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Major gifts happen when there’s a match between the values your organization enacts and the values your donor and you share. It’s your job to uncover your donor’s values and to help them discover your organization’s values.
Fundraisers need to make this a deliberate process. If you don’t intentionally make this your job, it won’t be possible to make a match made in heaven.
The most underacknowledged major gift fundraising truism: It’s about the relationship, not the “ask.” Fundraising and finance platform provider Bloomerang’s report is titled “42 Questions To Ask Major Donor Prospects.”
Too often development directors, major gift officers and even board members are asked to identify prospects and then go ask them for a gift. This puts the proposal cart before the relationship-building horse.
According to authors of the Bloomerang study, if you ask too soon, you’ll get less than you could. Because you’ve made it more about the transaction than the relationship. Transactions only skim the surface.
If you want your donor to dig deep, they must be inspired. They must be moved. They must trust that you value what they value, and that you’ll collaborate with them to enact their passions, fulfill their dreams and
Put the relationship-building out front, prior to an ask, rather than rushing to make an appointment with prospects to tell them about your project, instead set up a visit so they can tell you about themselves.
Appointments aren’t fun but visits cab be fun.
The key is listening carefully. Here are the first 12 of the questions you should be asking:
- Where were you born?
- How did you get where you are today?
- What were the most important lessons you learned from your parents?
- Would you tell me a bit about your family?
- If you won the lottery, how would you spend your time?
- What are you most proud of?
- If you could leave a legacy for future generations, what would it be?
- People love to give advice. So much so, in fact, that there’s an adage in major gift fundraising: “If you want advice, ask for a gift; if you want a gift, ask for advice.”
- 8. What do you think about XXXXX? (Ask them about a project or a campaign; see if they think it’s something your organization should be doing).
- 10. What do you think we should do? (Ask them if they have other suggestions/ways to approach this issue).
- Are there others you would recommend we contact to brainstorm this idea? (Draw them in further; help them to see themselves as a leader and contributor at the ground level. This question also lets them know you’d like them and their network involved).
- Can you tell me more about that? It demonstrates that you really care to hear their thoughts. Plus, you’ll often get your most valuable information when you ask something this open-ended.
The other 30 questions can be found in the report, accessible here … https://bloomerang.com/guide/42-questions-to-ask-major-donor-prospects/
