How to Raise $30,000 In Six Weeks Presenter: Kim Klein Sponsored by the Conservation Lands Foundation Real money. Real people. Real change.

Kim is the author of Fundraising for Social Change and Reliable Fundraising in Unreliable Times. She is a lecturer at UC Berkeley’s School of Social Welfare, and has taught fundraising in all 50 states and 21 other countries. www.kleinandroth.com kleinandroth.com

Why a six week campaign? Volunteers will participate when the end is in sight Can bring in volunteers who don’t want to be involved all the time Creates excitement, prevents burnout

Advantages of Short Campaigns You can invite all kinds of people to be involved Appeal to competitive people because they like a game Appeal to people who hate fundraising because it’s all going to be over soon Help you raise money in a hurry www.kleinandroth.com

What’s needed for success: Tracking system Campaign chair Team of askers Prospects Champions Ability to update team on progress

Above all…. ASKERS! Some people must be willing to ask for money by phone and in person. www.kleinandroth.com

Steps for campaign success Decide purpose of campaign and goal Choose the right time Recruit the team Prepare campaign materials Identify prospects Orient & train team Launch & manage the campaign Evaluate & celebrate

Step One: Purpose and Goal What do you need the money for? How much do you need?

Look at Gifts Needed Create a simple gift range chart: $30,000 # of gifts size # of prospects* 1 $3000 4 4 2000 16 10 1000 30 10 500 20 16 250 32 41 gifts X 2+ = @100 prospects *You will need a little more than 2 times the number of prospects as the number of gifts www.kleinandroth.com

A variation with fewer prospects Goal: $30,000 # gifts $ Prospects 1 10,000 4 2 5,000 8 4 2,500 12 7 X 2+ = @20 prospects www.kleinandroth.com

Step Two: Choose the Right Time Pick a 6 week period of time for the campaign. Add 2 weeks preparation time Add 1 week follow-up time TOTAL TIME FOR ORGANIZERS : 8 weeks www.kleinandroth.com

Step Three: Recruit the Team # of volunteers needed: Assume: one person can complete 3 asks a week. So take: # prospects /6 weeks = # asks a week # asks per week /3 = # volunteers needed For example: 60 prospects/ 6 weeks = 10 asks a week 10 asks / 3 per person = 3-4 volunteers www.kleinandroth.com

Volunteers Need to: Care about cause Give themselves Have 2 hours/week for 6 weeks Have flexible schedules Be friendly; interested in others Be able to keep on track and work in a team www.kleinandroth.com

Who else can you recruit? Think about people who: Care about the cause Give $ themselves Are reliable

Step Four: Create Materials Develop a one page description of the campaign Create an e-mail solicitors can send with a link embedded Create a letter for people using snail mail Have return envelopes and reply cards Put something on your website about the campaign specifically Develop FAQs for solicitors NOTE: NO NEED FOR FANCY MATERIALS www.kleinandroth.com

Ecology Action Centre, Halifax

E-mail to introduce campaign Dear _____, People for Everything Good has been given an amazing opportunity and challenge. We must … which would enable us to ….! You can imagine how important this is. However, this costs money: $30,000 and we need it in the next six weeks. I’d like to talk with you about whether you could make a donation of… I’ll call you…. www.kleinandroth.com

Step 5: Identify Prospects: Friends and colleagues of volunteers Current donors: who could give an extra gift, who could give more? Lapsed Donors: people who used to help but haven’t in a year or more www.kleinandroth.com

Step 6: Orient and Train Team *Go over message and materials *Brainstorm more prospects as needed *Review list of prospects—add as needed *Brief training on asking *Send out first round of e-mail www.kleinandroth.com

Step 7: Manage the Campaign Send frequent progress reports Call any volunteer who falls behind Get thank you notes out quickly Post progress on social media, website

Accountability is key

Caveat: Don’t Fixate on $30,000 If you: are just starting out don’t need $30,000 prefer weird numbers Pick a goal that works for you. $10,000, $17,501, $23,000: what is important is to meet or exceed the goal! www.kleinandroth.com

Step 8: Evaluate & celebrate

www.kleinandroth.com Kim Klein Kim@kleinandroth.com 510-893-8933 x306