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- Do your homework before the meeting.
Expand title Click for formulas. Formulas for determining what amount to ask a large-capacity donor to consider giving:
- Pray and ask the Holy Spirit to give you a number that will inspire faith-growing generosity.
- Age x annual income x .01 = what they will give over a 3 year period.
- Net worth x .4 = what they will give over a 3-5 year period.
- You can research if your donor is on the board of any companies or non-profits.
- Look at the annual reports for the non-profits and see how much your donor is giving. You can make an ask in the ballpark of this gift.
- Look at the other board members your donor serves alongside and see if they’re someone you’d like them to introduce you to.
- Look up their house on Zillow and when they purchased it. This gives a good indication of their income level as well as if they might be getting toward the end of their mortgage (which frees up finances for giving).
- Schedule a quick meeting on their turf.
Expand title But plan for it to run long... - Meet on their turf (office, boat, golf course country club, coffee shop near them, home).
- Ask for a 15 minute meeting. But block out an hour in your schedule. This meeting will run long if the donor is interested.
- Don’t plan to go through a slide deck. You can bring your Reliant brochure or an ask letter instead. This will also be your leaving piece.
- Listen your way to the gift.
Expand title Your job in the donor appointment is... Your job in the donor appointment is to get your donor talking in order to discover what they care about. Look for bridges to link your ministry to where God's moving in their heart. Your donor should be the one talking about 2/3 of the time. This also means your "45 minute presentation" needs to be narrowed down to a 10-15 minute pitch that you scatter within this conversation.
- Sample questions:
- What are some of the giving initiatives you've had in the past that you're really passionate about?
- What’s the change you feel the Lord is calling you to make in the world?
- What are some of your philanthropic goals for the coming year? / What are some of your giving goals?
- What return do you tend to want to see on the non-profit work you do?
- *It helps for you to talk about how you're investing into people/ the work of the gospel and the return you see.
- You're not asking for money, you're offering opportunities to invest in something they care about.
Expand title Fund development is about... Fund development is not about the money, your ministry vision or your needs. It's about giving people an opportunity to invest in something they care about. Your job is to draw out the donor’s heart, listen for what God is doing in them, invite them to take steps toward that growth and connect them with giving and serving opportunities with things they care about (whether it’s your ministry or not).
- If the donor is aloof or difficult to get a hold of, ask for advice.
Expand title If you want money, ask for... If you want advice, ask for money. If you want money, ask for advice.
- Encourage them to pray about it.
Expand title When offering a giving opportunity... When offering an opportunity to invest in Kingdom work, you don’t want them giving because they feel obligated or emotionally tugged. You don’t even want them to stroke a check just because they can and it’s a number they feel good about. You want them to give because they’ve spoken to Christ and heard His direction for the money He’s entrusted to their care. Our job is to encourage our donors to have these conversations with the Lord and disciple them toward joyful generosity.
- Here's what this might look like: Give total dollar amount you need to raise this year ($100k). Tell how much you've raised so far ($30k). Show how much you have left to raise ($70K) Ask how much of that chunk they want to bite off. Encourage them to take time over the next 24 hours to prayerfully take that decision before the Lord (their Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer); asking Him to lead them in joyful generosity. Tell them you'll pray over them during this time. Make a plan to talk again in 24 hours.
- After the gift: Thank, Share, Connect, Offer.
Expand title Donor Stewardship looks like... - Remember, the first gift is a testing gift; they want to discover what their ROI (Return on Investment) will be. This is why it's crucial to share the impact their gift made. See the THANK, SHOW, CONNECT, OFFER cycle below.
MTD stewardship is the relationship-building and communication that takes place after a ministry gift has been received.
Stewardship involves thanking donors, updating them on the impact of their gifts, keeping them involved and offering other opportunities to give. Generally, this can be accomplished in a THANK, SHOW, CONNECT, OFFER cycle twice a year. This ongoing view of MTD leads to a strong and stable support base and only takes about 2-3 hours a week.
After a gift, THANK donors for their giving. The general standard is a hand-written thank-you card and a phone call. (Other ideas HERE.) No financial ask.
A month or two later, SHOW the donor how their gift made an impact. They need to know they made a difference. No financial ask.
- A month or two later, CONNECT with a call or text to pray/care for the donor. No financial ask.
- A month or two later, OFFER another giving opportunity. This rhythm of bi-annual giving opportunities helps to maintain engagement with those larger-capacity donors who generally only give when asked. A spring/summer ask along with an End of Year Ask can add a healthy, annual rhythm of encouraging current donors to increase their recurring gift amount. The structure of the OFFER ask can include a general letter with a note to about 20 key folks that you'll be calling. Call to ask if they read your letter and if the Lord is leading them toward involvement in this need. Plan to follow-up.
- Additional resources for long-term discipleship and development of your large-capacity donors can be found at Generous Giving. They provide both resources and events that foster joyful generosity.
- Remember, the first gift is a testing gift; they want to discover what their ROI (Return on Investment) will be. This is why it's crucial to share the impact their gift made. See the THANK, SHOW, CONNECT, OFFER cycle below.
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