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Making the most effective fundraising case.
In our day-to-day work with our clients currently, we are increasingly discovering difficulties with fundraising.
As long as I can remember, it's been tough to raise money. I doubt that it will ever get easier. But, despite a tough fundraising environment, I think that organizations can become more effective fundraisers. But, to do so, they've got to change their modus operandi - beginning with becoming a whole lot more focused.
In my humble opinion, fundraising is simple. People tend to make it a lot more complex than it has to be. I'm not sure why, but I think that complexity is sometimes a strategy to avoid doing those simple things that have to be done. People are so fearful of burning through prospects and getting "No" for an answer that they don't ask. It's more comfortable to stay behind the desk. No question about it. But...there is a problem here. Desks don't give.
Effectively raising money boils down to three simple strategic elements. You need 1) a strong case. You need 2) effective leadership. You need 3) good prospects. The work of fundraising is making sure that these three things are in place. When these elements are in place, it's all about just getting out and "sawing the wood."
Today, I'm going to talk about case. I'm addressing the case for giving because it's often wrong - and wrong for the same reason. We think that donors will give to create and maintain high artistic quality.
I've got a news flash for you. Many of your most important donors not only don't know what artistic quality is, they frankly think that an arts organization ought to be making artistic quality a given. Donors don't want to invest in something that they believe you are in business to do anyway.
Since many big donors would rather be tarred and feathered than be dragged to a performance, they haven't got enough experience to compare and contrast the technical, executional, and compositional dimensions that - when taken together - comprise artistic quality. They haven't the training, sensibilities, or inclination to care. But, what many big donors do have is a sense of love, duty, and care towards their communities, families, and friends.
Often, the people who our major donors love and respect do very much care about the quality of the work on stage. So, it boils down to this quiet, inner, and very much unstated sentiment on the part of your donor:
"I don't love [insert art form here], but the people I love do love it. I don't know about [insert art form here] but the people I love know about it. So, I give out of love for them, not love for it."
Are they going to tell you this? Not in my experience. Most major gift donors are loathe to position themselves as among the culturally unwashed. They know they're not stupid nor tasteless, but they also know what they don't know. That doesn't mean they're going to say that to you.
The point is this: making a major gift predicated on creating and maintaining something that cannot be known or understood by the prospect is not only ineffective, it's disrespectful.
The first rule of effective case-making is that one never asks for money. One asks one's prospect to invest in worthwhile ends - to invest in a vision and purpose that - without them - would not otherwise happen.
Whenever I listen to someone - especially an artistic director - make a fundraising pitch for artistic quality reasons, one thing comes through loud and clear:
"This person cares passionately about artistic quality. It is in no danger, whatsoever. This person may need money, but they don't need me. Artistic quality is in good hands without me."
The best cases for giving vividly imply that the donor's intervention is not only desirable, but it is necessary. Absolutely necessary. That is to say that the vision is imperiled without the donor's intervention.
Now, whether the gift is made or not depends on a whole slew of factors that are too numerous to go into here. But, in my experience, love, care, and duty toward one's beloved friends, family, and community are the compelling drivers that fuel the major gift impulse. It's not about art. It's about people.
For the life of me, I can't understand how we forget this when we make our cases for giving. Effectiveness in all things is rooted in understanding and respecting human nature. We are as driven by love as we are fed by it. This is as true in fundraising as it is in all other aspects of life.
Posted on November 7, 2006 09:28 AM | Permalink
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