DONOR STEWARDSHIP TIPS DURING A GLOBAL PANDEMIC
DONOR STEWARDSHIP TIPS DURING A GLOBAL PANDEMIC
Those are words I have never expected to say or write
Andrea McManus, ViTreo Group Inc
March 20th 2020
Now is the time to ramp up your donor stewardship.
ViTreo spent some time brainstorming as a team yesterday on what we could do appropriately, responsively and creatively to connect with our donors in this time of crisis. It’s always critical to thoughtfully steward those who support your organization. It’s a behaviour each and everyone one of us should be engaged in on an ongoing basis with donors during normal times. In a crisis such as this, the need is amplified.
“As fundraisers, we should prepare for the impact of these current national and global events. We know, for example, that when there is uncertainty in the country, our financial markets respond negatively. We're seeing that right now. And we know that when the markets experience fluctuation, we often see a dip or decline in philanthropy in the following months.”
- NonProfit Pro, Fundraising Amidst a Global Pandemic, Craig Depole, March 18 2020
For events, campaigns and other initiatives on hold, postponed or cancelled (we don’t recommend cancelling) — please see The Provocateur - Fundraising In The Time Of COVID-19 What To Do Now! where we share recommendations to nonprofits on what to do in the short-term.
An excellent article in The Chronicle of Philanthropy captured the thoughts of North America’s top consulting firms who just happened to be gathered in Columbus, Ohio the day the world turned around.
“9/11 was such a shock to our whole system, to everyone nationally, that none of us knew what to do in the aftermath. We waited too long before we returned to dialogue with our donors. Many organizations stopped talking to their donors. They stopped asking for longer than they should have, and I think ultimately it hurt them. Or donors went to other causes that seemed more relevant.”
Their main advice:
“Don’t stop talking to big donors just because the world is being shaken.”
We would go a bit further and say “Don’t stop talking to your donors at all.”
How can you utilize this extraordinary and unprecedented time right now to focus on stewardship with your donors?
“Double Down on Stewardship
After the 2008 financial crisis, we saw that organizations that focused on enhanced donor stewardship (i.e. more thank-you phone calls; more impact reporting; more high-quality engagement from staff, board and volunteers; etc.), tended to recover more quickly than those that didn't focus significantly on stewardship.”
Here are some of our ideas to help shift perspective and behaviour from traditional methods of connecting and engaging — this will vary from nonprofit and sector to sector — depending on whether you’re an arts organization, theatre group, educational institution and so on.
Above all, listen to what’s happening around you, listen to your donors - you will know when it's the right time to ask again.
We’ve brainstormed the following unique, engaging and perspective shifting ideas!
Take a page out of the Italians’ playbook score and give impromptu concerts on Facebook, YouTube, etc
Invite your donors in to see what happens behind the scenes. If you are an art gallery or museum, tour your collections. If you are a performing arts organization create online access to costume, set preparations. Share and teach the “expertise behind what they do”, i.e. painters, dancers, actors, musicians, animal caregivers, and on and on….Some of this will be in your archives. Time to get it out and dust it off!
For theatre donors and clients, have three of your actors act out social isolation for two or three minutes while in social isolation. Make it humorous
Take your exhibitions online. Be prepared to turn on a dime... check out this innovative solution for an exhibition that was about to open at the Glenbow Museum.
Teach improv classes online. Give dance classes online. Start an online book club. The possibilities are endless.
Develop online workouts and tips for staying healthy
Send out a video of a cat, dog, bunny, alligator speaking to the donor about how happy they are to be safe but they miss people
Send virtual coffee time invitations
Send video cards to top donors (online card for that matter)
Create a story collection of successes and/or people that have been directly helped and impacted by donor giving
Share a quick journal entry or diary speaking to what the circumstances are right now and the impact that it’s having on the people that your organization serves
Develop behind the scenes videos. There are some great videos made by staffers solely on their mobile phones. These can be used as marketing videos in the future as well.
i.e. what does life look like at your municipal zoo without anyone there? Is there a way to tour people through parts of the park that they wouldn’t normally see if they were able to physically attend?
Ask other people at the organization (not fund development related) to speak to what they are doing right now during this time.
Showcase other members of your team, increase engagement across departments and give people a different perspective/insight into the organization that they would not normally get
Create video snippets of some of these pieces for different platforms, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, etc. and share online. Have a team member follow social distancing protocol and film the video on a smart phone.
If you have more ideas, please chime in and share them. Get really creative with your ideas!
This is also an opportune time to build a more robust internal philanthropic culture by including other staff and volunteers. In these times, we must become innovative and we need to pivot. Probably more than once. It’s a time to band together with your community and show solidarity — put on those fundraising helmets, strap on your nonprofit swords (recyclable cardboard only please), set up strategic video conference calls and go to (virtual) battle to win the day and build sustainability.
We will get through this and this too shall pass. We must believe that. With hope and resilience, we will get through this. Together. We send you hope that you and yours stay safe and healthy during this time.
The ViTreo team is here for you and your organization. We are prepared with resources and with experts who can assist you to ensure you remain sustainable. Reach out to us at any time info@vitreogroup.ca or 1.403.210.3157.
Leaders in our sector have pulled together and developed some amazing resources. You can find links to these resources on our website at this link: Fundraising in the time of COVID-19: Advice from leaders in the sector.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Andrea McManus, Chair, Board of Directors, Partner
ViTreo Group Inc
Andrea McManus is a Partner with ViTreo with over 30 years’ experience in fund development, marketing, sponsorship and nonprofit management. A highly strategic thinker and change maker, Andrea has worked with organizations that span the nonprofit sector with particular focus on building long-term and sustainable capacity.