Sean Triner spoke to some of Australia’s top fundraisers , who presented at last month’s Australasian Fundraising Forum, to see what gets them hot under the collar. Sean Triner spoke to some of Australia’s top fundraisers , who presented at last month’s Australasian Fundraising Forum, to see what gets them hot under the collar. I wanted to see what agitated speakers at the forum about fundraising in Australia, so I ran a quick survey to see if there were any common themes in their agitations. There was. Although put in different ways, the three key common areas of concern across these fundraising greats were: The bosses (boards and chief executive…
With tax appeal season fast approaching, Sean Triner reveals how calling a small segment of your database could improve your appeal results. With tax appeal season fast approaching, Sean Triner reveals how calling a small segment of your database could improve your appeal results. Quite often I work with a nonprofit when it is in a difficult financial situation. In such circumstances, sending an appeal which tells people about the organisation’s problems will inevitably raise more money than any campaign before that has. When we look at the income of these appeals, we see that the Pareto principle still applies: that most of the money comes from a minority of…
Sean Triner shares his recent learnings about the success of bequest marketing, both in Australia and abroad, and suggests how you can access the available knowledge, too. Sean Triner shares his recent learnings about the success of bequest marketing, both in Australia and abroad, and suggests how you can access the available knowledge, too.
Sean Triner shows how you can improve your fundraising storytelling by applying the concept of ‘witnessing’. Sean Triner shows how you can improve your fundraising storytelling by applying the concept of ‘witnessing’. Thankfully, many organisations are getting the idea that they should be telling individual stories, not using statistics and mind-bogglingly technical jargon if they are going to really engage with donors. This message appears to be getting through with direct mail appeals, but before a recent Fundraising Institute of Australia breakfast session in Brisbane on the topic of storytelling, I went to the websites of the 30 or so nonprofits that were attending. Only one had a story on…
Fundraising transparency is to be put under the microscope by the Not-for-Profit Sector Reform Council. Sean Triner urges all fundraisers and nonprofit leaders to take action to ensure the council is well informed about the areas it is reviewing. Fundraising transparency is to be put under the microscope by the Not-for-Profit Sector Reform Council. Sean Triner urges all fundraisers and nonprofit leaders to take action to ensure the council is well informed about the areas it is reviewing. This is the most important agitator I have ever written. Our ability to fundraise using the most effective techniques available to us could be under threat. A group of 12 people have…
Sean Triner’s agitator this month is a collection of ideas and truths about the facts of life when increasing your donor numbers plus frequency and value. Sean Triner’s agitator this month is a collection of ideas and truths about the facts of life when increasing your donor numbers plus frequency and value. We all want to have our cake and eat it. High average donations, great response rates, excellent long-term value. But in the end, it all comes down to balance. Doing better in one area may mean another doesn’t do so well. Below I explore some of those balancing acts. Fundraising doesn’t get easier as you grow Any nonprofit…
Under the guise of poppadums, curry and bequest talk, Sean Triner highlights the importance of doing the maths on your fundraising strategy. Under the guise of poppadums, curry and bequest talk, Sean Triner highlights the importance of doing the maths on your fundraising strategy. Lunch with the head of fundraising at a major Australian charity had to be an Indian curry. Like me, this fundraising boss is English-born and we exiles do love our curry. Fish and chips were usurped by curry as the British national dish a very long time ago. What better way to spend a beautiful Sydney winter day than munching an eggplant madras, playing poppadom geography*…
Sean Triner suggests a bold strategy to vastly improve funding for your organisation over the next five years. Sean Triner suggests a bold strategy to vastly improve funding for your organisation over the next five years. I have just been assessing the latest benchmarking data, where 40-odd charities pool their data and have a look at what is really happening in their fundraising programs. A couple of really big things stand out. One: The charities that grew the most in the last five to ten years did something enormously different to what they used to do. Two: The growth of sustainer programs (regular giving/monthly giving) is the basis of most…
Sean Triner looks at how investing in fundraising stacks up against leaving a nonprofit’s investments in the property and other markets. Sean Triner looks at how investing in fundraising stacks up against leaving a nonprofit’s investments in the property and other markets. I have had a fascinating month which includes analysing the best acquisition direct mail results I have seen in Australia. One charity managed to average 7.5% response rate on cold, bought lists (no swaps or co-ops). This was on a mailing of 40,000, so is statistically valid for rolling out. The ‘worst’ list got over 5%, and the best over 10%. For context, 1% is what a charity…
