The Extreme Fundraising Blog

I’ve heard a little about SixDegrees.org.

But I don’t get it.

If you do, could you leave me a comment (there’s a “comment” link under the title to this post!)

SixDegrees.org

Today is a great day! I’ve been wanting to offer the Creating Donor Evangelists audio program as a download.

It is now available.

Downloads are easier to listen to and there’s no CD to lose! Plus, you don’t have to pay shipping.

Purchases of the download count toward the free teleclass next week.

To see more, go to: http://fundraisingcoach.com/cde.htm

We’re all clients at some point in our lives. And many of us have been freelancers. Robert Weiner refered some of us on CharityChannel.com to this great blog post: The 12 Breeds of Clients and How to Work with Them.

I think I’ve been 6 or 7 of them!

Mitch Teplitsky recently posted a very nice post on his Soy Andina blog.

The post is: Are you fundraising? Visit Marc Pitman’s site.

The offer he’s refering to is below: Creating Donor Evangelists April Special.

People say they really like this program because it’s:

• very affordable,
• high quality, and
• offers loads of information and concepts that are really easy to get up and running!

Check it out at the Creating Donor Evangelists information page.

As we enter the home stretch of our 100 days, I’m relearning an important skill: leads generation.

Odd as it is, this is a skill I seem to keep forgetting. I guess I just get comfortable communicating with existing donors and forget the need to keep finding new ones.

Fortunately, my executive coach, Freddie Ray is an expert with leads generation. She had to be to be a Fox VP of Advertising for close to 20 years!

She has me in the midst of a 2-week project to increase my skill in generating leads.

First, let’s define the term “leads.” The National Mail Order Association defines leads as

“Names and addresses of individuals who have taken a positive action to indicate genuine interest in a given type of offer.”

When Freddie asked me what I was currently doing to generate leads, my list included things like direct mail, websites, brochures, conversations, participation in community groups, articles in the paper, event posters around town, etc.

She pointed out that all of those are passive activities. I knew that. And they are necessary to a point. Somehow, I allowed myself to think that they help me raise money. The closest thing to generating contact information “of individuals who have taken positive action to indicate genuine interest” is the direct mail.

To generate leads, Freddie said my action must have purpose. It’s not just showing up at a social networking time. It’s showing up with the focus of talking to certain people. It’s not just making the gift giving options available on the website. It’s me asking others to take specific action. And it’s even better if I’m giving them something in return. (See the Creating Donor Evangelists announcement below for an example of this.)

Here are the steps she walked me through:

1. First, I needed to figure out exactly what I was asking them to do. What action did I want them to take?
2. I needed to look at how much time I was already spending on that work.
3. I then decided how much time I’d commit to leads generation.
4. Define leads generating activities. For me, this is as simple as calling donors to thank them, following up direct mail with a phone call, preparing a grant request, visiting new donors. And habitually asking, “Who else do you think would support what we’re doing?”
5. I need to act on it out. (One of my mentors keeps telling me that Peter Drucker said, “All great ideas ultimately degenerate into hard work.”)

So far, I’ve successfully hit my targets of time. I’m not seeing HUGE changes in anyone but myself. My mind is incredibly focused. I’m amazed at how much time I had been spending on the non-essential tasks of my work. No one will give me a gift if I simply wait for them. I need to go out and take action.

This is much more rewarding. I can tangibly see that I am spending the 80% of my time on the most important 20% of my work. (See my blog post on the Pareto Principle for more on this.)

Between now and May 22, why don’t you go through the same four steps?

1. Figure out exactly what you’re asking people to do. This isn’t as easy as it may appear. Is it increasing your donor base? Landing major gifts? Increasing planned giving commitments? All of the above? Define each one on paper. And be sure to only one in mind when you are interacting with people.
2. Look over your calendar to determine how much time you’re committing to your job.
3. Commit, in writing, to how much time you’ll spend in leads generation activities.
4. List a bunch of action-oriented leads generating activities. Even transforming some activities you’re already doing by now doing them with a leads generation focus.
5. Do it.

And please let me know how it works out for you!!

Sandra Sims generously blogged a very nice post about Creating Donor Evangelists and this month’s special. Thanks Sandra!

I’m really excited about the conference call on May 2. We’ll be able to really get to your questions about your specific situation. It’s going to be great!

I’m really excited about this special: anyone that buys the Creating Donor Evangelists Audio Program between now and the end of the month gets free admission to a teleconference on Wednesday, May 2 at 1 p.m. EST. (Long distance charges may apply.)

This class is going to get into the specifics of applying the CDE principles in your specific situation. Things you’ll be able to explore and implement right after the call!

The program is $19.95 plus the cost of Priority Shipping ($4.50). I want to make sure you get this into your hands as quickly as possible!

All you need to do is purchase the program either at:
http://fundraisingcoach.com/cde.htm

or here

or here

Click here for more information on the Creating Donor Evangelists Audio Program.

[Update: If it’s easier for your organization to pay by being invoiced, send me an email at: marc@fundraisingcoach.com. I’ll ship the audio program and send you an invoice.]

The Chronicle of Philanthropy has an interesting tidbit on how the British universities are learning to be more direct in fundraising.

Here’s some great advice:

Among the advice offered: “After you ask for money, let the request hang in the air, even as tension builds and every fiber of your upbringing cries out for you to break the silence.”

 

Last week, knowing tax day was upon us, I sent my Are You Paying Taxes on Your Charitable Giving? to a couple reporters at the local paper. I did it just see if it would fit into an article they were already working on.

Little did I know they’d run it as a “brief.” And it was well placed opposite the comics. I didn’t even know it was there until one of our donors walked up to me at a Chamber breakfast and asked if he could use appreciated stock to make a campaign payment “just like you wrote about in the paper.”

What a SHOCK! And a pleasure.

Two take aways from this:
(1) Let your donors know other ways to give rather than just cutting checks.

(2) Position yourself as a resource for your local media. Who knows where it may lead!

Waterville, ME - If you are not strategizing your giving with your advisors, you may inadvertently be paying tax on your charitable gifts according to Marc A. Pitman, director of the Inland Foundation, Inland Hospital’s fundraising subsidiary and founder of Fundraisingcoach.com. “Accountants, tax strategists, attorneys, and insurance agents are not able to read their clients’ minds,” says Pitman, “They only know about as much of your personal goals as you tell them.”

For example, Pitman says many well-intentioned donors sell appreciated stock to be able to pay a pledge or make a gift. This causes them to pay capital gains on the sale of that stock. “I’m not a tax expert so I recommend donors ask their advisors-tax, financial, insurance, and legal-before making a gift.”

One question Pitman suggests donors ask is whether they should give a gift of stock to a nonprofit. “Donors are often surprised to learn they can give the stock to a tax exempt nonprofit, receive full credit for the gift, and avoid paying capital gains.”

In addition to asking for money, Pitman sees his role as fundraiser as encouraging donors to talk to their team of advisors and helping give them the right questions to ask. “There’s something very empowering about going to a meeting with an expert and being armed with strategic questions, even when the expert already has your best interests at heart.”

So be generous with your charitable giving, but be strategic as well.