No tricks, only treats!

Happy Halloween y'all!

I’m reflecting on a busy few weeks. Back from IFC in Holland and NonProfitStorytelling in San Antonio, Texas and I wanted to share a few “treats” with you that I picked up on my journeys.

At IFC, I did a session with the fantastic Dana Segal called “Nudge ‘em. Prime ‘em. Anchor ‘em. Behavioural Science in action.” It was a session that focused on how you can overlay behaviour science and direct response for more effective (ie: RAISE MORE MONEY) fund-raising.

Have you heard of the “Goldilocks Effect”? You know the story of Goldilocks yah? This bowl is too hot, this one is too cold, yada, yada… We’ve all been to that restaurant where we look over the wine list and think - well I’m not going to cheap out and buy the $7 bottle of Pinot but I’m not going to blow the bank on the $107 bottle either am I? But we pick the one in the middle… That’s the Goldilocks Effect. You can use it on your reply forms every day to raise more money.

Doing this one simple thing (assuming you are segmenting your list correctly) should see an instant raise in your average gift. Love it.

In San Antonio, I did two sessions. The first was with Rachel Zant. Rachel absolutely smoked it (that’s a good thing) in front of a ballroom crowd of a few hundred… We presented a session called “An intimate conversation, aka how to become ‘shabby’ and open your donor’s heart”. 

Rachel shared her #1 TOP TIP for conducting a great interview:

You aren’t conducting an interview, you are having a chat or a conversation with someone very important who can tell you remarkable things by listening and asking open hearted questions. Ask about feelings… NOT facts. 

“How did it make you feel when…”
“What makes you feel grateful about…”
“What keeps you awake at night…”

I sat in on a session by Steven Screen. I love Steven. He is a fantastic listener and a remarkable teacher. His ability to think and be creative on his feet is inspiring as well. 

Two things he shared in his session was the idea that revenue is a stream. Not a pond. As fundraisers, we always have the ability to dip our buckets into the stream, if we need to… Simple idea but not as straightforward as you might think. It requires a strong bucket (ie: you actually have a need that you can articulate thoughtfully and inspirationally to your stream/donors), it requires the stream (donors who are connected to you and responsive to you) and of course, a good, free flowing stream (if you are asking with thoughtfulness, thanking with some love and appreciation and attention and telling donors what you did with their gift, that stream will never run dry).

Lastly, I did a session about legacy giving and how to plan, start, grow, nurture and harvest a very special crop of donors.

Thank you for those who groaned through my awful garden puns but I wanted to share one thing with you that brought the house down… Here is 7 mins of words from the eloquent, moving and inspiring storyteller herself, my right hand woman and creative muse, Jen Love:

Legacy giving is about your donor’s dreams. It’s never about the money.

Thanks for reading and I hope you all have a fun and safe night tonight if you are enjoying this fun and spooky day!