The Extreme Fundraising Blog

Gayle Robertswas my guest on today’s Ask Without Fear radio show.

You really owe it to yourself to listen to Gayle’s thoughts on fundraising and generousity. You’ll be challenged to re-evaluate your thoughts on raising support for nonprofits. And you’ll be re-energized as you realize how incredibly important your role is. And you’ll hear Gayle’s advice of how to fundraise during a recession.

You can listen to the show here or go to http://fundraisingcoach.com/radioshow.htm:

You can subscribe to the RSS feed at:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/marcapitman/feed

We’ll take the next couple weeks off. Our next show will be on Tuesday, June 3 at 11 a.m. with Jeff Brooks.

Jeff Brooks’ recent post at DonorPowerBlog is such a great reminder: when you’re writing fundraising letters, you need to write like a human being .

He offers a great real-life example of typical copy from a fundraising letter he received. He then points out:

No mentally healthy person would speak those sentences.

Scary isn’t it? If people give to people, why do we make our fundraising letters so boring?

And I love that he reminds us that “there’s nothing forcing you to write that way”!

Read his entire post, and many others like them, at his blog: http://www.donorpowerblog.com/

In the spirit of the last fundraising secret People give to people, I offer

Fundraising Secret #16: ALWAYS be interested in the donor as a PERSON not as a pocketbook.

Relationships are always our most vital asset. Whether or not people give to us, they are intrinsically important.

That’s not to say we have to pour all our fundraising efforts in the same measure for donors and non-donors. By no means!

But if your only interest in a person is what they can do for you…you’re sunk before you even start.

Have you ever been on the receiving end of such a request? Doesn’t it make your skin crawl?

Back in college, I was one of the students with a car. I still remember the “you’ve got a car and we want to go somewhere” look. One time in particular, two girls sought me out and asked, “Do you want to go to the movies?” Despite their big smiles and their sweet sounding voices, their eyes were clearly saying, “We could care less about you. We’re just interested in a ride to the movies.”

At first, I felt the extrovert’s high of loving to be with people. But that was almost instantly followed by the let down of “I’m just being used.”

Don’t use your donors. Get engaged with them.

It can be as simple as asking little questions about their family (if appropriate) or about their business. Just something to get to know the other person as a person.

They know your job is to raise money. And they’ll probably give. But do them the honor of treating them like people.

I gave the girls a ride. But I certainly didn’t stay for the movie.

We want our donors to stay with us. To get more involved with our organization.

This is especially important if we really are moving into an economic downturn. Donors that are engaged with us in a relationship will be more likely to stay with us through the tough times. They’re more likely to become our donor evangelists.

So please, be sure to always be interested in the donor as a person!

Just watched the latest episode of Oprah’s The Big Give. (And I’m commited to keeping this post far shorter than the last Big Give post!)

The final words of the judge Malaak Compton-Rock really get at what I mean when I teach seminar attendees and coaching clients they need to engage. If we’re not connecting with the people we’re serving–be it as a nonprofit or as a donor–we really don’t know what the right gift is.

It was chilling to hear the the mom Sheg was sent to help say the money could’ve gone so much further.

Ouch.

Rachael was guilty of not listening too. She insisted on “helping” the lady that didn’t need anything done. In reality, it was pretty clear Rachael was only helping herself.

It makes me wonder about the dozens of nonprofits that are being created on a daily basis. What if the founder decided to help work with an existing nonprofit instead? Or what if the ones struggling for existence are simply “solving” a need no one is feeling?

It’s humbling to know that, like Stephen found out, all people often need is to be heard and treated like equals.

[Click here to see all the blog posts in this Oprah’s The Big Give series.]

I’m not an “events” person but they do seem a necessary evil in our field.

And to be fair, they do have lots of other benefits: visibility, engaging volunteers, etc.

So when I saw that this month’s Giving Carnival topic was “Tips For Successful Fundraising Events,” I knew I had to chime in.

The best tip I ever got about events (other than don’t do them if at all possible!) was: give the event three years before deciding to continue it or not.

Fundraising events are time and labor intensive. And they take time to mature. Often by the third year, you and your team are in a groove.

So if you or your board is contemplating doing a fundraising event, be sure to ask yourself if the organization can commit to doing it for the next three years.

[Check out the other great ideas at the March Giving Carnival.]

I read an interesting post on the Chronicle of Philanthropy about the Google for Nonprofits portal.

Looks like things many of us are already using, or ought to be using, to promote our organizations. (Granted, it’s probably a bit odd to have a “Google Checkout” badge on the links for the Vineyard Church of Waterville AdWords ads! But folks in our church like to pay their tithes and offerings online!)

What intrigues me most about this offering, is a quote in the Chronicle article:

“Many of us have heard from our friends in the [charity] community that, while they knew our tools could be helpful to them, sometimes they weren’t sure exactly where to start,” [Bob Boorstin] says. He believes the portal will help answer such questions.

Check it out for yourself and tell me what you think:
Google for Nonprofits

The grants and gadget options are particularly intriguing! These may be innovative ways to engage your donors.

Another episode of Oprah’s Big Give.

I’ve watched all three episodes in three different ways:

1. via recording on my DVR
2. on TV like I did in the 1990’s
3. on abc.com!

Who knew TV shows could be so adaptable to technology?

This week’s program brought out two interesting themes: creative engagement of donors and the dangers of self-absorption. I’m going to assume you’ve seen the episode. If you haven’t, you can see the full show at Oprah’s Big Give.

Team Field of Dreams had no team work but an incredibly engaged volunteer: Andre Agassi. He was professional, entreprenurial, and a complete gentleman. And a darn good fundraiser. I’m not sure if he sensed the disorganization of the team or not, but he came in with ideas, connections, and a plan. And he got the job done.

I left this episode hoping to be like him when I grow up.

Team Forgotten Christmas had a great team. They worked really well together.

But they hardly engaged Tony Hawks. Granted, a skating crowd is probably a very different demographic and socio-economic background than a tennis crowd. But still, they didn’t seem to suggest ways he could help.

Here’s one of the longest running extreme sport celebrities. He’s got to have connections. It’s not really his job to think, “who do I know?” It’s the job of the fundraiser to ask things like:

• “Who do you know?”
• “What connections might you have to make this an amazing project?”
• “How might the people you know be able to make this blessing last beyond a one day event?”

But noone in the team seemed interested in finding out.

Perhaps both results stemmed from the same problem: self-absorption.

Both teams seemed so consumed with trying to do an amazing deed to be able to stay in this challenge that they neglected to get to know the schools or the celebrities.

The way the show was edited, neither team came up with the idea of getting a tour of the schools they were helping. They seem to quickly figure out the problems and then hastily start “fixing” them.

But you can’t really do that without spending some time getting to know the people you’re working with and for.

Agassi apparently knew this. When he came, he got a tour. And in getting a tour of the school, he found out that the kids needed more than just a playground, they needed new computers and other equipment. Engaging the school helped him get a better understanding of how he could help.

As fundraisers, we must be interested in other people: donor prospects and the people we’re helping. The people we’re helping can’t simply be “a cause” or “a group we’re helping.” They’re individuals with stories that deserve to be heard.

And donors and donor prospects, even celebrity donors, don’t know us well enough to know exactly how they can help. That’s why fundraisers need to get out from behind our desks. We need to walk around and see the mission that our organizations are accomplishing. And we need to engage our donors so that we get to know them.

The Christmas Team did great things for so many kids. But I wonder what “money” they left on the table because they didn’t explore with Tony.

Would I have done any better? I have no idea.

Some may argue that they did the best they could given the time constraints. But all of our nonprofits work daily under the type of time pressure these Big Give teams work under. We have an extremely limited time to get our mission funded. And it’s often “do or die.”

So let’s not get distracted by that pressure. Let’s remember to see individuals as people that can help in special and unique ways.

Who can you get to know better today? Perhaps they have talents, relationships, or passions that are a perfect match for your group!

This is the third blog post in a series related to Oprah’s Big Give.

Catching up on my blogs today, I came across an interesting rant from Hildy on Direct Mail Fundraising is Junk Mail.

Here’s a taste:

Have our organizations ever spent as much time trying to engage the people who come through our doors as we spend trying to “acquire new donors”? Have we spent time to ask those who already know us - ask for their wisdom, their advice about the work we are doing? How often do we ask the people who are already our clients, our patrons, our program participants - if they would like to help make our mission stronger?

Give it a read. Even if you don’t agree with everything she says, you’ll benefit from her perspective.

It’s challenging me to re-think the time I allocate to direct mail versus true face-to-face involvement with the friends of the hospital. It takes lots of time to meet one-on-one, but so does this blasted direct mail. Writing, proofing, editing, creating a package, going over the list, again, and again. Yuck.

As she says:

I am often told, “But engaging the community like that would take time. We can’t afford to do that!” Translated: We can’t afford to do what works. So instead we will do something far less effective - with the added bonus that most people hate it!

Thanks Hildy! (And I suspect the friends of this hospital will thank you too!)

Anyone that’s read my $100,000 Guide to E-mail Solicitation knows that I’m a big proponent of simple, effective emails.

Chris Brogan has an incredibly helpful post on Writing More Effective Email. Read it and benefit.

I love the simple concept of using the subject to clearly state what the emails are about. Wouldn’t that one step alone make life easier?

I’m having quite a week!

Tuesday, I was invited to train the super-elite fundraisers for Habitat for Humanity International in Atlanta. I’ve been a fan of Habitat for years. And what a terrific group of development people they have!

Now I’m at the Consortium for Endowed Episcopal Parishes annual conference speaking on fundraising to people employed by their parish as stewardship directors. What a cool job!!! These folks are right in the thick of engaging Christians with the place of their resources in their spiritual journey.

It’s an incredible privilege to be speaking to such terrific people. These people are expanding the Kingdom in some pretty creative ways!

One of the neatest things is that both groups are actively transforming their understanding of what it means to “engage” the people that invest in their causes. And both are seeing it in a much more comprehensive way than just finances.

What an inspiring week!

[This post was cross-posted at marcpitman.com.]