Ep 61: Mastering the Major Gift Ask: Courage, Conviction, and Creativity in Fundraising

EPISODE 61

Unraveling the Mysteries of Major Gift Fundraising

 
 
 

Do you ever find yourself wondering how to define a major gift, or how to identify potential donors?

We're demystifying major gifts, discussing the criteria to identify prospects, and how to cultivate these into significant contributions for your organization. Notably, we will address common misconceptions about major donors and emphasize the importance of building meaningful relationships before making the ask. We will also share some invaluable data tips and strategies to help you navigate this often daunting process.

Are you ready to push past your comfort zone and make the big ask for a major gift? This episode will equip you with some essential tactics to do just that. We introduce the concept of the 'Courage Sandwich' and talk about how to prepare yourself internally and externally for the conversation. Plus, learn how to handle the objections, the "noes" and what to say if you totally miss the mark!

We'll explore how to replace traditional fundraising approaches with creative ones and how to leverage technology for process automation and optimization. So, let's get you ready to make the major gift ask with confidence, conviction, and courage.

Think you’ve reached out to “everyone” in your network? Out of ideas to get noticed and get funded?  Generate leads for your nonprofit or social impact business: https://www.splendidcourses.com/prospect

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TRANSCRIPT:

00:02

Welcome to the Purpose and Profit Club podcast for nonprofit leaders, mission-driven creatives and social entrepreneurs. Get ready to stop dreaming and start doing here. Ideas become action. We prioritize purpose and profit. You ready, let's go.

00:20

I was on a panel recently and the discussion was about major gifts. As I was going through the panel, such rich questions were being asked in the chat that I knew I needed to do a podcast episode about this. If you're thinking I know what I need to know about major gifts, or what are major gifts, or does this apply to me? Or SOS help Christina, this is the episode for you, especially as we gear up for year end. The way that I think about major gifts is different from the old school cultivation cycle. The old school what is it? Donor pyramid? It's totally different. That's what we're going to dig into today. I'm actually going to use a lot of the questions that were in the chat, a lot of the questions we were asked, and deepening the concept into helping you cultivate those major gifts, whether it's this year or next year or really just the idea of prospecting in general.

01:24

The first thing is, if you're new to the term major gifts, totally fine. That was the very first question. Was what constitutes a major gift. The general consensus was a big giant. It depends, depends on your organization. It depends on how you define it. It depends on your current funding level. For many newer organizations, major gift may be an individual donation of a couple thousand dollars. For larger, more established organizations, it could be higher. That is actually one of those things you define. I want you to define it on a very specific number so that you can go back and say when a donor, when we receive a donation of X or higher, that constitutes a major gift for our organization, which means it's like that triggers the following SOP, the following donor journey Meaning if somebody makes a gift today of $10,000, then what You're probably going to put them and you should put them through a nurture journey. That's different from a one-off gift of $25. You get to decide what that number is. I would say it starts in the couple thousands if you're not sure where to begin Start there.

02:45

The next question I was asked was when identifying prospective major donors, what criteria or characteristics should you consider? So basically, this is a sort of a buttoned up way of saying, as I look at my donor prospect list or as I even just think about cultivating new donors. What the heck should I look for? What should I? What qualifies someone? What are some attributes? This is where, if you've been in the fundraising space for a while, you might hear about wealth screening tools. Those are tools that you can use to help identify people who have higher net worth. That is not where I took this question.

03:31

If you have access to that beautiful, great go forth. If you don't which many, many do not I want to invite you to do a couple of things, or don't do a couple of things. The first one is don't assume. Don't assume what somebody can and cannot afford Meaning. Many, many times we may be motivated or not motivated. We may be informed or have some even biases about how somebody looks, the car they drive, the house they live in, the places they dine out at.

04:05

And I think of my friend let me change his name. I think of my friend Richard. Richard is a quiet millionaire. Richard and I in my twenties used to bartend together. Richard has grown children and he kept his bartending gig because it was fun. It got him out of the house. He got to see cool rock bands, just like I did. He's very, very generous. He would always get coffee for all of us. Like there's a generosity to him, there's a lightness to him.

04:34

And let me tell you, richard and I would always talk about real estate and I learned very, very quickly that he is a quiet millionaire. He did not need the couple hundred bucks extra In theory although I don't actually know his finances, but in theory that he was making off bartending gigs. He enjoyed it. It was, it was part of almost his, his entertainment, his community, right. But on the aesthetics he drove in super normal car. He was somebody who you know had had a nice home but quietly had a huge investment portfolio of rental homes. Why am I telling you this? Because on the outside he's a shorts and t-shirt kind of guy. Okay, he's not talking about big luxury, anything, okay. But he and I would have these very detailed business conversations because at that time I was in real estate and we would nerd out on investments, we would nerd out on all this stuff and it was very, very obvious at some point that he, if he wanted to go buy another property, he was gonna go buy another property and very often that's what happened. He would come from the closing table to a bartending gig. Why am I telling you this Because do not assume, okay.

05:46

So instead you want to look for like cues or intent, or what I would call warmth in the prospect, meaning they're kind of raising their hand, they're kind of leaning forward and they can do this online. They're commenting, they're sending you direct messages, they're hitting reply to your emails. How are they showing up? That's like, ooh, they're kind of warm, Okay. So we don't want to assume from the outside in what somebody can and cannot afford. That's really, really important. And you may have some tip-offs, like some of my clients do, where they're like they've said to me before you know, this person gives at you know Couple thousand dollars a year, but I'm I'm aware that the giving capacity is higher. I'm aware that they give to other organizations. Okay, that's almost like having a like a data tip versus an intuitive tip. So you can look at some of those ways as well.

06:35

Next question what are some strategies or best practices for building meaningful relationships with major donors before making the ask? So this is where I really jump in and underscore that I'm not a huge fan of a long Cultivation time, a long time where you're warming up that prospect and really, you know, making sure that every you know. You've done the coffees, you've done this, you've done that Before you make the ask. You don't have to wait a year to make the ask. And here's, here's how I arrive at that. If I have money to donate to your organization and I'm interested, then please don't wait a year to ask me to help. Please don't do that. That's doing me a disservice. That's doing your mission a disservice.

07:29

I also think that we live in a time that is different from 20 years ago, 30 years ago or even 10 years ago, meaning we are more distracted, we are air quotes busier than ever, we have more in our schedules than ever, and Putting me through the runaround of this, like nurture process, where you're thinking I've got to do these five Touchpoints before I invite Christina to make a gift, is actually Could be a turnoff, could actually be annoying, could actually be a barrier or a friction producer To you getting that major gift. Do you see? Do you see the nuance there? And that doesn't mean it. You know the dating analogy comes up a lot in this process, because that doesn't mean that you pop the question on the first date, but that does mean that maybe you really show like a connected interest and you start talking about what it would look like For a partnership, for an investment, for you know, making an offer, right, you start to really talk about it instead of asking over and over and over like interest questions, right, it does.

08:34

It just means like don't, don't stretch it out longer than it needs to be. And this is when I really feel like one of my values, one of my pillars, is breaking the rules. And if you see an opportunity where you're like I'm gonna break some rules, you can say to the prospect you know, I've been taught that we're supposed to wait X amount of months before I talk to you about this. But I see you're really interested in the ABC program and Can I, can I share with you something I'm working on and one of the challenges I've got, one of the challenges I've got ahead of me right now, is that we're trying to reach why level of funding, and we are Z away from reaching it, and I've actually got a wait list right now of people who want this service, want to be a part of this program. I'm turning them away what you know, and just have a conversation. Have a conversation, see what comes next, see if they start to lean forward and and again kind of raise their hand of like Well, I may be able to help or tell me more about that, those types of things. Okay, next question. Actually, wait, we're going to go back to my notes here.

09:45

I want to also underscore this. If you're in that conversation and this could be with a newer prospect or an older prospect, meaning they've been around for a while, not older in age If they say no, when you hear no, remind yourself and really write this down. A no isn't personal, a no isn't they rejected you. A no is they said no to making a gift today for this thing right, to this offer, to this invitation. But a no also means you're in the arena. Many of many of my fundraisers that I work one-on-one with, we kick the can. You guys kick the can further down so that you don't have to get into the arena, so you delay the ask, so you keep the nurturing and the cultivating, and then you're stuck in that cycle to avoid hearing the no, to avoid hearing that little rejection piece. Okay, so a no is part of the process. In fact, if you're hearing no, you're doing it right. Of course we want to get lots and lots of yeses too, but no is a part of the deal.

10:48

Somebody DMed me recently and I was very excited to see it, but because she said, you know, I got a no and I thought of you. And she went on to say that she's really been pushing herself to have these funder meetings in a way that she hasn't before and she knew that that was just part of the deal. And it was like yes, that's part of the deal and also, that doesn't mean that's a no forever from this person. That just means the timing wasn't right, the pitch was unclear, right, it could be some other outside factor in that. No, okay.

11:22

Next question what are some effective approaches for making the ask for a major gift? So, how can you prepare yourself or your team for those moments? And this was really, I think, a strategy question in, really, how do I outline the pitch? What are the exact things to say? And here's where I took it. And number one thing that you need to do before, in advance of making the ask, is to prepare you, to prepare your internal chatter, to prepare your thoughts about you, your thoughts about your organization, to prepare yourself, your nervous system.

12:05

Because here's what we do we go into these meetings with a pitch deck or we go into these meetings with whatever. You've got a beautiful brochure, your talking points right, and in advance of the meeting you're feeling how you're feeling. If you're a little more established, you're feeling maybe confident. If you're newer, you're feeling wobbly and nervous and just can't wait for it to be over right. And then you have the meeting and during the meeting it goes how it goes and then you have that drive home. And that is three different touch points of really important. In advance you prepare yourself for I talk about this in the Courage Sandwich series which is in episode let's see here starts in episode 45. Go back and listen to the Courage Sandwich series because that's a lot of essays, because in that I outlined this concept of the Courage Sandwich.

13:03

Before you go into a funder meeting, I want you to go through this process where you decide how you're going to talk to yourself before, during and after the meeting. And when I say talk to yourself, I mean like internally or maybe in externally to colleagues or friends. So in advance you're really channeling courage, not confidence. Courage because confidence comes with the act of doing so. For example, the first time I rode a bike I was not confident I could ride a bike. I hadn't figured out how to ride a bike, right, but I could channel courage. Hey, I'm going to figure this out. Hey, I've got this, I'm on grass. If I fall, I fall. It's not going to hurt If I've got my mom and dad here to support me. Whatever it was right. That's courage. So in the pregame, you need to channel courage In the middle of the funder meeting. Here's what we do Very, very often go into the meeting and you're feeling good and you hit a stride and maybe it's like you know those conversations where you're volleying with somebody and it's like going really, really well, right, and then you hit kind of a roadblock where you get off your game.

14:06

This happens to everyone. And then that internal chatter, that mean girl, that mean guy comes up and is like, oh, you're messing up, oh, you shouldn't have done that. You got to watch that in the meeting. You got to watch those moments of that inner critic because it will take you out of the space of service and giving and actually growing your organization and it will. Your ego will show up and it will be all about you. And when it's all about you it is very, very hard to cultivate, to craft a really amazing pitch. Okay, so you got to watch yourself.

14:40

Hey, what does that look like in practice? If I slip up, if I stumble on my words, if I need a moment to, like, regroup in the middle of a funder meeting, guess what? That's okay. People need moments in the middle of meetings to regroup, that happens. And then this may be the most important part, depending on you and if you're maybe like me, which is the drive home. The ride home, the meeting ends. Whether you hear a yes, a no, a maybe, it does not matter. Here's what we do.

15:09

Our inner critic loves to come out in that process and go. You know, you got the gift, but you didn't get as much as you thought you would or wanted. You got the gift, but you really kind of messed up on that part, or boy, did you see that? Look, they gave you right, like whatever the internal chatter is. So with the courage sandwich, you're really deciding ahead of time how am I going to talk to myself afterwards, regardless of how it goes, and I want to invite you to remember that you're in the arena. You're building this muscle. This is whether it's day one of weightlifting or day, you know 4,000 of weightlifting. Like you got to the gym and you're lifting those heavy weights right, the heavy weights in this case is putting yourself out there and fundraising for your, for your mission, for your organization. So decide ahead of time, write it down.

15:57

Andy K talks about this in her interview, which is on episode 57. She talks about how she really prepares herself using this process and it works. It works. It works and it makes you find the joy in this process, because when you feel really grindy and harsh, it's really hard to stay in this industry long term versus going hell. Yeah, I did that, it's working, I've got this Okay.

16:24

Next question how do you tailor a major gift fundraising strategy to align with the unique interests and motivations of individual donors? So to me, this is okay, layman's terms. So how do I fit my pitch to? To fit my the person in front of me, to fit the person, their interests of the person on the phone. And I say to this motivation is key. You need to uncover what their motivation is, because let's say that your organization has multiple programs, but they're really, really interested in one tiny piece of one, right? You need to, you need to figure that out. How do you figure that out? You ask, you ask questions.

17:07

One of the biggest tips I can give you in these meetings is not to talk at people for 30 minutes or an hour is actually to ask questions and listen. Ask questions and listen. That is like the key to a kick ass meeting. Ask questions, listen, be an active listener, right? Don't again. Don't think, don't be so in your head that you're missing the juicy motivation that they're giving you. Okay, of like there, why, why did they bother to get on the phone with you? Why did they bother to drive cross town for this meeting? Okay, ask questions to find out. Then, boom, we can align their own interests, their own motivations, with what it is you have it that you're fundraising for, or a vision that you have ahead. Okay, so if you're not sure what that is, just ask.

17:52

The other piece I want to underscore is again going back to this old school way, versus breaking the rules. Find out and, again, just ask them what their preferred communication style is. So there was a time where I usually, where I used to drive across town to meet my clients, my clients that were in Atlanta, and now I very rarely do that, even the ones that are still here. We either meet on Zoom. I have one client who prefers phone. We talk on phone. We probably have a Zoom call. I'm gonna say like twice a year, that's it because she prefers the phone. Now there's only one way I could possibly fit have figured that out Either I ask her and she tells me, or she specifically says let's have a phone call. So it would be very like it would be a turn off for her and it would be a barrier to having a successful meeting if I said to her hey, can we meet at a coffee shop from now on? Hey, can you come to my office from now on? That's not her preferred reading style. So you need to ask these prospects their preferred way of being communicated with. Do you like an email? Do you prefer that, whatever it is? So don't try and fit everybody into this meeting in person cycle. If that isn't their preferred way, all right.

19:12

Last question what do you see as the future of major giving practices? How can fundraisers stay ahead? So I took this question. I said this is my hope. This is my hope for the industry, because I think in order for the social impact sector to grow and thrive and impact more. We have to ditch the old way. What that looks like in practice is less scripts, less of a one-way approach, meaning there's one correct way to fundraise, and instead replacing that with more creative approaches to fundraising. Meaning reimagining a signature event, reimagining your cultivation process, like wowing and delighting and surprising your major donors and your smaller, individual donors in a way that is different. So, instead of looking at what people, what organizations in your sector or some of the big players in your niche do going what would be just really cool if we did it, having a bold, courageous approach to that is key. The only way you can do that is scaling up with tech. If you need help figuring out what tech tools to use whether it's fundraising tools, email automation, et cetera just send me a message. I will tell you. I've tried them all and I definitely have some favorites that really really help you automate these processes and optimize these processes, because that is really the future is we're gonna see organizations who are stepping into using technology to help them and many of them that are just like we've got this solution and this is what we're using and it's stuck right.

20:54

The last thing I wanna leave you with and this was a question. We had another question that was really good in the chat, which is how do I know the right number to ask which? Underneath that, the question was a flavor of what if I offend my prospect, right? What if I ask for too much? What if if I over ask, right? Or if I ask a number that's outside of whatever, I'm gonna offend them and then I'm not gonna get any or I'm just gonna just write I shouldn't shoot for the moon. What I said to him was you're never gonna know the exact right number and, by the way, I don't even think that that prospect has an exact right number.

21:40

Let's say I go into a meeting and I'm your prospect and I know that I have $20,000 to give. Okay, I still. When I hear you, let's say that you found out $20,000 was the number, I still, when you say $20,000, I still may have a big reaction. I still may say, ooh, that's a lot. So there is no exact right number and many times you're under asking, you're softening your number because you're just afraid of the big reaction. I would argue that there are some folks who, especially for a five figure gift, are just gonna give you a big jaw open reaction for fun, right, because a big number is a big number, or $100,000 or a million dollars, whatever the number is. So if they have a big reaction, that's okay, that's okay.

22:33

Everything I've gone through today is 100% applicable for for profit. So, as I think of my consultants, I'm going through the same process that I would in a discovery meeting. So have I ever been in a discovery meeting where I've said to a prospective client the fee is $10,000 and they've had the who Reaction? 100%, 100%, that's okay, that's okay. And where this question evolved in the panel was I said to them if you ever just completely miss it like it's a total misfire, right, and you feel like you risked that, that relationship, and you feel like we're in the danger zone, now I've offended you know you can leave that meeting, you can let it breathe for a day or however long you want.

23:23

Pick up the phone, write an email, write a note and say you know what, you know what, sarah, I gotta tell you there I overshot and I know that, and say I've been thinking about our conversation yesterday. I overshot and I know that. And I want to be honest. I really hope that I didn't offend you and I really hope that that you understand. I really want you to understand why I, why I shot for the moon and the stars here. The reason why is I'm sitting at my desk and I'm making. I'm looking at this wait list getting longer. I'm turning away people who need our help and the best way that I can say yes to all of them and, by the way, are this list is now hundreds long Is by getting that hundred K donation. That's why I said that number and I totally get it. I totally get it that you can't. That that's way out of league for you.

24:18

When you, when you go there and you just say the truth, you say the vulnerable thing, you say the hard thing, you say you know what I shot for the moon. And here's why I've got a big goal between now and the next three months. And I'm stressing, I don't know how I'm gonna make it. Do you know that? That will soften them too?

24:35

Because humans, human, the person that you're on the other side of the table with or on the other end of the phone with, they've also overshot something before. I'm picturing like kicking a soccer ball into a goal. They don't miss it, they don't. They don't make it every time, or you know, have you ever watched the people through the first pitch at a baseball game? That when it's like a celebrity or somebody else, have you ever watched? You should watch a highlight reel of those. The amount of times where the average Joe totally misses the, the, the, the batter is hilarious. Like they totally overshot it, like they don't. That's okay. A humans, human.

25:14

And if you can just acknowledge and normalize and just say you know and take responsibility for a totally overshot it, give them context why. This is why I'm thinking big, I'm dreaming big, and that is a time to remember the courage sandwich and how you're going to talk to yourself after right. So you're going to make sure that you don't berate and beat up yourself on on overshooting that number. And I'll leave. And let's end with this, which is very, very rarely do I have a lot of my private clothes coaching clients that say, oh, I overshot it again, overshot it again.

25:50

Most of y'all are under shooting it, meaning, instead of asking for twenty thousand dollars, you're going into these funder meetings asking for two thousand dollars. So I'd rather nudge you to overshoot it a little bit. See what happens. Okay, you're not, you're going to, you're going to be in the ballpark. You're not going to sit down and ask for two million dollars if the, if the funder is at a two thousand dollar Capacity. I just know it. You've got it.

26:17

Follow your own intuition, but stretch it, push your edges, pushes, push the limit a little bit out of your comfort zone, because this process is not inherently comfortable. It's not supposed to be so. Let yourself channel some courage and take the action. I hope that was helpful. If you're thinking, okay, amazing, and I need more help, the book. Book a discovery call with me. We can talk more about working one on one together. I'm cheering you on and I will see you next time. If you ask me. Everyone should have a coach, especially you. I want to invite you to schedule a free discovery call with me. Go to splendid atlcom, forward slash contact. You'll see my calendar there. Book a call with me. You'll learn about my smart growth method, where we can grow your business or organization sustainably with ease and massive impact.

You Get To Have Purpose And Profit. I’ll Show You How.

 
 
PodcastChristina Edwardspurpose and profit, marketing, entrepreneurship, purpose driven, nonprofit, social impact, mindset, productivityComment