Creating the Culture of Philanthropy
Building Excellence in the
Fundraising Enterprise
F.I.A
Sydney Australia
August 24, 2011
J.B. Michael Farrell FAHP
www.philanthropycoach.ca
Twitter @JBMFarrell
mfarrell@philanthropycoach.ca
What is a “Culture of Philanthropy”
an atmosphere, a gestalt,
where every person in the
organization understands that
philanthropy is an essential
part of the organization’s ability
to advance its mission
www.philanthropycoach.ca
A Culture of Philanthropy…
a culture of building not begging
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The Culture of Philanthropy is a culture of
Inspiration
Volunteers and staff are passionately
committed to expanding the mission
Donors are given the opportunity to join you in
your quest.
It is a celebration of giving and the nobility of
sharing.
Donors more than thanked… donors know
they are relevant …their gifts work!
It is focused on the mission not the money!
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What is…Excellence in the
Fundraising Enterprise
Advancing the mission
 Meeting the expectations of our
stakeholders
 Establishing and achieving goals
 Significant growth
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Transformational Fundraising is
Personal Journey
Re-ignite our passion
 Focus on who we really serve
 Empower ourselves be bold/audacious
 If we are going to get good…to be
excellent at fundraising we have to revisit
why we got into this in the first place
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Excellence sounds easy
“Fundraising is always about the case.
You have to translate that into ‘the
language of philanthropy” and then
deploy your energy and resources to
tell your story where you have the best
potential to generate support.”
www.philanthropycoach.ca
The Algorithm of Fundraising Success
Resources + Energy
Applied in areas of
greatest potential
=
Success
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The Business Plan
Cause…Virtually 100% of the
organizations that experience
significant growth do so
through major gifts
Effect… “In 2012 we are going
concentrate on gifts greater than
$1,000…$5,000…$100,000”
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Answer this question to begin the
journey to fundraising excellence
…Ms. Faloney has been giving your
organization $1000 a year
…And Ms. Faloney has significant
capacity.
…What would compel Ms. Faloney to
make a $25,000 gift in 2012?
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What do you think Ms. Faloney
knows about you?
What was in the last thank you letter you
sent?
 What was the feature of your last
newsletter or correspondence?
 What is on you walls?
 What is on your website?
 What kind of conversations have you
had with her?
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www.philanthropycoach.ca
What Messages are you sending
Celebration of collections
 Celebration of events
 Stories feature who and how much
rather than why.
 In the recognition program
 The Rotary Conundrum
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Fundraising in a
“Culture of Philanthropy”
No one “owes” you a gift
 No one is “obligated” to make a gift
 You earn gifts with good works
 You inspire major gifts with powerful
ideas
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The Power of Ideas
Is your case a big idea
 Discussing philanthropic dreams
 The $600,000,000 dollar lesson
 What can you do?
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Tapping the Philanthropic Spirit
Dream big…what would it cost to
rename your institution, your service, or
an endowment fund?
 Your recognition program…Be careful
what you celebrate
 Talk about big gifts until it becomes part
of your culture
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www.philanthropycoach.ca
The Power of Big Ideas
We need to replace our
playground. The school
board ordered us to
knock it down!
We can give the
community it’s first
handicap accessible
playground.
www.philanthropycoach.ca
Our Mission and
“The Paradox of Need”
Need can be paralyzing
 Needs are universal
 Solutions set your organization apart
from the others
 You have no needs…people have needs
 WE are builders not beggers
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www.philanthropycoach.ca
Planning Assumptions for a
Fundraising Board
We are Volunteer Led Staff Driven
 We are Mission Focused
 We are committed to Aggressive Growth
 We commit to Activity Based metrics
 Change is constant
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Volunteer Led Staff Driven
The Board Planning Continuum
Volunteer Led
Staff Driven
Strengths and weaknesses
Assignments
Costs
Environmental Assesment
Timing
Mission
Vision
Directions
Strategy
Implement
Communications
Impediments
Issues
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Manage
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The Board-Staff Partnership
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Fundraising, in fact, all not for profit
enterprise, is at its best when skilled and
knowledgeable staff leaders partner with
passionate, dedicated and well informed
volunteers.
www.philanthropycoach.ca
Not this sort of partnership
Board Member
Communications
Chair
Board Member
Board
Member
Finance
Chair
Board Member
Board Member
Board Member
Board Chair
Board Member
Board Chair
Elect
Ralph…Executive Director
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Fundraising Leadership …
a Three Legged Stool
Fundraising Leadership
C
D
O
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Charity/CEO Leadership
Can be top volunteer by virtue of
position.
 Commit the time for calls as required.
 Make a meaningful gift
 Articulate the vision…serve as
spokesperson
 Make the Major Gifts a corporate priority
 Assist with identification/recruitment of
leadership
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www.philanthropycoach.ca
Expanding the Capacity…
The Culture of Philanthropy
All staff are familiar with the case
 Board and volunteer family aware
 Stories and legends…Enhanced and
active celebration of major donors and
heroic care givers…Larger than life.
 Donor self identification…
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The Boards Dual Identity
Fundraising as a side bar…iffy at best
 Finding focus…Development Committee
 Parallel Organizations
 Successful fundraising won't happen on
the margins. It must be a part of the
mission.
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www.philanthropycoach.ca
The Fundraising Board … 3 Jobs
1.
2.
3.
Raise Money
Steward the money
Award it judiciously
#2. And #3. are just
concepts if # 1 isn’t
successful!
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The Board Leadership…
How do you add value?
This not about governance
 Fundraising is not very
complicated!
 Change starts at recruiting
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The Board Leadership…
How do you add value?
Make a meaningful gift
 Champion the Big Idea…Set the case
vision and the goal
 Assist with prospect identification,
rating, cultivation and solicitation
 Prudently manage the funds raised
 Insure resources are in place to
advance the mission
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www.philanthropycoach.ca
The Budget, Resources and
Commitment to Change
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Budget is the price tag of the Vision
Is always presented in the context of five years
of growth
A chance to educate volunteers about the
business of fundraising
Activity based budgets
X calls = Y gifts how many people does it take
to manage X calls
Board will make better choices when budget
reductions are done in the context of the vision
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Development Pyramid
Legacy
Major Gift
Repeat Gift
First gift
Universe
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Resource Deployment Pyramid
Resource
Allocation
Legacy
Major Gift
Repeat Gift
First gift
Universe
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Engaging the Board
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Prospect review is standing agenda item
“Cultivation calls”
Bi weekly lists of prospects for consideration
Scorecard kept on participation
Scorecard becomes part of board report
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Donor Conversations
Donor Audit tool
 Your Mission…your best idea
 What has changed
 What your agency is doing
 And what opportunities there are for the
donor
 Measure the interest
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www.philanthropycoach.ca
So Lets talk to Ms. Faloney
Who is the best person to have the
conversation
 Explain what we are doing and why
 Gauge her interest in our mission
 Give her context for the “think about”
number
 Prepare a solicitation call that would
allow her to make a difference
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www.philanthropycoach.ca
Building Donor Relationships
…Donors are your best prospects
Donors committed to the mission not a
single person or a shopping list
 Donors must believe that your
leadership is competent
 Confidence that your institution will
deliver the goods.
 Context is right for a large gift
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www.philanthropycoach.ca
Metrics for a Major Gift Operation
An Activity Based Planning Model
allows for some universal measures
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Case written, board approved and tested
# of qualified calls for gifts < $25,000
% of calls that are successful
Number of Major Gift prospects identified
Number of volunteer solicitors assigned
Number of Volunteer calls completed
Increase in the number of major gifts secured
Number of legacy gifts committed
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Tax Data
Surveys
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23 % of all
Canadians claim
gifts…Avg. $ 915
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33% of Australians
declare gifts …
$450.
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78% of all Canadians
give to charity
Avg. $259
Philanthropic Support by Population
Health-Education-Religion-Kids
Diseases
Social Programs
Environment
Animals
Chart is for
discussion only
Culture
Sport
Art
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Staying Mission Focused
These people don’t tell us we are
dreamin’…they raise some issue
 We run off to fix a problem that may not
exist
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In a perfect world we wouldn’t need
fundraisers…we know we are in tough
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We did not make it to the top of the feeding
we
are
fundraisers
chain by giving our stuff away
 We may have been communal but it was quid
pro quo.
 There may be some disturbing stuff lurking in the
deep end of our gene pool
 Our appeal has to be stronger than the
prospect’s instinct to keep his hard earned
money
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Giving is a Learned Behavior
Giving runs in families…rich and poor
 Caring and empathy seem to be learned
behaviors… we can be teachers
 Donor recognition celebrating gifts is a
great way to teach.
 Our appeals teach
 Mostly we teach by our example
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www.philanthropycoach.ca
Fundraising is Not Egalitarian. Who you
ask and how you ask will define success
The Good Samaritan
We respectfully ask individuals to
make gifts commiserate with their
station in life.
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Effective Gift Calls
Fundraising is a Contact Sport
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Face to face call made by a by a well
prepared, and passionate peer in the
company of an expert witness.
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Ipsos Reid poll for …
Scotia Private Client Group
97 per cent said their philanthropic
decisions are motivated by the charity's
cause
 94 per cent said they are driven by
personal values
 54 per cent said the timing of the
charitable request is the deciding factor.
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Sample has minimum $250,000 in investments
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Volunteer
How did you get recruited?
 Was your recruitment mission based?
 What have you been asked to do?
 Why did you say yes?
 Did you come here to keep an eye on
the finances or to make difference?
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www.philanthropycoach.ca
Staff
Most of us landed here because we
needed a job and this looked good
enough…but is it still just a job?
 What made you think that you could be
successful?
 What is the most memorable moment of
your time with your agency?
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www.philanthropycoach.ca
Passion in Our Workplace
The work that we do is critically
important and the only constraint on
what we can do is resources
 The work is noble…we are fiercely proud
of what we do
 difficult economic times…we are needed
now more than ever!
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www.philanthropycoach.ca
The Real Culture of Philanthropy
Is in our hearts
 In our belief that generous people of
good will can make a profound difference
in this world
 In our willingness to do something to
make the world a better place
 You came here this afternoon when God
knows you could have been anywhere
else…for all that you do…thank you!
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www.philanthropycoach.ca