On this month’s podcast, you’re hearing straight from my client, Emily Norton, Executive Director of the Charles River Watershed Association in Boston. I’ve loved every minute working with Emily; she makes me belly laugh in most meetings, is an A+ student, and is a task-master.

Do you know exactly what to say to inspire your donors?

Nonprofits have solid, metric-based missions, but putting those activities into words that the average person can understand can be tricky. Hiring a short-term writer may help. Or even giving the task to the development team. But this won’t work in the long run.

So what can you do to attain clarity on communications?

One of the biggest factors contributing to the Great Resignation is professional development being the first thing to get cut from the budget.

Because of this, our fundraisers aren’t equipped to handle investment-level conversations and lead donors to major gifts.

So what should be done? Investing in your staff is the top priority.

I love talking about time allocation.

Your organization may be spending too much time on the wrong solutions.

Even if you think you know so much, you still need someone to tell you, “Have you tried this? Have you thought of it this way?”

For me, my coach helps me see what it looks like to actually have the money to accomplish a client’s strategic plan.

So what have I learned from looking through an objective lens?

Let me guess. Right now, you’re looking for your next developmental director.

It’s pretty crazy. And I admit, it’s the most difficult hire for an organization. The worst-case scenario would be ending up with the wrong person on the bus. And we don’t want that, right?

But today, let’s make it a little bit easier as I share the things you need to watch out for in your next fundraiser so your organization can hit revenue goals!

Welcome to Season 3 of The Business Behind Fundraising!

For this season, we’ll be going in-depth on a few of the factors impacting the Great Resignation that I want you to reflect on.

Today’s episode will be all about why you should invest more money into overhead, especially your fundraising staff.

Spoiler: No new grant appeal, board member, or celebrity shout-out is going to fix your insufficient overhead cash. It’s all about solid groundwork and being honest with our needs and numbers.

According to Greg Warner’s MarketSmart 2020 Major Gift Benchmark study, 81% of donors take 6-24 months for prospect identification.

Building a pipeline is frustrating for most fundraisers. It requires time and consistent effort to find donors.

However, your patience is definitely worth it if you’re looking to scale by the millions.

The real question right now is . . . Who ISN’T hiring?

This means I’ve sat in tons of interviews for high-level development professionals who’ll be leading organizations to substantial revenue growth.

And I’m noticing a few trends and very interesting answers to interview questions that I’m sharing with you today.

It all boils down to time allocation.

In this episode, I’ll be discussing why you should align your time with your organization’s strategic plans and how it beats everything else.

An amazing client of mine that I’ve been coaching for years has told me that it only takes him 30 hours a week to reach his seven-figure revenue goal.

I repeat, 30 hours! You might think I’m kidding, but it is indeed possible.

So just like him, how can you hit your target number in less time? Prioritizing the right things and slowing down.

Objectivity has been a huge part of growing my business.

I’d think things are all going great. But when I invested in a business coach, they offered new ideas and views that made me go, “Oh, I never thought of it that way.”

We can’t always see the answer. That’s why, in this episode, I’ll be talking about three areas where objectivity is most needed for nonprofit leaders too.

There are so many things that impact your team’s ability to reach and exceed their revenue goals every year. And these have very little to do with traditional fundraising.

One of them is your ability to take risks.

Imagine attracting major donors who are on the lookout for visionary missions and plans that incorporate risk.

Now that we’ve laid out the fundamentals in season 1, it’s time to discuss growth. I’m talking by MILLIONS – those nonprofit leaders who have navigated growth and scaled tremendously.

We know 2020 was indeed hard for many nonprofit organizations. But we also know we can use this time as a catalyst for change.

Let’s not look back.

For 2022 and beyond, I want to encourage you to lean into an abundance mindset and the perks that come with this growth perspective.

There are three groups that partner your nonprofit’s revenue generation.

- Your Executive Director/CEO
- Your Fundraising Staff
- And, your Board

If one of those is not doing their job, reaching and exceeding your annual need is going to feel like you’re climbing a hill with a cannon ball strapped to your leg.

If you do fundraising the right way or go at it from a different perspective, you’ll actually realize that getting boards to play their role in fundraising doesn’t have to be so hard.

Let me show you how it’s done.

In these past two years in the midst of this pandemic, content has become king.

Believe me, I’ve been in so many webinars and podcasts that I’ve actually stopped counting.

And in nearly every one, there was a question that drove me crazy: “What’s the most creative thing you’re seeing in fundraising right now?”

Well, I’m not saying there isn’t any amazing stuff that came out of the pandemic - with everything shifting online.

We need to quit the narrative of constantly pursuing the shiniest, most creative thing because this is what keeps most organizations on the endless spin cycle.

So, I want to talk about three different and crucial areas that are being compromised because of this.

Inevitably, when I’m working with fundraising teams and digging into their major gift processes, a familiar question pops up: “Are you soliciting major-level donors?”

What I’m really asking is are you sitting down (one-on-one) and having a conversation and then asking. . .

But too often fundraising teams answer “yes” . . . followed by their list of asks they make in seasonal appeals and events.

But these aren’t the types of solicitations appropriate for major donors. They need something more.

My mission has always been to help nonprofit leaders and fundraisers to get their donors giving their best gift every year.

This mindset shift is a gamechanger. And the best news is that you, as the fundraiser, have so much more control of the pacing, the timing, and the size of the gifts than you think.

But, this is only possible if you intentionally shift your fundraising activities from a reactive state to a more proactive one.

So how can you pivot your donor relationships to a deeper level?

How can you start serving and leading them differently?

Storytelling is definitely an important aspect of nonprofits. But you may be wondering - how do we take our donors on a journey to their best gift?

By going beyond traditional storytelling.

Maybe you’ve booked that meeting with that sought-after donor. It went great. You shared their mission, the photos, and the stories. There was a tear shed at some point but when the money came, it was smaller than you hoped.

So what went wrong? I’m here to unpack everything you need to know.

“I don’t know any major donors. Where do I find them?”

This is one of the most common questions I get so often. And I challenge you to take a step back and look at the situation in a different light.

Today, I encourage you to stop chasing after major donors and start thinking of ways of how you can draw them in.

Nonprofit CEOs - do you know why major donors aren’t giving to you?

I’ve been excited to talk about this topic for a while now, and you may be curious about my answer.

Oftentimes, I hear from nonprofit CEOs who say:

“Our board members don’t know any major donors.”

“Donors don’t give to organizations that don’t do direct service work.”

“I don’t know anyone who could afford to give us the funds.”

In my methodology, I want to make sure that we identify the right questions going through a donor’s mind. Because if we don’t put ourselves in their shoes, we could be unknowingly stopping them from giving their best gift.

In the book, The Road Less Stupid by Keith Cunningham, there is a wise nugget that goes: “We acted like it was a sin to miss a revenue opportunity. And that makes as much sense as needing to eat everything at the Sunday buffet.”

That hit a bullseye in me because so often, I’d hear fundraising teams being handcuffed by events, appeals, and campaigns - saying yes to everything, even if it makes the littlest amount of money.

I’m here to tell you that once you pick up my high ROI revenue generation model, you’ll see exactly what’s been keeping you from fully funding your mission year after year.