Managing Nonprofits

Bob Cryer

Most nonprofits would really like to have more major donors to enable their nonprofit to do more of their good work in our community. But many just don’t seem to know how to go about doing that, or perhaps, don’t have the passion to execute what they think is a very scary or elusive process.

Most other forms of fundraising, like grant writing, direct mail, Email, website donations and special events do not depend on a close relationship with the donor. But getting a major gift typically results from developing a personal relationship with the donor. For most of us it is not intuitively obvious how to go about doing that in a sincere and respectful way.

Laura Fredericks has written a book “The Ask” that defines a fairly simple process for developing donors or getting new board members. It made intuitive sense to me. Here are the steps:

1. Education: Send someone you know, or someone who has some connection with your nonprofit, information about your nonprofit and what it would like to be doing in the community if it had more funding. Do it repeatedly in different media.
2. Involvement: Invite the person to an event, to witness some of the activities of the nonprofit, or to attend a committee or board meeting that might be of interest to them.
3. Cultivation: Start developing a personal relationship through Emails, phone calls, luncheons, etc. to learn about their and your families, hobbies, work and other interests
4. Inclination: Give information of how other donors are involved with your nonprofit and what they get out of it in terms of personal satisfaction and recognition. Find out what kind of things appeal to them and what they might be will to consider doing for your nonprofit.
5. Assets: Have conversations that indicate whether this donor is in a comfortable financial situation with a significant amount of discretionary funding, and approximately how much of that goes to nonprofit charities of what kind. You might share some of your philanthropic passions and funding to make it easier for the donor to reciprocate.

When you have completed this process, you have the information to plan and make “the ask” with the confidence that the donor has the involvement, inclination and assets to give you a positive response. You can also use this process to recruit board members (where the assets are their time).

Laura’s book “gives great examples of how to make each Ask a positive experience for the asker….and for the person being asked.”

 Author:  Bob Cryer, Executive Coaches of Orange County, www.ECofOC.org

Bob Cryer

A while ago, the Daily Pilot published an article about a nonprofit that really moved me. I went to the nonprofit’s website to learn more. They had a number of giving levels. I donated at the highest sponsorship level and was prepared to invest ten times that amount if the nonprofit wanted me to do more. The nonprofit’s only response was to send me a letter that was a combo IRS receipt and thank you. Very efficient, but pretty stupid because I concluded that giving more to this nonprofit would probably not be very satisfying.

In business, if a sales person got a significant, unsolicited order from a new customer, they would immediately call the customer to thank them, to learn more about who they were, and to find out what else they might do to be of more service to that client. If they did not at least do that, most employers would fire that sales person for incompetence or indolence.

Most nonprofits talk like they really need new donations, but most don’t seem “walk-the-talk” nearly as well as a for-profit sales person. Many nonprofits just send new donors their thank you + IRS receipt form letter.

Here is what you should do. First, decide what a “significant new donation” is for your nonprofit. It might be any new donation that is twice as large as the average new donation (or 3x or 4x). Every time you receive a “significant new donation”, promptly call to thank them, to find out what attracted them to your nonprofit, to assess whether they have any interest in learning more about any aspect of your nonprofit, and if so, how they would like you to follow up on their interest.

Why do that? Most new donors became aware of something that all of a sudden made them favorably disposed towards your nonprofit. Initial donations are frequently a trial, similarly to the way people make a trail visit to a restaurant, store or service provider that they heard was good. If they have a satisfying initial experience, they are more likely to become a highly valued regular customer. Similarly, it is not uncommon for a new nonprofit donor to annually contribute ten times as much when they have a satisfying relationship with your nonprofit, compared to what they will give in response to your mail, E-mail or website appeals.

Bottom Line: New donors are one of the most productive places to look for more donations. But you have to reach out to develop a relationship with them in order to realize that potential.