Too often nonprofit organizations are so focused on their needs for contributed funds -- for operations, for buildings, for special projects -- that they forget their donors have interests and needs too.
The most effective fundraising is done on a win-win basis. Slow down to listen to people's interests to see where they match up with your list of institutional needs. Once you find a match, you're off to a great gift.
A good example was a dinner we held at our university cultivating people to consider making a gift to us. The messaging involved student scholarships. On one side of me I had a gentleman who thought this was a terrific idea and that every student willing and able should get a scholarship. On the other side was an arch conservative who had struggled his whole life to be a success. He made it without a scholarship and felt that anybody with enough gumption could do things on their own. Selling a scholarship to the first person was relatively easy. We found a different project for the second man.
Author, Winning Gifts
Permanent Link: Match People's Interests with Institutional Needs for Win Win Fundraising
http://majorgiftsguru.com/2008/02/match-peoples-interests-with.html
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