Exposing yourself!
Howard Lake | 25 August 2002 | News
Ian Kerr of MIDAS Charity Appeals shares a tip on major gift fundraising.
“I nearly always find exposing a prepared case for support to a sympathetic donor a thoroughly worthwhile exercise. How an outsider views a proposition is often significantly different from those immersed in its preparation. Often new sales points emerge along with suggestions for donors.
“All this may seem a little obvious but it does involve a small degree of personal risk – your writing could be shot down and the presentation carved up without being reconstructed. In Big Gift training we offer private presentations to two or three Big givers for a fixed 5-minute period. On the last two courses two delegates walked out of their presentation early because they couldn’t take the questions! While this makes the case for such training I find this surprising because I have always regarded it as standard sales practice.
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“Almost invariably the larger or more sacrifical the donor the more they enjoy (yes enjoy!) being asked to help in this way. If your’re unsure who to ask consider trying:
- the first donor to another project for the same charity
- the largest donor
- any individual who gives a large annual total but in irregular lumps and without any fixed period (often a sign of exceptional interest)
- a new trustee
- a prospective donor during a project or head office visit
Ian Kerr would be interested in your ideas.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.