This book is packed with useful ideas, detailed strategies, and helpful tips from experienced professionals. The authors discuss crafting your message, defining your “product,” using traditional media, using new media like blogging…they even cover how to effectively use social media tools like Twitter and Facebook.

I’m thrilled that the authors also include great fundraising strategies in their coverage of marketing.

Guerrilla Marketing for Nonprofits clearly outlines ways to market your nonprofit and conduct effective fundraising initiatives. Best of all, you’ll be able to to easily implement them with relatively little cost.

Here are the chapters in the book:

1. What Nonprofits Need is Better Marketing
2. Getting to Know Nonprofit Guerrilla Marketing
3. The Guerrilla Marketer’s Personality
4. How to Turn Your Mission Statement into a Marketing Tool
5. Guerrillas Focus on People
6. Guerrillas Understand Their Marketplace
7. Mini-, Maxi-, and E-Media Weapons
8. Info-, Human-, and Non-Media Weapons
9. Attributes and Attitudes of Your Organization
10. Guerrilla Publicity
11. Guerrilla Marketing on the Web
12. Guerrilla Social Media
13. Niche Marketing Guerrilla Style
14. Meeting Needs While Changing Minds
15. Expressing Your Organization’s Unique Identity
16. Cultivating Winning Relationships for Your Nonprofit
17. Seven Golden Rules for Fundraising Success
18. Seven Platinum Rules for Recruiting Volunteers
19. Guerrilla Marketing Behavior Change
20. Launching and Maintaining Your Marketing Attack

The parts of the last chapter are indicative of the whole book:

• Write a Marketing Plan in Just Seven Sentences
• The 17 Secrets to Maintaining Your Marketing Attack
• How to Spy on Yourself and Improve Your Marketing

And that’s just one of the chapters! The subtitle of this book is “250 tactics to promote, recruit, motivate, and raise more money”. And I believe them.

Read it yourself or buy a copy to give to your favorite cause.

I know it’s a book I’ll keep returning to!

(c) The Fundraising Coach, LLC

Get 100 donors in the next 12 weeks? Learn how: 100 Donors in 90 Days!

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3. Get R.E.A.L. Review

Working on a session for the APRA conference in Boston, I’m relearning how fun objections can be.

Seriously, if there were no objections, we wouldn’t be needed. It would be so clearly self-evident that people would simply fund our cause. While that may seem like a state of bliss, if your primary job is fundraising, it could mean unemployment!

Here are Zig Ziglar’s five reasons to like objections:

Objections show interest

Many sales trainers refer to objections as the beginning of the sales process. So to in fundraising. Objections show the donor is interacting with what you say. Objections become much easier to take if you see them as the donor-to-be asking you to help him figure out how to make the gift. If he says, “But my kids are in college…” you could tuck your tail and run. Or you could offer him ways to make the gift that would fit his need to also pay tuition.

No objections and you’d be out of a job!

Enough said. Especially in this economy!

Objections are better than questions

Questions can be very distant and theoretical. A donor can ask a question without it being a personal question. But not so with objections. Objections are, by their very nature, personal. Therefore, objections show the donor is interacting with your ask on a personal level, not a merely theoretical one.

You don’t have to answer them all

This is the biggest “wow” of them all for me! I always thought I needed to cram every possible answer into my head so I wouldn’t get caught off guard by an objection I couldn’t answer. But you don’t have to. Sometimes, the very best thing you can do is ask, “If that were never solved, would that keep you from making a gift?” If no, they’ve indicated they’ll make a gift. If yes, then you’ll be getting closer to the real objections. (Most of us start off with surface objections and eventually get to the core thing holding us back.)

They’re consistent—usually only 5-7

Isn’t this cool?! Last month, I proved this to a team of major gifts officers for a university in the Southwest. I had them write out as many objections as they could think of, one per post-it note. When they stuck the post-its on the wall, we started grouping them according to themes.

It was so cool seeing how more than 70 objections so easily clumped together. Once we had them grouped, we started coming up with ways to overcome the common objections. This was an exceptional group of major gift fundraisers so they amassed a few more than 7. But the 10 or 12 we came up with were far more manageable than the 70 or so we’d started with.

Once you know the common objections, you can even work answers into your cultivation materials and the stories you highlight. It’s kind of fun!

I’m not sure this totally convinces you to love objections. But hopefully this will go a long way toward neutralizing the fear they can evoke.

The next time objections show up, instead of freezing, hopefully you’ll be able to say, “Well hello, we’ve been expecting you.”

Your turn: What objections do you regularly hear?
Use the comments to reply.

(c) The Fundraising Coach, LLC

Get 100 donors in the next 12 weeks? Learn how: 100 Donors in 90 Days!

Other Possibly Related posts:

1. Fundraising Secret #2: Brainstorm Objections
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That seems to get the message across more bluntly.

I’m amazed at how poorly we treat business owners. Especially sole-proprietors. We approach them in ways we wouldn’t dream of approaching our other donors. With entitlement, bordering on a lack of civility.

A few years back, I had two interactions with business owners in the same city. Both were bitterly upset with the presumption shown by the nonprofits that approached them for support. Sheer impudence.

In their minds, the nonprofits seemed to think they had a moral right to the money they imagined these business men had. These men owed it. That was the way both were approached by many local nonprofits. Not on the merits of the cause. But some misguided Robin Hood myth. As though working for a nonprofit was morally “better” than merely running a “for profit.”

Unthinkable.

Business owners have often risked more than most of us would ever imagine. They go without so their employees can eat. They are on the hook for everything. They’re not paid until the bills are. We need men and women like this in all of our communities.

From our perspective, they may seem well off. But much of their assets are tied up in “things”—retail establishments, equipment, loans. They may be asset rich, but are often “cash poor.”
That’s why many prefer to give gifts-in-kind. They often simply don’t have the cash on hand.

So read some books on entrepreneurship. Get to know business owners. Ask them what it’s like to be an employer.

And do ask them for money for your cause. But please don’t be belligerent.

Our communities need both for-profit businesses and nonprofit ones.

(c) The Fundraising Coach, LLC

Get 100 donors in the next 12 weeks? Learn how: 100 Donors in 90 Days!

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2. Fundraising Tips for Twestival Local 2011 Organizers
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Asking will always be #1. The rest of these fundraising secrets are in no particular order.

That being said, the second secret is: brainstorm objections up front.

Nine times out of ten, when you ask for money the prospect won’t say “yes” or “no.” They’ll give you an objection. In another secret we’ll look at why objections are great. (They really are!)

The comforting news is that objections tend to cluster around 4 or 5 common themes. So, instead of being surprised by them, why not identify them before you ask?

Give this easy “objection exercise” a try. It could be a blast.

1. Get your team together (volunteers or staff) and have them write objections down on post-it notes. Go until there are no more objections. Get out as many as you can. Have fun with this and be sure to laugh!
2. Then put the post-its on a wall and have someone start clustering them into common themes. Chances are, you’ll see only a few common groups forming.
3. Now strategize on ways to answer these objections or respond to them. Don’t become cavalier and abrasive. Use these objections to move yourself to the prospect’s side of the table. Help them solve the “problem” keeping them from saying “yes.”

Once you’ve done this, you’ll feel much more comfortable when you get one in real life!

Better yet, since you’re mind won’t be racing with fear of what the prospect might say, you’ll find you’re able to actually focus on the her more. She’ll sense that. And appreciate it.

Let me know how the “objections exercise” goes with your team!!

(c) The Fundraising Coach, LLC

Get 100 donors in the next 12 weeks? Learn how: 100 Donors in 90 Days!

Other Possibly Related posts:

1. Fundraising Secret #39: Learn to love objections
2. 5 Reasons to Like Objections
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Last week, I read a blog post that took this to a new level. The bloggers at BlogBaud.com recommended checking out MercyShips.org. This link brings you to there “Success Stories.” The first page is pictures of happy people with their name. If you click on their picture, you are brought to a page with before and after pictures. There’s Ali before and after the successful cleft lip surgery. There’s four-year-old Ami before and after a successful eye surgery. And check out Abu. This guy had a tumor the size of a grapefruit in his face before it was successfully removed. And there are dozens more pictures in this area.

With the smiling “after” pictures, Mercy Ships doesn’t even need testimonials. The pictures speak for themselves.

My favorite part? “Success Stories” is very easy to find on their home page. One of the tabs at the top. Genius! Why bury these compelling images?

You know you’re changing the lives of the people you work with. But are you telling the story?

And are you telling it with pictures?

Give it a try. It’ll make the people proud to be supporting you. And it will be an easy answer to a donor’s possible “how do I know you’re still successful at what you do” question.

(c) The Fundraising Coach, LLC

Get 100 donors in the next 12 weeks? Learn how: 100 Donors in 90 Days!

No related posts.

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!

(c) The Fundraising Coach, LLC

Get 100 donors in the next 12 weeks? Learn how: 100 Donors in 90 Days!

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The Rainmaker always turns a customer objection into a mutual–customer/Rainmaker–objective.

Let’s say a donor says, “Gee, I’d love to make a $25,000 gift to the campaign but both my kids are in college right now.” A rainmaking fundraiser would restate that as, “So our objective is to schedule pledge payments that are smaller for you while your kids are in college, correct?”

Powerful, isn’t it? The tone is no longer adversarial, it’s now positive. Plus, the fundraiser can find out more information about the donor and how to best serve her. And, perhaps most importantly, you’re getting the donors agreement. Fox says “Rainmakers believe that objections are the way customers mask pleas for help and information.”

As I said in 5 Reasons to Love Objections (http://fundraisingcoach.com/blog/2006/05/16/5-reasons-to-like-objections/), objections show interest. So seek out objections. And see how they can become mutual objectives.

(c) The Fundraising Coach, LLC

Get 100 donors in the next 12 weeks? Learn how: 100 Donors in 90 Days!

Other Possibly Related posts:

1. 5 Reasons to Like Objections
2. Get REAL: Dealing with Objections
3. Fundraising Secret #39: Learn to love objections

Those of you who’ve been subscribed for any length of time know that I err on the side of raising serious money by asking for major gifts. (I tend to define that as gifts of at least $1000 a year.)

Think of the brainstorming exercise I talked about a couple of posts ago.

• You and your team (paid or volunteer) make a game out of trying to find every single reason people won’t give to your cause.
• Then you narrow it down to that most common 5 or 6.
• Finally, you develop stories that you can use to answer these objections before you even ask the person for money.

Can you see how this could help you in the mundane things as direct mail or (heaven forbid!) phonathons? If you know the most common objections, you can develop copy and scripts that attempt to answer them.

Then you can have fun tweaking the copy and scripts. Each story won’t have equal success. Some will be totally ineffective. So keep monitoring their effectiveness. Dump the ones that don’t work and keep the ones that do.

(c) The Fundraising Coach, LLC

Get 100 donors in the next 12 weeks? Learn how: 100 Donors in 90 Days!

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By now you know that I believe objections are a great sign. It’s a prospect’s way of fogging a mirror. By pushing back a bit, they’re showing that they’re alive. Making objections is a normal part of being a human.

Sales and motivational guru Zig Ziglar says that there are four times to deal with objections:

1. before they happen 
2. as they happen
3. after they happen
4. never

The good news is we can do something about the first three. The bad news is that if we don’t deal with them in the first three times, we can’t do anything about the fourth.

So use the brainstorm talked about in the last issue of EFE and see if you can create compelling answers to the 5 or 6 common objections your team comes up with. Then strategize with how to use these answers during each step of the process.

If we never deal with objections, we never deal with them. (Sounds like something Yogi Berra would say, doesn’t it? *grin*)

Here’s an encouraging note. Even if you deftly deal with every objection, four out of five times the prospect will likely say “no.”

Most good fundraising gift charts recommend having 4 or 5 prospects for each gift. If you’re looking for one person to give $100,000, you’ll need four or five prospects capable of that. If you’re looking for 20 people to give $1000, you’ll need 80-100 people capable of giving that size gift.

So don’t get discouraged if you’re not seeing the gifts come in. A “no” can be a sign that you’re one step closer to finding the prospect that is going to give!

And remember, if you’re not getting any objections, you’re not asking for enough money.

(c) The Fundraising Coach, LLC

Get 100 donors in the next 12 weeks? Learn how: 100 Donors in 90 Days!

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2. Get REAL: Dealing with Objections
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But they don’t, do they?

Often, they come up with a reason they can’t possibly give at the level you’ve requested.

Despite how it feels, objections are actually a very good sign. While a “yes” would be terrific, an objection is at least not a no. (You may need to read that sentence a few times!)

In my 3-hour seminar “Asking for Money 2: How to Handle Objections,” I offer five reasons to like objections:

1. Objections show interest. An objection is often a way for the prospect to say “Tell me more.” 
2. If there were no objections, you’d be out of a job! People would just be giving oodles of money to your cause and you’d be irrelevant!
3. Objections are better than questions. Both are calls for more information but questions can be merely polite–unattached and disinterested. Objections show some level of personal interest and connection with your soliciation.
4. You don’t have to answer them all! Let me repeat that: YOU DON’T HAVE TO ANSWER THEM ALL! You’re a fundraiser, not an objection answering service. I recently had the wonderful experience of asking a prospect, “Is [the issue you just brought up] something that would keep you from making a gift?” It turns out the issue he was bringing up wasn’t really important to his decision making. So we didn’t have to deal with that particular objection at all!
5. In most cases, objections are similar. Sales guru Zig Ziglar says most solicitations are met with 5 or 6 common objections. Figure out these common objections and you’re more than half way to answering them.

Why not get your staff together and brainstorm a huge list of objections? Maybe this could be done in a party like atmosphere or at the local pub. Make this fun. Pretend you’ve just been asked to give to your cause and rattle off all the reasons you couldn’t do that.

Then look at the huge list, and narrow it down to five or six most common objections.

• “My kids are in college.”
• “My businesses isn’t doing that well this year.”
• “There are 17,000 other campaigns in our town.” Etc.

Once you have this list, you’re in power.

See what you can do to restructure your presentation. Perhaps you can incorporate stories of how others that are supporting the cause have overcome one of those objections.

If you know the person has kids in college, you may make an off-hand but strategic comment like: “You know, last week Joe said that this was so important for our community that he’s making a leadership gift even though he’s got 32 kids in college right now.”

You may still get that objection but at least you’ve gone a long way to answering it before it even comes up.

I doubt I’ll convince you to look forward to objections. But hopefully these will help take the sting (or surprise) out of them when they come.

Remember, if you’re not getting any objections, you’re not asking for enough money!

(c) The Fundraising Coach, LLC

Get 100 donors in the next 12 weeks? Learn how: 100 Donors in 90 Days!

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