The Real McCoy

Pumpkin spice latte, pumpkin spice granola, pumpkin spice cheesecake, pumpkin spice muffins, pumpkin spice pancakes, etc. Tis the season, right? It’s officially fall and we love the taste of fall!

The other thing I absolutely love about this time of year is the chill in the air. Even though you see your breath in the morning and wonder why you wore that sweater by 3:00 each afternoon, it’s simply beautiful in Indiana right now.

And, while I haven’t experienced it yet this year—emphasis on yet—I really do get so excited about finding a random $10 bucks in a coat pocket from last year. Why does is seem like a year-old $20 bill found in the jeans I haven’t worn since last winter feels more valuable than a normal $20? Technically, I could buy a pumpkin spice latte at Starbys with a new $20 in my purse but buying one with an old $20 found in a pocket just feels more special--Like that specific $20 was verified on Twitter (I guess it’s X now, but I can’t make myself say or type that!).

Do you know about verifications on social media platforms? A checkmark is used to verify high profile users as authentic. So, when you see a checkmark next to someone’s name it means they really are the famous, noteworthy, or important person that they say they are. The Real McCoy. And you already know that you have some donors who deserve a big checkmark next to their names—they’re Verified Generous—and they need to deepen their affinity for your organization by better understanding how you do what you do.  After all, community foundations aren’t like your ‘regular’ nonprofits—we’re complex. So, simplifying your messages to make them easily understandable for people who don’t work at a community foundation is critical!

That’s where your right brain comes in. When you use your right brain to write your donor communications you can explain your concepts in a way that your donors can easily grasp them. Oftentimes you’ll use a metaphor or an analogy that they are already familiar with, so they have a known hook to hang the new information on. Today, I’ll show you a simple system that they will clearly remember. This could not be more important than when you’re explaining endowment, a concept most nonprofits don’t dabble in, so many donors don’t comprehend them.

If you work at a community foundation, then you know your donors need to ‘really get’ the concept of endowment! So, make sure to explain it well! Because donors who truly understand how endowment works are The Real McCoy—Verified Generous.

Whether your donors realize it or not, every donation given to a CoFo has a multiplied value, much more than the face value of the donation itself. Their donation will benefit the community you serve both today and tomorrow. That’s a pretty big deal.  So, how will you use your right brain to cleverly explain endowment in a way that avoids your insider lingo that they might not understand? 

You see, you’re in the Endowment Business. But what does that mean? That means that every donation given through a community foundation is invested for multiplied growth.

1. They give the donation.
2. The Foundation will grow it by investing it—that’s where the multiplied value comes in.
3. Then the Foundation can use a portion of that growth to make a grant to the cause or causes that your donors care about the most.

A simple system explaining how endowment works might be just what the donor needed to read in order to give again, place you in their will or estate plan, or open an endowment of their own. Give-Grow-Grant--It’s how donations work at a Community Foundation. Where’s the easy button when you need it?

The left brain side of these communications is just as easy!  All you need to do is give them an actual example of how this worked—in real life, or IRL as the kids say these days. Tell the story of a donor who gave—I recommend choosing a fund that is older, so you can show the impressive impact it has made through the years.

Then, give them the actual numbers! Data is powerful! How much did the donor give initially, how much did you grow the fund through investments, and how much has the fund granted historically?  Then, provide a few examples of what or who the endowment has funded through grantmaking.  Which people or organizations are doing better because that donor was Verified Generous? These stories rely on the financial data that your CFO or database has readily tracked, but your donors don’t truly know how multiplied value works until you give them a story that resonates with them. So, don’t choose the donor who gave a ba-jillion dollars—the rest of your donors might feel intimidated by that.  Do choose a middle-of the-road story that could speak to an average donor.  After all, not only do endowments have a multiplied value, a collaboration of hundreds of donors all giving to your community’s endowment also reaps rewards from multiplied value. Those are your donors who are Verified Generous—The Real McCoys—multiple them!

This kind of work is strategic, not just hopeful as in “I hope you find more in your coat pocket this chilly fall than Chapstick and a packet of Kleenex”. However, if you’re lucky enough to find one of those verified $20 dollar bills, by all means, go treat yourself to a pumpkin spice latte at your favorite coffee spot. You deserve it! The warmth that you’ll feel in the first sip is like that warmth you feel inside when your donors respond to your endowment ask. It’s the warm fuzzies. Both hot lattes and those Verified Generous donors will warm the cockles of your heart because when it comes to fundraising, you’re The Real McCoy.

 All My Best,

Dawn
[email protected]
dawn brown creative, llc.