I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Sandy Rees and ask her about her new book Get Fully Funded. [affiliate link]

The Fundraising Coach: Why did you feel compelled to write “Get Fully Funded”?

Sandy Rees: Writing a book like this has been a professional goal of mine for a long time. When I became a coach/consultant, I found myself teaching the same system of fundraising over and over. It just made sense to write it all down and put it in a book so I could make it available to way more nonprofits than I can possibly get to one at a time.

FRC: What are some of the common fundraising mistakes the you see nonprofits making?

SR: One of the most common mistakes I see is nonprofit leaders thinking small. They don’t see their organization as being able to attract lots of donors or “heavy hitters.” They look at other nonprofits with envy and think “we could never raise money like they do.” They see themselves as competing with other nonprofits. It’s all poverty mentality. The truth is that if nonprofits built good relationships with donors and encouraged them to give just a tiny bit more, there would be MORE than enough money. The concept of fully funding your mission isn’t a dream. It’s do-able. I’ve done it and I’ve coached many organizations to do it. In fact, there’s a testimonial on my website from one client that consistently has a cash surplus in the bank.

FRC: You talk about 7 simple steps in your book. Could you share those steps with us?

SR: You bet! The Get Fully Funded system is a step-by-step process for creating long-term financial stability through donor-based fundraising. Simply put, it’s a blueprint to building the fundraising program of your dreams.

I’ve boiled it down to 7 simple steps that you can easy implement.

• Step 1: Make fundraising a priority. You must get infrastructure in place in your office, and put the systems together that will support you when you are fundraising. Otherwise, your fundraising program will collapse as soon as it starts. You also must get your mind focused on what’s possible and let go any beliefs that zap your energy.
• Step 2: Understand why people give. Before you try to raise money, it’s helpful to uncover a donor’s motivations for giving. You must understand all the reasons why someone might make a gift to your organization so that you can appeal to them specifically.
• Step 3: Identify the best donor prospect. You can save a lot of time and resources by focusing your efforts on the right people. When you get clear about your ideal donor and how to find more just like them, attracting donors becomes easy.
• Step 4: Tell your story. When it’s time to talk to donors and prospects, it’s best to have a clear, focused message to share. You need carefully-selected key messages and a compelling, hooky elevator speech. You also need to be able to share a heart-warming story about a person or a family your nonprofit has helped.
• Step 5: Plan how and when will you ask for a gift. This is the nitty-gritty! You need a written, comprehensive fundraising plan for your nonprofit, complete with all the strategies and techniques that will be most effective for the target audiences you are after.
• Step 6: Acknowledge the gift and build relationships. Thanking and stewarding a donor is not only polite, but it builds relationship and trust with the donor. It starts with a great Thank-You letter and ends with a grateful donor who becomes an ambassador for you in the community.
• Step 7: Evaluate success. Measuring your success will help you know which fundraising activities to continue and which ones to dump. Consistent evaluation will help you not only stay on target and focused, but keep you moving forward.

FRC: I like that you use the term “long-term.” So many people seem panicked for short-term fundraising results. How do you respond to people like that?

SR: In order to achieve sustainability for next year and the year after and so on, we’ve got to think long-term. Nonprofits have got to stop living “paycheck to paycheck” or “bake sale to carwash” or whatever they’re doing. The principles in my book will help put things in place that make fundraising work every year, like a well-oiled machine. Now, I know that some folks are backed into a corner and really must raise money right away. For them, they have to figure out what they can do that will get them the most results in the shortest amount of time with the greatest long-term impact and the least investment. Then they have to do whatever it takes to make it happen and raise the money they need to get out of their current crisis. They’ve got to give up all the excuses they’ve been using for lackluster fundraising, and just do whatever it takes to raise money. It’s a real shift in attitude.

FRC: What is the one most helpful thing nonprofits can do to position themselves to getting fully funded?

SR: Make fundraising a priority. In fact, it’s the first step in the system and the first chapter in the book. If people don’t make fundraising a priority, they aren’t going to get the results they want. Simple as that. Making fundraising a priority involves time management and priority management, but also attitude management. It involves shifting your perspective and looking at the countless opportunities that are out there for your nonprofit, instead of focusing on the lack.

I believe so strongly in this, that I’ve offered the first chapter in the book as a free download on my website! www.getfullyfunded.com/get-fully-funded-books.

(c) The Fundraising Coach, LLC

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

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Cause Marketing for Dummies addresses both and has changed my perspective.

For starters, Waters and MacDonald state that cause marketing isn’t philanthropy. It’s marketing. Cause marketing was never meant to replace a fundraising program, only augment it. In fact, they state that cause marketing will generally only boost revenue by 5-15%. (But I’m sure we’d all be glad for such a boost!)

What’s refreshing about Cause Marketing for Dummies is the level of detail. The authors thoroughly explain

• different types of cause marketing,
• show examples of forms and signs
• how to focus your marketing message for maximum impact,
• a detailed approach to finding partners,
• how to make persuasive pitches both to your leadership and to your partners, and
• how to learn from other campaigns successes and mistakes.

Small cause and small business focus

What’s really great, is that the book was written with small nonprofits and small businesses in mind. This is great news for development directors. With this book, they don’t need to spend another year trying to figure out how to get a deal with a national chain like Wal-Mart’s with the Children’s Miracle Network. Instead, they can start a far more productive conversation with the business owners in their community. Can you imagine how easy it would be to contact current donors, board members, or community leaders to explore ways you can help increase their sales while benefitting your cause?

Cause Marketing For Dummies walks you through setting up and executing an entire campaign–whether a traditional “pin up” that’s sold at the cash register or a more sophisticated approach using an social media like Twitter and Facebook or tools like FourSquare. The authors even say that not being a cancer related cause might be a benefit since there is a sense of “pink fatigue” among consumers!

Should you buy the book?

If you work in or with a cause that’s looking to boost revenue, this book is a great investment. And if you own a business looking to partner with a cause, there are even special notes throughout the book geared to you. (Studies show that cause marketing could increase sales.)

Anyone who’s been in development for a few years will agree with the authors’ assertion that corporate philanthropy is going away. Fewer companies simply cut checks. Those that do, while giving less, are increasingly measuring the results of their donations. Now is a great time to explore creating a cause marketing initiative. Cause marketing could serve as a sort of “funding bridge” to walk over before the corporate donations dry up.

(c) The Fundraising Coach, LLC

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

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What a great book!

Share or Solve; Don’t Shill

My favorite chapter is called “Share or Solve; Don’t Shill.” Ann Handley & CC Chapman talk about the importance of engaging with prospects and your community rather than always doing the hard sell. We nonprofit folks need to practice this. Rather than always going for the ask, we need to relearn how to be helpful to donors as well as our “regular” clients.

I especially liked the section “What do I talk about when there’s nothing to say?” They give twenty-five different things you can write about that will engage your prospects and increase your reach. Things like “Go behind the scenes” and “Dig into the archives.”

My favorite suggestion was “reach into your community.” I always try to help my clients highlight the stories of donors. But I hadn’t thought of looking at who is most actively engaged with your content and highlighting them.

If people are regularly commenting on your blog or retweeting your information, Handley and Chapman recommend writing a post about those people. Not only are you celebrating your fans, you’re also helping inspire more engagement within your community. Brilliant!

That’s just one of the twenty-five. And all twenty-five are fleshed out in as much detail, ready for you to use!

Content is a whole

I love how they see content as part of a whole. They give sound advice on finding your voice, how to create content that attracts sales (donations) without being sale-sy, and how to repurpose (er reimagine) content you already have. Much of your existing content can be used in many different formats, helping more people and helping your cause.

And that’s just the first section. Then they go through a “how to” section giving pointers on how to do:

• blogs
• webinars
• ebooks and white papers (and what’s the difference)
• customer success stories
• videos
• podcasting
• photos
• and even how to make your FAQs work for you

I’ve been blogging for over 10 years and teach internet marketing at the college level, but I was writing notes in the margins and rewriting pages on my website as I read!

Content Rules: How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos, Ebooks, Webinars (and More) That Engage Customers and Ignite Your Business is a great book for nonprofits. The tools and pointers in this book will help you reach more donors and prospects in ways that will cause them to seek you out.

For another perspective on how Content Rules can help nonprofits, check out:

• Beth Kanter’s post “Book: A Great How-To On Creating Social Content” and
• Nancy Schwartz’s article “4 Steps to Compelling Content”.

(c) The Fundraising Coach, LLC

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

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Kivi knows her stuff.

One thing I love about her book is that she incorporates theory and praxis in a non-intimidating way. For example, she helps you figure out who you’re talking to. But she doesn’t stop demographics. She goes further, identifying things like where your audience might be in the decision making process and what they might value. Then, once you get the theory, she articulates how you could communicate a volunteering message to four people at different ages with four very different values. She puts it in practice.

And she does this throughout the book.

Whether you’re looking at mailings, printed communications, improving SEO, word-of-mouth, or social media, Kivi’s got suggestions for you and your nonprofit. The book has lots of helpful checklists, stories from the real world, and additional information on a companion website.

Worried about how much time a communications program, complete with social media, will take? Kivi gives you ways to plan out your time and get realistic about what you can do with the amount of time you can commit.

Want to get get yourself or your nonprofit positioned as an expert? Kivi gives you practical steps to take in working with reporters.

Wondering what should go into a style guide or press kit? Kivi tells you what you should include and why.

If you’re involved with a nonprofit, you are a nonprofit marketer. You need to do yourself a favor and get a copy of The Nonprofit Marketing Guide. And while you’re waiting for the book to arrive, check out Kivi’s Nonprofit Communications Blog.

(c) The Fundraising Coach, LLC

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

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Here are a sampling of what people are saying about the book two years later:

• David Svet says:

  This is one of my favorite books because it provides a brilliant alternative view of the nonprofit sector, describing it as a community benefit sector and it also includes a thorough explanation of how to make it work for your organization.

• Christine Egger:
  

  …if you suspect that our capacity to affect positive change is determined as much by the assumptions we carry with us as any other factor — and would value an example of how to describe that capacity to a sector dedicated to positive change — you’ll want to take a closer look at this book…

• Pat Simpson:
  

  Hildy Gottlieb’s Pollyanna Principles is one great resource for nonprofits!

• Amy Sample Ward, quoting her book review from two years ago, says:
  

  We have a huge opportunity before us to remodel our social benefit organization structure. There is so much talk both online and offline, from inside organizations and from outside, that “nonprofits are broken.” We’ve done step 1: admitted that we have a problem. Now, what? Well, as Hildy explains, we need to start driving our work with our vision of how we want the world to be, instead of what the problems are before us.

As you can see, this isn’t your typical “nonprofit” book. The Pollyanna Principles will challenge your thinking and inspire you to greatness. Really.

If you want to read the first section for yourself, you can get them at Creating the Future. They’re also offering the book for at a discount as a second anniversary celebration. This isn’t an affiliate link. I just think you should get the book!

(c) The Fundraising Coach, LLC

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

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Here are some of the books that have helped me over the years:

• Stephen Covey’s “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” [amazon affiliate link],
• Roger & Rebecca Merrill’s “First Things First” [amazon affiliate link],
• Maxwell Maltz’s Psycho-Cybernetics [amazon affiliate link],
• Glenn Bland’s Success! The Glenn Bland Method [amazon affiliate link],
• David Allen’s “Getting Things Done” [amazon affiliate link],
• Frank Bettger’s How I Raised Myself from Failure to Success in Selling [amazon affiliate link],
• and David Schwartz’s The Magic of Thinking Big [amazon affiliate link].

What books would you add to this list? Use the comments below to let us know!

(c) The Fundraising Coach, LLC

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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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This is a pretty amazing book. But we’ve come to expect that from Hildy!

In The Pollyanna Principles, Hildy moves beyond simply telling how to run a nonprofit. She questions the very assumptions that undergird our current economic reality.

And she challenges us to create a better world.

I’m only in the early part of Part II, in the middle of her description of the Pollyanna Principles. So far, the biggest problem with this book is: do I read it quickly or slowly? I want to take in her whole perspective so I want to read the book really fast but I want take the time to underline everything and savor the writing!

If you’re looking for a run-of-the-mill book on direct mail or major giving, this isn’t it. If you’re looking for a book about how you can use your organization to be the change in your community and the world, you need to get a copy of The Pollyanna Principles.

This book is so new, it’s not yet available at Amazon. But you can get it at: http://pollyannaprinciples.org/info/order/.

(c) The Fundraising Coach, LLC

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The authors underwent an incredibly thorough research project to try and ferret out the things that made nonprofits excellent. It sounds a lot like the research style of Jim Collins and Jerry Porras.

Their findings include six myths and six real factors. The six myths they found were:

• Myth #1: Perfect Management
• Myth #2: Brand-Name Awareness
• Myth #3: A Breakthrough New Idea
• Myth #4: Textbook Mission Statements
• Myth #5: High Ratings on Conventional Metrics
• Myth #6: Large Budgets

And the six practices of high-impact nonprofits are:

1. Serve and Advocate
2. Make Markets Work
3. Inspire Evangelists
4. Nurture Nonprofit Networks
5. Master the Art of Adaptation
6. Share Leadership

Did you see the #3 practice of high-impact nonprofits?! High-impact nonprofits inspire evangelists!

About this, the authors say:

High-impact nonprofits build strong communities of supporters who help them achieve their larger goals. They value volunteers, donors, and advisers not only for their time, money, and guidance, but also for their evangelism. To inspire supporters’ commitment, these nonprofits create emotional experiences that help connect supporters to the group’s mission and core values. These experiences convert outsiders to evangelists, who in turn recruit others in viral marketing at its finest. High-impact nonprofits then nurture and sustain these communities of supporters over time, recognizing that they are not just means, but ends in themselves…

Not all of the high-impact nonprofits we studied had an organizational model that makes involving supporters easy. Yet almost all of them found creative ways to convert core supporters to evangelists and to mobilize super-evangelists.

I’ve been teaching nonprofits to inspire evangelists since 2004 with the Creating Donor Evangelists report.

It’s great to see others agree!

Read the a report on the Stanford Social Innovation Review at http://www.ssireview.org/articles/entry/creating_high_impact_nonprofits/.

(c) The Fundraising Coach, LLC

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

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If you’ve determined that you can be best in the world and that you are truly in a dip, not a cul-de-sac and not panicking, then you simply get to push through the dip.

Being in the Dip isn’t comfortable. Unfortuntately, too much quitting is done by people in the Dip. Most people think “If it hurts, I’ll just stop.” The short-term benefit outweighs any consideration of long-term payoff. As Seth says:

Short-term pain has more impact on most people than long-term benefits do, whixh is why it’s so important for you to amplify the long-term benefits of not quitting.

If you really can be “best in the world” but aren’t yet seeing the results you want, don’t give up until you’ve pushed through. Remind your board what the benefits of a strong fundraising program are and why yours can be “best in the world.” Celebrate whatever successes you have. (That’s easy to do if you’ve incorporated the Creating Donor Evangelists strategies.)

And keep reminding yourself of the long-term benefits. Our culture is geared to “look for the best.” If you’re the best, it’s easier to raise money. You’ll no longer have to say “We’re just like XYZ organization but different…” You will be XYZ organization–the one they already know!

You may not be at that point yet, but you can be. You’ve got what it takes.

The problem is that only a tiny portion of the audience is looking for the brand-new thing. Most people are waiting for the tested, the authenticated, and the proven (p. 49).

That’s why it pays off to move through the Dip.

Don’t fall in love with a tactic and defend it forever. Instead, decide once and for all whether you’re in a market or not. And if you are, get through that Dip (p.51).

According to Godin, the opposite of quitting is “rededication.”

So for the rest of this summer, since you’ve committed to being the best in the world, next commit yourself to rededicating to doing what you’re doing. Fearlessly ask if you need to change tactics. Read books, go to seminars, hire a coach.

(Yeah, that last was a shameless plug. But since the ROI on coaching is 300% so the investment is incredibly smart. Coaching studies are available in the “articles” section of Fundraisingcoach.com. )

(c) The Fundraising Coach, LLC

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

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