PRESENTATION OUTLINE
Topics
- Where to spend your time
- Strategies
- What to avoid
Connect your work to the development cycle
What to do
- Research
- Cultivation (includes marketing)
- Solicitation
- Stewardship
Monthly
- Research
- Planning
- Reporting
Weekly
- Initial contacts
- Top donor cultivation
- One ask activity
Daily
- Donor acknowledgment
- Thank you note, email or call
- Marketing & awareness
Quarterly or other
- Other reporting required
- Professional development
Databases for small orgs
- Cloud based
- Small number of records
- Scaleable as you grow
- 1-2 users at start
Databases for small orgs
- Email newsletter function
- Letter templates
- Export and import
Social Media in Small Bits
- Monitor
- Manage
- Aggregate
- Schedule
Simplify Direct Mail
- Use a mail house
- Stick to a couple packages
- Keep the design simple
- Email doesn't replace
Online Campaigns
- Secret shop your website
- Start small but tangible
- Incentives are critical
Do online campaigns actually work?
Yes and No.
Keys to Online Success
- Visuals and Videos
- Urgency
- Existing social network
- Multi-platform promotion
Simple planned giving
- Focus on wills and bequests
- Develop sample language
- Promote on everything
I bequeath to the Stratford Shakespearean Festival of Canada _________
(state percentage of estate or
specific amount) to be applied its general endowment (or for _________ fund area, please specify).
Things to plan
- Know your top 10-25 donors
- Know your top 10 prospects
- 5-7 cultivation advances
Evaluating events
- Potential revenue
- Amount of work
- Likelihood of success
- Uniqueness
- Mission match
Boards in fundraising
- Provide connections
- Testimonials
- Discrete tasks
- They can stall asking!
Tie activities to development cycle
Create checklists
Database, mail worth $
Simple online, volunteers, planned giving
Be ruthless with events
Be strategic with board