Eric Phelps, Rainmaker Consulting presentation for Valley Gives, March 21, 2017

1. Communicating Your
Message to Donors
Eric Phelps
RAINMAKER Consulting

2. RAINMAKER Consulting
• Fundraising Consulting
• Strategic Planning
• Executive Coaching
• Organizational
Development

3. Today We Will…
• Meet Each Other
• Review Valley Gives
Opportunities
• Learn the SUCCESs
model
• Practice Storytelling
• Imagine reaching new
donors
• Explore Channels of
Communication/Video
• Q&A
• Write a First Draft of
Message
– Feedback
– Sharing
• Q&A 2
• Next Steps
• Adjourn

5. What is the possibility of individual giving?
Total Giving in US 2015?
$373.25 Billion – a record year!
Up 4.1% from 2015
Individual Giving makes up 72% ($264.58B)
87% if you add Planned Giving
More people in US gave to charity than voted!
Source: Giving USA 2016 Report

6. What could Valley Gives funding enable you to do?

7. Valley Gives Review
• 9,596 donors
• 4,476 NEW donors to
Valley Gives
• 19,391 Online
donations
• 454 Participating
Organizations (with
primary offices in 54
towns/cities)

8. • CFWMA
– 185,000 in
Prizes/Grants
• Leveraged $1,613,725
– $1,193,863 Donations
– $322,341 in Outside
Matching Money
– $70,022 in Donated
Fees
Valley Gives Review

9. Location, Location, Location
• 68 out of 70
towns/cities
• 202 Towns outside PV
(77% of MA)
• 50 States + DC and
Puerto Rico
• 8 Countries

10. Valley Gives Insights
• Average Donation?
– $25.00
– 22% of all donations
– Only 37 donations of
$1,000+
• Not a large dollar event
– You can FOCUS ON
new donors, small
donations that add up

11. Valley Gives Insights
• Average donations per
organization
– 39
• Organizations located in:
– Hampshire – 38%
– Hampden – 36%
– Franklin – 17%
– MA – 6%
– Other States – 3%
• Organizations that raised
$1,000+
– 54%
Room To Grow
Adults Gave to
VG
Reminiang
Adults

12. Valley Gives Goals
• Increase breadth of
participation
• Continue to attract high
number of first-time
donors
• Increase number of VG
donors under 40
• Create clear messaging
that engages folks

13. Not so long ago in a city
far, far away…

15. Recent Example

16. Campaign Review
Pro-gress
• Urgent
– Deadline
– In plenty of time to make a
difference
• Relevant
– Election
– National Republicans are
running TV ads against me
• Clear ask (x 3)
• “P.S. Message”
Con-gress (or Senate)
• Addresses the audience from
a position of weakness
– Kochs are after me
– Fighting $400M campaign
• Does not tell a story
• Does not make a case for
support
• Did not engage “Matterness”
– “Top target list” for $25.00?
• Looks amateur in Courier

17. New Approach
• Simple
• Unexpected
• Concrete
• Credible
• Emotional
• Stories
• (short)
• SUCCESs!

18. “Stickiness”…
• Gets attention
• Is memorable
• Inspires people to act (purchase, share, discuss,
donate, petition)

19. Our Campaigns
Tend to…
• Talk about ourselves with
internal jargon
• Talk about our outputs
• Tell a good story, then…
(See above)
• Include too much
information
• Forget the Matterness
• Yadda yadda yadda
Could…
• Make connections to
donors
• Make a case for our impact
• Tell a good story (Stop)
• Include enough
information
• Include Matterness
• That’s it!

20. Simple
• Don’t “Bury the Lead”
• “If you say three things,
you don’t say anything”
• Names, Names, Names –
Local Connections
• Core + Compact
• Use Generative
Analogies
– Jaws on a spaceship (Alien)

21. Polemo Schema
A polemo is the largest
citrus fruit. The rind is very
thick but soft and easy to
peel away. The resulting
fruit has a light yellow to
coral pink flesh and can
vary from juicy to slightly
dry and from seductively
spicy-sweet to tangy and
tart.
A polemo is a super-sized
grapefruit with a very thick,
soft rind.

22. Simple
Help is a four-legged word
Our vision doesn’t require sight
Finding a cure now…
so our daughters don’t
have to

23. Make Meaning
• Kenneth L. Peters, the Principal of Beverly Hills High
School, announced today that the entire high school
faculty will travel to Sacramento next Thursday for a
colloquium in new teaching methods. Among the
speakers will be Margaret Mead, college president Dr.
Robert Maynard Hutchins, and California governor
Edmund “Pat” Brown.
• There will be no school next Thursday!

24. Unexpected
• Surprise brow,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRh1xH_oB
Oo
• Create curiosity – Gap Theory
– Gaps start with some knowledge
– Start now with providing knowledge and lead to May 3
• Use joke structure: “One of these things is not like
the other”
• Be creative!

26. Concrete

27. Tie Gift to
Impact
• Meals provided
• Clients/patients
served
• Jobs created
• Carbon offsets
• Change
• This is especially
noted for Millennials
Goat - $50
No kid-ding
here—this gift is
an invaluable
resource for rural
communities.

28. Credible
0.0% 10.0%20.0%30.0%40.0% 50.0% 60.0% 70.0% 80.0% 90.0%100.0%
Rating of Patient Care
Would Recommend This Hospice
Providing Emotional Support
Treating Family With Respect
Support fro Religious & Spiritual Beliefs
National
State
HFH Level
Source: DEYTA/Medicaid

29. Emotional
• Video, Love has No Labels
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnDgZuGIhHs

30. Data & Emotion
2004 Study
• Informational Appeal
• $1.26
• Story Appeal
• $2.38
• Mixed Appeal
• $1.14
• Primed for Emotion
• $2.41

31. Your life has been woven with so many surprises.
So many lessons that can benefit others.
So many insights. So many moments.
Some you’ve revealed in the stories you tell today.
But many others will be revealed in the stories
you will tell tomorrow.

32. A story is a journey with
a twist, taking us from
one place to another
where a change occurs.

33. Good Stories Are…
• Retellable and Memorable
• Have a…
– Beginning (Set up/Context)
– Middle (Crisis)
– End (Resolution)
• Brief (or can be told in short
form)
• “Viral” (Jokes, Urban Myths)

34. Types of Stories
Origin Stories
• Often very effective – they
demonstrate your DNA & are
well-rehearsed
• Depict your beginnings (Raison
d’etre, early successes & struggles)
• They show what you’ve learned
• Create connection with
supporters
• Examples can be found
everywhere

35. Types of Stories
Impact Stories
• Can be in parallel with Origin
Story
• Must demonstrate change
• Are BEST from someone other
than YOU! (Don’t brag)
• Shows how funds are used
• Are more effective as “power
of one”

36. Types of Stories
Vision Stories
• Show where you are
going
– Future Plans
– New Building
– New reach
• Imagines a world…
• Example: MLK’s “I
Have a Dream” speech

37. Eric’s Story
One day during a meeting at work, I noticed a flash
appearing out of the corner of my eye. I thought it was
a reflection from the overhead lights, but then it
happened again when I went home. It even happened
when I closed my eyes – so I knew I needed to see an
optometrist. The next day, I made the appointment, but
it required a referral from my primary care physician.

38. Eric’s Story (Cont.)
So I called his office as formality and to address the
problem with my vision.
It turned out that I had not had a full physical in quite
some time (which my doctor was quick to point out). In
exchange for the referral, I agreed to have him check me
out the following week…

39. Eric’s Story (3)
My heart began racing when I heard, “Everything checked
out fine, except that I felt something on your prostate.”
Incredulous, I said, “But I came in for my eye!”
From the beginning, Cancer Connection provided me
with support, answered my questions, and made me feel
like I had people to talk with who had gone through what
I was facing…

40. Share Pair Exercise
Share a story about your organization that
incorporates SUCCESs-ful principles

41. A Few Words About Video
• 85% of web traffic is
driven by video
• Videos are “Sticky”
• YouTube has over 1 Billion
users – almost 1/3 of all
ppl on internet
• 81% of Millennials use YT
• Videos are mostly viewed
on mobile
• 300 hours uploaded every
minute

42. A Few MORE Video Pointers…
• Videos can..
– Ask
– Thank
– Report
• But don’t do more than 2
of these in 1 video
• Scripts can help, but
don’t read from one
• Brevity is the soul of wit
– shorter videos get
more views!

43. SUCCESs-ful Videos
• Follow The Frog
• Charity: Water
• Alex: Childhood Cancer Slayer
• Anti-bullying PSA “Who Will Stop The
Bullying?”
• First World Problems
• Africans for Norway

44. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t
UQ1vdJQWn0

45. One Size…
• Use Data Segmentation to customize your messages
• Consider in cultivation, solicitation, stewardship
• Consider what people want to hear…

46. Millennials Report Reminders
1. Don’t Neglect Core
Supporters
– It is easier to retain than
gain
– And our goal is to
GAIN
2. Engage Millennials
Early and Consistently
– Use Video & social
media
– Prompt them to “share”
3. Engage Millennial
Online and OFF-line
– Consider an engagement
event for younger donors
4. Clearly show where
money is going/will go
5. Use an authentic voice
6. Feature a peer
(volunteer, client)
7. Encourage Millennial
employees to share

47. Campaign Goals & Focus
• Matching Grants (Board,
Business, Major Donor)
• Particular programs
• Incentivize campaigns
(EOY, balance budget,
complete a campaign)
• Stay unrestricted
• Amplify success
• Peer Network
Fundraisers

48. Channels
• Email
• Social Media
• Facebook
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Live events
• Video (Vimeo, YT, others)
• Your web site
• Peer Fundraising

50. Draft or Outline a
letter that
incorporates
SUCCESs-ful
Principles

51. THANK
YOU!!

52. No, Seriously…
• Among those who didn't renew their annual
contribution, many cite the fact that they were not
thanked as a primary reason (2012 Giving Survey)
• Individualized stewardship is easy, fun, and perfect for
participants or board members! (Be sure to get their
name right!)
• People cannot be “over-thanked”!
• Go “old school” and use a pen, paper, postcard.
• It is not too late to thank someone…

53. Thank You!
Eric Phelps
eric@rainmkr.com
Twitter @rainmkr
@ericlphelps