An upgrade calling program is one of the most powerful ways to build a community of inspired, connected donors and to engage with them in a personal way. Why? Because it isn’t just another ask for more money – it’s way more than that.
Our top six tips for making sure your upgrade program is kicking goals:
1. Say ‘thank you’.
Delivering a heartfelt thank you is the key reason you are making this call.
2. Demonstrate the impact and be specific.
Report back on campaigns your donors have supported, what it means to beneficiaries and how you couldn’t do it without them.
Recessions generally mean more tough questions being asked by our boards. There can be a switch from long-term thinking to short-term budget management. Questions come up like, ‘what is a recession going to mean for our organisation’s fundraising revenue?’, ‘Should we cut commitments to fundraising activities?’, ‘How do we balance our immediate requirements for our service at the same time as thinking about the future?’
Every regular giving base has a rate of donor churn (attrition) and having a reactivation program in place will reduce that, and help you grow. You don’t need whopper volumes to justify calling them. If you don’t have one in place, here are some reasons to get it going.
Let’s start by giving Lifetime Value (LTV) a basic definition. Simply put, it’s the total value of gifts a supporter will give to your organisation over the lifetime that they donate. Easy right?
Unlike any other year, 2020 will hopefully go down in fundraising history as the year that finally broke our addiction to big volume (regular giving) acquisition. The year that forced us to go back to thinking about the ‘value’ each supporter can bring to our organisation rather than the ‘volume’ they offer.
For a lot of organisations, it’s been a big year for fundraising appeals and virtual events – with many charities seeing booming results from crisis campaigns kicked off since April 2020. Can we keep this momentum going as we see more and more reports that the economic sky is falling in and the world?
