Who's Afraid of In Memory Donors

#finfc12

Who’s Afraid
of
The Big Bad Wolf ?

Damian O’Broin

damian@askdirect.ie

@damianobroin

pinboard.in/u:damianobroin

www.askdirect.ie

The Rise and Rise of In Memory Giving

In Honour In Lieu of Flowers In Memory

Funeral Collections Tribute funds

“Money given… in
memory… will outstrip
money given through
legacies in 10 years’ time,
delegates at the Institute of
Fundraising’s National
Convention heard”

Just Giving in memory donations
£2,500,000

£2,000,000

First quarter £1,500,000

income
£1,000,000

£500,000

£0
1 2 3 4 5
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

The top 5
fundraisers on
mycharity are
all giving in
mycharity.ie 15/3/12
memory

There’s a market for memories…

…and the private sector has recognised t

With In Memory, it’s a bit more complicated

Family

Friends

Others

In Memory Research

Grieving

Mourning

Supporting

In Memory Research

Grieving

• To provide a positive focus

“For my husband, he wanted something positive out of it, so
he said we‟ll be pro-active, instead of sitting around in self
pity...”
(Female, 40s)

In Memory Research

Grieving

• To keep the relationship alive
“You look at your life, it‟s really really weird, I feel, I wouldn‟t
say it‟s guilt, I feel I want to give... I feel I’m giving
something to her... she‟s not down here for me to give it to
her...”
(Female, 40s)
In Memory Research

Grieving

• To combat helplessness
“You feel a bit helpless, and it‟s nice because at the end you
think I‟ve raised all this money now, you push and push
people to sponsor you.”

(Female, 30s)
In Memory Research

Grieving

• I want them to be proud of me

“I like to think she‟s looking down from heaven, if there‟s a
heaven, and she thinks „good on her‟. That‟s what she‟d
say, good on you. You go girl”
(Female, 20s)

In Memory Research

Grieving

• I want them to know I loved them

“I want him to know he was valued so much, that he meant
so much to me, to all of us.”
(Male, 40s)

In Memory Research

Supporting

• Make the bereaved feel better
“For her she could see all the names of her friends which I
think is lovely... she could say all these people care about
me and I can count on my friends when times are rough.”

(Female, 40s)
In Memory Research

/
Donor Benchmarking Research 2011

6 countries x 15 charities each x 3 types of gift

Average speed of response*

Ask Direct/Bluefrog Benchmarking 20

Average speed of response*
New Zealand

Canada
In Mem
Generic Postal
Online -1st postal

Ireland

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70


Average communication volumes
Average number of communications
Paper mail and email

*Average volume of communications received between donation and end-Sep 2011


Average communications
volumes
9
Average number of communica ons

8
7
Paper mail and email

6
5 Ireland
4 New Zealand
3 Canada
2
1
0
Generic postal In Mem dona on Online dona on: Online dona on: packs
dona on emails


Volumes received by charity –
UK
Number of communications received


Volumes received by charity –
Ireland
12
Number of communications received

10

8
Online:email
6 Online:postal

4 Generic postal

2 In Memory

0


Why are we ignoring In Memory
Donors?
Follow up to donation
Yes No

46%
54%

Irish In Memory Donors receive almost 20% less mail.
46% of Irish charities sent nothing beyond a thank you within first 6 months.

But not as much as some…
% of charities with no follow up

100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%


A bit more detail…


A bit more detail…
14

12
Number of Charities

10

8
Ireland
6 New Zealand

4 Canada

2

0
0 1 2 3 4 5
Total number of mail packs mailed to In Mem donor


So much for the quantity.
What about the quality?

Do In Memory donors get a fitting
reply?


Do In Memory donors get a fitting
reply?
16

14

12
Number of charities

10
Got nothing
8 In Mem Thank You
Generic Thank You
6

4

2

0
Ireland New Zealand Canada


Breaking it down – in the UK
Gift-specific thank
In Mem focus Hand signed Hand written Mention cousin Mention flowers Offer tribute Offer support Offer to tell family
you

Amnesty         
Greenpeace         
Macmillan         
CRUK         
GOSH         
NSPCC         
Red X         
RNLI         
SA         
STC         
UNICEF         
World Vision         
BHF         
RNIB         
Oxfam         


Breaking it down – in Ireland
Gift-specific
In Mem focus Hand signed Hand written Mention cousin Mention flowers Offer tribute Offer support Offer Condolences Offer to tell family
thank you

Amnesty          
Barnardos          
Barretstown          
Bóthar          
CMRF          
Concern          
Focus Ireland          
Irish Cancer Soc          
Irish Heart Fnd          
Irish Red Cross          
MS Ireland          
Oxfam          
Trócaire          
Unicef          
World Vision          


Quality of Response - Ireland
Amnesty International
Ireland
6
World Vision Barnardos
5
Unicef 4 Barretstown

3
Trócaire 2 Bóthar
1
0
Oxfam CMRF

MS Society Concern

Irish Red Cross Focus Ireland
Irish Heart Foundation Irish Cancer Society


In more detail


In more detail
14
12
10
8
6
Ireland
4
New Zealand
2
0 Canada


Tax Receipt?!

No personalisation.
No mention of
In Memory.

MS Ireland:

No personalisation.
No mention of
In Memory.

Personalised.
But no
mention on In
Memory

Concern.
Is a tax reminder appropriate?

That’s enough about you.
Let’s talk about me.

Children’s Medical &
Research Foundation

Good. But Slow.

MSF Canada: Sympathy card… then thank you letter.

Personal. And information gathering
Ref to relation to
bereaved, but
also, to the
flowers. No other
charity did the
latter.
Hand signed
card from
Director. No
other charity did
this.
Option to leave
message online.
(Relationship
development AND
meeting donor
needs)
Hand signed

GOSH comes close

Charity giving
itself invitation
to ask on
anniversaries

Meeting even more donor
needs

Offer of
bereavement
support

Almost there. But would this
jar?
Nice touch.
If it were
appropriate
for a £10
donation.

New-donor
prospecting

Almost there. But would this
jar?

A bit much?

Very few calls

The British Red Cross called
three times in five days. None
of the callers had any record of
the previous. All said exactly the
same thing – talking at, not with.
Pre-call post card from the
Australian Salvation Army

The Canadians were better at
calling…

1: Collect, care for and use data appropriately

Donor surveys:
Gather data.
Begin the conversation.

Is this gift in memory of someone?

If yes, perhaps you’d like to tell us their name

Specials
Fundraising
€ arrives flagged for
Dept checks
attention

Money to
Data recorded Thank You
accounts for
on database issued
processing

“You know when it’s a computer saying thank you and
when it’s a person.

And, quite frankly, I prefer if it’s a person.”

(Female, 62)

Source: After the love has gone. Bluefrog 2008

4. Put the donor in control. Of everything.

Who's Afraid of In Memory Donors

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