A Donor Offers to Give You Twice What You Expected

There were two events last month I want to tell you about.

They are opposite. In one, the frontline fundraiser was ready. In the other, he wasn’t. And it was an opportunity lost.

Context: Jeff and I and our team of frontline fundraising coaches are constantly telling our clients that, to be successful in mid, major and planned giving fundraising, it is extremely important to know the donor’s passions and interests and be ready to present that donor with a program or project that matches those passions and interests.

We also add these important points:

1. Make sure that you have an ask that matches the donor’s capacity and inclination to give, and
2. Be bold about asking.

OK. Given that context, here is what happened:

The frontline fundraiser for organization A had a donor offer that perfectly matched the donor’s interests and passions. This donor had consistently given $5,000 a year. The frontline fundraiser asked for $200,000. The donor said: “OK, but if I gave you $450,000, how would you spend it?” The frontline fundraiser was ready for that possibility and gave a logical and perfect answer. She called me last week and said: “Richard! I have a check for $450,000 in my hand! Thanks for telling me to be ready.”

Here’s an example of a frontline fundraiser working with program and leadership to be ready to go beyond the budget for the year and take advantage of a donor’s desire to help beyond what was expected.

Contrast this example to Organization B where the frontline fundraiser had a donor offer that perfectly matched the donor’s interests and passions, where the donor had capacity and inclination to give more, where the donor offered to give substantially more, and where the frontline fundraiser could not answer the “how will you spend it” question from the donor. The result? The donor gave their “regular” amount, which was a lot lower than what they could have given. It was a lost opportunity. The organization and, by extension, the frontline fundraiser, did not have a vision or plan for the future. They were simply focused on reaching the goals set for the month and year.

Don’t be in this situation. Take the following steps to be ready when your donor is so captivated by what you are presenting that they want to do more than you expected:

1. Work with your program people and leadership to have a program vision and plan that goes beyond this year’s plan. Answer the question: for the long term, where are we going with this program and what is our estimate of what it will cost? I am working with an organization right now, where the annual budget is $6 million and where the leader, who was in my home two weeks ago, shared his 10-year $70 million program plan. If he could get that $70 million today, he could implement the program in the next few years. He is ready.
2. Secure permission to offer the program expansion option to your donor if the donor wants to give more. And, on this point, it may simply be that you have room in this year’s budget to do more and you either need to ask the donor to do more or allow them, like my example above for Organization A, to give more.
3. When, in your interaction with your donor, you perceive an inclination to give more, go with that inclination and boldly ask. Jeff and I and our team of frontline coaches run into this situation quite a bit: the frontline fundraiser, for fear of rejection or conflict, does not ask boldly.

There are so many situations where a donor wants to do more but the organization and/or the frontline fundraiser is not ready for them to do it. Do not find yourself in this situation.  Be ready.

Richard