Leadership Gifts for Annual Funds: Lacie LaRue February 21, 2014 ABOUT THE PRESENTER Lacie LaRue Lacie LaRue Senior Director of Annual Giving, Oregon State University Foundation 15 years in annual giving Chair of CASE's 2014 Successful Annual Giving Conference Page 1 April 6, 2014 1
AGENDA Making the Case Identifying Prospects Solicitation Stewardship Page 2 MAKING THE CASE Page 3 April 6, 2014 2
DRIVERS OF SUCCESS Source AGN 2013 Survey Page 4 THE LARGER THE GIFT, THE MORE SUSTAINABLE Higher Retention Rates Higher Upgrade Rates Potential Major Gift Prospects Stronger Relationship Source Target Analytics Page 5 April 6, 2014 3
THE DONOR PIPELINE Page 6 OSU S PIPELINE STRATEGY Decrease amount of time between first gift and first leadership gift ($1K), increase upgrade rates and retention rates Increase retention rates by acquiring donors with a higher average gift $250+ = 76% Retention Rate $1,000 = 85% Retention Rate Consistently upgrade donors to identify potential major gift prospects for current or future campaign Page 7 April 6, 2014 4
IDENTIFYING PROSPECTS Page 8 PROSPECT IDENTIFICATION TOOLS Peer screening sessions Students as gift officers Mine your database and social data Page 9 April 6, 2014 5
WHAT TO LOOK FOR Capacity Inclination Zip Codes (e.g., 90210) Job Titles (e.g. VP) Past Giving Education (e.g., MA, JD) Past Giving Event Attendance Updated Contact Info Volunteering Page 10 Leverage social media Over 90% of donor management system records have inaccurate career information LinkedIn members are over 40% more likely to give than other constituents Facebook Likers are over 50% more likely to give than other constituents Source EverTrue and LinkedIn Page 11 April 6, 2014 6
SOLICITATION Page 12 POLL IN YOUR OPINION, WHAT S THE MOST IMPORTANT TOOL FOR SOLICITING ANNUAL FUND LEADERSHIP GIFTS? Direct Mail Phone Web Personal Visits Major Gift Officers Page 13 April 6, 2014 7
SEGMENTATION AND SCHEDULING Allows for customized pieces Targeted messaging Coordinated efforts Page 14 DIRECT MAIL Targeted Pieces (Segmentation) High Ask Levels Go For the Upgrade! Focus on Impact Make it Stand Out! Page 15 April 6, 2014 8
CUTOMIZATION Page 16 OSU PROPOSAL MAILING Audience: Principle gift prospects, highly-rated prospects, OSU President s Circle members ($1K+ annually) Costs: $4.50 per piece Total Raised: $154,162 Average Gift: $3,023 Response Rate: 5.63% Page 17 April 6, 2014 9
PHONE Segment and Target Increase Ask Levels Caller Training Upgrade Strategies Reward Leadership Gifts Page 18 ONLINE Page 19 April 6, 2014 10
FACE-TO-FACE VISITS Highest Average Gift Build Relationships Potential for Greater Involvement Dual Asks Major Gift Hand Offs (Both Ways) Page 20 STAFFING Director of Leadership Program 80 people in portfolio Programmatic responsibilities Face of the program Leadership Annual Giving Officer 125-150 people in portfolio 150 visits a year Junior MGOs Discovery Officer Qualify/Disqualify Large Portfolio High Visits MGO Hand-Offs Page 21 April 6, 2014 11
POLL - WHICH METRICS DO YOU USE TO TRACK ANNUAL FUND GIFT OFFICER PROGRESS? # of visits $ dollars raised # contact reports $ dollars upgraded Page 22 UPGRADING Recurring/Monthly Giving Second Asks Gap Solicitations Multi-Year Pledges Page 23 April 6, 2014 12
STEWARDSHIP Page 24 GIFT ACKNOWLEDEMENT Customized Timely Personal (Handwritten Notes) Page 25 April 6, 2014 13
GET DONORS ENGAGED Volunteering Boards and Committees Hosting Events Surveys Page 26 GIFT SOCIETIES Use giving societies to engage and steward Source AGN 2013 Survey Page 27 April 6, 2014 14
UCONN SURVEY HOW DO YOU THANK YOUR LEADERSHIP ANNUAL FUND DONORS? Source University of Connecticut Page 28 SHOW GIFT IMPACT Page 29 April 6, 2014 15
POLL APPROXIMATELY WHAT PORTION OF YOUR ANNUAL GIVING TEAM S TIME IS SPENT ON STEWARDSHIP? 0-24% 25-49% 50-74% 75-100% Page 30 KEY TAKEAWAYS Annual fund leadership gifts are key to building a strong major gift pipeline. Set the bar high! You never know unless you ask and larger gifts are more likely to be renewed. Stewardship is more than sending gift acknowledgements. It s about getting donors involved and showing gift impact. You don t need a big budget to have a strong program (e.g., data mining, LinkedIn, student gift officers, major gift officers, handwritten notes.) Page 31 April 6, 2014 16
Q&A Page 32 April 6, 2014 17