Catching the Boomer Wave

I've written here about how nonprofit boards of directors can engage their networks to benefit the mission of their organization. And I've offered recommendations on how to put a system in place to convert donor prospects into donors, and the value of focusedcommunication with your donors and your prospects.
Today I want to zero in on trends you can apply to your approach to more effectively raise money to advance the mission near and dear to your heart.
in the Chronicle of Philanthropy (Vol. XXII, #10, April 8, 2010) Holly Hall writes about big demographic changes on the horizon that will impact how development staff and board members need to prepare for the wave of Baby Boomers who will reach age 65 in 2011. And that wave will only grow as the number of Americans 65+ will double in the next two decades. At the same time, the number of Americans in their 50's will decline. Generally, folks in their 50's are in the prime of disposable income capacity.
What can the nonprofit do to prepare for the Boomer wave to retirement?

• Sharpen up the Database. Can leaders get useful reports on trends that respect individual donor confidentiality? Don't have a relational database? Search sources to recommend one for you. Start with Nonprofit Tech Network http://bitly/9kOFBA to learn about Open Source Donor Management Systems. Proprietary systems can be costly, but check them out, too. Without useful data to drive development decisions, you're guessing.
• Add Tech Savvy People to Team. Every nonprofit needs a staff member and/or volunteer up-to-snuff on application of current technology. Thought leaders in development are saying the art of the schmooze is not enough in building donor relationships. Beyond managing the database, there's also potential in social media, particularly Facebook and Twitter.
• Board Adopts a Development Plan. Outline a road map indicating where you need to go to successfully raise the $$ to deliver the mission. The map should include "how:" direct response, special events, annual campaign, major gifts. And "who:" role of development committee, role of board in giving and getting. And "what:" data that will be used in decision-making.

It's spring, and summer is just weeks away. If your pace slows down a bit in the summer months, this can be a good time to do some research on database options, and to begin outlining a development plan. Get ready for action in fall so when you're annual appeal gets underway (most often November-December in the nonprofit world) you've got your tools in place to elevate your approach to fundraising.

Need some help addressing these needs? I'm just a phone call or e-mail message away.

Steve Smith is Principal of It's The Results, a consulting company specializing in board development, strategic planning, fundraising. s.p.99smith@gmail.com. 781-334-4915.

Effective Fundraising Through Relationship Building

"Asking someone you know for money in person is the most effective way to raise funds." Kim Klein, author of Fundraising for Social Change, 5th Ed., leads off her chapter on "Getting Comfortable with Asking for Money" with this sentence. Right on target. Ms. Klein captures the essence of fundraising effectiveness: Knowing the person you're asking is more than half the battle in raising money for a community benefit nonprofit organization.
Board members and other volunteers will frequently tell the executive director or development director that they just can't bring themselves to "make the ask." Why? I believe it's primarily due to fear of rejection. But it's also about concern with invading another person's pocket book. When it comes right down to it, "What right do I have to ask another person to fork over some cash?"
Well, friends, this is how we successfully advance the mission of a cause that's near and dear to us. If we don't ask, we likely won't get. It takes an ask, and there's no one better to ask than a person who knows the donor prospect.
And getting into that comfort zone starts right at home: at the board of directors. We need to get members of the board thinking about investing money to accompany the very generous contribution of time these individuals already are giving. And the person to ask one board member to give is another board member. One who knows the person to be asked. There's a relationship there. This connection makes the ask easier. It also makes the decision to give for the first time easier.
I experienced this situation first hand when I was executive director of the American Lung Association of New Hampshire. Until we launched our first major gift campaign, few of the twelve board members donated. There was not a sense of urgency, nor a sense of importance of investment. Leaders of the board, however, were clear about the need. They decided they wanted their colleagues on the board to get some training, to "get" the concepts of urgency and investment. That if those closest to the community benefit organization didn't feel the urgency of needed funds to advance the mission (in this case, to get No Butts About It into elementary classrooms) how would they sell others on this program's importance?
We recruited a volunteer, experienced in Republican party fundraising, to chair the Development Committee. I knew her well, as our paths crossed (even though our politics were different) in work we were doing on smoking prevention and clean air advocacy. And for the honor of leading our campaign, the chairperson made a lead gift of $5,000. That step by that friend of the Lung Association's mission made the campaign happen. And made the campaign a success.
Ken Burnett writes in Relationship Fundraising (Jossey-Bass, 2002) that the #1 essential to effective fundraising is grasping the concept that it's about "people giving to people." When we get the message, when the focus of the nonprofit mission becomes embedded in each individual on the board, and as board members grow more comfortable with bringing in money to make the mission that they believe in happen, the dollars come.
It's clear that these are simple concepts. As they say, "it's not rocket science." But: it's hard work nonetheless. Getting board members to buy in, and getting a nucleus of board members to work at asking after they have made their gift, the snowball becomes an avalanche. But over time.
Relationship Fundraising starts with two people. And it grows from there, if we thoughtfully invest in starting to roll that snowball down the hill. Soon, it gathers momentum. And before we know it, we have effective fundraising happening because the relationships we build make it happen.