Courtney Thomas

In the face of declining donor retention and giving, building a culture of philanthropy is more important than ever. Check out this compelling article from Emily Gonzales on the how and why of building a culture of philanthropy at your organization.

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Panic alert: Often, nonprofit board members are reminded it’s their job to raise money for their organizations… But they don’t know how to start. Don’t know how to tell the story. Don’t know how to be compelling. When David Langiulli and train boards, we meet board members where they are (sometimes hiding under a pillow) … and guide them. We use values and many other potent tools from the coaching world. We help them raise money. How do we help them raise money? One place we start is with values. Here are three of my personal values: 1.      Be Present 2.      Accept what is 3.      Act with courage Those are words and concepts that I feel aligned with. That I try to live by. And that I used as a front line fundraiser. Aligning with our values helps guide us toward what matters. Knowing our values helps guide us towards what feels magical and delightful. Articulating our values can help us walk away from situations where what we care about is being stepped on. And values work is a way to become a potent fundraiser: When we connect our values to the cause we want to raise money for, we shine. Are you a board member who needs help feeling resonant with donors? On a board in need of some training? Reach out to learn more. #fundraising #nonprofit #nonprofitboard #philanthropy #coachingculture

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4 Components of a Culture of Philanthropy "Development staff are always included in organizational decisions. Program staff play an active role in relationship building. Fundraising and engagement are inextricably linked. Transformational relationships take priority over transactions." More insights and explications of these points can be found in this important article by Claire.

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If We Truly Valued the Donors We Had Wouldn't we: Survey and/or interview them about what institutional attributes they find most important and impressive to ensure we hire fundraisers who embody them? Tell fundraisers their most important job is to perpetuate and deepen relationships with those assigned to their portfolios? Require fundraisers to demonstrate that they have studied donor profiles and developed engagement plans attuned to their donors' passions and sensitivities? Equip fundraisers with questions to ask so they can fill gaps in those donors' records to ensure they are managed well over time? Check in with those donors after a few months to make sure all is going well with their new development officer? Work with the development officer to learn what each donor does and does not want to receive knowing how many complain of being bombarded with information? Make sure any solicitation is well-thought-out and respectful as evidenced by the number of conversations preceding it and interest expressed by the donor in a particular initiative? Conduct annual stewardship interviews or surveys to make sure donors feel that their gifts have been well-stewarded and they feel respectfully treated, then compare results year over year to make sure gaps are not growing? Show fundraisers how they can help donors develop multiple connections to the organization? Yet, how often do we see fundraisers: Selected on the basis of bravado Pushed into the field with too little training and no review of their plans Expected to solicited after a set number of visits with no review as to whether what is being solicited aligns with donors' interests Not required to show evidence of relationship or affinity building Gone after two years so that donors not only experience giving fatigue but breaking-in-new-fundraiser fatigue So let's be honest. While many organizations have a stewardship office, few have anything that looks like an asset management plan or the awareness of how important one is. Despite what we give lip service to, is it not a fact that we care little about how positive an impression our fundraisers make or how well they treat their donors as long as they bring home some bacon? So here's the lesson that must penetrate or our thick organizational skulls: A stewardship office, no matter how good, cannot compensate for: Leadership attitudes that treat donors like cordwood Fundraisers who don't reflect values and ideals touted by the organization Fundraising imperatives that favor insensitive fundraisers or desensitize good ones Donors being made to feel like ATMs accessed by revolving fundraisers Inappropriate or inept solicitations Most organization leave much too much to chance. They need to build awareness around donors as invaluable organizational assets and, at minimum, hold themselves to ethic articulated in the Hippocratic Oath:  "I will do no harm or injustice to them."

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The benefits of conducting feasibility studies run well beyond establishing the viability of your capital campaign. They have a special way of generating interest and excitement and of capturing important data. You never know what they will produce, but when correctly run, they almost always open unexpected doors. #nonprofitfundraising #nonprofitcapitalcampaign #capitalcampaign #capitalcampaignconsultant

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Should you work on building and sustaining long-term donor relationships that lead to major giving, or should your focus be on winning low-dollar gifts as quickly as possible? That's today's question and one worth thinking about. What do you think? https://lnkd.in/eBvWDwMj #majorgiftsfundraising #relationshipsmatter

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Educating Bosses and Boards About Setting Fundraising Goals First of all, its a huge issue - one that we all need to keep flagging as a major cause of: Donor attrition Staff turnover Donor fatigue Staff discouragement The erosion of our greater philanthropic potential So where's the best place to begin? Within your own data. I know from long and direct experience that there is no better way to change clients' outlook than to show them their own data. Particularly helpful are the histories of their previous major gifts including: How many years of giving preceded that donor's largest gift? How long it took from the time donors were approached with the idea for the major gift to the time they committed? These analyses invariably reveal that there is a long incubation period in development of loyal, generous donors. They also reveal a long gestation period in the birthing of major gifts, from the time an idea is introduced to the time the commitment is made. The average is two years but major gifts are like mammals - the larger the gift, the longer the gestation period. In addition, powerful trends can be seen in your annual giving including: A loss of donor volume A growing dependence on fewer donors giving increasingly more Large "annual gifts" secured in ways that are much more like major gift processes That dialogue and community building produce better results then one-way appeals If you are a young organization or don't have access to such data, request it from a colleague in a like organization or from those who contribute regularly to the field. It's in my books, articles and posts as well as those of my colleagues. If we are to better educate our bosses and boards, we need to start with ourselves. Second, we have to get over this notion that anything we suggest in the name of more informed goal setting is: Complaining Not being positive Unprofessional Just flip that around to see how ludicrous this sounds. "Well, I'm proud to say I maintained my cheerful, can do disposition in the face of steady donor loss and accelerating staff attrition." That's "professional"? Times to address goal setting include: When applying jobs When presented with KPIs During a performance review In requesting professional development or staff training In all these instances you can contrast current practice with more data-driven approaches. You can make it clear that you are positive about the mission and keen on advancing it but want to focus your efforts in ways that will produce the more significant, sustainable successes. Finally, we can't lose sight of a basic truth. You don't increase fundraising success by tasking fundraisers to get more money but by giving them evidence of how investment in your organization leads to higher service levels. Donors don't give because they're asked but because they are given compelling opportunities to make differences in ways they find personally meaningful and satisfying.

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While this survey from Candid found that foundation giving remained steady in 2023, one has to wonder what the impact would be if large foundation gifts were removed from the equation. Would giving statistics still remain steady? Or, would there be a dramatic drop off? #nonprofit #cfre #fundraising

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Donor Qualification: Try Flipping the Tables What if we straight out asked for meetings with prospective donors to learn what would take for our organization to qualify for their philanthropic consideration and, if qualified, what process they would expect to follow before making a commitment? Sometimes our tap dancing around the issue of why we want to meet works against us. Us: "I'd just like to meet and get to know you" or "We'd like to explore some ways of getting you involved in our organization." In the mind of the prospect: "But you're a fundraiser, so it's apparent why." We want to establish our credibility from the very beginning while showing we won't engage in an ambush ask or jam anywhere along the way. We want to show that we are facilitators but they are in charge of the process. We will always preview the purpose of each meeting requested and at the end of that meeting, ask permission explore the next step in that process. The clearer we are in our intent, the more we allay concern and build credibility. The tone of the questions we put to prospective donors, as with the suggestions below, is all important. These questions show that: We come to learn We understand that support has to be earned We are facilitators and negotiators not glib, glad-handing grabbers We should put these questions only to those have a record of giving elsewhere and if in that record we see a philanthropic interest that aligns with one of our organizational capabilities. Ideally, those that we put the questions to might have some other engagement or direct knowledge of our organization - as might be the case with the patron of an arts organization or someone who has attended one of our events. If such a meeting was granted, it would be wise to be prepared for openings such as questions about your organization's strategic emphases or competitive strengths but never come or work from a brochure. Never. Donors want to work with adaptive, resourceful facilitators not drones. Remember that anyone who agrees to meet with you will form the next most powerful impression of your organization by the way you conduct yourself. Yes, friendly and inquisitive are nice attributes but donors will be more impressed by seriousness of purpose and a your personal determination to make differences in the lives of those you serve. Those who rebuff the opportunity for such discussions do you the favor of telling you that they are not yet receptive to any fundraising appeal. That, in and of itself, is immensely helpful and allows you to reallocated your time and fundraising strategies accordingly.

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Donor Loyalty: A Test Nothing is more important in building a stronger community of shared purpose or a culture of philanthropy. Those are only as strong and as resilient as are the volume of loyal donors who comprise them. Let's remind ourselves, loyal donors: Serve as living endowments; what they give annually is the equivalent of an endowment 25 times that size. Have you told them that? Are the most likely to create endowments late in life or through their estates. If endowment giving is important to you, are you bringing them closer each time they renew their annual commitments? Will transfer considerable wealth to nonprofits, particularly in the next 15 year and many quiet loyalists will be the source of some surprisingly large estate gifts. Are you trying to identify them, the quiet millionaires next door? So many "surprisingly large" estate gifts shouldn't be any surprise at all. Have you identified loyal donors living alone - be they widows, widowers or lifelong singles? Are you identifying those without children who are the most likely to pass on their entire estates to nonprofits? Are you reaching out to donors who were/are also employees, especially those who have retired? We find some organizations that can check some of these boxes, but few that can check all. Some recognize major giving anniversaries (5, 10, 15, etc. years of giving). Some have a loyalty society. But you know what is disturbingly rare? The number of advancement leaders, CEOs and board members who can't come close to naming even their 25 most loyal donors (measured by years of cumulative giving, irrespective of amount). If I've given to you for 25 years, is it asking too much that you know my name? We like to say that advancement is about building relationships. If so, why haven't we committed to memory those with whom we have enjoyed the longest relationships? Anyone of us could bump into one of our most remarkable loyalists and not know who they are, much less seize the opportunity to thank them for their remarkable behavior. At bare minimum, let's commit to learning their names. Let's try to learn their stories. Let's invite them to events and reserve front row seats for them. Let's invite them to staff meetings and board meetings and give them a chance to share why and how we were fortunate enough to have merited their support for so long. One again the right thing to do and the smart thing to do are one and the same.

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During Small Business Month, it's an excellent moment to contemplate integrating the WOSB certification into your portfolio. The Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) Certification presents a chance to tap into government contracts, as annually, the government aims to allocate 5% of all contracts to Women-Owned Small Businesses, offering numerous opportunities to deserving small businesses like yours. This initiative aims to bolster female representation in the business sector and to furnish opportunities that may have been previously unavailable. If your business is majority-owned and operated by women (51%), you may qualify to access a portion of these funds. At Women's Business Council Southwest, we provide this certification. It can bring opportunities that you didn't know existed.

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A Positive Trend In Fundraising That's Applicable to All We Do "What trends are you seeing across your peer group or aspirant peers?" I asked a client team last week. "Campaigns that play down the monetary goal and play up specific projects or initiatives," was the consensus. Yay! I was so thrilled to hear that. Some of us have been pushing for this for more than a decade, for obvious reasons including: Most donors are not the least bit motivated by monetary goals When you crow about meeting or exceeding your monetary goals, you deaden your subsequent fundraising appeal; donors rightly ask, "Didn't you just get everything you asked for and more?" Monetary goals don't provide the foundation for philanthropic partnership building, impact delivering projects do. Impact delivering projects demonstrate institutional momentum and relevance So more and more organizational and advancement leaders have figured this out. Yay! But it applies to much more than campaigns. The same lessons should be applied to every aspect of fundraising including giving days and annual giving, which need to be much more about projected impacts for all the reasons listed above. Once you change our mindset from "fill our buckets" to "here's how to fuel our potential," you become immediately more strategic and responsive and whole new animating vocabulary unfolds as is suggested below. You show people how to give through your organization to make significant, sustainable societal advances. You stop asking people to subsidize operations and start to showing them how to optimize potential. With a more animated, service-oriented mindset, a more enlivened vocabulary, and more concrete milestones, you put your organization in a far better position to attract new support, build philanthropic partnerships and create a stronger community of shared purpose.

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