Woman showing "help" written on hand

Do You Assume Donors Don’t Want to Be Asked?

Woman showing "help" written on handAssuming people don’t want to be asked to make a philanthropic gift is one of the biggest misconceptions of what constitutes being donor-centered.

Or even kind, thoughtful and respectful.

Alas, when you spend all your time on cultivation, assuming folks don’t need a direct ask and will simply give spontaneously as a result of being passively asked, or even outright wooed, everyone loses.

  • You short-change your organization.
  • You short-change your beneficiaries.
  • You, especially, 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 like a crap shoot.  Empty, not meaningful. Donors want you to honestly tell them when and how and how much to give, so investing their money fills them with confidence it will be appreciated and do the most good.

Don’t make donors guess whether you truly find them worthy of loving you.

Donors are Love-Starved

One of my favorite songs is from the Jefferson Airplane:

When the truth is found to be lies
And all the joy within you dies
Don’t you want somebody to love
Don’t you need somebody to love
Wouldn’t you love somebody to love
You better find somebody to love

What are you, and all these people, doing with the gift of life?

Sure, everyone is busy, busy, busy.

But is all that busy-ness making folks happy?

Are people stopping to really think about what makes their lives meaningful?

Sometimes, yes.

Often, not so much.

You can help would-be donors stop and smell (and enjoy) the roses, so to speak.

Philanthropy is Love

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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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Money on the table; Monopoly

If You’re Not Promoting Donor Advised Funds, You’re Leaving Major Gifts on the Table

Use of Donor Advised Funds (DAFs) as a way for individuals to make charitable contributions continues to rise and grants from DAFs are becoming a growing source of income for charities of all shapes and sizes. An ever-broader group of donors are embracing them to approach philanthropy in the thoughtful, strategic way once reserved only…

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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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scrabble tiles: fake news

Totally FAKE Nonprofit News: 6 Fundraising Untruths

scrabble tiles: fake newsThere’s a lot about fundraising folks take for granted. And not in a good way. Because… much of it is untrue!

In fact, if you, your executive director, your board members or anyone else where you work subscribes to these fictions you’ll be in for a lot of pain and suffering. You won’t raise near the money you could otherwise raise. And you won’t enjoy your work.

But there’s a fix!

In the past I’ve written about certain self-evident fundraising truths. Truths you want to hold close to become a fruitful philanthropy facilitator.  The problem? These tenets I call truths are too often not apparent at all.

Why?

A disinformation campaign is unconsciously being waged by leaders who:

  • Don’t understand how fundraising works.
  • Don’t understand pre-conditions must be in place in order for fundraising to flourish.
  • Don’t want to understand because then they’d have to step up to the plate and do things that make them feel uncomfortable.

Oh, dear. Guess what?

Like anything else worth doing, fundraising must be done well to succeed.

You get out of it what you put into it. That’s the unvarnished truth —  the truth that shall set you free!

Sadly, if you believe any of the following untruths, your fundraising program is in jeopardy. And so is your mission. Let’s break these down.

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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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AI as an Equalizer: Giving Small Nonprofits a Competitive Edge

Small nonprofits often face a daunting challenge: maximizing impact with limited resources. Without the brand recognition or staff of larger organizations, fundraisers at small nonprofits must wear multiple hats and juggle a variety of priorities. Spending extra time on building donor relationships or ing into donor analytics can feel like a luxury you just don’t…

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Sign StaySafeBeKind

Nonprofit Crisis Response Tip-a-Day-DO-Dah!

Sign StaySafeBeKindNo matter your politics, this is crisis time for many nonprofits who rely on federal grants and loans (about 30% of all charities).

It’s also crisis time for the beneficiaries of many nonprofits, who are scared, stressed, depressed and otherwise at loose ends due to the rapidly changing environment. Many of the resources on which folks once relied have disappeared or are at risk. For some of your constituents, it feels as if the rug has been pulled out. Or the other shoe is about to drop.

During times like these, people want to come together and help. It’s your job, as a philanthropy facilitator, to help them in this communal endeavor. Stay calm, carry on, and communicate your particular needs.

Resist the temptation to throw your hands up in the air, assume people feel too uncertain to give now, and simply leave folks (donors and clients) to their own devices. We know from past experience this won’t end well.

During the 2008-09 worldwide recession, many charities cut back on fundraising and marketing. Some of them still haven’t recovered. Something similar happened in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. People thought (assumed) it was unseemly to ask for contributions.

Be careful what you assume.

If you don’t ask, you don’t get.

Research collected from donors in response to the coronavirus pandemic showed:

  • Giving, and fundraising, was increasingly seen as good. Even donors who had been hit economically remained remarkably generous.
  • Charities with little relevance to tackling coronavirus still received support from donors that valued them – as long as they asked for help (otherwise they were perceived as not in need of funds).

“Many of the donors we spoke to report that they just don’t know what they should be doing or who they can trust. This led to a rise in levels of insecurity… Of course, they understand that things are changing and that plans will always need to adapt. But knowing that a strategy is in place will provide the security that they need. They also want to know what their role – as supporters – will be. And, most importantly, they are ready for a frank conversation about what is required of them.

2020 Report, Bluefrog Fundraising

Donors want to help – and will help – but they need leadership.

This means telling people what you do that addresses the problems that worry them. For people feeling helpless, this can give them a sense of control. Show them how they can join you, and become a part of a community of like-minded people who share their concerns and values.

It all boils down to a need to put together both short and long-term plans to connect meaningfully with your supporters right now, using the correct approach and tone. Towards that end, I’ve put together five ‘to-do’s – one for each day of the work week.  I suggest you put aside a little bit of time this coming week to consider how you might actualize each of these suggestions, if not in whole at least in part.

Ready for your five timely tips?

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