1. Carol Weisman, www.BoardBuilders.com, Carol@boardBuilders.comwww.BoardBuilders.com Transforming Ordinary People into fundraising Superheroes With Carol Weisman, MSW, CSP www.BoardBuilders.com Carol@BoardBuilders.com 314-863-4422 Would you like me to write thank you notes to all of the $50 donors? We’d be glad to host the pizza committee meeting at our house. I’ll bake brownies and make some really fabulous coffee. Can I also chair the Raffle Committee?

2. Carol Weisman, www.BoardBuilders.com, Carol@boardBuilders.comwww.BoardBuilders.com My goal for today is that you find ways to work smart and not hard as well as learning from the fundraising successes and “learning opportunities” of your colleagues.

3. Carol Weisman, www.BoardBuilders.com, Carol@boardBuilders.comwww.BoardBuilders.com The 2008 stats on giving in America From the Association of Fundraising Counsel: $307 Billion Given Individuals ___ Bequests ___ Corporations___ Foundations___

4. Carol Weisman, www.BoardBuilders.com, Carol@boardBuilders.comwww.BoardBuilders.com If you don’t have a strategy that involves soliciting individuals, why not? An individual approach should have a heart and head component

5. Carol Weisman, www.BoardBuilders.com, Carol@boardBuilders.comwww.BoardBuilders.com The big bucks question… how are you training your board in fundraising? Make fundraising training a part of your annual board retreat!

6. Carol Weisman, www.BoardBuilders.com, Carol@boardBuilders.comwww.BoardBuilders.com Do you expect your staff to be involved in fundraising? If so, what kind educational opportunities are they getting*? *think AFP (Association of Fundraising Professionals)

7. Carol Weisman, www.BoardBuilders.com, Carol@boardBuilders.comwww.BoardBuilders.com The three steps in fundraising: 1. Cultivation 2. The Ask 3. Stewardship

8. Carol Weisman, www.BoardBuilders.com, Carol@boardBuilders.comwww.BoardBuilders.com Web based cultivation 1. Sending a news clipping to friends, donors and supporters 2. Researching a potential donor 3. Looking for funding sources 4. Creating an e-zine or blog 5. Putting event photos on your web site 6. Writing informational articles for your web site 7. Writing e-books that can be sold

9. Carol Weisman, www.BoardBuilders.com, Carol@boardBuilders.comwww.BoardBuilders.com High touch cultivation 1. Invite a friend, relative or business associated to the agency 2. Have a meeting of a group you are involved in at the charity and organize a tour 3. Have an “at home” and have a rep from the organization tell the story 4. Initiate a lunch, dinner or other visit with a “closer” and a potential donor 5. Invite a potential donor to a special event

10. Carol Weisman, www.BoardBuilders.com, Carol@boardBuilders.comwww.BoardBuilders.com Mass Market Cultivation Write an article for publication. Don’t forget the national media and the web based media. Connect your organization with breaking news. 2. Go on the speaking circuit. Rotary, churches, temples, Junior League etc. NEVER leave with getting their contact info including e-mail address. Remember to ask for more than money…time, volunteers, clients.

11. Carol Weisman, www.BoardBuilders.com, Carol@boardBuilders.comwww.BoardBuilders.com The Ask 1. The folks who ask for money need to study the case and know how to overcome objections. There is a different rhythm to development than other sales processes. 2. Set up meetings with clients, friends and other potential donors with someone who can fill in pieces of the case that you don’t know.

12. Carol Weisman, www.BoardBuilders.com, Carol@boardBuilders.comwww.BoardBuilders.com Mass Market Ask 1. Work with someone who knows the case and then close the sale at speaking events. Create a powerful tag-team approach. Tell your story and ask the audience to get involved. 2. This works in person, on video, can be on the web, sent to TV stations, DVD, shown by others at home events and in offices etc.

13. Carol Weisman, www.BoardBuilders.com, Carol@boardBuilders.comwww.BoardBuilders.com Stewardship 1. Thank people often, creatively, graciously and cheaply! 2. Research shows that 94% of all donors will give a second gift and a larger gift if thanked by a board member! 3. When you thank a donor, instead of asking for more money, consider for asking for more information and advice!

14. Carol Weisman, www.BoardBuilders.com, Carol@boardBuilders.comwww.BoardBuilders.com Traditional Ways to Thank Folks Hand written thank you notes Phone calls Lunches, dinners, thank you events Naming buildings, walls, rocks, animals, plants, anything that is nailed down or not nailed down after the donor. Remember, these are tried and true and work on the Millionaire next door!!!

15. Carol Weisman, www.BoardBuilders.com, Carol@boardBuilders.comwww.BoardBuilders.com Other Ways to get involved in stewardship: 1. School tours 2. Ask to be involved in a focus group (people love to give their opinion even more than money!) 3. With permission, publicize the gift with the media, internally, on your website.

16. Carol Weisman, www.BoardBuilders.com, Carol@boardBuilders.comwww.BoardBuilders.com Always, always always have an on-going wish list.

17. Carol Weisman, www.BoardBuilders.com, Carol@boardBuilders.comwww.BoardBuilders.com Have your wish list available: In your newsletter On-line In your waiting room In the newsletters of contributors In the holiday letters of staff, board & volunteers In hotels, restaurants On the beach In bathroom stalls……

18. Carol Weisman, www.BoardBuilders.com, Carol@boardBuilders.comwww.BoardBuilders.com The Ability to Motivate Mastering the Platinum Rule…beyond the Golden Rule

19. Carol Weisman, www.BoardBuilders.com, Carol@boardBuilders.comwww.BoardBuilders.com Special Events Special events are the lifeblood of many nonprofits. The trick to being successful is to know what success looks like. Is the purpose of your event to cultivate donors, to ask for money, to thank current donors or celebrate a milestone or to educate around a specific issue? If you say, “All of the above,” you will fail. The clearer you are, the more successful you’ll be. The purpose of your event has to be clearly communicated to your guests. If they expect to be thanked and are asked for a donation, don’t expect pens and credit cards to fly out of their pockets!

20. Carol Weisman, www.BoardBuilders.com, Carol@boardBuilders.comwww.BoardBuilders.com Recruit a committee for your event If you expect your board to serve as your committee, get more than just a vote. Take the time to get specific buy-in. For instance, if you expect board members to bring or buy a table each for a dance, ask them each how many tables they will be responsible for BEFORE you decide to have a vote. You might be surprised. The vote might be to approve YOU doing an event on your own.

21. Carol Weisman, www.BoardBuilders.com, Carol@boardBuilders.comwww.BoardBuilders.com Create fabulous fundraising materials You need to have a case statement that includes: Why your day care center exists, in other words, your mission How you are going to meet those needs, or goals What you still need to be able to further your mission How your potential donor can be a part of your organization

22. Carol Weisman, www.BoardBuilders.com, Carol@boardBuilders.comwww.BoardBuilders.com Create a spectacular signature event A signature event is one that is unique to your organization and is repeated year after year or, for some organizations, every other year or every five years. A note of warning about special events: Always ask staff to keep track of the time they spend and subtract the amount they make from the gross. If you have a staff person spending $10,000 worth of time on an event and you net $20,000, subtract the $10,000 in staff time if earning revenue is your primary special event mission. Be honest about on how much the event costs. You might be shocked. Also, evaluate events from time to time to make sure they have not been overdone and you need to find another way to bring in revenue.

23. Carol Weisman, www.BoardBuilders.com, Carol@boardBuilders.comwww.BoardBuilders.com Bring your kids and their friends to an event It is important to share with your children what you care about, especially if you are leaving your organization in your will. In years to come, they will become not only donors but also volunteers and board members. Depending on the event, they might already make great volunteers, hanging up coats, passing out water at a race, or registering guests at an auction.

24. Carol Weisman, www.BoardBuilders.com, Carol@boardBuilders.comwww.BoardBuilders.com Create personalized invitations to be sent from your committee or board members for your event One of the techniques the Baltimore Heritage Quilters' Guild used to increase attendance to their quilt show from 200 to 1000 was to have individual quilters produce their own invitations. There are many great inexpensive on-line providers for postcards and invitations. I’ve had great luck with www.kodak.com, www.1800postcards.com and www.modernpostcards.comwww.kodak.com

25. Carol Weisman, www.BoardBuilders.com, Carol@boardBuilders.comwww.BoardBuilders.com Solicit auction items If you are a regular at a coffee shop, bagelry or restaurant, ask the business owner/manager/staff to support your organization, as you support their business. This also goes for your bank, broker, hairdresser, and other professionals you deal with. Hopefully, they will also get business. Look for the win-win. Link your site to theirs, and vice-versa. Market your event at their venue and be sure to plug their business at your event.

26. Carol Weisman, www.BoardBuilders.com, Carol@boardBuilders.comwww.BoardBuilders.com Put event photos on your website People love to see their own photos of themselves, even if they aren’t at their college weight. When you write the captions, spell people’s names person’s name correctly. When someone Google’s their name, their affiliation with you will be apparent.

27. Carol Weisman, www.BoardBuilders.com, Carol@boardBuilders.comwww.BoardBuilders.com Make every event international All of us have friends across the country, if not around the world. Put your event on the web and send e-mails to all of your friends, relatives, and colleagues. Have a way for them to participate in your event even if they aren’t able to attend, such as buying raffle tickets or making a donation. Make sure you clarify rules regarding pick up or shipping of items, and DO NOT violate local or international gaming laws.

28. Carol Weisman, www.BoardBuilders.com, Carol@boardBuilders.comwww.BoardBuilders.com Take photos at your events and send the photos framed to your donors and sponsors These photos should have your web information and the name of your organization encrypted on the photo. That way, your donors and sponsors have theirs walls not only the memory of a god time but also the name of your organization.

29. Carol Weisman, www.BoardBuilders.com, Carol@boardBuilders.comwww.BoardBuilders.com Don’t just “whack and plaque” retiring board members-- have an event to honor them When board members of long and distinguished service retire, have a luncheon or dinner to honor them. Charge a bunch. Speak about what they have done for the organization and how you plan to build on the foundation they’ve laid. Introduce them to the current generation of organizational leaders, who are carrying on the work that the retired board members started. Let the retirees know that you hope they will want to continue making a difference in the future of the organization through their ongoing contributions. You will have a mission-focused event that will inspire other board members.

30. Carol Weisman, www.BoardBuilders.com, Carol@boardBuilders.comwww.BoardBuilders.com Don’t have an event and invite people Have a “non-event” or “phantom event.” Invite people to send in money and stay home, put their feet up, rent a movie, read a good book, cook their favorite meal and allow you to spend 100% of their money on doing good.

31. Carol Weisman, www.BoardBuilders.com, Carol@boardBuilders.comwww.BoardBuilders.com Create an event that raises money AND visibility Some events earn lots of money, some earn your friends. Consider one that nets you both. In St. Louis, Missouri, Nurses for Newborns Foundation has a yearly gift wrapping program in a local upscale mall. Board members, volunteers and staff are involved.

32. Carol Weisman, www.BoardBuilders.com, Carol@boardBuilders.comwww.BoardBuilders.com Ask for the e-mail addresses of your guests and send them a thank- you photo from your event Despite the fact that some of us are dismayed that we don’t have our high school figures, we enjoy seeing photos of ourselves, sending a thank-you note by e-mail is inexpensive and enters your guest into your system for future e-zines, sales and e- vites.

33. Carol Weisman, www.BoardBuilders.com, Carol@boardBuilders.comwww.BoardBuilders.com Invite committee members for an “M&M” meeting In medicine, there are “M&M” meetings, which stands for “Morbidly and Mortality,” in other words, a conference on what happened to the patient. In the nonprofit world, we call them “debriefing sessions.” Set ground rules for these sessions. Ask that everyone stay focused on the mission and speak honestly and kindly, recognizing that people have put a great deal of work into an event, or maybe they haven’t and feel guilty. Ask your committee members for their opinion on what worked well and what could be improved on. Consider having inexpensive thank-you gifts. Always have great food. Discussion issues: 1. Did we meet our goals? 2. Should we do the event again? 3. What did each of the committee members like most? 4. What did members like least? 5. Who is following up with whom? (potential donor lunches and tours, thank yous to participants, donors, etc.)

34. Carol Weisman, www.BoardBuilders.com, Carol@boardBuilders.comwww.BoardBuilders.com In addition to a thank-you note to a major sponsor, pick up the phone A quick thank-you call, even if you just leave a message, really stands out in an e-mail, text- message world. It should include: Something personal, such as “It was marvelous to meet your lovely wife Nancy.” Something about the future. “We look forward to being able to complete the building project thanks to your support.” Something about their business. “I hope you had a chance to meet Mr. XYZ. I told him that you would be a great firm to work with.”

35. Carol Weisman, www.BoardBuilders.com, Carol@boardBuilders.comwww.BoardBuilders.com Resources for Training: The National Association for Fundraising Professionals www.AFPNET.orgwww.AFPNET.org BoardSource (formerly the National Center for Nonprofit Boards) www.BoardSource.orgwww.BoardSource.org Available at FundraisingSuperheroes.com