| by Terry Axelrod, Founder and CEO, Benevon
Focus on the Long Term
Part Six
In the Benevon Model, a critical part of building a system
of lifelong donors is a Multiple-Year Giving Society.
A Multiple-Year Giving Society is a group of higher-level
donors who pledge to give an unrestricted gift of at least
$1,000 a year for five years. This society has a special name,
and members get special recognition from your organization.
Many groups are reluctant to launch a Multiple-Year Giving
Society, saying, "Our donors would never go for that."
In truth, what they often mean is they would feel uncomfortable
asking for multiple-year pledges.
Asking for multiple-year contributions is not for the organization;
it is for the donor. Multiple-Year Donors are people who already
love you and in many cases have been giving to you, year after
year, with relatively little contact or cultivation.
Now you are giving them an opportunity to come forward and
declare themselves part of your organizational family. Some
will say, "No, thank you." Others will ask, "What
took you so long to notice?"
Start your Multiple-Year Giving Society with pledges of five
years. Organizations bold enough to write those few extra
words, "for five years," on their pledge cards almost
always wish they had done it sooner.
Since your Multiple-Year Giving Society will be around for
years, take the time to name it carefully. For your overall
society, consider the name of a famous person who has championed
your cause, or perhaps the name of one of your founders. Or
you can choose a name that has a direct connection to the
essence of your work, like the Full Plate Society for a food
bank or the Hope for Children Society for a children’s
home.
You should aim at having only three levels of giving in your
Multiple-Year Giving Society. These levels are called Units
of Service and are either:
- $1,000, $5,000, $10,000 a year for each of the next five
years or
- $1,000, $10,000, $25,000 a year for each of the next
five years
Choose your levels based on the largest gift your organization
received in the last two years. If it was $10,000 or more,
then you belong at the three higher levels. If it was under
$10,000, use the three lower levels.
The names of your levels are intended to personalize your
work and give donors a sense of what their gifts can do. Donors
also like to see that the three levels relate logically to
one another.
Think through your options carefully to come up with units
that capture the essence of what your donors are giving to.
For example, if the lowest level is “sponsor a child,”
your middle level could be “sponsor a family,”
and your highest level “sponsor a neighborhood”
or a community. Be sure to explain to your donors that these
are really unrestricted gifts and that these levels are just
an example of what their money can do.
Of course, these levels won’t be a good fit for everyone,
which is why you’ll always have a space on your pledge
card for people to write in their own gift amount and length
of pledge, as well as a box they can check to indicate that
they have advice or other forms of support for you.
This process gives your donors guidance without pressure,
and your fill-in-the-blank option gives them the freedom to
give at whatever level they are comfortable. Multiple-year
asking, if done consistently and with cultivation, will get
your organization off the yearly treadmill and build the lifelong
donors you are looking for.
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