Helping you to fundraise properly
Large donations can be transformative. This section highlights tips and tricks to help with researching prospects, how to plan your ask, deal with trusts and foundations and how to steward these donors.
Shaun Horan starts this thought piece with: “Nothing splits a room like asking this question: should you ask for a gift from a prospective donor on the first meeting?”
So, what are his reasons? Click below to find out.
https://halpinpartnership.com/debate/asking-first-meeting-good-practice-or-scandalously-impolite
For a long time, philanthropy has been defined as “the giving of money to nonprofit organizations.” However, this definition is quickly becoming obsolete.
It’s evolving towards a meaning that is more appropriate to today’s giving paradigm and less industry-driven: that philanthropy is “the action of transforming the social wellbeing of others through generosity.”
The fundraising pyramid has long been the gold standard in the nonprofit industry to “group” donors. But it’s an odd way to represent a community of philanthropists — it’s a misrepresentation of what’s actually taking place through the process. The evolution of philanthropy forces us to re-imagine this structure.
Community Funded explains more.
https://www.communityfunded.com/blog/evolution-philanthropy-fundraising-pyramid/
Propsect researchers should already be adept at verifying their sources but is that good enough to spot fake news?
In this blog, Jennifer Filla shares her method (including a Venn diagram).
https://www.jenniferfilla.com/fake-news-research-and-fundraising/
Discovering your best fundraising prospects does not boil down to a single piece of criteria. There are several qualities that can help identify the potential donors who can give the major gifts that will lead to your organization’s success.
Here, Kim Becker Cooper – Marketing Director at DonorSearch, shares her five key identifiers.
http://twbfundraising.com/blog/five-identifiers-high-quality-fundraising-prospect/
How to deal with rich people? John Baguley writes in this blog:
“I have worked on many highly successful capital appeals and a few that didn’t quite reach their target. Time and again that failure was due to the inability of the team to engage with wealthy people as human beings and not as representatives of all that is wrong with society. The feeling was often that they ought to give because they were rich, with no thought about real engagement over time with their kindness and goodwill.
“Crucially, this sometimes manifested itself in the act of asking, which I have seen done almost as an act of bravado to show the person asking was not afraid of the task but, unfortunately, that resulted in a slightly offensive demand lacking any humility.”
Read this blog for John’s tips on dealing with the rich.
https://www.charitychoice.co.uk/the-fundraiser/dont-fear-the-rich-list/726
Most organizations have plenty of donor prospects, without having to go outside and look for prospects who aren’t connected to you.
Claire from Clairification Fundraising Coach suggests you 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.
Even small current donors may be juicier prospects than “whale” donors with no connection to you or your cause.
It’s as easy as ABC: Access. Belief. Capacity.
It all boils down to this:
These are the folks with whom you’ve already got a foot in the door. They are your best prospects for upgraded giving, presuming you’ve treated them well.
For more details, visit:
https://clairification.com/2017/01/12/build-major-donor-program-ground/
The Institute of Fundraising (IoF) recently launched Good Asking – a report on why charities research and process supporter information. They worked with leading academic Dr Beth Breeze from the University of Kent, to survey over 300 fundraisers to understand why they process and research information about their supporters, and what the benefits are for donors, charities and the wider public.
The purpose of this report is to shed light on the importance of fundraisers and their work. If they are to be successful, fundraisers need to conduct research to facilitate the efficient and accurate matching of donors and the causes they might wish to support, and to do so in a way that makes the experience as pleasurable as possible for the generous donor.
THE REPORT FINDINGS INCLUDE:
The report also highlights that:
https://www.institute-of-fundraising.org.uk/library/good-asking-report-2017/
The reference to mind tricks makes this blog by Dr Travis Bradberry sound a little sinister, but making yourself more astute and aware of your surroundings, and the way people engage with you, can give you an edge when dealing with prospects.
As soon as you become aware of these 11 tricks, they start popping up wherever you look. With minimal effort on your part, their unconscious influence on behavior can make a huge difference in how you handle your prospects and in your day-to-day life.
How do you set the right tone when you meet a donor or prospect for the first time?
Martin Leifeld has recorded an 8 minute video in which he discusses how you can pose meaningful questions, combined with gratitude and compliments to effectivley engage with your prospect.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/case-you-missed-heres-how-establish-rapport-donor-prospect-leifeld-1/
Raising mega-gifts may be the fastest way for charities to achieve a step-change, but securing such large donations is easier said than done.
Matthew Ferguson and Gemma Peters provide invaluable insight into how major gift fundraising from those who have a net wealth of at least £50m is very different to other types of fundraising.
Impact investing, which aims to generate measurable social and environmental impact as well as financial return, is a wealth management buzz term right now. Yet while wealthy individuals and foundations are drawn increasingly to impact investing to advance their social missions, it is creating a few tensions in the philanthropic community. Some argue that impact investment does not always complement philanthropy and could even harm it. Others say it cannot replace donations.
Sarah Murray explains on this article from the Financial Times (subscription may be required).
https://www.ft.com/content/4fc97720-86d3-11e9-b861-54ee436f9768
If you’re anything like me – a quick escape into space can work wonders – you will enjoy this blog. If, however, you’ve never seen a Star Wars movie before, you can use this blog to bluff your way through a conversation by realising how similar a sci-fi romp and fundraising really is! 🙂
Regardless how you feel about Star Wars, this is a lovely intro on the fundraising characteristics needed to excel in fundraising by Ellie Burk.
https://www.classy.org/blog/ways-working-nonprofit-like-star-wars-gifs/
Major donor fundraising is not about quick wins. Instead, careful and considered relationship building between key stakeholders can support the process in much more effective terms.
How can this be achieved and institutional expectations met? UKFundraising comes to the rescue with 7 key considerations to make.
It’s not often that you get an award-winning prospect researcher share their experiences and tips on how to run a successful research operation. Jason J Briggs provides 10 excellently detailed tips, including data-led decision making and those elusive prospect research KPIs.
This is a must read.
https://medium.com/@jasonjbriggs/5-ears-of-reflection-10-things-i-learned-about-effective-research-management-930048ed14d8
Women are emerging boldly in the for-profit and non-profit sectors – including as campaign volunteer leaders and lead donors.
Graham-Pelton’s Elizabeth Zeigler shows how major gift fundraisers can benefit from data about women and their philanthropy in order to develop sound engagement and solicitation strategies.
https://grahampelton.com/insights/women-philanthropy-insights-trends-can-apply/
We are all searching for the right prospecting strategies for major gifts. Here, @GailPerrync, shares her favourite prospecting strategies to help you take a faster route to finding new major gifts prospects.
https://www.gailperry.com/7-golden-rules-for-identifying-prospects
How much will you raise over the next five years? Forecasting major gift income can be head scratching…
Cue Richard, who shares some techniques on what to do and thus help you create your budget, too.
https://veritusgroup.com/creating-major-gifts-forecasts-and-budgets/