As a major gift officer, it’s crucial to connect your donor to the need that your organization serves. Read how Peter Zehren does it at the Salvation Army and his process for connecting his donors to the need the Salvation Army serves.
If you want to confuse your donor, or anyone else receiving your verbal, written, or electronic communication, then don’t start with context. Just jump in and start writing or talking. That will get them confused.
If a donor doesn’t want to meet with you, it’s likely because her perception of HOW you want to USE her TIME is not valuable enough for her.
Examine all of your asks and proposals in the next week or so, and look at the “because” in each of them. Does your “because” have something to do with solving a societal problem? If not, you are on the wrong track.
Too often, we talk about a societal problem using big-picture language, rather than boiling it down to one person, one animal or one forest. One-to-one is the way to get people to care – and to give.
You need projects that will match who donors are and what they are interested in. That will keep your them happy. And we all know that happy donors will stay with you.
Twice monthly, Richard and Jeff address current topics and classic problems in major gift fundraising.
