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Who truly has the silver bullet you need?
Charlatans?
Have you ever wondered if the speaker at the conference scolding you for not “asking” enough has ever asked at all?
Have you ever noticed that the blogger chastising you about the lack of donor-centricity on your website has an even more confusing website than you?
Have you ever discovered that the person telling your supporters to give until it hurts has never given at all?
Charlatans?
Who should you listen to? Who has the answers? Who truly has the silver bullet you need?
Be prudent, engagement fundraisers. Be prudent.
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Feeling like your job is getting harder because donor expectations have changed and competition for the charitable dollar is growing?
Finding that the old orthodoxies and conventions espoused by so-called experts in online echo-chambers and at conferences don’t work anymore?
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Then this book is for you.
Engagement Fundraising was developed from the perspective of a donor who discovered firsthand that the impersonal, spray-and-pray approaches of his beloved charity were not only offensive but also wasteful and ineffective. So he took action. And now, you can too.
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Interesting commandments, but I think you missed something. Yes, we all need to be looking for mid-level to major donors, but we cannot ignore our existing small donors. Recently, I was forwarded a call from a donor who wanted to make a small memorial donation. Her record showed that her cumulative giving over 15 years was less than $1000. Each of her gifts was a memorial or honor gift. She wanted to talk since she and her husband were in their car traveling to their summer home in Montana. They also have a home in California and a winter home in the desert. They don’t have pets because they travel internationally too much. And, oh by the way, when they update their trust, they want to include our organization. She loves our mission, loves our e-news and our newsletter. That call took less than 15 minutes but I learned a lot. Many of our largest bequests come from our smallest donors.
Thanks so much Dave. I agree, many of the small donors can and will become legacy society members.
But here’s where the 10 commandments would help you:
If you employed our donor survey platform and asked your donors to take they survey, the loyal ones like the person you described are very likely to do so. Then you would have had all the information you needed to be able to cultivate the relationship BEFORE they called you (as they did).
I’m glad they called you but there are so many that won’t. Getting them into the funnel (so to speak) by inviting them to take the survey, helps you get ahead of the game so you can be proactive instead of reactive.
I hope that makes sense. If not you might want to do a demo. There’s never any pressure. It’s purely educational. Plus, we’ve had amazing results with organizations like yours generating highly qualified leads for legacy gifts from among low-dollar and even infrequent donors (or non-donors).