Major Donor Visits Made Easy in 3 Steps

When you are making a call on a major donor prospect, it’s always a good idea to know what you really want to accomplish.

You finally have the meeting with Mr. Big. What’s next?

So many people are confused about what they want out of important visits. They think their job is to talk a lot and make a killer presentation—– and that’s the last thing you want to do!

Instead, you need to take it easy and go slowly!

Here are three important objectives for every single major donor visit you will ever make:

1. You want to establish a long-term, productive relationship with your prospect
You want to be able to ask her for advice. Or ask her about other potential donors. You want her opinion of new events or initiatives. You want her to tell you what other people in town are saying about your organization.

And you hope that you can eventually ask her for a favor. Or money.

In other words, you want her to become a friend to your organization.

This kind of long-term, productive relationship is worth a lot to an organization.

You are not about selling something. You are not about the money. And you certainly don’t want to bore her by doing all the talking, do you?

2. You are looking to find out where your prospect stands
Another important goal for your visit is to find out your prospect’s disposition toward you and your cause. Is he still interested? Is he losing interest? What are his questions about today? What’s on his mind? What are his hot buttons?

Perhaps he is a former donor — does he still feel close to your organization?

Perhaps she is brand-new to the community — could she become interested in your cause? Could she be helpful?