Three Essential Elements for Meeting Fundraising Goals (Thoughts From a Salesperson)

Here are some of the things that I am keeping in mind to meet my sales goals for the rest of the year, and some tips that can help you meet your fundraising goals for this year and to start 2017 off hot.

Build Relationships

Building relationships with donors is a great way to create retention and participation in your organization. There are many ways to do this. Introduce yourself to people at your meetings and events. Ask them about how they heard about the event, then reach back out to them. There is no reason to be bashful about seeking support of the great work that your organization does.  Be proud of the work that you do, and be proud to share that work with people who can help you grow your impact.

Attending networking or your organization’s events is a great way to meet new people to build relationships. Try to meet 10 new people at the next event that you attend, then call or email them within a week and try and have coffee to learn more about them.

Discover the Emotional Reason to Give

I have learned in sales that no matter how good of a relationship that I have, or how genuine I am, people need a reason to buy my product from me. Again the same is true for giving to your organization. If there is not a connection to your cause, they might not be for you. People give for their reasons, not ours. Discover the reason that they will give to your organization. People will open up to you if you have built the relationship through genuine communication.

You are helping to solve a problem in our community. By increasing the funding of your organization you are able to serve more clients. It is through increased donations that more lives are changed, and by helping your donors see that, we all benefit.

Ask for referrals

Ask people for introductions into their network. This does not have to be an endorsement of the work that you do, it is just a warm introduction. This can be done after every conversation with anyone. Again, as with building relationships, do not be ashamed of your role in raising money; this supports the great work that you do in our community. Keep that in mind and ask for introductions. The people your organization helps will thank you.

I have come to realize that the solutions thedatabank offers are not for all organizations, and that is ok. I have also found out that if they do not need my solution, someone in their network might be interested in hearing about our solutions. If I do not ask them I will never know that their college roommate is looking for something that sounds a lot like what I have to offer.

In practicing these activities of building relationships, uncovering the reason to buy, and asking for referrals, you will be able to help your organizations execute on your strategic plans and serve more of those who need help. The better you are at these the better off our community will be!