The Extreme Fundraising Blog

Just read this in the daily update from the Chronicle of Philanthropy:

Large Bequest Surprises Diabetes Charity
An 86-year-old Annapolis woman who died in a house fire last March shocked a diabetes group by bequeathing it the largest donation in the organization’s history — $7.3-million, reports The Washington Post.

The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, which had known Helene Whitlock Alley primarily as a $100 donor, became the beneficiary of most of her estimated $8.5-million estate. The source of Mrs. Alley’s money remains unclear, although her deceased father was an accomplished businessman, and she owned Merck stock that she might have purchased before 1949, while she was a secretary with the company.

Mrs. Alley’s donation was motivated by her late brother’s battle with Type I diabetes. In her will, she described her brother’s struggle with the disease as “heart rending, frightening, and inspiring.” Mrs. Alley intended her donation “to further the research to help find a cure for diabetes that at no time requires a diabetic patient to take an organ-rejection agent” after a transplant of pancreatic cells.

(Free registration is required to view this article.)

Two take aways:

1. You need to treat all donors well. Whatever this group did, they certainly kept her feeling like she was part of their “family.”
2. You never know what other forces are compelling people to make gifts. This woman had a sibling struggle with diabetes.

   Let me rephrase that: If you don’t engage your donors, you’ll never know what forced are compelling them to make gifts.

Leona Helmsley’s will is causing quite a stir. In addition to leaving millions of dollars to her dog, the NYTimes says it contains nuggets like:

To receive money from the trusts, the grandsons are required under the will to visit the grave each year of their father, Jay Panzirer, Mrs. Helmsley’s only child, who died on March 31, 1982. “If DAVID or WALTER fails to visit the grave during any calendar year, her or his interest in the separate trust established for her or his benefit shall be terminated at the end of such calendar year,” with the principal treated as though the grandson “had then died,” the will states.

Not sure you want to encourage your donors to do this. But stories like this make it much easier to talk to your donors about leaving your nonprofit in their will.

Could a new planned giving approach be:

Hey, did you hear the one about Leona Helmsley?

There’s a great article about the philanthropy of Myra Kraft (owner of the New England Patriots) in the Boston Globe called Giving Large.

It’s long but read the whole thing. It’s a great insight into what motivates giving.

Here’s a sample:

Kraft treats board work like a job…She says she comes at the work with no agenda other than to ask tough questions; in the one instance in which she felt her questions were not welcome, she resigned from the University of Massachusetts board in 1998 after only four years. “I just raise my hand and ask questions – I think that’s what a person is supposed to do if a person sits on a board of trustees,” she says. “I speak my mind, not to be negative or confrontational, but if I disagree with something, I’ll ask it or state it, and they can throw me off the board. At this point, people know what they’re getting with me.”

This past Monday, I had the honor of speaking to the enthusiastic members of the Georgia Independent School Association.

They invited my in to speak on the three topics:

• importance of storytelling,
• how to ask for money, and
• how to handle objections.

In this edition of Extreme Fundraising, I wanted to make the handouts available to all the GISA participants and all EFE subscribers. (I’ve also included some extra freebies on the page!)

To see the links and handouts, go to:
http://fundraisingcoach.com/gisa.htm

Have fun with these tools!

Reading Andy Goodman’s “Why Bad Presentations Happen to Good Causes” reminded me of my post on the Scottish nonprofit Engage’s national ad campaign.

Goodman says most presenters start with the question “What do I want to say?” And starting here is fatal.

You may craft an incredible message but it will be totally ineffective and fall on deaf ears. People have enough going on already. They aren’t concerned with what you have to say.

Sorry if that’s hard.

But think of yourself. When you go to a seminar, do you want to hear what they speaker is saying? Or are you more interested in fixing a problem you have? It may seem a slight difference but the impact this can have on our story telling is incredible.

Goodman recommends that when you give a presentation, picture yourself taking the audience on a journey from where they ARE to where you want them to be. Taking them from point A to point B.

A is what they are thinking and feeling when the enter the room. B is what you want them to think, feel, and do when they leave.

The key is starting where THEY are, not where you are.

This takes discipline. For example, in fundraising, it’s far easier to start where you are. You’re committed to the cause and you know the financial need. It’s the center of your universe. If you simply tell your story from this mindset, you create ad campaigns that beat up on “them” for not being generous to your cause. Sort of like mugging a prospect, isn’t it?

When was the last time you gave money to a cause because you were beat up on by the development staff?

So when you tell your stories, present your case, make the ask, start where they are. If you’re not sure, ask them. Go to where they are. Get out of your office. Get on the phone. Engage in emails. Survey. Whatever it takes to find out where they are at.

One technique many of my seminar attendees find helpful is the Rule of Threes. An online copy is at http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/Pitman2.html.

I started pastoring VCW after a decade of fundraising. I love pastoring and teaching on financial stewardship but I’ve been intrigued with the donor stewardship issues.

We once got a $5000 check–HUGE for our small, central Maine congregation. As a fundraiser, my first instinct was to pick up the phone. As a pastor, I realized she didn’t give it to me or VCW, she gave it to God. I immediately became conflicted. My pastoring mindset wanted to not acknowledge it; my fundraising background was screaming I had to do something.

I ended up calling her Monday morning and said, “CONGRATULATIONS!”

There was a pause, then she said, “For what?” (with a grin in her voice).

“Well…,” I said, “I’m not sure. But from the size of the check in yesterday’s offering, I know SOMETHING good must’ve happened!”

She laughed and happily explained what had happened. It was a gift from a partial proceeds on sale of a house. She specifically noted “partial” cleverly commenting that she didn’t want to end up like Ananias and Sapphira!

 

In my decade or so of doing fundraising, I don’t ever remember having a community member tell me they really liked a fundraising letter I sent them.

This summer it happened! Someone at the gym I go to told me how much they enjoyed the letter they’d just received.

Could it be because I used stories?

Here’s the letter, you be the judge. (This letter went to our inhouse mailing list.)

June XX, 2006

Name
Astreet
City, ST ZIP

Dear Name,

I’ve recently had the opportunity to read Pauline Buxton’s personal collection of Inland Hospital’s history. Her scrapbooks include pictures, newspaper clippings, and personal notes.

Amid all the articles about Inland, the most striking impression was the community support that’s been so significant in our 63 years.

• Drs. Clare and Nora Brown saw a gap in healthcare in the community and moved 14 other physicians to give time and money to start what is now Inland. 
• Political leaders like Senators Margaret Chase Smith and Edmund Muskie helped secure necessary funding and equipment.
• Community members were so committed they gave everything from hand-knitted bandages and teddy bears to huge fundraising balls and capital campaigns on behalf of Inland and Lakewood.

Inland has returned that commitment by providing five-star patient care and service, 24 hours per day, 7 days a week, for more than six decades. Today Inland is leading the way with electronic medical records to ensure physicians have all the information they need to treat patients with the best care possible. In addition, beginning this month, Inland is offering the area’s first non-invasive, three-dimensional diagnosis for heart disease using our brand new 64-slice Cardiac CT Angiography service.

Inland has come a long way since 1943. But some things haven’t changed. We are still a not-for-profit community hospital committed to serving the people of Waterville and the surrounding communities…and we continue to rely on these communities for support.

Please consider making a gift today…it will make a difference in our community. Your donation may be designated to the program of your choice or given in honor of your favorite caregiver.

Thank you,

Marc A. Pitman
Director, Inland Foundation

A few weeks back, a reader asked me for examples of organizations that told their stories well.

I drew a blank. Do you know of any groups that you think are telling their story well? Let me know by making a comment to this blog post.

One group that is incredibly consistent in their story telling is The Boston Project Ministries. (In the interest of full diclosure, I was with them when they started 10 years ago and I am currently coaching their board chair. But I have nothing to do with their excellence in story telling!)

Check them out at: http://www.tbpm.org/

And leave your comments below!

A few weeks ago, I reported on a talk by Andy Goodman and the importance of story. (Click here to read that post.)

A few days ago, one of you posted this comment to that post:

I recently found your site. Thank you for sharing these tips! I have volunteered to write the newsletter and other literature for a small nonprofit humane association. After spending many years working in the legal field, most of my attempts at writing look like legal pleadings; a far cry from fundraising. But after reading your post about story telling, I put together a flyer telling the story of one of our dogs. And today we received a $200 donation as a result of the flyer. Thank you!

Stories can be very powerful!

During his talk, Andy Goodman stressed the importance of telling a story correctly.

Most of us in the nonprofit world tell boring stories with really long words and phrases like “disadvantaged youth.” Why is that? We have some of the most exciting stories to tell! When we tell them in the laborious way we usually do, we’re stealing the opportunity for people to “get” what we’re doing. Let’s not rob the world of these great stories anymore!

Good stories have a hero. According to Andy, this hero needs to be a person, not an organization. That hero needs to have a goal, some desirable end result. And the story is getting the hero through the barriers to finally achieving that goal. More compelling stories have more barriers.

Early in his career in writing for TV, a mentor told Andy the way to tell a story was:

• Act I: Get your hero up a tree
• Act II: Throw rocks at him
• Act III: Get him down

The more rocks you throw, the more invested the audience will become with the story.

This reminds me of the first time I watched The Princess Bride. I was so relieved when they were making it out of the Fire Swamp. They’d already overcome years of separation, the Cliffs of Insanity, a sword fight, a wrestling match, a game of wits, the fire spurts, the lightning sand, and the Rodents Of Unusual Size. But they emerged from the Fire Swamp only to be captured by Prince Humperdinck! Act II seemed to go on forever! They just kept throwing rocks at this poor couple.

That’s part of what makes it a great movie. (The book is even better!)

The next time you watch a TV show, see if it fits the Act I-Act II-Act III formula. (Andy says “24” is this on speed!)

And between now and the next issue of EFE, why not craft at least one compelling story about your organization and the people it serves. Try making it one of the core stories mentioned last time.

Go ahead, throw some stones!

A few months ago, I attended “Meet the Funders” conference hosted by the Maine Philanthropy Center. The highlight for me was the keynote address by Andy Goodman on storytelling. If you ever are able to hear him speak, I highly recommend it!

He persuasively explained the importance of storytelling. Studies have shown our retention of information is remarkably better if the facts are presented in story form. It’s practically something in our DNA as human beings. Evidently, some anthropologists have even defined us as the primates that tell stories!

Think about it from your own experience. If someone is unexpectedly late to a meeting with you, what’s your automatic reaction? 9 times out of 10, you start creating a story for why they’re late!

Nonprofits are notoriously bad at telling their story. And story telling is an extremely important part of fundraising! (If you don’t believe me, look back to this post.)

Andy wants to help change that so much that he gives his book Why Bad Presentations Happen to Good Causes away free to nonprofits. (Click here to see if you qualify for a free copy.)

One of things Andy highly recommended nonprofits do is identify their “core stories” and make sure every staff and board member knows them. Here are six areas he suggests for core stories:

1. The Nature of Our Challenge Story: this describes “what we’re up against” or “what’s gone wrong” 
2. The Creation Story: this tells “how we go started”
3. The Emblematic Success Story: is actually a collection of stories that tells of times you’ve “won” in ways that are uniquely you.
4. The Performance Stories: these are stories celebrating how your people go above and beyond the call of duty
5. The Striving to Improve Stories: stories about how you’ve tried something new and totally crashed-and-burned and what you’ve learned–these stories make risk taking safer
6. The Where We’re Going Story: what is it you’re creating; Kennedy’s “We will go to the moon and back within this decade” gave NASA a story–they seem to be struggling to find one for years now

Andy pointed out that if you don’t tell your stories, people will tell stories about you.

So how about you? Can you easily rattle of the stories specific to your organization? If not, why not?

After his talk, I walked up to him and asked him if the stories could be about an organization or if they should be about people. He said, “The hero has to be a person or people.”

As you’re collecting your organizations stories, don’t fall into the trap of making your organization the hero. Celebrate the people–the founders, the employees, the volunteers, the donors, the parents, the children–that took the initiative and created these stories!