CREATING A MAJOR DONOR PROGRAM
Warning: This is not a new rant. But it is still a rant that needs to be heard. Every day the Chronicle of Philanthropy writes articles and posts news items about mega gifts. They focus on the wealthiest donors and the wealthiest nonprofits. But that is not where most of us live.
I’m not worried about the “Philanthropy 400.” I am worried about the other 1.1 million nonprofits who aren’t quite so large and the vast majority of those that have operating budgets of under $2 Million. Many way under. These are the nonprofits that are hard at work doing the work that our society so desperately needs. And these are the organizations that get the smallest gifts, from a tiny pool of donors, and who suffer the most from donor attrition. If on average nonprofits are losing 60% of their first-time donors and 35% of repeat donors, these organizations are (alas) greater than average. Their losses are much larger; their gains much smaller.
What can we do?
For most nonprofits, I think the answer is in creating a major donor program. Note that I did not write Major Gift program. I think that is a whole different thing. Major gifts are those singular gifts, often given over a period of years, for a specific purpose. Major donors, on the other hand, are those who make a gift of a certain size (or more) in one year. Hopefully, every year. The size of the gift will depend on the size of your organization and the nature of your prospect pool.
Whatever size gift you chose, another important element is that these (prospective) major donors are those donors that you visit with, whether that personal visit is an actual meeting, a phone meeting, or even—if this is the only way—a very personal email exchange. And, at that meeting you are clear about your purpose and the gift you are hoping they will consider (and, of course, actually give).
In order to seriously increase your fundraising results, you cannot be haphazard about this major donor program. You need a plan.
1. Pick the number at which you think a donor will be “major.” Do make it a stretch for many of your donors, but not so high that you are seriously limiting your pool of prospects. And remember, you can always change the number—it is not written in stone.
2. Dig into your donors giving histories and start to create a likely major donor list. Obviously, you’ll start with all those who have already reached that threshold. And then you’ll want to look at those you want to bring up to that level. If, for example, your number is $2,500, then look at all donors who have given between $1,000 and $2,499.
3. Pick another number—the number of prospects you realistically think you can handle quarterly. Let’s call that number 10. Start by identifying your first 10; your second….and so on. Commit to working 10 each and every quarter. That means that as a prospect becomes a donor, says no to your asks, asks to be contacted in 6 months, etc, they come off your current list, and someone from the next 10 moves up.
4. Begin profiling these donors, looking at how much they give, when they give, what seems to float their particular boat.
5. Create an individual fundraising plan for each—identifying what you will be asking for and how you will approach them. Because these are annual gifts, you won’t want many steps in these plans. Typically, you’ll start with thanking them for their past support and sharing how it has made a difference. At the same time, you should be asking for a meeting—in person, on the phone, whatever makes sense—to talk about their next gift. Don’t be shy; tell them upfront that you are hoping they will consider a larger gift than they’ve been giving.
a. If they are loyal donors or people you have a fair amount of information about—what they care about, why they support you, what they want to accomplish with their philanthropy, your plan may only require one or two meetings
b. If they are newer to your organization, or if you honestly don’t know why they’ve given, you may need a few more visits
c. Always, however, think about ways you can help to get more invested—with great volunteer opportunities, tours, meeting with board member, program staff, your CEO, clients.
6. Always be clear: “You have been such a great donor, and your $3,000 annual support has meant so much to our clients/our cause. I am hoping we can talk about what it would take to increase your support to $5,000.” They may not give at that level, but odds are they will increase their yearly gift.
7. Once you get a yes to your ask—regardless of the size of the gift—make create a stewardship plan for this donor. Yes, there will be lots of boilerplate parts: Thank you from the CEO, periodic impact notes, invitations to certain events…but you should also focus on what you’ve learned about this donor, and how you can continue to ensure that the donor knows that her gift is doing what she told you she cares about
8. Be consistent. I strongly suggest those of you who are part of a small office to block out at least 4 hours a week for major donor planning. This includes the outreach for meetings and much of your stewardship work. It all won’t get done in 4 hours a week, but you will know exactly what else you need to accomplish in the remaining 36 or so hours of work you have left each week.
Following this plan probably won’t turn your agency into one of the Philanthropy 400, but it will increase your revenue, and your cadre of loyal, larger donors. And it will set you on the path to getting major gifts that are mega for your organization.
#Major Donors