Transforming Prospects Into Donors For Your Nonprofit

If you serve on a nonprofit Board, are the executive director for a nonprofit, or are responsible for raising funds for your nonprofit, The Nonprofit Fundraising Solution, book by Laurence A. Pagnoni is a must-read for you.

Pagnoni bridges the gap between theory and practical methods and shows you (often via real-life case studies) how to:

increase your access to wealthy donors
raise your community profile
stretch gifts
operate major campaigns
avoid revenue plateaus
create a fundraising culture within your organization
take specific actions if your Board's core strength isn't fundraising
conduct challenge gift campaigns
integrate social media into your existing fundraising methods
create a planned giving program

When it comes to transforming prospects into donors, Pagnoni suggests you follow these basic five steps:

Get to know your prospect
Get your prospect involved
Ask for a small gift of financial support
Ask them to open their network of contacts
Ask for a major gift

And, during those conversations, ensure you are answering for your donor prospect:

Why this initiative?
Why now?
What will the donor receive? (i.e. "Thanks to you, x more abandoned dogs can be sheltered for another month.")

Pagnoni also recommends that each year, you conduct a Thank-A-Thon, ideally, the week before Thanksgiving.

There is no "ask"
Have your Board and staff members do the phone calling (provide each caller a list to work from)
Encourage each caller to practice before making their first official call
Phone on a weekend afternoon or weekday early evening
During the call, thank the person for their involvement, membership, donations
Have answers ready for questions that may come up about volunteering opportunities,etc.
Leave the "thank you message" on a voice mail if you don't reach the person live

During and after your Thank-A-Thon, feel proud when you'll likely hear from many of the people you called that:

"You are the only or one of few organizations that's ever called me to say thank you."

Pagnoni has spent 25 years in the nonprofit sector as a fundraising consultant and as executive director of three nonprofit organizations.

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