Building a Winning Fundraising Strategy -- Friends & Family
In a series of blogs, we will attempt to share a few lessons that we have learned from successful (and very unsuccessful) fundraisers, and hope this will help you with your own journey.
We will kick off the series with the individual donors (a.k.a friends and family). You always want to start your fundraising journey with this group – a trusted group of people, however small, that believes in you and your vision. They might not have the capacity to fully fund your ideas, but the goal at this stage is to focus on the quality, not quantity. You want to earn high quality donors that will continue to be your ambassadors in the long run.
The Pre-Fundraiser Meeting
We’ve learned that in order to build a successful friends and family fundraiser, one must always start with a pre-fundraiser meeting. Rather than launching a “surprise” fundraiser for your venture, it is helpful to speak to the people that you want to ask for contributions. Rather than jumping into your “pitch” for money, this is a good opportunity for you to get advice. Share with them your project vision, what you hope to accomplish with your project, and if they show interest in the project, ask them to be a project advisor.
Focus on the 85% work
Banks Benitez, CEO of Uncharted, writes, “Most people think sales is about being able to give a persuasive speech. But in a given sales cycle, only 15% of my time is spent face-to-face or on the phone with the prospect. The other 85% of the time is spent prospecting, emailing, responding to email introductions, researching a prospect, preparing for a meeting, drafting a proposal based on what I learned in the meeting, following up, answering questions over email, updating the proposal, and following up again.” We often think of the pivotal moments – the call or the speech to gather support from donors, however, it is the crucial follow up and preparation that really makes a difference. I have myself gone into meetings where I was less prepared, and I remember leaving with a taste of disappointment as I saw the funders/donors express interest but not have enough information from me to act.
Write a Simple Proposal
If you are running a peer-to-peer fundraiser, you want to make sure that your writing is as simple as possible. These are not your typical funders who will understand complicated impact metrics, or even want to read more than the basics. We recommend writing a 3-5 page document (or even smaller) that outlines your story, mission, traction, problem statement, project activities, budget, and impact measurement. That seems like a lot to write in 3-5 pages; and yet it is achievable. Over the years, we have worked with several social impact leaders that join one of our Bootcamps with a 12-15 page document and leave with a 3 page version that is more punch-y and to the point.
Invite your top performing donors to be fundraisers
As a founder, your time is often split between different activities and it can be difficult to only focus on fundraising. Identify your top donors, maybe it is that one mentor that believes in you – and ask them if they would be willing to recruit people, or help out with some of the fundraising activities. Not only will this reduce your own workload, but it will allow you to expand your network of influence.
Use your Instagram DMs
If you have sent multiple emails and have not heard from many people, it is most likely because people are less likely to read a fundraising ask via email (because it’s saturated). However, I’ve witnessed the effectiveness of sending a personal WhatsApp message, or an IG DM or even a LinkedIn message with a simple ask for donation. There is a major disclaimer here: people usually don’t like to be asked for money via social media, as that is a personal space. Having said that, we have noticed that if you do it with some effort, rather than just copy and pasting the same text, people are much more responsive to your ask.
Sustain These Relationships
Finally, our biggest advice for peer-to-peer fundraisers is to never forget them – they believed in your ideas when no one else was listening, and they will continue to cheer (and maybe support) your ideas for many years to come. Continue to foster a strong relationship with each donor, providing them with timely updates and opportunities to engage with your organization.
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