6 Strategies to Make a Powerfully Winning Major Donor Pitch that Gets Top Results

What makes an effective major donor pitch?

I could just say (1) prepare, (2) prepare, (3) prepare, (4) prepare, (5) prepare, and (6) prepare.

Did I mention that you really need to prepare?

Preparation is the meta-message of Shark Tank’s “Mr. Wonderful,” Kevin O’Leary, to would-be entrepreneurs seeking to get spots – and funding – on the television show.

In “How to Present the Perfect Pitch: From the Shark Tank to the Boardroom” he offers 10 strategies to help you ace a fundraising pitch. Whether you’re seeking venture capital or a philanthropic gift, many of the principles are the same.

I’ve selected six strategies I find perfectly aligned with what it takes to make a successful nonprofit ask. I’ve also suggested some action tips. Take them to heart, and you’re sure to make your next in-person fundraising presentation a winner.

Oh, and there’s one more important thing, says O’Leary:

“The number-one rule is to make your pitch incredibly dynamic.”

Let’s do it!

Make Your Major Gift Solicitation Dynamic with These 6 Guidelines and 8 Practical Tips

1. Keep it Simple

People are busy and have limited attention spans. O’Leary suggests making sure you can explain your business to an eight-year-old. It helps to think of your fundraising pitch the same way. If it takes more than a couple sentences to explain the opportunity you’re presenting, you need to go back to the drawing board.

ACTION TIP #1: Practice making your key points using plain language. I used to practice my asks on my son until I could get him to understand them. Practice on your own kid, someone else’s kid or at least someone who doesn’t work where you work. Another way to stay simple is to use the Flesh-Kincaid reading level test when crafting your solicitation. It keeps language at a 7^th-grade level. This doesn’t mean you’re “talking down” to your prospect. It means you’re giving them the gift of clarity. Wait until they’re really bought in, and asking you pointed questions, to get into the nitty-gritty.

2. Keep it Lively

Reframe your ask into a story, and use great storytelling techniques. Human beings are wired to listen to stories, and will pay greater attention than they will to a dry, fact-filled narrative. Make it compelling. There are two protagonists: your beneficiary and your donor. Tell a lively tale.

1. The beneficiary encounters all sorts of trials and travails. Paint them as vividly as you can.
2. Make the donor the hero who helps the beneficiary overcome their troubles.

ACTION TIP #2: Get in touch with why you’re asking. Engage your own passion; authentically share your passion. Don’t make asking just a chore. Make it about crafting a captivating story. Once upon a time (introduce the current situation/problem)… there was a young girl who lived (introduce the potential beneficiary)… she faced many challenges (outline the emotionally-charged issues)… until one day… (introduce your solution, and how the donor can help create a more positive outcome). Never forget that the best way to get someone to listen is to be passionate. Passion truly is contagious. People will want to join with you if you’re upbeat, excited and positive.

3. Bring Key Player(s)

There are two types of key players when it comes to making a fundraising ask:

(1) the person the donor will have the hardest time saying no to, and

(2) the person with whom the donor has the best relationship.

The “hard to say no to” person is someone the donor perceives as important, authoritative, credible, and friendly. The donor wants to talk to the “big cheese”; the person they perceive as being responsible to assure their gift does what they intend it to do.

The “best relationship” person may be the E.D., board president, a doctor who performed life-saving surgery or a former teacher. If the director of development or major gifts officer built the relationship, then you may want them to be in the room. You always want to have someone there who you know the donor will like. This means someone the donor already knows, or someone who is just genuinely friendly. Likeable goes a long way.

ACTION TIP #3: Be thoughtful about who should be in the room during the solicitation. Sometimes the “hard to say no to” and the “best relationship” person are the same individual; sometimes not. If you need to bring two people with you, do so. I love bringing a board member to simply offer testimonial; this is a powerful role only a volunteer can play. Just don’t bring so many folks that you totally outnumber your donor and make them feel uncomfortable.

ACTION TIP #4: Decide in advance who will make the ask! If both of you think the other one is handling the actual solicitation, you risk leaving the room without an answer.  I’ve had this happen – where no one wants to step on anyone else’s toes. This is a waste of everyone’s time, plus it confuses the heck out of your prospective major donor. In one situation where we’d intended to ask for $200,000, the donor sent us $5,000 immediately after the meeting. He was fed up with us, and wasn’t going to offer us a second chance. Don’t let this happen to you. Prepare!

4. All Numbers on the Table

Transparency is important. This doesn’t mean you have to weigh your donor down with statistics and pie charts. It does mean you have to have answers to any questions they may ask about the details of your proposal. Major donors want to know their gift is critical to your success.  They also want to know their investment won’t be going down a black hole.  Your ability to answer their questions reassures them they’re making a smart investment.

ACTION TIP #5: Craft answers to key questions in advance. How much will the total project cost? How many will it help? Specifically how will the donor’s gift be allocated? Who will be responsible for the project’s outcomes? What will happen if you don’t raise enough? How do you know this will be successful? If you have any other frequently asked questions, add these to your list and be prepared to respond.

5. Do Your Own P.R.

Don’t do a “cold” ask. Prepare your donor in advance if you want to get them engaged. O’Leary suggests to Shark Tank contestants that they won’t get much notice just because they’re selected to be on the program. He suggests to folks they be prepared to launch their own media blitz, including becoming social media savvy.

By the same token, your major gift proposal won’t get much notice if it’s the first time your prospect has ever heard of you or your project. Make sure you leverage your in-person ask with preparatory cultivation that puts your prospect in a positive frame of mind.

ACTION TIP #6: It’s the engagement, stupid. I’m sorry to use such a loaded word as ‘stupid.’ but I I wanted to get your attention. It really is dumb to think you can ask for a major gift without first engaging with your prospect – multiple times and in multiple ways. You know, all the good stuff — events, tours, group get-togethers, one-to-one visits, phone calls, check-in emails, greetings, newsletter articles, social media, impact reports and lots and lots of thank-you’s. It’s what you’d do in building a relationship with anyone else. A potential friend. A co-worker. Even a family member.

Ultimately, you’re going to be asking for a huge favor. People don’t do favors for nothing.  They give back to those who give to them! It’s called reciprocity – it’s a huge deal, and don’t you forget it! Create a reciprocity plan – a year-long individual engagement agenda with multiple interactions. Make sure they’re fun. Here are some examples:

• Become part of the family – involve kids; grandkids; spouses; adult children

• Offer relevant volunteer opportunities so the prospect sees the mission come to life (tailor them to the different family members’ interests and talents – think of this as planting seeds that will grow and blossom, ideally over multiple generations)

• Offer opportunities for donors to get to know multiple folks within your organization
  • This deepens their engagement with you, and makes it richer
  • This helps when there is staff turnover; if your donor has multiple connections with you, losing one won’t be the kiss of death

• Ask folks to join committees; it’s terrific for networking and socialization (connecting prospects to multiple folks who are passionate about your cause), as well as a great testing ground and pathway to board involvement.

• Meet one-to-one so you can ask questions to really draw prospects out. One I like is “Who was your mentor?” as it gives you an idea of what makes a deeper relationship in their mind and heart. You learn about someone took time to help and guide them. And as they recall this relationship, it puts them in a kind, benevolent frame of mind — making them want to give back too.

6. Get Ready to Fulfill

What happens if you’re on Shark Tank and you get a big influx of capital? Suddenly you’ve got to fill orders – and you better be ready to jump on the opportunity! If not, your website may crash and your customers may be disappointed. They won’t come back. Retailers need to be customer-service focused; fundraisers need to be donor-centered.

Your job is to enable your donor to feel really, really good about their philanthropic investment, not just as the point of commitment but long, long thereafter.  This is how you’ll secure additional annual and major gifts, as well as legacy gifts in the future.

ACTION TIP #7: Put systems in place. Make sure your database and staff training enable you to follow through with your donor. If your prospect says “yes” to your proposal, you need to be ready to fulfill your promise to put their gift to work to make change happen. You also need to be ready to acknowledge their gift promptly and personally, and to report back on the impact of their philanthropy.  It takes a team of folks touching base with your prospects, and each interaction must become part of your institutional memory. Donors get ticked off if they tell you stuff; then you forget it. They want you to KNOW THEM.

ACTION TIP #8: Think about your stewardship plan in advance. Track donor preferences and engagement points in your database so you assure the best, most personal stewardship experience possible. If you notice that engagement is diminishing, put in place new stewardship “touches” to ameliorate the situation.  Things to track include:

• Events attended

• Volunteer activities

• Email/blog opens

• Email/blog forwards to personal network

• Clicks on links

• Communication preferences

• Social media advocacy

• Website visits

• Inbound interactions – calls, stops by, sends email, writes you a letter

• Soft credits – matching employer; foundation; Donor Advised Fund (clue they’ll be a donor for many years; folks don’t set them up unless they intend to use them)

If there’s a moral to this article, it’s this two-parter:

1. Share simple stories with your major donor prospects to bring your mission to life in a compelling fashion (watch Shark Tank to see how the best entrepreneurs do this).
2. Use stewardship to uncover which stories will most float your donor’s boat (Shark Tank contestants often have particular “sharks” in mind when they present, and they align their presentations accordingly).

Donors, similarly, want you to show them you know them. By using these guidelines and tips, you’ll not only better be able to tailor your proposal to their personal passions, you’ll also show them you truly want to build a relationship with them. This is personal.

People give to people. Never forget that.

Making a dynamic major donor solicitation is easy if you make it so.

And impossible if you don’t know, and don’t think carefully about, what you’re doing.

Like anything else worth doing, it requires thoughtful preparation.

And this aspect of the process never, ever stops.

Wherever you are in the process – from introduction to commitment to fulfillment — keep preparing. Keep practicing. Keep promoting.  And keep being passionate.

Passion – yours and theirs – is what engages and secures commitment.

Want to Ace Your Major Gift Solicitation?

Stop wasting time doing the wrong things, or even doing the right things the wrong way.  If no one has taught you the art and science of individual major gift fundraising, stop struggling to figure it out on your own. Enroll in the Certification Course for Major Gift Fundraisers!

If you’re serious about fundraising, you’ve got to get serious about investing in major gifts. There’s money on the table – it’s time for you to stop leaving it there. This is true no matter the size of your organization. Major gift fundraising is the most cost-effective form of fundraising, hands-down. And you CAN do it!

SAVINGS ALERT: Email me right away and I’ll send you a discount code just for Clairification readers!  There’s also an added discount for groups of 3 or more, so ask me about that too.

You can’t afford not to ask for major gifts. They’re the most cost-effective way to fundraise. And you meet the nicest people!

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