In this episode, Mary dives into transforming board members into effective storytelling fundraisers. She highlights the significance of board members feeling comfortable and skilled in connecting with donors through the organization's stories. Mary categorizes board members into four types: connectors, storytellers, visionaries, and closers. She offers insights on how board members can craft three vital stories: their involvement story, impact story, and thank you story. Additionally, Mary outlines key storytelling rules and suggests conducting storytelling exercises during board retreats to enhance these skills.

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Watch this podcast episode on the Hey Fundraiser! Youtube channel

Grab a copy of the slides here

Listen to the previous podcast episode
Four Types of Board Members

Takeaways:

• Board members are pivotal in fundraising by engaging with donors and narrating the organization's stories.
• Board members can be identified as connectors, storytellers, visionaries, or closers.
• Each board member should develop three core stories: their involvement story, impact story, and thank you story.
• Stories need to be genuine, relatable, and focused on the organization's community impact.
• Board retreats offer a great opportunity for board members to hone their storytelling abilities.

In this episode, Mary discusses the importance of fundraising operations and how it can make or break a fundraising program. She outlines six pillars of strong fundraising operations, including strong technology and systems management, enhancing the donor experience, supporting fundraising efforts, data-driven reports and analytics, building collegial partnerships, and standard operating procedures. Mary emphasizes the need for fundraising operations professionals to prioritize supporting fundraisers and highlights the importance of proactive gift entry and communication between different departments.

Chapters

07:32 Fundraising Operations Pillar 1: Strong Technology and Systems Management
09:13 Fundraising Operations Pillar 2: Enhancing the Donor Experience
10:09 Fundraising Operations Pillar 3: Supporting Fundraising Efforts
12:43 Fundraising Operations Pillar 4: Data-Driven Reports and Analytics
20:12 Fundraising Operations Pillar 5: Building Collegial Partnerships
22:54 Fundraising Operations Pillar 6: Standard Operating Procedures

Resources Mentioned In This Episode

→ The Fundraising Operations Success Formula—Free Masterclass
→ Ask Mary A Question on Speakpipe

Connect With Mary Hackett
→ Join The Nonprofit Collective
→ Connect with Mary Hackett on LinkedIn
→ Join our Private Facebook Group
→ Email Mary at mary@maryhackett.co

In this podcast episode, Mary Hackett discusses the importance of metrics in annual giving. She emphasizes the need to measure what truly matters and avoid vanity metrics. Mary then dives into specific key performance indicators (KPIs) for annual giving, including retention rate, retention rate for first-time donors, upgrade rate, total raised, donor pool growth, and second gifts in the same fiscal year.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Metrics
03:03 Importance of Annual Giving
07:13 Retention Rate
08:32 Retention Rate for First-Time Donors
10:29 Upgrade Rate
12:51 Total Raised
14:31 Donor Pool
16:10 Second Gift in the Same Fiscal Year
18:07 Trendy Annual Giving Slogans

Downloads and Resources Mentioned In This Episode

→ Download KPI's For Annual Giving
→ Join The Nonprofit Collective
→ Connect with Mary Hackett on LinkedIn
→ Join our Private Facebook Group
→ The Donor Cultivation Masterclass