This post originally appeared on Guidestar
Your fund
raising job never ends. If you’re like most of us, you’re having a hard time keeping the donors you have. Getting them to make larger gifts. Finding new donors.
Here’s 5 tips to overcome your biggest fundraising challenges:
1) Seek out training! New research on major gift fundraising by Adrian Sargeant and Amy Eisenstein shows the more training you get, the more you raise. How much? They found a $37,000 increase in major gift income associated with each form of training! As a special exclusive for our loyal readers, Pursuant is giving away one night free hotel to the first 10 folks who sign up for their one day Fundraising Bootcamp
2) Set a revenue goal and cultivation plan for each donor in your portfolio. Walt Disney said “A goal without a plan is just a wish.” You can’t wish your donors into giving. Hope is not a strategy. You have to be thoughtful and intentional. Determine what you should ask for and when and plan each move and each visit along to way to get there. Apply your cultivation plan and revenue goals to a calendar and you’re off to the races with a fundraising plan!
3) Resolve to learn more about your donors. Adrian Sargeant recommends, “Talk to your donors about the 1 program they care about not the 10 others they don’t.” Affordable digital tools like highly visualized email surveys can help you identify your donor’s passions and boost their retention.
4) Get clear on where you can turn the greatest fundraising profit – major gifts. Love him or hate him, but everyday Mark Zuckerberg wakes up and asks himself: "Am I doing the most important thing I could be doing?” Are you?
5) Dedicate yourself to making your donors FEEL something. While you’re trying to articulate just how awesome your programs are your donor might be tossing your letter in the trash. How YOU feel is irrelevant. What your donors feel is the ONLY thing that matters. Is your appeal rousing? Does it make them feel good about themselves for supporting you? It should.
Ready to raise more? I hope you’ll join me April 19th for Fundraising Bootcamp! The first 10 to sign up get one night free hotel!
Hope to see you there!