Nonprofit CEOs: You Are Your Most Valuable Fundraising Asset
Last April, I took a life-changing program taught by Tracy Goodwin. It’s a program about the psychology of the voice. I thought her vocal techniques might help me get rid of my ‘ummmms’ when teaching Webinars. It not only did that, but it changed my entire business and even how I approach solicitation coaching with my clients. For example:
She helped me show up . . . and not some version of me or who I think I should be when speaking. It’s the same for fundraisers. I see so many people showing up to donor meetings thinking they’ve got to be more . . . more professional, more polished, more of what the donor wants.
But only the real you needs to show up.
Tracy taught me how to stay in the moment during the conversation and not let stories of the past, or fears of the future creep in. That’s how you get rid of your ummms . . . but it’s also how you serve, listen, and connect deeply and authentically. This is huge in fundraising.
But you need to quiet your mind.
Nonprofit CEOs - you’re going to be the most successful fundraiser when YOU are YOU.
1. You Be You
Can you guess the one question I ask all my clients after they’ve had a first meeting with a high-net-worth potential donor?
“Did they like you?”
Seriously.
What I’m really asking is . . .
Were you yourself?
Did you connect?
Did you listen to them more than you spoke?
Did they seem to care about your mission?
Did it feel like they would want to have a second conversation with you?
If they didn’t like you, you’re not going to get the second meeting. And the only way for them to determine if they liked you is that the true, authentic you showed up. Not some version of who you think you need to be in a donor meeting.
Dr. Seuss says it best: “Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is you-er than you.”
This is why I cringe a little bit when I’m asked for “a script for donor calls”. If you’re calling donors with a script in-hand, you’re going to show up as some version of who you think you should be . . . and not as yourself. If you want to form deeper relationships, you’ve got to be yourself.
If you’re using a script:
You run the risk of reading (which they’ll hear) = transactional
You won’t sound authentic because you are worried you’re not getting it right = transactional
You’ll come off lacking authenticity cause, well, if you REALLY believed in what you’re saying why would you need a script?
What to do instead?
Act human.
I don’t mean to sound harsh. But if you simply speak from the heart in more of a peer-to-peer tone, it’s going to be a stronger call.
And, have fun with it!
Too many of us worry that we’re not doing fundraising right. This actually keeps us from connecting with donors in a deeper and more meaningful way.
Be yourself. Show up as YOU. Then you can build the relationship.
2. Your Time
There’s a slide I share in almost all of my webinars.
It says this: Your TIME is THE most valuable asset to your organization.
But, here’s what the following slide always says . . .
READ: Therefore, every hour you spend fundraising MUST be focused on the highest results possible. And by high results, I mean large, unrestricted gifts.
You might already be thinking “How would I add major gifts to my already stretched schedule?”
The answer is: You have to stop doing the things that take too many hours and resources. In fact, these things might be keeping you from growing your revenue in the first place.
Once you’ve made room in your schedule, you can start doing things that generate the size donations you need to fully fund your mission.
If you’re nodding your head with me already, I’m so proud of you.
You see, most people get it backwards. They hop in the fundraising silos and spin-cycle that keep us busy, but not necessarily busy with the things that fully fund our missions every year.
Always start with the numbers.
You must align your hours with dollars on your fundraising model and financing plan. And then you must invest in yourself to learn how to do high-ROI fundraising.
The Financing Models I mentioned? It’s not a secret. More about it here in my 2021 Whitepaper.
So where should your team focus their fundraising time when you’ve got plans to scale but you need more money for overhead and staff?
You could spend thousands of hours looking for more grants, reinventing your on-line event, or adding an appeal/mailer. Or you can do what my most successful students have done:
Make a Plan
Your Top 30 donors should make up 50-75% of your revenue. Every year, my successful students create their Fundraising Model and Financing Plan in a way to support this metric.
Prioritize
Because these Top 30 donors can/should result in 75% of your income, that is where you should prioritize the majority of your time. Don’t get caught up in the quick-fix fundraising ideas-- these are time-stealers.
Stop
You can’t just keep adding activities to your schedule. My most successful students identify what they need to stop spending their time that isn’t yielding great results, so they can start spending time on high-ROI fundraising.
Ask
They’ve learned how to confidently lead their donors to solicitations where they regularly receive their donor’s best gifts, every year.
3. Your Expertise
One of the most common questions I get? “How do I FIND major donors?”
Most people think that in order to find large gift-making individuals, you have to have a board that connects you to them, or you must have somebody really influential who endorses you, or you need to be spending 90% of money on programs.
That’s not true.
There is one thing that large donors value more than this.
And that is . . . expert information.
Are you using your expertise to do the things that attract larger donors? Nearly every larger individual donor is dying for nonprofits to sit down with them and have an investment-level conversation that shows them you’re . . .
the expert they should give their money to
the org who has a plan to accomplish X or solve Y
the org who will use their financial investment well
the org who serves THEIR mission for giving
You see, you’ve got to shift your mindset and activities from finding major donors to attracting major donors. Even if you haven’t started your individual giving program!
I see Nonprofit CEOs make this shift every day. You can too.
You must start having conversations with your network and connectors that help them understand who to introduce you to. You must start having conversations that align your expertise with your prospect’s mission for giving.
Attracting donors is pipeline work. It takes time. And it’s the biggest thing I see organizations ignore. And that leads to the struggle of fully funding your mission and scaling your organization each year.
I don’t have to tell you there’s no quick-fix.
Successful fundraisers spend just as much time on pipeline conversations as established donor conversations.
It may sound overwhelming, but it’s actually pretty practical once you know what you need to be doing each year to help your network lead you to larger donors.
You are the Key
Sometimes, it seems like people want fundraising magic. I hear you, it would be nice if we could wave a magic wand and solve all our problems and raise all the money in an instant. I always tell people there’s no secret, there are repeatable systems that work if you do the work.
If there’s any magic solution to fundraising, it’s you. You’re the magic. Your unique personality, showing up to share your passion about your mission and lead donors to their best gift. Your time, and the way you spend it. Your expertise, and how you use it to help donors really understand your cause, organization and need. The greatest fundraising asset is . . . you.
So invest in yourself. Get the training you need so that you can maximize your time and expertise, and amplify your voice as you champion your mission.
P.S. Whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your nonprofit revenue:
1. Follow me on LinkedIn for content and resources first
I give away trade secrets and insider info every week - the same lessons I teach my clients about what they can do to start attracting larger dollars and generate more unrestricted money for your nonprofit.
2. Read my WHITEPAPER to see if your overall approach to financing your mission every year might be keeping you from growing.
Here you’ll learn THE BIG FUNDRAISING SECRET that keeps organizations from having the funds to achieve what’s in their strategic plans. Click here to get it.
3. Work with me to reimagine your overall approach to revenue generation
If you'd like to add 7+ figures of charitable revenue to your nonprofit, just send me an email at Sherry@QuamTaylor.com with the subject line “grow.” Tell me a little about your nonprofit and what you need to raise this year. I’ll get you the details! 🎯
