Alyce Lee Stansbury: Fundraising in New Normal 2012

Fundraising in the
New Normal
Nonprofit Leadership Symposium
Friday, March 23, 2012
Gainesville, Florida

Alyce Lee Stansbury, CFRE
Stansbury Consulting LLC

“Fundraising is
the gentle art
of teaching people
the joy of giving.”
- Henry A. (Hank) Rosso

©Stansbury Consulting LLC. 2010.

Defining the New Normal

• Tighter budgets and few staff
• Increased competition for fewer dollars
• Need for more complex funding
strategies
• Emphasis on collaboration
• Greater demand for accountability

Defining the New Normal

• Greater demand for transparency
• NPOs must demonstrate results
• Savvy donors asking tougher questions
• Greater access to information
• More “asks” to get same results
• Bigger gifts take longer to cultivate

Six Strategies for
Fundraising Success
1. Know where your time should be spent
2. Tell your BEST story
3. Build long-term relationships
4. Fish where the BIG fish are
5. Maintain Public Profile
6. Get your Board on Board


(#1) Know where your time
should be spent
• Stewardship
– Review thank you letters and overall
recognition process
– More personalization (show me that you know me)
– More hand written notes
– Involve Board members & volunteers
– Say more than “thank you”


should be spent
• Fundraising programs spend:
– 70% on “churn”
– 30% on donor retention

• 65% attrition between 1st and 2nd gift
• Penelope Burk – Cygnus Applied Research

• 1000 donors – how many left in 5 yrs?
• Jerold Panas

should be spent
• Stay in touch with donors/stake-
holders
• Call top 20 donors. Prepare talking
points
• Involve Board members.
• Make visits and phone calls a TOP
priority.

should be spent
Introduce new people to your cause
– Review database to uncover hidden
potential
– Increase meetings with donors and
prospects
– Do your own “prospect research” (LAI)


should be spent
If Development Director:
• Identify strengths and skills of CEO
• Know difference between asking CEO for
help and asking to do your work*
• Meet routinely to discuss status of prospects
and next steps
• Keep CEO well informed
• Make it easy for CEO to help
* James Donovan


should be spent
If CEO:
• Be prepared to participate in fundraising
• Donors want to give to well-managed
organizations
• Among $1 million donors:
“Unbreakable bond of regard and respect
between donor and CEO.”
- Jerold Panas, “Mega Gifts”


should be spent
• Keep asking.
• Never apologize for asking.
• Don’t make donors feel bad for giving less.
• Don’t assume donors can’t or won’t give.
• Value the donor, not just the donation.


“In tough financial times people
actually give more…
but they give to organizations
they care deeply about.”

- Jerold Panas

(#2) Tell your BEST story

• Make sure you know what you’re selling
• How are donors changing lives?
• Turn mission statements into BECAUSE
statements
• Review case for support and MAKE IT
BETTER
• What’s new? unique? dramatic?


“Think of your
case statement
as a series of
ah – ha’s”.
- Tom Ahern


• Tell your story. Use anecdotes.
• Stories have a beginning, middle, and end.
• Pick ONE statistic that dramatically reveals
something worth knowing.
• Pick the juiciest testimonial: the one that makes a
point and depicts your organization as effective.

• Be donor centric instead of donor optional.
• Tom Ahern

If we want people to
give better…
…we have to do a better job
of explaining why
they should give better.

(#3) Build long-term relationships

• Cultivate relationship first: engage
them in your work before you ask.
• Communicate before you ask again
• Take Relationship Quiz
• Only timing that matters is the donor’s


(#3) Build long-term relationships

• Add stewardship activities to
development plan
• Identify steps after events to deepen
relationships
• Visits (no ask) are vital


(#4) Fish where the BIG FISH are!



• Think BIGGER
• Ask for what you really need
• Ask for more rather than less

“Big, bold programs sell.”
-Jerold Panas, Mega Gifts


• Learn to ask well. Practice!
• Don’t wait for the “perfect” time to ask.
• Cultivate a board member to make asks
• Think about challenge gift or other
incentive [LEVERAGE]
• Consider a small, compact campaign for
specific project = achieve success; build
momentum

(#5) Maintain public profile
• Be visible - Be active
• Speaking engagements
• Community-wide events
• Earned media
• Newsletters
• Website
• Social Media
• Free stuff

(#6) Get your Board on Board

• Connect them to their passion
• Keep Board well informed
• Bigger gifts require bigger trust in
leadership (board & staff)
• Meetings: less reporting; more
discussion


• Strategic plan: driving force of activity
• Sustainability must be key goal
• Enforce Board expectations
• Board must hold each other
accountable


PASSIONATE volunteers
raise money.

Your job:
Cultivate. Teach. Engage. Involve.
•


Fundraising in the New Normal

Are you the lion or the gazelle?


Good Luck - You Can Do it!

Alyce Lee Stansbury, CFRE
Office 850-668-2569
Mobile 850-509-2374
Email: alycelee@stansburyconsulting.com
www.stansburyconsulting.com


References & Resources:
• AFP Toolkit for Fundraising in Bad Economy
– Articles, research, books, and related links
www.afpnet.org
• Ahern, Tom . “How to Write Fundraising Materials”
• Ahern, Tom and Joyauax, Simone. Keep your donors: the
Guide to Better Communications and Stronger
Relationships (Wiley, 2007)
• Bradham, June. “Board members want to lead – then
give,” AFP Resource Center,, March 2010
• Chronicle of Philanthropy, How Charities Cope with a
Troubled Economy - Recent stories, live discussions, and
stats

References & Resources:
• Donovan, James. “Five Tips for Fund Raising Staff in
Working with the CEO and Board”, July 2009
• Giving USA www.givingusa.org
• Klein, Kim. “Fundraising in times of Crisis”, Jossey Bass.
• Lord, James Gregory. “The Raising of Money”
• National Council on Nonprofits, “Nonprofit Economic
Vitality Center”
• Panas, Jerold. “Mega Gifts”
• Panas, Jerold, “Institute for Charitable Giving”
• Rosso, Hank. “Achieving Excellence in Fund Raising


Alyce Lee Stansbury: Fundraising in New Normal 2012

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