Donor-Centric Engagement and Management | Standard 12

The nonprofit has a compelling, urgent, visionary case for donor near-term and long-term organizational support.

Maybe you need to refine your case for support and hire people who strongly believe in it. NSGPS offers model case statements and tools to guide the process of strengthening your case.

Checklist

  The organization has an external case for near-term support that is current and easily accessible by staff and donors

  The organization has an external case for long-term support that is current and easily accessible by staff and donors

  Case statements are integrated across all marketing platforms

Tools

  Developing Your Case for Support: Involving the Donor (Margaret Guellich and Lynda Lysakowski--book excerpt)

 Creating a Case Statement: Step by Step Guidebook (Nonprofit Learning Lab)

  Seeing Through a Donor's Eyes: How to Make a Persuasive Case for Everything from Your Annual Drive to Your Planned Giving Program to Your Capital Campaign (Tom Ahern--book)

 Sample Case Statements (Kirsten Bullock, The Nonprofit Academy)

 Your Case for Support: Good Design Will Make It Stronger (Jenny Winton, Mission Minded)

Donor-Centric Engagement and Management | Standard 13

All donors and prospects are offered timely, accurate gift planning information to ethically maximize the donor’s charitable impact and personal benefit.

Checklist

  The organization formally endorses the Donor Bill of Rights and CGP Model Standards of Practice for the Charitable Gift Planner

  All fundraisers receive training on planned gift tools and techniques and ethical issues at least quarterly

  Donor-focused information about gift planning opportunities is included on the organization’s web site and in print materials 

  Internal resources (staff, web site, mailings, gift illustration software etc.) and external resources (technical advisors) are available to answer donor questions

Tools

  FREE How to Train Your DO: Deploy an Army of Skilled Gift Planners (Katherine Kotlzrczyk)

  Training Boot Camp (Alexandria Brovey)

  Model Standards of Practice for the Charitable Gift Planner (National Association of Charitable Gift Planners)

  Donor Bill of Rights (Association of Fundraising Professionals)

Donor-Centric Engagement and Management | Standard 14

The nonprofit has a robust, well-executed stewardship plan across all lines of fundraising focused on engaging donors in a meaningful way, building long-term donor relationships and maintaining a high donor retention rate.

Checklist

  The organization has a stewardship plan that specifies the touches donors at various levels receive and who is responsible

  Stewardship activities are included in fundraiser performance metrics

  The organization has a clear process to connect donors to engagement opportunities

  All donors receive personalized communication  describing the impact of their gift at least annually

Tools

 FREE Ready, Set, Go -- Reaching New Heights with Your Legacy Society (Alison O’Carroll and Sara Elward)

 Unleashing Planned Gift Stewardship (Scott Lumpkin) 

 Attracting More Donors with Honey: Sweet Rewards from Good Stewardship (Charlotte Meyer)

  If You Build It They Will Commit: Mining Your Loyal Donor Pool for Bequest Fundraising and More (Liz Thompson and Aleksandra Stankovic—on-demand webinar)

  Sample Stewardship Plan--Lincoln Park Zoo 

  Best Practices in Donor Reporting (ADRP/AASP)

Donor-Centric Engagement and Management | Standard 15

The nonprofit integrates gift planning messaging in all its marketing, and all marketing and messaging position donors as partners/investors in mission and clearly acknowledges the donor’s role in the nonprofit’s mission success.

Checklist

  The organization has a calendar for marketing that coordinates messaging across organizational units

  All planned gift marketing messages (including acknowledgments, thank yous, welcome kits, appeals, newsletters, web pages, etc.) are audited in conjunction with the organization’s overall marketing calendar at least annually for consistency and currency of message and branding

  Profiles of planned gift donors are included in web and print marketing

Tools

  FREE Moving from Tactics to Strategy: Finding the Secret Sauce for Your Gift Planning Marketing (Kathryn Miree)

  Visualized Autobiography and Donor Stories: Good for Your Donors, Good for Your Organization (Elissa Leif)

  Getting the Most ROI from Your Planned Giving Marketing Investment (Phyllis Freedman)

  The Coming Gift Boom and The Art of Integrated Marketing (Andrew Ragone)

  Developing a Proactive Planned Giving Marketing Plan (Timothy Logan)

Donor-Centric Engagement and Management | Standard 16

The nonprofit has a donor-centric culture that meets the needs of each donor.

Checklist

  The organization tracks retention for all donors and reviews statistics annually and for a 10-year period

  The organization tracks Legacy Society members as a group and reports data on their giving and engagement annually 

  The organization seeks feedback from donors regularly to understand communication preferences and solicit feedback 

Tools

  FREE Donor Insights: Why Planned Gifts Remain Secret (Katherine Kotlarczyk and Gordon Trafton)

  Donor Retention: What Do We Know and What Can We Do About It? (Adrian Sargeant)

  Commission on the Donor Experience Studies (Showcase of Fundraising Innovation and Inspiration)

  Leaving a Legacy: A New Look at Planned Giving Donors (Giving USA Special Report)