Getting out of the Fundraising Funk Leah Weiner, Ed. D. Building Capacity Consulting Leah Weiner, Ed. D.

Introductions o At your tables, share your name, organization and what inspires you to do your work. o second intros Building Capacity Consulting Leah Weiner, Ed. D.

Objectives of the workshop Why its important to develop a strategy Determine the most appropriate fundraising strategies to pursue Utilize a fund development planning toolkit to implement your fundraising strategies Learn from one another and share ideas Building Capacity Consulting Leah Weiner, Ed. D.

Activity At your tables One challenge: – Example: Building a donor base or increase board member gifts One strength: – Example: Gala raised $50,000 or 80% of board members donated their $1,000 give or get. Building Capacity Maximizing the effectiveness of nonprofits Leah Weiner, Ed. D.

Fund Development Planning Process Serves as a roadmap to help organizations achieve fundraising goals. Keep focus and avoid distractions. The process of creating the plan is as important as the actual plan. The creation of development plan produces ownership among staff and board, shared accountability and focus for your goal.

Creating a fundraising plan is a process A living breathing document that will change when you – Talk to board members, volunteers – Attending CNE Nonprofit Day – Meet with a donor that has a good idea – Read an interesting article or book – Having coffee with your colleague Don’t go into this thinking what you create is done and then put it on a shelf – Use it and talk about it with your key stakeholders

What to include in the plan? Key points from your case statement that you want to highlight Fundraising Strategies Timelines Financial Goals Point People Notes about specific events Tasks and Activities Board Roles Staff Roles Timing Estimate Donation

The case statement A detailed rationale for a fundraising campaign designed for internal supporters and external supporters Internal: Board, staff, volunteers External: Donors, potential prospects, foundations Keep it simple – a few paragraphs Answer the questions: – What is our mission? – What do we offer that no one else does? – Why is what we are doing important? – Why do we need money?

Fundraising Sources Individual Donations – Annual Donors / End of the Year Campaign – Major Gift Donors – Planned Giving – Endowment – Capital Campaign Member Dues Board Giving Events Foundation Funding Government Grants Corporate Sponsors

Annual Fund The building block for all fundraising – Direct mail – Individual Giving – End of the year campaign Why is it essential? – Develops a fundraising base – Operating dollars – Builds a pipeline of donors What to remember – Follow up – Engage those donor beyond just one time a year

End of the year campaign Los Angeles Review of Books 2013: $48, : $117, 453 # of donors: 313# of donors: 445 donors Campaign roll out and touch points: Launched on Giving Tuesday via social media Hard copy mailer Promo every Sunday in the LARB newsletter Dedicated blast on 12/30 and 12/31 Campaign roll out and touch points: Silent campaign (two weeks) before Giving Tuesday Mailer sent to 400 donors Press release announcing campaign Personalized s to 75 donors Launched on GT via social media and e- campaign Promo every Sunday in the LARB newsletter Dedicated s on Tuesday in December Personal phone calls to high capacity donors the first two weeks of December Hard copy postcard to all donors 12/18 Dedicated blast on 12/30 and 12/31 Gifts: 75% of the gifts were $150 and lower 25% were above $150 Largest gift was $25,000

No history of annual appeals? Develop a first year plan that includes: – One or two direct mail appeals (spring and end of the year). – Coordinate a volunteer phone blitz and call people – Participate in giving Tuesday (develop 1-2 messages about your organization and promote on twitter, facebook and via your e-newsletter)

Already have a strong annual giving program? Aim for 18 or 24 touches a year ( s, phone calls, birthday cards, holiday cards, brochure in the mail, giving postcards, one-on-one meeting, direct mail appeal, etc.) Follow up with lapsed donors to ask how they are doing. Increase donation levels of current donors. – John, I noticed you gave $500 to our annual campaign last year. Can you contribute $750 or $1000 this year?

Tips to make your Annual Campaign and End of the Year Fund Drive Stronger Have a soft launch for your end of the year campaign Start your end of the year campaign by giving Tuesday Strong collaboration between program staff, board and fundraising committee Get a donor to match end of the year campaign gifts and promote this to your donors! Reinforce your annual appeal letter with an e-newsletter Include photos and your organization’s colors/logos in your mail appeal letter Provide a link for people to pay online, a phone number and buck slip in your annual appeal letter Include a P.S. – with a powerful statement – people’s eyes usually drift down to the bottom of a letter Handwrite a short note for a select group of donors Thank the donor for their contribution last year and ask them to increase it by $50 or $100 Follow up the letter with a phone call asking donors if they received your letter. – Don’t have time? Ask a couple volunteers to call 10 people – provide them with a script

Activity Annual Fund: – What is your organization currently doing to raise money for your annual fund? – If you did an end of the year campaign, what worked well and/or what could be improved? – What do you want to try in the next month or the next three months?

Major Gifts A significant donation from a donor – $1,000 - $50,000 Strengths – Significant funds – Unrestricted funds – Base of committed donors Challenges – Training for in-person solicitation and stewardship – Follow up – A base of donors Tips to build a major gifts program – Determine your organization’s threshold – Get to know what your donors are thinking – meet with them – Spend them time cultivating donors in a way that they want to be cultivated

Questions to ask at a major donor meeting “What would you like your gifts to accomplish?” “How do you decide which projects to support with your own time and money?” “What are your top three charitable interests this year?” “What gift did you make that has brought you the most joy? “Could you ever see yourself supporting our organization?” “How would you like to be involved in this end of the year campaign/capital campaign?” “What range of gift should we be talking about?” “What would have to happen for you to say yes?” If they are ready to chat about a gift… “May I draft a proposal for your review?”

Planned giving What is it? – A legacy gift – A gift given to a nonprofit organization after an individual passes Profile of the ideal planned giving donor – 65+ – Given 10 or more small ($10-$1,000) to medium ($5,000-$15,000) size gifts – Demonstrated strong commitment to organization over past several years Can your institution support it? – Pipeline of donors – Donors with strong affinity – Legal support to draft language and review gift agreements or to work with donor’s financial advisors

Sample bequest language "I hereby give to the University of Southern California, a California not-for-profit corporation, with its principal place of business at Los Angeles, California: The sum of $________________ [amount] AND/OR The following described property: ________________ [description] AND/OR ____% [percent] of the residue of my estate to be used for ________________ [stated purpose] of the School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California."

Fundraising plan All of these fundraising strategies require a plan of action! Purpose What to include in your plan? How does an organization choose the right strategy Which individuals should be involved in the creating the plan?

Who to involve in creating your fundraising plan Board Staff Volunteers Fundraising Committee

Build your plan Get your plan on paper If you already have a working plan then continue to brainstorm ways to build your pool of donors, increase donations and increase your touch points.

Sample Template

Funding SourceYour Organization’s Name: Individual Donors Strategy (Notes and Steps) End of the year campaign will have a soft launch starting in mid-November. Initiatives End of the Year Postcard Call high capacity donors Board Review overall fundraising plan Staff Major Donors ($10K-20K) Annual Donors (100 - $1,000) Mid-Range Donors ($1,000 to $10K)

Sample Template

Activity What do you want to achieve next year? How much do you need to raise to do what you want to achieve? How will you involved key stakeholders?

Fundraising Plan Follow up: – What will you do next week? – Next month?

Thank you and please contact me if you have any questions Leah Weiner, Ed. D Building Capacity: Maximizing the effectiveness of nonprofits 303 Corona Street I Denver, CO I