5 STEPS TO GETTING GIFTS
Throughout my career, I have been astonished at how much angst is spent on making a fundraising ask. Even people who chose fundraising as a career balk at asking someone for a gift. And as those of you who have tried to activate your board about fundraising know, the one thing most board members will say when pressed is “I’ll do anything but ask for money.”
And yet, in my experience, the asking is the easy part. If—and this is a big if apparently—you have spent the time to appropriately cultivate your donors.
Let me be clear here, cultivation is never, ever a one and done. A fundraiser I know recently told me when a large gift failed to materialize: They were cultivated. They came to the gala.
We yes. They came to the gala. And no, that didn’t by any stretch of the imagination, cultivate them. Cultivation takes time and it is ongoing. Just because you cultivated someone enough to make a significant gift doesn’t mean that you have cultivated them enough to make a second significant gift.
So how do you do that? Follow these 5 important steps:
Understand that cultivation is nothing more than building a relationship. Between you and your donor, yes, but more between your donor and the organization. Connect that donor to others who work at or are involved. Think of ways beyond a gift that they can become invested. Volunteering is a great way, but so is an invitation to meet the program officer, some clients if appropriate, the CEO or members of the Board.
Relationships are two way streets—it’s not all about you pitching your organization or your project. Most of cultivation should be spent learning about your donor—what matters to them, what they want to accomplish with their generosity. And as you learn about your donors, help them to connect the dots about how your organization or this particular project meets their needs and will help them to accomplish their goals
Relationships require ongoing effort. And the ball is pretty much always in your court. I am often surprised when development directors tell me they reached out to someone—and that someone never responded. Well, fine. Reach out again. And again. And maybe find someone else who could help you connect with that person.
Remember, people are not static. Interests, needs, situations change. Keep on top of what is happening in your donor’s life, and what they care about today. Of course, you can only do that if you are staying in touch and finding out what is going on with them.
One Thank You letter is not a stewardship plan. In order to keep a donor happy, you must do a lot more than say thank you. You have to show them that their gift matters, that they have made a difference, that they have accomplished what mattered to them.
None of this is brain surgery. But if you follow these steps, you will find that when you are ready to make that ask, the donor has actually already said yes.