Time with a donor/partner/sponsor

I recently met with a long-term supporter. We had lunch and walking into it I had a plan.

Before I begin I should say that although he has been a long-term supporter of my group, I have only known him for three months.

My plan was to increase his value of the partnership we have had with him and create a partnership for 2012 that will blow both of our hopes out of the water.

Let me back up. I did my research. I decided that although we had partnered for years, that they had not used their benefits to the extent that would make them even more successful, and we hadn't given them enough opportunities to show what their true needs in the partnership were.

Say what?

I know, reading it back I think the same thing. Yet this is a challenge for many non-profits who simply agree to a partnership then file it away until the next year. And if the partner isn't paying attention they end up reaping very little form the relationship.

Our lunch ended up taking almost three hours. When I left I felt that we had definitely taken our relationship to a new level and as we continue to discuss 2012 that the coming year would be the most successful year of our partnership ever.

The lunch ended up being a great success for us and them. A true partnership. The fires were re-stoked.

Take the time to meet face to face with your donors and partners. Make sure they know how important the relationship is to you. Make sure they know how much more you can do with their support. Make sure they know what they get out of it and how truly beneficial the partnership is to them.

Thanks for reading. I am honored that you take time out of your busy day to read my thoughts.

Changing the world

I am in the second week of my vacation and am having an incredible time. A lot of beach time, time with friends and family, long walks with my husband, and amazing vegan food.

I have also had a lot of time to think about how I can be a voice for the voiceless and how I can help make the world a better place by fundraising. My day job, as many of you know, is to fundraise for Opera Colorado, one of the best opera companies in the country. I feel so grateful to be able to do what I do as I believe keeping the arts (and opera) alive in our communities is so pertinent in keeping a vibrant community.

For those of you reading this blog who are fundraisers (and I know there are a lot of you!), you must know how important your work is in changing the world. We all work for so many amazing organizations that on a daily basis the world is a better place because of all the work our groups do.

Although this blog, Fundraising for Free!, is all about sharing fundraising ideas that work for me, the bigger picture is to help others making positive change in the world.

So back to that for a minute. My tip for this post goes back to you and your relationship with your donors. Make sure they know how important the mission of your group is to you, and why you think your group changes the world for the better. The more they know about this the closer your relationship will be.

Back to my vacation. Thanks to all of you for your amazing support. I'd also like to do a shout out to one of my readers, Jasmine, who has a Smoothie King shop in Port Orange, FL and invited us in. We loved it there and she made us feel right at home. Stop in if you're ever in the area!

Ask!

As I transition into my new job I have taken a couple weeks to really focus on that, yet have also been thinking about this next post and all of the folks who have been reading my posts.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my blog. I have been blown away by the kind feedback I have received, and also by the editing feedback!!!

The topic of this blog is "ask". What I mean by this is that with everything we have going on, with everything that has to be done "right now", it is sometimes easy to forget that the easiest, least expensive way to fundraise is to simply ask someone for a donation.

We recently had an event and I was with one of my guests who is a potential corporate sponsor. One of our board members swung by and simply said "I hope you can help us". Amazing! I was so excited that this simple sentence that carried with it such a powerful ask.

I hope you can help us.

Can you support this program?

Can you buy a $10,000 table at our Gala to help us build energy around the event?

Would you be able to make your annual donation in June rather than in December?

I have met several peers in fundraising that are at times uncomfortable asking for money. If you are a funraising professional, you just have to get over any fear in asking for money. It's what we do. And you can rock at it! (This perhaps could be the subject of a whole other posting!)

Those lacking money to pay for their meds to fight HIV or cancer need us to ask. Those being killed and injured in the streets of Syria need us to ask. The abused animal needs us to ask. The beaten wife needs us to ask. The local arts organization needs us to ask.

Fundraising for Free! is all about sharing things I have learned about fundariaing that do not cost you anything, or cost very little. It can all start with a simple ask.

Who will you ask today? If you make an ask today, I'd love to hear about the response.

Big love to all of you out there raising money to make the world a better place for all living beings!