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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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Coping in Trying Times: Empathy + Innovation are Essential Nonprofit Philanthropic Strategies

How will you and your nonprofit make it through these trying times? Two words: EMPATHY. INNOVATION. These are the two qualities most needed in today’s topsy-turvy world. And they’re by far the best way to connect meaningfully with your constituents. I’d like you to think of them as your newly essential fundraising and communication strategies.…

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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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4 Nonprofit Strategies to Build Donor Trust & Lasting Relationships

woman holding man's hand for safety

Trust is Built By What You Do

 

In my last article, I wrote about why establishing and building trust should be part of your nonprofit and personal mission.

Because trust is the foundation of all lasting relationships.

If you don’t build trust, or if you somehow manage to destroy it, you’re going to lose your donor.

It’s an uphill battle, requiring a proactive approach.

Sadly, most nonprofits do a profoundly poor job of this.  By now you’re likely familiar with the stats on donor retention from the Fundraising Effectiveness Project.  The most recent report revealed only 13.8% of first-time donors renewed. Only half of all donors renew, which is still an appallingly low rate — but certainly speaks to the importance of securing a second gift..

If you want to improve on these retention rates (and you definitely can!), I’m going to suggest you develop a plan to build trust.

Trust is built not simply by what you say, but by what you do.  Not just once, but consistently over time.

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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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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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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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"Doing the right thing isn't always easy" storefront art

How Humanity and Trust Supercharge Nonprofit Fundraising

"Doing the right thing isn't always easy" storefront artEveryone’s been saying this, just about daily, for some time.

“These aren’t ordinary times.”

If the anthem for the Boomer generation was Bob Dylan’s “The TImes They Are A’Changin’,” what’s the anthem for today? History doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes. We’re living in the face of a firehose of breaking news, and much of it is difficult to digest. Let alone know how to face, handle and get through it with safety and sanity intact.

We can retreat, live in limbo or figure out a way to navigate through this reality and find opportunities to do our work in new and better ways.

It’s a difficult assignment, because it’s not easy to know where to begin.

As social benefit organizations, we want to come from a human-centered, community-centered place, but… what exactly might that be in this extraordinary time?

What the World Most Needs Right Now.

I think it’s humanity and trust.

Usually we have to guess at what will feel relevant to our supporters. Today, we pretty much know. Because we hear it all the time. On the news. On social media. When we zoom with colleagues. When we talk to our friends.

  • People want to know who they can trust.
  • People want their fellow humans to act the part.
  • People want to consciously engage — with humans they can trust — in a meaningful manner.

Social benefit organizations have a secret advantage.

Survival in the civil sector is based on the philanthropic exchange, and ‘philanthropy’ means ‘love of humanity’. Yet sometimes it seems all we see and hear is hatred of humanity. Us/Them.  Left/Right. Red/Blue. Young/Old. Good/Evil. Insiders/Outsiders. I could go on…

There’s a better way. When you infuse your nonprofit work with humanity, you’ll reach trust.

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Thank you note writing

Don’t Blow Your Post-Holiday Opportunity to Thank Your Nonprofit Supporters

Thank you note writingFor good things once a year is not enough. Why do so many of us only eat turkey once a year?  Or pumpkin pie? I’ve no idea! It’s surely not rational. These are special foods we value and take great delight in. Yet we get into a bad habit of thinking on auto pilot. If it’s not Thanksgiving, the idea of roasting a turkey or making cranberry sauce doesn’t even enter most or our heads. And egg nog, hot mulled cider, panettone and stollen are mostly Christmas things. And then there are the once-a-year only potato latkes. Why are we missing out on an opportunity for greater joy and satisfaction?

When things are good, they bear repeating.

And this is most certainly the case with expressing gratitude to your valued supporters!

It’s not rational to thank your donors only annually.  They keep you going all year long. They deserve your gratitude all year long as well.

What better time to thank supporters than right now, and all through the coming weeks, after a holiday season filled with gratitude?

The much-anticipated “holiday season” is pretty much over. There’s a natural let-down for many.  Wouldn’t it be lovely for your donors and volunteers to get a call from their favorite charity? A call that simply expresses gratitude? If you reach your donor, the goal is to have a quick conversation. Most important: stick with pure gratitude as your focus. Your aim is to make your donor feel connected to your cause, and really good about their support. If no one picks up the phone, don’t waste the call. Leave an upbeat message.
            “Joe, hello! I just called because, in thinking over the past few days about all for which I’m grateful, I realized I’m grateful for you and all you do to make our community a more caring place. I just wanted you to know how much your support is appreciated. Thanks so much, and may the new year bring many blessings.”
My hunch is there’s nothing better you could do with your time today. Or early next week if you’re taking some personal (or shopping the sales?) time today.

All the “strategies” in the world can’t substitute for a genuine, personal connection that comes from the heart.

Don’t let weeks and months go by. Connect!  Express your thanks!  Don’t wait until you’ve got a perfectly crafted letter, email or insert piece. That’s called procrastination, or “letting perfect be the enemy of the good.” Sometimes, timing is everything.
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