Physics in Fundraising: How to Use Leverage and Friends to Lift Heavy Objects
Physics is a science that deals with matter and energy and their interactions. Matter and energy are both required to successfully raise funds.
Fundraising is a never-ending race, and in order to maintain your speed, your organization must use leverage through your or your stakeholder’s efforts to engage prospects. Leverage builds on the interests, values, priorities, and intent of your donors.
Leverage can also mean taking something you’ve done previously and using it to its maximum potential or advantage to increase your results in the future, especially where your donor has demonstrated interest.
Just as we have addressed in the previous blogs (Step 4: Communications and Step 3: Connectors), having a series of conversations with your donors will uncover some of their “hot spots” for giving and their personal feelings toward your organization. Building a discussion around their values provides tremendous insights and can make a tremendous difference for both your donor and your organization.
To obtain major and planned gifts for your organization, FUNDING matters recommends using leverage and alliances in engaging prospects. In this blog, we’ll discuss how leverage helps prospects understand the benefits and impacts of major or planned gifts. Let’s get started.
What are the three steps to using leverage and alliances to cultivate prospects?
1. Understand the donor and their family’s interests, values, views, and priorities. The insights can be sought through brainstorming, research, and support provided by volunteers and/or stakeholders; or just having a conversation with the prospect.
2. Engage your network and connections in prospect engagement. This will help open doors that seemed impenetrable. Your stakeholders or friends can act as links to individuals that you weren’t sure how to connect with.
3. Introduce relevant estate, financial, and taxation planning. This type of planning with their families and advisors can make a tremendous difference and increase donations by generating a larger tax credit to reduce taxable capital gains.
Success in any fundraising initiative depends on your ability to connect your charity’s mission, goals, and objectives with the donor’s values, views, interests, and priorities. Research makes this connection. Your charity can find where the money is through prospect research (Step 2: Prospect ID and Research) either directly or indirectly. Let me explain further.
I can’t tell you how often I have been approached by a volunteer in an organization who offers a name of an individual that I should approach. The prospective donor was never on anyone’s list to approach for a donation, but there we are finding a way to reach out. The volunteer not only offered the name but also a willingness to facilitate the introduction. These hidden gems are only unearthed through alliances that are in many cases not obvious.
The second step in this process is utilizing the Leadership Committee’s relationships and connections in prospect engagement. Typically, FUNDING matters will invite prospects to use the Giftabulator Best Ways to Give web app at this stage. This allows prospects to explore the idea of giving a gift.
Developed by FUNDING matters Inc., the Giftabulator ”Best Ways to Give” illustrates how to structure major and planned gifts. Giftabulator Best Ways to Give allows individuals to privately run through multiple major and planned giving donation scenarios.
The Giftabulator optimizes the donations section of your client’s website to guide individuals through the process of formulating a gift that is tailored to their unique financial situation. They’ll ultimately come away with the knowledge that making a gift to your campaign is achievable.
Throughout this process, the Leadership Committee and prospects develop an alliance. While major and planned gifts from total strangers occur, they are exceedingly rare. Coordinating deeper relationships with prospects through genuine engagement helps to solicit major and planned gifts in the future. FUNDING matters can help facilitate the cultivation and solicitation process.
We understand the need to engage in discussions with family, financial and legal advisors, and accountants. We know that taking these steps can ensure a successful legacy, and we take great care in developing customized, compelling, and well-thought-out proposals that specifically address donors’ needs and expectations. These proposals also help to maximize our revenue.
Throughout the fundraising process, FUNDING matters provides its clients with the experience, judgment, and wisdom of our counsel. This third step pertains to the ability to discuss relevant estate, financial, and taxation planning with your prospect. It is highly important for the family of the prospect to feel comfortable with their donation when it comes to discussing philanthropy with prospective donors and their families.
Why does this approach work?
Relationships between organizations and prospects begin with knowledge and evolve through the stages of interest, investment, and finally, ownership. Cultivation helps accelerate the process and increase the likelihood of securing the maximum gift possible.
Unless there is a corresponding readiness to give, the capacity to give will not necessarily result in a proportionate gift. Establishing a relationship (alliance) between the organization and the prospect before asking for the gift provides additional leverage.
Finally, in addition to the on-going personal cultivation by the campaign leaders, it will be necessary to hold a series of meetings where prospective donors and leaders can learn more about the project. In most cases, these meetings will be one-on-one (Step 1: Virtual Brainstorming).
Final thoughts
In this blog, we talked about Step 5: Leverage, which helps to engage with prospects in a way that allows them to understand the impact of major or planned gifts. The never-ending race of fundraising is always more successful if you’re coordinated in your approach and prepared to demonstrate impact.
You can learn more about the GIFTABULATOR here and read more about the 7 Step Power Donor Solution here.
Happy fundraising.