Does ‘The Veritus Way’ Work for Smaller Organizations?

Jeff Schreifels 

If you’re at a smaller organization, you might be thinking, “The Veritus Way sounds great, but it won’t work for us. We don’t have the resources.” Well, here’s some good news. Our systems and processes can adapt to any scale, whatever the size of your organization. Today on the podcast, Richard and I are joined by Theresa Tapocsi, who is one of our incredible client experience leaders. Theresa will be sharing about her own experience as a fundraiser in a small organization, and what she learned while trying to implement The Veritus Way on a small scale. Wherever you are in your fundraising journey, we know this will inspire you.

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 today’s podcast. I have Richard Perry with me and Theresa Tapocsi, one of our very talented Client Experience Leaders here at Veritus. We’ll hear from Theresa in just a minute. But, Richard, today we’re going to talk about implementing best practices in major gifts, or small organizations, and some of the difficulties folks have with it. I really think this is an important topic.

Richard Perry 

I mean, it really is Jeff. I mean, it’s because, of the 1.8 million or so non-profits here in the United States, 97% of them are considered small. So the majority of the non-profits are small, yet many of the leaders and managers of those non-profits believe that they too, are, you know, they’re just way too small themselves to adopt best practices in their organization. Right. And that those structures and strategies and processes, like that we’re going to talk about today, are just for the big guys.

Jeff Schreifels 

Well, I know. And you know, the other day, I actually had this development director call me and tell me how much she enjoyed one of our webinars we did on value attrition. And why reviewing and analyzing data is so important before you start a major gift program. But then she is like, lamenting that because she makes up the entire development team, so there’s just no way she could ever start a major gift program. She’s, you know, like, “We’re way too small of an organization. And everything you and Richard talk about is having a caseload of 150 donors to make up a portfolio. So quite honestly, I can’t even think about it,” she says.

Richard Perry 

I know, isn’t that something? I mean, I think the mentality is that the structure and the process and the systems are that we’re always talking about, you know, it’s what we call The Veritus Way, that they’re just way too complex for a small organization. So totally, you know, none of it’s really that useful. So, and this is really, really wrong thinking. I mean, the whole thing works. No matter what size of an organization, you are, really, I mean, has nothing to do with like staff members and the development team. A number of them are. I mean, some of these organizations are a one-person shop. Yeah. It’s about the way of thinking of doing things.

Jeff Schreifels 

Okay, so let’s unpack that. And that’s why we asked Theresa to join us today, because she has personally experienced everything we’re talking about here and has some really good, good and practical advice. So Theresa, welcome.

Theresa Tapocsi 

Thank you, Jeff. I’m happy to be here today.

Jeff Schreifels 

So glad you’re with us. So tell us, before coming to Veritus, you worked in a very small organization. And you were following what Richard and I were writing and talking about. And as you’ve said to us, you failed at implementing much of product of the process and structure we suggest. Tell us why is that and tell us your story.

Theresa Tapocsi 

I did fail. I was working as a capital campaign manager at a small arts organization. And I loved you guys, I followed all the blogs, I absorb everything free I could get my hands on white papers, all of your free webinars. And I really did try my best or so I thought to implement The Veritus Way in the work that I was doing. But now after joining Veritus, and in my role here working with a lot of different smaller organizations to help them implement The Veritus Way, I kind of look back at what I tried to accomplish and see a lot of the different reasons that I failed.

Richard Perry 

All right, so we’ve got to dig into that Theresa. So why why did you fail?

Theresa Tapocsi 

So you know, it’s really easy when you’re a small shop, to simply kind of pick and choose choose which parts of the Veritus model and philosophy that you’ll do. And then just kind of ignore the ones that you decide don’t make sense for your situation. I 100% did that. And don’t get me wrong, some of it’s better than none of it, for sure. But in looking back, it would have been better if I had just adapted the entire model on a smaller scale. As opposed to just picking and choosing random pieces. I do want to interject and say that all of these failures are my failures. No one else is I had a wonderful boss and a wonderful team at this organization. And they really trusted me to do what I felt was best. So the failures here that I’m talking about, were really just my failures to understand what you all at Veritus were saying, and then truly implement it.

Jeff Schreifels 

Okay, so let’s get into some of the specifics. Where do you think you failed?

Theresa Tapocsi 

Okay. So I think a big thing was my focus and thinking was very linear in terms of move management. So my objective was just to get through these moves management steps, following them in a straight line. And the end result was always focused on getting that capital campaign gift. All of the processes and systems and structures that I set up, were all about just that next step towards the get next step towards the gap. That was the endgame. But that whole approach really hurts that long-term relationship with the donor, because we weren’t thinking about that continuous cycle of cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship, especially not beyond the campaign.

Richard Perry 

That is so interesting. So you were focused on the money. And so since you were doing that, that means you were really not focused on the donor and the donor’s passions and interests.

Theresa Tapocsi 

Yeah, unfortunately, that is right, Richard. We were really focused on our organizational needs and the needs of that capital campaign. And we were not thinking about the needs and the passions and interests of the donors. And you know, another area where I failed was not qualifying our donors. I know. We had this large pool of donors to approach it was way, way, way too big. And I knew, I knew what you all said about this. But in my head, my reasoning was, “Well, Jeff and Richard, they don’t know my situation. We’re different. So we need all these names.”

Jeff Schreifels 

Well, I mean, we’ve heard that one before, right. Yeah, we have: “we’re different.” So you have this large pool of donors. I bet you didn’t qualify any of them either.

Theresa Tapocsi 

No, you know, we really didn’t, even though that’s another point that Veritus hammers home a lot. In my head, I didn’t put two and two together that qualified meant the donor already had a two-way relationship with someone at the organization. We did have a really very strong, loyal donor base. And, you know, we knew some of them from cultivation and stewardship events. But there were only a handful, not too many have these very personal relationships above and beyond that. And then moreover, a lot of the donors on this broad list that we were working from were either prospects, or they were event donors with very tight connection. So again, I felt like we needed these options, because we had a very big campaign goal. And perhaps we did, but we did not have the staff to even try to qualify all these donors, let alone actually build strong relationships with all these donors.

Theresa Tapocsi 

And another place I failed was we didn’t track their communication preferences. I don’t know how I missed that one, just skipped that point. But instead, I just did everything for everyone. Everyone got snail mail and email. And so the ROI for my time was clearly not there. And somehow I also missed goal-setting and cash-flowing those goals, again, because I was so focused on that one end goal with the capital campaign.

Richard Perry 

Okay. Wow. That’s quite a story, isn’t it, Jeff? I mean, so let me get this straight to you. So you’re a small organization. You don’t think what we’re saying about process structure and strategy works in small organizations. So you focus on the money, the money versus the donor, then you don’t qualify donors, then you don’t set goals or cash flow those goals. And you made those decisions because you thought you were too small, and that the best practice really doesn’t work in small organizations. I mean, did I kind of get all that right?

Theresa Tapocsi 

Yeah, that’s pretty much it.

Jeff Schreifels 

Okay, well, what would you say to a listener now, who’s working for that small organization?

Theresa Tapocsi 

Well, first off, you can do it. I’ve been there. But secondly, I want to tell you that with confidence, all of the systems and processes and structure and strategies that we talked about at Veritus have nothing to do with the size of the organization. You in your small shop can and should apply all of it to your situation, every single piece. Doesn’t matter what your situation; you have to focus on the donors and his or her needs. You must identify their passions and interests and communication preferences. And you can’t do that unless you qualify them. You have to set goals for them. And you have to cash flow those goals so you know where you’re going. And then you need a personalized plan for every donor to get you to that goal. Your donor offers, all of your asks need to be tailored to the specific donor and what you have learned that they are interested in. All of those elements are crucial to really having a strong major gifts program.

Richard Perry 

Or I’m so glad to hear you say all this, Theresa. I mean, you’ve been there.

Theresa Tapocsi 

I have.

Richard Perry 

And honestly sharing what you failed to do is so important to many leaders, managers, and frontline fundraisers who are listening to this podcast. Jeff, let’s let’s share some of things that fundraisers can do that are in smaller organizations. I think that would be helpful.

Jeff Schreifels 

And then you really need to create buy-in and understanding of the importance of major gifts so that everyone at your organization should understand the role of the donor. And the role of fundraising as you start your program. You’ll need to partner with anyone doing program, finance, marketing work as you continue to grow and develop that program. And we know this is critical. Often, when you’re on your own in development, the other teams have no clue what you’re trying to accomplish. So getting buy-in from everyone at the beginning, is going to help you in the long term. Now, this work does take effort. But by putting in the right steps at the very start, you’ll be able to grow and move toward a full time program that we know is going to thrive. And the good news is that in our experience, smaller organizations often have an easier time getting on board and making a large impact for the organization. So stick with it.

Jeff Schreifels 

Alright, here’s what we suggest you do to set up your program for success. One, assess your data. You need to really understand who you have in your donor file. What are they giving year over year? What are your value and donor attrition rates, and then identify your major gifts level, you need to do that. You don’t need to wait to have your donors giving thousands of dollars to start a major gift program. Some programs, I mean, Richard, we’ve seen, they started the annual gift of $500 cume, right, and some might be $250, if you’re really small, right? You do not need to have a bunch of significant gifts to be able to start creating more personal relationships with your donors.

Richard Perry 

Well, and yeah, and then create a pool of donors who meet the criteria Jeff was talking about. I mean any donor who has given you know, whatever your number is, like he said, $250 or $500, or whatever, cumulatively in any one of the last three years, and then do the qualifying. I mean, we have a white paper on qualifying that you could get from our website. And then identifying those passions and interests. As Theresa mentioned, the communication preferences, doing the personalized plan, all that stuff. You make sure that all of these tasks are tailored to the donor. Yeah. And that you have the donor offers that work for them, and then you’ll be well on your way.

Theresa Tapocsi 

And the coolest thing about this Richard and Jeff is I’ve learned through my time working with Veritus and working with a lot of small shops that this can really work in a small shop just as well as a large one. I’ve seen it it really does.

Jeff Schreifels 

Oh yeah, totally does. So we would love to offer you three things to get you on your way to using these strategies and methods at your organizations. First we have a white paper on how to qualify donors called Qualifying Donors for Major Gift Caseloads. You really need to get thism and then there’s another white paper called Starting a Successful Major Gift Program. And that will help you create the structure that we call The Veritus Way to help you manage the day to day of your portfolio. Now, to get both of those white papers, simply go to a veritusgroup.net/resources and click on the white papers and you will see them there.

Jeff Schreifels 

And then lastly, we’re here to work with you if you need our help. Or you know you’d love a person like Theresa to work with you every day because she’s been there. We have a way to help and you can reach out to our person who talks to all of our new potential clients, Amy Chapman and her email is achapman@veritusgroup.net. Richard, this has been so good. And Theresa, thanks so much for sharing your story. And Richard, I hope we have made the point that The Veritus Way works with all types of organizations large and small.

Richard Perry 

I think we have. Just know that whatever your situation is, whatever your size doesn’t matter. Whether you’re a one- person shop or whatever, all of this works in your situation. That’s the point we’ve tried to make in this podcast. So now all you have to do is apply it.

Jeff Schreifels 

That’s right. So thank you for joining us today and we’ll see you next time.

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.