A NEW SERIES FROM JESSICA NENO CLOUD
This is the second in a series on donor acquisition by Jessica Neno Cloud, CFRE, the author of Successful Fundraising Calls: A Phonathon Scripting Workshop. Cloud is the assistant director for fundraising initiatives and planned giving at the University of Southern Mississippi Foundation. She practices evidence-based fundraising with a focus on return on investment, and has a variety of innovative and effective techniques to share.
You may also be interested in the first article in this series: "How Data Mining Can Increase Direct Mail Acquisition."
by Jessica Neno Cloud (The University of Southern Mississippi Foundation)
The leaky bucket is a common metaphor in annual giving. Organizations will not retain 100% of donors from year to year. In fact, most institutions have retention rates far below that. Without acquisition work to bring on first-time donors, most of our organizations would flat-line within a short period of time.
However, acquisition work is expensive. The best acquisition results usually come from the phonathon program, where conversations can be tailored to the prospect’s interest and have a human touch.
Acquisition mailers usually have poor results, but surely there is some low-hanging fruit in your database that would prefer a mailing. (To learn more, read our article on "How Data Mining Can Increase Direct Mail Acquisition.").
There are also those stalwart non-donors out there that we may want to avoid and not waste precious acquisition resources trying to convince.
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Read Jessica Cloud's Book
Successful Fundraising Calls offers you a full scripting workshop and tutorial for successful solicitation calls. Author Jessica Neno Cloud critiques and revises 6 real phonathon scripts submitted by institutions across North America.
In this book, you will:
- Learn the pillars of writing effective scripts
- Review sample LYBUNT, SYBUNT, young alumni, and future donor scripts
- Explore Cloud’s in-depth critique of the samples
- View revisions of the sample scripts
The only resource of its kind, this monograph brings a low-cost scripting workshop directly to your office.
To order copies for your office -- or to view a free sample: