To quote from “Understanding Fundraising” (Michael Norton, HarperCollins, 2007) …
“Fundraising is about selling people the idea that something can be done, and then creating a partnership in which they (the donor) provide the means and you (the activist) do all the work to make things happen.”
How many people who seek funding, whether for the organisation they’re employed by, or those who have a cause close to their heart they want to gain further support for go into the task without being prepared?
What you’re aiming to do (please don’t use “trying” – it’s too loose) is to gain support for your organisation, so know what your needs are, know what your potential supporter needs to know to make an informed decision, and you simply must know who benefits and how they benefit.
All too often I’ve heard fundraiser talk about what the organisation needs in the way of money, but they’re not up to the play when it comes to know who will benefit, nor do they know anything about who their potential donor is.
Do you know who really benefits from the work of your organisation? their family, other students at their school, work colleagues; the list of wider benefit goes on. Somewhere among your list of people who benefit, from the immediate, to those that are 6 degrees separated.
Your donor base needs sorting, you need to know things about them; such as:
Where do they live?
Where do they work?
What are their interests?
What age are they?
Every bit of information you have about your current donor, supporter, will help you tap into your potential donor easier. Your current donors will know people that mirror themselves, use (but don’t abuse) your current donor to ‘introduce’ you to new donors.
Sure you can cast the net wide, make more telephone calls, send out more envelopes/letters/emails or knock on more doors; but wouldn’t it be more effective to know who and where your donors are?
Every extra cent you spend contacting your donor, the less you have to spend on the core activity of your organisation.
Take some time out to research your donor, even hold some informal get togethers of donors to get more information from them; perhaps even asking them to help you connect with their friends, family and colleagues that have a similar ‘make-up’.
Whatever, remember:
“Fundraising is about selling people the idea that something can be done, and then creating a partnership in which they (the donor) provide the means and you (the activist) do all the work to make things happen.”
So, know and your target donor, to enable partnerships to be created, allowing you to get on with the work to make things happen.
BOOK AND GLASSES
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