Promise to share

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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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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Psychology of Securing Lasting Nonprofit Donor Commitments

four people raise hands in support of your cause

The more publicly people commit, the more resistant they are to changing their minds

This relates to one of Robert Cialdini’s principles of influence and persuasion: “commitment and consistency.”

The main point is this:

Once we make a decision, and strongly attach ourselves to an idea by agreeing orally or in writing, it’s more likely we’ll stick with that decision than change our minds.

Because we are wired to want to be consistent.

That to which we commit, especially publicly, becomes congruent with our self image.

What does this mean for you as a fundraiser?

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Leave a commentDonor Retention
December

Last Minute Strategic Year-End Email Appeal Tips

DecemberStudies show one-fourth of all charitable giving happens in December. For some organizations (maybe yours?), it’s as much as one-third. Year-end fundraising is not chopped chicken liver!

While you absolutely should be using multiple fundraising channels to get best results, right now whatever you’ve got planned for offline is pretty much cooked. So your best bet for boosting year-end results is digital.

What do you have planned online between now and December 31st?

The 2024 M+R Benchmarks Study found nonprofits raise anywhere from 17% to 34% of their online revenue in December, depending on their cause. For well over a decade, the last week of the year – and particularly the last day of the year– have been huge for online fundraising.

To boost your year-end fundraising success, you need to craft an email offer your donor can’t refuse.

4 Top Strategies to Clearly Convey Your Offer 

If you’ve not yet planned your campaign, start here — and now. If you’re ready to go, take a moment to check your plan against these tips. In a nutshell, you need three things for any effective fundraising offer:

  1. Specific problem you’re addressing — made real and relevant to the prospective donor.
  2. Specific solution you’re proposing to address the problem – with your donor’s help.
  3. Specific ask showing how the donor can help– the distinct purpose and amount of the gift you’re requesting, tied to what it will accomplish.

It’s really that simple, but let’s get a little more into the weeds so you’ve a better idea how to execute these three offer components.

1. Describe the problem.

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Leave a commentOnline Fundraising
Man jumping over mountain

Top 10 Strategies to Transform Reluctant Fundraisers into Ready Philanthropy Facilitators

What’s holding you back? Culture? Fear?

How do you help people afraid of fundraising become comfortable in what should be a mission-aligned role for everyone associated with your nonprofit organization?

After all, everyone benefits from increased philanthropy.  Not just development staff.

Increasingly, successful nonprofits are adopting cultures of philanthropy where everyone involved – administrative staff, program staff, board members, committee members, direct service volunteers and even beneficiaries – comes together as ambassadors, advocates and askers on behalf of furthering the organization’s mission, enacting its values and fulfilling its vision.

Facilitating philanthropy is not rocket science, yet folks unaccustomed to the relationship cultivation and solicitation required to land major donations are fearful because they don’t know how to do it. Actually, they do. They just need some guidance, hand holding and support along the way. Reluctant fundraisers tend to think fundraising is just about money. It’s a lot more than that.

It’s the job of a nonprofit’s leadership to work with insiders (staff and volunteers) to help everyone feel both passionate about the cause and confident in the fundraising process.

There are barriers to be overcome; first and foremost is fundraising fear.  This fear takes many forms, and is perhaps best expressed in some of the questions I frequently receive.  So I’m endeavoring to answer these questions below.  Hopefully this will help you address these challenges within your own organization so you, too, can transform folks from fearful and reluctant “fundraisers” to joyful and ready “philanthropy facilitators.”

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