I presented these 5 easy points during a staff lunch at Pro Bono Net on my past experiences creating a culture of philanthropy at the organization and encouraging program staff to be past of the fundraising. (Aside from making them stuff invitations and fold tickets during crunch time!)
The goal was to start a conversation about how development could be more transparent about the fundraising work we are doing and how we could encourage the program staff to participate in fundraising. Here is an article from EJewish Philanthropy by Stephen G. Donshik, D.S.W.,which captures how much we as a staff need to participate in good stewardship. I also used
this article on top tips for creating a culture of philanthropy to formulate my top 5 tips. Whenever I go to AFP meetings or events related to fundraising, I recap what I learned for other staff and I do that for the Shelter Development Committee. I think training and current trends is critical to being good fundraisers.
1. Identifying Donors
You’re pounding the pavement and talking
about your programs, who’s taking the bait?
Program staff that do outreach may have the
best opportunities to talk to potential supporters. For example, I worked at a small shop where
it was hard to do outreach, but much of our staff was doing outreach as part of
their job. They took a fundraising lead when they found someone who was a
potential candidate and wanted to donate, do an in-kind collection, or event. They
would direct them to development and stay on as a point of contact. Frequently,
these relationships developed into fundraising events and donations.
2. Talking with Donors
No one can describe programmatic work as
well as the people who do it – so they should.
When talking with donors, it helps to have
supporters meet the program staff. For example, I frequently took along
programmatic staff to luncheons and events where we’d meet donors or if donors
came to the office, I set time aside for them to meet program staff. The beginning steps of any stewardship plan
is about building the relationship, having program staff speak passionately
about what they do is a great way to immerse donors in your cause.
3. Cultivation and Sharing
I think this is the most important step in
stewardship. Once you develop a relationship with a donor, program staff, board
and development can help steward, and it doesn’t always have to be an
overwhelming process. For example, at
one organization I worked at, one of our major donors to education was very
interested in current trends, so the education department would send over new
fliers, blog posts and articles that our donor might find interesting and I
would forward them along – it helped increase the EOY gift.
4. Share Stories
It may be something as simple as telling development
about an interaction you had or putting something in an email. It can really sell the organization if development
staff can start with “You know I was just talking with someone about this very
issue, they mentioned XYZ”.
5. Share your Vision
Have an idea? Don’t hesitate to share. My colleague, Pam and I have spoken with program staff and started a quarterly call and
some ideas have become successful proposals.
I recommended a few sites (I could have included a lot more but decided to aim for a half dozen) I check regularly including:
