Join us as we explore the world of affinity programs and how this innovative approach can facilitate stronger connections with donors and save nonprofits time.

Jenni Craig, President | Affinity Makers

Jenni is a skilled fundraiser with 16 years of experience in higher education. Throughout her career, she has successfully raised millions for institutions through strategic, affinity-based programs that focus on donor belonging and retention. Jenni recently launched her own company, Affinity Makers, to share her fundraising strategies and expertise with nonprofits around the country. Together, with her husband Jeremy, Jenni is the co-founder and co-owner of Copper Bottom Craft Distillery, producing award-winning rum and vodka in the Daytona Beach area. They have three daughters: Carmen (8), Mason (6), and Brooklyn (1).

Links: 

• Web address: www.Affinitymaker.com;
• email: jenni@affinitymaker.com
• https://www.copperbottomspirits.com/
• Blueprint for Affinity Program Fundraising Guide: https://www.affinitymaker.com/form
• LinkedIn:
• https://www.linkedin.com/company/affinity-makers/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenni-craig-bb48157/
• Compass: Connect with other members of the philanthropic community at Community.foundant.com
• Social: Follow Foundant Technologies on Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, and Instagram
• Website: Foundant.com

How do you want your donors to feel about your organization? If you want them to be loyal and feel like they're part of something, that an affinity program is a way that that can be possible.

Welcome to our Found that Connected Philanthropy podcast. We are privileged to have Jenny Craig, president of Affinity Makers, as our guest, and today we will be talking about affinity programs. Jenny is passionate about helping nonprofit organizations reach their potentials. She offers workshops, trainings and one on one coaching for non-profits who are looking to turn their donors into raving fans.

I met Jenny recently at an EFP event in Florida, and after I learned about what she specializes in, I invited her to be a guest on our podcast to share with you our community. Thank you so much for joining us today, Jenny.

Thank you, Tammy. I'm happy to be here. It's really exciting.

And I am excited to be learning more about what affinity programs are and how they can help nonprofit organizations engage with their donors. But before we dive into that topic, let's back up a little bit and can you tell me a little more about yourself and how did you get to where you are today?

Yes, that is it's been it's been a wild ride, actually. I am closing out 16 years in higher education. I've been everything from sponsorships to athletics, marketing to the last four years I've spent in development. I've been in higher ed since I graduated college in 27 and I am one day shy of 16 years. That is my exit.

So July six will be my last day and then I am full fledged doing affinity maker fundraising and I am so excited to get that going. I've got three little girls, me and my husband have three little girls, Carmen Mason and Brooklyn, and we also have a distillery and that usually, yeah, that usually gets some attention. We are a we make award winning handcrafted rum and vodka.

We are based in Daytona Beach, Florida, and it's me and my husband and we partnered with his parents and we are just having a ball making spirits live in beachside. We're just, I don't know, living life. It's really fun.

Oh, that's awesome. I wish everybody can see her smile. I can tell that you're just having fun and and what interesting place to be at transitioning into your own company and getting off on your own consulting organization. This is fun, and I'm glad we have the opportunity to talk to you today about that and why you've chosen affinity programs to to have a focus in.

So what is an affinity program and how does it impact fundraising for nonprofits?

Yes, So about four years I took on I came across a job description that basically said we we need an affinity program and we don't know how to do it. Here's the general direction. When you need somebody to take and run with it. And I'm thinking, what the heck is an affinity program? And then I dug in a little bit and it's basically a membership based group of donors.

They're all buying in to support the same niche area within an organization. So instead of you know, we are we are general donors of this one organization, we're identifying different niches within and then building raving fans, raving donors around those area niches. And so it's it's highly engaging. It is a great way to get the move management going in.

If you've got some donors that are sitting at that annual giving level and you want to look for opportunities to move them up and create ways for them to become engaged and more involved as ambassadors of the organization, then affinity programs are where it's at.

How do you see these programs being used strategically in a development program strategy?

Strategically, when when affinity programs are used strategically, they do three things. First of all, they create more of an affinity between donors and the organizations. They create more lo loyal donors. Secondly, they they become a reliable source of revenue for the organization. So, you know, you've got ten donors that are committing $1,000 and you're going to get them to commit to a multi-year commitment for the next three years.

They're each going to give $1,000 each. Then, you know, you've got $10,000 coming in over the next three years. And you can rely on that. You can budget for that. It just creates a reliable source of revenue when you have programs like this. And then finally, they become a pipeline for major gift donors. They're they're cultivated. Well, it's almost like a training ground.

You're you're giving a major gift donor experience by making something more intimate and you're scaling it across members of this program. If that makes sense.

Yeah. Yeah. And being part of a group and doing something together.

Yes. And not only are they getting to know each other, but they're getting a closer inside look at the organization. So instead of just writing a random check, you know, and sending it and hoping it gets put to good use affinity programs really, like I said, there's a standard. Everybody pays the same. Ideally, I avoid tiers at all costs, like tiered levels, but if everybody pays the same and they understand what their money is going to and they can through, you know, a virtual meeting or an in-person meeting, every year, I get to see the impact of their giving.

I mean, raising fans right there, you know, so many donors give and they never know that those are the top three top two reasons that they don't keep giving is, one, either they weren't thanked properly or too they have no idea what their money was even used for. And so creating affinity programs, you can create one message, you know, Thank you so much, members here.

You know, here's how the money was spent. And now that went out to 20 people or ten people or however many are in the group. And that just magnifies the impact. As nonprofits, especially small nonprofits, our bandwidth is limited. But if we can scale major, give communications with these mid-level donors, then it's just a great ground for creating new major gift prospects.

I love that. I love that because that is like a it's it's something that you're taking that's kind of like a shortcut, a one to many communication. But the way that you've structured it actually makes them feel more cared for because they're part of this special group of our membership like that. So.

Exactly. And the feelings difference. So if you're saying thank you all donors this year we were able to fund this many scholarships or this much whatever, but we don't have the time individually one on one to say, here's where your money right. Here's where your money went. So if you're doing it within a small group, it feels more intimate.

It feels like they're getting more attention and suddenly they feel more valued and they feel like they're adding special value to the organization. And that's just going to create more, more giving on their part.

Oh my gosh, my brain's just going. I'm a volunteer at some nonprofits and I'm like, okay, now I'm thinking we need to have one. This is great. So is a giving circle an example of of one of these? Or can you explain how that approach compares or is part of an affinity program?

Yes. So I would say Giving Circle is definitely an example of an affinity program. And if we're if we're talking, you know, title of Giving society is Giving Circles, Philanthropy councils, there's all different kinds of names for them. But a lot of times, especially historically giving circles where, you know, I wrote a check for $100, I'm part of this giving circle.

And then maybe once a year I get some kind of random communication in the mail that says how the money was spent. I don't know. That is not that, you know, the affinity programs that I love to work on. They have three they all have three, three things. So the first is that ideally it's a 12 month touchpoint calendar.

So whether it's a birthday phone call or the newsletter that was going out to everybody anyway, each month they're seeing something maybe, you know, any time that you can automate something like the holiday card, everybody, all the donors are going to get that. But maybe the members of this get a little special. Thank you inside. Yeah. Thank you so much for being a member.

We rely on you. But in addition to that, there's a virtual meeting or an in-person meeting. There's something else that they're getting to be a part of that a traditional set it and forget it. Giving circle doesn't does that's not that's not creating more engagement. That's just a lot of times people sign up for stuff. Yeah, sure, I'll do this.

I'll do $100 a year or $100 a month and and then that's kind of it. It goes into an abyss, right? But this where there's a structured calendar of touch points between the program manager and the donors. Second of all, there is a stewardship plan. So when someone joins what happens or when they make their payment, what happens?

When do the pledge reminders go out? If it's a multiyear pledge? So there's a stewardship plan, there's a communication plan, and then finally there's a cultivation plan. So if they're committing to multiyear commitments, making multiyear commitments, that's what I recommend. I love working on three year commitments by about 18 months. You're changing the tone with donors a little bit.

So now they've been a part of this for 18 months. They've had a great experience. They're engaged. They like the other people that they're in the group with. They're getting to see the impact, the people that they're impacting through a virtual meeting or an in-person meeting and around 18 months now, you can start changing the tone a little bit as a development officer and get to know them more one on one.

Because by the time year three wraps and they're done with their membership, now, what's next? Because now you've proven that you can be a good steward of their whatever their membership fee has been the last three years. Now they know they can trust you with more. So it's a it's a process, but it's strategic.

How does this fit in to your your donor pyramid, if that's still a thing or your overall, you know, top level mid-level donors, how how would you fit this this affinity program, these members in.

These affinity programs are fantastic moves management tools. If you've got annual giving folks who are writing you checks once a year, say, and you're looking for ways to engage them more, this is going to get them to the next level. Instead of doing 100 bucks a year, maybe they're doing 1000 or $2,000 a year now. And then in time, with more exposure to you, more exposure to the organization, more awareness of the needs, we're creating major gift prospects.

So then we move about the donor pyramid even further. So they're that mid-level group that just often gets overlooked. Some people might say, Well, I don't have the time, I don't have the bandwidth, I don't I can't I can't do more, you know, But I would go as far to say, like, show me your strategy for your mid-level donors and I'll show you the future of your major gift prospects.

So it's just it's it's move. It's done.

Well, that's great. And how do you identify a prospect on the other side of it? Is it any individual donor that that gives is a prospect or can you tell when someone is just kind of a one and done or how do you how do you look for the people that you'll move into that.

We look for patterns. One of the first things that I would do is go over the last five years who has given consistently over the last five years, maybe three out of the last five years. Those are a neon sign. Let's start there because they're committed. They're already in. Let's see if we can engage them further. So consecutive giving people who are giving that you're not even asking them to give.

They're they're sending a $200 check every year and it didn't even like maybe it come from just a random appeal, you know. But they're they're giving without any kind of personal relationship. That's another one they're giving because they want to be a part They're supporting the mission. That's the that's somebody else that we would target. So it's just looking identifying patterns.

Where are they showing up to events that the organization is a part of? How are we already seeing an interest in whatever the niche might be? So, for example, I was talking with the Humane Society recently and as far as affinity programs go, and I said, Do you know who your dog lovers are versus your cat lovers versus the the donors that want to be a part of more missions and rescuing pets versus the ones that really care about training so that once pets are adopted, they stay adopted.

And it's finding those little niche areas within the organization that you can rally donors around because that's where their passions lie. It's not necessarily the whole organization. It's it's part that really tugs at their heart. And once you identify that area and you match them to it, that's where their giving is just going to in their passion and their their love for the organization is just going to grow.

Their affinity will grow.

Yes. Yes. So do you do you segment and have multiple affinity programs? When do you decide that, okay, this one is for these types of people and then we need another one? Or do you just kind of work it so that that you find the people that match with the one that has the most potential to be successful is an affinity program.

So identifying those areas that have the most potential for success and starting with the ones that are hottest, if you've got, I would say, depending on the size of the organization, I mean, if it's a university, you could say, well, every college could have its own affinity program, the College of Business, College of Engineering. You can develop programs around that and focus on alumni.

If it's a smaller organization, I would say let's start with one and let's just create where are people already sending check saying, use this for that. That's that's an affinity area. So targeting targeting that area and and bringing the donors who are already showing interest in that niche like bringing them more into the fold with it. So I would say if your smaller group start with one and then once you've got proof of concept, expand from there.

If you can.

How can you determine the right structure, membership and engagement strategies for an affinity program that you want to set up?

Right? So that's the tricky part, and I think that's what keeps a lot of organizations from kicking off affinity programs is that the bandwidth is limited, but it is an investment in the future. So you design the structure around what you can commit to. So my motto is under-promise and overdeliver. Ideally, they would have a virtual meeting every year and maybe an in-person meeting.

Maybe the donors can go to the place where they're getting to experience what their what their impact was as a group. So collectively, they can do so much more than if just one person was giving $1,000 or $2,000 a year. You know, So in the case of legacy housing, there are local a local nonprofit that provides housing for teens who are aging out of foster care.

And so one of my recommendations was for their affinity program. Let's bring the donors out to the home. Let's flip them. Even if it's just a picnic in the yard, they don't need to go inside. But maybe if they just experienced it, they're their most recent gift is going to a new roof. So maybe they just need to come out and go, you know, go see the new roof in person, or maybe we send them a video of it.

But it really is going to center around the bandwidth of the the program manager what can be done. But I highly recommend a virtual meeting and an in-person experience every year. And outside of those two things, if we if we promise that and we overdeliver beyond that, that's excellent. But bandwidth is a big thing. And as far as the financial commitment goes, there is actually a math strategy behind how to set the financial structure or the financial commitment.

If you take the average donation for your organization, which in many cases is $35, that's just a typical a lot of folks can. 25 a lot of folks give 50 right in there, it's 35. So across the board, average donation say it's $35, multiply that times three. So let's just round up and call it 100 and then times that by 20.

So you're looking at $2,000 annual commitment. If the average gift is $25, you know that times three is 75 and then 10 to 20, you're looking at 1500. Can do you have do you have a handful of people, ten, 12, 20 different people that you could ask for a 1500 dollar commitment for the next three years? And I would say you can get 5 to 7.

Then you've really got something you can absolutely work with that and you can grow it from there.

And does that the total for the three years or per year?

No, I would say so. What I love to do and this is this is where it's different with giving circles. A lot of times giving circles is like won't take anybody. If you can pay $1,000 a year, take you pile on in this. The way that I love to set them up is strategic. We cap it off. It is open to 20 members and beyond 20 there's a waitlist or we've got another one coming open at whatever date in the future.

But it creates a level of exclusiveness, maxed, maxing out at 20. But if you can get 5 to 7 that first year and then just grow it from there, you're set.

Love that. And I love how that waiting list exclusivity makes people want to get in and do all members graduate out of it into larger donors are just some. Is that just where they stay?

It depends on the donor. It's sometimes what I've seen is that sometimes we have found their niche. We have introduced them to something they had no idea they even cared about. And now that their three years are done, they want to focus on that thing and that's where they're maybe they're going to do a major gift or maybe they're going to commit even more than they've been spending three years in toward that area.

And that's the purpose of an affinity group, right? You're bringing them in to expose them to more of your organization so that they can find areas that they identify with. I would say in my personal experience, we could probably expect to see 60 to 70% renew after three years. If they've been treated well, they've enjoyed it, they've enjoyed the people they've interacted with, they've seen where their money has gone, they've maybe interacted with some of the beneficiaries.

Then I think confidently you can expect to see more than half recommit after three years. Statistically, they say 1 to 2% of affinity program members will do a major gift during the course of their membership. I've seen significantly more than that. I would say 5 to 7% do more. So at one, if we have 100 members, I would expect 5 to 7 to do, you know, ten, 20, 50,000 and beyond.

Okay. That brings me to a question here that I want to ask before we're we're done wrapping up this. This has really been intriguing to learn about affinity programs and how they work. And if if people are interested in them and and how how do you work with people to figure out what their capacity is? When's the best time?

Do they have enough? You know how to set it up? What's your engagement with nonprofits to figure all that out?

So I've got a few things right now. I've got a free blue blueprint on my website. If anybody wants to just download is 15 pages. It's like, Here's how you get started so they can just go get that for free at Affinity maker dot com. And then I've been working with a Boy Scout council. I've been Wisconsin on developing affinity programs for their different camps.

They want to be able to help with operations, repairing docks, buying new canoes, things like that that that a program can help with. And so with that group, I've been doing one on one kind of I don't want to call it hand-holding, but it's a lot more engaging. We want to make sure we're getting it right so that it's most effective as possible.

And then in the very, very near future, I wish I could have had it done by today. I want to do an online course so, you know, six, six weeks to watch. Here's everything you need to know and everything that can possibly be covered in the next six weeks so that you can get this thing up and running because we're not there are difficult but clean, especially if, you know, you set aside right up front.

This is how the money is going to be used, whether you're giving them the option, like here's three choices. Once you've got your group together, you have an annual meeting. Here's three choices you have on spending your ten, 20, 30, however many thousands it is, you know, where do you want it to go? And being able to expose them to like, oh, well, we all voted on this one, but you've got these other needs here that didn't get funding.

Here's here's a little more. Here's a check. You're something toward those things as well. We see that over and over. So it's certainly not a bait and switch. You're not getting them in and then like upping them to to go higher. It is simply exposing them. And if more philanthropy is awakened and if they feel called to do more, then they know what that could go for.

But we just need to expose them and create awareness opportunities.

I love that. All right. Well, I can talk to you forever about this and probably other things. And I did. So many thoughts came up about the distillery. How did you get into that and your family and everything. And I just want to you have such an interesting and again, by the smile on your face, you must be enjoying life.

And I'm so happy for you and I, I imagine, of awakening people's passions and and what their passion did about giving to and helping with helping connect those and having that experience in the past yourself and then helping nonprofits individually find ways to do that. This must be self fulfilling.

It is. And you know what's been incredible is, yes, the impact on the organization. But when you're creating opportunities for donors to add value, like that's life changing. There's been so many that I worked with, especially that are nearing retirement or they've just retired and that kind of looking for that next way to feel, feel involved in something, feel a part of something.

And so that is a major area or a major, I would say, age bracket that we see. I've seen 50% of affinity program members are right around that retirement age and they're just looking for the next thing. And so being able to add value to their lives, not only are they are not only are the beneficiaries receiving that benefits from their involvement, but the donors are getting the experience of being a part of something bigger than just themselves.

Maybe they can't individually do $20,000 in a year, but collectively they're part of a group that can. So it's it's been life changing. I mean, just being able to sit here for me and watch the impact on donors to that's what I really care about like affinity makers is more donor centered than it is the organization centered. You know, what's the how do you want your donors to feel about your organization?

Do you want them to be loyal and, you know, feel like they're part of something that's that an affinity program is a way that that can be possible.

I love that. It helps them feel that fulfillment of being part of your mission. I know. It's just great. Thank you so much for taking the time today to explain this to me, as well as the community and how these affinity programs can be used in an organization's fundraising strategy to build up steward your donors, move them along.

I, I really like how that is all connected and how this can be a great tool in that overall strategy as well. And I want to remind our listeners, I'm going to include the link to that blueprint that you talked about as well as your contact information.

Can plug the distillery to.

Oh, yes.

Copper bottom craft distillery, copper bottom like copper bottom ship.

Yes. And you ship anywhere in the world.

Yeah, we do. We ship 47 states, I think.

Excellent. Okay. We put that in the show notes as well. You got it. Thank you again for sharing all of this. And where you're at on your journey as well. We will include all of those websites. And thank you so much for taking time out of your day. I know that you've got to get on to other projects and appreciate you spending time today with our community.

There was an honor and a pleasure. Thank you for having me.

Great. So if anyone learned something from today's podcast, please share it with others who may also benefit and we look forward to connecting in our future webinars, podcast, community discussions. And I am sure we're going to hear from Jenni again in the future.