Fundraising advice from Dr. Teeth

This week we’re looking for non-profit and fundraising advice from one of my favorite books — “It’s Not Easy Being Green: And Other Things to Consider” — written by Jim Henson, The Muppets, and Friends. Yesterday, we looked at the idea of being “mission-focused” in a quote from Jim Henson. Today, we’re taking some fundraising advise from the keyboard player and leader of Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem band.

Here are some lyrics from one of the band’s hit songs that I think contains great advice for volunteer solicitors who are out there making the ask during tough economic times:

“Whenever there’s a dream worth a-dreamin’
And you want to see that dream come true
There’ll be plenty people talkin’,
Say forget all about it
Say it isn’t worth all the trouble.
All the trouble that you’re goin’ through
Well, what can you do?

You can’t take no for an answer
You can’t take no for an answer
You can’t take no for an answer.

No, no, no!

Whatcha gonna do when the times get tough,
And the world’s treatin’ you unkind?
You’ve got to hang on to your optimistic outlook,
And keep possession of your positive state of mind.”

Where was the Emmy nomination for THAT song? Well, I’m just glad that the recent muppet movie song “Man or Muppet” got an Academy Award nomination for Best Song at this year’s Oscar celebration. Congratulations to all of my muppet friends.  🙂

So, back to fundraising . . . I believe Dr. Teeth has some very important advice for fundraising volunteers when it comes to:

  1. Preparing yourself mentally for “The Ask” because 1-out-of-4 solicitations will end in a “NO”.
  2. Preparing yourself to be politely test the question: “What does NO really mean?”

As for mental preparation, I am always amazed at how few non-profit organizations put together a well-run annual campaign kickoff event. Too often, I’ve attended a kickoff meeting that feel 75 percent social, 20 percent administrative (e.g. prospect assignment) and five percent training focused. My advice to fundraising professionals is to turn this approach on its head and use the kickoff meeting to engage, train and prepare volunteer solicitors for the following:

  • how to make a technically proficient face-to-face solicitation,
  • how to prepare for the solicitation meeting both mentally and physically, and
  • how to deal with all possibilities including YES, NO, and MAYBE.

I’ve seen nothing more damaging that ill-prepared volunteers running out the door with pledge cards in hand only to run into a buzz saw of NOs. Believe me when I tell you that the first report meeting is ugly and demoralized volunteers are hard to re-motivate. So, using the training portion of the kickoff meeting to prepare volunteers on how to handle NO and maintain a mission-focused positive mental attitude is critical.

As for Dr. Teeth’s idea of “not taking NO for an answer,” I believe this also goes back to your campaign kickoff meeting. I think it is important to train to volunteer solicitors to underestand that NO simply means “not now”. Once this is understood, let’s teach volunteers to not tuck their tails and run once a prospective donors says NO. With a little training, volunteers will be able to casually engage prospects in a conversation that will net valuable information such as:

  • Is this just a bad time to be asking for a contribution? Is there a better time?
  • Is the NO a result of something the agency did (or didn’t do)? If so, what is it and what can be done to fix the situation?
  • If there is a willingness to donate but simply no money to give, then is the prospect open to supporting the agency with other gifts of time or talent?

What does your annual campaign kickoff meeting look like? What types of trainings do you provide fundraising volunteers so they feel comfortable using some of Dr. Teeth’s sound advice? How do you capture this information in your donor database? Do you use contact reports? If so, what do they look like and how do you inspire your volunteers to fill them out?

Please use the comment box below and weigh-in with your experiences and ideas. We can call learn from each other.   😉

Here’s to your health!

Erik Anderson
Founder & President, The Healthy Non-Profit LLC
www.thehealthynonprofit.com
erik@thehealthynonprofit.com
http://twitter.com/#!/eanderson847
http://www.facebook.com/eanderson847
http://www.linkedin.com/in/erikanderson847

The Twelve Days of Resource Development: Days 10, 11 and 12

We are literally just a few days away from the stockings being hung by the chimney with care in hopes that a big fat man breaks into your home in search of cookies and milk. In an effort to align this blog with the spirit of the season, I thought it might be fun to focus on the following holiday inspired question: “What would be the twelve days of resource development if such a song was written?”

On Monday, we kicked things off with Days 1, 2 and 3. On Tuesday, we looked at Days 4, 5, and 6 with two great reader suggestions from Barb Allen and Susan Rudd. Yesterday, we talked about Days 7, 8, and 9 and were blessed with a suggestion via Twitter from Ann Rosenfield, CFRE. So, I guess today is the grand finale.

I want to thank Dani Robbins (principal at Non Profit Evolution) and Barb Reynolds (Regional Chief Development Officers for the North Texas Region of the American Red Cross) for weighing in with their suggestions on what the tenth and twelfth days of resource development should be. However, before unveiling their suggestions, let’s recap the last few days:

  • On the first day of resource development, my favorite donor gave to me . . . a signed pledge with a large increase over last year’s gift level.
  • On the second day of resource development, my favorite group of fundraising volunteers gave to me . . . a commitment to work pledge cards and help put together our special events.
  • On the third day of resource development, my favorite resource development committee gave to me . . . three key written plans spelling out success in 2012 (e.g. resource development plan, prospect cultivation plan, and a donor stewardship plan.
  • On the fourth day of resource development, my most engaged and best donors gave to me . . . four fun cultivation parties that helped open the door to a warm group of new (and generous) prospects. (Barb Allen’s suggestion)
  • On the fifth day of resource development, the kids at the Boys & Girls Club gave to me . . . five truck-loads of holiday goodies and hand-decorated ornaments that will be given to some of the Club’s best donors.  (Susan Rudd’s suggestion)
  • On the sixth day of resource development, my major gifts program gave to me . . . six program staff employees who helped the resource development staff and major gifts volunteers put together a “menu of opportunities” (thus signifying elimination of organizational silos and a healthy partnership between the resource development and program departments)
  • On the seventh day of resource development, my prospect researcher gave to me . . . 7 new donor prospects with 7 figure gift capacity. (Ann Rosenfield’s suggestion)
  • On the eighth day of resource development, the board development gave to me . . . eight new board volunteers who have an amazing understanding of resource development, lots of experience with fundraising, and ideas they are dying to share that will re-shape the organization’s RD Plan to reflect “The New Norm” of our economy.
  • On the ninth day of resource development, resource development thought leaders gave to me inspiration to practice . . . the 9-keys to inspiring and managing your board towards fundraising success (which are 1. Planning, 2. Setting Expectations, 3. Training, 4. Organization, 5. Well run and important meetings, 6. Accountability, 7. Urgency, 8. Celebration & Recognition, and 9. Mission-focus)

Here is what Dani suggested the tenth day of resource development should be:

  • On the tenth day of resource development my Board of Directors gave to me . . .  10-hours they’ve set aside for training, prospecting and planning.

Since no one weighed in with a suggestion for the eleventh day, here is my thought:

  • On the eleventh day of resource development my donor database gave to me . . . 11 donors who were willing to participate in a focus group on how my agency can improve its resource development efforts.

And finally, here is what Barb suggested the twelfth day of resource development should be:

  • On the twelfth day of resource development my annual campaign volunteers (also possible that it was the website’s “donate now button”) gave to me . . . twelve donors who opted for a monthly EFT gift for each of the 12 months of the year.

Great job everyone! I was reminded the other day in an e-newsletter from Marc Pitman — aka The Fundraising Coach — that “30% of all donations come in December.” With this thought in mind, my holiday wish for you is that your December is very active and profitable. Keep pushing all the way to December 31st at 11:59 pm.

Here’s to your health!

Erik Anderson
Founder & President, The Healthy Non-Profit LLC
www.thehealthynonprofit.com
erik@thehealthynonprofit.com
http://twitter.com/#!/eanderson847
http://www.facebook.com/eanderson847
http://www.linkedin.com/in/erikanderson847

The Twelve Days of Resource Development: Days 4, 5 and 6

The holiday spirit is in the air and Santa is loading his sleigh. Holiday music is on everywhere you go, and people are drunk on egg nog and fighting back sugar induced commas brought on by eating too many cookies. For all of these reasons, I thought it might be fun to focus on the following holiday inspired question: “What would be the twelve days of resource development if such a song was written?”

On Monday, we kicked things off with Days 1, 2 and 3 . . .  and I asked readers to weigh-in with what they thought Days 4, 5 and 6 ahould be.

I want to thank Barb Allen from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta and Susan Rudd from Boys & Girls Club of Bloomington (Bloomington, Indiana, of course which is the driving influence behind The Center on Philanthropy) for jumping in with two great suggestions.

So, let’s take a moment to recap:

  • On the first day of resource development, my favorite donor gave to me . . . a signed pledge with a large increase over last year’s gift level.
  • On the second day of resource development, my favorite group of fundraising volunteers gave to me . . . a commitment to work pledge cards and help putting together our special events.
  • On the third day of resource development, my favorite resource development committee gave to me . . . three key written plans spelling out success in 2012 (e.g. resource development plan, prospect cultivation plan, and a donor stewardship plan.

Here is what Barb and Susan suggested yesterday:

  • On the fourth day of resource development, my most engaged and best donors gave to me . . . four fun cultivation parties that helped open the door to a warm group of new (and generous) prospects.
  • On the fifth day of resource development, the kids at the Boys & Girls Club gave to me . . . five truck-loads of holiday goodies and hand-decorated ornaments that will be given to some of the Club’s best donors. (personally, I love this idea soooo much more than “five golden rings”  LOL)

Since only two subscribers weighed in with suggestions yesterday, “the sixth day” was left up to me to determine.

  • On the sixth day of resource development, my major gifts program gave to me . . . six program staff employees who helped the resource development staff and major gifts volunteers put together a “menu of opportunities” (thus signifying elimination of organizational silos and a healthy partnership between the resource development and program departments)

Phew . . . it is getting more and more difficult to come up with ideas, which is why I sincerely appreciate both Barb and Susan for jumping in with great ideas yesterday.

There are more than 125 of you out there who subscribe to the DonorDreams blog and we need your help to finish this project. We have six more days of resource development to go and the hill is getting steeper. Please use the comment box below and weigh-in with an idea.

Remember, there is no such thing as a stupid idea. Additionally, please don’t forget that we can all learn from each other. I bet there is someone out there today who will read the comments from Barb or Susan and have a “EUREKA . . . AHA MOMENT”. This has happened to all of us at some point in time. So, why not give a gift to the resource development community and “pay it forward” this holiday season with the small gift of inspiration for a fellow fundraising professional?

Here’s to your health!

Erik Anderson
Founder & President, The Healthy Non-Profit LLC
www.thehealthynonprofit.com
erik@thehealthynonprofit.com
http://twitter.com/#!/eanderson847
http://www.facebook.com/eanderson847
http://www.linkedin.com/in/erikanderson847