PowerPoint Presentation PDF - Oregon Nonprofit Leaders Conference

Building Major Gifts Into Your
Total Development Program:
From the Beginning
Oregon Nonprofit Leaders Conference
April 19, 2016 – 9:30 a.m. – 10:45 a.m.
Kay Sprinkel Grace, Presenter
Agenda
Welcome, introductions
 Why you don’t have to wait to start a
major giving program
 Getting ready for success: process
 Keeping (and keeping track) of your
donors: Transaction to
Transformation
 Strategies for gaining support
 Summary and close

Why do we wait?
And why is it so hard to get started?
Discussion
The Three Great Truths
About Fundraising
People give to you because you meet
needs, not because you have needs. It
is NOT about you.
 A gift to you is really a gift through you
that you must put to work in the
community. You are a social
investment vehicle and if you don’t
show community impact, donors will
find another organization in which to
invest.
 Fundraising is not about money, it is
about relationships based in shared
values.

The Context for Our Work
Philanthropy
Based in values
Development
Uncovers shared values
Fund Raising
Gives people opportunities
to act on their values
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Challenges to
Major Giving

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Increasingly competitive philanthropic
environment
Changes in traditional funding sources
Positioning your organization as an urgent
priority in the community
Absence of a“culture of philanthropy” at
many organizations
Wrong development marketing focus (Black
& Decker)
What Motivates Major Donors?
And All Donors?
Trust
 In your organization, your leaders
 For what you will do with their money
Relevance
 How does this relate to me? To my
community?
 In the whole scheme of things, how relevant
is this?
Urgency
 Urgency is NOT your urgent need for money,
it is the urgent needs in the community you
are meeting
 Among other priorities, how urgent is this?
What Does it Take?
Are You Ready to
Raise Major Gifts?
The Pillars of Fundraising


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Case for support with strong mission, vision
and values
Prospects
Strategic development plan
Budget to support your plan
Willing board members and other
volunteers (who will cultivate, ask, steward)
Why Do You Need All This?
To create a reservoir of case information that
can be updated and drawn on easily and
frequently
 To create a primary resource for positioning
your organization for effective donor-investor
engagement
 Because “systems liberate” – if you do it
right once, and keep it updated, it will be a tool
that you can use over and over
 Because it is really tiring to have to reinvent the
entire wheel every time you have a donor–
investor opportunity

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Creating a Major Gifts
Fundraising Team
Requires volunteers and staff who
understand and embrace the mission, vision
and values and work together with clear job
descriptions and an understanding of
boundaries
 Succeeds best in a culture of philanthropy
where the entire staff (development, program,
executive) understand they are part of the
“development team” and where the board is
trained and confident
 Transparency, communication, recognition
and appropriate assignments are all keys to
success

The Board’s Role in
Development/Fundraising
Board members will be reluctant to do
what they are not confident, motivated
or trained to do
 They are absolutely essential for major
giving – but they don’t need to ask!
 You will need to train and coach them
 They will need to understand the
importance of major giving to the overall
future of your organization

Top Ideas for Engaging Your
Board
Be clear and specific in assignments
 Engage them in planning and offer
them specific opportunities to do things
that support development in its full
spectrum
 Constantly connect your board with the
mission, impact and stories of your
organization

Key Steps
The Major Gifts Process
Kinds of Major Gifts
Unrestricted
Restricted
Major
Gifts
Annual
Special
Fundraising
Campaign
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The Process
 Identification
 Qualification
 Development
Strategy
 Cultivation
 Evaluation
 Solicitation
of
 Follow
up
 Stewardship
 Renewal
 The potential for
partnership and
involvement in each
step is great
What is Prospecting?
From:
To:
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What Are You Looking For?

Connection (Linkage)

Concern (Interest)

Capacity (Ability)
 Emotional
 Intellectual
 Less important than the other two, but obviously
needed for large gifts
Key Cultivation Principles
Very important step: if people are not
engaged, they will not give as generously
 The purpose of cultivation is to build or
strengthen relationships with prospects and
donors: Connection, Concern, Capacity
 Another purpose is to convey Trust,
Relevance and Urgency to your donor
prospect
 Cultivation is strategic, not random
 You all have resources for cultivation: your
imagination (and budget) is/are the only
limitation(s)

Strategic Cultivation
Management

Role of intuition

Role of volunteers

Role of staff
 Let your intuition guide you – often you will
“sense” when a person is ready
 Key people for cultivation – offering time,
testimonials and enthusiasm
 The full development team: leadership and other
professional staff need to be informed and
involved relative to cultivation activities
Engaging Donors for The Long
Term
Cultivation, solicitation and stewardship
must be personal (or personalized) –
“Show me that you know me”
 We have to move beyond transaction –
believing that the purpose of the
outreach to a donor is to get money –
our purpose is to build long term
relationships that are mutually beneficial
 We have to believe in the
transformational power of philanthropy to
change lives and communities – and
donors

Transactional Bell Curve:
The Way We Acquire Our Donors
High Impact Philanthropy
Kay Sprinkel Grace, Alan Wendroff
Transformational Infinity Loop: How
We Create and Keep Major Donors
High Impact Philanthropy
Kay Sprinkel Grace, Alan Wendroff
Stewardship: The Key to
Long Term Engagement
“I would maintain that thanks are the highest
form of thought, and that gratitude is
happiness doubled by wonder.” ~G.K.
Chesterton
“ Who does not thank for little will not thank
for much.”
~ Estonian proverb ~
Stewardship Defined:
Everyone’s Job
•
•
The continued engagement of donors after
a gift is made; the continuous engagement
of donors to ensure renewal and increased
giving.
Stewardship responsibility and opportunities
extend to all areas of your organization
because the entire institution benefits from
the gifts of donors: wherever donors
intersect with your organization, stewardship
should be extended.
Infinity Loop: Keeping Your
Donor-Investors Engaged
1. You Make Your Case
2. You Tailor Your Case
3. Your Donor Investors Champion Your Case
High Impact Philanthropy
Kay Sprinkel Grace, Alan Wendroff
What Major Donors Want to
Know
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The needs we are meeting (not the
needs we have)
Our track record for meeting those needs
(impact, not just reach)
Indications of creative, fresh, positive
solutions to community needs for
education, health, culture, arts – the full
array of philanthropic investment options
Evidence of our partnerships with other
organizations in the community
A “big idea” to engage them in your
dream
For Success, You Need…
An engaged board and other volunteers
 A staff that is committed to creating a
culture of philanthropy (found throughout
the organization, not just in the
Development office) and a meaningful
donor experience
 A commitment to on-going data analysis
 Reliable data tracking systems and a
commitment to accuracy and timeliness

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And …
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Stories to tell around the larger mission
A big idea worthy of investment
Transparency, accountability and candor
A belief that the true urgency is the need
you are meeting, not the needs you have
Systems to support your program
Two Ideas to Leave You With
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Fundraising is the gentle art of teaching
the joy of giving.
-Hank Rosso
Donors don’t give to institutions. They
invest in ideas and people in whom they
believe.
-G.T. Smith
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Oregon Nonprofit Leaders
Conference
Kay Sprinkel Grace, Presenter
www.kaygrace.org
kaysprinkelgrace@aol.com