For a donor, the decision to give their largest gift is not one taken lightly, and there are specific phases to making the decision to give. We often see organizations move too quickly from introducing themselves directly to the “ask” without a carefully thought-out plan, which can often come off too strong too soon. In order to lead a donor towards making the decision to culminate a major gift, you need to prepare for each aspect of the donor experience. We recommend you use these five steps when designing your solicitations:

• INFORMATION

The first phase is simple,  giving your donor your information about your organization. Tell your donor all about who you are, your mission, your impact, etc. When creating your donor experience, this phase may happen organically or deliberately. Identify key characters in your story, and the settings where they learn about your organization.

• CULTIVATION

The next phase deals more with the “heart” side of things. After giving your donor information about your organization, it’s critical to form a strong bond between them and your mission. What are their passions and how does your mission align with those passions? This is when your organization’s work becomes deeply personal, and you demonstrate your organization’s impact on people.     

• INSPIRATION

Now, it’s time to inspire. You are introducing your donor to “what could be.” What challenge are you wanting to overcome? What opportunity are you wanting to seize? This piece of the story is the one most overlooked when developing a donor experience, but it is often the most important. All donors want to solve a problem, and inspiration is what will move a donor from a transactional to a transformational gift.             

• INVITATION

Finally, the ask! This is the part of the story where the donor becomes the hero – the missing link to your success. When determining the right time to ask, make sure you are confident in the relationship, trusted and liked by the donor, and certain the proposal is understood.

• FULFILLMENT

It is important to think about how you will honor your donor before the ask. Beyond thanking them for their generosity, you will want to show the donor the impact of their gift on the people you serve. This will reiterate how they have made a quality decision and improve their likelihood of donating again in the future.

Following these five steps to crafting a donor experience will help lead your donor to a quality decision to give. When you take a donor-centric approach, you are on the right path to building long-lasting relationships with your donors that will help transform the mission of your organization.

Oh, the infamous “other duties as assigned.” That little phase at the end of your job description that seems so innocent and benign in your interview that you barely notice it. It’s just the bullet point that they “have” to include - it’s no big deal, you tell yourself. 

In nonprofit fundraising, “other duties as assigned,” or ODAA, might as well be the first line of your job description. It means, not only do you have to do your primary responsibilities all the time, at any point you may also have to do a variety of tasks from catering, to being a chauffeur, an unofficial therapist for your team, or flower arranging - and these aren’t even the strangest ones we’ve seen.

ODAA tasks may seem mundane, but I believe they are the core elements of what makes nonprofit fundraising professionals special. I would argue that if you are not willing to drop your work and get these tasks done, you are probably in the wrong field.

No, I take that back. You are definitely in the wrong field.

I believe “that’s not my job” are words that should never be uttered on a development team. We must be a team and back eachother up, and we must be donor-centered/customer-centered at all times. Donors and our missions are at the top, while we are the worker bees who work to connect these two groups. A selfless approach to our work is truly needed to achieve success in this field. It is not about our accomplishments, how much we raise, or how fantastic an event we produce. What matters is that we are helping our organizations to accomplish their missions and ensuring the donors are engaged, stewarded, and connected to the great work their donations enable.

 We are the stewards, not the stars.

This field chooses us, folks. We are the givers, the providers, the stewards. It does not mean that we cannot enjoy our work or interact in the philanthropic world with our donors, but it does mean that we should always have a sense of humility and grace in all that we do.

So, don’t sweat the ODAA. Embrace them. Learn from them. Use them as a time to remember why we do what we do. Help your team members with whatever task it is that needs to be done, just do it. Remember that a selfless approach to our work will reap rewards tenfold in the end. Do whatever it takes to make it work, help your team, and show what it is to be a good steward.

Most of us in the field of development are familiar with the term "donor fatigue." We would define donor fatigue as what happens when you go to the same well too many times for financial support. The moment where a donor sits back and thinks, “Really? Am I the only one who gives to this mission?”

So, let’s start with the truth. Yes, it is true that most nonprofits go to the same donors too many times each year. Throughout our work we’ve discovered that the majority of our non-profits ask their core donor base for money between 12 and 18 times a year on average, not to mention that donors give to multiple missions annually. With these statistics, it’s easy to see how these donors could quickly become fatigued.

Marketing professionals will tell you that the more you ask, the more donors will give. Well we say, BALONEY! Just because you can ask more often and get a little more, doesn’t mean you should! Take a real life example, if one day you were to ask your good friend for $50, they would give it to you without hesitation. If you asked again the next day, they would likely give it to you again. If you asked a third day, your friend would likely ask you what is going on, and then give it to you again. Although you’re getting the money each time, you are stressing and damaging your relationship with your friend along the way.

News flash: development really is about relationships! More specifically, balanced relationships. Donors should receive something they personally value in return for their generosity. Fatigue comes from donors who are unfulfilled in their giving and whose relationships are out of balance with the nonprofits they support.

• Remember that you are establishing and deepening relationships with real people. 
• Try to step into your donors' shoes and gather a sense for how they experience your organization. 
• Interact with your donor a few times annually without asking for money -  don’t treat them as a checkbook.
•  Help your donors feel fulfilled in their giving, tell them about the impact their gift has had on your organization!

We believe if you try the suggestions above, you will see some exciting results. And donor fatigue? It will be replaced with donor passion.

Are you struggling to find and keep a Development Officer? Check out the video below and read our Blog Post: Finding and Keeping a Development Rockstar to learn more.

In theory, if we are successful in the nonprofit world, we should eventually work ourselves out of a job. Vision statements - like M.D. Anderson’s “Making Cancer History” tag line - imply that we are all working toward a goal of eliminating the problem or challenge our nonprofits are tackling. If we are ultimately successful as a society, one day there will no longer be hungry mouths to feed, diseases to cure, abused children to care for, and schools to improve.

A charity golf tournament is always great fun – especially when the weather is fine. Personally, I love playing in golf tournaments! It's a day away from the routine, an opportunity to be out in fresh air and spend time with fun people while supporting a good cause. Here is to playing in golf tournaments!

This is a question that all nonprofit organizations ask as they prepare for a capital campaign. And many nonprofits choose the wrong answer for reasons that seem responsible and sound in that moment. The correct – and short – answer is this: a nonprofit organization should engage professional counsel as soon as the need for capital is determined – long before the campaign begins.

There comes a time in a nonprofit’s lifecycle when it is faced with an extraordinary opportunity – a vision of how to expand and further its mission.

Losing a development officer can have serious implications on a nonprofit's mission. And finding the right replacement is a process that is rarely done well. There are many opinions on what the ideal characteristics are for a good development officer. Unfortunately, most of them miss the mark and bring little value to the search and hiring process. Here is another take on how to find and keep a Development Rockstar and help bring an end to the revolving door of the development office.

It's a busy time of year for us at MAP. I know it's a busy time for you, as well.It's always right around this time of year when I fail to remember to do some really important things. Perhaps, most importantly, setting aside time in the coming months to do some serious strategic planning for the year ahead.