3 simple rules for successful donor calls during this crisis

We are in the middle of a hard and tumultuous time. Not a single person or organisation remains untouched. Many organisations in our sector are having to put staff on furlough and both the income and services of charities are being challenged like never before.

So, this advice might not be helpful for those who have had to scale back their fundraising to the bare bones. However, if you possibly can, it’s invaluable to keep nurturing and developing your relationships with donors. I’m working with a number of charities to convert their usual donor activity to telephone calls at this extraordinary time. Below, I share an outline of my recommended approach to these conversations, and the principles my suggestions are based on.

Remember: you can still be contacting cold prospects if your approach is compelling.

1.       Take their ‘temperature’

This is a really worrying time for everyone. When you call somebody on your database, you have no idea whether they are ill, have a relative in intensive care, have a business that is failing and employees they are worried about, are struggling with difficult lockdown family dynamics.

Recognise that it is a crazy and scary time and they may not understand why you are calling or think they have the bandwidth to handle your needs, on top of everything else they are coping with.

Approach: initially, the call is about them

This is a time when we all need to reach out and speak to the people who make up our communities. That is why we are calling you. Find out how they are.

2.       Offer value

It is more important than ever to offer a ‘value exchange’. Being involved in your organisation’s community needs to feel like a valuable, life-affirming, action of connection that they can take from lockdown. Every charity has a different value-exchange offer. Examples:

-  Arts charities are making content available - showcasing the importance of quality, thought-provoking art for escapism or perspective and insight into the human condition.

-  Local charities are mobilising their networks and pivoting it towards critical volunteering, enabling us to make a positive contribution in our communities

-  Universities are connecting alumni to share business expertise and crisis-management strategies, running expert webinars and offering remote learning.

Approach: here is what we can make possible for/with you

We are here to support our community and continue our mission. These are the activities that we are doing at the moment and these are the ways that you can benefit, receive help and/or get involved.

3.       Nurture

Draw people into your community, show them why you are relevant, show them why you matter now and always.

Approach: how would you like to participate?

Explore how they would like to continue being part of your mission, whether as recipient or contributor.

I hope that this ‘conversation sketch’ is helpful in a) encouraging you to keep communicating with your donors and prospects and b) helping you to think through how to do that successfully.

I am continuing to deliver free clinic sessions for charities who have the bandwidth to do a bit of strategic thinking. This offer remains open for the duration of this crisis.

Below this article continues with more detailed notes, giving more ways for you to think about how you communicate, in the light of the communications you have been receiving yourself.

Thoughts and analysis on ‘covid comms’ from my inbox

You will have received dozens of communications from organisations that count you as a customer or supporter. Stay alive to which of those communications have felt helpful and reassuring; have augmented your relationship with that company. And which of those have felt tone deaf, self-interested and irrelevant.

I dislike:

-  Being told things that are obvious i.e. that you have closed your shops!

-  Being sold things in a business-as-usual way that doesn’t acknowledge what’s happening i.e. why would I be shopping for work shirts now, TM Lewin?

-  Communications with an inflated sense of importance i.e. John Lewis, updating me about your staffing of the homewares department

-  Communications that give a superficial nod to caring about how I am at this time, then abruptly pivot to what they want from me  

I really appreciate:

-   Clear communication from companies that I do rely on at the moment about what I can expect. Shout-out to Who Gives a Crap (the toilet paper people) for their excellent communications.

-   Communications that acknowledge what’s happening and how I might feel, in a meaningful way. My library let me know how I can borrow remotely and told me not to worry about overdue books.

-   Offers of support and content that can help me: audible.co.uk and dozens of cultural and educational organisations

-   Communications that offer me agency or the chance to do something positive for the collective, no matter how small: a local charity organising volunteers to do food and medication deliveries for local vulnerable people. Strong comms from the NHS telling me why staying at home is the most helpful thing I can do.

As always, you can learn a lot from how organisations make you feel, and use that learning to engage more people with your important work at this topsy-turvy time.

Good luck with everything you’re trying to make possible and don’t hesitate to contact me if I can help you think through how to do that even better, smarter, quicker.

Ilana Jackman is a fundraising coach & consultant, working across the charity world to help even more causes do even more good.