Latest / Nonprofit Launch Plan Podcast for Startup, Small, and Growing Nonprofits / Make It Easy For Donors To Give | Fearless Fundraising Part 5 (Ep 70)
Transcript
- Matt Stockman (00:00) Imagine that somebody has just listened to everything you've said about your nonprofit. They understand the problem. They can see what could change. They see themselves as part of making that change happen. You've clearly asked them to financially participate. You've even helped them understand why now is an important time to do it and they're ready. They're thinking, yes, I want to help. Then something surprisingly common happens. You make them figure out what they have to do next. You make them go find your website or look for your donation page. Maybe there's a QR code around here someplace. Hey, reach out if you'd like to get involved or contact us in order to learn more. Somewhere between I want to help and actually helping, we've created friction. That is why the fearless fundraising framework doesn't end with the ask. It ends with action. The final question is incredibly simple. What exactly do you want me to do next? Today we're finishing the fearless fundraising framework with step five, action. Matt Stockman (01:08) Welcome to the Nonprofit Launch Plan Podcast for startups, small, and growing nonprofits. This podcast exists to help you build your nonprofit from the ground up on a financially strong foundation by providing clear frameworks, practical tools, and the real-world guidance that you can actually put into practice. I'm Matt Stockman. I am really glad you're here. At Nonprofit Launch Plan, we believe that every successful nonprofit has got to be operating at peak performance across six key areas. Those areas are leadership, fundraising, marketing, programs and services, operations, and finances. So on every episode, we focus on one of these core areas to help you make lasting impact in your nonprofit. And before we dive into today's episode, fundraising is no doubt one of the biggest challenges you're facing as the executive director of your nonprofit. The question: how do we get the money we need to do the work that we're called to do? And it can feel really overwhelming when you're not really sure where to start. Or what to say, or how to just invite people consistently to financially support your mission. That's why I've created the Fearless Fundraising Framework. It's a simple five-step approach that helps you clearly communicate the problem, solution, ask urgency and action, and gives you language that you can use in one-on-one conversations, emails, your website, and the rest of your fundraising communication. Today we're working on the final piece of that framework, action. But if you're listening and thinking, I Really need some help. Maybe Matt could help me build this instead of trying to figure it out all on my own. We can do that. I offer a complimentary 90-minute coaching call where you and I will build your nonprofits, fearless fundraising framework together. We'll map out all five pieces according to your actual organization. So you leave with greater clarity about your message and more confidence about how to invite people into financially supporting your work. Because there are people who would gladly support what you're doing, opportunity isn't clear or if you're hesitant to confidently invite them into it, some of those gifts simply won't happen. Less funding ultimately means fewer people get to experience the impact that your nonprofit exists to make. Imagine instead knowing exactly how to explain your work, knowing what to ask for, and having a steady stream of financial support that allows you to launch the programs you've been dreaming about. And to build a nonprofit that can make an impact for years to come. So I'm going to teach you how to build one piece of that framework today, step five, the action. But if you'd rather work through the whole thing with me one on one personally, go to nonprofitlaunchplan dot com and click book a call. We'll spend 90 minutes together building your fearless fundraising framework around your nonprofit. Again, that's nonprofitlaunchplan dot com. Click book a call. All right, we've spent the last five episodes of the podcast building one fundraising conversation. Step one, the problem. What needs to change? Step two, the solution. What can this donor help make possible? Step three, the ask. What specifically are you inviting them to give? Step four, urgency. We talked about that last week. Why does acting now matter? And now step five, action. What do I do next? And I want to spend a little time making a distinction between the ask and the action because they can sound kind of like the same thing and they're not. The ask answers, what are you inviting me to do? The action answers, how do I actually do it? Let's say I tell somebody, would you become a monthly partner at $100 a month? That's the ask. Then I say, since you're ready. You can scan this QR code and set that up right now. That's the action. That's the difference between ask and action. In an email, your gift of $250 provides a student with an entire semester of mentoring. That's the ask. Click the give now button below to make that gift today. That's the action. It feels almost ridiculously obvious when I say it that way, but go look at nonprofit fundraising communication and you'll see how often this final step is a little fuzzy. We say things like join us, partner with us, learn more, get involved, consider supporting our work. Those can all be useful phrases in the right context, but they don't actually give me a clear action step. What do I need to do? Right now. Your potential donor should not have to solve a puzzle. If the next step is giving online, say click the give button. If the next step is becoming a monthly donor, say choose monthly giving and select the amount that works for you. If you're having a personal conversation with somebody and you're asking them to consider a major gift, maybe the next action is can I follow up with you next Tuesday after you've had some time to think and talk about it? If you're asking somebody to pledge a certain amount, Maybe you put the pledge form right there in front of them. The action step, step five of the fearless fundraising framework, changes depending on the context, but there should always be a next step. And the clearer it is, the easier it becomes for somebody to move from intention to action. This matters because human beings are incredibly easy to distract. You know this from your own life. You open your phone because you need to do one thing. Twenty minutes later, you've read three emails, watched four videos, you've checked the weather, looked at a restaurant menu, and forgotten what the thing was that you needed to get done on your phone to begin with. That is the world your donor lives into. So if somebody is emotionally engaged with your mission right now, they understand the opportunity right now and has decided they would like to participate right now. Don't unnecessarily send them away to figure things out later. Make the action easy. And when I say easy, I don't just mean the words, I mean the actual process. This is where fundraising communication and fundraising operations have to meet. You can have the greatest fundraising message in the world, but if I click your give button and your donation experience is confusing or slow or difficult or frustrating, you've created another problem. Let me paint a picture about this. You've worked hard on crafting a compelling email to your database. You follow the first four steps of the framework and the email. The whole thing tells just a beautiful story. I read it and I'm moved by it. You clearly explain that a $50 gift will create a specific impact. I'm in. You've given me a compelling reason to act today. I'm in even more. I click give. And now I land on a page with eight paragraphs of text, 12 different giving options, three funds I don't understand, an account registration requirement, and a form. That barely works on my phone. Everything looks weird. As a donor, I'm out. It's too hard. It's too confusing. Good fundraising does not end when somebody decides to give. It ends when they can succefully act on that decision, which is why there's this fifth step in the framework and why it's so important. So, one of the first questions I want you to ask is how much friction is there between yes and done in all the different ways a person can give a gift to your organization? For most of us, that's your online giving experience, but it could be the remit form at the bottom of a direct mail piece if you use that or a social media post. We can actually invite somebody to take action in a lot of different ways. And if somebody is holding their phone and decides to give a hundred bucks, how many steps does it take to complete the gift? Is the gift button obvious? Does the page load well on a phone? Is the amount easy to enter? Do they understand what they're giving towards? are there payment methods they already use? Do you ask them for information you don't actually need? Can they easily tell when the gift has gone through? These can sound like small operational details, but every unnecessary step is another opportunity for somebody to get distracted or confused or decide they're gonna finish it later. And later is a dangerous word in fundraising because later tends to never happen. Later never happens in your life, and later never happens in the life of a busy donor as well. How many things have you not done because you said, I'll take care of this later? So the second thing I want you to think about is choice. Nonprofits sometimes believe that more choices create more opportunity. Sometimes they create paralysis. Imagine I say you could give one time, or you could become a monthly donor, you could sponsor a child, you could support the building campaign. You could join our legacy society, you could fund a scholarship, you could give stock, volunteer, attend a banquet, buy a table, or call us to learn about all the other opportunities. That might all be true, but I was ready to make a gift five seconds ago, and now I need an organizational chart to figure it out. You don't have to present every possible way somebody could engage every time you ask them to do something. Give them the clearest next step for the invitation that you just made. is particularly important in email. If you send an email asking a person to help fund a specific project. The primary button in that email should take you directly to the place where you can fund that project, not the home page or the about us page. Finish the sought for the potential donor. You've spent the entire message moving me toward a decision. The button should help me complete that decision. This is where your language matters too. I generally want action language to be incredibly simple. Give now, become a monthly partner, sponsor a student. Fund a scholarship. Whatever the appropriate action is, tell people exactly what the button or link is going to do. Clarity is crucial here. You do not get extra fundraising points for being clever. Because clever gets confusing because not everybody gets it. And the same principle applies to outside digital fundraising too. Maybe you're speaking at a small gathering of potential donors. You finish the presentation by saying, if you'd like to support the project, There are pledge cards on the table. Fill one out before you leave tonight and someone from our team will follow up with you tomorrow. Maybe it's a one-on-one conversation. You make an ask for $10,000. The donor says, I need to talk with my spouse, which is completely reasonable. Your action step might be absolutely, totally get it. Why don't I give you some time to talk about it and I'll call you next Thursday? Now there's a next step. Compare that to no problem. Just let me know what you guys decide. You may never have that conversation again. And that isn't because the donor is a bad person or they're just trying to get rid of you. It's because life happened. Your donor got busy. You gave the decision no structure, and you're putting the responsibility of the next step on the donor, on the other person. That's why I want you to think of action as reducing ambiguity. What happens now? One of the biggest mistakes I see nonprofits make is assuming that somebody who cares will naturally know how to continue the relationship. Usually they don't. You're the guide. Guide them. Tell them the next step. And this applies even when the answer to your ask is no. Part of relational fundraising is that people get to decide. Not every fundraising conversation ends in a gift. there's no way to prevent no's from happening, but when you get a no, there's still action steps that you can take and encourage. but suppose somebody says, I really love what you're doing, but I'm just not in a position to financially support it right now. That is fine. The action might become in that moment. Well, would it be okay if I just kept you updated on what happens with the program? Now we have a different next step, but there's a next step. then you add them to your email list if they give you the okay. Make sure they get invited to your upcoming event. Send them an impact story a few weeks from now. Remember, a no to this particular gift does not necessarily mean no to a relationship with your organization. You're building a community of people who care about the same impact you care about. Some of those people will say yes today, some will say yes next year. Anyone who's been involved in fundraising for any length of time will tell you that about the time they believe that a prospect has just moved on and probably won't ever give, they'll be shocked and surprised that a gift comes through from that person. You can't predict this, so don't worry about trying to. Other people will end up giving by volunteering or by making an introduction for you. And some are just going to be a no. With no further explanation, and that's okay. So let's put the entire framework together. We'll go back one final time to our foster care example. Step one, the problem. There are kids in our county who are being placed far away from their families, schools, and communities because there simply aren't enough foster homes available locally. Step two, the solution. Because of your support, more kids can remain connected to the people and communities they already know. While they move toward a safe and permanent home. Step three, the ask. Your partnership of $100 a month helps recruit, onboard, and support another foster family for one of those kids right here in our county. Step four is the urgency. We know of at least a dozen more children who are going to need homes in our county in the months ahead. And those families that will take them in need to be recruited and prepared before the children enter the system. And now, step five: the action. If you'd like to become one of those monthly partners, you can set up your $100 monthly gift right now at our website. I can send you the direct link. Problem, solution, ask, urgency, action. Those are the five steps. And that becomes the process that you take people through. In every conversation you have, every email that you write, the copy on your website, all of it. This is a framework that when you have it down, can be adjusted and adapted to fit all kinds of opportunities and situations. you may not say these things word for word every time, but you feel confident in writing that email or making that presentation at a host donor dinner because you've created the five steps of the framework and internalized them. and they become the guide through every fundraising communication you do. Notice what the framework doesn't contain, doesn't have a 20-minute history of the organization or every program that you offer or 17 different statistics. There's no organizational chart. And if a donor wants to know about those things, they'll ask, but most don't. And the fearless fundraising framework is designed to make you the guide. Leading your potential donor through the answers to five very basic questions that this person needs answered in their head and in their heart Before they can act. Why does this matter? What can change? How can I participate? Why now? What do I do next? That's the framework. And one reason I call it fearless fundraising is not because I believe you're never going to feel nervous asking somebody for money again. You're probably will. Especially when the gift is significant or the relationship matters a whole lot to you, or you're doing it for the first time. But confidence grows when you have clarity. You don't have to sit across the table thinking, how do I get from talking about the organization to asking for money? You have a path. The path is problem, solution, ask, urgency, and action. And here's what I would love for you to do now that you've completed all five episodes. Don't leave these five pieces sitting in a notebook. Use them. Write the framework for your nonprofit. Practice saying it then a lot. Something can look terrific on your laptop and sound completely unnatural when you try to make it come out of your mouth. So you got to practice it until it sounds like you. Then take those same five pieces and look at your website. Can I clearly understand the problem on the website? Can I see the impact my support makes possible? Is there a clear ask on the giving page? Is there a reason to act? Is the next step obvious? Then look at your fundraising email, same questions. Then your year-end campaign, same questions. You get the idea. Ask your board members. Could the board explain these five pieces? Because this framework is not intended to become one perfect paragraph that you just copy and paste everywhere. It is a way of thinking about inviting people. To join in as a financial supporter of your organization. Sometimes the five pieces will unfold over a 10-minute donor conversation. Sometimes they'll be in a 200-word email. Sometimes they'll be across the entire donation page. Or maybe they'll show up in a 60-second fundraising video that you post on social media. But the questions and the answers remain the same: problem, solution, ask, urgency, action. So Our fifth and final sentence that you tack on is the next step is fill in the blank. Finish that sentence. The next step is click the button. The next step is become a monthly partner. The next step is fill out the pledge card. The next step is I'll call you Tuesday. The next step scan the QR code. Could be any number of different things. You gotta make it obvious though. And then look at the actual process behind that sentence and ask one more question. Have we made that next step as easy as reasonably possible? Because once a person has decided to join you in creating impact, your job is no longer to convince them. Your job is to make it easy for them to act. And that completes the fearless fundraising framework. Again, step one is the problem, what needs to change? Step two, solution. What can this donor help make possible? Step three, the ask. What specifically are you inviting them to do? Step four is urgency. Why does acting now matter? Step five, action. What actually happens next? Get those five things clear and fundraising becomes a whole lot less mysterious. You're not begging people for money, you're showing them a problem that matters, helping them see the difference they can make, inviting them into the work, explaining why the opportunity matters now, and then showing them exactly how to participate. That's a fundraising conversation. And if you've been following this entire five-part series, here's my challenge. Build yours, one page, five headings, your problem solution, ask urgency and action. You can refine it later, but just start getting something on paper. Test the language, adjust the amounts. You can learn how donors respond to it. But get the first version out of your head and onto paper because a clear framework. That you can actually use is way more valuable than a perfect fundraising strategy that never leaves your laptop. All right. Thanks for listening to this episode of the Nonprofit Launch Plan Podcast. Remember, before you go, fundraising, no doubt one of the biggest challenges you're facing as you lead your nonprofit. And I'm down to help you build a plan for it. I'm offering these complimentary 90-minute coaching calls where you and I will build your fearless fundraising framework together for your nonprofit. We'll work through the five pieces, all the conversations need the problem, solution, ask, urgency, and action. And when we're done, you'll have a clear framework that you can use in donor conversations, emails, your website, and the rest of your fundraising communication. Don't miss out on the opportunity. There are people who would love to support what you're doing. They just need to understand the opportunity and be confidently invited into it. So if you're ready to get clearer and more confident about raising the money your nonprofit needs, go to nonprofitlaunchplan dot com and click book a call. We'll spend 90 minutes together and we'll build your nonprofits fearless fundraising framework. That's nonprofitlaunchplan.com. Click book a call. That's it for this episode of the Nonprofit Launch Plan Podcast for Startup, Small, and Growing Nonprofits. If this podcast is helpful to you and you'd consider sharing it with another nonprofit leader who might need the clarity, I would greatly appreciate that. Again, thank you so much for watching and listening. Keep building your nonprofit wisely and keep making a difference.