Professional Fundraising Services
When you are looking for something to purchase, whether a service or a product, you want to know that it has a proven track record of success. Would you ever buy a home from a builder who told you that he was on the verge of closing his business or needed capital to keep it open and you were his last hope? Of course not. This holds true for organizations and professional fundraising services.
I’ve admitted many times to my clients that I am not a marketing professional, but I am a consumer and more importantly a donor to a number of organizations. I’ve seen too many marketing pieces or professional fundraising services that use the word “need” or “help” and for me those words signal distress if not used correctly. Turn the negatives into positives with a donor strategy. For example, instead of using “we need your help” try “you can make the difference in the life of a child.” After thousands of individual solicitation calls throughout the years, I’ve learned that donors don’t give because of what you need but because of their need to make a difference or feel good about being part of something bigger than themselves. If you can think like a donor than you can rephrase your appeals to how donors (and you) perceive things.
Donors want to know that you are successful and that you have a bold vision for the future. They want to know that you will be around in the years to come so their “investment” is solid. There is a reason that organizations like Charity Navigator and Guide Star exist, and in part, it is to affirm the viability of an organization.
Is the glass half full or half empty? Are you in distress or are you planning on success?
For those who’ve heard that professional fundraising services can be both an art and a science…..
“Science deals exclusively with things as they are in themselves; and art exclusively with things
as they affect the human sense and human soul.”
Written by: Paul D’Alessandro
