Not Your Father’s Fundraising Podcast

The holiday season is important for nonprofit fundraising, but no week can even compare to the last week of the year. Year End campaigns can bring in 15-25% (or more!) of an organization's overall revenue. But how do you make sure your Year End campaign is as effective as it can be?

Ryan and Steve walk through easy things you can do to maximize the impact you can have in the last few days of the year. What do you say? Where do you say it? When do you say it?

Unintentionally, Ryan and Steve turned this into a two-part episode. Last week, they talked through a micro view of how to evaluate your fundraising (ROI, income generated overall, performance of each impact). 

But this week is a macro look--if your fundraising is (or isn't) working, what does that look like for your organization's "vital signs"? And more importantly, what do you do if you don't like what you see?

Also:

Warm cookies

Repeat, repeat...repeat

Golfer who disappeared...never to be heard from again (not really, but he did disappear from the PGA Tour)

You put in all that hard work to create your fundraising impacts and get them to the right donors at the right time. But, then, how do you know if it's working?

Ryan and Steve talk about what metrics to follow, which don't matter, and which can deceive you into thinking you're doing better than you really are.

The only thing as important as getting new donors is KEEPING the donors you've acquired. 

Ryan and Steve walk through how to calculate donor retention, what a good retention percentage looks like, and how to raise yours if it's not where it should be. 

We know that email is a viable form of fundraising. But, not all emails do well and bring in a lot of donations--and it can be hard to determine exactly what (if anything) went wrong. 

Also on this episode:

Newsletters that bury the interesting parts

An early Giving Tuesday tip

Follow @AlexLlull on Twitter if you're looking to build a Twitter audience

oneicity.com/pod

podcast@oneicity.com

Your emails to podcast@oneicity.com really will get answered, and this episode is proof!

In this mailbag episode, Ryan and Steve answer:

How to start a Millennial strategy

How do you plan a big event right now?

The best way to fundraise on Giving Tuesday

Data. The database. Donor records. They're not as flashy as copywriting or art design, but they can have just as big an impact on your fundraising results as anything else. 

In this special episode, Kris Hoots (President and Founder of Oneicity) joins Ryan and Steve to talk about:

Why you should love data. Ways you could be using it incorrectly. How using the right data can instantly improve your fundraising ROI. 

Donors are the lifeblood of your organization, and their support is what allows you to accomplish your mission. 

...but they're also wrong. A lot. 

Ryan and Steve talk about the most common ways donors are wrong and how to engage with them and (nicely) set them straight. 

Also:

Ryan talks about an email he never received

Why recommendations about longer social posts miss the point

A book to help you find courage. 

Find us at oneicity.com/pod 

You sent out direct mail fundraising, and no matter how often or seldom you check the results...they're not good. What went wrong?

Ryan and Steve go over the 8 reasons why that appeal failed, and how to fix it. 

Also:

Using the same envelope and teaser year over year

Deadly in-person fundraising events

Refine vs. redesign

Snopes.com telling...lies?

Visit oneicity.com/pod for video episodes, and see why they have faces for podcasting.

Last Episode, Ryan and Steve talked about why you shouldn't be thanking your donors (and what you should do instead). This week they go over the ways you can validate your donors.

Also:

Steve gripes about how unhappy he was with Episode 19

Ryan opens an invitation for an event but isn't sure what it's for.

Steve uses alliteration.

Ryan saves the goldfish.

When you receive a gift from a donor, do you thank them? 

This week, Ryan and Steve talk about why that may not be the best thing to do. 

Also:

How the Post Office's digital offerings affect your direct mail

Don't have a match? Create one.

Check your results, but at planned intervals (not EVERY day)

Flamin' Hot Cheetos

Just like Ryan and his kids...you don't love all your gifts equally. Undesignated gifts, that can be used for any part of your organization or mission, have the biggest impact...but how do you get more of them?

Also:

Ryan unboxes a piece of mail live on air

Your fundraising should be emotional, but your fundraising strategy shouldn't be

The impact of a two word email

Hard butter in Canada (nope, not a typo)

The first mailbag episode--Ryan and Steve answer your questions sent in to podcast@oneicity.com.

How early is too early to talk about Thanksgiving?

Should you use fundraising gimmicks?

How do you get started nonprofit fundraising?

How do you show donors your leader's personality without it being an ego trip?

What makes a good fundraising story?

How do you use scaffolding AND tell a story in fundraising?

Does copy lead the art direction? Or, does the image dictate the words? 

No matter which side of the debate you fall on, you need to use images--and they need to be effective. Are effective images beautiful? Happy? Sad? Stereotypes?

Like so many things, it depends. 

Come along with us as we dive in to how to choose and use images that will actually support your fundraising instead of detract from it.

Also:

Call to Action GIFs in email

Giving to your own organization

What a hostage negotiator can teach us about fundraising

You know you need to ask donors for a gift. Do you give them amounts to choose from--if so, that's an ask array? Let them choose their own amount? If you give donors choices, how do you order those choices? Ryan and Steve answer these questions and SO MUCH MORE!

Also:

Ryan and Steve argue over streaming services. 

What your fundraising can learn from HBO Max. 

Why knowing what you don't know is more important than knowing what you do know.

The placebo effect...is a placebo?

No matter how big your organization is, you're on the look out for new donors (or, you should be). 

But like everything in life, it's easier said than done. 

Ryan and Steve talk about why you need to focus on acquiring new donors, where to find them, and most importantly how to bring them in. 

Also:

Ryan gets thanked by an organization for something he didn't do. 

Steve talks about being antifragile. 

The one question you need to answer in every piece of your fundraising. 

And, Matt Damon. 

Maybe 2020 was a banner year for your fundraising. Or, maybe it was a year to forget. Either way, how should you approach donors in 2021?

Inbox, mailbox. Same thing, as far as many of your donors are concerned. So how do you make sure your fundraising message is cohesive across the two mediums? Ryan and Steve explain easy ways to do it--and why it's vital if you want to survive in the future. 

2020 was the year of the virtual event. 2021 will probably have a mixture of in person and virtual events. But the playbook for a successful event is the same, no matter what kind of event you're throwing. 

So you've bought into the need for your leader to strategically reveal things about them...but now what? How do you even start?

Ryan and Steve go through the steps of how to make your leader jump off the page and be there with your donors when they read your mail or email. 

Also:

Ryan continues to wish he hadn't pitched this as an episode topic

Steve does his best to keep Ryan off balance 

Have you ever felt like you've made a huge mistake when agreeing to something? Steve did at around the 8:45 mark in this episode he agreed to do.

You've probably heard the fundraising phrase, "People give to people". It's true, but not just about the people (or animals) your organization is trying to help. "People give to people" also applies to the person signing the letter from your organization.

Also on this episode:

Ryan wonders if he's bitten off more than he can chew.

Why you should give to other organizations (and which ones).

(Most of the regular segments were skipped this week because we knew it was going to be long)

We created a guide to developing Leader Voice for your organization after the recording of the episode. If the strategies we talked about sound interesting but you're not sure how to apply it to your leader and organization, email podcast@oneicity.com and we'll send you the guide. 

In this episode, Ryan and Steve talk about why email shouldn't be a fundraising afterthought anymore. 

Also:

• In Mail Call, Ryan reviews an email he got that seemed like it was from a friend
• Easy things to test in your emails
• If you're only going to do this one thing to be a better fundraiser, it's this

A couple episodes ago, Ryan and Steve ticked off designers by explaining that good, beautiful design isn't effective design--now it's the copywriters' turn to send in angry emails (to podcast@oneicity.com)!

Having the best idea, compelling offer, and attention-grabbing lede doesn't mean anything if the writing in your appeal isn't effective for fundraising. That doesn't mean your English professor would give it an "A", but your donors' opinion matters more anyway. 

They also discuss:

Organizations that over-email

The best way to write is with your voice

A daily habit to become a better writer

Can you have Newsletters that raise significant amounts of money while still engaging donors and informing them about what's going on at your organization?

Yes...as long as it's easier to read than the example letter Ryan has in Mail Call.  

Getting a gift from a donor is amazing, but it's even better when you can have that gift matched. 

Ryan and Steve discuss how best to talk about matches to donors, and how you can use matches to increase results in both cultivation and acquisition.  

Mail Call: 

"This month at [organization name]" 

Dollar bills inside envelopes?

Something You Should be Doing If You're Not Already: 

Evaluating your ask amounts

On Your Radar:

How to Lie With Statistics

If your organization has been around for more than 12 months, you have lapsed donors. "That's all well and good," you say. "But how do I get them back?" Ryan and Steve discuss reactivating those donors, an email data fail, and more. 

Ryan and Steve talk about telling fundraising stories, mail that's (literally) hard to see, and why you should plan your fourth quarter fundraising now--even it's April or May. 

Major Donors. You know you need them, but how do you find them? In Episode 2, Ryan and Steve talk about how to acquire major donors...and cooking recipes.  

When a donor gives you a gift, you're probably responding with "Thank You". In person, in writing, or both. But...is that the best thing to do?