{"id":851,"date":"2019-04-03T09:46:42","date_gmt":"2019-04-03T14:46:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/roykessel.com\/?p=851"},"modified":"2020-12-18T19:20:01","modified_gmt":"2020-12-19T01:20:01","slug":"fundraisers-forum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/roykessel.com\/fundraisers-forum\/","title":{"rendered":"Fundraiser&#8217;s Forum"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"872\" height=\"552\" src=\"https:\/\/roykessel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Fundraiser-Forum-Image-4-2-19.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-852\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the key elements to running a successful non-profit\nis the ability to raise funds.&nbsp; But how\ndo you do that in today&#8217;s competitive environment of fundraising?&nbsp; Every donor is being reached multiple times\nper month seeking to get funds from them to support a myriad of worthy causes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In speaking to many non-profits, we hear about these\nstruggles, but we also hear some creative solutions and some interesting\nstrategies.&nbsp; So when we had the\nopportunity to participate in the Fundraisers Forum at the Spertus Museum in\nChicago we jumped at the opportunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This third installment in the Fundraiser Forum series was\nled by Rae Ringel.&nbsp; Rae has been a\nlong-time trainer focusing on the best way to communicate with your organization&#8217;s\ndonor base.&nbsp;&nbsp; Rae provided some\noutstanding insight into how and why donors give.&nbsp; While we cannot share her entire presentation\nwith you, we would like to share some of the insights she gave us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rae took us through the process of how we ask for money, and\nwhy we tend to associate so many negative terms with fundraising, especially\nwhen we are doing great work to support terrific causes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Among the many interesting facts she shared was the rapidly\ndeclining attention span in today&#8217;s world.&nbsp;\nShe pointed to the fact that 10 years ago, the average adult had an\nattention span of 12 minutes.&nbsp; Now, that\nattention span has dwindled all the way down to 3 minutes.&nbsp; So before you schedule a keynote speaker for\na 30 minute time slot, beware!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Each non-profit worker essentially serves three distinct\nroles:&nbsp; 1) Relationship\nbuilders\/connectors; 2) Storytellers; and 3) Fundraisers.&nbsp; She stressed that for every person,\nfundraising is a required part of the job description.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As she transitioned into the substance of fundraising, she\nspoke about the importance of body language and posture and examined the\nreasons why we feel so uncomfortable asking people for money.&nbsp; When Rae asked for the feelings associated\nwith solicitation the responses consisted of:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Anxiety<\/li><li>Pressure<\/li><li>Formal<\/li><li>Transactional<\/li><li>Phone<\/li><li>Chutzpah<\/li><li>Manipulation<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Yet, when she asked for how the people felt about the cause\nthey were raising money for, the results included:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Pride<\/li><li>Family<\/li><li>Warmth<\/li><li>Ethics<\/li><li>Values<\/li><li>Commitment<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>She helped the group transition the way they think and to\nconsider themselves solicitors with the following traits:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Relationship builder<\/li><li>Enabler<\/li><li>Advocate<\/li><li>Educator<\/li><li>Mission<\/li><li>Connector<\/li><li>Engagement<\/li><li>Matchmaker<\/li><li>Illuminary<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Rae challenged us to take a new mindset around fundraising\nthat consisted of: Leading, Empowering and Educating.&nbsp; She recommended keeping these concepts in our\nminds as we went into a personal solicitation:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>I look forward to hearing what he\/she cares\nabout<\/li><li>I am fortunate to have the opportunity to have\nthis conversation with them<\/li><li>I have the chance to make someone&#8217;s day<\/li><li>I want to make them part of this success<\/li><li>I can give other the opportunity to feel like\nthey are a blessing to others<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Before you get to the actual solicitation though, Rae\nemphasized that you have to know three things: &nbsp;1) Yourself; 2) Your donor; and 3) Your\nproduct.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She recommended meeting in a donor&#8217;s space because you can\nlearn so much about them from their home, office or other location in which\nthey choose to host you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rae stressed the need to understand how credibility is established\nin relationships. She cited statistics that show that the factors which\ndetermine the credibility of another person are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>38% by voice tone and tempo<\/li><li>55% by body language<\/li><li>93% of building trust and credibility is\ncommunicated through the body and not through the words<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Another interesting element of her presentation was the\nimportance of asking open-ended questions like: What do you care about?&#8221; or\nWhat drives your giving?&#8221; or What&#8217;s Your Thing?&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She gave examples of how questions starting with Why&#8221; can\nsound more judgmental, as opposed to something along the lines of What\ncompelled you to meet with me.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rae gave examples of how behind every complaint is an\nunarticulated request&#8221;. &nbsp;This makes it\neven more important for the solicitor to ask the donor questions like What do\nyou want?&#8221; or What do you need.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She stressed that the most admired and respected leaders use\nconversations to enlist support and to get the people around them involved in\ncreating a fundamentally new future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She closed with the four elements of making a proper\nrequest:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol><li>What?saying exactly what you want<\/li><li>By When?Saying exactly when you want it<\/li><li>From Whom?Saying exactly from whom you\nwant it<\/li><li>Conditions of Satisfaction?Saying exactly\nhow you want it, stating your conditions of satisfaction.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Ultimately, the most important part of fundraising is to\nleave people in a good frame of mind.&nbsp; Rae\nquoted Maya Angelou&#8217;s famous line I&#8217;ve learned that people will forget what\nyou said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you\nmade them feel.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/roykessel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Maya-Angelou-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-853\" srcset=\"https:\/\/roykessel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Maya-Angelou-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/roykessel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Maya-Angelou-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/roykessel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Maya-Angelou-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/roykessel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Maya-Angelou-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/roykessel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Maya-Angelou.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>As you look around your fundraising strategies, we recommend\nhaving Rae present to your board or your stakeholders.&nbsp; Her engaging presentations will provide them\nwith great insight.&nbsp; For more information\nabout Rae, visit her website at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ringelgroup.com\">www.ringelgroup.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of the key elements to running a successful non-profit is the ability to raise funds.  But how do you do that in today&#8217;s competitive environment of fundraising?  Every donor is being reached multiple times per month seeking to get funds from them to support a myriad of worthy causes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":852,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[385,9,22],"tags":[415,30,390,414,6,417,418],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/roykessel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/roykessel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/roykessel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/roykessel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/roykessel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=851"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/roykessel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/roykessel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/roykessel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/roykessel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/roykessel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}