Charitable donations from fundraising were down last year. But receipts from fundraising are expected to increase year over year in 2017. However, even if that happens, fundraising continues to be tough. And it can become even more difficult when factors like a high level of economic or leadership uncertainty are figured in.
According to a May study by the Nonprofit Research Collaborative, for the first time since 2013, a lower share of survey participants reported increased charitable receipts in the year. That measure came in at 61 percent last year. That was compared with 65 percent in 2015.
“When asked to predict fundraising receipts in 2017, two-thirds in the U.S. projected increases,” added the Nonprofit Research Collaborative. “However, nearly half (46 percent) expressed concerns about economic and political change that might affect charitable giving. A third (34 percent) expressed concern about organization-level activity, such as leadership, marketing, and staffing. The remainder (20 percent) noted challenges in fundraising processes, whether building major gifts capacity, acquiring new donors, or using online technologies effectively.”
That said, it’s important for organizations involved in fundraising to take as much control as possible over the factors that they can manage. And that includes how they communicate their message to potential donors, the number of people they reach with those messages, and how to make use of their fundraising time and resources.
A recent blog from VanillaSoft suggests that organizations write their own fundraising scripts – rather than borrowing from others – or working with outside consultants to do so. That way, the firm explains, organizations can be sure they’re communicating exactly what they intend to convey.
Those involved in outreach during fundraising should also take care to formulate effective voicemail messages, VanillaSoft says.
“Every touch point a prospect has with your company shapes their overall perception,” notes VanillaSoft. “Every email, voicemail, brochures, Web page, and sales interaction is catalogued away in the prospects mind and shapes what that prospect thinks about your company and ultimately your product or service. When cold calling, the sales voicemail is often the first impression.”
VanillaSoft says it can also be very useful to leverage solutions with progressive auto dialing and next-best donor calling logic to increase contact rates and pick the lowest hanging fruit. And, it says, logical branch scripting keeps quick answers at agents’ fingertips.
Edited by Alicia Young