How to nurture donor relationships
Charity Meetup
Monthly friendly skills sharing and facilitated networking events. Designed for the not-for-profit sector.
April’s Meetup was the last in a series that looked at pandemic-proof fundraising. Our theme was ‘nurturing donor relationships’ and our speakers were Lucy Goodway from bereavement charity Edward’s Trust and Jit Pundal from Legacy Life Cover.
The donor journey
Our sector showcase was Lucy Goodway from Edward’s Trust. Based in the West Midlands, the charity is 33 years old and supports over 3,000 bereaved people each year. These can be children who have lost siblings or parents, or parents who have lost children of any age.
Lucy and the team have developed a path for donors to go from doubters to starters then doers to stayers. The journey usually begins when families or individuals coming to the end of using the charity’s services express a desire to give back and help others. They’re given a ‘staying in touch’ pack which outlines ways to continue being involved with the charity. Ideas include signing up for newsletters, following them on social media and giving a donation.
People typically become volunteers, supporters or fundraisers and receive branded clothing for activities.
Gaining corporate support
Lucy continued to talk about gaining support from corporates and emphasised a need to do your research when approaching people. This includes their geographical location and their CSR policy so you can explain why they’re a good fit for the charity. Once support is in place, you need to make them feel valued by attending events and thanking them.
Lucy gives out a 15-page corporate booklet telling prospective supporters about the charity, the ways in which they can help Edward’s Trust, how donated funds will be spent and the corporate/business journey. The booklet also includes real-life stories from service users and testimonials from supporting businesses.
Looking after their regular givers
Regular givers can become part of an exclusive Kite Club. This is for anyone who commits to giving a donation monthly, quarterly or annually. Like the corporate booklet, it explains how bereaved people benefit from donations and also outlines the plus points of joining for the donor.
Lucy also talked about the need to say thank you to donors to make them feel noticed and valued.
Tapping into legacy income
Jit Pundal is founder of Legacy Life Cover, an ethical life insurance company, with helping the community through charitable donations at the heart of every policy.
Jit began his talk by showing us a chart detailing the legacy income of the top 25 charities in 2018/19. Cancer Research UK raised the highest amount, a massive ￡181m. This was closely followed by RNLI with ￡135m and British Heart Foundation with ￡84m. Annually, around ￡3.4bn is raised by UK charities of all sizes through legacies, that’s about 16% of total fundraising income.
Here are some more facts:
Don’t let your charity get left behind
Jit explained that 65% of charities say legacies are their top fundraising priority, with more than 1/3 saying it brings in more than 30% of their annual voluntary income, and 11% saying it raises more than 50%.
Legacy gifts can be small or large but are largely unrestricted and reliable.
Types of legacy gift
Around 54% of UK adults don’t have a Will, so they may not be aware that there are three ways to leave a gift to a charity:
Remember a Charity Week
Running from 05 to 11 September 2022, Remember a Charity Week encourages people to leave a gift to a charity that has helped them or someone they care about. Look HERE to find out more.
May 2022 – our 2nd birthday!
Our next event is on Tuesday 10 May when we’ll be celebrating our 2nd birthday. Everyone is welcome and you can find out more HERE
Independent Chair | Non Executive Director | Independent Chair at Surrey Wellbeing Partnership
2 年Great notes! Thank you ??