Your job as a philanthropy facilitator is to do everything in your power to make giving to you as easy, joyful and rewarding as possible. You are, if you will, a donor Sherpa. As a donor guide, you likely know things your donors don’t know. You have tools they don’t have. Your role along the pathway to…
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BOO!
Halloween is creeping up on us, so I’ve got some really scary stuff for you!
Don’t get too spooked. There are also a few treats.
In fact, you’ll get eight delicious goodies — in the form of “to-do’s.”
But first… the bad news.
No bones about it, you’re frightening folks away if you’re committing any of these 8 boo-boo’s!
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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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Major gifts begin with “Getting to Know You.” If you want to be a successful major gift fundraiser, stop worrying so much about the ask and think about securing the “getting to know you” visit. If you can get a visit with a donor, you have an 85% chance they’ll make the gift. Who…
DetailsIt used to be so simple. You called donors over the phone, sent handwritten thank you notes, sometimes met with them in person. While you can reach people now thanks to a variety of digital channels, building an authentic, lasting relationship feels harder. There are several reasons why. CURRENT RELATIONSHIP-BUILDING CHALLENGES 1. The explosion…
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What must you keep top of mind to have meaningful conversations with donors who (you hope!) may contemplate a gift to your organization?
I’ve given you a hint within my question.
One word: meaningful.
And for a conversation to be meaningful, you have to speak in a language that resonates with the other person.
And what is it that resonates more strongly than just about any other emotion?
LOVE.
To get folks to “YES” you need to learn the meaningful language of love and apply it to gift planning.
The word philanthropy literally means, from the Greek, the feeling of love (philos) towards humankind (anthropos).
It’s not just about HOW people give, but WHY.
What is it about your organization’s values, as enacted, that your donor is most passionate about? How can you, as a philanthropy facilitator, make it easy for the donor to meaningfully express their feelings and passions?
Passionate philanthropy is seldom a spur of the moment action.
No one just gets up one morning and decides to give away $10,000, $100,000 or $1 million.
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 help them accomplish their objectives, personal and philanthropic.
Anyone who contemplates a major, or stretch, gift plans ahead.
For purposes of this gift planning article, let’s consider your audience to be prospective major (outright) and legacy (deferred) gift donors.
There’s a treasure trove of knowledge and research around major gift fundraising. What works well. What doesn’t work at all. What’s, at best, half-baked.
It’s not rocket science. But there’s definitely art, and some science, involved.
The gestalt way of thinking about the three secrets boils down to simply being:
(1) SMART,
(2) SYSTEMATIC and
(3) PASSIONATE.
But, I’m pretty pragmatic. So I’d like to give you something more practical.
If I had to pick the top three practical secrets to success, they would be the following:
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While you no doubt want donors of all sizes, you especially want loyal donors who make above average size gifts. Because that’s where you’ll get the greatest return on your investment. Today, let’s talk about major donors. Why? They account for the lion’s share of all contributed income. Studies show over 88% of all…
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I find a widespread misunderstanding about the notion of what constitutes being donor-centered. It derives from two misconceptions:
Both of these rationales short-change your would-be donors.
Why?
FIRST: Donors want to be asked because they’re starved for the love that comes from voluntary giving and receiving. Donors have love to give, but don’t always have an object towards which to direct their affection.
SECOND: Donors need to be asked because when they’re not, they don’t know how much you need their help. Consequently, giving feels a bit empty. Almost a bit like a crap shoot. Donors want to invest their money where they feel confident it will be most appreciated and will do the most good.
Let’s delve into both of these misconceptions more deeply, putting them into a donor-centered context.
In other words, what are your would-be donors feeling?
What if you had a new strategy for building the types of committed, transformative relationships with donors necessary to build, nurture and sustain a meaningful major gift fundraising program? Most nonprofits know how important a major gifts strategy can be to their overall survival. After all, the 80-20 rule is than alive and well…
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