The document discusses the disadvantages of a "Give/Get" model for nonprofit fundraising. It argues that a Give/Get approach treats fundraising as a transaction rather than building relationships. This can limit the ability of board members and staff to ask donors for their full capacity of support. It also perpetuates the myth that overhead expenses should be minimized rather than invested in to achieve growth. A better approach is to eliminate restrictive giving requirements and empower board members and staff to share an organization's full financial needs with donors and ask for their best possible gift.

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Is Your Give/Get Policy
Helping or Hurting Your
Organization?

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Hi.
I’m Sherry Quam Taylor
I work with growing Nonprofits who need tremendously more
general operating support to fund their Strategic Plans. I do this by:
• helping CEOs reimagine their overall approach revenue generation
• breaking teams free from the limitations of transactional fundraising
• revealing to board members how to influence their networks.
My clients regularly add 7-figures of unrestricted $$ to their bottom line.

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Watch your
inbox!
QuamTaylor.com/GiveGet

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A Give/Get teaches board members that
fundraising is transactional—not relational.

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Relationship Activities
One-on-one meetings (including Zoom)
Investment-level conversations
Exclusive Presentations
Personal Visits
Intimate Small Group Gatherings
Phone Calls and Texts
Customized email updates
Customized Impact Reporting & Thanking
Private Solicitations (not via email)
Transactional Activities
Mass Mailings and Direct Marketing
Email Blasts
Large Events
Social Media Outreach
Peer to Peer Fundraising
Sporting Events and Golf Outings
Annual Giving Days like Giving Tuesday
On-line Voting Competitions
Application-based Grant Submittals
Sponsorship Level Letters

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TIME + BUDGET
Funding Model Rooted in ROI
ANNUAL REVENUE

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Top 10 Donors
25 – 40%
TIME + BUDGET
Funding Model Rooted in ROI
ANNUAL REVENUE

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Top 10 Donors
25 – 40%
25%
TIME + BUDGET
Funding Model Rooted in ROI
ANNUAL REVENUE
Top 30 Donors
50 – 75%

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Top 10 Donors
25 – 40%
25%
Funding Model Rooted in ROI
Top 30 Donors
50 – 75%
To grow, most of these
dollars must be unrestricted
and rooted in relationships.
• Individuals
• Private Family Foundations
• Private Businesses
(Single Source Decision Makers
through one-on-one solicitations)
Transactional
Relational

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Top 10 Donors
25 – 40%
25%
TIME + BUDGET
Funding Model Rooted in ROI
ANNUAL REVENUE
Top 30 Donors
50 – 75%
CAUTION:
Be careful they’re not
spending most of their time
RAISING TRANSACTIONAL
GIFTS.
CAUTION:
Be careful your team is not
spending most of their time
RAISING PROJECT-BASED,
RESTRICTED, OR
APPLICATION-BASED GIFTS.

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Takeaway: Board members have very important work to do—
and it’s not transactional in nature. Educate and empower your
board members to focus on key relationships. This aligns their
hours to dollars.

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A Give/Get perpetuates the misconception that
the “get” is more valuable than it is.

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The Urban Institute’s Center on Nonprofits &
Philanthropy (2018)
1.56M
US Nonprofits
91%
91% of nonprofits never
reach $5M of annual revenue.
Where organizations get stuck…

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Cause:
Irrational Frugality

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“We really want to grow.”
“We couldn’t do THAT! It’s not in the
budget.”
….followed by:

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Your entire team MUST be open to
investing time and spending money in
all 3 key areas of your nonprofit grow.
+ Admin Fundraising
Programs +
70-90% 5-20% 5-20%

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Not investing in all 3 areas leaves you . . .
+ Admin Fundraising
Programs +
• vulnerable to a funding plateau
• land-locked from opportunities
• at risk in times of crisis

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Year Year+1 Year+2 Year+3 Year+4 Year+5 Year+6 Year+7
$
$$
$$$
$$$$$
$$$$$
Program
91% Program
90%
Program
88%

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$
$$
$$$
$$$$
$$$$$
Program
91% Program
90%
Program
88%
Decision
Time

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$$
$$$
$$$$
$$$$$
Program
91% Program
90%
Program
88%
A decision to invest
in “overhead”

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$
$$
$$$
$$$$
$$$$$
A decision to invest
in “overhead”
Program
70%
Admin
12%
Fundraise
18%
Program
76%
Admin
9%
Fundraise
15%

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We want as much as possible to go to programs each year!
Won’t that look bad to donors?
Foundations won’t fund us with those percentages.
We can’t spend that much on overhead.
The charity ranking site will give a bad grade.

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Year Year+1 Year+2 Year+3 Year+4 Year+5 Year+6 Year+7
$
$$
$$$
$$$$
$$$$$
A decision to invest
in “overhead”
Program
70%
Admin
12%
Fundraise
18%
Program
76%
Admin
9%
Fundraise
15%
Program:
$3.6M
Program:
$7.1M
We want as much as possible
to go to programs each year!

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What KEEPS nonprofits from being
FULLY FUNDED is believing these
misconceptions.

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Takeaway: Create an annual budget that continually invests in
the services and contractors you need to grow. The age-old
overhead myth is over. Unrestricted donations make the
greatest difference to your mission.
Everyone needs to be raising to your organization’s overall
need and not to a small Give/Get requirement.

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Our give/get from our board is
significant and because it covers our
admin expenses means that donations
from others can go entirely toward
programming. How common is that as a
business model and what are your
thoughts on trade-offs we may be making?

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A Give/Get blocks board members from asking
their networks for their best gift.

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Lead donors to give their:
best gift every year
+
Your goal . . .

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I see so much money left on the table
when:
Board Members decide what the best gift is
for their network.
“I don’t think they can give $20,000, so,
let’s just ask for $10,000.”

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I see so much money left on the table
when:
Board Members think they wouldn’t ever ask
a friend to give more than they give.
“At least I got my [neighbor, colleague,
company] to give $5,000. I don’t want to
offend them.”

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Everyone’s job is to share the need. . .
and then invite the donor to give their
best gift to the need.

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When you don’t commit to sharing the
financial NEED of the organization,
you’ll risk underselling your mission for
far less than its impact.

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Takeaway: Inhibitive thinking is not necessarily your board’s
fault. Eliminating the Give/Get boundaries opens up the door
for unlimited generosity.

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What are some questions you
have about what I’ve shared
so far?
Feel free to put in the chat…

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A Give/Get keeps your staff from soliciting your
board members.
(which is why boards are terrified of asking their friends for money)

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How do I get my board to fundraise?

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You must demystify the process of
fundraising for them.
The best way to do that?

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High-ROI Funding Model
Top 10 Donors
25 – 40%
25%
Top 30 Donors
50 – 75%

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. . .
Jan Feb March April May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
News
Applications
Annual
Report
Mailed
Appeal
Events

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High-ROI Funding Model
Top 10 Donors
25 – 40%
25%
Top 30 Donors
50 – 75%
That cadence is great
for very specific donors

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High-ROI Funding Model
Top 10 Donors
25 – 40%
25%
Top 30 Donors
50 – 75%
What does it take to
ATTRACT these donors?
Exclusive
Customized
Donor-Focused
“The Donor Experience”

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. . .
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Donor 2
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TIME + BUDGET
Targeted Annual Experiences
ANNUAL REVENUE
Major Donors
Mass or Grassroots Donors
Mid-Level Donors
Mass Mailings, Email Blasts,
Large Events, Social Media,
Peer to Peer, Sport Events,
Giving Tuesday
Small Group Gatherings
Phone, Zoom
Increase participation to acquire
new donors
Grassroots awareness + buzz
Leads to greater mission understanding
Exclusive presentations, info and reporting
Stakeholder, strategic long-term partner
Reconfirmation of their first donation
Retention of gift – lead to gift growth
Some ownership/ special participation
One-on-One Experience Personal
Visits, Zoom
Board member engagement

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Takeaway: Your board members don’t hate fundraising. They
hate what they think fundraising is. Most think you have to
either be begging for money on the street or be some version of
that used-car salesman persona. We all know they don’t have
to be either of those.
But they need your fundraising team to model this behavior
for them.

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A Give/Get prevents board members from giving
their own best gift.

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Lead donors to give their:
best gift every year
+
Your goal . . .

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best gift every year
+
Lead your board members to
give their:
Your goal . . .

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More of a Peer
Relationship
There is a mission-
aligned win/win
There is a
natural comfort
level
Because you’ve
taken time to build
the relationship
But we know the best results that come out
of (fundraiser to donor) relationships are . . .

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We have a $25,000 give/get minimum,
but board members who are "subject
matter experts" are exempt from this
requirement.
e.g. board member who is a HS principal

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FUNDRAISING IS NOT JUST:
ASKING FOR MONEY.
GIVING YOUR GIVE/GET MONEY.

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FUNDRAISING IS NOT JUST:
ASKING FOR MONEY.
GIVING YOUR GIVE/GET MONEY.
FUNDRAISING IS ALSO:
CONNECTING
NETWORKING
TALKING
INTRODUCING
EDUCATING

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Takeaway: Instilling a culture of philanthropy means that
your goal is to lead everyone to give their best gift. And I
mean everyone, whether that’s a $50 gift or a $50,000 gift.

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As we wrap up…
Does Your Give/Get Represent a
Bigger Problem of What’s Not
Working?

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“I kinda don’t know what I don’t know.”
There’s a phrase I hear over and over
again from board members, executive
directors, and development staff.
It goes something like this:

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Relationship Activities
One-on-one meetings (including Zoom)
Investment-level conversations
Exclusive Presentations
Personal Visits
Intimate Small Group Gatherings
Phone Calls and Texts
Customized email updates
Customized Impact Reporting & Thanking
Private Solicitations (not via email)
Transactional Activities
Mass Mailings and Direct Marketing
Email Blasts
Large Events
Social Media Outreach
Peer to Peer Fundraising
Sporting Events and Golf Outings
Annual Giving Days like Giving Tuesday
On-line Voting Competitions
Application-based Grant Submittals
Sponsorship Level Letters
50-75% 25%

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You might feel pretty good about applying
for grants, sending appeals, planning
events, and forwarding asks to their
colleagues at the holidays…
but when it comes to cultivating larger,
individual donors toward their best gift?
That’s the mysterious part.

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Boards take their cue from the staff.
That’s why they’re defaulting to
transaction-based activities too.

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Large general-operating donations
don’t come as a result of transactional
fundraising.

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If you take one take-away today:
Please ensure your team knows how to
attract and secure gifts as a result of
relationship-based fundraising.
You’ll see the dollars you’ve been
leaving on the table for years.

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What questions do
you have?

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QuamTaylor.com/GiveGet