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.

Is your big event worth it?

In the past year I have read about several different non-profit groups making changes to their annual event. Some groups have a huge Gala annually, others a breakfast, luncheon, or sports event. Across the board, it seems like groups are making changes from completely cancelling their event to reducing costs, changing the date, or changing the event itself (eg: from a full-out Gala to a luncheon). Meanwhile, others wonder if it's all worth it.

My first thought is YES! My immediate second thought is that is also depends.

For me, like any event, the BIG event of the year and it's success depends on the overall relevance of the event, your expectations around the event, and what the main purpose of the event is.

For me, our annual event is about building donor relations and introducing potential new donors (friends of current donors) to an amazing show of who we are and what we do.

It's not about raising money, although that is an incredible side-benefit if done well. When I look across the room at a Gala and see all of the happy people, not only engaged with the mission but with their friends and other donors, I can help to think how much of a success that is. How many of these guests are at the Gala for the first time? And for the first-timers, will they be more likely to financially support the mission after the Gala?

Our Gala is coming up in September and we are very much focused on creating an amazing event for our donors and potential donors. We have pressed the message to the committee and board that we want people to bring friends that have never been to one of our events. We want guests to look around the room and NOT know every person they see! This is another of the huge benefits of your annual event as you get long-time supporters with people considering support and magic can happen!

Consider all of this before making a decision to cancel your annual event. In some cases it might be best to cancel it and move on, yet if donor cultivation is important to your overall mission you may want to look at how you can make the event better on all levels before getting rid of it.

As always, I would love your feedback. I continue to be so grateful for all of your support!

Dan Hanley with Opera Colorado

It's a beautiful morning in Denver, Colorado. I'm at me desk thinking about the day and also thinking of the reception I attended the other night. The event was a birthday celebration for a well-known catering guru in the community and I was thrilled to have been invited.

When I arrived I surveyed the space, an art gallery, and began to think of my plan to connect with others attending the party. As much as I was there to celebrate the birthday of a peer, I also wanted to take advantage of meeting people and introducing Opera Colorado to folks who might not know much about us.

I should add here that I love events like this. I love business, social, professional events where I have the opportunity to engage with my peers and introduce the world of opera to those who may not know about it. Many times events like this are called Business After Hours and I try to make at least one a week.

The key to attending these events, and the reason I try to attend them, is to, as Rupaul would say, work it. If you decide to attend an event like this it's important to not just be a flower on the wall but actually meet people and talk about your non-profit. We get into dangerous territory when assumptions are made that everyone in a given room already knows all there is to know about your non-profit. Opportunities like this are the key ingredient to "social" media: actually meeting face to face with other human beings.

I realize that this might be uncomfortable for smoe. In a world where we communicate with thousands of people via Facebook and Twitter, it can become different to actually converse, to talk about your non-profit's mission with somenoe who might actually want to support you. Yet this is all vital. I love facebook. I love Twitter. Nothing excites me more, though, than seeing a room filled with people who may or may not know about Opera Colorado and who may or may not even enjoy opera. The conversations I have are thrilling and no matter what type of social engagement I am attending, if I extend my hand to as many people as possible and simply say "I'm Dan Hanley with Opera Colorado", the magic of fundraising continues!

Try it! If you have been in fundraising for years, try it. If you are quite new to fundraising, try it.

No matter where you live, there are organizations that have some type of monthly or quarterly meeting. Check out your local Chamber of Commerce or regional non-profit agency. In the Denver area we have several opportunites to meet with peers monthly.

Attend, introduce yourself, follow-up with people you met. Then let me know all about it.

As always, thanks so much for reading my blog!

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!

Vacation time!

I have heard this many times from fundraising professionals: "I have so many vacation days saved I have no idea how to use them."

And every time I hear that my mind goes to the same thought:

Seriously?

Yes, many of our peers work, work, work. They completely rock at their job, they are stellar fundraisers, they make the world a better place for all, their eyes are always on the prize, etc. And, they have a challenge relaxing or taking a vacation. One of my core beliefs is that I cannot care for the world if I am not taking care of myself first.

So tomorrow, my husband and I are headed to Port Orange, Florida to visit my mother-in-law. And we're driving! From Denver! I am so excited I can barely stand it! Vacation to me is always some type of road trip, a new adventure (this time we are going to the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis), trying vegan food where you think there would never be vegan food, visiting friends and family, and (number one) the beach!

What does my vacation have to do with Fundraising for Free!? We MUST take care of ourselves. Making sure you take vacation is a great start.

So I am off! I might write a blog from the road and might not. I will defintiely be in gratitude for many things, one of them being all of the support I get for this blog, and how many amazing conversations I have had with people who got something out of what I shared. It's just amazing how life works.

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!

Be yourself!

Those of you who have been reading for a few months know that in April I started a new fundraising job. After 2 1/2 years at my last agency I decided to take a move and after one month there I am beyond ecstatic with this new opportunity.

Fundraising for Free! has been a great opportunity for me to share about my experiences with fundraising and share ideas that don't cost anything (or very little). My hope is to build a community of fundraisers who learn from each other and who change the world as we raise money for groups near and dear to our hearts.

I write often about the importance of face-to-face meetings with donors, as well as the importance of always working to build an even stronger relationship with your donors. One thing that I have recently learned with my new job (and have tried to do in my fundraising life) is to be myself when speaking with donors or supporters.

The photo here is one of my husband and I (I'm on the left. I know, my husband is handsome. :) ). We were married on April 30, 2005. I wanted to write this post about being yourself because in the last month I have had conversations with people I have just met and have spoken about my marriage. Regardless of the opinion around gay marriage of the donor/supporter, in each instance I have walked away having a better relationship with that donor. Some have even written a note and some Twitter followers have told me "good job" for being out about my marriage on Twitter.

This post is not about promoting gay marriage. It is everything about bringing the 100% you to the table when meeting with donors.

Another example is that when having a meal with a donor they inevitably discover that I am vegan. Questions are asked and through that process we get to know each other even better.

The other night I discovered that the donor I was dining with was a Civil War buff. Me too! What a great way to get closer to a donor.

Let your passion and yourself out and you will thrive!