Transcript
Speaker: Welcome to the Abundant Vision Fundraising Podcast. Whether you are a seasoned professional or a first-time fundraiser, we have the advice you need to take your next step toward major gift mastery.
Speaker: I'm your host, Tom Dauber, President of Abundant Vision Philanthropic Consulting. Last week's conversation was a blast. I'm so excited to have you with me for this next segment.
Speaker: Let's get back to the show.
Speaker: Now that we've secured the appointment, we are going to review together all the steps you need to take in order to properly execute a donor meeting. In this lesson, we are gonna review the first part of the appointment in which you focus on building a relational connection with the donor.
Speaker: You may be tempted to get right down to business. Don't do it. Take some time to establish rapport with your donor. If you were in their office or home, take the opportunity to observe the environment.
Speaker: Ask questions about family photos, artwork, trophies, or memorabilia. Learn all you can. If you are in a restaurant or coffee shop, or even on site at your own organization, be certain to ask appropriate questions about their professional and personal lives.
Speaker: You might say things like, I notice you're an entrepreneur. Tell me how you got into that line of work and how you decided to start your own company. Or, I'm sure your work keeps you very busy.
Speaker: Are you able to find time to get away on vacation and recharge? You may follow up that question with, I've heard great things about that location. Where do you like to stay when you are there?
Speaker: Another great question might be, we really appreciate your interest in the work we are doing. What is it about our mission that you find so attractive?
Speaker: Or, I know you are involved with a lot of organizations. How does your experience with us compare to the other nonprofits you support? Be sure to learn about their hobbies, hometown, schooling.
Speaker: Be looking for areas of common experience and mutual interest to help build rapport. So these individuals will most certainly ask you about your role with the organization and how you got involved.
Speaker: It is critical that you are up front with them about your role as a fundraiser. Even if you are the executive director and fundraising is only part of your work, you must be transparent about the fact that you raise money.
Speaker: The sooner you get this out there, the easier talking about money will be. Many young fundraisers struggle with this. Maybe they pretend that they're just there to build relationships and be a buddy.
Speaker: When the time comes for them to solicit gifts from someone who only thought they were there to be their friend, it can feel like a bait and switch. The best way to avoid that is to say something like this.
Speaker: I'm the Director of Development for the Society for the Preservation of Unicorns and Dragons. I have the privilege of inviting caring people like you to join us in our mission through giving.
Speaker: I love being able to help unicorns and dragons in seeing the way people react when they observe the difference they've made. It means the world to me. Or if you have multiple roles, I'm the executive director for the Society for the Preservation of Unicorns and Dragons.
Speaker: Not only do I keep the team focused and moving in the right direction, but I also have the privilege of raising the money needed to ensure that our mission is fulfilled. I love being able to help unicorns and dragons and seeing the way people react when they observe the differences that they've made.
Speaker: It means the world to me. What you've done here is you've made it very clear to your constituent that you are a fundraiser, that fundraising is wonderful and deeply meaningful for donors, and that your mission can't happen without it, and even their peers give to your organization.
Speaker: You've done all this, yet you've not asked your donor for a single thing. There's nothing in those statements that would trigger a defensive response. At the same time, you very naturally brought up the subject of money and giving in response to a question they've asked you about what you do.
Speaker: Your response is one that they will more than likely have a comment about, and it may give you important insights about their attitude towards giving.
Speaker: this lesson, we are going to review transitioning from rapport building and getting to the meat of the conversation. It can be a real joy to build meaningful relationships with donors.
Speaker: But you must be mindful though of how much time you have in the meeting. In fact, upfront when you first sit down, be sure to ask them how much time they have and if they have a hard break.
Speaker: After you've had some time to get to know each other, could be 15 to 20 minutes of your 60 minute meeting, say something like this, Bob, I'm so thankful that you've taken time to meet with me today.
Speaker: I know you have a busy schedule. And out of respect for your time, I want to make sure we touch on a few key things before our time is up. That's when you transition into the presentation.
Speaker: This is where you get to share about that vision we developed earlier. You really want to find a short, memorable statement to share that emphasizes why your work matters. For my mythical organization, maybe that's something like,
Speaker: Every year, 80% of all dragons and unicorns suffer needless harassment and physical harm by those looking to exploit them for their scales and horns.
Speaker: Our organization is committed to creating a better world where dragons and unicorns and humans can live in peace. For other organizations I've worked with, it's been something different, like how much was tuition when you graduated from professional school?
Speaker: Do you know how much it costs these days? Our average student is graduating with a quarter million dollars in debt. Students with large loans are less likely to become independent practitioners and are less likely to work in rural areas, causing underserved areas to become even more underserved.
Speaker: Student debt is bad for the profession and it's even worse for patients. Today I'd like to talk with you about some of the ways our school is working to address these problems. This is where you'd outline what you are attempting to do and why.
Speaker: You'd also like to invite them to ask questions and share feedback about your efforts. Don't worry about having slick marketing materials, personally connecting with the individual, learning about their interests, showing them how those interests intersect with your organizational mission is far more powerful than a glossy brochure.
Speaker: I've closed scores of gifts over the years. Fewer than 5% of them required a glossy brochure. At the end of the day, people give to people they trust, not to expensive marketing materials.
Speaker: Now, your constituent is likely to have questions about your presentation. You may not have all the answers at the time of that meeting. It's okay. There's no need to worry about that.
Speaker: What's critical is that you honestly communicate that you don't have the information right now, but that you would be happy to get back with them with the answers. Now, if you commit to doing something like this, it's important that you follow through with it and do it promptly.
Speaker: Adding this extra step can actually be helpful. It's your chance to show the constituent that you keep your word, and it may even create the opportunity for a follow-up meeting to share what you found.
Speaker: and give you further opportunity to build relationship. Now, what should you do if your constituent expresses disappointment or even anger with your organization?
Speaker: Perhaps they took this call to give you a piece of their mind. If you run into this situation, and I have on countless occasions, please, whatever you do, don't become defensive and don't write the person off.
Speaker: Remember, When a person is upset about an issue with your organization, that means they care about the organization. Hate is not the opposite of love.
Speaker: Apathy is. It may surprise you to hear that disgruntled constituents can sometimes become great donors. I remember one dental alumni I met with who was very angry about how resistant his instructors were to expose their students to new high-tech approaches to dentistry.
Speaker: After I listened to him for a good 30 minutes, I said to him, there are professors who feel the same way you do. What if you could give to a fund that would allow them to purchase equipment like that so that we could begin to correct this issue?
Speaker: Not only did he give an initial $10,000 gift, he went on to give tens of thousands more as he saw the impact of his giving. Other alumni might complain to me about the difficulty they had in professional school.
Speaker: I found great success in refocusing their attention to what they wished could have been true of their experience. I'd say something like, you know, you're right.
Speaker: Professional school is very difficult. Don't you wish that when you were a student, some successful alumni made your life just a little bit easier by helping you out with a scholarship or better facilities?
Speaker: We can't go back and change the past. but I'm asking that you consider being that person for a student who's struggling now. There are gonna be different common objections for every organization.
Speaker: I'd encourage you to give some thought to what those may be and proactively take steps to address them.
Speaker: In this lesson, we are going to review the pre-solicitation conversation that is asking for permission to ask. If this is a true major gift prospect and this is your first meeting, it may not be time yet to make the ask.
Speaker: Many times in an initial meeting, especially as you were qualifying a suspect, your ask isn't going to be your major gift ask. It will be what we call a pre-solicitation.
Speaker: In any negotiation, it's important to never surprise the other party. You want them to be happy, to feel in control, and not be worried that something may happen they aren't expecting.
Speaker: For that reason, sometimes I'll even tell a suspect I'm meeting for the first time that they don't need to worry about me asking them for a gift in that initial meeting.
Speaker: To make sure everyone knows what to expect, My initial ask will be for permission to have a conversation about giving. It might go something like this. I appreciate you taking the time to learn about our work.
Speaker: I'm glad you feel that we are going in the right direction. I'm not here to ask you for a gift today, but I would like to know if I could have your permission to have a conversation with you about a gift to support this work.
Speaker: Would that be acceptable to you? In some cases, they're going to say no. When that happens, we wanna thank them for considering our request. But we also wanna clarify with them about the nature of their negative response.
Speaker: Is this a no for now or a no forever? Say something like this. I appreciate your frankness. May I ask you a follow-up question?
Speaker: They will invariably agree. I understand that this may not be the right time for you to consider a gift towards this cause. I want to be sure that we interact with you on your terms in the way that you prefer.
Speaker: Moving forward, would you like to be kept informed of future giving opportunities with our organization? Or would you prefer to not have those discussions with us?
Speaker: When a donor says no to you, it may be because they just made a large commitment to another organization. It may be because someone in their family just died and they're they're too overwhelmed with with dealing with that that personal trauma to even think about having a family meeting to discuss a major gift.
Speaker: There are a million different reasons a donor might say no. So we never want to assume that they don't like us or that they're never going to make a gift.
Speaker: So asking this type of question is really critical. Now, if they say yes, first off, you want to thank them for the interest in the organization.
Speaker: This is a good time to ask some clarifying questions about what types of opportunities at the organization they would be most interested in. So be sure to identify what projects you've discussed that appeals to them the most.
Speaker: Different projects are going to need different levels of support, and that's important to communicate. We want to try to leverage this discussion to identify the gift opportunity to level that they would be most comfortable with.
Speaker: This can be a delicate matter to figure out and is as much an art as it is a science. Different fundraisers take different approaches to this.
Speaker: I know of many successful fundraisers who have different perspectives on this issue. I have a friend who would tell you to go right at the biggest number you're thinking about. If a project costs a million dollars, you just go right out and ask him for a million bucks.
Speaker: Now he's had a lot of success with that approach. However, I can think of others who have a different style and one that I personally prefer and have also been very successful with. Rather than going straight at the number prior to soliciting the gift, you want to begin to socialize some numbers, maybe even a gift range to see where they are before making an ask.
Speaker: Here's why I think that's important. We never want to put a donor in a place of being surprised. I heard an expert and at a CE event once on gift negotiation state that a key rule in successful negotiation is to do all that you can do to help your negotiating partner feel comfortable.
Speaker: Avoiding surprises is key to that. For that reason, we don't want a potential donor to mistakenly think that we are here to talk about a $100 gift when we are really thinking about $100,000
Speaker: We do this by asking hypothetical questions or sharing key information that sets the stage. You might say things like, if you could wave a magic wand,
Speaker: and change anything about our organization, what would you change? Or you might say something like, you know, Dr. Smith made a million dollar gift last month. It's been amazing to see the impact that the gift is having already.
Speaker: Could you ever see yourself making a large gift like that to a nonprofit? Even just talking about what peers are giving without a question attached can be very helpful. We want to educate our constituents about peer giving norms.
Speaker: Mentioning those large numbers up front helps set the stage for future expectations of what might be asked. I found as well that just telling a giving story can elicit helpful comments from a potential donor that can help me understand where to take the conversation. If you've determined from your meeting that they may have a lot of affinity for your organization and capacity to give,
Speaker: you will want to suggest higher ranges. To do this, say something like this. We have many different projects that need various levels of support. When we meet next, may I share with you about some more specific opportunities in the six to seven figure range.
Speaker: Now you want to go high here. Whatever is reasonably aspirational. I usually go for double what I'm hoping to close. Now they may back you down and say that they would prefer to see opportunities in the four to five figure range. Well, that's fine.
Speaker: We don't want to get too specific here because we want to leave open the opportunity to go higher if possible. So if they say they're willing to see opportunities in the four to five figures, then we want to present them with an opportunity of 99,000, but also be prepared with some lower opportunities as well.
Speaker: Lastly, once you've established a range, you want to find out when they could be available to meet again.
Speaker: That's all the time we have today, but be sure to tune in next week to hear the next part of this exciting conversation. Now, if you've enjoyed this podcast, please be sure to subscribe and give us a five-star rating on your podcast provider.
Speaker: I'm your host, Tom Daubert. Thank you for joining me as we journey together towards major gift mastery on the Abundant Vision Fundraising Podcast.
