FUNDRAISING

STRATEGIES Module 2
Course Readings
 MODULE 2
Types of Support
Individual Solicitation 12 MINS

Image source: Flickr User WOCintech Chat

 Fundraising Strategies 3

TYPES OF SUPPORT
INDIVIDUAL
SOLICITATION

As we continue to examine types of An organization’s own website is an

funding and how to secure it, it is
important to think about different
forms of individual solicitation. In
this lecture we look at other forms
of solicitation other than in person
and mail.
Walk down any street today and
chances are you will see many
people – especially young people –
glued to their cell phones. And most
are not talking on their phones.
They are texting, or cruising the
internet, or engaging in some other
way with the virtual world. Many of
these people are fundraising
prospects but they are not likely to
be candidates for old-fashioned
mailings or telethons. Their eyes
are glued to screens just like yours
are if you are taking this course. So
how do we reach people like you?
important place to start. It should
make a compelling case for
contributions and offer simple
procedures that allow people to
make secure contributions with
minimal effort. Once people give,
there is an ideal opportunity to begin
to develop a personal relationship
through personalized email thanks
and invitations to events. People
can be linked to the website in
various ways. Some organizations
try the mass messaging approach,
sometimes via email. But many of
these emails goes directly to SPAM
and many of the others are simply
deleted by recipients. Using
personalized email and social media
is far more effective.

Well, of course the internet is

increasingly effective tool for fund
raising from individuals. There are
various crowdfunding sites that
allow both individuals and
organizations to raise money for
virtually anything. And we’ll talk
more about how to use those sites
effectively later on in this course.

But for more developed

organizations attempting to develop
long-term relationships with donors
rather than one-time campaign-
oriented asks, social media, email,
and organizational websites tend to
be most effective. Image source: Flickr User afromusing
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TYPES OF SUPPORT
INDIVIDUAL
SOLICITATION

The trick, however, is capturing who I want to ask for an upgrade,

email addresses and getting people
to opt in and give you their
information voluntarily. Again this
sometimes requires incentives that
cost money. Like memberships,
these have to be carefully weighed
against the amount of money being
brought in. Nevertheless, in an age
when younger donors are far more
focused on a virtual world, the
internet continues to be an
increasingly preferred medium of
theirs for donating and they, after
all, will soon be the next generation
of major donors.
and I always warn these individuals
first by email or by letter that I'm
going to call. And I have the phoning
done by volunteers, not paid
professional fundraisers. Again, for
major world-wide organizations,
telemarketing by paid professionals
can produce some success, but if
they call me, I guarantee I'm going to
hang up. On the other hand, if a
volunteer calls and immediately
identifies himself or herself as a
volunteer, I am more likely to stay
on the phone and listen to what they
have to say.

Now, what about the telephone?

Over the years, I've become less
enamored of the phone as a tool to
raise money, especially as people
have increasingly moved to doing
business over the internet. Today,
most people do their personal
communication on cell phones and
there is no standard public directory
of cell phone numbers. As a result,
for those people who still have land
lines, especially in the US, the house
phone receives so many irritating
telemarketing calls that yet another,
even if it is a fundraising call for a
good cause, can make people very
irritable.

So more and more I limit calling to

one type of fundraising situation
only. I limit them to known donors Image source: Flickr User Garry Knight
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TYPES OF SUPPORT
INDIVIDUAL
SOLICITATION

Now how do these things work? All right. I'm going to give you an actual script of
how this is done right. The volunteer has a script and cards with donor
information. And they work from these in the following fashion.

When I was a kid I went to a school that I loved. And when I graduated, the
first year out of school, I made a $25 contribution, which for an 18-year-old
at university in 1963 was a lot of money. For many years after that, I got
my fundraising letter from the school. And every year, I gave the same
$25 donation even after graduate school and into my first and second jobs.

I never really thought about giving more until one evening, I got a call.
“Hello, is this Dr. Wolf?” Well there aren't many people who call me Dr.
Wolf. Good start. I worked hard for my doctorate so it feels good to be
addressed that way. The called went on: “I'm a parent volunteer calling on
behalf of… [and he named my school.]” Now get those words. Parent –
meaning currently associated with the organization. Volunteer – meaning
he's not being paid to make the call like a professional would be.

First thing he says is, “Dr Wolf, one of the reasons I'm calling is to thank
you for your gift.” Great move. Always say thank you, that's the first thing
you do. And he goes on: “It means so much to us, especially since you have
given every year since you graduated.”

Okay, now I know I am dealing with a sophisticated fundraising operation.

They have analyzed my giving history and given this guy his little card on
me with the prompts. I can’t wait to hear what is next. Then he said,
“Wonderful things are going on at the school. I know that when you were
at the school, you won the music prize. And I think that is why I was
chosen to call you because my son is also a musician and in the choir and
the group will be going to China this year to sing. It is such an amazing
program.”

And now I wait for the moment at which I am to be solicited and I don’t have
to wait long. “Dr. Wolf, again I want to thank you for your gift. But costs
have gone up, and we wonder if you would consider an increase.”
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TYPES OF SUPPORT
INDIVIDUAL
SOLICITATION

Now, what should he do at this point? Should he wait for me to answer? No.
He should name an amount he wants me to consider. And what is the
amount that he should ask for? Should it be double my $25? Triple? No, it
should go much higher. He says, “I wonder if you would consider a gift of
$500?” Wow. Big increase, right? I said, “That sounds like an awful big
increase,” to which he replies, “Would $250 be more comfortable?”

Now, what is the only answer to that? 250 is more comfortable than 500,
right? So I say yes, and he says, “Thank you for your gift.” Well maybe I
was a bit snookered but it was fine, he upgraded me quite a bit. Ten fold.
The next day he wrote me a thank you letter. I sent in my contribution. The
headmaster wrote me a thank you letter. And the important thing about
that gift was that it was worth a lot more than the $225 upgrade because
they had established a new level for me as donor, which I maintained in
subsequent years.

Of course there will be individual gifts coming because there are so

donors toward the middle and the
top of your giving pyramid who give
you more than those at the bottom –
some a lot more. Many of them
began at the bottom and through
skilled upgrading you got them to
increase their gifts.
But always remember, as gifts from
individuals get larger, people tend to
want to restrict them for a
particular purpose. That’s okay, but
you need to keep those unrestricted
many needs you have that targeted
fundraising will not cover. And the
other thing to remember about
those larger gifts is that they may
not be repeated annually. Your
angel may be there one year but you
may not be able to count on him or
her the next.
So always remember your individual
giving pyramid and make sure you
are getting money at every level.