Starting this week, we begin our mad dash to the end of the year helping organizations of all shapes and sizes – literally everywhere!
Today I head out to Virgina to keynote the Founder’s Forum at the Academy for Nonprofit Excellence, and host a few after-hours Ask Me Anything’s with nonprofits in Norfolk!
Next week, we’re training our development colleagues across the 11 campuses at the University of Maryland!
Next month? Heading to New Orleans to work with our friends at the American Cancer Society and their incredibly unique Shuck Cancer fundraising event!
In between that? We’re hosting a series of end-of-year webinars, traveling the Midwest to connect and checking in with clients in South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota and Iowa.
Whew.
It’s been a whirlwind year already, clocking over 100 presentations, trainings, conferences and emceeing events all over (Good LORD, that is a ridiculous number) – and that doesn’t include what we have planned right up until December 31st!
And you may think that the message of how all this fundraising gets done, what works, and what to avoid is different across this diverse spectrum of nonprofits…
…but that’s not entirely true.
You’d be surprised that no matter the size or scope of the organization, the persistent issues of donor retention, increasing special event revenue, activating board members to open doors and general burnout are the same everywhere.
No matter if it is human services orgs, animal rescue shelters or PTA’s – we’re all experiencing the same chaos.
So, if you’re a Midwest rural nonprofit who wants to fundraise like a coastal university, or an East Coast nonprofit who wants to craft a message of community like a flyover country organization – let’s talk about 5 QUICK things to remember while you prep your end-of-year game plan:
1. Pick up the Phone
Seriously. The amount of good you can do, in the brief time it takes to dial 10 numbers on that supercomputer in your pocket is exponentially more than sending a bulk email and hoping the message of you doing good gets to the actual supporter you want to see it, take the time to read it, and interprets it the exact way you want them to.
I will continue to sat this until I am blue in the face – pick up the damn phone.
Don’t worry if you leave a message of gratitude, or let your donors know how incredible they are for supporting a program that has had success…just call. Your supporters want to hear from you – especially in between your solicitations – to reconnect with your mission!
2. Start NOW
Waiting until the perfect time to connect with your donors will result in you waiting forever. There’s no perfection in fundraising. No supporter expects it, so stop trying to strive for it. Rather, take action. Just do.
If you’re reading this, and your To-Do list has doubled since Monday, and you know that all that stands in the way of less anxiety and better sleep is just crossing off a few items that would take less than 5 minutes to execute? Trust me, as one human who has action paralysis to another, close this blog for 30 minutes and START. (You can totally come back to this blog and finish reading after you got some stuff done!)
3. Let the Mundane Be Your Friend
The grind of building lists, calling donors, telling similar stories about your nonprofit, and then the frustrating game of “waiting for someone to call me back to show proof that this effort is working” is hard. I want to acknowledge that this is not the most fun part of the fundraising gig. But it works. The grind always works.
Focus on those quick wins, and the end-game of those gifts finally coming in…but know that the pure slog of doing the hard work is what will create perfect storm of your mission being top of mind to your supporters when the avalanche of solicitations come pouring in form the countless nonprofits that send out end-of-year appeal letters.
4. Just Ask
Fun fact: Donors don’t know you need support unless you tell them you need support. Donors, unless they are a qualified medium or amateur mentalist/magician can’t read minds.
How do you solve this question of “How do I get my donors to realize we need funding?”
Ask your donors for the gift.
I know this sounds over-the-top simplistic – but you’d be surprised at how many of us just assume that our supporters understand what we need. And because they have a ton of other things going on in their life…they might not be just constantly refreshing your social media accounts or web pages waiting for you to drop an appeal.
You have to ask.
Every single one of these nuggets of advice is what I’m telling every organization I connect with, speak with, coach, or work with. No matter the size of their goal or budget.
And? Getting to connect with so many organizations and chat with all of them about what is actually happening, what their donors are saying and what their supporters are doing, gives you dear reader inside baseball on what effective tactics you need for success!
I’ll report back early and often from our adventures on the road!!
You got this!
-Patrick
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