Consultants in Advancement Planning, Fundraising, Marketing Communications and Executive Search

10 Ways to Re-energize Your

Major Gifts ProgramMid Valley Development Professionals

Tom WilsonDecember 8, 2011

1) Classical musician, conductor & teacher

2) 30 years of encouraging donors & nonprofits

3) Weblog –

4) Certified trainer Peter F. Drucker The 5 Most Important Questions

5) Started fundraising career in major gifts running a capital campaign

Tom WilsonTrusted Advisor & Coach

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Winning GiftsMake Your Donors Feel Like Winners

Wiley & Sons 2008

I. A Winning Gift for Your Donor1) People Centered Fundraising2) Donor Values3) Listen

II. Winning Gifts for Your Organization4) Make Your Case 5) The Win Win Ask6) After Winning the Gift

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The art & science of major gift fundraising

1) The art EQ, emotional intelligence

a) Keep people centered

b) Use your emotional intelligence ethically

c) Ensure you’re deep listener & observer

2) The science IQ intelligence quotient

a) Track moves with prospective donors

b) Research, contact reports, strategy memos

c) Set priorities, measure results

$22,700,000,000, 7%

$41,200,000,000, 13%$14,500,000,000, 5%

$229,300,000,000, 75%

Giving U.S.A. Foundation

2010 Sources of GivingNearly $290 Billion

33% of individual giving directed to religion10% of individual giving to foundations & advised funds

Individuals75%

Foundations 13%

Bequests8%

Corporations4%

10 Ways to Re-energize Your Major Gifts Program

#1 – Spend 80% of your time where 80% of your money comes from

# 2 – Use special events strategically

#3 – Utilize your senior management team

#4 – Help every board member play a role

#5 – Create a donor community

#6 – Never lose a donor

#7 – Make your case

#8 – Measure

#9 – Meet your donors F2F

#10 – Be a fearless, gentle asker

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Define what a major gift is for your organization

Run a frequency distribution of annual giving

Follow Pareto’s rule 80% of activity comes from 20%

of the people

Where is your critical mass of major gifts? For many organizations $1,000 is the right level For major universities – $10,000 For small communities – $500

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Current annual giving table$125,000 a year

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Gifts by Level - 7/10-6/11 (Excl. Pharmacist CE)

# of Gifts >$25,000 0 $10,000<$24,999 0 $5,000<$9,999 17 $2,500<$4,999 4 $1,000<$2,499 9 $500<$999 7 $250<$499 13 <$250 141*

*Avg gift = $63

Proposed annual giving table$500,000 a year

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# of Gifts Size of # of ProspectsRequired Gifts Needed

16 1 $50,000 5lead gifts 3 $25,000 15

12 $10,000 6019 $5,000 9524 $2,500 120

Gift Club 100 $1,000 500Many Many up to $1,000

Total 158 $500,000 795

#1 Spend 80% of your time where 80% of

your money comes from

or . . .

Spend 80% of your time where you want your money to come from

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“Know Thy Time”The Essential Drucker, Peter F. Drucker 2001

“Effective knowledge workers do not start with their tasks. They start by finding out where their time actually goes.

“Then they attempt to manage their time and to cut back unproductive demands on their time.

“Finally they consolidate their ‘discretionary’ time into the largest possible continuing units.”

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Time tracking

M T W Th F Sa Su

Face-to-face donor contact

Preparing for calls

Debriefing calls

FR office misc.

Institutional misc.

Professional development

# 2Use special events strategically

Know the net net of your special events

Most of us track the net results of events• Revenues minus expenses = net

That’s not good enough, seek net net data• Net minus staffing expenses = net net

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Present one fantastic event

Net net goal of $100,000 or more

People going to your event must come away with a clear understanding of your case

Follow up to meet new people who attendedYour goal is convert transactional event attenders

to philanthropic major gift donors Move 10% of your SE revenue to MG revenue

each year

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BeforeThis is me before I started making charitable gifts. Overweight, poor, unhappy and alone.

AfterThis is I after contributing major gifts regularly Rich, trim and sexy.

Transforming people through philanthropic giving

#3Utilize your

senior management team

The philanthropic buck stops at the executive director’s / CEO’s / president’s office

The CPO – chief philanthropy officer must be on the senior management team

Everyone on the senior management team has a role with major gift donors

Deans and program leaders need to be fundraisers too

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#4Help every board member

play a role

The Tipping Point

Peer solicitation

Recruiting board “players”

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The Tipping PointMalcolm Gladwell

1)The law of the few● Champions — early adopters, mavens

● Connectors — know lots of people and spread the message

● Salespeople — skills to persuade

2)The stickiness factor● A message with a memorable impact

3)The power of context● Settings and small factors can make a big difference

Peer Solicitation

The most influential ask is? “Match my gift of $__________

Very few volunteers can “ask up”

If you want $10,000 donors, recruit $10,000 capable board members

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Recruit Board “Players”To Raise $500,000 Annually

Gift Level % of Target # of Board Current # of Board Number of NewAF Goal Members Members Now Board Members Needed

$50,000 or more 10% 3 0 3$25,000 to $49,999 15% 4 0 4$10,000 to $24,999 24% 8 0 8$5,000 to $9,999 19% 6 0 6$2,500 to $4,999 12% 3 2 1$1,000 Gift Club 20% 6 3 3Up to $1,000 0% 0 4 0

Total 100% 30 9 25

Board giving includes combination of personal donation plus corporation or foundation support

Assuming board giving is 25% of each giving level

Assumes board size of 30 members

#5Create a donor community

Define one major gifts level as “the level” Brand it with a name Donor board Ribbons Make it “the” place to be To honor donors above the

basic membership level honor donors at the bronze, silver, gold, etc.

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#6Never lose a donor

Your multi-year major gifts renewal rate should be 90% or better

First year renewal rate – aim for 75%

Use monthly giving with auto renewal to help

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#7Make your case

Demonstrate your philanthropic impact and need for contributions - your sticky message

ClearConciseUrgentConcreteCommunity benefitWritten, outlined, videoStories, pictures

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The Seven Faces of Philanthropy

Prince & File

Altruistic 9%

Religious 21%

Dynasts 8%

Repayer 10%

Socialite 11%

Investor 15%

Communitarian 26%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%

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Your case must be like VelcroTM

You want dozens of hooks that are gentle but persistent

Remember The Seven Faces of Philanthropy

Readers & listeners

4 Listening styles

#8Measure

Production – each month, quarter, and year end

1) Cash & cash pledges

2) Planned estate gift expectancies

Compare to a year ago at this time

2 years ago

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Major gift officer expectations

Minimum A Star is BornYear 1 Cover salary 3 x salaryYear 2 3 x salary 5 x salaryYear 3 5 x salary 10 x salary

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But you can’t just measure money

Good philanthropic fundraising is the result of donor relationships built over time

• Average of 6 contacts to a major gift• Planned estate gifts can take 10 or more

Until the money comes in, measure F2F contacts with qualified major gift prospects

• Use weekly reporting sheet• Analyze monthly

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Donor meetings reporting for ____________week of ____/__

Prospect Name Contact Date Contact Report Filed

1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

6)

7)

8)

#9Meet your donors F2F

Face to face fundraising is always more successful

55% of all communications are nonverbal

Get out of the office

Meet with your top 25 donors at least once a year

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The “one a day” plan

One, F2F, major donor meeting a day Minimum expectation

To be a star – do more 30 minutes of listening by reading a day

Donor comments from a 60 minute

meeting

Rough notes made at the meeting

barely legible even to the writer

Contact Report

Full thoughts for in-depth future reference by institution

Reflective Listening

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“80% of success in life is simply showing up”

Woody Allen

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Follow up your calls

a) Who should you follow up?

b) Who is ready for an ask?

c) Use a tracking chart to stay organized• Your Top 10 List• Next 25• Future 65

d) With no travel or institutional “distractions” a major gifts officer can handle 125 prospects

• The Tipping Point research – 148.5

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Track your relationship interactions

Confidential Target Volunteer Staff Last Next Notes

9/15/2009 Gift Contact Six I's Step

Top 10123456789

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Next 251112131415

Future 653637

#10

Be a fearless, gentle asker

The major reason people aren’t philanthropic?

Nobody asked them for a gift

Be the role model asker

Ask with style & grace

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One on one discussions

Find a partner

Review the 10 Ways of Re-energizing Your Major Gifts Program

What can you do differently next year

Be ready to report out

10 Ways to Re-energize Your Major Gifts Program

#1 – Spend 80% of your time where 80% of your money comes from

# 2 – Use special events strategically

#3 – Utilize your senior management team

#4 – Help every board member play a role

#5 – Create a donor community

#6 – Never lose a donor

#7 – Make your case

#8 – Measure

#9 – Meet your donors F2F

#10 – Be a fearless, gentle asker

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Always remember . . .

Think big

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Consultants in Advancement Planning, Fundraising, Marketing Communications and Executive Search

10 Ways to Re-energize Your

Major Gifts ProgramTom Wilson

(503) 789.4366Tom.Wilson@CampbellCompany.com