Archive for the ‘Start, run or jumpstart a campaign’ Category
You Will Never Have Enough Information
Posted by: Nick Fellers April 30, 2008
Remember a powerful quote that Tom and I love:
“Engage, then plan.” Andy Grove
You will never have enough information before meeting with a prospect.
If you’re waiting until you have enough then your approach would be to,
“Plan, then engage.”
I don’t know that I’m every really sure about the ratings and
rankings on my prospect list (including a prospect’s capacity and
relationship) until AFTER I’ve gone to visit with them.
The implications?
- You can’t determine what you will ask for until you’ve had a real conversation
with the prospect. Too many times I’ve been told by a board member or
champion, “You can only ask for $X.” During the visit we learn information
that would warrant a $10X ask. (So we ask for $10X!) - It’s okay to not know everything. You can fill in the blanks by asking
questions. - Wealth screening, Google, giving history etc. are your knowledge base
- not strategies. Want a strategy? Go and visit with the prospect. Share
the story around your impact and present the opportunity to save lives,
change lives and/or impact lives. - Don’t to set a bar BEFORE you share your vision, your impact, your
raison d’etre. Don’t make decisions for your prospect. The reason for
sharing your story and your vision is to SET A NEW OR VERY HIGH BAR.
Here is a very powerful question - so powerful we call it the ‘DISCOVERY
CLOSE’.
After getting the prospect VERY engaged around your impact and your priorities
you can share you funding plan and ask:
“Prospect, I don’t know about your capacity.
This program will require $40,000 a year for each of the next three years.
Is this something you could do?”
After you build confidence in your approach, you can drop the line about
‘not knowing capacity.’
It’s a powerful question you’ve engaged the prospect. The answer
will provide all the information you need to plan. It’s important
that you listen, process and keep moving forward with the relationship.
Implied: Don’t ‘engage… then stop.’
To Campaign Or Not To Campaign: That Is The Question
Posted by: Nick Fellers April 17, 2008
Let’s do word association:
What comes to mind when you see this word?
CAMPAIGN
Add your thoughts in the comments section below. Will be interesting to see what people say.
You know we’re really big on vocabulary. Words have meaning. Words are important. This ‘word’ may be the granddaddy of them all. Especially if your definition of campaign involves feasibility studies, committees, a ‘capital campaign launch’, etc.
Think about this: It’s often easier to raise $5M than it is to run a $5M campaign.
Some readers are not allowed to start a campaign without jumping through a number of hoops in their community.
Last week I was with an organization on the east coast. This organization had completed the funding $40M of projects in the last three years. We were gathered to strategize the next project: to be around $10M. This gathering (nine people total) included major, major community philanthropists and long-time high-level supporters.
One of the board members asked if this was going to be a ‘campaign’. What followed could best be described as a ‘freak out session’.
- “We have too many capital campaigns in this city already.”
- “If we’re going to do a campaign we might want to look at the annual campaign model the Y uses.”
- “I don’t want to do a feasibility study.”
- “Campaigns are scary.”
Mind you, we had $40M toward $50M and roundtable full of people with capacity (also strong relationships).
Sometimes we would do better to let go of the baggage associated with campaigns and just execute on a plan to fund projects or fund a vision.
If you haven’t done so, read Tom’s campaign book for many more high-level thoughts to help you with your campaign.
Be In A Position To Advance The Ball
Posted by: Nick Fellers January 15, 2008
You’re a development (our word ’sales’) professional in the relationship business. As professionals, it’s our responsibility to turn ‘pendings’ into ‘commits’. With that in mind, we need to avoid giving these kind of reports:
- “I haven’t heard back from [prospect] yet.”
- “I left a message.”
- “They said they would call us.”
Whether it be fundraising (sales), negotiations or life we need to take responsibility for ‘advancing the ball’. This begins by putting ourselves in the position to advance the ball.
At the end of a great presentation we get so excited. The prospect says something like, “Great, let me think it over and get back to you.” We say, “GREAT!” And then what?
My point is about attitude and less about tactics. You know how to handle a relationship. If you remember that it’s your responsibility to advance the ball then your will find yourself leaving voicemails like, “It’s Nick Fellers calling, I’m sorry I missed you. I can be reached at 614-352-2505 or I will try you again tomorrow.”
Two additional thoughts:
- You can also use Action Forcing Events to help you ‘advance the ball’.
- Embrace this term (’advancing the ball’) in your office as a way for your team to talk strategy. Eg. “What can you do to ‘advance the ball with Ms. Jones?”
100 Visits in 18 Days
Posted by: Tom Suddes October 31, 2007
Jim Yoder is one of my closest friends (since our days together at Notre Dame) and a former partner of The Suddes Group. Jim has been running/managing large campaigns for over 20 years. He is currently working on a $1.5M Campaign for Economic Development (over 5 years) in a small community in North Carolina.
He has spent 3 DAYS…
EVERY OTHER WEEK…
FOR THE LAST 3 MONTHS
working on this Funding Initiative.
He has made:
100 VISITS!!!
100 VISITS… 100 SHOULDER-TO-SHOULDER, FACE-TO-FACE, EYEBALL-TO-EYEBALL PRESENTATIONS… IN JUST THOSE 18 DAYS!!!
Oh, and by the way, Jim has never met any of those prospects/potential investors personally before he made that visit… AND he Presented the Opportunity for them to make an investment (JUST ASK) in almost every single instance!
I told Jim that 100 visits in those 18 days was more than most Development Officers and Major Gift Officers Make in a year.
HOW MANY VISITS ARE YOU/YOUR ORG MAKING THIS WEEK???
Persistence Contest
Posted by: Tom Suddes August 8, 2006
From the Aladdin Factor: 7 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE “MASTERS OF THE LAMP”
- They know what they WANT.
- They BELIEVE they are worthy of receiving it.
- They BELIEVE they can get it.
- They are PASSIONATE about it.
- They take ACTION in the face of fear.
- They LEARN from their experience.
- They are PERSISTENT.
Quick story on #7.
An old partner at The Suddes Group, Mike McCarthy, has been a great friend for 20 years. Mike and I once had a “Persistence Contest”. We each took our hardest “pending” prospect and decided we were going to keep calling until they either said “YES” or “NO”.
I think I called about 30 times. Then I stopped.
Mike called 57 times. Finally, the guy got on the phone and said, “I just wanted to see how many times you would call me. Every time I got a message and didn’t return it, I figured you would stop. You are the most persistent person I’ve ever met in my entire career.”
“Count me in. I wanted to make this investment anyway, but your persistence was truly amazing.”
“By the way, I’d love to have you come and work for my company.”
57 TIMES.
HOW MANY OF US ARE HESITANT TO EVEN CALL THE PROSPECT OR POTENTIAL INVESTOR BACK EVEN ONE TIME???
Special Note: Going through the effort to get a visit and Share the Story/Present the Opportunity and NOT follow up is DISRESPECTFUL to the potential investor!!! It’s not about YOU. It’s about THEM.
Master Prospect List - QPI Rating System
Posted by: Nick Fellers July 10, 2006
Internet Explorer users, right-click and ‘Save Target As’ to download to your desktop.
| Directions:We have used this tool to run hundreds of campaigns and major gifts initiatives. It’s simple and powerful. Rate your top prospects to create a master prospect list in descending order of importance. Then focus all your time (literally) on your top ten prospects — you will be amazed by the results.
Each prospect receives a rating in each category 1-5 (5 being the highest). You need to determine the rating system for each category that makes the most sense for your organization. If you are a two-person organization with a low budget a major gift may be $20,000. If you’re the American Cancer Society you may be looking more at $1M. |
| Capacity | This is the prospect’s capacity to make a major gift.You must decide what constitutes a major gift for your organization .Generally, it is a gift level that is worthy of one-on-one time with a prospect where you develop a specific return-on-investment for the gift.This is not an indication of what you think the prospect will invest in your organization - it is an indication of what you think the prospect COULD give. | |
| Relationship | This is an indication of this prospect’s relationship to your organization OR CAUSE.If this prospect is on your board it should be a five (5).If, for example, you are the American Cancer Society, and this prospect is a cancer survivor, the rating should be a five (5) even with no gift history .Develop a rating system to account for each number 1-5 that makes the most sense for your organization. | |
| Timing | Generally timing is always a five (5) unless you have specific knowledge otherwise.For example, we just received a major gift commitment last week … move down to a three (3). | |
| Gift History | What is this prospect’s giving history to your organization?You might determine that a five (5) on the rating scale indicates lifetime giving of $100,000+ or ten consecutive years in your Leadership Society. | |
| Philanthropic History | This is a measure of the prospect’s general willingness to give.Has he or she supported other organizations?Is it a foundation (5)? … or does this prospect have short arms and deep pockets (1)? | |
| QPI | Qualified Prospect Index:The sum weighted total of ratings in each of the five categories.You need to visit with anyone 90 and higher today! | |
| Relationship Manager | This is the person within your organization that manages the relationship — does not have to be the point of contact but must responsible for thinking about this prospect every day. | |
| Natural Partner | This is a person, internal or external to your organization that has the closest relationship to the prospect. |
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Just Added
Tom Suddes Video sharing the For Impact Point of View
