Major Donor Conversations: Promise Contrary to Pitch

Promise to shareToday I want to talk about the heart of successful major gift fundraising.

It’s about reframing what you may think of as a “pitch” into what your donor would like to consider a “promise.”

The pitch is one way.

A monologue you deliver about everything you know about your organization. Usually it’s about how great it is, how pressing the need is, how you know the donor cares about your mission… and, then, you drop a bomb into your donor’s lap with a big-ass ask they didn’t quite anticipate. This often leaves them feeling they didn’t get a chance to get a word in edgewise and/or they’ll be a ‘bad’ person if they don’t respond as you suggest.

The promise is two-way.

The donor promises to make a gift to accomplish something near and dear to their heart; you promise to put that gift to work effectively. You fulfill on that promise through prompt acknowledgement and by reporting back to the donor on specifically what their philanthropy accomplished.

The difference between these approaches is the difference between success and failure, especially over time.

For donors to give at their most passionate level, and to stick with you over time, they have to:

  • see and feel the promise;
  • believe and trust in you, and
  • feel good about their giving.

Promises feel good; coercion and guilt don’t.

If people gave because they felt coerced or guilted by your perceived sales pitch, they aren’t likely to want to do this again. Promises, and fulfillment of promises, build relationships. When you make giving transactional, you fail to build a relationship. Ultimately, these donors will evaporate.

Which brings us to the heart of effective, two-way, donor-centered major gift fundraising.

THE CONVERSATION

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How to Build a Major Donor Program from the Ground Up

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Learn to become an “inside” major donor rainmaker

If you’ve got donors, you’ve got the raw material for a major donor program – and it’s easier than you think.

Begin with your own database.

Most organizations have plenty of donor prospects, without having to go outside and look for prospects who aren’t connected to you.

You know who I mean. The people board members tend to suggest. They may be rich, and may even be philanthropic elsewhere, but don’t have any interest in what you do. And no one knows them or can make an introduction to them.

Don’t start with the most out-of-reach prospects.

You can be a major donor prospect rainmaker without having to go outside or reach too far.

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The Huge Mid-Level Fundraising Opportunity You’re Missing

Giant gummy bear

Nonprofits pay a lot of attention to donor acquisition. Then?

They largely ignore these donors, unless…

They become worthy of attention by virtue of being ‘major’ donors. Then?

Nonprofits pay a lot of attention to major donor relationship building.

But between new donor acquisition and major donor cultivation, solicitation and stewardship, what happens?

Usually not enough.

This is a HUGE missed opportunity.

You’ve likely got great donor prospects hiding inside your own donor base, and you’re essentially treating them like, well, poop.

What if you were to begin to look at your mid-level donors as the transformational fundraising opportunity they are?

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