Without stories, fundraisers are just number crunchers. With stories, we are change-makers. 

It is emotion that makes people take action, and it is connection that makes them want to stay around and be part of something extraordinary.

Storytelling has been around since the dawn of time.

From the earliest cave dwellers, storytelling connects people to their community and puts their world in context. 

In fundraising, storytelling connects your donor to your organisation and puts your ask in context.

It helps explain who you are without droning on with facts and figures; it helps explore why you exist without talking about yourselves; it helps demonstrate your impact without using remote and boring language.

Donor care – the art of making the people who support you feel a part of something extraordinary – is the most important function of fundraising. Yet, it is often seen as mere output of your organisation -a thank you letter or a strong appeal written in isolation. And yes, while donor care does encompass every physical output of your charity, that is only the tip of the iceberg.

How many of your charities have someone who answers the phone?  How many of those people have been out to a project / met with services / interacted with the people / projects you help in the last 3 months?   That is donor care. Do all your communications give the same message?  That is donor care.  Do you know where you are taking your donors with your communications over the year or three years? That is donor care.

It is more than a thank you. It is more than a website. It is more than a testimonial. Do you appreciate them? Share with them? Include them? Do you understand why they support you? Do you know what it takes for them to give to you?

Donor care is making people who support you feel part of something extraordinary.  And I’m going to say it again. It is the most important job of fundraising.

What is donor care?   Before you can deliver any of your outputs effectively, you have to build your donor care base.  So at the top (tip ) of your ice-berg you have all your outputs – everything from your direct mail appeals, your newsletters, your website, your customer care, your thank you’s.  But under the surface you have the foundations: your content, your map, your communications and your case for support.

Case for Support – this is the foundation of your donor care programme.

Why do people support you?  Do you know? Can you refine and define what every one of your fundraising initiatives is for and what impact the money raised will have?

If a donor rang today, can you summarise in a couple of sentences what the impact of their gift will be?

Why are you fundraising? What will be the difference in a year’s time if you succeed?

It may sound like the simplest thing, but being clear about what you are raising funds for can be a complex matter.  Developing a vibrant, concise and compelling Case for Support gives your fundraising plans and donor communications focus, direction and energy.  And makes it much easier to fundraise

 Donor Communications – this is the bedrock of your donor care programme

This is the language, the voices, the tone and the personality of your organisation.   Do you use place names that no-one has heard of?  Do you use technical language or ‘insider’ phrases that normal civilians don’t understand?  Every time you speak in a way that a donor doesn’t understand, you exclude the.  Every time you talk about yourself and not them, you exclude them. Every time you talk at them instead of to them, you exclude them.

Donor Calendar – this is the map of your donor care programme

We talk a lot in fundraising about taking our donor on a journey.  But how many of us know where we are taking them, and what are the landmarks along the way?

Your donor calendar is a plan that enables you create a clear pathway – a compelling storyline – that will bring them into the heart of your organisation… it allows you to plan your content and stories over a long period of time so that you are in charge of experience your donor has with you.

Content – – this is the fruit of your donor care programme.

Is gathering content – stories, impact, voices – built in to your everyday job?  Is there a culture within your organisation of sharing and sourcing relevant information that will engage your donors and demonstrate the impact of your work?   Content won’t come knocking on your door. As fundraisers we have to make it our business to know our business and ensure we have what we need to deliver effective stories and donor care materials.

Database – finally, it is important to use your database effectively so you are saying the right thing to the right people.  I talk about this is more details here.

Over the next few blogs I will explore each of these elements in detail, but in the meantime… a quick donor care summary!

To develop strong and compelling donor care:

• Always focus on the Why before how
• Always demonstrate impact
• Always look outside in, not inside out (bring your donors into the organisation, not throw information out at them)
• Always know the ask
• Make sure you define your voice
• Draw a map
• Fill the tree with fruit
• Use your data

I write as a fundraiser, as a journalist and as an author, but the principles for all three are the same. Crafting a good story is at the heart of good writing.   Making words work in a way that will cause engagement, emotion, action, or just contemplation is a very powerful thing to accomplish.

So I thought I would share some of books that have inspired and guided me to be a better storyteller, and by doing so, making me a better writer and fundraiser too.

On Writing, by Stephen King  – the bible of any writer, and I would highly recommend for anyone who has to tell stories (hint: all fundraisers).  He may be the King of Horror, but first and foremost he is the King of Storytelling.  His ideas for building your mental toolbox of skills are a gem enough, but there is a treasure trove of advice in here.

The Elements of Eloquence, by Mark Forsyth – a lovely and amusing little book that explores some tricks of the writing trade.  What made Shakespeare’s work so memorable? What made Dickens’s stories so compelling? What makes Sting’s lyrics so rhythmic?  Read this book and find out.

Made to Stick, by Dan and Chip Heath – compulsory reading for anyone who wants to make their words persuasive and powerful.  Their tips for storytelling (or making ideas stick) relate not only to fundraising but writing in general – make it Simple, Unexpected, Concrete, Credible, Emotive and a Story.  Please read!!

How to Ask Properly, by George Smith – this may have been written 2 decades ago, but his exploration of how good writing, and clever storytelling transformed fundraising is well worth a read.

Winning the Story Wars, by Jonah Sachs – just brilliant. If you’re a nerd like me, and love the history of words and storytelling, then this clever and fascinating insight into the evolution of mythology to modern messaging is a great bed-time read.

Storytelling can change the world, by Ken Burnett – explores how transformational stories can compel others to do something they wouldn’t ordinarily do. Fundraisers read!

Reading like a Writer, by Francine Prose – a brilliant guide for people who love books, and for those who want to write them by revealing the tools and tricks some of the best writers have used.

And a big shout also to the Irish based writing resource www.writing.ie which has just about everything you need to know (and plenty you didn’t know you need to know) on writing.

Happy reading ….. and happy storytelling.

Knowing your data and not knowing your data can make an enormous difference to your fundraising results. I understand that many fundraisers find the database a slightly scary beast in the corner of the room. But if you know how to feed it and care for it well, the beast becomes a kitten.   Knowing your data can help you achieve a number of things:

•  Maximise sustainable, long-term income streams from donors
• Invest in donor recruitment strategies based on potential
• Maximise profitability by allocating expenditure according to lifetime values, and
• Develop fundraising messages which both reinforce your brand position and maximise income
• Streamline processes allowing your donor care team to spend more time focussing on the donor rather than often tedious data tasks.

So how do you tame the beast?

The first thing I recommend is a Database Health Check.  Often I find limited data being held, or poor quality data with significant amounts of information being held in the ‘Notes’ field which causes issues when it comes to creating reports and selecting data for mailings. Some information is held in multiple locations, or worse, not recorded at all, such as communications in and out from the donor. Often I find financial codes are inconsistent or inaccurate and not enough staff know how it works. That scary beast again!

Starting with financial coding, it is an idea to develop and document (with all key stakeholders in FR and Finance) a clear rationale to support code development in line with your FR Budget structures. Set clear roles and responsibilities for code development and implementation, and make sure everyone understands. Give examples!  Also, I cannot stress strongly enough how important it is to have a good project manager when taking this on.

The impact will be a much calmer beast. You will have a structure that is consistent, and makes use of all elements of the income codes. For example, on Raisers Edge this is campaign, appeal and fund.   But most importantly you will now have a system that allows you to make robust analysis of your fundraising, and a fundraising team that knows what activities are delivering.  You can now segment data more effectively and avoid scattergun approaches to donor care that wastes resources and diminishes loyalty. Can you hear the purring yet?

My next recommendation would be to initiate a sustained drive on data collection by asking supporters at all touch points for their contact details (email, mobile and home phone), their date of birth (where channels support) and – critical for effective donor care – their motivation (through all response forms and telemarketing).

I recently worked with Northern Ireland Chest, Heart and Stroke (NICHS) and I would like to thank their Donor Marketing Manager Elley Martin for not only embracing this work, but allowing me to share their results. Since NICHS reviewed their data collection touch points, they have had a:

• 333% uplift in email addresses
• 75% uplift in home phone numbers
• 533% uplift in mobile numbers

The impact of this is incredible. It will allow you to diversify communication channels which satisfy your donor’s preferences and protects you against unsubscribing and lapsing.   It means your donor care is targeted and personalised because you know what motivation factors are at play and you can insert variable paragraphs in letters and scripts.  And by recording communications you can improve supporter care by identifying what they are receiving and responding to.

By now you have a tame kitten who purrs when you use it. Using your database effectively to improve your knowledge of your data will deliver vastly improved donor care by enhancing their experience, and help you make more effective investment decisions.

In fundraising, we spend significant effort on securing the first date with a donor, but if you want a long-term relationship, your organisation will have to know how to keep the love alive. Like any marriage or partnership, you have to work at it.

Transforming stories, demonstrating impact and motivating support are crucial to successful fundraising.  By bringing your organisation to life, showing donors who you are and who you impact, and involving supporters in your work, you will help engage, inspire – and keep – your donors.

I am also delighted to be partnering with my client The Mercy Hospital Foundation, and their Fundraising Manager Julie Harris will be explaining how a deliberate and determined focus on donor care has had extraordinary results.

At the session, I will be giving a practical guide to developing engaging donor care plans and communications, including how to develop a compelling case for support, how to spot a story, and how to translate stories into persuasive asks. I will also be explaining how to demonstrate impact, and place donors at the centre of their investment – and at that heart of their story with you.  I hope to see you there.

Details of the conference can be found here.