30 Ideas for Fundraising Success, Part 2

[Editor’s note: This is part 2 of a three-part series on the session “30 Ideas in 60 Minutes: Your Hour of Creative Power” held on June 10 at Fund Raising Day in New York. Click here for part 1.]

At the Association of Fundraising Professionals Greater New York Chapter’s Fund Raising Day in New York last Friday, three fundraising experts shared 30 ideas in one of the first sessions of the day. Here are ideas 11-20 that Joe Manes, senior vice president of A.B. Data, Bryan Terpstra, vice president of fundraising at LW Robbins, and fundraising and communications advisor Jennie Thompson offered attendees.

Brainstorm ideas for donor involvement opportunities
When possible, ask your donors to do something along with giving money, Manes said. For example, advocacy organizations boost response by having donors send postcards and petitions — but they don't have the monopoly on donor-involvement techniques. You can ask donors to send cards to beneficiaries, display posters and spread the word.

"We live in an era of two-way communications, and all organizations have opportunities to engage donors in two-way communications," Manes said. "Give donors the opportunity to write their own messages. Get them involved beyond giving money."

Capture more customer-service information
"If donors contact you, even with complaints, that's important," Terpstra said.

When a donor contacts you for any reason, it's an indicator of the donor's affinity and interest in your organization. Capture his or her contact information and code the donor. Donors who contact you may be major- and planned-giving prospects, can indicate areas that need your attention, and can help add new revenue streams if you capture their data — i.e., birthday cards for donors as acknowledgments that may lead to more gifts.

There is nothing more powerful in the world than the urge to change another person's copy
Beware of the grammarians and English majors within your organizations, Thompson warned, because over-editing your copy can convolute the message.