5 Ways to Increase Revenue

Article by: Alison Finkel, Event360

With fall events in full swing, it’s likely that you’re looking for quick and actionable ways to boost revenue. Here are five proven ideas to give an extra boost to your fundraising results this season. These ideas don’t require a strategic shift or a lot of development time. But, they each offer great potential for deeper investment from the participants and donors who are already interacting with your event!

These tips are presented in order from the fastest and easiest to implement to the ones that may take a little more investment and integration on the part of your team. Good luck and have a great event season!

1. Bump up the suggested donation giving levels on your donation form
Take a look at most event websites and you’ll find the same pre-set suggested donation levels on every page. Usually in $25 increments, this is the default language provided by most event databases.

Event 360 worked with several organizations to see if we could increase average gift size per donor by simply bumping up the suggested donation amounts at each level. In other words, could an organization pick up an extra $5 or $10 per donor by simply changing the preset values on the donation form from $25 to $30 or from $50 to $60?

The answer is YES. In our test, we found that by changing the preset amount from $25 to $35, the percentage of donors choosing $25 fell 10%, but the percentage of donors choosing $35 increased 13%. So, 10% of event donors suddenly gave 10% more just by making this small change!

A word of caution, though: don’t get greedy! Changing preset levels from $50 to $60 gave a bump to average donation size. However, changing preset levels from $50 to $75 had a negative impact. In that test, the use of the $30 donation level increased by 33%!

There is also some question about whether listing suggested levels from high to low or low to high is best. Our tests have revealed that low to high generates better average giving. More important than the order of the suggested levels is having the ‘other amount’ box at the top of the section.

Finally, the use of case statements on the donation page did not show consistent results. A case statement connects the donation to the organization’s mission. An example of this could be “$100 funds the installation of a new toilet in three homes.” If you’re considering case statements, think about how closely they connect to your organization’s mission. If there’s a strong and direct tie in, you may want to include them. However, if it’s a stretch to make a fit, it’s better to leave them out!

2. Sweeten the Deal
Is there an opportunity to reconnect with your event donors for an incremental donation this season? The Susan G. Komen 3-Day offers the opportunity for donors to send a personal note and a custom chocolate to the participant they’re supporting in exchange for an additional donation.

The ‘ask’ with this program is extremely unique; the 3-Day isn’t asking for an additional donation to that participant’s fundraising account. Instead, they offer a highly personal and one-of-a-kind opportunity to connect with a loved one or teammate while they’re on the event. 

3. Ask Participants to Top Off Their Registration Fee
What percentage of your event participants visit the website exactly once when they register? Chances are, it’s somewhere between 75% and 90%. Make the most of this interaction because it’s the only chance you’ll have to connect with them, not just as a registrant but as a fundraiser!

Include a section on the registration form that provides the opportunity for the participant to make an additional donation when they register. But, like the pre-set donation levels, you can’t just throw in a generic box on the registration page and expect results. Be sure to include two important pieces of information:

• Make a strong and relevant ask: Why should this registrant also be a donor?
• Provide a suggested and relevant amount to give: What is the right amount based on the ask you just provided?

When Event 360 tested this with one of our clients, they saw great results! The percentage of registrants making a self-donation increased by 12% and the average (mean) donation increased by 5%. In addition, people who make a self-donation at registration are great targets for additional engagement and communications about fundraising.
4. Identify Existing Fundraisers with the Potential to Raise More
Turning registrants into fundraisers is the most difficult challenge for event fundraisers. Your participants who are fundraising have already cleared this hurdle. By raising funds for your organization, they’re demonstrating a connection to your mission and the desire to do more than just participate. Is your event doing all it can to promote fundraising among this dedicated group of participants? By segmenting your database and putting together corresponding communications and tools for each segment, you can get more from your fundraising program.

Here are some places to look for key fundraisers among your registrants:

• Repeat participants, particularly those who have participated three or more times.
• Team captains
• Key affinity (grantee, survivor or co-survivor, etc.)
• Anyone who has raised at least $1
• Anyone who has logged in to their online tool center/participant page
• Anyone who gave a self-donation at registration

On one project Event 360 consulted on, just by targeting specific communications and tools to anyone who was sending fundraising emails from their participant account, giving increased 17% in that segment.

Remember that putting together a segmented communication plan goes hand in hand with providing tools, tips and recognition that match each segment. Your organization needs to deliver both in order to maximize fundraising potential.

5. Treat Top Fundraisers Like Top Donors
Most organizations have a fairly robust stewardship program for major gifts and top fundraisers. But, surprisingly, those same organizations don’t carry those programs over from their traditional development activities into their event activities. Just like donors, among event participants, the top 20% of performers are raising at least 80% of the funds.

By setting up a clear engagement and recognition strategy for top fundraisers, your event could see fundraising improvement within this existing group of participants. One project we worked on increased total fundraising revenue by 6% even though registration only increased by 1%. They did this by focusing on providing better tools, recognition and stewardship to their top fundraising group. As a result, 50% of the incremental donations collected on this project came from those participants. This resulted in an increase of nearly $270,000 for the program.

Here are some aspects to consider when developing a program to support top fundraisers:

• Set clear and simple recognition tiers for high fundraising
• Consider what kinds of perks or recognition is a good fit with the program you’re managing
• Increase awareness of top-performer programs
• Increase access to tools and support for this participant group all year round, particularly pre-season. Note that this could include additional investment in staff resources for this group or program.

When Stewardship Becomes Collections

I recently had an interesting – and thought-provoking, and ultimately disappointing – set of interactions with a large nonprofit. The name of the specific institution is not important for the story, but suffice it to say that it has played an important role in my life and I’ve always felt proud to support it.

Several years ago, after a lot of conversation and reflection, my wife and I decided to commit to what was, at least for us, a fairly major gift to the group. The gift would require a bit of sacrifice and planning, and reflected our commitment to the organization for the long-term. Note that when I call the gift “major,” I use “major” in the sense that I think it should be, but is seldom, used in the nonprofit space – that is, the gift was major to us as the donors. Alas, it soon became apparent that the gift wasn’t really all that important to the institution.

We made the pledge online. A few days later, we got a call from the group. “Oh,” I thought to myself, “that’s nice – they must be calling to thank us.” I was pretty surprised when the voice on the phone said, “I need to get you to sign your gift commitment paper.” A ha. (Message: We’re a big institution. We don’t trust you.)

The thank-you call never came, although we did get a form letter a month or two later. I noticed that our credit card, however, was charged right away. (Message: Your money means a lot. Your support is secondary.)

About six months later, we got the requisite annual report in the mail. Wow, was it big and thick and glossy! I read the letter from the President, thumbed through the first few pages, and then looked for our name. And looked. And looked. There we were, way in the back of the book. At least I think it was there – the type was pretty small. (Message: You were right! That gift didn’t matter much to us at all.)

The last straw came when I got a solicitation email several weeks ago. The solicitation email didn’t ask us to renew to meet a mission goal, or offer examples of what they did with the first gift, or enumerate their need, or outline aspirations for the year ahead. The solicitation email said, “Our fiscal year is about to end.” (Message: You’re right, your donations are just revenue to us.)  I was pretty floored. I can’t remember seeing a donor communication that was less donor-centric.

So we made a difficult decision and decided not to renew our pledge. Not because we needed more recognition or thanks -- that’s not why we donated in the first place. But because, it is clear to us that, at least in our community, there are a large number of smaller organizations who need and will appreciate our donation a lot more than this one does. I wrote to the institution to explain our decision, and invited them to contact us, but predictably we never heard from anyone. (Message: You made the right decision.)

What’s the lesson? Maybe the lesson is that my wife and I are selfish and need a lot of care and feeding. Could be. But I’d venture to guess that your nonprofit’s donor base is full of people just like us. We don’t want to be at the center of your world -- but we do want to know that you’re trying to change the world, and that our part plays a role.

In terms of specific advice, you probably already know this, but I’ll say it anyway: Thank your donors; speak to them in their language instead of yours; communicate in segments so that messages are as tailored as possible; and most of all, talk about impact instead of need. It really does matter, and I’m writing that not as a fundraiser, but more importantly, as a donor.

Article by: Jeff Shuck, Event360

Are You Thanking Your Donors?

Are You Treating Your Donors Right?  The Quiz.
By: Katya Andresen, Network for Good

With the Network for Good team, I just created a mini-course on thanking donors.  It’s a self-guided tour to writing great thank-yous and treating donors well all year - so they will give again!  (It’s not free, but I immodestly think this guide to stewardship is worth every penny.  Learn more here.)

So do you treat your donors well?  To figure it out, take this quiz.  (It’s free.)

And remember the rock bottom, bare minimums when it comes to donor stewardship!

1. ALWAYS THANK YOUR DONORS: Always.  No exceptions.

2. THANK THEM EARLY: You should thank your donors within a few days of their gift.

3. THANK THEM OFTEN:  Thank your donors several times, over time, and keep reporting back on the difference they have made.

4. THANK THEM ACCURATELY: Make sure you have correctly spelled the donor’s name, stated the amount and date of the donation, included appropriate language for taxes and carefully noted if the gift was made in honor of someone else.

If I had a dollar for every charity that didn’t do these four things when I gave…

10 Strategic Must-Dos for Event Fundraisers in 2012

By: Meghan Dankovich
Vice President, Fundraising Strategy
Event360

I know, you've given up on making New Year's resolutions. (You're just going to end up breaking them anyway, right?) Well, I've compiled some New Year's resolutions that you can actually keep. And don't worry — none of them involve dieting.

These are 10 strategic ways to improve your event fundraising in 2012. Enjoy and Happy New Year!

1. Integrate your mission into the participant experience. Events are a prime opportunity to strengthen participants' connection with your mission. You can do this in a variety of ways, such as: Featuring impact statements on route signs and elsewhere Having people whom your organization has helped speak at the event Posting an honor wall where participants can write their thoughts

2. Highlight the mission in post-event communications. The new year is a great time to catch your breath and gauge the impact your organization has had over the past 12 months. How much progress have you made toward achieving your mission? Particularly for nonprofits that focus on research, progress can be difficult to quantify. In these cases, make sure you explain your mission-oriented accomplishments in language that participants and other supporters can understand.

3. Take part in your own events. The best way to inspire passion in yourself and your staff is to take part in or volunteer at your organization's events. Being a bystander isn't enough. By completing the walk or working a water stand, you'll gain a deeper understanding of what your organization is doing right — and where you can improve. So put the date(s) on your calendar now!

4. Extend your thank-yous. So many people are involved in your organization's success. Take a minute to thank them now. And I don't mean sending out another appeal under the guise of a thank-you. Call up that woman who organized a big team for this year's run. Drop a note to that loyal donor (bonus: you'll be in his head as tax season approaches). Explain to that sponsor how their logo was prominently featured and find out how you can make this a mutually beneficial partnership moving forward.

5. Clearly define what constitutes success. Establish quantifiable goals for your events that you can measure against. What are your intentions with the event? Have you made changes to the experience, logistics or income model but haven't also implemented the metrics needed to evaluate the outcomes of those changes? Examples of metrics include dollars raised per individual, number of gifts per participant, number of emails sent by participants and overall costs. Once you have metrics in place, measure them consistently and follow them year over year, it's easier to know when you've succeeded — or where you have more work to do.

6. Nail down and communicate your strategic goals. Be sure to define the organization's strategic goals and how you expect your events to contribute to them. This helps articulate organizational direction and demonstrate how it will be achieved. For instance, "Let's increase overall development revenue by $250,000 — x% from fundraising events, x% from major gifts, x% from the annual direct mail campaign, etc." Then, communicate this goal to your key constituents while tying it in with your mission (i.e. how will the additional funds help your organization further achieve its mission?).

7. Cut costs where you can. Put on your accountant's hat and closely scrutinize your paid services for your events. Can you identify creative ways to reduce vendor costs? Could you offset some expenses with sponsorships?

8. Increase use of personal fundraising pages. Event participants who actively use their personal fundraising page tend to raise more money than those who communicate via offline channels. Offer incentives or challenges to encourage participants to use the email account associated with their personal fundraising page. Send email reminders of the valuable tools available through their personal fundraising page. In short, do whatever you can to get more participants on board.

9. Go to where your audience is. Are you incorporating a broader digital communications strategy to reach out to your participants? Think Twitter, Facebook, other social media and free advertising on websites they might visit. And if you are using those channels, do you have an integrated communications calendar to ensure the messages you send are consistent and timed appropriately?

10. Evaluate how you spend your own time. Your organization's events deserve the best you have to offer. Are you getting distracted by the little details that prevent you from focusing on the big picture? If so, start looking for ways to delegate those countless tasks to others. Calling to recruit past team captains, running training or informational meetings, overseeing grassroots recruiting events — these are all things that staff or even volunteers can probably take off your plate.

What's on your must-do list for the year? Share with us your goals and ideas for a successful 2012.

Happy New Year!

Thought this was a great Happy New Year email from the Alzheimer's Association.  I like that there is not  a solicitation or ask attached to it.  They used good colors, great photos, and straightforward short text, which I bet increases the amount of people who will read it.  Nice work, Alz!

Having trouble reading this email? View it on your browser   The Alzheimer’s Association is the leading voluntary health organization in Alzheimer care, support and research. Our mission is to eliminate Alzheimer’s disease through the advancement of research; to provide and enhance care and support for all affected; and to reduce the risk of dementia through the promotion of brain health. Our vision is a world without Alzheimer’s disease.

Social Contagion

Four ways to inject social contagion into your outreach in 2012

A recent review of more than 20 academic papers on social contagion, published in the book Consumer Insights: Findings From Behavioral Research, shows that consumers are heavily influenced not only by word of mouth - which we all know by now—but also by merely observing the behaviors of others, even if no communication takes place.

In your outreach in 2012, make sure that you keep this in mind.  Here are some ideas on how to apply these findings:
1. Include social sharing links in all of your outreach to encourage word of mouth
2. Include a quote from a donor about why they support you on your home page
3. Have beneficiaries write your acknowledgements to encourage work of mouth
4. Have donors or volunteers write your next appeal, with details on why they support you

Remember, you are rarely as effective a messenger as your supporters are.

Post by: Katya Andresen, Network for Good

Merry Christmas Email

I recently got a Merry Christmas email from my Catholic high school.  It was very simple - just a nice image with warm wishes this holiday season.  However, one addition really caught my eye.  They attached a YouTube video of the high school's choir singing a Christmas song at a recent concert.  How cool is that?  And fairly easy too!  Next email campaign (whether it is a thank you or a solicitation) you send out, consider attaching a video clip of the beneficiaries of your nonprofit.  This visual treat really demonstrates where your donations are going.

Enjoy the gift of song (Sing Me Noel) that Dowling Catholic choral students shared recently at their Christmas concert.