Spaghetti Again?
HOW TO BUILD A FUNDRAISING
P R O G R A M T H AT W I L L K E E P
YOU OUT OF THE KITCHEN!
LISA COURT
S R . D I R E C T O R O F P R I N C I PA L G I F T S
BINGHAMTON UNIVERSITY
Special Events Have Their Place
 Profile and PR
 Expand the audience
 Broadcast the mission
 Engage and Mobilize Volunteers
 Friend-raise - build a committed constituency (not
just a mailing list)
 Steward and acknowledge your donors
 Celebrate success
At your last
Special
Event…
Did you get
a good
return on
your
investment?
 Does your event provide a good
return on your investment of your
time, energy and finances?
 Is it part of a balanced fundraising
strategy?
 What’s the impact on volunteers?
Special Events
Are one tool in your tool belt.
Use them sparingly. Combine them with a balance of
in person solicitations, direct mail and phone calls.
Your highest ROI will result from a face to face ask.
ALMOST ALWAYS.
A Balanced Fund Raising Plan
 Annual Fund
 Mail Appeals, Phonathons, Leadership Giving
 Major Gifts
 Estate Gifts
 Gifts in Kind
 Endowments
 Capital Campaigns
 Special Events
Case for Support
Typically communicates
 mission and values
 importance and urgency
 specific objectives
 history and credibility
 illustrates how the donor can help
Who are your donors?
Who is your audience?
Are they informed?
Are they ready?
What is your history with them?
Fundraising
Success and
the Economy
 You can be successful in
fundraising in any economic
climate…
Your case must be compelling
 It must warrant support
 It must well articulated and capable
of being thoroughly understood by
all a nonprofit’s donors

YWCA of Cortland - More than you can imagine!
 Raised $101.2 Million
BOLD
BRILLIANT
BINGHAMTON
 Original Goal $95 Million
 Considered suspending the
campaign because of the
economic downturn
 Successful during a time of great
institutional transition.
 “It was a risk, but it the right risk.”
 It was a good investment and
everyone was ask to invest.
Why did these campaigns succeed?
 Leadership and organization
 Committed Executive and board support
 Volunteers
 Research and readiness through feasibility study
 Strong programs
 Informed and engaged community that valued their
service
 Professional counsel
 And they asked, and asked and asked for the big
gifts
An inconvenient truth…
To get people to give you money, you
usually have to ask for it.
Before you ask anyone for their gift…
Make your own “stretch gift.” Your own sacrificial gift
create momentum and energizes you to ask others
for their support. The most successful fund raising
efforts are achieved when you’ve already made your
own commitment.
Your Case for Support
Begin with your mission statement
"A Hand Up, Not a Hand Out.“
We seek to eliminate poverty housing and homelessness from the world
and to make decent shelter a matter of conscience and action.
 Express the need in human terms
 Convey a sense of importance and urgency
 Be bold and inspirational
 Create opportunities for collaboration
Your Blueprint - The Gift Cycle
QUALIFY
IDENTIFY
CULTIVATE
STEWARD
SOLICIT
Identification
Prospects are:
Donors, friends, community members, businesses,
and foundations who have the capacity to make a
major gift (as defined by your institution) and the
inclination to do so. They are interested in your
mission and institution and are philanthropic in
nature.
Where can I find prospects?
 Proactive research – prospects who come to
your attention as a result of giving activity.
 Networking– names that surface in
conversation, referrals from current donors or
volunteers and those who attend your events
 Observation – individuals who you become
aware of because of media coverage, their
careers or lifestyle successes
 Previous giving, regular and increasing annual
gifts or a particularly large jump in giving
“You should go see…”
 A prospect has been identified but your challenge is
how to approach them.
 Who is in their sphere of influence? Who are their
business partners, church members, friends, club
members etc… who can share information or
advocate for your organization?
Prepare to Qualify: Make Setting Appointments Your Priority
 Get excited about the visit.
 Block out your appointment or travel time each
month.
 Set aside time during the week, usually several
hours to devote your attention to setting up
appointments.
 If you are not having success - stop, walk away and
come back another day.
Allow me to introduce myself…
 Prepare a letter or e-letter of introduction stating the
purpose of your visit. Or, have a brief script prepared
to explain the purpose of your visit over the phone.
 If you are new to the position attach at short biography
and photo.
 If this is the first visit with a prospect, explain your visit
in broad terms, “I am meeting with donors and past
donors to identify individuals who are interested in
helping us promote our program through….
A Word About Gatekeepers
 These are the people your
prospects trust.
 Take note of who answers the
phone, call them by name the
next time you call.
 Respect their position and treat
them with the same importance
and cheerfulness as your
prospect.
Remember
 The process begins when you identify the individual
 The plan evolves over time
 As you engage and involve, there should be donor
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centered reasoning in the process
A varied team is important
Take time to reflect, think and check your strategy
throughout the process
Its about the donor – tailor your plans accordingly
The objective is to bring the goals of your organization and
prospect into alignment
Qualification Meeting

Establish Inclination and Capacity

Ask Strategic Questions

Exercise Athletic Listening
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Analyze – What did I hear – what does it mean?

Build a Strategy
What Do I Qualify?
 Capacity – know the types of assets that indicate
wealth – it is unlikely that a donor will sell their house
to make a gift
 Interest and Inclination – are they involved/
connected?
 Passion – sources of pride that can be reinforced,
revitalized or revisited
 Timeframe – is there a compelling reason to move
quickly/slowly – when is a gift likely?
Asking Strategic Questions
 Tell me more
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How do you like to be involved with organizations you support?
What organizations do you make your philanthropic priorities?
What do you like to accomplish with your philanthropy?
Do you like to entertain in your home?
How’s business? How does the economy effect your philanthropic
decisions?
How did you get interested in HFH?
Have you ever given to a capital campaign?
About your relationship with HFH?
How do you make your gifts?
Have you ever made a planned or estate gift?
Is HFH in your will?
If I had a million dollars…
 How would you spend it?
 What charities would you give it to?
 How would you like HFH to use it?
When you meet, what are you trying to achieve?
 Remind them about their experience with HFH.
 Renew their emotional connection.
 Update them on HFH activities.
 Determine where their passions connect with your
vision.
 Identify ongoing organizational contacts.
 Gather info to update their personal profile.
Be prepared for questions about all aspects
of the organization.
Cultivation: Building Rapport and Trust
 Its about the prospect, not about you.
 Watch, listen and read
 Stay alert
 Entertain their interests
 Involve in the organization
 Engage meaningfully
 Make introductions to leadership
 Ask their advice and follow up on that advice
Special events as effective cultivation
 Go small - some of the most productive means of
cultivation are in small groups over a meal. Invite a
speaker or the leadership to share their vision.
 Be judicious with special events – make them
meaningful and a way to collect names and
information
 Don’t let special events consume your fundraising
time. Face to face gift solicitation is one of the most
effective tools in your fundraising arsenal.
Solicitation
 Soft ask or full on solicitation?
 Who is going on the call?
 Who will make the ask?
 Anticipate likely outcomes
 Review, research, coordinate and rehearse
 Prepare a script
Solicitation
 Acknowledge the reason for the visit
 Ask for what you want
 I would like to talk to you about the HFH’s needs for…
 I’m here to ask for your help
 Be simple and direct… and then stop talking!
The Soft Ask
 Permission to solicit – it’s a reality check – and a
little tricky.
 Solicitation as cultivation – teaches donors about
types of giving, develops solicitation rapport and
helps to reinforce the importance of your
organization and the ask on the table.
Athletic Listening
 Give the donor time to talk
 Don’t think too loudly
 Go with the conversation – don’t force your script
 Is the donor raising issues you can address?
 If the conversation gets off track..Gently guide the
conversation back to the topic at hand
 Ask for questions and feedback
 And stay on your toes and adapt your strategy as
you go. Also listen to your co-solicitor and watch
body language
 Can I take your pledge today?
Ask
for the
Gift
 Could I send you a formal
proposal
 May I call on you next week to
see what you are thinking?
What if the prospect says “No or I’ll think about it?”
 This is the most important time to listen actively to
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their rationale
Restate concerns expressed
What are their objections – Question and probe.
Affirm and interpret
Is the answer really no, not now, not that amount or
not for this project?
What if they say Yes?
 Thank the donor
 Confirm the details
 Leave
 Follow-up immediately
 Widen the circle of appreciation
Stewardship
 Thank with a phone call from senior leadership
 Receipt appropriately
 Send acknowledgements from the appropriate
source preferably the most senior officer or volunteer
in the organization.
 Media coverage and print where
appropriate
Now, that you can ask for a gift in person
 Direct mail is a mechanism to reach out and fortify
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your base of support
Decide how often you will mail – 1-2-3 times a year?
Will your response rate dictate your budget?
Can you launch a phonathon? Depending on the
size of your list could you divide it up amongst your
board?
What can you realistically manage with the size of
your board or volunteers?
 Most donors want verbal or written
A word about
plaques and
thank you gifts
acknowledgements and little more.
Continued contact with organizational
leadership and volunteers is always
welcome. Showing regular written and
verbal appreciation after the gift is better
than a tchotchke or swag. They want as
much of their gifts to support your
mission.
 Think carefully about donor recognition
trees and the like.
 Most of all, know what your donor wants
and ask them.
What’s My Strategy?
From your prospect research you learn that Mr. and Mrs.
Corey have been the construction business for three
generations. They have been interested in HFH from the
sidelines but have made small consistent annual gifts. Your
references say they have significant wealth and have no
children. They gave a gift of $100,000 to the United Way.
They have two homes and are recently retired.
Discuss a strategy on how to move them from the
Annual Fund to a Major Gift.
FINAL WORDS AND
QUESTIONS
There are no magic words to help secure a gift, the
real magic is the relationship with those who can
change the world with their generous spirit