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"Your Donor Communications, Bless Their Hearts: Are They any Good? The Amazing do-it-yourself Audit"

April 1, 2010 – Program Summary

On April 1, 2010, Women in Development of Greater Boston hosted Tom Ahern, President of Ahern Communication, Ink. The title of his presentation was “Your Donor Communications, Bless Their Hearts: Are They any Good? The Amazing do-it-yourself Audit.” Tom’s comprehensive presentation, delivered enthusiastically and with humor, focused on the “secrets to success” of effective donor communications – communications that will inspire donors to both give more and stay loyal.

Tom’s questions for the audience to consider varied from larger questions like “Am I treating the donor as our organization’s superhero?” and “Can readers easily skim my stuff?” and “Is my stuff rich with emotional triggers?” to more detail-oriented questions like “Are my headlines really headlines?” and “Am I jargon-free?” and “Do I include great big photos of faces?”…and covered just about everything in between.  He also discussed promoting trust in the organization, surprising the reader, showing impact, talking about accomplishments (versus activities), and telling stories of adversity, triumph, and reversed fortunes, among other things. Each one of the recommendations that Tom gave the audience promoted a donor-centric approach.

According to Tom, a donor-centric approach and perspective really matters.  Tom shared a quotation from Dale Carnegie, the1930s self-help guru, with some of his own annotations added: “You’ll have more fun and success when you stop trying to get what you want…” (a donation), “…and start helping other people get what they want.” (i.e. a feeling of having accomplished something because they made a gift to your organization.)  You end up in the same place (with money) but the two viewpoints are completely different.

Throughout the program, Tom used plenty of real samples from organization newsletters, web pages, direct mail pieces and more as his examples to illustrate clearly which pieces are successful and which ones are not…and why.  His explanations prompted attendees to think about their own donor communications and critique them with his “secrets to success” in mind.  Tom revealed that even when he is working on a client’s materials, he keeps his own presentation open on the computer screen in front of him for reference.  It never hurts to have a reminder, and the recommendations Tom shared for successful donor communications – that produce revenue and help with donor retention – are too important to overlook.

If you are interested in learning more, you can find Tom’s free how-to e-newsletter at www.aherncomm.com.

Katie Kozin
SCHOOL YEAR ABROAD
Director of Annual Giving
Phone: 978.725.6828 ext. 133
Fax: 978.725.6833
439 South Union St.
Lawrence, MA 01843