What's in it for your donors? Pay attention!

Well done article by Jeff Brooks.

WIIFM: What's in it for me?
Commercial marketers are constantly reminded to keep WIIFM top-of-mind, because they're tempted to sell their wares on how great those wares are. Not what's in it for the customer.
We have the same issue in fundraising. Too often, we think the reason people give to us is because we are so excellent.
Nope.
They give because there's something in it for them. (We still have to be excellent; that's the price of admission for them to even consider giving to us.)
Here are some things donors might get from giving to you, the real reasons for giving:

• They're seeking personal significance by helping change the world.
  
• They're finding spiritual strength by following the calls of their spiritual tradition.
• They're assuaging guilt.
• They're comforting fear.
• They're proving to themselves or others that they're good people.
• They know it feels good to give.
• They might even be seeking a tax deduction.

There's always something in it for them.
If you remember that and work with it, you'll go far in the fundraising biz!

Enter the Gvir

During one of my many misadventures, I worked with the rosh of a mid-size mossad in Brooklyn. He was charismatic, intelligent, energetic and good with people - all the maalos. Nonetheless fundraising was anemic and very labored.

I don't suppose that it was any fault of his, he certainly was being as responsible as he could. He did, in fact, manage to pay quite a few bills by hitting the pavement. But it wouldn't last. He was spending too much energy, and neglecting too many responsibilities to be able to continue that path for long.

Enter... the Gvir.

The Gvir begrudgingly agreed to get involved with fundraising on a "my-way-or-the-highway" basis. The Gvir has much on his plate, little time, and zero patience for BS. Because he's a maven in business, he knows the right players.

He doesn't prepare a thing. He has no game plan, finesse, or shame. He calls donors on their cell phones on Sunday night and doesn't apologize. He asks for money after eleven seconds of small talk. If they decline, he gets angry and asks again, only not politely.

No, I wasn't on vacation...

Happy to hit the blogosphere after a little more than a month hiatus from writing. I was so arayngetohn in one campaign that I literally did not have time to THINK about blogging. 

Reviving the public image and esteem of a long-troubled institution is no walk in the park. Ultimately, we are on the cusp of success as long as no one does anything crazy or stupid... 

More reports from the battlefield as I catch my breath and become a real person again. 

Using the Board

Here is an excellent article by Hildy Gottlieb on relying on your board for fundraising.

I'm a little on the ropes about the message: your board doesn't want to fundraise - get over it. She outlines some of the challenges nicely, and gives an alternative - "friend-raising."

Ok. At the end I don't really buy the premise, because there really are ways to use your board for effective fundraising. Don't give them a job they hate. Instead, give them the "mission" that best suits them.

I look for one of the following three roles from a board member: