Donor Relationship Stage : Renew Me – ft. Tara Tan from Royal Far West

Donor Relationship Stage : Renew Me – ft. Tara Tan from Royal Far West

by | Jun 21, 2022 | Sustainable Fundraising

Renew Me.

This is a re-establishment stage. It’s an opportunity to breathe fresh life into the relationship in a bid to make it stronger. It may even be time to start afresh; revisit expectations and work on understanding each other

For this stage of the donor relationship journey, we were joined by guest NFP speaker Tara Tan; the resident Head of Fundraising at Royal Far West (RFW).

A bit about Tara:

Tara has been the Head of Fundraising at RFW for the past 4 years, leading, single giving, regular giving, trust and foundations, community fundraising, events, and branches. Tara has found the biggest commonality between her previous roles and experience, and RFW, is the focus on individual giving programs, and growing both cash and RG in a sustainable way…

A bit about RFW:

RFW is Australia’s only national charity dedicated to improving the health and well-being of country children and believes that:

  • Healthy country children are critical to our nation and our future
  • Every child has the right to be respected as an individual and we acknowledge their specific needs, rights and contributions
  • Access to the right support at the right time can positively reset a child’s life trajectory
  • Access alone is not enough – the quality of services and outcomes matter
  • To support a child’s health and well-being, it is vital to support the parents, carers, health professionals and educators around the child
  • An integrated and collaborative approach is the best way to support children and their families

The RFW the 5-year strategy:

Acquire a significant level of RGs to underpin the organisation long-term. In year 4 RFW are very close to hitting this target, successfully acquired 1,500 RGs in year 1, through an online lead with TM conversion program. Tara reported, “The commonality is “infancy” – picking up programs in their early stages and maturing them to scale.”

Maturity often manifests itself in the movement from cash to RG program. Are there common challenges in this, with the new expectations that are implied in RG donors?

“Yes, absolutely! The reality is that we needed to build the plane while we’re flying it – there are going to be things we want to do that we don’t yet have the budget for; this results in very difficult decisions on where we spend and what we invest in”.

With such a new program, there is so much to implement. How do you make the critical decisions around which parts of the process to implement?

“We have an amazing donor care team, so interactions are largely taken care of (although most are cancellations and very late in the journey). We picked the touch-points that we felt have the most impact – welcome, birthday, etc. – but the issue with building while flying is the inability to properly optimise. This year we’ve had to focus on financial ROI alone, this makes stewardship and governance difficult, with the focus on process components such as payments… This comes at the expense of the “warm and fuzzies” such as donor nurturing and feedback.”

What does engagement mean to a donor that could be on the verge of lapsing? What does it mean to you to try and do this?

“It’s one thing to know when they might lapse, it’s another to know why and to learn what to do to stop it. We have the data to understand when people are going to drop off (beyond the natural term of the contract length). The challenge in the coming year is understanding the prescriptive actions we can take better. Giving days help create an experiential moment to interact with the charity, but it can’t be about asking them to give more – it should be about retaining them. When we do a survey with our cash donors, if the question is asked about what they’d prefer to see (stats versus stories), the majority want to see the stats – but we know this doesn’t work and that the stories drive donation. Sitting here today, there are more questions than answers and a recognition of how important the next phase is for us.”

Now that you’ve got donors on board for 3 – 4 years, how do you engage the Renew Me experience? How do you actually go about it?

“You want the end in mind at the beginning, but the end in mind now is to prolong the end. Looking for opportunities to engage with donors in new ways – the floods have presented this opportunity. There is no silver bullet… This should be about constantly considering and reconsidering the ways that we drive engagement with our established donors. It might be other ways we can tell the stories, such as lunch and learning sessions.”

How would you rate your organisation at each stage of the road map to donor-centricity? Click here to take our 2-minute quiz!

Thank you to Tara Tan for sharing her knowledge on the Renew Me stage in the donor relationship journey –  you can view the full session show notes from the Renew Me stage here.

If you’d like to hear more from the likes of Tara and your fundraising peers, we invite you to join the LemonTree Donor-centric Collective; a community built for fundraisers. The community attracts 1000+ fundraisers across Australia, ranging from small to large NFP’s and guess what…its completely FREE! Enjoy member-only access to community webinars, the chance to speak on behalf of your cause, and most importantly be involved in the donor-centric movement!

Previously in this series:

Next up in this series:

  • Win Me Back – 2022
Have you moved to a new CRM and everything is not as it should be?

Have you moved to a new CRM and everything is not as it should be?

by | Mar 9, 2022 | Sustainable Fundraising

As an Australian NFP, you’re likely well-aware of the need to manage your donors in a way that is cost-effective, and sustainable. A CRM system, but more so, the underlying strategy and cost-effective way of managing your assets, is often seen as the solution.

The success rate for a CRM migration is widely reported, and ranges from somewhere between 18% and 69%. Said otherwise, implementing CRM successfully is something between a fair bet and a strategic disaster. For better or for worse, over the last few years, a trend of perpetual CRM migration has emerged in the Australian NFP industry, with our numbers suggesting that at any time, up to 1 in 3 charities are planning or executing a CRM re-platform project.

Does this sound like you? Leave a comment below and let us know how you’re feeling about this!

With CRM vendor’s promoting promising results, this seems like a great idea. However, what is often neglected before, during, and after the migration is the integrity of your data. A CRM is only as good as the data that sits behind it and if your data is not in good shape (poor structure, duplication, incorrect contact details), it will result in your CRM not performing to it’s potential. This is not good news for the recipients of your marketing campaigns – your donors – and is the last thing you need in the current climate is to annoy and potentially lose donors.

The solution?

Marketsoft – the engine which powers LemonTree – has 34 years of experience helping both commercial and charity sectors ensure their data is of the highest quality before, during, and after CRM implementations.
There are three components we consider:

  • CRM Migration – ensuring the donor information that lands in your new CRM is cleansed and structured for success.
  • CRM Management – maintaining your view of donor as well as connecting it to the systems which drive donor value.
  • CRM Execution – adopting a mindset of continual improvement in the way that CRM is acted upon.

Marketsoft, sits at the cross-section of marketing, digital, and IT, having worked alongside the likes of American Express, 3M, Adobe, NSW Government, and many more over the last 3 decades. Marketsoft have taken these learnings and helped charities such as Jewish House, Dementia Australia, and Royal Hospital for Women, solve strategic and organisational challenges; allowing them to leverage and improve their donor data.

If you’d like to build value for both your donors and your cause, Hamish Martin, can help you learn more about Marketsofts CRM solutions! 

E: hamish.martin@marketsoft.com.au

Marketsoft is a proud member of:

Learn more – www.marketsoft.com.au

If only I knew this when I started my fundraising journey

If only I knew this when I started my fundraising journey

by | Feb 18, 2022 | Education, Sustainable Fundraising

Stepping into the fundraising sector can be daunting. If you’re like the majority, you’ll be asking questions like – what are the right skills to have? How do I progress my career?

Finding answers to these questions isn’t easy, so we’ve put together an expert panel of diverse fundraisers to help us get clear on the things we need to know to kick-start a successful fundraising career.

Our experts will be recalling what they wish they knew when they started their fundraising journeys so we can benefit from their learnings. They’ll share their best pieces of advice that we can put into practice immediately.

Whether you have just joined the sector or you’re a seasoned fundraiser, come and join us for this Q&A Panel Session where our four speakers will share their advice and discuss all the things they wish they knew when they started their fundraising journey.

Register quickly to secure your spot, places are extremely limited.

 

Date: Wednesday 16 March 2022

Time: 8.00am – 10.00am AEDT

Venue: LemonTree Fundraising

Level 4, 48 Chandos Street, St Leonards NSW 2065 

Cost:

Member $40.00
Non Member $50.00

Registrations will remain open until Monday 14 March, 5.00pm AEDT

REGISTER HERE

Original source – Fundraising Institute Australia – Event Info NSW

Donor Relationship Stage 6: Endear Me – ft. Cassandra Bailey from OzHarvest

Donor Relationship Stage 6: Endear Me – ft. Cassandra Bailey from OzHarvest

by | Dec 11, 2021 | Customer Journey, Donor Endearment, donor engagement, donor-centric, Donor-centricity, Sustainable Fundraising

Endear Me.

This is the rekindling stage. A time to focus on reminding your donors of why the relationship exists. What attracted you to each other in the first place and why you still belong together? Furthermore, it’s an opportunity to reflect on all you have accomplished together so far, through the impact that has been made from your relationship. How can you re-ignite the passion to continue your journey together?

For this stage of the donor relationship journey, we were joined by guest NFP speaker Cassandra Bailey; the resident Development Lead at OzHarvest.

 A bit about Cassandra:

15 years ago, Cassandra’s favourite philosopher, Peter Singer, changed her life. His work led her to a place where she wanted to help change the lives of others. Prior to that, Cassandra’s experience was in loyalty & memberships in the corporate world, working with the likes of Ticketek and hotels.com. Fast forward to now, with 10 years of experience in the not-for-profit industry under her belt, Cassandra would be described as a motivated, driven individual who is determined to improve the world we live in. She also has a love of process and automation and believes there is no limit to the technology we can implement to grow and diversify revenue streams and strengthen our relationships.

Cassandra is proud to have worked with World Animal Protection, Four Paws Australia, Sea Shepherd Australia, and now OzHarvest.

I grew in the fundraising sector with a strong supporter-centric focus, which has shaped a lot of how and why I approach my work now. One of my earlier mentors introduced me to a quote by Maya Angelou who was a wonderful poet and civil rights activist; “people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” – and that is how I approach fundraising, by giving people an opportunity to feel good about what they are doing. I focus on how it makes the donor feel and the impact it creates for our beneficiaries. For me, it is all about creating lasting relationships and genuine connections. So, today’s topic of endear me really resonates with the way I work.  

I believe it is important to talk with your audience, not at your audience. Creating a 2-way conversation, means giving back and not just taking. Donor recognition and gratitude are a must-have, not a nice-to-have. Delight, delight, delight and endear all the way!

Several years ago now, I had a wonderful volunteer at one of my earlier orgs. A vibrant and dedicated soul who was pushing 80 years old. When I left that organisation, she chose to come along with me to my new org. This volunteer used to write birthday cards, call donors to say thank you, reconnect with lapsed supporters and generally be our resident “endearer” who made each and every supporter feel special, connected to cause, and strengthened the sense of community and belonging. Now we can’t all be lucky enough to have such a treasure like this, but we can all learn from her. Whether it is leveraging our technology to make supporter journeys personal and customised or sticking to grassroots tactics and picking up the phone at every chance we get. It is important to plan and make time for these moments. Even if it can’t be every day, but perhaps scheduled twice a year to share gratitude and impact and keep those relationships alive. Our funding is a by-product of the relationships we make, a necessary by-product yes, but without these relationships, the bottom line runs dry.

(You can view the full session show notes from the Endear Me stage here).

Regardless of the path you choose to take, your journey towards donor-centricity should be underpinned by 4 core principles:

(Ref. LemonTree – The Donor-centricity e-Book – Page 30).

Remember, trust and loyalty, are the building blocks of any long-lasting relationship.

If you’d like to hear more from the likes of Cassandra and your fundraising peers, we invite you to join the LemonTree Donor-centric Collective; a community built for fundraisers. The community attracts 1000+ fundraisers across Australia, ranging from small to large NFP’s and guess what…its completely FREE! Enjoy member-only access to community luncheons, webinars, our LinkedIn community group, the chance to speak on behalf of your cause, and most importantly be involved in the donor-centric movement!

Thank you to Cassandra Bailey for sharing her knowledge on the Endear Me stage in the donor relationship journey.

Previously in this series:

 Next up in this series:

  • Renew Me – 2022
  • Win Me Back – 2022
What stage is your organisation at in the donor centric journey?

What stage is your organisation at in the donor centric journey?

by | Oct 20, 2021 | Customer Journey, Donor Endearment, donor engagement, donor-centric, Donor-centricity, Sustainable Fundraising

In a survey to our Donor Centricity Collective (DCC) community, results showed that a common challenge amongst Fundraising Managers is ‘knowing your data’.

In our quest to help solve this common problem, we’ve taken our learnings from the commercial world and created an 8 step journey roadmap to the Donor Centric environment.

We encourage you to challenge your thinking by rating your organisation at each stage of the donor centricity road map (on a scale of 1 – 10).

DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE COPY:

  • Keep up to date with all the juicy fundraising goss, tips and education!