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There will always be three questions that a prospect wants to know (whether they ask them out loud, or just in their mind).

Nick shares a story where an organization went out ‘asking for money’ for a $14 Million Capital campaign and came back well below their goal with a mere $1.5Million. After going through a paradigm shift, they went out and shared their story, and presented an opportunity to help. The result was literally transformational.

From training camp. Why feasibility studies don’t work. Definition of ‘Leadership Consensus Building.’ Discussion around priorities.

From Training Camp. Discussion: 3 Questions You Need To Answer

Make it simple. Easy to remember.. not memorized rote, but conceptually easy to grasp and explain.

Don’t make it too broad. If you say you’re ‘transforming the world’, you either need to BE doing that, or WANT to do that… and you need to be able to help your investors understand how you’re going to do this.

Nick shares a story that he encountered during a meeting with a prospective foundation. They were worried that the organization would become dependent upon the foundation. They’d prefer to start non-profits and see them become self-sustaining.

Painting a picture around a holistic funding plan is essential. You need to do the math.

You need to always have a goal, not just when you’re in a capital campaign.

How can you justify to your investors that you need a million dollars if you don’t have a goal? You have to force somebody to set a goal. It’s unfair to ask you to go out and paint the picture if you don’t know what the picture is. If noone will set a goal, you need to, because you need to give the investor an idea of what they’re doing, and how they fit into the overall picture.

You’re with the investor, you’ve sold them on your wonderful vision, and then you start talking about where your money goes… and it’s straight off of your itemized budget. They hear things like “random taxes”, and suddenly, they start wanting to designate their gift, don’t they? They become unsure if they want to give.

Schools, whether you are elementary, highschool, or Collegiate, your purpose has to transcend the individual students.

Example: Private Grade School in the Western US.

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Let’s assume your organization has three buckets: People, Programs, and Place
When organizations develop a capital campaign, what are they focused on, usually? The building. The ‘place’. Do you still need money in the other two buckets? Of course! That’s why we encourage you to decide on your [...]

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You’re organization has staffing costs, correct? (very few don’t.)
Have you ever come across Foundations who put lines in their request proposals that say “We don’t fund staff salaries”? It’s kind of ridiculous, really. Because it takes wonderful people to deliver the programs (impact). And the people that [...]

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A Bootcamp Attendee answers the question “Where Does Your Money Go?” for Nick.
Do this with your own organization. Make a list of everything that money goes to, and then place them into 3 buckets that they can then talk around with their potential investors.
Have trouble [...]

You have to believe in your organization!

If you believe that your organization is making a difference, then you CANNOT waste time cultivating people, and having 4, 6, 8 touchpoints before you allow them to get involved! You just can’t!

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If the people you’re meeting with aren’t passionate about your reason for existance, you cannot sell them on your projects, priorities, or plan. You MUST create buy-in at the highest level before you can talk about your ‘bathhouse’.

Tom Suddes, Founder

MP3 File | Download Call Notes

Leadership Consensus Building is both a lightning fast alternative to a feasibility study and a process to:

* Engage top stakeholders.
* Gather input and feedback around your message and priorities.
* Commit to a funding plan

You should [...]

What to do when the prospect asks, “What’s in it for me? What are the benefits for giving you money?”

Regardless of your political affiliation, you cannot deny that Obama’s message is not only simple, but powerful. There’s no confusion or gray area of where his message is.

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An example from a conference attendee. It’s not about the broken stained glass, but about the church community.

A really cool story.

You don’t need to be overwhelmed by the 20+ programs (all of them wonderful!) that you have. Start your conversation with potential investors at the highest level, after they understand that, then you can move to how you make that vision a reality: through the programs that interest them.

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A story presented during a keynote presentation at Association of Fundraising Professionals.
A school, which had 5 special events that year, they raised $80,000, but in reality netted only $30,000.
I did a day of training with them, and towards the end of the day the principal came in, and [...]

Nick talks around the three ‘bucket’ priorities.

No one is interested in funding your staff’s salaries. They aren’t. Instead, focus on the impact that the staff is having. In reality, that’s where the money is going, and, coincidentally, people are much more likely to fund these priorities!

Solution: What To Do When Your Presentation Sounds ‘Canned’

During a recent training camp, Nick walks attendees through the math using a senior center organization as an example. He shows how to look at the holistic funding plan, and how that can benefit individual projects and investments.

Nick Fellers tells several stories about organizations and their transcendent purpose, or reason for existence.

From Training Camp. Nick teaches around your case for support

The last video in the Case For Support Training series. Nick goes deeper into your plan to deliver on your priorities. He talks about how to rationalize the number you’re asking for based on your purpose and priorities.

Third of four Case For Support Training Videos. Nick goes deeper into priorities.

Second of four Case For Support Training Videos. Nick goes deeper into your purpose.

Provides an overview: Purpose/Priorities/Plan. Applied to your org dev and income dev.