven’t worked on virtual events before, we will provide training on this when you start.

About us

Fundraising Everywhere: We care a lot about making professional and personal development accessible and affordable so all fundraisers have the skills and confidence to change the world. We do this through online events and Membership that puts the fundraiser at the heart of what we do.

Everywhere+: We keep the sector connected to the people who matter with engaging, accessible and effective virtual events. We’ve worked with over 200 third-sector organisations to host webinars, stewardship, engagement and conferences that put the attendee experience at the heart of everything. Oh, and we make it fun too.

You can find more about our values and how we work here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UiYpxfRVuNdAXVVYIQnevvc7-cgkHFvQ/view?usp=sharing

For more information

If you have questions about us or the role, please contact [email protected]

To find out what we’re like to work with, please get in touch with our references who will be happy to send some details.

Referee (Nikki): Andy King [email protected]
Referee (Simon): Dana Segal [email protected]

This article by Simon Scriver first appeared in the Fundraising Institute of New Zealand magazine.

At one point or another this year I think I've questioned everything we do.

Being a fundraiser is hard enough as it is. I’ve questioned why we came in to 2020 with higher targets and a lower budget...still reporting to our 12-month-bosses on monthly targets in an industry that hopes for an 18 month return on investment.

I’ve questioned us getting in to bed with companies and politicians who create the very problems we address. I’m not sure I can face one more charity’s annual conference that opens with Minister Hyde gushing about the work while Dr Jekyl slashes the budget.

And we weren’t exactly celebrated. It can sometimes feel like we’re criticised from every direction in our role, and besides the odd FINZ award or networking event we don’t get many pats on the back. Fundraising is a lonely job: A successful fundraiser is at the back of the room while those on stage are applauded.

If it was a difficult environment before (and the high turnover of fundraising staff said it was), then 2020 has really shaken our buckets.

There were glimmers of hope. We caught a glimpse of what a world could be: less cars on the road, more time with the ones we loved, a contagious sense of caring, and finally a moment to take a deep breath and ask ourselves what we were doing.

But COVID obliterated fundraising. Let’s be honest here. While there are success stories, small victories and rewards for those who moved quickly, nobody can deny that charities have felt and will feel the effects of this for years to come. I’m thinking of my fundraiser friends: some of whom were quick to be furloughed, suspended or let go. A baffling knee-jerk reaction by some organisations who seemed to forget what a fundraiser’s role is.

Others had survivor’s guilt as they watched friends and co-workers deal with uncertainty. All the while continuing to try and raise money from individuals and companies who were as lost as the rest of us.

Not everyone struggled...in a crisis the rich get richer. We’ve all heard about Zuckerberg, Bezos and Gates snatching even more personal wealth during this global pandemic. But there are ghouls in every corner of the world profiting off the struggles your charity addresses. I try not to think about how our sector hopes against hope that another billionaire will wake up tomorrow feeling generous enough to dip in to their stockpile and decide to sprinkle some equity.

If the politics annoys you, you wouldn’t be the first. One of my badges of honour this year was being told to “stay out of politics and stick to fundraising”, like our whole industry doesn’t exist to clean up the pathogens of a political sneeze.

And that’s what the future holds for us: A full embracing of the idea that we can’t achieve our missions without changing the system.

Fundraising has been a plaster. No, not in a bad way. You might hear someone describe charities as just a plaster, but it’s necessary in the short-term while we address the long-term changes. They work in harmony. If you accidentally chop the end of your finger off you still grab a plaster while you address the inherent flaws in your knife-juggling skills. Fundraising is a plaster. A beautiful, and necessary plaster. A safety net for the vulnerable.

And it also funds change.

It funds our advocacy, our campaigns, our petitions and our protests.

It funds the voices. And it buys louder megaphones.

It helps us change minds and move our followers off fences. It powers a wave of change that trickles in to the laws we live by. It looks beyond the growing waiting lists charities deal with every day and makes changes that will be felt for generations.

I think 2021 is an opportunity. A chance to reset and build on what fundraisers have always done well. We must continue the work we have always done: successful fundraising has allowed and continues to allow our organisations to change lives.

And we must adapt. We must speak louder in a noisy world. We must work together in a divided system. And we must elevate and amplify each other in an understanding that we are working together as a sector. There’s no room for scarcity thinking.

We’ll see a permanently virtual-world. Not an endless lockdown, but even further confirmation that the online and offline worlds don’t operate independently or competitively.

We’ll see the rise of community-centred fundraising and the decline of donor-centred fundraising. We’ll have to question and re-evaluate some of the principles of our fundraising because the world is outgrowing us. It will be a time to be brutally honest about what we’ve been so wrong about.

It won’t be easy. But fundraising never was.

Do you know the story of the starfish? The grumpy old man (who looks like me) spots a boy on a beach throwing starfish back in to the sea?

“What are you doing there, boy?” the old man asked, walking closer.

“I’m saving these starfish that are stranded” replied the boy, “if they stay on the beach they will dry out and die, so I’m putting them back into the ocean so they can live.”

The old man was silent for a few seconds.

“Young boy” he said, “on this stretch of beach alone, there must be more than one hundred stranded starfish. Around the next corner, there must be at least one thousand more. This goes on for miles and miles and miles – I’ve done this walk every day for 10 years, and it’s always the same. There must be millions of stranded starfish! You’ll never make a difference.”

The boy replied “well I just made a difference for that one...now shut up and grab a starfish or help smash the system that allows so many starfish to die. And wear a mask.”

Simon here.

I love the Whiny Donor. A prolific tweeter who has dabbled in blogging, The Whiny Donor is an essential follow for any fundraiser.

I firmly believe charities should learn from each other – why should we all have to make the same mistakes? I learn loads from what The Whiny Donor shares and I constantly aspire to not appear on her Twitter feed. I was lucky enough to have her answer a few questions…

Who are you?

I’m a late-middle-aged American woman, affluent but by no means super-rich. I would characterize myself as a good mid-level donor. Most of the nonprofits my husband and I support are arts & cultural organizations and social service agencies in the city in which we live. I serve on two local boards, so our largest annual donations go to them, and we have given what they would consider major gifts for special campaigns.

How many charities’ mailing lists are you on?

Last year, we donated to around 25 charities. We probably get solicited by about a dozen more.

I feel like I learn from your negative experiences. Is that why you share? Do you think others are improving their donor care because of you?

I started tweeting as The Whiny Donor three years ago. Because I am involved as a volunteer fundraiser, I was an avid reader of Network for Good’s Nonprofit Marketing Blog, which at the time was written by Katya Andresen. I had emailed her about a couple of incidents as a donor that I thought she might address, and she turned it into a blog entitled “An anonymous letter that all fundraisers should read.” It turned out to be very popular, and I realized that the donor’s perspective might be a welcome, necessary addition to the fundraising community. Twitter became my vehicle of choice.

I remain anonymous for a couple of reasons. I don’t want to call out a specific charity for a fundraising fail, so I use the general word “you”. It is never my intent to embarrass anyone directly by naming them. So my readers can’t say to themselves, “OMG, I can’t believe So-and-So did that so horribly!” Instead, they’ll wonder, “OMG, are WE doing that?” On more than one occasion, I’ve had a reader ask if I’m referring to their organization. So far, it’s only been coincidental! But I like to think that I’ve helped some fundraisers take a harder look at some of their practices and perhaps improve them. Of course, my tweets are my personal opinions, peeves and quirks only, never to be confused with tested fundraising research or even general consensus.

Can you give an example of really lovely donor care?

One of my most meaningful donor experiences was a phone call I received from an executive director of a crisis services agency a few days after I sent in my annual donation. He thanked me for my gift, and we had a long conversation about why I supported his organization. A family member has required the kinds of services his agency provides, so it was a deeply personal dialogue, and I was very glad for the opportunity to share my story.

Can you give an example of really awful donor care?

Ironically, this very same organization sent me a generic appeal a few months later. Their reply form listed several giving levels, but they’d circled $50 with a note saying “This will really help!” I give at the $500 level. This isn’t the first time I’ve received an appeal from an organization suggesting I give LESS than my last gift. I can’t imagine why they’d tempt fate like that. I had poured my heart out to their executive director on the phone, so the impersonal appeal was a bucket of cold water.

Trust in charities isn’t great right now. As a donor, what do we need to do to turn this around and what’s the first step?

As for accountability, most of our giving goes to organizations with which we have some personal connection. The majority is given locally, so between news reports, knowing people involved or participating directly ourselves, we have a pretty good idea that the charity is both trustworthy and worthy of our support.

What would a charity have to do to get you involved, and make the first donation?

I’m not sure how a charity could get me to be a new donor. I’m particularly unlikely to respond to a new solicitation from a national charity. But my husband is different–every so often, something captures his imagination and he’ll make a one-time donation. Maybe it’s a left brain-right brain thing (he majored in engineering; I majored in English), but he cares not a whit for stewardship, whereas I’m looking for a long-term relationship. Stewardship is what makes my mid-level gifts creep higher over the years. For example, I attended a “See Us in Action” event last summer, and that resulted directly in an increase in our year-end annual donation.

I’ve heard experts say that there’s no such thing as over-solicitation, but I have certainly stopped giving to charities who have sent me too much direct mail, and I unsubscribe when it feels like I’m getting too many emails. How do I measure “too much?” Hard to say. When it irritates me, it’s too much.

You know that feeling? When you write to your mailing list and someone unsubscribes? Your stomach turns, your eyes water up, and for a brief moment you consider e-mailing them to ask, “Why don’t you love me anymore?”

But remember, good fundraising isn’t about making everyone care about you…it’s about caring for the few that do.

Unsubscribing isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

If the alternative is for someone to sit on your mailing list indefinitely, never engaging, never taking action, then wouldn’t you rather be rid of them? In fact, Jon Lloyd at Fundraising Is Awesome said recently, “you should think seriously about actively unsubscribing anyone who’s been inactive for 3 months or more.”

While you mull that over, here’s 4 ways you can reduce the chances of your active readers from unsubscribing:

Be Human

The more human your e-mail sounds and appears, the less likely we are to unsubscribe. Nobody unsubscribes from humans…we unsubscribe from organisations. You can do this by writing from an individual e-mail address as opposed to an ‘info’ or ‘fundraising’ address. Consider sending plain text e-mails sometimes, or at least reducing the bells, whistles, images and excessive formatting (please stop centring your text). Read the content out loud before you send it…if it doesn’t sound like the way you speak then change it.

Segment Your Data

Where possible, segment your data so you’re sending relevant content to relevant people. Or at least, suppressing people who have no interest in a particular mail. For example, I’m on the mailing list of a organisation because I went to their event in Dublin. I’m interested in future events taking place in Dublin. But they keep sending me e-mails about their events being run by their chapters in places like London and Yorkland and Sandwich-Upon-Time. The chances of me being there are slim to none. But if they do insist on trying to cross-sell me then they should tack it in as part of a mail I will be interested in: “Here’s the next Dublin event…and you might also be interested in these.” But instead they’re sending me mails wholly dedicated to non-local events. It just takes one of these irrelevant e-mails to nudge me to unsubscribe…and then I’m gone forever.

E-mail When You Have Something To Say

Rather than deciding to e-mail once a week or once a month and then scrambling to find content, consider keeping a more flexible schedule where you e-mail when you have good content. When you send out fluff to meet a deadline, you’re sending sub-standard e-mails that encourage unsubscribes. And if you don’t have enough good content then let’s work to gather and create more.

Offer Value

Always ask yourself, what value am I providing to the reader? Donor-centred and #DonorLove rules. If you’ve won an award or achieved something, consider why the reader should care. Try shifting the tone from “we have won an award” to “because of you we have won an award”, or even better, “your support has been recognised and we were privileged to pick up this award on behalf of you!”

You’d be forgiven for thinking that fundraising is all about asking for money.

But a good fundraiser knows that that’s actually only a small part of the job. The real time consuming stuff, and the really important stuff, is the things that happen before and after the asks. In fact, if you get really good at the ‘inbetween’ stuff, you start to see your asks get easier and your results get better.

And yet we neglect these things.

Why?

Because they don’t feel like fundraising.

But it’s a false economy. Making a bunch of cold calls and asking for money or gifts in kind feels like fundraising. Posting social media post after social media post asking for donations feels like fundraising. Organising a big gala ball or a golf classic even feels like fundraising because of all of the little transactions along the way.

But are they the best use of your time?

The best fundraisers I know carve time in their schedule for fundraising that doesn’t feel like fundraising. And if you want to see your results improve then perhaps ask less and do the following 8 things more:

  1. Conversations with Staff & Beneficiaries - We have nothing if we don’t have stories that demonstrate the work of our nonprofits. Someone once said to me that a fundraiser not collecting stories is like a sports writer not going to watch sport. So it’s important we make time to sit down with staff and beneficiaries (if possible) to ask them questions and build our story bank.
  2. Thank you letters and calls - By now we should all be subscribed to the ‘Ask, Thank, Report’ mentality, but how many times do we dismiss a thank you letter as a simple receipt? Actually, a thank you is one of our most important (and my favourite) fundraising tools. The better the thank you, the more likely you are to get further support. It shouldn’t just be read and then binned…it should be so amazing that the reader tells their friends and family.
  3. Asking Questions - Asking your supporters questions is a great way to find out more about your followers and to help them feel engaged. And actually, it’s a great bit of content when you can’t think of or don’t have time to write something new. Haven’t mailed your mailing list for a while? Try emailing them, “Hey! Just wondering if I can ask why you signed up in the first place?”
  4. Prospect Research and Cultivation - The more we know about our potential corporates and major donors the better our ask. Let’s move away from writing out our standard proposal and printing hundreds of copies. Instead let’s take the time to learn as much as possible and build that relationship to the point that our proposal is pretty much just a personalised confirmation.
  5. Teaching Volunteers to Fundraise - Your volunteers raise more when you teach them how to fundraise. They don’t sit at home thinking about fundraising, they don’t know what to suggest to their employer, they don’t know what to email to their family, and they don’t know what wording to use on their Facebook. A bit of encouragement and a bit of guidance goes a long way and is proven to help them raise more. Certainly worth the time it takes to make a quick phone call.
  6. Networking - Yes it sucks and you’ll probably feel really anxious at first. But networking doesn’t have to be a nightmare. It’s actually a great opportunity to meet people who share your values. People whose goals you can help achieve. And people who can help you. It’s no secret…the more people you know and the more people that want to help you, the easier fundraising (and life) is. So let’s get out there and start listening.
  7. Learning From Other Fundraisers - There’s only so much you can learn from fundraising courses and books. In fact, with some fundraising qualifications you don’t actually learn anything. No…most of our learnings come from other fundraisers. Why make the same mistake your peer made two years ago? Fundraisers are notoriously generous with their time and support and for the price of a cup of hot chocolate you can pick the brains of some of the world’s best.
  8. Self-Care - Fundraising is a tough job. One of the toughest. It’s mentally exhausting and emotionally draining. And it’s limitless…you can always be doing more. And your boss, your Board and your donors will take as much as you give them. The only person that can clock you off is you. So schedule time for self care, switch off your phone and do something that makes you forget about fundraising.

© Fundraising Everywhere.
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