Stewardship As Revenue Enhancer

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The Artful Solicitor –

Stewardship as Revenue Enhancer

David A. Mersky


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Today’s Speaker

David A. MerskyFounder and Managing Director,

Mersky, Jaffe & Associates

Hosting:

Sam Frank, Synthesis PartnershipAssisting with chat questions:

April Hunt, Nonprofit Webinars

The Artful Solicitor

Stewardship as Revenue Enhancer

August 31, 2011

The Case of…

…the Disillusioned

and Confused

Prospects©2011 Mersky, Jaffe & Associates

The Case of…

…the Disillusioned and Confused Prospects

• You are the new CEO of NCSC

• Dinner with $1,000 AF “under-givers”

• Predecessor lavished time on these “alumni”

• Proposal for $250,000 named fund in

sustainable energy went nowhere

• Pleasant evening

• Predecessor misread interest and status

©2011 Mersky, Jaffe & Associates

The Case of…


To your horror you learn, the donors

– Have no interest in sustainable energy program

– Chagrined and dismayed by proposal

– Interest in NCSC, but business requires all cash

and prevents major gift now, and BTW,

– “What happened to $25,000 we gave last year for

which we received no acknowledgement, plan for

use nor recognition?”


The Case of…


The donors

– are a married couple, ages 60 and 62;

– had never made a major gift (i.e., above $1,000)

before the $25,000; and

– have no children.


The Case of…


What do you do

after the dinner?


The State of Philanthropy in

America Today:

A View from the Field


The number of 501(c)(3)

organizations 2001–2010

Data are rounded.

Total giving as a percentage of Gross

Domestic Product, 1970–2010

2010 charitable giving

Total = $290.89 billion

Total giving, 1970–2010

Types of recipients of contributions, 2010

Total = $290.89 billion

Q:

How do you get your

piece of the pie?


A:A Strong Team…

because leadership

trumps all


Financial Resource Development:

An Exceptional Leader’s Tasks

and Responsibilities


Leaders make their own philanthropic

investment

• It makes a difference

• It empowers them to serve

as an advocate and

ambassador

• It enhances their credibility

to ask others to invest


Leaders thank donors

• Acknowledge contributions

in personally written letters

and calls

• Tell donors the value of

their investment

• Recognize donors at events

personally


Leaders help make connections

• Review existing prospects

and donors

• Identify others from

communal, professional or

personal contacts


Leaders mentor potential donors

• Educate and encourage

prospects to support the

congregation

• Host a meeting at home for

potential major donors

• Conduct one-on-one

encounters to engage potential

donors


Leaders solicit their peers

• People give to people

• Approach people with whom they are comfortable

• By asking others to give, leaders fulfill their responsibility to provide financial resources

• Build a community of donors and funders


A:• A Strong Board

• The Development Cycle: The

Context for Stewardship


PROPER

PLANNING

PREVENTS

POSSIBLE

POOR

PERFORMANCE


PROPER

PLANNING

PROMOTES

POSSIBLE

POSITIVE

PERFORMANCE


The Development Cycle

Identification

Research

Planning

CultivationSolicitation

Stewardship

Renewal


Create Lifelong Donors

• It takes 4.5 times the effort and dollars to

acquire a new donor as it does to keep one.

• Retain donors with effective development

and stewardship, systematic procedures,

failsafe annual fund program.


Create Lifelong Donors

• Securing donors is obviously the first step.

• But, then

– acknowledge promptly and effectively

– show appreciation regularly and sincerely

– give priority to winning the donor’s heart and

mind to the cause.

• Create a culture of giving at your organization


Stewardship=Success

1. A systematic plan

– for acknowledgment and stewardship

– in the form of a manual

– reviewed annually

2. Seven ways or more to acknowledge and

recognize your donors


Stewardship=Success

3. Acknowledgment letters

– reviewed and changed at least once a year

– first acknowledgment letter sent out in 48 hours

4. Accountable to donors

– By reporting outcomes of gift to

• clients

• program

• organization


Stewardship=Success

4. (cont.) Accountable to donors

– send emails from organization’s beneficiaries

– staff members or volunteers systematically call

and thank donors

– publish an Annual Report with Honor Roll of

donors

– number of years of continuous giving


Stewardship=Success

5. Development staff and/or volunteer

leadership

– plan for regular stewardship calls or “moves”

– send a letter or newsletter to a small, select list

of major gift donors, prospects, and influentials

– send all donors a newsletter with stories about

donors that gives recognition for their gifts


Stewardship=Success

5. (cont.) Development staff and/or volunteer

leadership

– actively discuss stewardship activities and

annually review plans and activities

– budget for stewardship activities

– gathered information from donors in the past 24

months (e.g., conducted a donor survey or donor

focus groups)


Stewardship=Success

5. (cont.) Development staff and/or volunteer

leadership

– survey lapsed donors to determine why they

might have dropped out

– proactively communicate with donors about

issues that may be unpleasant or sensitive


Stewardship=Success

6. Do you

– recognize donors for their cumulative giving

– provide public donor recognition through such

things as gift clubs, wall of honor, signage,

dinners, events, etc.

– recognize those who have made a planned or

testamentary gift


Stewardship=Success

6. (cont.) Do you

– monitor what comparable organizations do in the

area of stewardship

– provide briefings to staff


Working in the Third Sector, enables us to

engage with others

• to build community

• to meet a bold challenge

• to make a difference in the world

• to save and change lives

Mersky, Jaffe

& AssociatesFinancial and Human Resource

Development Solutions for Nonprofits

800.361.8689 413.556.1074 fax

www.merskyjaffe.com

OFFICES IN BOSTON AND NEW YORK


http://www.merskyjaffe.com/


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Transcript of Stewardship As Revenue Enhancer