Before You Ask for the Gift, Fix the Giving Experience!

Hey, welcome back everybody. It's another episode of the nonprofit show. It's already the holidays. Wait a minute. Our our guest today, Melena Cromy. Um Melena, I said your name correctly, right? >> Yes. Yes, you did. >> Okay, good. Um Melena, the holidays. What are are we are we really here in the holidays? Are you going to tell us that we are? You know, I'm not going to take the HomeGoods approach and tell you I've got all my fall decor already out because that's not the case. But when it comes to year-end fundraising, starting in September is the way to go. So, I I think I think we're ready for that conversation. Maybe not the holidays, but at least year end fundraising, we are. >> Well, you know what? We need to have this conversation because um the seasons are moving faster and things are cooking along. We have a lot going on in this country um in North America this fall and so I can't wait to be talking about this and and who better than uh our friends over at Bloomerang to talk to us and guide us through this conversation. We have amazing partnerships. Bloomerang, of course, is one of our premier SP sponsors and partners and thought leaders along with American Nonprofit Academy staff and boutique, JMT Consulting, Third Sector Company, your part-time controller, and our newest member of the sponsorship family, Martis. Um, I'm Julia C. Patrick, CEO of the American Nonprofit Academy. I want to give a shout out to my belleaguered and beloved executive producer, Kevin Pace. I was in London all last week working on the nonprofit show uh Global Edition and he held down the fort. He didn't get to travel, but he got to keep doing all of his work. So, I want to just publicly say thank you uh Kevin to that. Um Melena Cromy Melena, you've been on before and as a senior brand uh marketing manager of Bloomerang, you are at the seat of power with so many cool things that you get to see, but I want to back the bus up and I want to have you explain to us what in the heck Bloomerang is and what is it that you do um before we jump into all these questions we have for you. >> Sure. So, Bloomerang is an all-in-one giving platform. And what that means is Bloomerang offers the tools and technology for fundraising professionals to fund raise digitally. So, think online donation forms, auctions, event ticketing software, and then it also houses a CRM, so a place to keep your donor records. And Bloomerang offers volunteer management. So every part of the giving journey or the donor journey is covered in the technology that Bloomerang provides to hopefully make your fundraising and volunteer management experience and donor management experience more seamless. You know, it's really interesting from my perspective as I look um back over the years that um we've been working together now in our seventh year of broadcasting. We've done more than 600 episodes uh 1,600 episodes of the nonprofit show. I have been fascinated how your company has like been able to take an inventory of the landscape and say, "Okay, we need to be talking about volunteer management." Okay, then you you add this in or you purchase a company or Okay, we need to be talking about ticketing. Okay, then you you you keep building and growing >> and um I'm going to say meeting the donors the the um donor management side of our of our sector where we need to be. It's super cool to witness this. >> I mean, yeah, I I think it's cool, too. I am obviously in in the uh the inside group. So I think it's exciting. I think what we do as a company and especially our leadership team really looks at what are the problems fundraisers are facing and for the last couple of years it's been I've got all these disconnected tools that do one odd jobs >> and that's not convenient for fundraising professionals and for most nonprofit staff who are already very busy. So, the goal is to create something that can be a one-stop shop for fundraising professionals. >> Well, and and before I get off the, you know, gloomerang love train really quickly, uh, which I am a huge fan, I always want to call out and I say this this publicly, but I also talk about this privately a lot. You're tremendous thought leaders and you offer phenomenal phenomenal sector research and thought leadership positions uh in your blog section of the website and this is not gated anybody you do not have to be a client a boomerang to get access to this information and um so I really would encourage anyone who's you know investing in their own knowledge about our sector and getting best practices and and no matter the size of your organization, u go there to their to their blog post section and you'll see everything from white papers, research, you know, webinars. I I think you you all even post episodes of the nonprofit show. So, um if you don't, you should, but I I'm pretty sure you do. So, anyway, okay. So, um talking about this, talking about we're getting ready to, you know, do our year end. >> Yeah. looking at the donor experience, what does that mean? And is I got to ask the question, is it is it too late to do this? No, I don't think so. Hence why we're starting this discussion in September. Um, this is one of the first areas that I wanted to cover in our discussion today, Julia, because depending on the resources that are on a nonprofit team's disposal, this can take a bit more time. Yeah. >> So, before we talk about like strategic planning of your year-end campaign, I would recommend that fundraisers go through their giving process as it stands today. So, pretend you're a donor, a donor. You get an email um or a text. You go to your website's homepage. How many clicks does it take to donate? the more clicks in that process, the longer the journey, the higher your donation drop off will be um reducing the chance that someone completes a gift. So, this is we're talking about tech, we're talking about online giving here, which is why I think it's important for your fundraisers to look at this now because this can take some time to modify and make sure it's optimized for year end. So, I encourage folks go through your giving process, your online giving specifically yourself. Is it cumbersome? Is it long? Is there a way to simplify and reduce the number of steps it takes to complete a gift? Um, something else that I really advocate for is if you're, you know, you're close to this as a fundraiser, you are familiar with your giving process, ask a friend or family member to go through it. What challenges do you notice? Do they squint at certain areas? Do they have to zoom in on their phone? If someone has to put on their reading glasses, that's a good sign that your donation page is not mobile friendly. So observing someone else go through the giving process, any questions or frustrations they may have is a good indication of, okay, this could be a broader issue and this is something that we should address before people start coming to our website or giving in response to our year-end campaigns. >> I love this. You know, uh, I have what I call the Judy Patrick rules. my mother who's 84, surprisingly techsavvy, um but yet she's an 84 year old great-grandmother, right? And it's a lot of times, you know, I'll pop her down in front of her laptop, which she it's totally good to go with, and say, "Hey, can you visit this website?" And then I will observe her to your point, like what is it she's doing? What is she >> does she gravitate to the things I think she should or not? And it's really um it's eye openening. It's really smart. Thank you. >> So yeah, making the giving process easy, I think doing a live walkth through with yourself or someone else is really important. Um we'll talk about channels a little bit later on. But whether you're sending out like a direct mail appeal, for example, you may think, "Oh, I don't need to worry about online giving." I would I would encourage you to change that method of thinking. We know that online giving and digital wallets are really important to younger generations of donors, even including Gen X. So, including on your year-end appeal, if it's direct mail, a QR code to your online form is something I would recommend for everyone if they're doing a direct mail year-end appeal. So online giving isn't something that you can write off and it's something that deserves your time and attention to help simplify. Um in addition to simplifying, I would look at your donation form itself and your various amounts that you have and are asking for and the language on that form. Is it specific? Could a donor tell when they look at this, here's where my money is going? If they can't tell, that's an opportunity to just add some new language, even some images on your donation form so your donor can walk away with something concrete. I love that. I think that's brilliant. And I think you're right. Sometimes we just especially if we're used to doing this end of your appeal and it just kind of is like, you know, wash and repeat. Um, yeah, I think I think that's really brilliant and thank you for bringing that up, especially that QR code element. Yeah. >> Um, it's a missed opportunity. I think if you're not doing that, let's move on to talking about that donor >> and the story that you want them to be a part of or you want them to connect with. >> Yeah. >> What do we mean by this? >> Yeah. So before you sit down to write your year-end appeal, whether it's an email, direct mail piece, what have you, you should think about the story you want to tell. I think all fundraisers are professional storytellers. We know how to pull on heartstrings, and that's one of our greatest skills is our storytelling ability. So, what I would recommend is before you sit down to draft or to write to think about what stories do we have access to that share our organization's impact and make that impact tangible. This can take some time. Um, I think one of the best methods to source a story is to talk directly to those that your organization serves. >> Yeah. could be scholarship recipients, um, individuals that have gone through a housing program. Interview them, hear their story of impact, and you can take snippets from those interviews to weave into your year-end appeal and illustrate for donors, here's the sort of impact you can have by giving. Um, and if you work for an organization that has more privacy concerns, like maybe you work for a medical nonprofit or, you know, a shelter that may house people and take care of them who've been exposed to domestic violence, then you have to worry about privacy concerns and you should do some more leg work to ensure, okay, we're not sharing a donor's name or an impact, the name of someone who's gone through our program and that's totally okay, but maybe you can talk to staff within your organiz organization program directors or volunteers and be like what impact have you seen this year? Are there any moments, experiences or conversations where you have left feeling really inspired? And then you can work to anonymize those before you put them into your year-end appeal draft. >> You know, Molina, I like that. I I think that we don't share the positive experiences enough. where it was so client focused. Yeah. But I love that about how did how did this donor feel >> about making this gift or making their family connection or you know how did this fund what did this funer see? What did this volunteer see? Um, I think those are really cool stories and to me when you bring that up and you talk about this, it makes me think you're setting yourself and your organization apart. Um, and even demonstrating that you're a well-run, you steward your donor experiences better. I mean, I love that approach. >> Yeah. And and something else um that we recommend and we've seen in our own research is when you reflect a donor's identity back to them, your appeal will perform better. The Institute for Sustainable Philanthropy does a lot of research into this. They call it donor love. Um so yeah, essentially what that means is you think about the words someone would use to describe themselves as a donor to your cause. That may be, you know, I'm an equal rights activist. I am an animal champion or hero. Something like that. A really positive adjective. Include that language in your year-end appeal. Donors will respond well to hearing those positive affirmation words. So, you know, because of people like you, we are able to x, y, and z. because of your generosity, your heart, whatever that positive language may be, weaving that into your year-end appeal will help you raise more. >> I love that. I think that's brilliant. I think that's a I think that's a natural way to build champions for your organization and to make people feel good about increasing their commitments, increasing their, you know, their engagement, uh, whatever that may look like. I think that's super brilliant. So that kind of leads me to the next question I want to explore with you and that is how do we know where to meet donors? We were talking about this in the green room. So much has changed. So much is changing. How do we know where we're going to meet our donors? Because there's a lot of options. >> Yeah. I would say the first thing that I would look at is the truth is in the data. So if you have performance data from your own organization in previous year-end appeals, start there. What have you done in the past? What has worked? Do you have any data to show, okay, you know what, this this appeal didn't land. That gives you information on what your year end strategy should be and how it should take shape. Um, what we have discovered is that donors are leaning more and more digital, of course. So you have the baby boomer generation which will respond the best to direct mail and email. I mentioned earlier Gen X they actually one of they surprised me by being one of the leading generations for digital wallets. So giving via Venmo or PayPal, >> right? >> So you can't go in assuming that every donor is going to respond to a direct mail appeal. Offering multiple avenues to give is really important. Um, and then you've got donors like millennials and Gen Z which are used to paying for subscriptions and different services on their phones online. So, making sure that your online form is mobile responsive and that if you're doing direct mail, you include a QR code to your donation form is really important. giving your donors basically all the options to give um in a way that best suits them. >> I think >> yeah, I think it's it's really you have to be brave and you have to be thinking you know um it's risky if you don't do it right as opposed to that we're going to take a risk and try this. I think we got to shift the mindset say if you don't do this it's a risk right you got to lean into some of this the digital components because of the next generations coming up >> you got >> I mean think about like how many how many different payments do you manage or make where you mail in a check you may only mail in a check for your electric company or water company if that but most people have transactions set up on their credit card or debit card that they manage online. >> So those expectations that we experience as consumers become the norms to us as donors and we begin to expect okay wherever we give our money that process will be the same. And so I think it's important for fundraisers to realize that if the majority of your donors are paying, you know, for subscriptions or services online, why would it be different when they give their money to you? They're already used to managing giving their money in a certain way. And so that way should be available to them when they give to your organization. I love that you said that because as I mentioned, I just came back from the United Kingdom and uh they've gone completely uh there's no currency, everything digital. And I mean everything even to the smallest amounts and um >> I love what you just said. if you're walking the walk everyday life using a digital wallet or just even within your own bank >> making transfers and stuff >> that's the reality that's that's the process that people are comfortable with so I love that you brought this up >> so that kind of goes to the next issue I want to ask you about and that's leaving yourself room and I'm going to say grace to adapt >> yeah you know it's a I feel like sometimes we think and I see this especially in websites. We work so hard. Okay, we got a new website and then we're like, yeah, no, you got to keep working it. You got to keep adapting it. What does it look like to you? H how should we be thinking about this? >> Yeah, I to me it looks like giving yourself enough time to plan well and we talk about this internally as a bloomering marketing team all the time. you have more flexibility when you don't uh you don't cram things down to the wire. So, >> good point. >> End of the summer, that's the time to start thinking about the story you want to tell. As we mentioned, your year-end fundraising campaign goal >> and the channels you want to use. If you're going to be using direct mail, you need to well, you should probably touch base with your printer or mailing service by end of September to be like, "Hey, expect our appeal on this date. We want to be on your radar." Because, as you mentioned at the beginning of this, when you're heading into the holiday season, printers and mail shops are very, very busy. And our fundraisers are going to be very busy as well. So, start early. give yourself the space and the grace to tweak your strategy and make changes. Then the year end season won't be as stressful for you. Um, I'd say September, that's when you nail down your campaign goal, your core story, know who you're going to interview for snippets you can include in your uh, year-end appeal. Identify the channels you're going to use, direct mail, email, your donation form and page. All of those, if you're doing a central story, should should support each other. >> So, if someone gets an email and they click to give and they go to your donation form, it should be very clear to them, oh, I'm supporting the same story, the same organization. Yeah, I love that you said that because I think it's really easy to become fragmented. >> You're like, "Oh, this, you know, I'm just working so hard on email and then you forget." Okay, but wait, none of these images or colors or any of that messaging is reflected on the website. >> It builds trust. Donors look for cohesion, right? And the last thing you want is for them to scan a QR code on your direct mail appeal or click the link to give in your email and all of a sudden they're like, "Wait, am I in the right place?" >> That that'll reduce the number of gifts that are made to your organization. So, >> yeah, >> going through the giving process, making sure it's cohesive. October, that's when you draft, build your materials, get your first and second drafts of your appeals. Um, prep your mailing lists or email send lists. go through your donation form, make all the optimizations you need to make, and then we would recommend beginning of October is when you want to send that direct mail appeal, have it land in your donor's mailboxes. So, >> now we know near the end of November, things get crazy with the holidays. Um, you've got a lot of different things that are competing for your donor's attention. So, I would recommend the goal is end up in their mailboxes, email inboxes, um on social media before the holiday season starts. Early November is my recommendation. >> Um and then if you see a lot of posts or momentum around Giving Tuesday, you can use Giving Tuesday as another point to just reiterate your year-end story. It doesn't have to be an entirely separate campaign. If you head into the year-end season like, okay, this is our goal. You can use Giving Tuesday as a reminder opportunity. Hey, we're working towards X, Y, and Z goal. Give to our organization today. That helps once again create this cohesive campaign. Um, and >> I like that. >> And you know, I have not heard anyone really talk about that. I in that way I like that a lot because I think it it makes you use that that word so beautifully the cohesion um it just allows you to keep rowing in the same direction as opposed to a stop and start. Yeah. >> And then becoming disappoint disappointed or disillusioned by Giving Tuesday situation. >> Yeah. >> I love that. That's really brilliant. Good for you. >> Okay. So we've you've given us amazing ideas. I think you're very um encouraging and and precise in how we should go about this and I think it makes a lot of sense. One of the things that you talk about and again sometimes we just think okay year end year end year end but you're advising us to think beyond the end of the year. What does that look like? >> Yeah, this is so so critical. Um, I was a I'm a former fundraiser myself. So, when I first learned about first-time donor retention rates, I was shocked. I was I was knocked off my seat. First time donor retention rates hover around 25%. So what that means is that of every donor who gave to you in a given year, roughly 25% you can expect to come back next year. As a fundraiser, that makes me shake my boots because you put so much effort into acquiring donors. That is that is your work. And for a small percentage to only come back, it's it's tough, right? It makes us look at the effectiveness of our fundraising. So, if we want that number to go up, what we have to head into the year- end fundraising season ready to do is to follow up with the first time donors. And that's why you have to think beyond December. We know the majority of giving happens within December, especially those, you know, final three days of the year. Before things get hectic and crazy with the holidays and you start drafting communications for your year-end appeal, have a plan. How are we thanking donors that give to this campaign, especially firsttime donors, the more they receive a, you know, the odds that they will give again increase if they get a prompt followup and thank you. So have a plan for your firsttime donors. And then have a plan once the campaign concludes, we get back into the office after the holidays, how are we communicating the impact of what we raised during year end? Something that's really important for um getting first-time donors into the habit of giving is not only thanking them promptly, but it's communicating impact. >> So, being able to, you know, have your, you know, yourself ready to get a report together to talk with your programs team or just your entire fundraising unit when you get back from the holidays. Okay, where's the money going? How do we follow the impact? how do we report back on this? That should be one of your first communication priorities when you get back into the office after um the end of December. I love that. I I think you're absolutely right is understanding that that retention statistic and and I always look at it going the other direction and saying 75% walk >> Yeah. 75% of the people that you know at one time might have felt like your work was important to them and their community somehow we failed them and they're moving on to something else. And so I love that you brought that back around because ultimately I think that makes a healthier organization, right? >> Yeah. Yeah. And I mean I would not don't don't wait and be like okay I can we'll think about this in December and that's when we're going to start planning this because I I will guarantee you you are going to be tired in December. We all are. So when you start thinking about your year-end appeal that is the time to jot down your game plan for following up with everyone who donates to your year-end campaign or appeal. >> I love it. you know, remind me. And it seems to me that in Bloomerang has an amazing um and I just lost it. I just lost the word for it, but an amazing kind of like I would call it like a stats at a glance that you can put that across >> and and doesn't it record and track what your retention rate is? So, it's not like a year at the end, oh, let's talk about this. It's there every day that you pull up the software. Isn't that correct? >> Yeah, that is correct. So, I mean the techn the technology that you have at your disposal can make reporting and understanding your year-end campaign success a lot easier or a lot more difficult depending on the tools you use. If it's if it's not easy for you to find out your retention rate, to find out who's given to your campaign and through what channel, then I would say, yeah, it's it's time to look at your uh your tool stack or your technology stack. >> Yeah, your dashboard. I'm sorry, I couldn't think of it. Um, yeah, absolutely. I think that that to your point is a being a fundraiser and you've you've walked that journey and then you like, what the heck? I mean, you work so hard with so much intention and and integrity and then you realize >> that it's not landing. Um, >> and it's not sticking, maybe that's a better word. So, >> fascinating. Well, we always love it when you come on and share your knowledge with us. Uh, your team is so innovative. Again, um, I really recommend you go to you go to bloomerang.com. We've been talking with Melena Crommy. She's a senior brand marketing manager. their friends over at Bloomerang. Um, so much knowledge and so much information about best practices and learning from amazing partners that they work with and and clients. So, um, make sure you check them out because it's super interesting. Thank you for the work you do for our sector. >> Well, thank you for having me on, Julia. I really appreciate it. It was great getting to chat with you. >> Yeah, just lovely. and we uh we'll check back with you after the first of the year to see like how some of this is cycled through, right? Because it's I think it's really interesting to look at this. You know, we get to have these amazing conversations like we've had today with our friends at Bloomerang, but we also have other partners that have been with us now for 1,600 episodes as we move through our seventh year of broadcasting. and they include American Nonprofit Academy, Staffing Boutique, JMT Consulting, Third Sector Company, Your Part-Time Controller, and Martis. These are the folks that stand with us day in and day out. As we end each and every episode of the nonprofit show, we leave with this message, and it goes like this. To stay well so you can do well.