You're Doing Nonprofit Fundraising Wrong

Nonprofit GrowthDevelopment
Written By Sherry Quam Taylor

I was in a meeting with the Executive Board of one of my clients. And there was a phrase used that showed me they really don’t understand what fundraising even is. 

The phrase that took me aback?

“We keep going back to our donors to raid their wallets.”

Ummmm . . . if you’re raiding wallets for donations you’re doing fundraising wrong.

Frankly, even as a Board Member, if you’re not doing that but you fear that your friends and network feel that way . . .you're doing fundraising wrong. 

I can be honest, right?

Too many fundraisers even do fundraising wrong.

CEOs: It’s your job to invest deeply in helping them learn how to do it right. And this goes beyond putting a $1,000 professional development line item in the budget.

You know why this board member said this?

Boards take their cue from the staff. And if the staff doesn't know HOW to lead donors through great donor experiences and secure those gifts through investment-level conversations, they don't know any different. That’s why Board Members make these comments and default to how they FEEL about fundraising.

Remember . . . Boards are experts at something else other than fundraising. Your team needs to know how to ‘manage-up’ when it comes to fundraising. They need to know how to model relational fundraising.

Investment-level conversations within relational fundraising is NEVER wallet-raiding. NEVER.

Whenever you’re ready, here are THREE things you can do next:

👣 Follow me on LinkedIn where I give away insider info every week - the same lessons I teach my clients about attracting larger gen-ops dollars and adding 7-figures + to their bottom line. 

🍎 Read my GUIDE! THE TRUTH ABOUT GIVE/GETS :: Top 5 Reasons Your Board’s Give/Get Is Leaving Thousands (Sometimes Millions) on the Table. See how limiting board members to the Give/Get model restricts gifts in so many ways and keeps your staff from reaching their full fundraising potential. Here to get it.

📈 Work with me to fund your organization’s Strategic Plan and scale your budget by 2 - 5X // If you’re a business-minded CEO already raising MILLIONS but still need more general-operating revenue from individuals and family foundations to invest in growth, you can apply to work with me here.

Sherry Quam Taylor

Sherry Quam Taylor works with business-minded Nonprofit CEOs whose Strategic Plans require expansive budgets and larger amounts of general-operating revenue for growth. To become investment-level ready, Sherry helps leaders see their revenue potential and helps them see what may be blocking donors from giving in this way. Sherry’s clients know how to attract larger donors by solving the funding challenges at the root of the issue.

As a result of learning her methodology, Sherry’s clients become sustainable, diversify revenue, and know how to add significant amounts gen-ops revenue to their budgets. But mostly, their development departments and board have transformed into high-ROI revenue generators – aligning their hours with relational dollars and set free from the limitations of transactional fundraising.

Sherry attributes the success of her business to her passion for modeling radical confidence to the future CEOs in her house - her two college-aged daughters.

https://www.QuamTaylor.com
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Matching Major Donor Gifts through Relational Fundraising