Curious cat emerging from window

Curiosity Didn’t Kill These Fundraisers—It Made Them Unstoppable

Remember, behind all your work there are people. It’s your job to learn about them. One of your best tools is curiosity. One study published in Harvard Business Review, found curiosity builds trust and improves relationships in the workplace. It also builds trust between you and donors. Jon Simons, Executive V.P. of DBD Group, suggests curiosity is…

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Rocks, balancing.

Balancing Trick: You. Donor. Nonprofit.

Rocks, balancing.When the world feels wildly out of whack, it’s time to figure out how to bring things back into some semblance of balance.

Today I share a proven 1-2-3 formula for nonprofit fundraising success — even when the ground underneath feels shaky.

This is a time when keeping one’s balance is quite a challenge. But, if you use this formula, you can steady yourself, right your organizational ship, and bring meaning, purpose and joy to others in your community who share your values.

What I’m about to share is obvious. I know you know it. But… do you do it?

Just in case you need a little reminder.

  1. The first step is essential for success in anything.
  2. The second step is essential for success in any consumer-facing business.
  3. The third step is essential for success in reaching any fundraising goal.

Begin with Centering Actions: For Yourself, Others and Your Mission.

I’m talking about balancing self-love with donor-love with mission-love.

You’re no doubt familiar with the adage “You can’t help others unless you first take care of yourself.”

This is a truism you should carry with you throughout your life, and not just when the oxygen masks come down on an airplane. It’s never been truer than in the times in which we’re currently living, when there are new things about which to worry seemingly daily.

How do you lead the way forward, helping yourself and others navigate through the tough times?

I’d like to suggest you heed this 3-Step Formula to nonprofit fundraising success.

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Large piece of lemon meringue pie

Act Fast, Raise Big: The Skills You Need to Win Major Donors Today

Large piece of lemon meringue pieShifting politics are creating economic uncertainty for all, and it’s especially scary for U.S. nonprofits who, on average, receive about a third of their total funding from Federal grants. This means nonprofits today need to shift emphasis (and budget) toward individual donor engagement strategies. Giving USA reports 75% of all giving (lifetime + bequests) came from individuals last year.

Major individual donors are, by far, the largest slice of today’s philanthropy pie.

If I had to tell you what you need to do to succeed with major gift fundraising in one sentence it would be this:

Identify major donor prospects… qualify them so you know they want to build a deeper relationship with you… cultivate them… visit with them… listen to them… reflect back to them what you heard… ask them for something specific that resonates with their passions… steward their gift and communicate in an ongoing way to make them feel like the hero they are!

Whew – that was a mouthful!

But don’t worry. It’s definitely not rocket science. A shorter way to say this is:

Meet with donors. Listen to donors. Ask donors. Thank donors.

See — it’s simple!

It’s just good old hard work. Satisfying and rewarding work. And it’s a type of work anyone can learn to do.

If you want to learn, please sign up for an upcoming cohort of the Certification Course for Major Gift Fundraisers. [NOTE: If you sign up within one month before it begins, you’ll get a nice discount.]  It may be the most important investment you make all year. Just one major gift will more than cover the cost].

Over my 40 years in fundraising, 30 of them working in the trenches as a director of development for organizations with budgets ranging from $1 – $40 million, I have asked for a lot of major gifts.  I know what works, and what doesn’t work. Today I want to give you:

(1) some of my best words of wisdom, and also

(2) answers to some of the questions folks frequently ask me .

I hope these tips will help you tweak your mindset and invigorate your systems so you can be more successful fundraising in the coming year!

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Small pink pills forming a question mark.

Dramatic Shared Cure-Alls: Philanthropy and Placebo Effects

Small pink pills forming a question mark.Can the act of philanthropy make people feel better?

I say “Yes. Absolutely.” Much has been written about the warm glow that comes from giving.

So why not think about fundraising as a caring act, and fundraisers (aka ‘philanthropy facilitators’) as trusted helpers and healers?

Reframing fundraising in this way can be your key to:

(1) committing to major individual donor fundraising (helping people to be the people they’d like to see in the mirror), and

(2) engaging more staff, volunteers and board members in this noble endeavor (so they experience not just the joy of giving, but the joy of helping others give).

It helps to understand the similarities in findings from functional MRI research on both the placebo and philanthropy effects.

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Rose inside book. Pages shaped like heart.

Nonprofit Fundraising: We Have a Semantics Problem

Rose inside book. Pages shaped like heart.What’s in a name?

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” said Shakespeare.

But, would it?

Seth Godin thinks words matter. As do I.

“That’s just semantics”

Just?

The meaning of the word is the reason we used the word.

If we don’t agree about the meaning of the word, we haven’t communicated.

Instead of, “that’s just semantics,” it seems more productive to say, “I’m confident we have a semantics problem.”

Because that’s all of it.

The way we process words changes the way we act. The story we tell ourselves has an emotional foundation, but those emotions are triggered by the words we use.

Not just.

Especially.

— Seth Godin

Are your words communicating the right message?

The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion it has taken place.” So says Hugh MacLeod of Gaping Void Culture Design Group, noting your words may or may not incorporate ‘signifiers’ that open the listener/reader to the possibilities they might encourage.

Opening people up to new possibilities is, after all, at the heart of what organizations seeking to enact change do.

The meaning of words changes over time. Your task is to assure the ones you use will be understood as you intended.

For example, when someone considers contributing to your organization, what does your appeal actually communicate to them? Does asking for a ‘donation’ make them feel uplifted by the possibility they can create a positive outcome. Or does it convey all you care about is their money? Does saying “any little bit helps” make them feel important and empowered? Or does it convey their gift is but a drop in the bucket?

Choose words appropriate to what you want your audience to feel

You have the power to give would-be supporters the meaning they seek.

Let’s look at how some of the words nonprofits commonly use get their meaning, how this meaning may be interpreted by your constituents, and how you may wish to express yourself differently in order to choose the words most appropriate for your group and for the purpose of your communication.

What do you call the folks who respond to your fundraising appeals?

Are they donors?

Maybe that’s okay. Or perhaps

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10 Common Nonprofit Major Gift Asking Mistakes to Avoid

When you’re not aware you’re making a mistake, it’s hard to avoid it.

So let’s get curious. I’m going to ask you to close your eyes for a minute to imagine a donor you’ve been wanting to ask for a major gift. I’m going to ask you to visualize a space where you’re meeting. Put them in your office, their home, a café or even a Zoom screen. Choose what’s comfortable, and where you think you’d be most likely to meet with this donor within the next month or so.

Okay… do you have your donor and your meeting space in mind? Excellent!

Now, before closing your eyes, commit to visualizing these four things:

  1. You’re in the room together.
  2. You smile. They smile back.
  3. Someone else is in the room with both of you. . Imagine you brought them with you. Who are they, and how does it feel having them there to support you?
  4. Bolstered by the smiles and good company, what do you say to open the conversation?

SELF-EXERCISE: Okay, are you ready to close your eyes? Even if this feels a little weird, why not give it a try? (1) Pick your donor… (2) your meeting space… (3) your additional person supporting you in the room… and (4) open the conversation. What are you saying to them? What are they saying back? Don’t think in terms of pitching what they can do for you, but in terms of promising what you can do together. Play this scenario out just a bit, until you get to a place of comfort or discomfort. Then open your eyes.

What did that feel like?

What felt comfortable to you? Uncomfortable? Did it feel more comfortable and pleasant than you may have imagined?  Smiling people, committed to the same cause, hanging out in a comfortable space together…. from such a space can come many good things.

  • What did you say to open the conversation?
  • How did that feel?
  • If it felt good, why?
  • If it didn’t feel good, why?
  • What might feel better?
  • Do you think it might feel better to the donor too?

REFLECT and JOURNAL: Take a few minutes to quickly journal some answers to the questions posed above. Whatever comes to mind first is great; don’t overthink this. I guarantee this will help you shift the energy for the next time you move into this space – in real time – with a donor.

A Mistake is Just a Misjudgment

It’s not fatal; you can correct it. But first you have to recognize it happened!

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symbolic rainmaking god

How to Build a Major Donor Program from the Ground Up

symbolic rainmaking god

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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Giant gummy bear

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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