FIVE SUREFIRE WAYS TO GET A MEETING WITH A MAJOR DONOR
I had a conversation with a very generous social services donor recently and he said: “I usually only hear from people when they need more money.”
I thought to myself – “YIKKKKKKKKKKKES!" That is NOT what any fundraiser wants to hear. Your donors shouldn't only hear from you when they need money from you... it's basically a cardinal sin!
If you don’t have a reason to reach out to them other than to ask for more money, then you need to find one. Make something up, if you have to! You have got to stay in touch.
So how are you supposed to get to them? Do you just call em or send random letters throughout the year?
Well, you can and should send e-newsletters, an annual report, mail newsletters, reach them via social media, send them thank you cards, wish them happy birthday, wish them happy anniversary, send quick postcard updates on project progress, chat them up at a networking event, follow them on social media, etc. The list goes on.
But the best thing to do is meet with your donors 1:1 in person. This is mandatory practice for building relationships with your major donors and major donor prospects.
You at least have to TRY to meet with them -- and engaging them and inviting them is almost as good as getting them to a meeting itself!
But here’s one thing to keep in mind… Just like you shouldn’t contact them only when you want to ask them for money, you also shouldn’t contact them just to pitch your organization or a project to them. Don’t preach or lecture, no one is interested in hearing an unsolicited sermon outside of Sunday morning.
You at least have to TRY to meet with them -- and engaging them and inviting them is almost as good as getting them to a meeting itself!
But here’s one thing to keep in mind… Just like you shouldn’t contact them only when you want to ask them for money, you also shouldn’t contact them just to pitch your organization or a project to them. Don’t preach or lecture, no one is interested in hearing an unsolicited sermon outside of Sunday morning.
One corporate executive donor told me: “I HATE when people waste my time and tell me they need to meet in person -- only to find out it’s about something they could have emailed to me.”
Don’t waste someone’s time meeting with them in person with information you could have sent them in an email.
So… What CAN you meet in person for?
How can you get valuable 1:1 time on the table with a major donor and major donor prospect?
Here are FIVE types of meetings that can get you in a room with your major donors and major donor prospects today...
For this last one, if you’re a brand new executive -- all the better. Being new is reason enough to sit down with your major donors and quiz them as if you’ve never met them before -- because you likely haven’t! A simple email like this could do the trick:
“Good afternoon! You have been such a great supporter of improving healthy dental habits for seniors. As the new Executive Director of Smiles Direkt I am looking forward to meeting you and learning more about you. It’s always inspiring to see people commit to an important cause with so much passion. Do you have 30 minutes or so to meet for coffee? I’d like to get a better idea of your experience with improving access to dental work for senior citizens.” ... Or something like that! ;)
You, you, you, you, you! … Notice the trend here?! You need to make sure everything is always all about THEM, and pretty much nothing about you or your organization.You’re simply matching the donor up to a giving opportunity THEY care about (which also happens to be one you care about…).
You should always be cheerful about your mission. If you’re cheerful, your genuine passion for your mission will shine through and naturally inspire others to join.
How can you get valuable 1:1 time on the table with a major donor and major donor prospect?
Here are FIVE types of meetings that can get you in a room with your major donors and major donor prospects today...
- Advice Visits “Hey, I wanna run something by YOU and see what YOU think….”
- Thank You Visits “LOVED seeing YOU at the recent event. We made some changes and I wanna get an idea of what YOU thought of it…”
- “I’d love to hear more about YOU” visits
- “I’d love to hear YOUR story” visits
- “I’m new here. I need YOU!” visits
For this last one, if you’re a brand new executive -- all the better. Being new is reason enough to sit down with your major donors and quiz them as if you’ve never met them before -- because you likely haven’t! A simple email like this could do the trick:
“Good afternoon! You have been such a great supporter of improving healthy dental habits for seniors. As the new Executive Director of Smiles Direkt I am looking forward to meeting you and learning more about you. It’s always inspiring to see people commit to an important cause with so much passion. Do you have 30 minutes or so to meet for coffee? I’d like to get a better idea of your experience with improving access to dental work for senior citizens.” ... Or something like that! ;)
You, you, you, you, you! … Notice the trend here?! You need to make sure everything is always all about THEM, and pretty much nothing about you or your organization.You’re simply matching the donor up to a giving opportunity THEY care about (which also happens to be one you care about…).
You should always be cheerful about your mission. If you’re cheerful, your genuine passion for your mission will shine through and naturally inspire others to join.
By asking your donors about themselves, you will eventually get them to ask about your organization priorities. They may turn the conversation and say: “So tell me about you. What are y’all up to over at Smiles Direkt?”
If your meeting wasn’t setup specifically under the guise of talking about your organization priorities, keep the answer to this question short -- 30 seconds should be enough for a general rundown. If they ask more questions, then answer them! But keep your answers short and sweet and return the focus to the donor.
If your organization budget is less than $2.5 million each year, I’m gonna say 9 times out of 10, these meetings should be between YOU (the executive director) and the donor. (They should not be held between a junior level staff member or development staff member… if anything those folks can go along, but the most senior level executive in your organization needs to be handling these personal relationships.)
Lastly, be ready to slip a handwritten thank you note in the mailbox the moment you leave the meeting! You should be chompin’ at the bit to follow up immediately and thank the person for their valuable time. You should also return to the office (or online!) to add notes from your meeting to your donor database file.
Please let me know if you have any questions on this topic or others. I’d be happy to talk to you about how you can start breaking the ice and use data you already own to open the door to more revenue for your organization.