Pandering to the Ungiving

It’s time to “raise money.” What’s the first question you ask? If it’s “how much,” you’ve already gone off track.

Depending on your fundraising training, there are all sorts of first questions:

“What are we raising it for?”

“When do we need it?”

“How will we ask?”

“Who will we ask?”

Only the last one is close to the real answer. If you’ve received the right fundraising training, you know that the first question you must answer before embarking upon any fundraising appeal is:

“What is the profile of my ideal donor?” This is Principle 4 of The Eight Principlesä, Learn & Planä. First, learn who your most likely donors are, then plan how to reach them.

The sort of fundraising training that many seem to receive is from the “ask everyone and anyone” school. This approach will raise money; it won’t raise the most nor will it raise it the longest, however.

Why? Because you’re going to spend a lot of your time doing what I call “pandering to the ungiving.”

Remember Principle 1 of The Eight Principlesä, Donors are the Driversâ. Donors drive philanthropy not with their money, but with their visions and values. Their visions and values. Let that sink in.

The obvious corollary to this is that there are many generous folks out there who for very good reasons will NOT give to you—EVER.

You can continue to ask them, to spend resources reaching out to them. But, why would you?

Because, “I don’t know how. I can’t spend the time. I don’t have the funds, to get the fundraising training to determine the real profile of my ideal donor.”

Nonsense. You’re wasting enough time and money right now that could be redirected to fix that. And remember, money is replaceable. Time is not.

So, how do you know and understand what your ideal donor likes and thinks? By altering your mindset.

The best fundraising training focuses on mindset first then refines the tool chest. You spend a little time and money to spend a lot less time raising a lot more money.

We have a very high student renewal rate for our fundraising training platforms—something like 98 percent. When someone does cancel, it’s never been for a lack of quality, relevance or results.

They say they’re so busy that they don’t have the time to learn. Everyone has the same 24 hours per day. It’s how we allocate our time that determines how successful we are.

Remember math “word problems”? Two cars in a five-day race. One sets off immediately. The second delays a day then sets off, but at twice the pace of the first. Which one crosses the finish line first and by how much? Email me with the correct answer, and I’ll send you a one-page summary of The Eight Principlesä.

Our fundraising training stresses the right mindset—the right mental paradigm. It’s the sort of training that you perhaps didn’t think you needed, but upon learning it, you wonder how you ever got along without it.

We’ve got a program to meet your needs. Structured coaching to build long-term sustainability and scalability. You choose.

Focus on learning who your ideal donor is. Then act upon that knowledge—at every step of the fundraising process. That’s fundraising training you can take to the bank.