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OFFER opportunities for a donor to make an impact through giving. An offer to give can include:
The structure of the OFFER can include a general letter with a personal note sent to about 20 key people. Call to ask if they had a chance to read your letter and if the Lord is leading them toward involvement in this need. Plan to follow-up. The Game Plan for End Of Year Giving gives a well-tested roadmap for any special giving opportunity, not just year-end giving. |
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THANK the your donor for their gift. When people respond to an opportunity to make an impact through giving, the next step is to thank them. Donors give to multiple causes. An average donor will see 10-20 thank you's a year and promptly forget them all. You want to be the thanks they can't forget. The general standard is a hand-written thank-you card and a phone call. (Other ideas HERE.) A welcome packet sent to a new donor or a small gift for a particularly impactful gift can go a long way! Develop the art of flattery in your thanksAlso, flattery gets you places. Don't be shy about it! Tell your donor often, loud and clear, in the big type, just how great they are (because they are!). Do not include a financial ask or additional giving opportunity in your thanking process. |
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SHOW how their gift made an impact. Your donors need to know they made a difference. When you report back to me what kinds of good things happened, due to my help and the help of others. "Did giving matter? What did philanthropy achieve?" Remember, the first gift is usually a testing gift; they want to discover what their ROI (Return on Investment) will be. This is why it's crucial to share the impact their gift made. Donor-centered reporting - If I'm your donor, I've already decided what YOU do matters. Now I need you to reinforce why what I DO matters (i.e. giving to your cause). Tell me a story of one changed life - make it personal and heartfelt and real - and remind me how I played a part in that person's transformation. These crucial reminders never get old - they tell me that I (the donor) matter and I'm making an impact in the world through my giving. For example: You-centered reporting sounds something like, "We had an outreach last week and three people accepted Christ." A donor-centered way of reporting this would sound something like, "I just had to call and tell you the impact you're having. Because of your faithfulness to invest in Kingdom work, three people came to Christ last week! Let me tell you what happened... No financial ask.The ethos behind SHOW is to show how their donor dollars are making a difference by sharing a story of something that's making an impact in the Kingdom. Do not include a financial ask or additional giving opportunity. Ways to SHOW the impact of a gift:
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CONNECT personally with your donor. Better spiritual condition as a result of interacting with and giving to the ministry. People give to people, not to organizations, mission statements or strategies. So, connect with them as a person. Prayer is in the "Connect" category Personal connections can include:
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Stewardship involves thanking donors, updating them on the impact of their gifts, keeping them involved and offering other opportunities to give. Generally, this can be accomplished in a THANK, SHOW, CONNECT, OFFER cycle twice a year. This ongoing view of MTD leads to a strong and stable support base and only takes about 2-3 hours a week.
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After a gift, THANK donors for their giving. The general standard is a hand-written thank-you card and a phone call. (Other ideas HERE.) No financial ask.
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A month or two later, SHOW the donor how their gift made an impact. They need to know they made a difference. No financial ask.
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The timeline below is a sample of what stewardship may look like for a support raiser in a given year. Feel free to customize to your situation/ ministry partners/ need. For example, someone who is younger or not very established in ministry might have a rhythm that looks like: Thank, show, show, show, connect, show, offer.
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