Whether they know it or not, everyone in your organization is part of the fundraising process.  So you may as well be purposeful about involving them.

From the person who answers the phone to the volunteer coordinator to the person on the front lines, everyone interacts with the public at some point.  This interaction gives an impression of your organization.  If your staff is friendly and warm, people get a positive impression and they’ll be much more likely to give when the time comes.  If they have a sour impression of your staff as grouchy or uncaring, they may not want to support your organization financially.  Put yourself in the donor’s shoes – how does the overall attitude of the nonprofit’s staff affect your interest in giving?

Train your staff (and volunteers) to look at everyone they interact with as a potential million dollar donor.  It’ll shift their perspective for the better!

Got a great fundraising tip??  Share it here for a chance to win a Kindle.  It’s just part of the launch of my new book “Get Fully Funded:  How to Raise the Money of Your Dreams.”  Catch all the launch party details at www.getfullyfunded.com/launch-party.

Here’s a quick tip that I shared with a group that I worked with this week.  It’s about doing the best you can, no matter what you’re doing.

It comes from a quote that I learned from my business coach Fabienne Fredrickson.  Here it is:

“How you do anything is how you do everything.”

Simple, yet profound.  What it means is that if you are sloppy in one area of your work, you are probably sloppy in every area of your work.  If you are detail-oriented with one thing, you’re probably detail-oriented in everyting you do.

I use this to catch myself doing something I don’t really want to do, like taking shortcuts or procrastinating.  When I catch myself, I ask myself where else am I doing this?  There’s usually somewhere.

Take some time to think about this and how it might apply to you and your work.

We’re less than 2 weeks away from the official launch of “Get Fully Funded: How to Raise the Money of Your Dreams.”  In it, you’ll find all the tips, proesses, and worksheets to help you raise more money than you ever have before.  Stay tuned for more details!

Fundraising rockstars are people who get it.  They’re raising big money and rockin’ their nonprofit.  Their fundraising activities are solid, including how theu raise money online.

Did you know that most donors check out your website before they make a gift – whether they are giving on line or through the mail? A recent study found that potentially up to 50% of your donors are going to check you out online before they give, whether they give online or not. Your website’s purpose is to provide an online resource for donors and prospects about the work your nonprofit is doing. You might also use it to recruit volunteers, communicate with clients, and more, but be sure that its main purpose is education about your mission and your work.

Your website does not have to be fancy. In fact, the simpler, the better. It needs to look professional, clean, and inviting.

Be sure that your website has all the information that someone might need to make the decision to give.  Here are some questions you should ask about your site to see if it is helping your fundraising efforts.

 1.      Does your web site represent you well? Does it tell a compelling, moving story (i.e., photos of people helped by your organization)?

 2.      When someone visits your site, can they find what they want easily?

 3.      What’s the call to action on your site? What do you want visitors to do?

Want more info about raising money online?  My workbook “Secrets to Raising Money Online” is part of a cool package you can get from the Fundraising Rockstars.  I’ve teamed up with Pamela Grow, Mazarine Treyz, and Desiree Adaway to bring you a complete package of information to help you become a FUndraising Rockstar.  Check it out at http://fundraisingrockstars.com/fundraising-rockstars/.

Got your attention?  Good. There’s something bad that’s happening in lots of nonprofits and I don’t want it to happen to you.

You see, lots of well-meaning people are making decisions for their donors instead of letting their donor decide.  They’re deciding how much their donors want to give and when they want to give, instead of letting the donor decide.  It’s rude and it hurts your fundraising.

Here’s an example.  Yesterday, I met with a wonderful, passionate woman who is Executive Director of a small nonprofit that is changing many lives for the better.  She was explaining to me how they keep in touch with their donors.  One strategy they use is to send gift summary letters out in January, but only to those donors who gave $200 or more during the year.

“Why?” I asked her.  I was shocked that they’d leave out so many donors and basically ignore them. She didn’t have a good answer.  Probably they do it to save money.  I explained to her that many of those “lower level” donors might be capable of giving much more if she spent a little time with them too.  She seemed to think that some of them had made a one-time gift.

I wanted to ask her “Since when are you all knowing?”  But I phrased it a little nicer than that. 

The point is this:  unless you’re a mind-reader, you don’t know WHAT is going on inside a donor’s head and heart.  Don’t make decisions for them.  Don’t assume that “the economy is bad and people won’t give.”  Instead, give your donors the opportunity to give when and how much they want.  When you cut them out because you think you know what they’ll do, you definitely won’t raise any money.

In 17 more days, we’ll be releasing the book that will answer many, many questions you have about raising money!  It’s “Get Fully Funded:  How to Raise the Money of Your Dreams” and you can get the entire scoop right here on the Get Fully Funded blog.

Thank goodness we’re not all the same!  Wouldn’t the world be a boring place if we were?  There would only be one flavor of ice cream (because we’d all want the same kind).  There would only be one kind of music (I shudder to think what we’d all be listening to or singing karaoke with!!).

If we were all the same, we’d be donating money for the same reasons.  Maybe we’d all want to give back or maybe we’d all want to help others.  Or maybe we’d all just want the tax benefit. But, since we’re all different, we give for lots of different reasons. 

It’s important to keep this in mind when you are fundraising.  It’s easy to start to assume that we know why people will give to our cause, and then create our appeal around the assumed reason.  Big mistake.  We can often get it wrong!  If we assume that people will give because ours is a good cause, we’re going to be sad when donations don’t come pouring in.  Instead of assuming, we need to either find out why people give to our organiation or make our appeal broad enough to be compelling for lots of different folks and different giving reasons.

Here are some of the common reasons why people give:

• They want to change or save a life
• They want to help those less fortunate
• They want to give back
• They want to make their community a better place
• Their religion encourages them to give
• They want the tax benefit

And the most common reason?  Because someone asked.

I was working with a client yesterday, putting together an appeal letter.  He was convinced that most people would give for the tax benefit.  I had to convince him that was not necessarily the case.  He thought that since that’s the reason he would give, it would be the same reason for others.  I had to help him see that people give for many different reasons.

So, next time you’re planning a fundraising letter or an event, remember not to guess you know why people will give. Don’t assume that they are all interested in the tax benefit or that they all want to give back.  Until you get to know your donors, you won’t know exactly what their reasons are, so give them lots of reasons to support your cause.

If you’re like many of the nonprofit folks who read my blog, every dollar you raise is important.  You’re looking for every opportunity to raise money for your good cause.  And right you should.

Here’s something I ran across recently that I thought you might be interested in if you haven’t seen it yet.  It’s called Microgiving.

Microgiving is a crowd funding website that lets you raise money online to fund a project, cause or entrepreneurial idea. If you’re looking to raise money, set up a crowdfunding campaign. This allows you to test your concept from day one. In addition to providing you with funding, you can even link to an existing website or Facebook profile from Microgiving, which will help give your site more credibility to visitors, and will help in boosting your traffic, which means more money in your pocket!

To learn more or create a campaign, click sign up. Good luck!

Are you the one person in your office who does everything?  Do you wear “Fundraiser” as one of your many haes and get frustrated when there aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done?

This is a common lament among staff in small nonprofit organizations.  How you answer that question and respond to it will determine whether or not you’ll be successful in raising money.  If you dread raising money or if you leave it til last, your results will be dismal.  If you embrace it and give it the attention it deserves, you’ll love the results you get.  This is about mindset or how you think about things.  The framework that you use to view the world has a huge impact on how you act and what you do.

Here are some suggestions for staying in a positve mindset when you’re the Lone Ranger of Fundraising.

First, know what it is you’re trying to accomplish.  In other words, have a plan.  If you don’t know what needs to get done during the day, you’ll float from one thing to the next and at the end of the day, you’ll wonder what you did, which can give you a sense of uselessness.  Instead, be clear about your ggoals for the day and focus on getting them done.  At the end of the day, you’ll have a great sense of accomplishment.  To crank this up a notch, keep a journal of everything you got done and good things that happened during the day.  When you focus on the positive, you’ll feel great abour your work and it will show!

Second, surround yourself with support.  Most of us have friends we can talk to, but we don’t lean on them until something bad happens.  Instead, put some purposeful support in place.  Have a regular meeting with a mentor or a colleague so that you can air your frustrations in private. Get a coach to help you make decisions and set goals.  Make sure to spend time with people who are a positive influence on you and pull you forward.  I’ve heard it said that we are the average of the 5 people we spend the most time with.  Think on that for a bit.  You might want to change who you’re hanging out with!

Third, play to your strengths.  Do only those things that you are really good at and get help with the rest.  I know, I can hear you saying that you can’t afford to hire anyone. That’s alright.  Recruit a volunteer or get an intern to help you.  Consider outsourcing things that you aren’t good at (for me, that’s bookkeeping!).  Hire a contract person to help write grants if you can’t stand writing.  Just get help.  You might find ways to automate some things so that they don’t take as much time.  And there are probably things you’re doing that you should simply stop doing, because they don’t need to be done in the first place.  Remember, you have limited time and energy and creativity during the day, so spend them on the things that really matter.

Finally, keep your head in the game.  Be passionate about the cause you are working for and spend time regularly on the front lines to fire up that passion. This can help you more than anything else!  Looking someone in the face who is receiving help from your nonprofit and seeing them smile might be all you need to keep your heart burning and your mind focused on the things you need to do.

When you work in a small organization, it’s easy to get resentful of the “big” nonprofits, because they have lots of staff and scads of volunteers and they get all the big donors, right?  If that thought or a variation of it runs through you head, I want you to kick it out and replace it with something better. Just remember that every big nonprofit was once exactly where yours is.  The only difference is that someone at that big organization hung in there and stayed focused, and good things started to happen.

You hang in there and it can happen for you, too!

Happy New Year!

Okay, before you think I’ve gone batty, I mean Happy New Year to those whose fiscal year started July 1.  It’s a good time to think about how you’re going to do fundraising for the next 12 months.  And for those who aren’t on a July-June fiscal year, it’s a good time to check in and see how your fundriasing is going.

If you aren’t getting the fundraising results you want, here are 10 ways you can completely change your fundraising program and get the BIG results you want.

1. Spend more face time with your donors.  For some, it’s uncomfortable to be face-to-face with donors.  Maybe you aren’t sure what to say or maybe you believe your donor will think you’re just after their money.  I’m here to tell you that you need to work through and get rid of these negative thoughts because they are holding you back.  If you want to raise big money, you MUST get in front of your donors.  There’s nothing else like it.  You’ve got to stop hiding behind your computer and take your donors to lunch or visit with them in their home.  Nothing else has the same impact.

2. Increase the donor-focused communications.  Relationships are KEY in raising money and in order to build them, you have to communicate. This means you probably need to be sending more newsletters and more email updates about the work your nonprofit is doing.  We all have a friend that the only time we hear from them is when they want something.  Do you want to show up that way?  Of course not!  And the way you avoid that is by sending communications to your donors giving them an update on the work your nonprofit is doing. One caveat here – your communications MUST contain stories and information that is interesting to your donor.

3. Put more meat in your communiations.  Too often, newsletters and email updates fall to the bottom of the priority list and are hastily put together just to get them out the door.  I suggest you take enough time to prepare them to make sure they’re meaty.  In order for them to be effective, they MUST contain stories and articles that are interesting to your donor.  Put yourself in the donors’ shoes and ask “what would I be interested in?”  I’ll give you a hint – it’s NOT your new staff person or your new Board member or the industry award you just won.  Your donors want to know ahout the people whose lives are being changed by the work your nonprofit is doing.

4. Listen more, talk less.  As you spend time with your donors and get to know them, follow this simple rule – listen more, talk less.  If you do all the talking, how will you learn anything about your donor?  Ask open-ended questions and get your donor talking so you can find out about the deepest desires of their heart.  You want to find out why they care about your organization.  You want to know what motivates them to write that check.  When you learn a great deal about your donors and what makes them tick, you can better match them to needs your organization has.

5. Give your donors more ways to communicate with you.  Communication is a two-way exchange of information, yet too often, nonprofits fail to do that.  Information is sent one way, from the nonprofit to the donor, without an opportunity for the donor to give feedback.  So follow this rule: give your donors more ways to communicate with you. Invite them to call or email you. Offer a tour of your facility. Brainstorm about other ways you can give them to connect with you.  Even if they never take you up on it, they will appreciate that they have the opportunity to do so.

6. Help your donors feel special.  This is key!  Donors want to know that they made a difference. They want to be more than just “donor #5576″ on your list. So, help them feel special.  Thank them warmly and sincerely for their gift.  Respond immediately to any questions they might have.  Go the extra mile to let them know the impact their gift has made.  Communicate with them often.  Get to know them and what they’re interested in.  Donors who feel special become quite loyal to your organization!

7. Thank them profusely.  If you get this piece right, it will make everything else easier.  You MUST thank donors warmly, sincerely, and promptly every time.  No exceptions.  For VIP donors, call them to thank them for their gift.  Send a hand-written note expressing your gratitude.  Send a photo of your organization in action along with a thank-you note to your donor.  Get your Board involved in thanking your donor.  The bottom line here is that donors who feel properly thanked feel special and see themselves as partners with you in the work you are doing.

8. Give them a good experience.  Customer service is KEY.  Always be quickly responsive to your donors.  Return their phone call immediately.  Respond to their email right away.  Be honest and truthful with donors. The better job you do in giving them a good experience with you, the more trust you build.  And trust is the foundation of a good relationship.

9. Recognize them in ways that are meaningful to them.  It’s easy to look for shortcuts when you’re busy, but donor recognition is not a good place to take shortcuts. You MUST find out what would be meaningful to each donor you want to recognize for their support.  One size does not fit all.  I heard the story once of a donor who had received so many plaques from nonprofits that he started taking the metal plates off and building bird houses out of the wood!  Clearly, this method of recognition wasn’t meaningful to him!  What is special to your donor?  Get to know them and find out.

10. Ask them what they think. People LOVE to give their opinion!  So ask.  Ask your donors what they think about the work your organization is doing.  Ask them for their thoughts on your strategic plan.  Ask for their advice on your upcoming fundraising campaign.  See who they think you should be talking to in the community.  Just ask (and ye shall receive!).

You may notice that these 10 resolutions are all about individual donors.  That’s on purpose.  I believe that the greatest source of untapped potential lies in individual donors.  I also believe that for small nonprofits, the fastest path to cash is individual donors. I teach my clients and students that long-term sustainability in fundraising is about having a large donor-base and a strong donor-relations program. 

If you get serious about implementing these 10 resolutions, I think you’ll see the same results that my clients see – more donors, more donations, and less stress for you!  Best wishes and Happy New Year!

If you could learn from 5 of the best and brightest in the nonprofit world, would you want to?  How about if you could do it from the comfort of your own office and at no charge?

I’m excited to share with you that I’m participating in the Nonprofit Goodies Giveaway!  It’s an opportunity for you to grab some great goodies from people like Marc Pitman, Pamela Grow, Sherry Truhlar, Lori Jacobwith, and me! We’ve come together to help you learn to kick up your fundraising a notch this summer.

You can get all the details and all the goodies at www.nonprofitgoodies.com.  The great thing is that you can sample them all or just one – whatever your heart desires.

So check it out and enjoy the sweet treats! And then see how your fundraising grows!

There are lessons all around us if we’re willing to look.  I’m big on creating systems in your office to make fundraising (and everything) run smoother and easier.  Here’s a great experience I had a couple of days ago which reminded me of the importance of systems.

I drove my Mom to Kentucky for a memorial service for my uncle who passed recently and on the way home, we stopped at a Waffle House for breakfast.  I’m not usually a big Waffle House fan, but it was convenient so we decided to stop.  It was crowded and we took a seat at the counter (which I liked because I could watch the cooks).

It became very clear very quickly that the group of people working (and there were several) were not working together as a team.  If there was a system for taking orders and filling them, they either weren’t trained on it or they were ignoring it.  After 30 minutes, we still had not been served and I noticed lots of other customers looking quite annoyed.  There was a man with an official looking name tag and clip board watching, but he did nothing to help the misfit crew.  I would love to know what he was doing, because he clearly wasn’t there to help!

There are so many details I could share about this particular experience, including the waffle cook who poured the batter into the waffle irons, neglected to set the timer, then walked off.  When we finally asked when our waffles would be ready, the waitress, opened the waffle irons, saw the scorched waffles, then dumped them in the trash.  Someone else rushed up, poured more batter in, and when the waffles were done, quickly carried them off to another customer.  Grr.

I was totally fascinated at the dysfunction of it all.  Mom was so mad she could have bit a nail in two.

So, what are the lessons here and how do they apply to fundraising?  First, have a system.  You want to make sure that every donor who interacts with your organization has a good experience.  How do you do that?  Have a system in place.  Make donors a priority.  Make sure you thank them appropriately. Do you consistently send a warm, sincere, prompt thank-you letter?  Are you writing the letter at the moment you need it or do you have a letter ready to tweak and use whenever it’s needed? Systems will help you make sure that things are done consistently and smoothly, and that will ultimately help you raise more money.

Second, have the right people in the right spots.  In the Waffle House kitchen, there were 2 people cooking, and it was clear they knew their job.  But everyone else seemed to bounce from one thing to another, with nothing really getting done.  Calling out the orders was definitely a place where things broke down.  A waitress (not ours) called out our order (reading it wrong) and we were initially served toast and eggs (definitely not the waffle we ordered).  Where was the team leader?  Where was the manager?  There was no one managing the chaos that morning.  Make sure the people on your team are in the right spots and know what their job is.

Third, make sure people are trained and provide support.  I’m thinking that the waffle cook who neglected to set the timer, then walked away either forgot part of his training or got distracted by something more interesting.  Someone should have been there to remind him to stay on task.  Your people might be staff or volunteers.  Either way, make sure they know what they’re supposed to do and be there to answer questions for them to help them be successful in their jobs.

So, that’s how my waffle got burned.  A busy morning added pressure to a weak, non-working system where people weren’t clear about their roles, and weren’t supported by a leader.

By the way, my Mom swears she’ll never go to Waffle House again.  I’m skeptical, but if I decide to go again, I’ll definitely be watching to see if their system is working.