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.

Where's My Check?!

I once had the opportunity to proof a proposal for a friend (and executive director) who was soliciting a certain "Mr. Moneybags."

Clearly, a great deal of time an money had been spent on making this proposal razor sharp. It was beautifully written, tons of pictures and graphics. Detailed reports about all of the programs and activities. Beautiful!

Just one problem.

Nowhere in the proposal was there any mention of a request. Nowhere. I flipped through the whole thing again, just to make sure that I wasn't losing my eyesight. It's as if this organization suddenly had no problems whatsoever, and just wanted to let Mr. M know that everything was a-ok! I found this very eye-opening.

Since then, I encourage all of my clients to mention money first, whether the conversation is initiated via phone, e-mail, letter, whatever. Yes, it's counter-intuitive in our line of work, where tact and ambiguity are our left and right hands. But the "money thing" needs to be out there right away.

"Wait! What?! Then he'll be able to turn me away outright?!" you exclaim franticly.

That's true. And that's his prerogative. And that's why we don't get emotionally involved with new prospects when our "hit rate" is about 1:20. But still, that's called getting off easy, compared to spending time, money and bitter tears on man that has no intentions of coming through for you.

Modern Dance & the Haiti Earthquake

Do you believe in your cause?

Really?

I had the opportunity to sit with a successful individual who lent his time and resources to an NYC dance school. This guy was unreal. Aside from being fervent supporter of the school (his daughter had been a student years ago), he was a committed, active member of their board and was involved in prospecting and soliciting donations.

"Really? Dance?" I asked naively, "How do you pitch dance in today's world...?"

"What exactly does that mean...?" he shot back, somewhat agitated.

My save: "You know. Today's world... Tsunami, Haitian earthquake. Many donors think the arts are secondary to some of the hot crisis issues."

"They're wrong."