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!
Details
Giving is not always its own reward. Sometimes you have to help it along. I just read an article by Scott Monty, who has a pithy take on the digital world. His newsletter is not nonprofit specific, however it is certainly relevant to anyone working in the social benefit sector. In this particular article he…
Details
My daughter-in-law is interviewing for a job. She asked me for some advice. Here is what I found myself telling her:
Don’t focus on your needs. Focus on the employer’s needs.
Why are they hiring?
What problems do they need you to solve?
Which of your skills are they particularly looking for? Can you describe to them how you might use these skills to help them?
Can you give a specific example, perhaps by telling a story, showing exactly how you’ll help them?
Are you clear what their values are?
CAN YOU DESCRIBE HOW YOU AND YOUR WOULD-BE EMPLOYER (DONOR) SHARE THESE VALUES?
I realized this is the exact same advice I give to fundraisers.
“Ask not what your donor can do for you, but what you can do for your donor.”
This is the heart of all effective fundraising, and it should be your daily mantra.
“Today I will meet my donor’s need by…”
Before you engage in any fundraising strategy, ask yourself:
Details
There’s a simple six-step process to assure you secure a philanthropic gift.
The heart of this process — your key to success — is to flip the philanthropic asking equation on its head and get your donor to ask you, not vice-versa.
That’s right.
Just get your donors to pop this one little question, and you’re home free.
Of course, you have to set them up to pop this question. But it’s easy, once you know the formula.
And I’m going to share that formula with you today.
Guess what else is really great about this?
It’s not scary!
If fear has been holding you back, today is your hallelujah moment. Because I’m here to tell you exactly how to get your donors to ask you for a gift, rather than the other way around.
Details
I recently listened in on a thoughtful webinar by Scot Lumpkin for The Stelter Company. It’s all about meaningful conversations with donors who (you hope!) may contemplate a gift to your organization.
To get folks to “YES” you just need to learn the language of gift planning!
It’s not just about HOW people give, but WHY.
Scott was speaking of what is often called ‘planned giving.’ It’s a term that’s unfortunately come to mean giving vehicles, which is a decidedly non-donor-centric way of framing things.
Anyone who contemplates a major, or stretch, outright gift plans ahead.
No one just gets up one morning and decides to give away $10,000.
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 helps them accomplish their objectives, personal and philanthropic.
It’s seldom a spur of the moment action.
For purposes of this gift planning article, let’s consider your audience to be prospective major (outright) and legacy (deferred) gift donors.
You want a smokin’ major gifts program, don’t you?
Of course you do. You want to light those babies on fire!
Better put, you want to ignite your donor’s passions, light the fire in their bellies, and help facilitate the type of philanthropy that will be a win/win/win – for you, your donors and the vision your organization seeks to attain.
You can’t do this without nurturing a pipeline that lights your donors’ sparks of interest, fans the flames and patiently waits until ignition happens.
Sure, you could just light little fires. Fires that self-extinguish pretty quickly. But these aren’t the fires that will sustain you and keep you warm over the long haul.
That’s why every nonprofit, no matter your size, cause or longevity, needs to build a major gifts pipeline.
Otherwise, you’ll have nothing to smoke!
Want to learn how to stop running on fumes?
All you need to do to transform failure to success is to adopt my personal #1 SECRET – the one principle that makes the greatest difference to long-term, sustainable fundraising success.
This is a secret that will transform donor loyalty and increase donor retention by leaps and bounds.
Plus, it’s not rocket science. It’s pretty much common sense.
Anyone can do it. Everyone should do it.
I’m going to share that principle here; then I’m going to turn this principle into a word – actually three variations of the same word – that you can use to transform the way you’ve been doing business.
What will happen as a result?
I promise you’ll close more major gifts!
Are you ready?
Details
If you’re like most nonprofits, you probably wish you had more major donors.
Guess what?
You can have them!
Today we’re going to look at a great tool for building those important relationships with top prospects over time.
And we all know that is what will result in the big gift.
You know how important it is to put a plan in place to build relationships, right?
It’s super-de-duper important if you want to secure major gifts.
And there’s a name for the strategic process of building meaningful relationships with potential major gift donors.
I’m talking about “Moves Management.”
Details
I couldn’t possibly write this any better than the inimitable Jerry Panas (as told to his partner of many years, Jerry Linzy), so I’m not even going to try. Please read the entire, brief and to-the-point article: listening with your whole body.
It covers five important ‘rules’ to guide you in all human interactions. Don’t forget them when it comes to meetings with major donor prospects:
Now, let me add a few things from my experience, plus some actionable tips.
Details
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!
A shorter way to say this is: Meet with donors. Listen to donors. Ask donors.
See — it’s simple!
It’s definitely not rocket science. 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 the next Certification Course for Major Gifts Fundraisers e-course . It may be the most important investment you make all year. Just one major gift will more than cover the cost].
Over my 37 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!
Details