Rock it in January!

Sometimes I think January can be the new November.

Or whichever the second-biggest fundraising month is for you.

Several years ago I began making a concerted effort to spend the last few days of the year connecting with as many donors from the previous year who had not yet given during the current year.

Of course that type of effort can really happen all year, and in my development office it does. Still there are those who really don't respond until the end of the year.

The first year I did this we reached out to hundreds of donors. Many board members helped with calls and it made for a lot of excitement at the end of the year.

What I learned was not only did we increase giving for the last week of the year, but because of all of the connections and conversations January became our second-biggest fundraising month of the year!

In a fundraising world where everyone is always so "busy", our best successes can come from simply doing what we do best: engage with donors.

This year our team is all set to to completely engage the last two days of the year. We will be full force with lists and email addresses and phone numbers all ready to ensure that every donor has an opportunity to support us before the end of the year.

Between the phone calls, two email blasts and a gorgeous postcard that landed the day after Christmas, my hope is that we are definitely on people's minds as they consider a year end gift.

And it doesn't end at midnight on the 31st. On January 2nd we are right back, engaging, answering questions, thanking, expressing our gratitude. By the first full week in January we have the opportunity to connect with people about our upcoming Gala, our goals for the new year, our excitement of successes in the past month and pretty much anything that will help us engage with our donors.

Happy New Year! My wish is that 2014 is filled with peace, love and more passion for fundraising!

Year end giving

If you are like me, you might be wondering how the heck did we already arrive to mid December?

I mean seriously, wasn't I just on my summer vacation?

What happened to fall?

And is Christmas really only two weeks away?

If you are also like me, and a fundraiser, your winter/year end appeal mailed over five weeks ago. You have sent out a ton of thank you letters and you have sent out a friendly reminder to those who have not yet responded to your appeal.

I always look forward to the last couple weeks of the year. For me it means a lot of conversations with donors and the opportunity to share my excitement about our mission and the successes and challenges we are having with people we are in relationship with.

It's an exciting time. It can be stressful, but doesn't have to be.

If I have rocked it during the year, meaning if I have built relationships with donors, reached out to lapsed donors, thanked everyone promptly and have told them how we spent their money, then the last couple of weeks of the year can really be spent just checking in with people.

Yes, Ms. Jones, I also can't believe it's already almost the end of the year. Time not only flies for you, it also flies for your donors. Many people I speak with just can't believe that I am speaking with them about the year end campaign.

Have fun. Engage with your donors. Don't stress. Each conversation creates a stronger relationship for you and your organization.

Thank you for reading!

Relationships are the key

I use the "R" word a lot.

Peers on my fundraising team have heard this word so much that they incorporate it into many of their conversations and actions.

Fundraising isn't about a check. It's not about a response to a direct mail appeal or a company saying that they will purchase a table at your annual Gala.

Fundraising is all about relationships.

Having a problem with lapsed donors? You wouldn't be  alone. Many non-profits aren't even paying attention to those donors who once used to financially support the organization but for some reason stopped.

Having a challenge with taking a one-time donation to a long-term donor? I wonder how many non-profits are even paying attention to this.

Fundraisers are vital to the mission of a non-profit. I hear all of the time that fundraisers are too busy to do this or that. Too busy to call a donor. Too busy to actually sign a thank you letter. Yes, I was honestly shocked when I received a thank you letter letter from a local major non-profit I had donated to and the signature was pre-printed on the letter. Seriously?

We cannot be so busy that we don't make time for relationships. Relationships are the key to any fundraising successes we will have.

And you have time for them!

Every donor receives a tax letter/thank you letter. Call them the second you receive their donation!

Send something to a new donor. Perhaps a note signed by the board or perhaps an invite for a tour.

Use all of your social media to thank a corporate sponsor.

Sign every thank you letter. Add an additional note.

Call a few donors every week. Not for an ask, just to check in.

Build relationships. You won't regret it.

Thank you for reading!

The "What can you do for me?" relationship

I work for an organization that serves youth experiencing homelessness and youth on the verge of experiencing homelessness. We serve in in every way, from bringing food, clean underwear and other necessities to them wherever they are on the streets to providing emergency shelter, GED training, transitional housing, employment training and placement, case management, mental health services and so much more.

Some mornings I have to step over youth you have camped out overnight in front of our door way as I make my way into our building. The youth we serve come from trauma-filled lives, lives that have included sexual trafficking, drugs, alcohol, sexual, physical and verbal abuse and many things that you just don't want to read about right now.

Fortunately, there are thousands of people, companies, places of faith, foundations, civic groups and governments that want to support the youth we serve. These folks support us in so many ways. They might have different reasons for supporting us (every donor has their own very personal reason for supporting us) and in the end they all wish to give hope to the hopeless and a voice to the voiceless through our organization.

If you have been in fundraising for some time, you might be able to relate to what comes next.

Then there are those people who call me or send me an email, and I get at least one of these a week, and begin by saying how much they love our organization and then quickly move into wanting to do something "for the kids". I know that they mean the youth we serve who are ages 15 -24. They want their group to meet our youth, they want to "help" our youth, etc., etc.

I call this masking.

Someone masks as one you really wants to help our organization, and after being presented with the myriad of ways they can do that, passes on all of them.

They really want something from us. They want to know if we can support them.

A recent caller wanted to help, had never been here, and couldn't make time to come down to see what we do. Too busy.

I get that. We are all busy. Seriously.

If you want to make a difference in the world and support a non-profit, make sure that your support is unconditional in that you have considered this and truly want to support the non-profit, without any benefit for you. Businesses and organizations that want to purchase  table sponsorship for an event or sponsor an entire event obviously probably want to get something out that and when someone is donating $10,000+ I want to make sure they get something too.

Volunteering for a non-profit and financially supporting a non-profit changes the world. We need more people who want to change the world with us and less people who want to know what non-profits can do for them without care of who a non-profit serves.

Thank you so much for reading!

I don't beg

I have been fundraising for several years. When I tell people I am meeting for the first time what I do for a living, they usually say something about fundraising.

"I would hate to have to beg for money all of the time" is a common response.

There are some people who actually believe that. When I respond with something like "well, I don't beg" then the immediate response is usually "oh, I know" and then they try to explain their original response.

I don't take it as an insult, I simply want to correct them.

You see, as a fundraiser I am in the relationship business. I don't need to beg or keep my fingers crossed for a check or think about how much someone is going to give me when I am meeting them. I am always focused on building a lifelong relationship with someone, a group of people, a foundation or a business.

All I think about is their vision and our vision and how those two visions meet to potentially create an amazing relationship that benefits them and us.

It's that simple.

Many times I say that I am keeping my eye on the prize. The prize is the relationship. And I always remember that an amazing relationship between me and our donors and supporters can only make our agency stronger and only be better for our mission.

Thanks for reading!