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Secrets of Great Rainmakers: Finding, keeping and growing transformational major donors
Andrew Olsen, CFREVice President, Client Services
October 2016
About me…
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Over $150 million raised
16 years fundraising experience
MCH Board Member
Advisor to 125 domestic hunger & homelessness-related nonprofits in the U.S. & Canada
Co-author of Rainmaking: The Fundraiser’s Guide to Landing Big Gifts
Formerly homeless
Agenda Overview
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• The six essential secrets that great major gift fundraisers use
• Kick starting your major gift program with limited resources
• Making the ask
• Understanding why major gift programs fail
Six essential secrets for major gift success
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1. Begin with the number of meetings you can do in a year
2. File research / Prioritizing a workable list
3. Donor research / Analysis paralysis
4. Reformat your case for support
(with updated needs list – rungs on the ladder)
5. Cultivating and asking – Three Tiers
6. Assess your program and build on what’s working
1. How many meetings can you do in a year
• Number of meetings determines workflow
• Major gift work happens primarily through face to face contact
• Only research the number you can handle in a year
• Build a team to help you with meetings
2. Prioritize a workable list
• How many prospects do you research/target?
• 3 Segments: Active donors, LYBUNTs, SYBUNTs
• Rank every prospect: from #1 to ???
3. Research
• Donor Research is fun and addicting
• Use Wealth Point, Wealth Engine, Target Analytics or other automated tools
• Use Google; set up auto notification for your top prospects
• Create a file for each donor – confidential
BEWARE OF ANALYSIS PARALYSIS
4. Reformat your case for support (with updated needs list – rungs on the ladder)
• Fund your budget first!!!
• Your budget must be repackaged into programs with overhead built into each ask.
• Your Needs List should be grouped by dollar level $250, $500, $1,000, $2,500, $5,000 , $10,000, $25,000, etc.
5. Cultivating and asking – three tiers
• 3-Tier Approach to Cultivating Relationship:
• Identifying philanthropic passion
• Cultivating trust-based partnership
• Providing opportunities for meaningful experiences
6. Assess your program and build on what’s working
• Annual process is replicated each year:
• Early Spring: Update Wealth Scores, Re-rank, New Qualifiers
• Late Spring / Summer: Meetings, meetings, meetings
• Early Fall: 2nd visits, asks and major gift proposals
• Late Fall: call backs, closes and MIAs
• December: gifts and acknowledgement
Key areas to focus on
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• Maximize existing staff
• Utilize donor database and existing relationships to full potential
• Identify scope of resources/effort needed
• Mirror others who’ve seen success
• Rally your team
• Prospect Review Meetings
What types of settings?I rarely call to schedule a meeting… “I just happen to be meeting with another supporter in the area.”
• Lunch at a restaurant
• Coffee, coffee, coffee
• At the donor’s home
• From the podium
• The 1 – 2 Punch: The Executive Director (or board member, program director, etc.) and the Director of Development – one communicates the heart and the other communicates the hard facts
Who should make the ask?Executive Director
Director of Development
Board Member
Someone who…
• Knows the donor best
• Is not afraid to ask
• Can clearly communicate the case and the request
• Is passionate about the donor’s potential impact
Be specific
• STOP THE HINTING…
• Don’t be vague
• The donor’s philanthropic passions and your needs have aligned
• Articulate an amount or a range:
• “We’d like you to consider a gift of…”
The Art of Asking Donors for a Large Gift
It’s an ‘art’ … not a ‘science’
3 important elements:
1. Be Donor Minded (It’s not about you)
2. Be Prepared
3. Be Specific
Why MOST major gift programs fail…
Bloom where you are planted…
• Most organizations delay starting “until they are ready”… Begin right where you are. Make a decision to meet with “X” number of donors a week and then do it. BLOOM WHERE YOU ARE…
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Biting off more than you can chew…
• Target only as many prospects as you can personally visit with on annual basis. Leave everyone else in the regular cultivation program.
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Burnout…to the fade away
• You make 50 calls your first week. 25 the second week. 10 the third week. And by the 4th week you call it quits.
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Burst YOUR bubble…
• You send a letter inviting your top 100 friends and supporters to lunch and nobody shows up. What…don’t they know how important I am?
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Show me the money…
• You watch the financial reports. You assign your biggest donors to senior staff and watch the giving every month… and REVENUE TANKS?
• Stop counting the money, start counting the activity
• What gets measured is what gets done
• Lead by example
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ARE YOU READY?
• Look at your file
• Get some help from your board & staff
• Use wealth research & prospect identification tools
• Planning & coaching
• Integrate your outreach – phone, handwritten notes & email
• Start with one meeting… then ramp up
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Get your copy of Rainmaking today!
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Buy it at www.andrewolsen.net
50% of net proceeds goes to MCH
Price: $18.95
Thank You!Andrew Olsen, CFRE
Connect with me:
Blog: www.andrewolsen.netFacebook: www.facebook.com/andrewolsencfre
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/andrewolsenTwitter: @AndrewOlsenCFRE
Email: [email protected]: 612.201.1967