Despite 80% of donors owning appreciated assets like stocks, only a little more than 20% of them have ever donated this type of asset to charity. The simple explanation? The vast majority of your donors either aren’t aware they can give stock, or they simply don’t know how to do so. Organizations that accept non-cash gifts grow six times faster than those that don’t, so if your nonprofit isn’t doing more to fundraise stocks, you’re missing out on some of your most important gifts.
Download the donor email templates via the form to start speaking to your donors about stock gifts today. Nonprofit professionals like you have found these templates to be extremely effective at educating donors and driving new gifts.
This template pack features three different email templates:
- Board member outreach email: Board members have a high affinity for your organization and are typically wealthier, making them the best audience for initial outreach on stock donations
- General stock appeal email: How to ask broadly for stock gifts from your entire supporter base
- Campaign impact email: Explain how donors can make a larger impact for a specific campaign or your mission than they ever thought possible with a gift of stock
4 effective email writing tips to drive gifts of stock to your organization
Stock giving can be confusing for many donors, so it’s important to keep these four tips in mind in your appeals.
First things first, in order to make effective email appeals, you need to have a clear place to send your donors. Provide a separate page on your website with instructions on how to make a stock gift to your organization. Since many stock donations can be made anonymously, it’s important to have donors fill out a form with some basic information before you reveal the stock transfer instructions to your organization. In addition to reducing the risk of fraud, this will help you track stock gifts, and give your major gift officers a way to follow up with “in progress” donations. Not only will this help you hit your fundraising goals, but it will also increase donations from younger donors in particular, who are less likely to complete an in progress gift at a later date.
1. Lead with how your donor can make a greater impact without it costing more.
Interest in stock giving increases by almost 45% when donors are primed with information on the additional tax deductions they can receive from a donation of stock. Mention that when they give stock instead of selling a stock to give cash, your donors can save money, give more at no additional cost, and make a larger impact on your organization.
2. Remind donors of their wealth.
Donors who think about giving out of their total assets rather than their disposable income donate 36% more. For example, when a donor considers a $1,000 gift against the amount they have in their checking account today, it may seem too large a percentage of their spending money. When they consider this same $1,000 gift as a percentage of their total wealth (all cash savings and non-cash assets, shares, personal property, real estate, etc.), the gift feels like a relatively small percentage of their net worth.
3. Use social proof.
Social proof is a powerful, persuasive tactic for getting your supporters to give. When people see that someone else like them has taken an action, they often assume that action is correct and are more likely to copy them. For example, you can say “Many of our supporters are choosing to donate stock this year — will you join them?” This is a low pressure way to spark their curiosity and invite them to learn more.
4. Treat your ask as “unusual.”
Framing a donation as an exceptional event removes it from comparison with regular disposable income. This significantly drives charitable giving. For example, it’s more effective to say “make a gift only once a year” than it is to say “make an annual gift.”
