Dec 16, 2023

Orbits and Perturbations🪐

Five minutes or five years??

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When a potential donor agrees to consider a large gift, it literally could happen within five minutes of your first meeting. Or, it might be a five year journey of relationship building. I’ve experienced both situations. Which is ideal? The five minute scenario or the five year journey? My answer: Yes! In the context of sacred fundraising both scenarios are going to happen.

I begin by paying close attention to what might be the most ideal timing in their lives for hearing about an invitation to give. While doing so, I deploy a system called Moves Management, with a few orbital tweaks.

Moves Management (MM) is a must in every fundraiser’s tool kit. If you haven’t heard of it, Here is a brief explanation of how MM strengthens the sales process for nonprofit fundraisers:

Identify and qualify potential givers
Educate and inspire
Invite to give
Report (and then cycle back to educate/inspire to get them ready for the next invitation)

But because there are nuances when asking someone to consider a large gift, the process is not always linear.Why?Because I am probably not the only perturbation in their life that may be inviting them to make a major gift. That’s right. I said it. I’m not the only perturbation.

‍And what is a perturbation, you reasonably ask? According to the Oxford Dictionary, it is “a deviation of a system, moving object, or process from its regular or normal state or path, caused by an outside influence.” It’s not lost on me that the word “perturb” is at the root of perturbation. My two younger sisters tell me I could give a masterclass on how to perturb🕺👏.

Hear me on this. A strategic part of my role as a major gift fundraiser is to influence folks who appear to be aligned with my cause. I want to inspire their giving by showing and telling them of the impact we’re attempting to achieve. Without the ability to influence our relationship, perhaps they would have continued down a different path and missed out on this wonderful opportunity to give. I perturbed them.

Remember, we are not the only ones influencing their decisions. They have families, jobs, churches, politics, heartbreaks, celebrations, etc., all which affects the timing, amount, and appropriateness of asking for a gift. Are we focusing careful attention, as much as possible, to all those other perturbations in their lives?

Sometimes the pressure that comes from your organization’s leadership can cause you to feel an urgent need to rush giving invitations in an effort to reach the goals that have been set. I encourage you to dialogue with them about taking time to know what is ideal for your donor before asking for a major gift. I am truly sorry if that is the rule rather than the exception for you. It is extremely difficult to use the approach I am suggesting when you are in a constant high pressure environment. By the way, if this is you, click here to schedule a call with me. No strings attached. Let’s talk.

My hope and prayer is that you conduct your major gift fundraising work in a way that intersects with your donor’s ideal timing as much as possible. You can be more effective and, most importantly, enjoy the process!

Until next week…

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Depending on your day to day needs in major donor fundraising, I have three options you can choose from to energize your efforts:‍

‍The Catalyst Course - an online course for those tasked with major gift fundraising.
‍The High-Performance Package (inquire directly if interested) - a major gift fundraising consultation for experienced professionals.‍
The Flywheel Package - a customized six month consultation for people who are leading teams of major gift fundraisers.

‍The Catalyst Course is affordable at a cost of $500 and can be done in a schedule that fits best for you, taking anywhere from four weeks to three months to complete. Everything I have learned, successes and failures, is packed into the course for your benefit and enjoyment. I have taken hundreds of folks through this content, helping them with fundraising strategies to empower causes all over the world.

‍Now is the time to take advantage of these resources!

‍I look forward to hearing about your good work.

Blessings,