Why I Love Donor Cultivation Events

This is the first post in a 2 part blog series originally appearing on Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog on November 7th and November 8th, 2013.

Successful major gift fundraising demands a strategic cultivation plan and goal for each donor in your portfolio.  I love donor cultivation events because they connect donors to your cause and dovetail into the incredible work are already doing with your clients.  Yes, that means if you plan them right they are efficient to boot!  What’s not to love?

The most obvious donor cultivation event is a house party or open house cocktail reception with a welcome from your leadership (Executive Director, CEO or Founder), your volunteer leadership (Board Chair) and finally, a brief but meaningful testimonial from a client you’ve served.

A more complex but face-to-face with your mission event is what I like to refer to as a “VIP volunteer opportunity”.  Essentially, mid and/or major donors are invited to high-level mission interactions (think service experiences) that will leave them feeling emotionally gratified and closer to your mission.  Creating an event like this is a multi-step process.  Here’s a few questions to get you started:

1)      What are you already doing with clients that would be meaningful for your donors to see?

2)      What high value “VIP” volunteer opportunities can you create to allow donors to feel a part of your mission in a fun, engaging way?

3)      Who is your audience: major donors, midlevel donors, prospects, board members, media, stakeholders, etc?

4)      What is your event concept and event plan from start to finish?

5)      What is your follow up plan for everyone who attended?

Once you have completed the first three steps it’s time to unleash your inner wedding planner.  You must produce every moment of this experience from start to finish AND have a killer follow up plan to move these attendees to the gift.  Think valet parking, a green room where they can mingle with other donors and enjoy refreshments, a welcome from a board volunteer, an orientation with a testimonial from a client if possible, being attended by a staff member or board member throughout the experience and a warm thank you and follow up to learn what they thought afterwards.

If you are a virtual or global organization don’t lose hope.  You can still engage donors in your mission.  Maybe you have a select group of major donors join an ad hoc committee to read scholarship applications.  You only have enough underwriting to fund 20 scholarships but reading those 50 heartbreaking applications inspires them to help fund the remaining 30!  The secret is in leveraging what you are already doing with your clients by adding a high-touch tightly managed donor element.

Still not convinced?  A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of attending Penelope Burke’s session at BBCON (hyperlink http://www.bbconference.com/) She did a recent study on this very topic.  Among donors who went to donor cultivation events on a scale of 1-7 with 7 being the most satisfied, donors ranked themselves from 5-7.  88% said what they liked most was meeting leadership and 83% liked meeting other donors.  33% of donors who attended made an unsolicited gift.  35% of solicited donors who made a gift credited the event with why they made the gift!

With donors giving more money to fewer causes, donor cultivation events are an excellent opportunity to make you their preferred charity.

Are you cultivating the right donors?

This blog post originally appeared on the Greenlights blog on August 5, 2013. Fundraising has only gotten harder.  We have more channels than ever before to communicate with our donors.  We’re still slowly climbing out the recession.  Finally, we are inundated with a huge array of strategies, tools and options for fundraising – galas, grants, direct mail, major gifts,  peer to peer, online fundraising, crowdsourcing, social enterprise, text to give, and planned giving just to name a few!

In all this noise it’s easy to get distracted by bright and shiny new toys.  Far too many times that bright shiny toy could be a prospect who may never give.  In fundraising, there is no silver bullet or magic formula. It comes down to knowing and nurturing the donors you have. The secret is to love the one you’re with. In reality we can spend far too much time chasing the bright shiny new prospects and not cultivating the donors we should be.

When I was running Girlstart people encouraged me endlessly to pursue a certain local billionaire.  Luckily both his corporate foundation and his private foundation were aligned with our mission and they supported us.  But pursuit of that funder might not have made sense for an organization serving multicultural refugees or providing vaccines in Africa since those causes were not part of their mission.  Organizations need to invest their time where it can yield the greatest fruit and not spin their wheels pursuing people with the capacity to give, but not the inclination.

How do I know who the right donors are?

There is a real economic cost associated with cultivating each donor on your caseload.  Many fundraisers can invest time and energy cultivating the wrong donors.  They might be individuals who are extremely well connected and influential but do not donate to you or they may be people with infinite capacity and no affinity for your cause.  To determine who should be on our portfolio you need to look at their passion for your cause and their capacity to give.

Take a moment to think about the donors in your portfolio. When I say portfolio, I’m talking about the numbers of donors (individuals, foundations and corporations) you are actively cultivating.  How well do you know them?  Do you know what your donors are passionate about?  What makes them give?  How they prefer you communicate with them?

If you don’t know these facts about your donors you must find out.  You have to reach out to your donors to find out more about their interests and determine how to best cultivate them.  Not every donor wants to have a more intimate relationship with your organization.  Some simply want to make a year-end gift and aren't interested in being treated as a VIP or insider.  Your challenge is to know your donors well enough to know their preferences and then execute on them with a revenue goal and cultivation strategy for each donor who makes it into your portfolio.  Knowing what your donors care about, why they give to you and what their larger interests are helps you determine your strategy for cultivating them.

10 Soft Skills to Nail the Ask

This blog post originally appeared on npENGAGE on September 23, 2013 Does the thought of making a six figure ask make your palms sweat? Take heart fellow fundraiser, practice makes perfect. Or, to put it another way, confidence breeds competence.

Asking is part art and part science. A face-to-face solicitation comes at the culmination of you gradually deepening your relationship with your donor to understand his or her passions and interests. Armed with the knowledge of what they truly care about and a program that fulfills their interests, you are ready for the ask!

One of the most challenging things in an ask is managing your own composure and delivery while simultaneously listening for verbal and nonverbal cues from your donor. That is a lot happening at once! Jerry Panas recommends your visit should be 25% talking and 75% listening. I recommend having your script down pat so you can focus your attention on your donor.

The best way to practice an ask is to videotape yourself performing a mock ask. Only 7% of communication is verbal – a whopping 55% is your body language and eye contact! Strong and effective body language can help establish an immediate rapport with your audience and signal confidence in your message. We know our donors want to feel special. Making and sustaining eye contact with them makes them feel as though you are speaking directly to them and that they are the most important person in the room during your conversation. Break eye contact with them and you’ve instantly broken that connection. Avoid eye contact and you give the impression of being untrustworthy.

Body language can betray you. You may be slouching because you’re tired, but people can read it as a sign you’re not interested. The great news is you can use your body language to intentionally project confidence. Yes, you truly can “fake it until you make it” and Amy Cuddy’s Ted talk will show you how.

Practice truly makes perfect. While you are practicing, try these 10 tips: 1.Smile early and often. This helps you exude positive energy and confidence. 2.Quiet your mind to become more present, sensitive and in the moment. Try to become as conscious of the world around you as you are of yourself. 3.Stand or sit tall. Having bad posture will make you look like you lack confidence. 4.Sit towards the front of your chair and lean in for the ask. 5.Be physically accessible. Don’t cross your arms. That tells people you are unapproachable. 6.Mind your voice inflections, speed of your speech, volume and tone. If your voice inflects to a higher pitch at the end of your sentences like you are asking a question you will not sound confident or credible. 7.Freely express your gratitude. Thank you donor for taking your visit, for their prior giving and for responding to your ask when you make your ask, even if they say no! 8.Be curious. What books are in your donor’s bookshelf? Pretend you are a cultural archaeologist. Everything in your donor’s space reveals something about them. 9.Make intentional small talk expressing an authentic interest in your donor. Chat with them about their kids, vacations, or work projects. Learning these details about their likes, lifestyle and hobbies help you deepen your relationship. 10.Give sincere compliments.

Good luck!