“I do fundraising with corporations, foundations, government and organizations. They are NOT like individual major donors, which is why I don’t need to identify passions and interests or make personalized plans and touches.”
Jeff and I have heard this statement hundreds of times from managers of Corporate, Foundation, Government (at any level) or Organizational fundraising. And it is totally wrong.
It seems right on the surface, because an institution appears to be cold, distant and bureaucratic. And on the surface, they could be. But in reality, every institution is filled with real live human beings who think, feel and care just like individual donors do.
It is true that a corporation or business is different from an individual donor. It is true that a foundation (not a family foundation) is different from an individual donor. It is true that a governmental agency (federal, state, local) is different from an individual donor. It is also true that many organizations are different from individual donors.
They are all different in that they have different protocols, processes and systems that non-profit fundraisers need to pay attention to in order to secure funding. That is true.
But all of these institutions have one thing that all individuals have – a personality – a set of values, passions and interests that drive their giving.
- For a corporation is it a set of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) guidelines.
- For a foundation it is a list of areas they will fund – the list is an expression of their passions and interests.
- For a government agency it is a list of funding criteria with rules and regulations.
- And for other organizations there is either a published list or an informal list. I met the leaders of an organization who did not have a published list, and I asked what they were interested in funding; they immediately knew what that was. They had talked about it. They had agreed. They knew.
Another thing that is similar to an individual is this: every institution that gives you funding for program wants to know that their giving made a difference. Exactly like an individual does! If you don’t tell them they made a difference through their grant, you will never see them again. I know of several organizations who failed to report back to foundations that gave them sizeable grants, and those foundations stopped giving.
There is one more thing that is similar to individual fundraising. You have to secure and build personal relationships. All of these institutions are filled with real live human beings who think, feel and make judgments about how they are treated. Treat them poorly and you will be shunned. Care for them, listen to them, and serve them, and you will go far.
Here are the facts:
- Institutions have defined passions and interests (read: criteria for giving).
- Institutions are run by human beings with whom you can have a relationship.
- Institutions want to know that their giving to you actually made a difference (read: met their goals for community impact).
Don’t let anyone tell you that institutional fundraising is “way different” than individual fundraising, because it isn’t. You can and must have a personalized plan, with touches, for every institutional donor in your portfolio; you must have a personal relationship with someone in that institution; and you must identify, then serve, their individual passions and interests.
Richard
PS — For more on creating personalized plans with touches for every donor, click here for our free White Paper on the subject.
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Excellent post. I’ll never forget a call I made to a local company when I first became a Director of Development. They had been giving us $10,000 a year for many years, but stopped 3 years previous. No one knew why the giving stopped nor had anyone called the company. I made the call the 3rd day on the job and have never forgotten the conversation when I asked why the company stopped giving to us. “Oh that’s simple, no one nurtured the relationship!” I asked if we could rekindle the relationship, the answer was as revealing, “Yes, you can, but this is how it will work. You can apply for $1,000 once a year for the next 3 years. Then, IF you have maintained a strong relationship you can apply for the $10,000 grant. By then, another agency will have taken us for granted and dropped the relationship and we should have funds available.” I made my first visit in two weeks and then accepted their invitation to participate in a community forum for their employees two months later. They started donating to us again a month later, but at the $1,000 level.