In last week's blog post, “Making Relationship Fund-raising Work for your Non-profit or School,” I took you on a journey to a new mindset about the ability to attract resources. I discussed the stories of three different organizations that benefited from this mindset.
Within each of these stories there was an organization that was able to attract resources without even asking. What did they have in common?
They consistently and successfully engaged people. And how does one do that? There are three steps to this process.
The Formula for Consistent and Successful Engagement
First, you must be able to inspire people with your story. This means your story must be compelling, concise and consistently told, as well as be driven by a vision for the future. You must be able to depict a clear picture of what the world will look like because of your school or nonprofit.
Second, you must be able to articulate what you need and how people can help. Let's say you're out at a cocktail party, and a couple asks you about your school. You did a great job of inspiring the couple with your unique approach to educating children. But now, when they ask you what your top priorities are, do you have an answer? Would your board members have the same answer? This happens all the time, and if you are not prepared to answer this question, you may miss out on an opportunity. Below is a great testimonial of a client who without any hesitation, had the answer to this question.
"I'm a co-founder of a charter school, and while I was on the board, another board member and I decided it was the right time to invite one of our relationships, a very influential community member, for a tour."
"During the tour and the lunch meeting, the school's founder did what many founders do - offered passionate stories about the children. At one point during the lunch, the gentleman asked, "What are your top three priorities?" She was ready for this question, and offered, "We need a new HVAC system or in three months we won't be able to open our doors. This is going to cost $75,000. We also need to clean and paint the gym, which will cost $20,000, and . . ." This gentleman stopped her and told her that she should consider#1 and #2 done. The next day he dropped off a check for $75,000."
Third, you must be strategic about cultivating relationships over a long time period. What does this entail?
Really getting to know what people care about
Asking people how they think they fit in
Being clear about what you need and how people can help
Saying thank you over and over and over again
Continuing to connect and reach out to people.
This is a huge undertaking and some infrastructure is required to do it successfully. This is also not the job of "a fund-raiser." A fund-raiser's job is to drive the strategy and empower board members, staff people and ambassadors to confidently see every moment of the day as an opportunity to tell your organization's story, make connections, identify opportunities and bring those back to the organization to determine follow-up steps.
We Love Success Stories
If you decide to try this, let us know what happens. We love success stories!
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