Strengthening Relationships

Hello everyone,
 
I hope you have been well. I wanted to use this month’s Calibration Point to get you thinking about follow up and follow through. January and February are good months to follow up and follow through on your fourth quarter invitations to give. The fact that individuals did not give in the fourth quarter in response to your appeal does not mean that they have no interest. We hear from many donors in the field that they often just forgot to respond to an invitation to give. They planned to follow through, but they needed to follow up. 
 
A post appeal follow up touch is shown to have a significant impact on response rates. Typically, once you are about 6 weeks out from your appeal, the amount raised is about 80% of what you will "likely" receive. We recommend going out about 2-3 weeks and conducting a follow up touch. With that in mind, let’s consider a “follow up so donors can follow through” strategy. It is really simple.    
 
1. Identify donors who did not respond to your fourth quarter calendar year appeal by the end of 2021 and focus on that group for a personalized follow up communication.
 
2. Resend these donors an invitation to give along with a personal letter, note, or phone call. Let them know that you are thankful for their continued consideration of being a partner with you in 2022 and investing in those you serve. Note that you are resending the invitation to invest in that partnership in case the first one was misplaced. Consider including an insert of your board, mission and vision and the theme for the coming year.  
 
3. Keep track of donors’ responses.
 
4. Thank donors as they give.
 
That’s pretty well it. Follow up, so your donors can follow through. Many organizations don’t follow up out of fear donors will get mad. If the donor is a transaction and your solicitation reflects that, you bet, they will get mad. This is not because you followed up, but because you are just resending a transactional appeal to them. On the other hand, if you engage them personally as a relationship that matters and share an opportunity to make a difference, donors don’t get mad. Instead, they get thankful. This is because your focus is building relationships, not getting checks. Good luck as you follow up, so donors can follow through!
 
Sincerely,
 
Jamie