Author: Jim Shapiro

Have you ever dreamed of raising $3 Million at one fundraising event? This happened last month for a nonprofit that follows our Ask, Thank, Report, Repeat fundraising system. Here’s how they did it . . .

1. They identified their top donors and top potential donors and sent them an invitation to attend a weekend getaway. The organization paid for the hotel room while the donor was responsible for paying for airfare.
2. The goal of the event was to get donations. Current donors were asked to give more than they had historically, while new donors were asked to give a first time gift.
3. The organization planned the entire weekend from start to finish to present problems for the donor to solve with their giving.  Not to tell the donors how great the organization was, but to present donors with the ‘problems’ that the organization solved.  Then invite the donor to solve those problems with a gift.
4. They asked the donors to give generously.  They talked about the power each person had — and the power they had collectively in the room when their gifts were pooled.

The result was amazing. The donors gave and they gave generously. The $3m goal was met. The largest gift was $1m while the smallest gift was $1,000.

This event proved that the simple act of asking donors with clarity and purpose can create amazing financial results.

Now, I realize that not every organization can raise $3 million in one weekend.  But I am confident that if you are able to identify your top donors, create a plan to ask them to give more than they are currently giving, and ask them with clarity and purpose, you can raise more money than ever before. You can do it!

It has been a busy time of year for fundraising events and the fun doesn’t slow down until late June. So, I thought I’d go a little deeper into the 5 key elements you need to have in place to have special event fundraising success.

Here they are:

1. Have one goal for the event. Is it a friend-raiser or a fundraiser? You can’t do two things well at once, so pick one goal and make a plan to achieve it.
2. Keep your special event short. There is nothing worse than a long special event, especially if it goes beyond the communicated end time. Your goal is to have your guests feeling fresh and energized – not checking their watches.
3. Your event should be structured so that the “business” portion of the event is before the “fundraising” portion of the event. What I mean is you should schedule your announcements, board acknowledgment, comments about the organization, etc., BEFORE you state the need and ask event guests to make a donation.
4. This leads to the most important point: your event should have a fundraising offer. Put simply, what problem will the donor solve by making a donation? Make your offer as measurable, simple and clear as possible. Then weave it in throughout the entire event; it should be mentioned when the ED speaks, it should be mentioned during the beneficiary story, and should be in the Ask.
5. Successful fundraising events ask the donors to do something very specific with their money — and donors are challenged to give more than they originally thought they would. When making the ask, tell the potential donors in the room exactly what you want them to do and how best to make their gift. Be bold. Keep it simple. Make it easy for the donor to make a gift!

Assuming you have the right people in the room and you follow these 5-steps, you will increase your likelihood of fundraising success!

Does your fundraising event feel tired, old and in need of a facelift?  If so, then here are a few pro tips to help you bring life back to your fundraising event — and raise more money!

Pro Tips:

1. Keep your event short and to the point.  Most fundraising events leave their guests feeling tired and worn out.  You don’t want that.  You want them to leave feeling refreshed and feeling good after they make their charitable gift.  For banquet style events try to keep the entire event to less than 90 minutes.
2. If the main goal of your event is to raise money, it is very important to put all of the typical business items at the beginning.  Then get to the storytelling and fundraising portion of your event.  The “typical business items” I’m talking about include announcements, introducing board members, having a program staff member talk, etc.  Put another way, anything that has little to do with the problem you are asking the donor to solve with their gift should be done quickly and right way.
3. Create a great fundraising offer for your event, then weave your offer throughout the event from start to finish.  You fundraising offer should clearly communicate the problem you are asking the donor to solve and how much it will cost to solve it.  For example, “$60 provides a night of safety to a homeless Mom and her kids.”  Mention your offer throughout the night, building a case for it, so that when you come to the Ask it all makes sense to the people in the room.
4. Ask!  I have attended way too many fundraising events where the organizers are afraid to ask the donors in the room to make a donation.  Be specific.  Tell the people in the room exactly what you want them to do and how to do it.

Use these pro tips to improve your next fundraiser.  If you can make your Ask simple, clear and bold, your donors will leave feeling great about you, the event and the donation they made to make the world a better place.

Here are five quick tips that will help your next appeal letters and e-appeals raise more money.   Print this out and set it next to your keyboard the next to you write an appeal.  Because if you do these things I guarantee you’ll raise more money!

1. You have to ask for help. If you don’t ask boldly, fewer donors will give!
2. Remind your donors of the need. Most donors need to be reminded multiple times of the need your organization meets or the problem your organization solves.
3. Have an Offer. Put another way, your Offer should describe a specific thing that the donor’s gift will do or accomplish.  ask donors to help in specific ways. Your donors want to help, but can only help if they know how
4. Tell a real-life story to illustrate the need. Don’t use big numbers or statistics, tell an emotional story.
5. Remember that most donors won’t read the whole letter – but they will scan So use underlining or bolding to highlight the two or three most important things you want them to read.  Here’s what we underline in the letters we work on:
   • The need or problem.
   • The solution and it’s cost.
   • A bold request for the donor to give a gift today.

Those are the ‘big ideas’ that will help you be successful if you’d like to know even more, click here to watch a short video we made to help you.