'We Don't Want Your Money …'

The great Tom Ahern recently said: "A case for support is not so much about what your organization does. A case for support is mostly about your promise, the promise you make to the world through your mission, your accomplishments and your plans."

(Question: What is your promise to the community through your work?)

3. The United Way called its four major goals 'Impact Strategies'
This kind of focus and wording helps drive the point home, particularly with corporate funders.

(Question: Could you turn your case into several "Impact Strategies" — each with a measurable goal? If you did, I bet you'd have an easier time fundraising!)

4. The United Way sought a 'mutual-benefit partnership' with its corporate funders
It invited its funders to share the dream, embrace the four goals and be part of the solution. It envisioned itself at the intersection between the corporate world and the people of the city of Detroit.

5. It created a transformational cultivation experience for its major corporate prospect — the automaker's North American president
What's a transformational cultivation experience? Tammy says it is "providing a life-changing, hands-on experience in the donor's preferred mission area of your work. It's like mentoring a child, volunteering on the crisis hotline, awarding a scholarship, riding in the ambulance, a 'day-in-the-life-of' shadowing experience."

(Question: How can you create a transformational cultivation experience for your major donors?)

Bottom Line: This approach and these ideas can guide you to much, much bigger money. It's all in how you approach your donor.

The next time you call on a mega-prospect, try saying, "We don't want your money. We want you to come see what we do."