Applying The Veritus Way Internationally!

Jeff Schreifels 

As our reach expands and the Veritus Group audience becomes more global, I wanted to take a moment to highlight some of the work we’re doing with our international clients. For today’s episode, we’ll be sharing about our approach to fundraising in an international context and what’s been working well for our NGO clients in the UK and Europe. If you’re curious about taking a relational approach to your international major gifts program, you won’t want to miss this one. I hope you enjoy the conversation.

Recorded 

Welcome to the Nothing But Major Gifts podcast from Veritus Group, featuring Richard Perry and Jeff Schreifels. Twice a month, we bring you the latest and best thinking about major gift fundraising so you can develop authentic relationships with your major donors. Here are your hosts, Richard and Jeff.

Jeff Schreifels 

Welcome to the podcast today! I’m Jeff Schreifels, and today I’ve invited two incredible people from our team to discuss an exciting aspect of our work that you may not be aware of. And in case you didn’t realize it, Veritus Group is an international consulting agency with offices in the UK and Europe, in addition to our US and Canada team. We often get questions about whether or not The Veritus Way works for a certain culture. So that’s what we’re going to be talking about today. But before we get into it, I’d like to have my guests, Karen and Sara, introduce themselves. Karen, I know you’ve been on the podcast a number of times before, but why don’t you start with a quick introduction.

Karen Kendrick 

Thank you, Jeff. Sara, so excited to be with you today. So I’ve been in the non-profit sector my whole career. It’s a lot of years. Been in the… And I love the fact that I’ve gotten to do the program side, executive director, fundraising side, and all the different positions. So it’s been an honor to be able to work in this field and support the work you’re doing. And I also grew up in the Middle East, in the Arab culture, so this is a really fun topic for me, and I’m looking forward to having the conversation with Sara.

Jeff Schreifels 

Awesome. Sara.

Sara Di Lullo 

Okay, hello. My name is Sara Di Lullo. I’m Director of Client Engagement for the Veritus Group UK and Europe. And I’ve been working in fundraising in the non-profit sector for almost 20 years. Before joining Veritus, I worked in NGOs, private foundations, universities, and always with a focus on international trends and market. You know, I’m Italian. And I’ve been living in Spain, in Barcelona, for 15 years now. And I worked for seven years for a big French NGO, Médecins du Monde, Doctors of the World, as the Public and Private Fundraising Coordinator for the International Network. So I’ve been working with NGOs, fundraisers, and donors across the world.

Jeff Schreifels 

Awesome. Well, thank you so much, both of you, for being here. And I’m really excited for today’s conversation. So to start us off, let’s talk about some of the things we’ve heard from clients in our online academy, from people in other countries, who aren’t sure if The Veritus Way will work for them. Karen, let’s start with you first.

Karen Kendrick 

You know, Jeff, it’s kind of funny. I’ve heard these from people in the U.S. as well. I think, we all think we’re unique, and everyone is unique. So we’re going to break that down, about how you are unique in your setting and how the system and structure still applies. So the things we’ve heard are things like, “Our donors are different; our mission is different; we don’t have a culture of philanthropy in our organization, or in our culture; we don’t have major donors; and the language you’re using is either too direct or too indirect.” So there’s a lot of ways in which folks get concerned about, “Does this apply to who I am and where I am and the work that I’m doing?”

Jeff Schreifels 

Yeah.

Karen Kendrick 

So Sara, talk a little bit about how you approach that. Because you’re meeting with NGOs across Europe, and you know, they have these concerns. So share a little bit about how you really help them understand how it still applies to who they are and where they are.

Sara Di Lullo 

Yeah. So first of all, we do that by leveraging the most logical and rational side of these organizations and these leaders. We ground our argument in data, and I think that’s very important, because over the last three years with Veritus UK and Europe, we did the research. We conducted a benchmarking project on a good sample of European NGOs’ donor databases. We looked at the donors’ highest tiers in these organizations, because we wanted to isolate the behavioral patterns of European high-value donors over the last five years. And then we compared this benchmark with the one that Veritus U.S. compiled over the year.

Sara Di Lullo 

So we looked at very specific metrics, like the donor attrition, the value attrition, the reactivation potential, the upgrade potential, blockages in giving levels, all kind of stuff. And we concluded that donors, you know, people, behave the same all over the world, no matter what culture or market they are in. So we show these leaders how most of these metrics are really similar, especially when we look at the giving histories of donors. Now, you know, when we are looking at applying this fundraising strategy, we do take a culture into consideration. I mean, for instance, we bring in different examples of external resources for touch points, we take templates and move it into the organization’s voice with awareness of the donor culture, and we really acknowledge the market differences, providing to every organization a local Client Experience Leader, you know, a person that really knows the culture well and knows the philanthropy market. But at the end of the day, the core of this methodology is constant throughout.

Karen Kendrick 

You know, Sara, it makes me think about, you know, the culture I grew up in, which is very about community and social. So when you’re doing business, you would never get right to business, right? You would come in. There’s like, seven different things you’re fed. You talk about family. You get to know who they are, their history. And it’s much… Much more time is spent up front, getting to know each other as fellow humans, in the context of family and culture. And then you get to business way down the road. So that would be an example, like, if I’m a fundraiser and working with someone in that culture, that would be a different rhythm than maybe someone from the Netherlands, possibly. But it could be someone from the Netherlands who also appreciates that culture. So really it’s knowing how to tune into the donor you’re working with within their culture, and the speed and rhythm of how people get to know each other and build trust.

Jeff Schreifels 

Yeah. And I feel like everything Sarah said, and Karen, what you said before, could be applied to the organizations that we work with here in the U.S., you know? Everyone has a different culture within their organization: how they talk to donors, you know, some might be more, you know, from a museum, or from, you know, public media, or… You know, so everyone has a little bit of nuance, right? And so everything that Sara just kind of highlighted is some of the same things we think about with clients, even if they’re from the same culture. So I think that’s interesting.

Jeff Schreifels 

So Sara, what do you think some of the challenges are with shifting the culture and implementing strong major gift strategies? What are some of those challenges?

Sara Di Lullo 

Yeah, you know, Jeff, the concept of major gifts fundraising is relatively new to the European market, when we compare it to markets like North America or even the UK. So, European NGOs are still in these early stages of developing strong major gift programs. And this means that there is a learning curve and there is a need for more strategic investment in this area.

Jeff Schreifels 

Yeah.

Sara Di Lullo 

Because historically, the European NGOs have invested heavily in direct fundraising techniques, so these organizations have primarily focused on mass donor acquisition strategies. So as a result, their databases are filled with small donors. You know, those donors typically contributing with 10 euros or 20 euros per month. So there is this wealth of expertise in direct response fundraising and a lack of knowledge on how to grow your donor pipeline. So this, at the same time, brings in a lack of talent. So there are many people that are very proficient in direct response techniques, but we have a shortage of skilled professionals who know how to work on strategies tailored for higher value donors.

Karen Kendrick 

You know, Sara, I was meeting with someone last week from Romania, and it was interesting. Her donor base was like, I don’t know, four to six euros a month. That was the biggest, majority of her donors. And then she had, you know, 20 to 30 or so that were giving more. But she’s here to build a mid-level program with the Veritus system and structure, because she knows, if I do a system and structure, and start building relationships, I can increase the four to six to a higher level. So, but she’s got a big job, right? She is starting in a different place, but she knows she can actually grow it to a new place, with the opportunity.

Sara Di Lullo 

Absolutely. And I think that, as it concerns European NGOs, there is one critical point that is, the most of… the donor that gives higher gifts, for instance, a donor giving 3,000 euros annually often receives the same type of communication as a donor who gives just 30 euros per year.

Jeff Schreifels 

Yeah.

Sara Di Lullo 

And well, this approach really misses the opportunity to engage and cultivate higher value donors effectively. And I think that this is all caused by this lack of experience that, on one hand, sets really unrealistic expectations on these programs, and on the other, a big misallocation of human resources. Because, too often, fundraisers are asked to take care of major gift programs part-time, and divide their focus with other commitments. So this part-time status can really slow down the process and impact on the results of building and managing a qualified caseload of donors, you know. And effective major gift fundraising really requires consistent, dedicated effort and part-time fundraisers often struggle to find the necessary time to fully engage and steward their donors.

Jeff Schreifels 

Yeah. You know, it’s interesting. Just a week or so ago, I was in the UK at a conference and talking to a lot of folks from the UK and their organizations, and they’re in the same boat. A lot of them have just not caught up to the idea of really focusing on major gifts. So they have, they’re doing all kinds of different things. They’re doing mid-level. They’re doing a little bit of major gifts. They’re doing the direct response thing. And they know they need to really focus on it, because they have the donors. But the culture hasn’t been a major gift, you know, philanthropic culture. It’s all, as you are talking about, it’s been very direct response focused. And so UK might be a little bit ahead of the rest of Europe, but it’s still similar in the sense that they’re just kind of getting going and understanding the importance of major gifts and that they need to invest in it.

Sara Di Lullo 

Yeah, totally.

Jeff Schreifels 

Okay, so how has this approach been received by some of the clients you’re working with, Sara?

Sara Di Lullo 

Well, it has been received as revolutionary. And I would love to share a couple of stories with you, if you allow me. So the first one is with the fundraisers of the Spanish Red Cross. And it’s a big organization here in Spain. Renowned. You know, people, everybody loves the Red Cross. And with this fundraiser, we really had well-planned strategies on how to approach for the first time, donors that would contribute significantly to the organization. So we are at the first call with this donor, and the fundraiser picks up the phone and starts the conversation, saying, “Thank you. Thank you so much for all your support to the Red Cross for all these years.” And when the donor realized that he was really there to say thank you and not to ask, not with, you know, with no strings attached, he was was going like, “Oh my God. That’s the first time that someone calls me just to say thank you. And I don’t only support the Red Cross. I support…” and he was saying, like, five other big NGOs in Spain. And no one had called this donor just to say thank you. You know, just to have this direct connection. And right on that phone call, they made arrangements to meet each other face to face. And then a few weeks later, they meet, and the donor pledges a big donation in that meeting.

Sara Di Lullo 

This is just amazing and what it tells me is that NGOs really have to work more and invest more on this one to one strategy. And we are seeing this constantly. You know, we are really having the proof that the one to one strategy is the one that really benefits the donor pipeline. And the other one, another story. This is very representative of something that… it has happened to me several times. This is another NGO, it’s called Educo. It’s member of the Child Fund Alliance. So they had this donor that was a donor that was giving for quite a few years to the organization, and they knew that the donor could contribute significantly to the organization’s mission. But, you know, for some reason, this donor was very shy or reserved. They couldn’t really reach out and connect to this person. So what do we do? The fundraiser writes him a letter. And in this letter, she says how grateful she is for all the commitment and all the contributions that the donor had done to the organization over the years. And then says, you know, introduces herself as his person of contact in the organization, and says, “Look, I just want to know more about you. I want to know your story and what’s your interest and what inspired you the first time to give to our organization. So if you don’t mind, I will give you a call in a few days.”

Sara Di Lullo 

So after a few days, she phones the donor. And the donor actually picks up the phone for the first time. And he was kind of expecting her to call. And she really takes the time to listen to this donor and to connect with him. And she realized that there is this one project, the summer lunch scholarship, that could match his interests. And she tells him about this program. And the donor was so touched that he immediately on the spot gave 1,000 euros, over the phone, and then they start, they now have this fluent relationship. And the 1,000 euro is over, you know, on top of his usual donation. So it was like… it was this magical moment when we’re really able to match our value proposition, our donor offer, with the donor interest, with the passion that he has. Then really magic happens. And we work on this a lot with our clients, and we’re seeing amazing results.

Karen Kendrick 

When you think about, if donors are not used to that, how you’re going to stand out as an organization, if you’re making that, you know, really human connection with donors. Beautiful. Beautiful. I know in the… I was just looking at our numbers. Our Veritus Group Academy, which we have all kinds of courses, we’ve had over 6,000 people go through a course. And really just under 1,000 of them are international. So the highest numbers are Canada, Mexico, and Australia. But we’ve got folks from Vietnam, and Singapore, and Rwanda, and Nepal, and France, and Finland, and Denmark, and Ireland, and Chile, and Argentina, and so many more.

Karen Kendrick 

So I love the fact that people are tuning in and wanting to really understand, how do they put a system and structure in place to build relationships. So that’s what The Veritus Way is so gifted in. Because first I’m qualifying donors so that donors who want to talk to me are the donors that I’m doing that one on one with, and then I’m putting them on my caseload and really thinking about a goal for them, a step by step plan for them, prioritizing them with tiers, and that puts a system and structure to do what you just shared in your story. To be able to think about, reach out, find out interests and passions, follow up with their area of interest. Otherwise, especially if you have other things on your plate, it’s very difficult to really think through and be strategic with donors and build those relationships. So that’s what The Veritus Way allows. And you know, the thing is, the common factor is, we’re all human. And so, we want to relate to folks that treat us with respect, that listen, that care about who we are, what we’re passionate about. We all, as humans in the world, want to change the world. And our hearts are broken by so many things in the world that need focus and support and love and care. And so, being a NGO, being able to tune into donors and build those meaningful relationships is key. So I love hearing your stories, Sara.

Jeff Schreifels 

Yeah, those were great stories. And thank you for joining me, Karen and Sara. And we hope this has given you a lot to think about as you apply this system and structure to your culture and organization. And if you want to learn more about the potential you have in your fundraising program and learn more about our system and structure and how it can work for you, I highly recommend getting started with our free Donor File Assessment. You can learn more about the analysis and apply to get started at the link in the show notes, or by going to our website and clicking on the Free Donor Assessment button. Thank you for joining us, and we’ll see you next time.

Karen Kendrick 

Thank you.

Sara Di Lullo 

Thank you. Bye.

Recorded 

Thank you for joining us for the Nothing But Major Gifts podcast from Veritus Group. Richard and Jeff also write an ongoing blog that you can subscribe to for free at veritusgroup.net. Please join us again next time.