Thank. Your. Donors.
A personal tale by Beth Upton of the time she said to a charity “don’t worry about thanking me” and then got cross when they listened to her and did not thank her. Always say thank you.
How big is big?
Big Gift, Major Gift, Major Donor – call it what you will – Fundraising isn’t defined by a set gift amount. It is defined by its approach – taking the time to develop a relationship with a person over time in order to ask for a commitment.
Does your Case for Support pass the Why? test?
It used to be the natural thing for us to question everything – we asked why? all the time. Over time we’ve stopped doing that so much – we know more, we don’t ask as much. Asking “yeah, but why?” about your fundraising proposition is a good test of whether you’ve arrived at the nub of the issue yet… and if you can’t answer the whys that you come up with you won’t be answering the whys of your audience
Delighting your Donor
Even a tiny charity can build a major donor programme. Because a major donor programme can start with a single donor, it doesn’t have to start with a big database, a big spreadsheet and an investment in staff and resources that won’t pay off for two years or more.
The secret is knowing your capacity to delight and then delighting that donor or those few donors you can manage well.
Is a Development Board a help or a hindrance?
A Development Board is not an undertaking for the feint-hearted, they are full-on vehicles to deliver significant investment. As we all know, there is no such thing as a free lunch; this significant investment in your organisation will need a significant investment from you in time (and money).
There are three key areas to consider when reviewing a Development Board – to set one up or to continue with one:
Capacity
Leadership
Membership