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Fundraising Verse of the Week

Bring Joy to Your Donors

by Ron Haas
June 9, 2024

“May those who fear you rejoice when they see me, for I have put my hope in your word.” (Psalm 119:74)

Perhaps you’ve seen this funny poster, “Everyone brings joy to this office. Some when they enter. Some when they leave.” Major donor work involves face to face visits in people’s homes or offices. We all bring joy to our donors, but is it when we arrive or leave? Are they glad to welcome you, or do they hide behind the curtains hoping you will think they’re not home? What can you do to make sure you bring joy to your donors? This simple verse shares four key insights.

I have put my hope in your word.
No matter what your mission statement is, the reason your ministry exists is to be the hands and feet of Jesus. You are not just providing a quality education; you are instilling principles from God’s word. You are not just feeding the hungry, you are hoping your guests will respond to God’s kindness. You are not just caring for physical needs; you are caring for souls. Your ministry partners love you because you have put your hope in the Word and are attempting to do what it says.

May those who fear you
Your commitment to the Bible limits your potential donor pool. Some secular donors may appreciate the temporal work you do even though they don’t resonate with your eternal work. Should you take money from those who don’t align with your faith? Salvation Army founder William Booth is often quoted as saying, “the problem with tainted money is there t’aint enough.” Yet, recent scandals from high profile donors are prompting some nonprofit organizations to have reconsider their policies.

Rejoice
Generosity stirs emotions of the giver and the receiver. “God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7). You think you’re excited to receive a large gift, but your donors are even more excited to give it. The Macedonians gave a sacrificial gift to Paul so he could share with the poor believers suffering in Jerusalem. Paul was amazed at their generosity, “In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity” (2 Corinthians 8:2).

When they see me
Face to face fundraising is the gold standard strategy for connecting with your ministry partners. Many ministry leaders find it very difficult to visit with their donors. A very successful grandparent was identified in a feasibility study. He loved his grandchildren and had given, but the school’s development director had never visited him. The director even said, “If you lined him up in a crowd, I couldn’t identify him.” Unfortunately, the donor had no idea what the development director looked like either.

Think About This: Follow Paul’s example, “And they praised God because of me” (Galatians 1:24). In your desire to visit your donors, don’t overstay your welcome. A pastor had a reputation for making long hospital calls. He thought spending enormous amounts of time showed how much he cared, but he didn’t understand the law of diminishing returns.

Response: Father, forgive me for not spending quality time with my key donors. Help me make personal visits a primary strategy for engaging our donors.

Have a Spirit-led Fundraising Week!

Ron Haas has served the Lord as a pastor, the vice president of advancement of a Bible college, a Christian foundation director, a board member and a fundraising consultant. He’s authored three books: Ask for a Fish – Bold Faith-Based Fundraising, Simply Share – Bold, Grace-Based Giving, and Keep on Asking – Bold, Spirit-Led Fundraising. He regularly presents fundraising workshops at ministry conferences and has written fundraising articles for  Christian Leadership Alliance’s Outcomes magazine.

Fundraising Verse of the Week

Bring Joy to Your Donors

by Ron Haas
June 2, 2021

“May those who fear you rejoice when they see me, for I have put my hope in your word” (Psalm 119:74).

Perhaps you’ve seen this funny poster, “Everyone brings joy to this office. Some when they enter. Some when they leave.” Major donor work involves face to face visits in people’s homes or offices. We all bring joy to our donors, but is it when we arrive or leave? Are they glad to welcome you, or do they hide behind the curtains hoping you will think they’re not home? What can you do to make sure you bring joy to your donors? This simple verse shares four key insights.

I have put my hope in your word.

No matter what your mission statement is, the reason your ministry exists is to be the hands and feet of Jesus. You are not just providing a quality education; you are instilling principles from God’s word. You are not just feeding the hungry, you are hoping your guests will respond to God’s kindness. You are not just caring for physical needs; you are caring for souls. Your ministry partners love you because you have put your hope in the Word and are attempting to do what it says.

May those who fear you

Your commitment to the Bible limits your potential donor pool. Some secular donors may appreciate the temporal work you do even though they don’t resonate with your eternal work. Should you take money from those who don’t align with your faith? Salvation Army founder William Booth is often quoted as saying, “the problem with tainted money is there t’aint enough.” Yet, recent scandals from high profile donors are prompting some nonprofit organizations to have difficult conversations.

Rejoice

Generosity stirs emotions of the giver and the receiver. “God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7). You think you’re excited to receive a large gift, but your donors are even more excited to give it. The Macedonians gave a sacrificial gift to Paul so he could share with the poor believers suffering in Jerusalem. Paul was amazed at their generosity, “In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity” (2 Corinthians 8:2).

When they see me

Face to face fundraising is the gold standard strategy for connecting with your ministry partners. Many ministry leaders find it very difficult to visit with their donors. A very successful grandparent was identified in a feasibility study. He loved his grandchildren and had given, but the school’s development director had never visited him. The director even said, “If you lined him up in a crowd, I couldn’t identify him.” Unfortunately, the donor had no idea what the development director looked like either.

Response: Father, forgive me for not spending quality time with my key donors. Help me make personal visits a primary strategy for engaging our donors.

Think About This: Follow Paul’s example, “And they praised God because of me” (Galatians 1:24). In your desire to visit your donors, don’t overstay your welcome. A pastor had a reputation for making long hospital calls. He thought spending enormous amounts of time showed how much he cared, but he didn’t understand the law of diminishing returns.

Have a Spirit-led week!

Ron

If this devotional encouraged you, please forward it to a friend!

Ron Haas has served the Lord as a pastor, the vice president of advancement of a Bible college, a Christian foundation director, a board member and a fundraising consultant. He’s authored two books: Ask for a Fish – Bold Faith-Based Fundraising and Simply Share – Bold, Grace-Based Giving. He regularly presents fundraising workshops at ministry conferences and has written fundraising articles for At the Center magazine and Christian Leadership Alliance’s Outcomes magazine.

Capital Campaigns, Development, Donor Relations, Fundraising, Uncategorized

Using Metrics to Boost Your Fundraising

by Jon Helder
January 5, 2023

Are you looking at a map or the rearview mirror?

As a fellow fundraiser, let me begin by giving you my congratulations on completing an unprecedented fundraising year. I hope you can spend some time in the next few weeks to take a break and carry out some much-deserved self-care. Be sure to take time to appreciate your team members who contributed to your organization’s fundraising success.

Although the end of a fiscal year can bring a sense of relief, the start of a new year can understandably cause anxiety. The beginning of the fundraising year often leads to fundraisers asking themselves some age-old questions: What initiatives are working? Should we eliminate the golf outing? How can I measure and track our overall fundraising program?

Sadly, often before fundraisers can start to address these questions, they are quickly distracted by the next fundraising initiative. So, most nonprofit fundraising plans aren’t supported by data, but rather stem from inertia and intuition. Thankfully, 2023 provides an opportunity to determine how to improve our fundraising efforts.

So, how successful was your organization’s fundraising last year?
You might answer this question with metrics like the amount raised, the number of new donors or the number of donations. While these basic figures can be informative from a year-over-year trend perspective, they do a poor job answering questions like: Why did these metrics change? What are the weaknesses in my fundraising plan? Where should we focus our efforts this new fundraising year?

I consider those basic metrics to be “rearview mirror” metrics as they only tell you what has happened in the past. “Rearview mirror” metrics don’t point your organization to where you would like to head. What you really need are metrics that provide you with a plan of action, or a map, to help bolster your fundraising efforts.

Map Metrics
Although the topic of fundraising metrics isn’t very sexy, the payoff from a data-based fundraising plan will be. Fifteen years ago, I worked for a healthcare consulting firm with the motto: “you can’t move it if you don’t measure it.” I believe the same is true with fundraising. You need a detailed analysis to make an actionable plan to improve your fundraising efforts. Luckily, you can achieve a thorough analysis with these 10 key data points from either your CRM or accounting software.

10 Key Data Points
To start, you will need to compile the following data points. For simplicity’s sake, assume all data points are for 2022 unless otherwise noted.

  • Actual Fundraising Expense (include your best guess of the salary costs associated with employee’s time spent fundraising)
  • Organizational Expenses
  • Number of Contributions Received
  • Number of Contributions Received
  • 2021 Total Number of Donors
  • 2022 Total Number of Donors
  • The Number of New Donors This Year in 2022 (i.e. gave in 2022, but not in 2021)
  • 2022 Number of Retained Donors (i.e. gave in both 2022 & 2021)
  • The Number of Lapsed Donors in 2022 (i.e. did not give in 2022 but did give in 2021)
  • 2022 Total Amount of Contributions from Top 5 Donors

Obviously, to determine trends over time, you will need to obtain this information for multiple years. However, much can be learned from analyzing even a single year and comparing yourself to industry benchmarks.

Map Worthy Metrics
Because they are easy to understand, simple to calculate, and they efficiently measure the key drivers of a productive fundraising plan, I consider these metrics to be “map worthy”. Many of these can be applied to separate fundraising initiatives. But this article will focus primarily on how they can be used to assess your overall fundraising program. Also, I’ve provided several great tools toward the end of this article to help you with this process.

Donor Retention Rate
2022 Number of Retained Donors/2021 Total Number of Donors

Without question, your donor retention rate is one of the most important fundraising metrics. It’s possible to increase your giving in years where you lose more donors than you retain. But, it’s nearly impossible for a nonprofit to survive prolonged episodes of poor donor retention.

The closer your retention rate is to 100%, the better.  Currently, the average nonprofit has a retention rate of about ~45% which means that nonprofits are losing more donors than they can retain.

So why is donor retention such a big deal? According to preeminent fundraising scholar, Dr. Adrian Sargeant, a 10% improvement in donor retention rate can double the lifetime value of donors in your database. If you could only track one metric annually to monitor your fundraising, it should be donor retention.

Donor Attrition Rate
2022 Number of Lapsed Donors/2021 Total Number of Donors

In addition to using this formula, you can also calculate the donor attrition rate by subtracting the donor retention rate from 1. So, for example, if your retention rate last year was 55%, your attrition rate would be 45%. The closer your attrition rate is to 0%, the better.

Churn
2022 New Donors – 2022 Lapsed Donors

Churn is a great way to assess the net result of your donor retention and donor recruitment efforts. It helps you quickly identify whether your organization is experiencing a net inflow or outflow of donors. Often new donor counts and retention are measured separately and can feel disparate from each other. Churn eliminates any noise in the data, telling you if your active donor counts are heading in the right direction.

Donation Frequency
Number of 2022 donations / Number of 2022 Donors

Donor frequency helps distill how efficiently you’re increasing the number of donations per donor. The higher your frequency, the better. A large onslaught of single gifts would lower your frequency (a great problem for any nonprofit). But, a higher donation frequency means that your average donor is giving more frequently. For example, transitioning a large group of donors from an annual gift to monthly donations would drastically improve your donation frequency. There are two major reasons why that matters. One, the higher your frequency, the more likely your donations are evenly spread throughout the calendar year. Second, and perhaps more importantly, research shows that, on average, donors who give more than once a year give a greater amount each year, are more loyal to the organization, have higher retention rates, and as result, significantly improve your organization’s average Donor Lifetime Value.

Donor Lifetime Value (DLV)
Average Annual Gift / Attrition Rate

Perhaps self-explanatory, DLV shows the lifetime value of your average donor based on your Average Annual Gift. The Average Annual Gift is simply your Total amount of Contributions divided by the total number of donations. While there are multiple ways that DLV is calculated, most require you to calculate the average amount of time your donor is active with your organization (aka Donor Lifespan). As someone who has struggled through the process of calculating the average donor’s lifespan, I would recommend the above formula instead. In addition to being incredibly easy to calculate, I find it to be a perfectly adequate way to assess trends over time. Your goal is to always be increasing your DLV as that means you are retaining more donors and/or getting more donations per donor.

Lost Potential
Donor Lifetime Value x 2022 Number of Lapsed Donors

This number should be the core motivation for you to work on donor retention. If your DLV is $1000 and you lost 100 donors last year, the lifetime value of those donors would be $100,000. I
f you are looking for a bit of encouragement after calculating Lost Potential, I recommend calculating your Retained Value (DLV x # of your retained donors). Retained Value gives you a clear sense of the “true worth” of the active donors in your database.

Bonus Tip
As the old saying goes, “You’re likely to raise more money from existing donors than by acquiring new donors.” If you can determine the attrition rate of the average first-time donor vs. your retained donors, you will likely affirm the merits of this saying. Such data can be helpful to share with board members or bosses that are pushing for “more new donors” when you would rather prioritize untapped opportunities within your existing donor group.

Return on Investment (ROI)
(Total contributions – Fundraising Expenses)/ Fundraising Expenses

Cost to Raise a Dollar (CRD)
Fundraising Expenses / (Total contributions – Fundraising Expenses)

ROI and CRD help measure how efficiently your investments (aka fundraising expenses) lead to funds raised.  While ROI and CRD can be calculated to assess your overall fundraising program, these same metrics are excellent at assessing individual fundraising initiatives and trends over time. Most nonprofits assess their initiatives by net income (initiative revenue – initiative expenses). However, they may be surprised to learn that once staff time is included in the expenses, many of their initiatives have a negative ROI. Your goal with ROI is to be positive and the higher the number, the better.

CRD is a slightly more accessible way to communicate the success of your fundraising efforts and is simply the inverse of the ROI calculation. Basically, CRD is the amount you have to spend to raise $1. Your primary CRD goal is to be below $1. The lower your CRD, the better. Conversely, should your cost go above $1, you are losing money.

Dependency Quotient (DQ)
Total Amount of Contributions from Top 5 Donors/ Total Organizational Expenses

It is always good for organizations to assess their overall dependency on their top donors. As you can see, the DQ determines the share of your overall organizational expenses that rely on your top 5 donors’ donations. Perhaps obvious, your goal is to decrease your dependency quotient over time as that means that you are diversifying your contribution sources.

Dependency Quotient vs. Cost to Raise a Dollar
The interplay between these two metrics can provide a lot of insight as to where you should focus your efforts in the year ahead. If you are doing things correctly, you should be moving from High to Low in both DQ & CRD.

As someone who is always happy to borrow great ideas, the content to create the following table is from a  great Bloomerang article: 3 Metrics to Help Measure Fundraising Effectiveness. The article also provides helpful real-life examples of how organizations can move in the right direction.

  High Cost to Raise a Dollar Low Cost to Raise a Dollar
High Dependency Quotient You are investing heavily in many different strategies but are still highly dependent on just a few sources of funding. This is common for organizations who rely on just one big event a year for the majority of their funds. You are likely receiving big donations from a handful of donors but are at risk if you lose just one donor. Do you have a safety net that would continue to fund your mission?
Low Dependency Quotient You are likely investing heavily in fundraising programs that provide a diverse group of funders, but you’re spending a lot to make that happen. Are you missing opportunities to go after major gifts? Keep up the good work! This is the ideal scenario.

Is your head spinning yet?
While this all may seem overwhelming, much of the math above could be accomplished by the average third grader. The only thing keeping you from obtaining a clearer picture of your organization’s fundraising is a bit of time and some elbow grease. Luckily, I am happy to report that there are several resources available to help calculate the metrics you need to guide your fundraising plan:

Free Resources from The Timothy Group
We have created a simple, yet effective spreadsheet that calculates all the above metrics by simply providing the top 10 data points above. The spreadsheet also produces 13 graphs & charts to provide visuals for your organization’s past fundraising trends which are great for copying and pasting into your next board fundraising report. Also, for those of you that are interested in assessing your fundraising initiatives at a more granular level, we’ve added a bonus Initiative ROI Cheat Sheet that will quickly show you where your organization is getting its biggest bang for the buck, and perhaps more importantly, which initiatives should be discontinued. If you are interested in obtaining the spreadsheet, download it free here:


Metric Tools


Fundraising Metrics Slides


Your current CRM
While not every CRM has amazing reporting functionality, most do calculate many of the above metrics. I suggest that you try diving into the CRM’s dashboards or searching one of the above metrics or data points in their help/resources section. 

FundraisingReportCard.com (FRC)

By simply importing your organization’s gift dates, gift amounts, and profile ID (most systems have an anonymized alphanumeric ID available), FRC will not only calculate many of the metrics above, but it also quickly produces beautiful graphs, trend lines, and segmentations that make analysis a snap. If you are lucky enough to be using Kindful or Little Green Light as your CRM, they have a very simple integration that will do all the heavy lifting for you. Even if you don’t use their dashboards, be sure to check out their benchmarks page as it provides nonprofit sector-specific benchmarks that instantly help you see how you are doing compared to your sector. 

Fundraising Effectiveness Project (FEP)

The Association for Fundraising Professionals has created a set of free downloadable spreadsheets that will help you calculate many of the top metrics. 

You can do this! (and we’re here to help)

With no obligation, I would be happy to provide 30 minutes of my time to help you through this process. Whether it be helping you obtain your key data points, using one of the above tools, or analyzing your results, The Timothy Group is here to help. We have worked with many nonprofits to assess their programs and I promise it will be worth the effort. Let’s leave intuition and inertia in the review mirror and make 2023 the year you implement a data-driven fundraising plan!

Note: The above article is intended to provide quality actionable content for the reader. Jonathan Helder and the Timothy Group do not receive any compensation for the referral links to the article and/or fundraising tools listed above. 

About the Author: Jonathan Helder, CFRE, ECRF, Consultant

With over a decade of proven fundraising experience and a love for data, Jonathan is blessed to serve nonprofits and help bolster their impact on the community. Jon enjoys helping ministries implement data-based strategies and tools to improve fundraising and organizational effectiveness. Jonathan has written articles as well as presented to local and national organizations including the Association of Fundraising Professionals (West Michigan), Do More Good, Nonprofit Hub and the Lakeshore Nonprofit Alliance.

 

 

Fundraising Verse of the Week

WIIFM Donors

by Ron Haas
May 26, 2022

The king asked Ziba, “Why have you brought these?” Ziba answered, “The donkeys are for the king’s household to ride on, the bread and fruit are for the men to eat, and the wine is to refresh those who become exhausted in the wilderness” (2 Samuel 16:2).

WIIFM stands for What’s In It For Me? Sales professionals know that WIIFM drives most buying decisions, so they create an emotional link that compels a person to purchase their product or service. Should fundraisers pursue WIIFM donors?

David wanted to honor Jonathan by showing grace to one of his relatives. So, he blessed Saul’s grandson, Mephibosheth, with Saul’s estate and invited him to eat at his table (see 2 Sam. 9). He also assigned Ziba to serve as Mephibosheth’s steward. Fast forward to Absalom’s rebellion. David and his household fled Jerusalem for their lives. Ziba went to the wilderness with a gift to refresh David. On the surface, this seemed like an act of selfless generosity, but was it? Ziba demonstrates how difficult it is to identify WIIFM donors.

Personal Benefit

As manager of Mephibosheth’s inheritance, Ziba controlled incredible wealth. “You and your sons and your servants are to farm the land for him and bring in the crops, so that your master’s grandson may be provided for” (2 Sam. 9:10). Ziba’s betrayal of Mephibosheth reveals his greed. He wasn’t satisfied with just serving, he wanted to own. His story seemed to work because David said to Ziba, “All that belonged to Mephibosheth is now yours” (2 Sam. 16:4). Ziba clearly had a conflict of interest. Sometimes your donors also have conflicts of interest. Perhaps their gift awards them with a building contract or a sale of their product or service. Perhaps they hope to leverage their gift to use your donor base for their marketing. Be wary of donors who give hoping to get.

Family Benefit

2 Samuel 9:10 reveals an interesting detail, “Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.” That’s a lot of mouths to feed. Ziba had much to gain from David’s generosity toward Mephibosheth. WIIFM donors are transactional donors. Christian school parents often say, “I’m giving because I want my child to benefit from this new building,” or “I’m not giving because my child is graduating and won’t be able to enjoy it.” That’s a difficult attitude to overcome. No doubt, you have a few WIIFM donors. Thank them graciously and ask God to transform their hearts.

Kingdom Benefit

Search for kingdom-focused donors. These men and women are motivated by the eternal impact of your mission—whether they benefit or not. They understand the spiritual rewards of generosity and are not looking for earthly rewards. They give generously to “lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life” (1 Tim. 6:19).

Think About This: Mephibosheth finally shared his side of the story with David (see 2 Samuel 19:24-30) but it was too confusing. David told him and Ziba to split the property. It’s difficult to read a donor’s motivations, so don’t try. Simply be grateful for every gift.

Response: Lord, help me motivate my WIIFM donors by What’s In It For You!

Ron Haas has served the Lord as a pastor, the vice president of advancement of a Bible college, a Christian foundation director, a board member and a fundraising consultant. He’s authored two books: Ask for a Fish – Bold Faith-Based Fundraising, Simply Share – Bold, Grace-Based Giving and Keep on Asking – Bold, Spirit-Led Fundraising. He regularly presents fundraising workshops at ministry conferences and has written fundraising articles for At the Center magazine and Christian Leadership Alliance’s Outcomes magazine.

Fundraising Verse of the Week

Growing Major Donors

by Ron Haas
November 14, 2021

“This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come” (Mark 4:26-29).

Jesus shared this parable of the growing seed to illustrate how God causes the Gospel to flourish in peoples’ hearts. When the seed starts growing it doesn’t stop until it produces a harvest. Some people new to major gift fundraising think they can plant the seed and immediately harvest a $1 million gift but asking and receiving requires patience and faith. Consider these steps:

Scattering Seed
The farmer sows the seed but is not responsible for the outcome. His role in the process is very limited. All he can do is plant the seed and wait. The only human act in the Gospel is telling the story. Evangelists can’t make someone place their faith in Christ, they can only present the Gospel and trust the Holy Spirit to change hearts. As a fundraiser, you can’t make someone give to your ministry, you can only share the story, ask for their partnership, and trust God to prompt their generosity.

Sprouts and Grows
The seed has all the power within it to reproduce itself which is why your ministry story is a critical aspect of fundraising. Your story must convey eternal results. The farmer doesn’t understand how the seed grows. Likewise, you can’t read a donor’s heart to know what might take root, so you need to sow many varieties of seed. Your giving opportunities should include people, property, and programs.

Stalk, Head, Full Kernel
Donors rarely give a seven-figure first-time gift, in fact many initial gifts are $100 or less. Stretch your donors by presenting them with greater opportunities. As your donors’ confidence in you grows, their gifts will increase. An eager major gift officer boldly asked for a $5 million dollar gift from someone who had the ability but no relationship to the ministry. The donor responded, “You need to give me more of an onramp. Ask me for a project that can start our relationship.”

The Harvest
Farming and fundraising are hard work. Both require knowledge of what, when, where, and how to plant, and both require reliance on God’s favor. The fundraising harvest comes after you’ve invested the hard work of relationship building and asking. The hardworking farmer does what he does so that he can enjoy the harvest. If you faithfully tell your story and ask, God will bring a bountiful harvest. He is ultimately responsible for providing for your ministry.

Response: Father, please help me faithfully tell our ministry story, ask for support, and trust you for the outcome.

Think About This: Mark 4:28 says, “All by itself the soil produces grain.” This phrase uses the Greek word automatē, from which we get the English word “automatically.” It’s divinely automatic. Fundraising is a divine-human cooperative, but mostly divine. Tell your ministry story well, ask boldly, and leave your results to God.

Friend, have a Spirit-led fundraising week!

Ron Haas has served the Lord as a pastor, the vice president of advancement of a Bible college, a Christian foundation director, a board member and a fundraising consultant. He’s authored two books: Ask for a Fish – Bold Faith-Based Fundraising and Simply Share – Bold, Grace-Based Giving. He regularly presents fundraising workshops at ministry conferences and has written fundraising articles for At the Center magazine and Christian Leadership Alliance’s Outcomes magazine.

Fundraising Verse of the Week

Growing Major Gifts

by Ron Haas
November 13, 2024

“This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.” (Mark 4:26-29)

Jesus shared this parable of the growing seed to illustrate how God causes the Gospel to flourish in peoples’ hearts. When the seed starts growing it doesn’t stop until it produces a harvest. Some people new to major gift fundraising think they can plant the seed and immediately harvest a $1 million gift but asking and receiving requires patience and faith. Consider these steps:

Scattering Seed
The farmer sows the seed but is not responsible for the outcome. His role in the process is very limited. All he can do is plant the seed and wait. The only human act in the Gospel is telling the story. Evangelists can’t make someone place their faith in Christ, they can only present the Gospel and trust the Holy Spirit to change hearts. As a fundraiser, you can’t make someone give to your ministry, you can only share the story, ask for their partnership, and trust God to prompt their generosity.

Sprouts and Grows
The seed has all the power within it to reproduce itself which is why your ministry story is a critical aspect of fundraising. Your story must convey eternal results. The farmer doesn’t understand how the seed grows. Likewise, you can’t read a donor’s heart to know what might take root, so you need to sow many varieties of seed. Your giving opportunities should include people, property, and programs.

Stalk, Head, Full Kernel
Donors rarely give a seven-figure first-time gift, in fact many initial gifts are $100 or less. Stretch your donors by presenting them with greater opportunities. As your donors’ confidence in you grows, their gifts will increase. An eager major gift officer boldly asked for a $5 million dollar gift from someone who had the ability but no relationship to the ministry. The donor responded, “You need to give me more of an onramp. Ask me for a project that can start our relationship.”

The Harvest
Farming and fundraising are hard work. Both require knowledge of what, when, where, and how to plant, and both require reliance on God’s favor. The fundraising harvest comes after you’ve invested the hard work of relationship building and asking. The hardworking farmer does what he does so he can enjoy the harvest. If you faithfully tell your story and ask, God will bring a bountiful harvest. He is ultimately responsible for providing for your ministry.

Think About This: Mark 4:28 says, “All by itself the soil produces grain.” This phrase uses the Greek word automatē, from which we get the English word “automatically.” It’s divinely automatic. Fundraising is a divine-human cooperative, but mostly divine. Tell your ministry story well, ask boldly, and leave your results to God.

Response: Father, please help me faithfully tell our ministry story, ask for support, and trust you for the outcome.

Ron Haas has served the Lord as a pastor, the vice president of advancement of a Bible college, a Christian foundation director, a board member and a fundraising consultant. He’s authored three books: Ask for a Fish – Bold Faith-Based Fundraising, Simply Share – Bold, Grace-Based Giving, and Keep on Asking – Bold, Spirit-Led Fundraising. He regularly presents fundraising

The image shows two hands outstretched, with block letters within them forming the word "give". Text reading "#GivingTuesday" appears to the right of the hands.
Fundraising, Donation Approach

A Simple Guide for a Productive Giving Tuesday – Part 2

by Jon Helder
November 4, 2024

Giving Tuesday is less than a month away but there is still time to pull together a compelling and productive campaign. Last time, in A Simple Guide to Productive Giving Tuesday – Part 1 we covered how to segment to your best target audience and provided tools to leverage your campaign. This time, we’ll lay out a simple communications plan by addressing campaign strategies, incentives, and a framework.

What will people be giving to and why does it matter now?
My old boss used to tell me, “Need is not a case; hope is not a strategy.” Your case for support must be more than just covering your organization’s financial needs. Your Giving Tuesday campaign should evoke two “I’s”: Immediacy (why donors need to give now), and Impact (what will result from my gift). If you can make a compelling, concise case for your general operating fund that covers both I’s, then feel free to do so.

Conversely, if your general fund is in good shape as you approach year end, you may want to raise money for special projects or capital assets like new computers for a school, new canoes for a camp, or winter coats for your rescue mission. These projects can provide prospective donors with an easy to understand, tangible outcome for the campaign.

A third option is to take an item from your general fund budget and “projectize” it by turning it into its own campaign. Your organization may already have a $10,000 technology budget but that doesn’t mean that you can’t raise funds for computers. Any funds raised for this campaign would be restricted to that budget line item but the net result to your general fund is the same.

How will you incentivize people to give?
One of the biggest negatives to Giving Tuesday is that thousands of nonprofits are simultaneously vying for donations at the same time. As a result, differentiation and incentives really matter. One of the most common ways to incentivize gifts is to offer a matching fund. While I don’t encourage you to send Giving Tuesday materials to your top donors who give in the last week of the year, donors in this group are keen to the idea of using their gift to incentivize others. Could you ask your board members to pledge a matching gift fund? Is there a champion donor that would love to see you maximize their gift in this way? Creating a matching fund can be as simple as asking some key donors to make their commitments early. If that isn’t an option, you could offer a promo mug or t-shirt for any donor that gives a certain amount or more (ala NPR or PBS). Such promotions can be a great way to on-ramp new donors.

Where should they give?
Does your donation software allow you to make a one-off campaign page (all the good ones do)? If you opt for your ministry’s main donation page, be sure to add something to make the website visit feel a bit more special like adding a banner, making the case for support relevant to the campaign, or highlighting the incentives. Follow through on your campaign importance and immediacy by making a landing page worth giving to.

Communication Calendar
Because Giving Tuesday falls only days after Thanksgiving, Black Friday, etc., your donors will have the holidays on their minds. As a result, communications need to be direct, frequent, and only start when the donors have the capacity to receive them. 

Purpose. First, remember that the purpose of your social media campaign is to bring awareness and anticipation for Giving Tuesday. Launch “Countdown to Giving Tuesday.” Starting on Friday, you can post mission-centric stories that convey the impact of your work while “counting down” to Giving Tuesday. Maybe you could have 4 ways that gifts impact your mission or the people you serve? Studies have shown that adding numerals to your subject lines/posts increase engagement (did the “4” above stand out to you?). However, if you need content for a post, you could mention the upcoming match or promo item associated with the campaign.

Emails. Your Giving Tuesday campaign can be done in as little as three emails (four if you include Thanksgiving). Sunday afternoon is a great time to reveal the campaign to your donors who might not be as engaged on social media. Use this time to tell them what Giving Tuesday is, how they can get involved, and why their giving matters. Perhaps counter-intuitively, include a “Give for Giving Tuesday Button” at the bottom of this email in case donors would like to give on Sunday as you hate to have willing donors needlessly wait till Tuesday to give to your campaign.  

Communications Framework. While the content for this table could easily become an entirely new article, this simple framework and suggested subject lines provide a good starting point for your campaign:

Remember, the goal is to have a simple, yet productive Giving Tuesday campaign. Taking care of the basics (communications, incentives, and updates to your website) and following this framework will maximize your efforts.

If this article inspires you to launch a Giving Tuesday campaign this year, reach out to us and let us know how you did. What were your expectations vs. results? What did you learn from the experience? The Timothy Group is always excited to learn and share best practices, so we’d love to hear about your experience.

About the Author: Jonathan Helder, CFRE, ECRF, Consultant

With over a decade of proven fundraising experience and a love for data, Jonathan is blessed to serve nonprofits and help bolster their impact on the community. Jon enjoys helping ministries implement data-based strategies and tools to improve fundraising and organizational effectiveness. Jonathan has written articles as well as presented to local and national organizations including the Association of Fundraising Professionals (West Michigan), Do More Good, Nonprofit Hub and the Lakeshore Nonprofit Alliance.

Fundraising Verse of the Week

Fundraising – Better Than a Poke in the Eye

by Ron Haas
October 2, 2024

Nahash answered, “Sure, I’ll sign a treaty! But not before I insult Israel by poking out the right eye of every man who lives in Jabesh.” (1 Samuel 11:2, CEV)

King Nahash of Ammon laid siege to the town of Jabesh in Gilead. City officials tried negotiating, however, his brutal peace terms demanded poking out the right eye of every man in the city—not a preferred outcome. So, the people of Jabesh turned to their neighbors in Gibeah for help. Everyone was lamenting the desperate situation when Saul arrived from working in the fields. As they shared the bad news, the Spirit of God filled Saul with righteous anger, and he rallied all Israel to defend their kinsmen from this enemy. This troubling Old Testament account gives us four essential components of every successful fundraising effort.

Problem
Israel’s situation is very similar to the needs of those you serve. Their enemy wanted to destroy their vision. Your enemy has “blinded the eyes of unbelievers, so they cannot see the light of the gospel” (2 Cor. 4:4). Everything you do helps people see Jesus more clearly, whether you lift the homeless, comfort the hurting, come alongside single moms, or educate the next generation. You want people to see God’s plan for their lives. Fundraising provides the resources to solve eye problems.

Power
The Holy Spirit used this crisis to spur Saul into action and “The Spirit of God came powerfully upon him” (1 Sam. 11:6). Secular nonprofit organizations rely on human ability to solve human needs. Your ministry should be different, “Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labor in vain” (Psalm 127:1). It’s so easy to list all the reasons why your problems can’t be solved. Instead, look with the eyes of faith and trust God to give you power to accomplish the impossible.

Passion
Saul didn’t wait around for someone else to solve the problem. He took a pair of oxen, cut them into pieces, and sent messengers throughout Israel saying, “This is what will be done to the oxen of everyone who does not follow Saul and Samuel” (1 Sam. 11:7). Threatening people is not a fundraising best practice, but helping people understand the urgency of the situation is. People need to know why their involvement is critical right now.

People
Saul’s motivational message worked, “Then the terror of the Lord fell on the people, and they came out as one” (1 Sam 11:7). The fear of the Lord is a great motivator. Saul mustered 330,000 soldiers overnight. You can’t solve your problems by yourself, you need to motivate others. Your challenge is to clearly communicate why the need is so great, in what ways your solution meets those needs, and how your donors can make a difference.

Think About This: When the people in Jabesh heard Saul was on his way to rescue them, they were overjoyed (see 1 Sam. 11:9). Don’t avoid fundraising like a poke in the eye. Approach it with enthusiasm! Look at it through the eyes of those you serve and rejoice your ministry has changed lives for eternity.

Response: Father, may your Spirit help us bring sight to those who are spiritually blind.

Ron Haas has served the Lord as a pastor, the vice president of advancement of a Bible college, a Christian foundation director, a board member and a fundraising consultant. He’s authored three books: Ask for a Fish – Bold Faith-Based Fundraising, Simply Share – Bold, Grace-Based Giving, and Keep on Asking – Bold, Spirit-Led Fundraising. He regularly presents fundraising workshops at ministry conferences and has written fundraising articles for  Christian Leadership Alliance’s Outcomes magazine.

Fundraising Verse of the Week

Donor Acquisition Strategies

by Ron Haas
March 12, 2023

May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains. On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he searched hard for me until he found me… You know very well in how many ways he helped me in Ephesus. (2 Timothy 1:16-18).

The greatest challenge for many non-profits is finding more donors. Onesiphorus could be the patron saint of donor research. He was Paul’s colleague in Ephesus who searched for him until he found him in Rome. You may need to revive old friendships like Onesiphorus with Paul, or you may be searching for new ministry partners. A successful donor acquisition strategy involves analyzing your database for lapsed donors, networking and relationship building, and marketing and promotional campaigns. Start with the strategies Onesiphorus used.

Search Hard
We are blessed to live in the information age, but there is no one magic database to answer the question, “Where’s Waldo?” Recruit a team of volunteers to research Facebook, LinkedIn, and your old student directories to update your donor information. Consider subscribing to an address search service. Enlist someone who has been with your organization for years and knows everyone and their cousin and task them with namestorming a list of past and potential donors.

Find
Onesiphorus was persistent. He didn’t have our modern research tools. Instead, he had old-fashioned sandal-leather and began knocking on doors and talking with anyone who would listen. Encourage your board members to identify potential donors. Networking is your best donor research strategy. One donor scrolled through his iPhone address book and shared thirty-five potential donors he would be willing to introduce to the ministry.

Help
What is your motivation for finding new donors? Is it so they can help you, or is it so you can help them? Our overarching donor engagement perspective should be to help donors grow in the grace of giving (2 Cor. 8:7). Your donors will benefit more from your conversation than you will. Paul said, “Not that I desire your gifts, what I desire is that more be credited to your account” (Phil. 4:17). Your mission should be to help your donors “lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life” (1 Tim. 6:19).

Refresh
Onesiphorus refreshed Paul again and again. One way to refresh your donors is to share good news about everything God is accomplishing in your ministry. Donors love to hear stories of changed lives. “Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land” (Prov. 25:25). Do you encourage and reenergize your donors? Are they invigorated by your mission, vision, and results? Do your donors love to see you coming because of the joy you bring them? Encourage your donors and they will encourage you. “Whoever refreshes others will be refreshed” (Prov. 11:25).

Think About This: A board member made this great observation, “Everyone in our organization needs to be constantly in conversations with people to find out where God is hiding money!”

Response: Father, please give me persistence to find new donors. Lead me to the ministry partners you’ve assigned to help us.

Ron Haas has served the Lord as a pastor, the vice president of advancement of a Bible college, a Christian foundation director, a board member and a fundraising consultant. He’s authored three books: Ask for a Fish – Bold Faith-Based Fundraising, Simply Share – Bold, Grace-Based Giving, and Keep on Asking – Bold, Spirit-Led Fundraising. He regularly presents fundraising workshops at ministry conferences and has written fundraising articles for  Christian Leadership Alliance’s Outcomes magazine.

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