employee workplace rights mandated by U.S. Federal law

Fund Development

This chapter will present the basics of fundraising, including the annual campaign, direct mail, special events, major gifts, and planned gifts. The concept of moving donors from annual giving to major gifts and planned gifts will be presented. This chapter will also explore donor motivation and present a fundraising strategy based on the concept of providing donors with opportunities rather than approaching fundraising as a “begging” activity. Begging is not a strategy to raise funds. The alternative to begging for funds is to have a well-developed fundraising program. Even if the organization employs a professional fundraiser, the administrator is still the chief fundraising officer and, as such, will develop professional fundraising skills or risk becoming the chief beggar for the organization. Securing resources for the organization is ultimately the responsibility of the board of directors, but it is the administrator’s responsibility to develop and oversee a well-developed fundraising program. Effective fundraisers work from a strategic fundraising plan that is long term, has specific goals, and uses a variety of fundraising methods and techniques. The organization’s financial strength can be developed and maintained only through a fundraising strategy that is diversified by using many different fundraising approaches appropriate for their various categories of donors. Fundraising must be approached as any other major project in that it requires the administrator to develop a plan. The planning process for fundraising includes the same steps as any other planning process. As the administrator, you must set goals, allocate resources, develop action steps and timelines. and then evaluate the process. There are many “truisms” in fundraising, but the one most important to remember is that “people give to people, not to organizations.” This is another way to say that fundraising is really “friend-raising.” The people that will give money to your organization are those who share a passion for the mission of the organization and who trust that their money will be used wisely. It is the responsibility of the administrator to develop and nurture relationships that will financially sustain the organization. Another truism is that people will not give anything to meet your agency needs, but they will give when presented with the opportunity to invest in an organization that will make a difference in the lives of others. People will give when they think they can make a positive difference in something they care about. At whatever level of fundraising activity, your approach should be to present opportunities that will make a positive impact in the lives of the people your organization serves and not to present the “needs” of the agency.

11Fund Development

Copyright 2014. SAGE Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except fair uses permitted under U.S. or applicable copyright law.

EBSCO Publishing : eBook Collection (EBSCOhost) – printed on 12/5/2019 7:27 AM via RASMUSSEN COLLEGE AN: 972400 ; Watson, Larry D., Hoefer, Richard.; Developing Nonprofit and Human Service Leaders : Essential Knowledge and Skills

124 LEADERSHIP SKILLS

Remember that people want to give to successful causes. You want to give the donor not only the opportunity to give but also a reason to contribute to a cause that will support success. Your appeal is not that your organization has great needs, but that it is successful in meeting the needs of your clients. Before we explore the many levels of activities in a fundraising program, we will look at the factors that motivate people to give.

DONOR MOTIVATION

Why do people give? Often, you will hear that most people give a donation because they will get a tax break. It is very seldom that tax donations are the major reason for making a donation.

You may need funds to hire a new counselor, but the fundraising approach should be to secure funds to serve more clients. You must tell the potential donor why the clients need this service and what difference it will make in their lives if the services are provided. The approach should NOT be that your organization needs a new counselor.

A new executive director was excited to learn that an elderly couple had decided to leave their 1,000-acre ranch to the organization in their will. The executive went to visit the couple and raised the possibility that they could use a planned giving vehicle to go ahead and make their gift to the agency and at the same time enjoy a tremendous tax advantage, plus increase their income for the rest of their lives. In fact, through this gift, the couple could be rich. After listening politely, the elderly woman said, “Young man, I don’t want to be rich. I want to go to our ranch and hunt birds!” It is important to know what motivates a donor. In this case, it was certainly not a tax break or more income.

So why do people give? In a review of over 500 articles on charitable giving, Bekkers and Wiepking (2011) found eight mechanisms as the most important forces that determine a person’s decision to give. These are (1) awareness of need, (2) solicitation, (3) costs and benefits, (4) altruism, (5) reputation, (6) psychological benefits, (7) values, and (8) efficacy. People will give only when they are interested and involved in your cause. Of course, there are different levels of giving. The new donor, responding to a direct mail piece, will be very different from a board member donor with years of experience with the organization. People will respond to different kinds of appeals because they have different reasons. So, why do they give? Giving behavior is just as complex as any other behavior. In his book Tested Ways to Successful Fund Raising, George A. Brakeley, Jr. (as cited in “8 Rules of Thumb,” 2012) wrote that virtually every fundraising campaign and development program depends on nine factors in motivating donors to support their organization:

1. The right person or persons ask them, at the right time, and in the right circumstances. 2. People have a sincere desire to help other people.

Copyright 2014. SAGE Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except fair uses permitted under U.S. or applicable copyright law.

EBSCO Publishing : eBook Collection (EBSCOhost) – printed on 12/5/2019 7:27 AM via RASMUSSEN COLLEGE AN: