Giving is not always its own reward. Sometimes you have to help it along. I just read an article by Scott Monty, who has a pithy take on the digital world. His newsletter is not nonprofit specific, however it is certainly relevant to anyone working in the social benefit sector. In this particular article he…
DetailsMy daughter-in-law is interviewing for a job. She asked me for some advice. Here is what I found myself telling her:
Don’t focus on your needs. Focus on the employer’s needs.
Why are they hiring?
What problems do they need you to solve?
Which of your skills are they particularly looking for? Can you describe to them how you might use these skills to help them?
Can you give a specific example, perhaps by telling a story, showing exactly how you’ll help them?
Are you clear what their values are?
CAN YOU DESCRIBE HOW YOU AND YOUR WOULD-BE EMPLOYER (DONOR) SHARE THESE VALUES?
I realized this is the exact same advice I give to fundraisers.
“Ask not what your donor can do for you, but what you can do for your donor.”
This is the heart of all effective fundraising, and it should be your daily mantra.
“Today I will meet my donor’s need by…”
Before you engage in any fundraising strategy, ask yourself:
DetailsI hate jargon. With a passion.
Hate it. Hate it. Hate it.
Just. Can’t. Stand. It!
Yes, I guess you could call it a pet peeve.
But, really, why would you ever use jargon if you wanted to truly communicate with someone?
Just check out the definition:
“language used by a particular group of people, especially in their work, and which most other people do not understand”
— Cambridge dictionary.
When you talk to people in words they don’t understand, really, what’s the point?
Are you just trying to make yourself look smart?
Because, trust me, that’s not how it comes across.
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Fighting the good fight for your nonprofit’s cause is what you do best.
Funding your mission, however, is always challenging. The planning, the lists, the headaches, the inevitable snafus that arise at any given moment… it’s a lot of effort to solicit a single donation.
And while seeking out new donors is vital to raising money for your cause, what if you could double your donations with your current donor list?
With the 3 E’s—education, ease, and encouragement—you can maximize your donations by getting more of your donors to match their gifts.
Ready to help your donors make the most of their gifts to your cause?
Let’s dive into what makes matching gift fundraising such a powerful way to tap into the hidden potential of your supporters.
DetailsThere’s a simple six-step process to assure you secure a philanthropic gift.
The heart of this process — your key to success — is to flip the philanthropic asking equation on its head and get your donor to ask you, not vice-versa.
That’s right.
Just get your donors to pop this one little question, and you’re home free.
Of course, you have to set them up to pop this question. But it’s easy, once you know the formula.
And I’m going to share that formula with you today.
Guess what else is really great about this?
It’s not scary!
If fear has been holding you back, today is your hallelujah moment. Because I’m here to tell you exactly how to get your donors to ask you for a gift, rather than the other way around.
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I recently listened in on a thoughtful webinar by Scot Lumpkin for The Stelter Company. It’s all about meaningful conversations with donors who (you hope!) may contemplate a gift to your organization.
To get folks to “YES” you just need to learn the language of gift planning!
It’s not just about HOW people give, but WHY.
Scott was speaking of what is often called ‘planned giving.’ It’s a term that’s unfortunately come to mean giving vehicles, which is a decidedly non-donor-centric way of framing things.
Anyone who contemplates a major, or stretch, outright gift plans ahead.
No one just gets up one morning and decides to give away $10,000.
Or let’s just stipulate it’s relatively rare.
Rather, would-be philanthropists consider how making a particular gift at a particular point in time may match their values and helps them accomplish their objectives, personal and philanthropic.
It’s seldom a spur of the moment action.
For purposes of this gift planning article, let’s consider your audience to be prospective major (outright) and legacy (deferred) gift donors.
You want a smokin’ major gifts program, don’t you?
Of course you do. You want to light those babies on fire!
Better put, you want to ignite your donor’s passions, light the fire in their bellies, and help facilitate the type of philanthropy that will be a win/win/win – for you, your donors and the vision your organization seeks to attain.
You can’t do this without nurturing a pipeline that lights your donors’ sparks of interest, fans the flames and patiently waits until ignition happens.
Sure, you could just light little fires. Fires that self-extinguish pretty quickly. But these aren’t the fires that will sustain you and keep you warm over the long haul.
That’s why every nonprofit, no matter your size, cause or longevity, needs to build a major gifts pipeline.
Otherwise, you’ll have nothing to smoke!
Want to learn how to stop running on fumes?
All you need to do to transform failure to success is to adopt my personal #1 SECRET – the one principle that makes the greatest difference to long-term, sustainable fundraising success.
This is a secret that will transform donor loyalty and increase donor retention by leaps and bounds.
Plus, it’s not rocket science. It’s pretty much common sense.
Anyone can do it. Everyone should do it.
I’m going to share that principle here; then I’m going to turn this principle into a word – actually three variations of the same word – that you can use to transform the way you’ve been doing business.
What will happen as a result?
I promise you’ll close more major gifts!
Are you ready?
DetailsIf you’re like most nonprofits, you probably wish you had more major donors.
Guess what?
You can have them!
Today we’re going to look at a great tool for building those important relationships with top prospects over time.
And we all know that is what will result in the big gift.
You know how important it is to put a plan in place to build relationships, right?
It’s super-de-duper important if you want to secure major gifts.
And there’s a name for the strategic process of building meaningful relationships with potential major gift donors.
I’m talking about “Moves Management.”
DetailsAsk someone on the street if there are too many nonprofits addressing the same causes. Most likely, you’ll get a resounding “yes.”
When there’s a crisis, folks are confused as to which relief agency they should give their money. When a friend is diagnosed with cancer, they aren’t sure which organization will make the best use of their donation.
This confusion leads to “drop in the bucket” donations. Folks want to at least doing something, but don’t want to risk throwing their hard-earned money into a black hole.
This behavior stifles the entire nonprofit sector. Folks don’t trust their philanthropy will be effectively stewarded, so don’t give as much as they could. Even worse, folks with track records of investing — philanthropic (aka “social”) entrepreneurs — sit on the sidelines waiting.
Waiting for what?
Waiting for the social benefit sector to do something that, up until now, it has not done well.
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