Unknown Speaker 21:19 Hello everyone. Good morning. I want to welcome you to the Ohio local history Alliance Saturday sessions. I am the director of the Wayne County Historical Society, and a region two representative for the Ohio local history Alliance. Today, I'm going to be introducing our speakers for the session the hard asked fundraising for small historical organizations. If you have questions, please add them into the q&a box and we will just go over them at the end. If you have any comments, put them in the chat and I will relay them with the speakers. Later on we'll be having a kind of little work session which we'll be using the chat box with. So, at this point, I want to introduce Melissa Shaw, and Sarah MacPherson, who will be presenting the program for you today. Welcome, ladies. Jenni Salamon 22:22 Morning. Unknown Speaker 22:24 Good morning. Thanks for having us this morning. So I'm Sarah MacPherson. Can you guys hear everything, audio set up. So my job actually has just changed I was the Director of Development at the Springfield Arts Council, which I did for nearly nine years, but I actually just finished my first week as the director of marketing and development now at the Springfield foundation. So I've had a really great first week and I'm looking forward to learning more about my new role at the foundation. Before that I actually lived in Brooklyn, New York, where I worked as an executive director for a small nonprofit, it was a Local Development Corporation, so it supported a neighborhood in Brooklyn through economic development, cultural events and historic preservation. So I've been doing fundraising in multiple capacities for over 13 years, and I'm excited to be joining this session and talking to you all about fundraising. Unknown Speaker 23:38 Good morning, I'm also show I am the Ohio Mr Lyons. Second Vice President, as well. I've been working in the fields in the museum field with libraries of galleries for a little over 20 years. But really I come at the fundraising side, or as a donor. Nothing big nothing capital I'd already buildings named after me or anything, but not yet. But just, I believe I firmly believe that we should support what we believe in. And so, I hope that we can help everybody else today do just that. Speaking up, we are, we are actually going to want to learn a little bit about you guys, so we actually have two different poll questions, we'd love to put on the screen right now, so that we can learn a little bit more about you. And so, oh good they're going, excellent. So as I see those are going on. We are. Unknown Speaker 24:38 Yeah, we just kind of wanted to get a sense of what experience you're bringing to the session and how we can best address some of your needs and fundraising. Unknown Speaker 24:49 And maybe if some if there were people that were experts we could, we could pick up later, because you may also have some great ideas. Any wonderful, like that questions come in. And so now we have one more question for you. Let's see what let's hear, so everybody can see we don't get to see where we're at, what we're where we're all at today, Sarah, obviously wins with tons of experience, and she should be leading the session, which is also great. So let's go to the next step, perfect, perfect. We're just curious how much money, folks have raised over time scale, look at that. We're all very excited you're here with us today. And we've been looking forward to doing this session for a while and we're happy that you're here. Wonderful already. Unknown Speaker 25:49 Yeah, so it looks like from the first question, there are people that have little experience maybe like a couple years experience fundraising, But from this question it also looks like some of you are making some big asks over that $10,000 mark. So that's, that's pretty great. So, hopefully, hopefully we can give you a little bit more insight on how to start up some fundraising for your organization and how you can get comfortable making asks of individuals and corporations. So thanks everybody for participating in that poll. So I'm going to jump right into our first section which is researching they ask. So we're going to go over some of the basics that you really need to have ready up front before you solicit donations. So you really need to assess what you need, and what your goal is, whether that's a campaign or a project goal, whether you're going to do something project based or for general operations, you know, people get very excited about the project based donations because they have a tangible thing that they can see their donation going towards, but a lot of times what you may need is more general operational funding so, so you know you just kind of want to go into your meeting knowing which kind of funding, you're going to be asking for. And, you know you want to inspire your donors, and your prospective donors to give whether it's through a specific project or for general operations. I think the best way to find donors, is through your board your staff and your volunteers. So a lot of times you can ask your board, or maybe a specific fundraising committee Development Committee to share their contacts with you. It's also great to really ask your board staff and volunteers, why are they involved with your organization, what inspires them to give their time, talent treasure to to your organization. This may seem like a simple question for them, but it's very often, you know you get somebody involved and you kind of assume why, but really, asking them directly and specifically why they're involved can really lead to some language that you can use with your donors. Plus I can kind of reinvigorate your word and your staff kind of get them honed in on why they are doing what they do. So as I said, I worked for the Springfield Arts Council for almost nine years and our biggest program is a Summer Arts Festival. It's been going on for over 50 years and it's six weeks of admission three music, theater, dance all kinds of stuff. So I would always start our fiscal year, with a development committee meeting and asking this question Why are you involved with the arts council, and something that was kind of surprising to me is one of our board members said that the Summer Arts Festival feels like a community reunion. She sees people at the festival that she doesn't see the rest of the year, she gets to talk to people that she doesn't necessarily see other times in the year. And so we kind of honed in on that for our campaign or annual campaign that year on community, and how this program brought the community together. So, you know, you might be interested to hear what your staff, volunteers and board have to say about why they're involved, and then this will help later, when you're talking to donors. So you can find those donors through, through your board through your staff, or through your volunteers. You also probably have an existing mailing list that you can work with. You can also purchase a mailing list, I would be a little cautious on purchasing mailing lists just because sometimes they can cost more than the return on the investment, but you know you can do that through the post office through your chamber through multiple sources you can purchase mailing lists, but you can also kind of think of creative ways to build up and increase your mailing list to like, possibly get something donated that you can raffle off to collect people's contact information. Maybe have a cash prize that a donor might, might donate that you can then get contact information for people so you can kind of bolster up your mailing list in in different ways. Unknown Speaker 30:45 The when you do direct mail there it's not a huge return when you just do a mailing out it's only about five, five to 9%. So we're going to really more talk about having those meetings setting up those phone calls, doing the face to face fundraising, but you can also work your mailing list to find donors to meet with obviously networking events are really helpful for finding your donors, unfortunately, you know, we've been very limited in person events. So it's definitely more difficult in a virtual setting, but in the past, I would use networking events to really hone in on leads and perspectives for donors. And then when you pinpoint a donor that you might want to set up a meeting with you want to find out as much as you can about that person, or the business. So if it's a prospect that's coming through your board, you want to talk to the board member that recommended them and kind of see what, what you can find out about that donor. You want to talk to, maybe, a volunteer who recommended a business that might want to get involved and figure out how you can learn as much as you can before going into the. At least that's my experience with my fundraising I like to go into the meeting with almost all the answers, so that, you know, I'm, I'm there and present and able to kind of interact with as much knowledge as I can. And then obviously want to, obviously, but you can also do online, stalking, where you can look at someone's social media profiles look at their business website. There's also lots of resources where you can look at people's income and then different things like that too so you can do a little bit of that to to gain some knowledge before you go into the meeting. So always be open to finding those connections and how you can connect donors to your organization, and follow up on every lead because you never really know what can come out of a potential donor that someone has recommended to you so just follow up. So then how do you contact your donors and set up meetings. I typically email first to just do a little introduction and let them know that I'll be following up, so you can make some detailed plans about how you're going to follow up and then stick to them, because you know you want to follow through, then I do a phone call, maybe multiple phone calls, you know, just don't give up because you can really your persistence can be really effective and rewarding Yes, and, and I like to think of it as persistence not as bothered. And when you are setting up these meetings, you know, sometimes there's some hesitation, but really what's the worst that can happen, you know, you're trying to connect people to your mission and inspire them to donate. And if they say no, there's other ways that you can still keep them engaged and involved which we'll go over later. Unknown Speaker 34:17 Okay, so now theoretically, you have your list of names, you understand who these people are in some way, shape, or form, or their business, and you understand hopefully what they want. Now is the time for mental preparation. This is the point where you can psych yourself up, or psych yourself down. You want to psych yourself up. So you want to prepare yourself for any meeting to listen to what the people are going to say, as Sarah said she likes to walk in and know the answers, which is great, you're doing the research, but you still need to sit there, attentively and listen to what they're going to say, Because if it turns out that someone loves animals, but you want him to get money to do a bussing program. Those two are not going to mesh, so you need to be able to listen, and keep that person in mind for a different ask later, and not be disappointed at that meeting to not walk out with a commitment for money for your boxing program. That's not what that person wants to engage with might be able to work their love of animals into something else, which is why you also need to work and prepare so mentally. Be ready, be willing. What are they doing, what are they want, don't, you're not just there to get your that you're building that connection, you're building that capability for people, you know you can you ask them leading questions to think, to hone in on what they care about people find what they care about businesses on the other hand, they're looking at it slightly colder, it's not as good a feeling but it's, um, what do they want to accomplish within the community. And what kind of exposure can they get within the community for doing that thing. And sometimes that is, you know, just the simple they just want to be in your newsletter there. Other times, you know, they want the sign. Sometimes people want a building in doctrine, that's a whole other conversation that has to take place, but it is the things. And so, yeah, so Unknown Speaker 36:48 really it's just kind of what marketing and PR they can, they can get from their sponsorship or donation. You know, you may run across a business that has a purely philanthropic mission or goal but a lot of times yeah you want to work with businesses to make sure that there's a mutually beneficial relationship going on here that you're giving them what they want. And you're also, you know, getting their income to help what you're doing. I would also say, you know, don't give away everything. You know you want to work with businesses and set up tears, so that you know you're not giving, giving them everything but then the kitchen sink, you know, Unknown Speaker 37:36 once, once you've given to them you can't take it back and give it to them again later, right. So then, again, you're so you've, you've listened to them and you figured out what they want. Now you really do need to make sure that you are making that connection, you're connecting what you do with what they want to accomplish. Whenever that works out really well. And so this is, you know donor cultivation, which is fun terminology, but really it's, you know, making sure that if you're getting a one time donor or what's called an evergreen donor, you know, one time donor by me, because someone who gave you money one time to do one thing done another room donor, hopefully, is someone that believes in your mission, and believes in what you do and will manually contribute to you. Sometimes it takes more work for evergreen donors, sometimes you can get them on this nice even path, and then they just Yes You're sure $100 or $200 Every year, we don't need to meet, we can just do this over the phone, or as a direct mail or as something. So, what you also need to be doing in this mental time is creating your pitch. What are you asking for, because you can't just walk in and be like, Hi, money, money, please. Don't worry. No one will say yes to that, if them if they do give them my number. Yeah. So think about organizationally, what you do, how you do it. Why is it important, as Sarah brought up, you when you're talking to your board and your staff and your volunteers, steal those answers because those are the answers of why is it important. These are people that already believe in your organization. And you're going to get three or four different, why is it important, and that's great, have all of those in your brain have all those written down. Ready, because this is what goes become your elevator pitch, working in a nonprofit and working at a someplace where you can fundraise, you should always have some sort of elevator pitch in your head. And that elevator pitch really should, you know, what you do, how you do it, why is it important. If you can formulate that in three to four to five to seven sentences, you're, you know, 90% they're explaining why you need money. Now then take that moment and think about the answers to all those questions and make sure that that's all those things are related to your organizational mission is, especially, or why you want to fundraise. This is why the reason your fundraising actually related to your mission. And then you need to. That's the whole big stop. Let's move on, let's let's reevaluate what are we actually trying to accomplish. But as well. Think about it, think about these things, what you do, how you do it, why is important, elevator pitch, feel free to write, if you would like to now or you know as we keep going. Write your elevator pitch in the chat box and we'll review some later. So again, what organizationally you do, how you do it. Why is it important, Unknown Speaker 41:12 I think I've said that five times now. Yeah, so, yeah, I think, okay, but yeah, you're also going to want to make sure that that elevator pitch isn't super long, you know it's going to be 30 seconds to a minute that you can really convey the thing the questions that you've asked, you know be succinct, be direct, and, and we'll take a look at a couple of those later. You guys want to put them in the chat box. Alright, so you've researched you've done your research you've gotten yourself mentally prepared for this meeting. Now, you're going into the meeting or the phone call, you're going to make that hard ask. Alright so, be direct with what you need, be direct with what impact it's going to make, um, have all of the research and the mental preparation in your mind, and then when you get into the meeting. Listen, like we've said before, so make sure you get to know your donor, what's going on in their lives, what's, what are they concerned about what are they excited about. Why are they coming to, they're giving you some of that time to talk about your organization, you can always go bait with an ask, and then scale back, it's a lot harder to kind of start small and then build it up. Even that initial meeting over time, you know you can kind of do some moves management and get people built up in there asked but I would say go big first. I'm Unknown Speaker 42:49 not building, right, Unknown Speaker 42:51 maybe not building naming rights right away, but, but close to it. So your hard ask, is going to be. I need x number of dollars for this specific project or for this specific operational cost. So that's when you go in and you say, I need $500 for this project that is new and exciting and you're gonna want to be a part of it. There is also an option to do a self to ask, which is kind of asking more about there giving pacity, you know, do you have a budget for this sort of thing. How much are you willing to give right now or how much can you give right now. There are kind of pros and cons to both I think you kind of need to fill, fill out the conversation while you're talking to the donor, unless you already have a really great sense of what they, what they're engaged and. So, um, so yeah so the the heart ask is really just going right for us, whereas the soft ask can be a little bit more soft. Yeah. So, but what you want to do ultimately is inspire them to give within their means to create a lasting relationship you want, you really want those evergreen donors because they're going to give to you multiple times. And hopefully, you know you won't have to do this type of meeting with them each time. And, yeah, you want to make a lasting relationship where their gifts can continue and possibly grow into the future. So now this is a really important part of the ask. So once you've made the connection gotten the phone call got an in person meeting had a chance to really connect with that donor, figure out what they're excited about, you make that ask then you say, you know, would you be willing to give $500 And then you. Shut up. You let them fill the silence. You wait for them to break the silence. It's my personality to fill silence so this is definitely something I've had to learn and scale back on, because what you want to do is let that question hang there for your donor for your perspective, to think about it, maybe ask a couple more questions and then ultimately, and hopefully say yes. So you make the ask and then you wait for them to come back with their answer, which again seems simple but Unknown Speaker 45:36 if you have a moment. Unknown Speaker 45:40 Yeah, and if you're like me and you just kind of keep talking. It gives them away, not to give you an answer, and what you want is ultimately that answer and a clear answer from that donor. Alright so Unknown Speaker 45:55 now we're going to go through that we're gonna, we're gonna do a Sarah Arts Council. We decided we needed to do a show skit I think yeah well, yeah, we're gonna do a skit and a couple of them, and we're gonna go through this, we are going to go through the actual meeting for you to see how it can go. Obviously you know nobody's gonna be stuck well maybe I will stop but who knows can prop. Unknown Speaker 46:23 Alright. So yeah, so we're just going to do a little run through of what these conversations might look like. You know we didn't build in a lot of small talk time, this we kind of got to the point but, but, here we go. Alright, so, ring, ring. Hello, thank you so much for taking my call today. I know you have a lot going on. Do a couple minutes to chat, Unknown Speaker 46:52 certainly, I've been looking forward to your call is that almost. Unknown Speaker 46:55 Oh, excellent, excellent. So I've been working with the flowering plant Museum, and we're planning our new wildflower pollinator exhibit for next year, because you've been volunteering so much in our wetlands prairie garden. I thought you may be interested, maybe interested in supporting this new exhibit, would you consider making a donation to help us install Unknown Speaker 47:16 this exhibit. Certainly, yes, I definitely I think this is something that is important to me, and I would like to help you do this Unknown Speaker 47:30 wonderful that's excellent. Would you be willing to give us $250 towards the exhibit. Unknown Speaker 47:38 Yes, I can get you $250 For the exhibit, Unknown Speaker 47:40 excellent, that's wonderful. It's so generous of you. It's going to really go a long way for getting this new exhibit set up, and I really appreciate it. So thank you so much. And then, you know you can go through getting credit card information, sending it a check, PayPal, by all that stuff, which actually Unknown Speaker 48:01 is also a MC. That's also a good point, figure out how you're going to get their money. Before you ask for their money that we didn't need. Can you can your organization take credit cards can your organization take checks, these checks need to be made out to something specific, all that kind of stuff to figure that out, presenters, we should we should put a note on that. Okay, so let's talk about what happens though, during this little skit. Sarah had a volunteer list. That's where she got the name, and she tied my interest as a volunteer with plants in some way shape or form, to, to what her ask was, which was to help do an exhibit on these plants. And then she made an ass, that I was willing to say yes to that, I obviously would say yes. And she and twice now, we held the pause for a second so you'd see that parts of you asked, and you look at them and you'll let them fill the silence, and even sitting right here. I mean obviously you would never sit this close to another person, when you're asking me, you know. Yeah, it's still it's uncomfortable to have somebody ask you a question and stare at you as the person making the ask, do you need to, you know, try to help them not be uncomfortable, but also get them to answer the question. Unknown Speaker 49:32 Yeah, I would say in that moment a little bit of uncomfortability is probably okay. Yeah, Unknown Speaker 49:38 but not a lot, as much as they want to leave the room. Unknown Speaker 49:42 Um, but yeah so that was like a very clear way that you can get a volunteer who's, you know, maybe been involved with organization for a while helping with your gardens, get them to be engaged in a financial way with your organization. Unknown Speaker 49:57 And that's also easy because they already believe in your mission, you know, they believe in your mission Unknown Speaker 50:03 to go, Yeah, let's do that Unknown Speaker 50:04 one. Hello, thank you so much for meeting with me today. How are you, Unknown Speaker 50:12 I'm doing good and really good to hear. Unknown Speaker 50:15 It was so wonderful to see you at the Orlando Convention last week. It was illuminating to speak with you about your love of French art deco design, and then the movement. The kind of ceiling fan center, the region's for most leader and interior design is preparing for our gala, and we're in need of some sponsors for our event. This is our biggest fundraiser of the year, and it helps us shore up our operating funds. Table sponsors, receive, eight tickets, a plated dinner, dancing and cigars at the end of the night. Sponsors are also recognized in the program, and receive a special shout out on stage. Would you be willing to sponsor table, or about $4,000 Unknown Speaker 51:06 Well, that is quite a hefty ask for my personal budget, but I do love what you're doing and you know I have my passion for home decor. So, yeah, I think I will do that table sponsorship and the event I think it's gonna be fun. Wonderful, Unknown Speaker 51:25 thank you so much this means so much to us. I'm gonna follow up with you next week with all the details. Unknown Speaker 51:31 Excellent. See, so in that instance, you know, Melissa met me at a networking event at this convention that sounds really interesting. You know, we probably had a short conversation maybe exchanged some contact information and then Melissa followed that up with a phone call or a meeting, and then she, you know, made that hard to ask to try to get a table sponsorship for your Gala. So, you know that was a in person interaction that lead to a meeting, and lead to a donation. Unknown Speaker 52:12 And obviously you'd want to grow a little bit more conversation in here we just skipped that part, we just want to be like, have $1,000 paid by. If you Unknown Speaker 52:24 can call me. Tell me how you do that, um, and obviously you know we were both very open to making the donations happen to confirming them, it's not, it's not always that easy. You know, people can say no or, you know. Also, they can you no not meet with you but hopefully you know you can get the meeting or the phone call but when someone says no, it's not a huge deal, you know, we put on your note saying you didn't die, but one says no, you can ask again later. Or you can also within that same conversation talk about how to engage that donor in a different way. Maybe they want to be a volunteer, maybe they want to be on a committee, you know, get them involved and engaged in your organization in some way, even if they say no, or, in that case for the table sponsorship. Melissa started big at the, you know, full table, but you can always ask someone to buy a single ticket year event, you know, you can kind of gauge what what the person's giving capacity is and what might work for them. You know I've heard a lot in the fundraising community that you never take no for an answer. And I think, you know, never, never take no which, um, you know, I subscribe to the thought process that you know sometimes no means I can't do a donation now. And so maybe you do need to just say okay well I'll follow up with you, you know, next year or, you know, as we have projects that come up that are more aligned with what you want. Yep, connected. So, you know, it might not necessarily mean that you get a donation rate. In that instance, but if you keep that relationship going keep the connection away hopefully get a donation in the future. So, you know, it might be no now is Unknown Speaker 54:31 as well even if they keep saying no, You can always say, you know, work out the relationship well enough that you can then say, Well, who do you think would, you know, get used their networking list. Unknown Speaker 54:41 Yeah. Okay, so they've given you lots of money. You should thank them. Unknown Speaker 54:53 It's just, like, someone gave you something you should think of them. That way we live in a society that values, thank you. So you can, there's always the tax acknowledgement part, and for that you definitely want to talk to someone who knows things about taxes. If you've never done this fundraising before and your organization is not built to be an expert on this aspect, go to someone that it's the IRS changes their laws or the Congress changes IRS laws and regulations, whatever they like it, make sure you're getting the best information you have at any given time. And then make sure that whatever the form needs to look it looks correct, talk to an expert. Do not talk to two people that are sitting in a kitchen on a Saturday about taxes. It's not get the expert opinion on that. The handwritten note. Some people think it's passe. Um, I think it there does get to be a level that you need to figure out how much time you're spending on handwritten notes and postage and stationery and everything else that it's worth it. The $5 donation. I gotta believe is never going to be worth a handwritten note. But there's, there's a break even point at your organization you're going to need to figure out what that is for spending that time and energy. Because that's kind of the you're not making more phone calls, you're not doing more meetings, you're not actually accomplishing the mission of your organization. That's kind of for anything you know it's not to say that you think you know it isn't valuable but it is a balancing act, your newsletter, especially if you're already producing a newsletter every week, that's a sunk cost to figure already spending the time to do an acknowledgement area within your newsletter can be great. And then is if it's an E newsletter or a printed newsletter, you then need to again cost benefit analysis. Obviously if the organization or person doesn't see that you sent them in the newsletter. It's good other people know, but they don't get that good feeling about doing it. So you either need to put them on the email list, or send them one again cost benefits, you got to make sure that you're doing it. And then also, you know, have your notes, have your everything, and ask them again when it's appropriate, because that's, you know if you can get that evergreen donor, it's, it's wonderful. You want them to feel good. But yeah, breakeven points. Unknown Speaker 57:40 Yep. Now you want to make sure that you're, you're thanking your donors so that they know that their efforts are appreciated, and that they, they really help you do your programs and fulfill your mission. Unknown Speaker 57:55 Okay, um, if you would like us to look at your elevator pitches. Please don't put them in the chat box if you haven't done already, I think that we met them watching our chat box. But we'd love to review them and look at them and, honestly, everybody can kind of learn about everybody else it's always interesting to see what other organizations around the state do, so please put them in the chat box. If you're having a problem, putting it in the chat box I guess you have to tell us in the chat box. That's difficult to fit so I guess you can't. But, oh wonderful okay I definitely see somebody. Ron is going to read them aloud so that everybody can can hear them excited. I like see what other people are doing. Yeah, definitely. I'm probably getting any. Unknown Speaker 59:01 I'm not seeing any right now in my box so there was, Unknown Speaker 59:08 as you guys are thinking about it too. Are there any questions that we can do Unknown Speaker 59:12 questions now, that do lie or just a little later, or kind of pick her brain, she's been doing this forever. And she's successful at. Unknown Speaker 59:22 Yeah, we didn't get into the specifics but I raised about half of the budget at the Springfield Arts Council in my position now, we work in, with endowments and other funds and so we will be raising more major gifts, like in the millions. So, yeah, let me know how I can help you. Jenni Salamon 59:54 Perfect. And everybody. Okay, Great. Unknown Speaker 1:00:06 We'll begin. Don't mind us Jenni Salamon 1:00:17 chest area. Unknown Speaker 1:00:22 Ready. Oh, so we have to have a question, how long does the fundraising process take with one donor. Well, Unknown Speaker 1:00:33 it can be different for different appeals and campaigns that you're doing. I would say if you are doing an in person meeting, you know, like a lunch or coffee or definitely set aside a whole solid, our to meet with that person, the cultivar depends on how much information you need. I mean it can be anywhere from, you know, Melissa and I met at a fundraising event in our little skit, you know, maybe that weekend, and then you were able to set up a meeting in the next couple of weeks, and in that meantime, you know you've been able to do your research. Other times, especially when you're going out for a big ass, you know, it might take multiple phone calls multiple meetings, information shared back and forth. And in those cases, you know, it can take months to secure those gifts. And a lot of times with sponsorships, we have to work on the corporation's timeframe. So you know sometimes that'll be, we decided our funding in in April through a committee and so we need all the information in January. Unknown Speaker 1:01:52 So, the end of our fiscal year don't ask us now, Unknown Speaker 1:01:55 right or we have some extra money after this year. So, um, unfortunately that's not a very specific answer because it's really dependent on each donors Unknown Speaker 1:02:06 timeframe. And as well, you would want to organizationally, or as a fundraising person in the organization, you should have your list and you should have your notes about various wonders. Obviously you wouldn't want to throw that in like the organization shared drive or something, but you would want to make sure that there was, if you were to either leave the organization or had to leave the organization or became ill for a long period of time, you would want to make sure that that information was accessible to say your supervisor or something, so that there isn't. All this time that you spent building this relationship isn't lost and you want to make sure that you have. Yeah, you've captured what happens after that meeting. I'm not only yes they're giving us $1,000 But also, this person cares about this. And then even making a note of, again, I keep that about somebody who loves animals but you, your organization doesn't. You're right down, they love animals. When we do our exhibit program something dealing with animals, you know, you can contact Unknown Speaker 1:03:21 them. Yeah, yeah, it's kind of like making sure that you have your prospect list going very detailed, I am. I need to make notes on everything so that I remember what's going on, and then you can also kind of put those people into your pipeline. You know when they become a donor too so that you kind of know where they are in that process looks like. Yeah, we have another question about have you ever dealt with someone who is annoyed, angry that you asked. So hopefully if you've done your research and talk to enough people about the prospect that you're meeting with you won't get that reaction. But I have to say I have gotten, I have gotten that reaction. And it was, it was more about maybe that timing, you know, wasn't the best timing when I asked, and you kind of have to feel out the situation in that in that instance and, you know, Maybe just back away or say you know, I'll contact you at a different time. Also, something that is really helpful too if your organization has been around for a long time is picking your the brains of your other staff and like longtime volunteers to know the relationships that maybe a prospect would have had with your organization in the past. So, you know, if there's some sort of bad blood there maybe you don't want to open that. But also I'm, I'm also of the opinion that you can kind of change things around with some, some kindness and listening and and talking to someone so so yeah I have dealt with that, and you know that kind of goes into the question of what's, what's the worst that can happen, maybe, um, you know, you just maybe put that person on the very low bottom part of your prospect list and and follow up with them, you know, much later. But, you know, if there's really no harm in asking though, if they're annoyed or, or they get angry that you've asked them, you know, maybe they're just not into becoming part of your donor base, and, and you know that that happens. And hopefully you'll find with one angry person you'll have 10 other people that are excited about what you're doing. And I would Unknown Speaker 1:05:58 say as someone who's been asked. Um, I don't like being asked. The first time I get someone, Unknown Speaker 1:06:06 you know the cocktail party that's, whatever, you know. Hi, I'm Alyssa, I work at the flower and plant Museum, Unknown Speaker 1:06:13 give me money. It's like I just showed you. I have not had time to look at your organization. I do not know, I don't know enough about you at that point to say yes I will give you x number of dollars, or my time, even. So it really is. You don't want to say it's like dating, but you know, you don't watch yourself at any other person, you know, within five minutes meeting on the way Unknown Speaker 1:06:41 I've been doing dating around then. Unknown Speaker 1:06:45 Um, so, you know, it's, uh you know you don't get within five minutes, you know, Unknown Speaker 1:06:50 that's, that's weird, you cultivate that relationship and actually in our little skits. It wasn't the first time that we had interacting with those prospects. No, that's a really good point that you really want to cultivate a relationship before you make that ask. Unknown Speaker 1:07:08 Ron, I, it, it looks like Kim, put a elevator pitch in the chat, would you like to read that one. Unknown Speaker 1:07:19 All right. I am Kim from the Jackson Township Historical Society. We just started a kids club program to help children learn about history in a fun and entertaining way. Would you be willing to sponsor, one of our programs for $100. Jenni Salamon 1:07:34 Okay, Unknown Speaker 1:07:35 who you are. Got it. What do you do, Unknown Speaker 1:07:41 what do you need, Unknown Speaker 1:07:41 why is it important, learn about history fundamentals. What, what you need. Unknown Speaker 1:07:49 Yeah, let's go. There you go, I would say you can be a little bit more specific on how the. The program is going to be educational, you know, but I think that's a great for what we ask. Yes, great. Yes, that it up Kim, that explains yes at Unknown Speaker 1:08:08 all. Wonderful. Review. Well, Unknown Speaker 1:08:12 we have some questions that came in. First, from Kim, should one member attend a meeting or can two people work together to ask a large donor. Unknown Speaker 1:08:30 I would say to people is, is very good for getting a big ask, I think, um, you know, ultimately, if you are the fundraiser, then, you know, you will be the one leading the meeting and setting the meeting and setting the tone, but it can be helpful if you have the right support person, you know the right person they're helping you articulate. I yeah I mean I think if you're going for a big ask. And I'm not sure how many of you are directors or fundraisers or, you know, have maybe another role in your organization, but, um, especially having your director with you can make a big difference when you're asking for a big milk. Unknown Speaker 1:09:19 Just don't be intimidated. Yeah. Unknown Speaker 1:09:26 The second one is how do you figure out how much to ask for asking for a $1,000 donation from a small business may not be possible for them, how would you figure that out. Unknown Speaker 1:09:39 Yeah, so, um, there's different things that you can do to try to try to figure out how to ask I mean I think we touched on it earlier but you can always scale back, So you know if you do go for that $1,000 mark and it's that's not realistic, you can scale back in a number of different ways and you want to make sure that you have different avenues lined up for smaller donations if, if you need to so that you can keep that person engaged. But you can also, you know, talk to your board, talk to the person that recommended this contact and kind of get a sense of how many things they've been involved in, you know, if they sponsor multiple events or involved in multiple events or if they're really just starting out. If you do want to get really technical to you can go into like some financial records and see what's going on with that business financially, you know, looking at what's public of their financial records, but a lot of times I think if you don't necessarily know what to ask for it's good to kind of talk, get some more background while you're talking to that donor, you know like what kind of budget do you have for this. Do you do similar events, you kind of get a sense after you had some of these meetings and you've experienced those interactions what to ask for. But, but, yeah, you can kind of try to get some of that knowledge, ahead of time, or also actually asked him directly in a meeting, know what kind of giving capacity, do you have as well. Unknown Speaker 1:11:27 It shouldn't be confusing to them why you want the meeting, I mean you don't say I want money in your intro but you also you know if you especially if you're the fundraiser, or the director, you're the director and you're working on X campaign right now. That gives them a clue that this is a money conversation. And that's also a clue if they don't want to then have the meeting. Okay, they don't want to give you any money right now. Easy peasy, you can move on. But they Yeah don't not false pretenses, I guess it does the patient, patient dish no wire you know especially or third, the Director of Development. Pretty obvious this is a cultivation money conversation that they're going to have so they theoretically will have some numbers in there already, because you're especially if you're having that meeting, which is also why you never like cold kept gum. Unknown Speaker 1:12:28 Yeah. Anything else. Unknown Speaker 1:12:32 All right, another question, is there a good time of year to ask the beginning of a month the beginning of the quarter beginning of the year. Unknown Speaker 1:12:43 Well, all of those. Yeah, it also it kind of depends on who you're asking. But, you know there are different. Cultivation dates that have been set up like giving Tuesday, an end of your giving, I kind of think that those are sort of oversaturated times when people are being asked a lot, but you know for tax purposes, end of the year is a pretty good time to ask people if they are looking to make a donation to put on their taxes, you know that gets them to that deduction mark. But I think that might be a little bit more dictated by when the organization needs the funding, Like if it's for a project or, or for an exhibit or for an event, you know you might set your own timeframe on that. There's also different ways that you can ask for multiple types of support from one person or from one organization, while I worked at the Arts Council we actually did several different campaigns and we would reach out at several different times of the year, and our that's what our donors like they like to know, okay, this is my annual campaign donation. This is my donation for your Gala, this is for the musical that you're producing over the summer you know they like that. That's what they're used to from the Arts Council's history, but a lot of times people and businesses want to be asked all at one time for everything that you're going to do throughout the year, so you know that's when you really need to have your package, complete so that you can say well we need this for education and this for, you know, operational and this for a project and this for, you know, our special then, um, you know a lot of times, people end businesses want that all laid out at the beginning so that you ask them once throughout the year, they know they've done what they wanted to do and then you're not going to love them again until the next year. So you kind of have to, again, feel out what your community what your prospective donors want in that case. Unknown Speaker 1:14:59 All right, there was another comment that said, you know, they would ask donors to sponsor a specific program. And from my experience kind of following what you said, every year we do for ice cream social, we have a flyer that we ask for sponsors, and so we asked for those early in the year to be able to have those in time to print on the flyer to pass out, you know, a couple months before the program. So they get their name out. So, in my experience it's, you know, comes around when you need it. And you know, we've developed, who, you know those donors are that we know will sponsor every year. So they expect me to walk in. Unknown Speaker 1:15:42 Yeah, that's actually quite helpful is when you have campaigns or events that have been going on for a long time and they know that you're coming back can be very helpful. I would also say in timing wise, never turn away at a gift. So like, for instance the ice cream social, even if you've printed your materials, and there's someone that still wants to be involved, I would say, you know, let them know we've already printed our materials we will be included in that way, but you know we'll list you on our website, we'll put you on social media, we'll announce your sponsorship or your, your support at the event, I would say if they're good with that, you know, don't turn away and he gets Unknown Speaker 1:16:30 one time for one more question. Unknown Speaker 1:16:38 I do not see any more questions in the q&a box or anything in the chat. Unknown Speaker 1:16:45 Okay, welcome, everyone. Thank you so much for coming today. We've, we've enjoyed chatting with you all in this very strange virtual context. Unknown Speaker 1:16:59 Yeah, and my contact information, has now changed since I met a new job, but, um, I'll supply you know my email, phone number if you guys have questions, I'm really open to talking through, you know, getting your fundraising started or talking through what you're doing already and figuring out the best ways to make it most efficient for you. So I'll make sure I get that contact info out, and then, yeah, thank you all so much for joining us. And I hope that you'll have a great rest of the weekend and great sessions. Unknown Speaker 1:17:35 Alright, on behalf of the attendees in your hard local history Alliance. I want to thank you for presenting today. You provided a lot of great information and I think it'll give our attendees, something to think about as they go forward and hopefully advanced their organizations by using some of your tips and techniques. Unknown Speaker 1:17:55 Excellent. And also I feel like our acting abilities, yeah really showcased you know skits. Unknown Speaker 1:18:06 Alright thank you ladies. All right, bye. Transcribed by https://otter.ai