Face-to-face Fundraising

Rich Brown, a visiting clinical professor at New York University's George H. Heyman Center for Philanthropy and Fundraising, shared 26 conversation tips during his presentation, "Major Gifts: 15 Things You Absolutely Must Know," at the Association of Fundraising Professionals' Fundraising Day in New York last week.

In case you don’t know, troglodytes are hermits who live in caves. There are three ways I’ve found that folks in the development profession fit this description. Are you a cave dweller? If so, here’s how to get out more. Get out from behind your desk. Begin to embrace social media. Think outside the cave. 

In March 2007, then-FS Associate Editor Abny Santicola interviewed Rabbi Levi Shemtov, executive director of the West Bloomfield, Mich.-based Friendship Circle, to talk about that organization's fundraising success. In "I'm Not a Professional Fundraiser," the rabbi discussed how Friendship Circle focused on one-on-one relationships with donors to "take the ask out of fundraising."

Ted Hart speaks with Marc Pitman, founder of FundraisingCoach.com and member of the FundRaising Success Editorial Advisory Board, about his book, "Ask Without Fear," and fundraising.

Remember in "The Graduate" the one-word piece of advice given to Dustin Hoffman? Plastics. That was seen to be the wave of the future. Recently I gave another “P” word as my best piece of advice for nonprofit marketers and fundraisers. Personal. I received a lot of feedback, so I’d like to revisit this word and flesh out its multiple meanings — and how getting personal can help you achieve your fundraising and marketing goals.

Acknowledge to yourself that the hardest part of fundraising is getting the visit. Once you know this you’ll be less frustrated. There’s nothing wrong with you if you’re having a hard time getting through to someone. Everyone does. Persevere. Try different channels until you find one that works (phone, e-mail, text, snail mail, Facebook, etc.). We all have communication preferences.

It is always startling to me when a donor engages in a fundraising process conversation with me. This is exactly what happened yesterday during one of my donor interviews. The donor I am referencing simply said: “The nonprofit sector needs to have a paradigm shift. They need to move from selling to serving.” This opened the door to a rich conversation about the importance of stewardship and loving your donors. (Believe it or not the words "stewardship" and "loving your donors" came out of his mouth and not mine.)

Without donors, your entire organization would grind to a halt — and therefore it’s easy to behave as though a donors is always right. But the donor is not always right. In fact, most of the time, donors are wrong. Let us count the ways and give those donors a bit of the unsolicited advice they’re so happy handing out to nonprofits.

The power to push back against the tide of need, apathy, ignorance, etc., behind the degradation of behavioral ethics lies more likely with nonprofits, with community groups. The power lies in the human connection. And the human connection is where nonprofit fundraisers excel.

Opportunity is everywhere, and not just strictly in the form of donors and dollars. Sometimes it wears a mask, and it hides in plain sight. But most development professionals have the innate skills to find it, learn from it and use it to help with future challenges. Here are two examples of what I mean.