Social Entrepreneur blog for the world changers
Capital & Major Donors
Campaign Volunteer Recruitment
Apr 21st
Is it better to commit a campaign commmittee member to giving and a job description or engage them slowly?
The simple answer is yes. If you have volunteers that you can go to and ask to get heavily involved in campaign fundraising, it is always prefered to set high expectations from the start.
However, most organizations do not have a large quantity of major gifts level volunteers who are willing to invite there friends to join them in giving. And, if your organization does have these people they are likely on your board.
Practically you will seed your committee with a couple of solid board members, maybe one of them will help co-chair the committee. The rest of the committee often takes more work to engage. In fact, talking with someone that is not too close to your organization about a list of respondsibilities and making a gift will result in a lot of nos. If you can start a volunteer off with attendance and some fun work then move into a conversation about giving they will often be very ready to engage.
What has been your experience? Do you always use a job description and have a formal recruitment process for committee members? Or, do you take a longer more informal recruitment approach (I am not talking about board membership)?
An Ask is An Ask
Mar 7th
You may have heard a guideline, “ask for three times what you’d like a donor to give.” This is a mantra that’s often used as a technique to get a stretch gift. That guideline is a very poor rule of thumb. A good ask is one the donor feels they could stretch to make but does not feel like is out of their ability.
The magic of asking for a specific amount is that you can encourage a donor to think about a larger gift than they would traditionally do. If a donor has said yes to you soliciting them for a gift, then they have already indicated that they are very likely to give. People do not like to say no. Most of your “no’s” will happen because you’ve surprised someone and they did not know the purpose of your meeting. From a donors perspective in their heart of hearts they want to say yes to whatever you ask.
Most donors, especially if you’ve done a good job bringing them close to your nonprofit, want to do something that will be significant. Right after you ask for your gift the first thought of the donor is, “can I make that work?” That is why it’s so important that you give them time in silence to think about your ask (for more read my post: Be Quiet). If you ask for a number that is completely out of the realm of their ability, their first thought is, “how can I say no without disappointing them?” From the Development Officer’s perspective we believe that we’ve challenged them to make a stretch gift. Our hope, especially if we ask three times what we think a donor might give, is that they will give at a higher level than if we just asked for a gift at a specific level.
From the mindset of the donor the ask is the ask. Ask for a stretch gift but not one that is out of reach. When you ask for more than a donor has the capacity to do they leave feeling disheartened. If they are close to your organization, they will feel like they’ve let you down.
Don’t Forget Your $1,000 Gifts
Oct 17th
Every organization understands the value of their very top 20 donors. It is easy to see the importance of a $10,000 annual donor. Many organizations have a cut-off as to when the “major gift” starts; often times this is $1,000. Don’t forget the value of those donors that are right at and right before that cut off. This group knows they are not your top donors but are giving because your organization is an area of passion for them. They want you to keep in touch but don’t expect as much attention. (This group is a really great group to talk with about planned gifts. If a donor can give $1,000 a year, they often have the ability to give a larger gift at the end of their life through a bequest.)
I also mention this level of gift because it often represents an underserved area. Annual Fund Directors will build a great upgrading program where they might start a donor at $100 and over a few years build them to a $500 or even $1,000 gift. In the mind of the annual fund person they are extremely important. But once they reach a certain level they are given over to the major gifts people. When the major gifts person receives this gift these individuals are all of a sudden at the bottom of their list of donors and no longer considered the most important.
Many of your “secret gem” donors who have huge capacity will start at the $1,000 level. Many donors who can give $10,000 or even much more know that major gifts start around the $1,000 level. The $1,000 gift is a trial gift to see how you will respond and whether they really want to invest their capital. If you do not pay any attention or show a value for their $1,000 gift, you will lose them very quickly.
Elusive Prospects
Oct 10th
We all have those prospects which we can never get on the phone. I had a great question in my post, This Thing Called Follow-up, and I wanted to provide a bit more of a comprehensive response.
It is almost always difficult to connect with a new prospect as nobody likes to receive a phone call from a stranger. Building your fundraising programs via people in the community who have never given and have little connection to your organization will always be a challenge.
If these are prospects that could be movers and shakers for your organization, think carefully about who calls them. Send a list around your board meeting to see who might know this individual or a way to connect with them. If you have to do a cold call to them, you might get a lot further if it is the CEO, ED, or President of your organization making the first call. Sometimes it can be helpful to have your board chair or one of your board members who is really well respected in the community or charismatic make the call.
You will always be more successful if you have a reason to connect with the people you are trying to reach. Whether they are patients, individuals that live near the charity, or people that you believe have a common interest, providing a valid reason why you are calling can help people feel more comfortable in calling you back. I have sometimes found that providing a small amount of personal information can help warm someone up to follow-up as well. Too much information will turn everyone off but a quick word about why this message has meaning to you may help in getting someone to return your call.
The Long Ask
Sep 26th
It always baffles me how little time organizations will spend stewarding and cultivating their donors. The less time an organization spends acknowledging and cultivating its donors the fewer donors they will retain. In this kind of an organization their top donors are current board members because that is the only group with which they have spent significant time. Many of these organizations never ask for a gift they just cross their fingers and hope that the money will come in.
Take time throughout the entire year to connect with your donors. Know what season your donors would like to give and set up a schedule of reaching out. You do not need to talk with them every single month but you should at least touch base with them quarterly.
Depending on the level of gift your “touch” may be very different. If it is someone that likes to give $20 or $100, don’t spend all of your money cultivating them throughout the year. Find ways to send them electronic messages or newsletters so they know what’s going on. For your donors who are major donors take time to connect with them individually. These connection points should NOT be about asking for money. One of them should be immediately after they give and it should be a thank you.
If your donors see that you care enough to build a year-long relationship with them, then when it comes time for them to give it is a very different experience for you and for them. When you talk to someone once a year when they give it feels very transactional and impersonal. When a relationship has been built throughout the entire year a donor can give knowing it will go to continue the good work for which it was originally intended.
Working the Room
Aug 22nd
A good development officer understands the value of working the room. Whether it is a small house party, a large gala or luncheon, or even just a tour it is important to make a special connection with your guests. Everyone has a different capacity of how many new people they can meet at one time.
Some people could meet people all day; they love it, and are really wonderful in new environments. Others, if not most people, can meet a handful of people but start to get tired especially as they see lots of new faces. Know what kind of person you are and plan accordingly. Taking time to greet your guests is essential to the ongoing success of your events. As your time with an organization grows, you will find that you know more and more people and that less of the individuals in the room are totally unknown to you.
If a large part of the room is unknown to you, meet people intentionally and strategically and do it in phases with which you are comfortable. Do not try and spend every single second meeting new people or an hour in you will find that you have nothing left to give your guests the rest of the evening. Take a few minutes to meet new people and then take a break and talk with some of the guests that you already know. Allow your conversations with your new guests to take a little bit more time if you are have a great time. Those kinds of moments will breathe life into your other conversations. Use the people that you know, the table captains, board members, and volunteers, to participate in introducing you to those at their table.
A List of Soft Touches
Jul 25th
My last post featured the importance of soft touches over the course of a year in building a relationship with your donors. Here are a few examples of the kinds of touch points that you can use as a great way to build relationships.
- Send a card on your donor’s birthday and have everyone in the development and executive office sign it.
- Make a thank you phone call within a couple of days of receiving their gift.
- Send an update on what your organization has done the year before. This update can be specific to a programmatic or regional area of interest and should include some insider information from a program manager or director.
- Invite them to sit at your table at an annual event.
- Offer them a tour your organization. This is a great way to help someone connect in a deeper way with the work that you are doing.
- Arrange a meeting with the donor, one of your program staff members, and yourself to provide an in-person update.
- Send them a handwritten note with a few words about a special interest they have.
- Buy them a cup of coffee and tell them a story of something that happened because of their support.
Related posts:
- Soft Touches
- Regular Tours
- Referrals Program
- Growing your Existing Donor Base
- A Donor List is More Than Past Giving
Soft Touches
Jul 18th
Most people do not like being asked to give money. Donors do not often look forward to the solicitation or asking experience. Many organizations don’t talk to their donors at all or the only time they talk with them is when they ask for a contribution. This kind of action is what makes people dislike fundraisers.
Develop a plan to talk with your donors throughout the year outside of asking for money. This is particularly important if you have major gifts donors who like to give at a specific time each year. Schedule a number of touch points throughout the year where you are updating your donors about the work of your organization. Take time to thank them for their relationship with you. Send them a note from one of your clients. Then when it comes time to talk with them about a gift they will be ready to have that conversation with you. With a good stewardship program by the time you ask for a gift a donor will be so ready to give that it will not be a challenge at all.
Everybody wants to know that their contribution is of value and that it is making a difference. When you do major gifts fundraising you have an opportunity to work 1-on-1 with people about their philanthropic priorities. Make sure to take the time to allow a relationship to grow. Some donors will want more of a relationship than others. You will be way more successful growing your major gifts program if you have regular soft touches with your donors than if you ask only once a year. What kinds of programs have you created to build relationships with your donors? Do you hold events?
Related posts:
- A List of Soft Touches
- The Multi-Year Gift
- Major Gifts or Middle Giving
- What Motivates Giving?
- Too Much Cultivation
Using Video During A Solicitation
Jun 20th
Video is an incredible tool and can be used to tell a compelling story in a very short time. In today’s world of technology and new media we too often look at video as the answer to all of our problems. If you need to fundraise with a compelling message, create a video. If you need to train your volunteers, create a video. Want more traffic on your website, create a video. The “create a video” mantra is all too popular today. I think it is important that we do not forget that video is a tool that we can use and really only one way of telling a story.
When using a video on a solicitation it is important to understand the reason that you are doing so. If the board member or program staff member has a really hard time telling the story or is not a super compelling person, a video is a great way to guarantee that a story and message is shared. However, in a one-on-one solicitation a video can feel impersonal and become very distracting. If you have a script and a plan, moving from talking face to face to watching a video can disrupt the flow of your presentation. Everyone is watching the individual who is speaking and the conversation starts to grow and then you stop everyone from talking and listening to the speaker to move to watch and listen to a video.
Videos tend to tell a short concise message in a short period of time. Is your audience going to be compelled by a flashy video or will they be confused and try and catch up? Is the video going to be played on their TV or on a small computer screen? Will they even be able to see or hear the video? Can the video show something that you are unable to share using pictures? Would it be possible to bring someone along with you that can tell their story directly so you wouldn’t need to show a video?
What do you think? There is a time and place for video and it can be used incredibly effectively. But there can be a time when using a video produces adverse results. Do you have any stories of when video has worked well for you during an individual solicitation? Has video ever become a distraction?
Related posts:
- In-Person Meetings
- Power of Community Involvement
- Duplicate Solicitation Letters
- Scheduling Your Solicitations
- Donor-Centered Solicitation Plans
Scheduling Your Solicitations
Jun 13th
Everyone has a different style of making a solicitation. Some people like to script out every word that could possibly be spoken and others like it to feel natural and it can feel like they are unprepared. Regardless of how comprehensive your preparation, taking time to schedule your solicitations can be very helpful. Most often when going on a solicitation your colleague is a friend of the individual you are asking for a gift. If your volunteers are anything like mine they are involved in a million different things all the time whether it is running their business or serving on other boards or just trying to find time with their families. When you script every single word it requires a level of preparation that very few people are willing to put in.
Flow during a solicitation is crucial. The team should know what’s coming next and where are they in reference to the ask for support. A schedule is much easier to memorize than a script. Scheduling is also a great tool that can be used to bring your message together and make sure that you are covering everything that you need to. Asking for a gift does not involve a bunch of random chit chat and then an ask for money. It is easy to get carried away talking about something else and forget to ask at all. People love stories and many can spend their entire time only telling stories. Some people really like to help you understand why their issue is so important to this region or this time. I have found that it is often really easy to lose track of time at the very beginning of a meeting when you are breaking the ice and getting comfortable.
If you run out of time, by the time you get to make the ask it becomes rushed and you miss out on the opportunity to talk with a donor about their concerns and answer their specific questions. The most critical part of your conversation is often how you respond after you ask for money. Do you give them time to respond? Do you have enough time to really understand and respond to their questions?
Related posts:
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