Charity Chatter

The Personal Visit

Facetime

"Facetime" is a common term used by major gift fundraisers as well as sales people.  I'm thinking more about terms lately and how well they convey what we do.  I'm not sure "facetime" is a great word.

I think Person to Person or even Personal Visits is a much better term.  Granted, it's not nearly as "catchy", but Facetime is so impersonal.  I've been reading Tuesday's with Morrie lately and in the 9th Visit chapter about how "love goes on", I read something that made me think about personal visits, cultivation and philanthropy.  In the book, Morrie says:

"I believe in being fully present.  That means you should be with the person you're with.  When I'm talking to you now, Mitch, I try to keep focused on what is going on between us.  I am not thinking about something we said last week.  I am not thinking of what's coming up this Friday.  I am not thinking about doing another Koppel show, or what medications I'm taking.  I'm talking to you.  I am thinking about you

This is actually more difficult than it sounds.  It's easy to be distracted by the numerous things we have going on at a given time:  How to answer a question perfectly, what was that noise the car made driving up here?  It's so easy to lose focus and lose your connection.  For me, I try to look people in the eyes as often as possible.  I don't attempt to do this as an intimidation factor, I attempt to do so in a manner that reflects interest, kindness and genuine concern for the person.  I find it difficult to look into someone's eyes and not be able to be fully invested in what they're saying.

Building Relationships

One of the things I miss most about my previous career, was the ability to go out and visit with people; all kinds of people from all parts of Canada.  The travel was annoying at times, but the people were always a treat.  The joy of getting out and talking to people is in my blood.  I love it.  Often times, my "personal visits" which were, of course, sales calls - didn't include a lot of talk about my product.  We would share stories - stories about their students, family, work/life challenges - sooo many things would be shared in those visits.  And eventually, we'd get around to business.  In my first year in a new market, I spent almost a year letting conversations go where ever the client wanted them to go - and I enjoyed it... and I'm fairly confident that they enjoyed those visits too. 

After my first few personal visits with people, I could almost always guarantee that the next time I called to say I was going to be in town, they'd make time for a visit.  And as a result, eventually, they trusted me well enough to allow my company to become a partner in their business efforts. 

THAT was the very best part of my job:  Being WITH people, one to one - sharing, learning, laughing and sometimes even sharing pain and hardships.  I felt connected with these people.  They weren't merely customers.  They weren't exactly friends, but they were people I connected with... and that is a wonderful feeling

Philanthropy & Connecting

Thinking back on my previous post about "friend-raising", this is why I love the idea of being a fundraiser.  When done well - fundraisers are conduits for creating connections.  We share great stories.  We are blessed with hearing great stories.  We share in the triumphs and tragedies of life's great accomplishments and sometimes greatest pains. 

We get to connect with people and we are able to help others achieve important connections so they can make a difference for themselves and for others.  Can you think of a better job?

When speaking about a meaningful life, Morrie says: "Devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose."

Personal visits - real personal visits in which we are truly WITH the people we're with, allow us to achieve a connection that makes it possible for us, as well as the people we're visiting to do all of the things Morrie speaks of.

It's truly a gift when you discover that something so personally joyful can also be so tremendously impactful for so many others.

Thus ends my sentimental meandering on the latest chapter of Tuesday's with Morrie.

Thank You, Sir - May I have another?

I was speaking my American friend Greg recently about fundraising.  I had been looking at the donation pages for US political candidates and knowing that he's a politically active fellow, I was certain he could answer a couple questions I had regarding the odd amount options on their pages.

We never did get around to all my questions, because he was quite disgusted over an email he received from the Obama campaign.  He had previously donated to the Obama Campaign and had received a "Thank You" email following the Iowa Caucus win.  His initial response to the email was quite positive.  He was highly impressed with the "personal" email thanking him for his contribution and outlining how his support had contributed to the Iowa success. He was genuinely pleased to receive the email.   

More, More, MORE.... but really - Thanks!

His positive emotions and support soon changed, when he discovered the "donate/contribute now" button at the bottom of the email.  He regards this approach as a "cheap and manipulative tactic.  For Greg, it diminished the sincerity and appreciation expressed in the email.  Needless to say, he did not click on that donate now link.

Interestingly, this follows an interesting comment I received from another well known Canadian Fundraising expert, David Love - Executive Director for the TRCA Conservation Foundation.  I recently worked on a Crisis Marketing Plan using TRCA as the basis for the plan.  David was kind enough to read the 40+ page document and provide feedback. 

One of the recommendations within my report was to ensure that all TRCA Conservation Foundation newsletters include "an ask".  David responded that this may not be an appopriate course of action and recommended that I pick up a copy of Penelope Burk's book: "Donor Centered Fundraising" (formerly Thanks! A Guide to Donor Centered Fundraising)

As I talked with my American friend, I relayed to him some of the response statistics for thank-you letter/email donation requests.  He asked me "how deep do people track this?".  My response was a very eloquent: "Huh?"  He then proceeded to ask a very interesting question....

What do we really know?

How many years/cycles do we track these numbers?  We may well get high response rates and high dollars as an immediate response to a direct darketing thank you communication - but how many people do we lose and what types of donors are they?  If we raise 100K as a direct response to a thank-you appeal, but we lose 300K because a number of higher contributors become disillusioned with our organization and never contribute again - we have clearly done harm to our organization.

Another factor to consider is the human propensity to "say one thing and do another".  We know that people claim to dislike negative political advertisements and shock advertising.  However, we also know that human behaviour and donation patterns indicate that people do respond to these kinds of appeals. 

It's interesting to note that although my American friend did not hit click the "Donate Now" button on the Obama thank-you email, he did donate to the Obama Campaign again, after the New Hampshire loss.  So in spite of his frustration with the campaigns decision to combine a thank-you with an appeal for more contributions... he wasn't unhappy enough to stop providing financial support to the campaign.

Do As I Say - Ignore What I Do!

It would be interesting to research this further and determine what statistics are available in the charitable sector regarding the long-term donation results of individuals who receive thank-you appeals.  I have ordered Burk's book and look forward to reading it - however, the book description appears to indicate that her research is based on donor feedback.  While donor feedback and their expressed wishes are a priority concern for all fundraisers and their organizations, we must also be mindful of how people act and respond.  I know that a number of organizations work hard to keep statistics on response rates and various other related statistics.  But how well are organizations tracking long-term (2, 3, 5+ years) actions of direct marketing donors?  I'd be most interested in hearing from anyone who has access to long-term data in this area.