12 Days of Major Gift Fundraising - Day 12: Final Thoughts

This is Day 12 of the 12 Days of Major Gift Fundraising.  On today's episode, Nathan wraps up the series with three final thoughts and then presents an offer to the listeners.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Major Gift Development With Nathan Ruby
• 12:11 Donor Relationship Building and Fundraising Strategy
• 16:18 Getting Started on Major Donor Development

Transcript

Nathan Ruby: 0:00

I know you probably didn't wake up this morning excited about getting out there and asking your donors for a major gift. I get it. It's hard work. I have something that's going to help you. Every two weeks, I put out a quick video packed with game-changing content for executive directors trying to learn major gifts. In these videos, you'll get expert tips and proven strategies, practical fundraising hacks, innovative ideas to engage donors, real-world case studies and solutions and, for the first time ever, exclusive access to casual Zoom hangouts with fellow executive directors and me and Tim, who are sticking their toes into the major gift work just like you. Don't miss out on this opportunity to join a community of passionate fundraisers who are committed to excellence in major gift development. Go to nonprofitleaderonline and sign up today to receive your first video newsletter and start transforming your major gift program. I'll see you there. Welcome to the Practice of Nonprofit leadership.

Nathan Ruby: 1:28

I'm Nathan Ruby. Wow, day 12. I am so proud of you for making it all the way through all of these episodes. Heck, I'm even proud of myself for getting through all of these episodes and I really hope you've enjoyed this. I hope it's been valuable. I hope you got a couple of things out of it to make your major gift work a little bit easier. I just want to thank you for walking through this with me. I had so much fun doing this and you know, and even I got to tell you, to be honest, there's a couple of times I was looking as I record these. I, when Tim and I record this podcast, we we use a system where we actually see each other, and even when we're recording separately or solo, we still record and video. So so I'm looking at myself and on some of these things I was actually looking at myself saying, yeah, nathan, yo get with it. You got to step it up in that area. So this is actually a big good for me as well. So today we're wrapping up. I've got three last things for you, very quick, they're not too long, and then at the end we're going to get an offer that I don't know. I think it's pretty good. We'll see when we get there if you think it's good too. So, all right, let's get, let's get going today.

Nathan Ruby: 2:56

So number one of my three points that I want to share today, number one is if it's to be, it's up to me. Now, that's a quote I heard as a kid it was. I don't even know. It's always stuck with me. I think I did a paper on it or something, or it was part of a paper I did. But if it's to be, it's up to me, or if it is to be, it is up to me. I think that's the actual quote.

Nathan Ruby: 3:20

The point is that if you want a major gifts program, if you want to increase your major gifts, it starts with you. If you want it to be successful and if you want major gifts to bring in more funding than you ever dreamt possible, it's up to you. You are going to have to lead this. You are going to have to make it a priority. Nobody else will. Your board is not going to do it. Your staff leaders are not going to do it. Your volunteer leaders are not going to do it. The only person in your organization who is going to make this a priority and actually do this is going to be you. If you don't do it, it won't happen.

Nathan Ruby: 4:06

So, right there, and it's okay If it's not a priority. If you've got other revenue generating strategies that are working well, you just you know you don't have the time. You feel like it's just not a priority. It's okay, that's okay. You could put this off to the side for a while and come back to it later if you want, but just know, if it's going to happen, it's you that's going to be leading it.

Nathan Ruby: 4:31

So that's number one.

Nathan Ruby: 4:32

If it is to be, it is up to me. Number two you do not have to be perfect to be successful. You have to be authentic and genuinely love your donors, but you do not have to be anywhere near being perfect in order to be successful with major gifts. Remember, major gifts are about developing deep relationships and building trust. All right, those are the two biggest things. And you know, I have done I've done major gifts for decades plural and I have done major gift visits with leaders who were the most polished, incredible communicators, could tell stories of their organization that I knew what they were doing, I knew what the stories were and when they told it it made me tear up of how impactful it was. And, as you might expect, we got the gift.

Nathan Ruby: 5:39

I have done major donor visits with leaders who, well, I mean, I want to be kind, I want to be, I want to use nice words, let's. Let's just say they struggled to communicate at even a a basic level. Even a basic level of communication was a struggle for them, because they struggled so much being in front of people. It just wasn't something that they had been trained to do, it wasn't something they were good at, it wasn't something they felt comfortable at. But kudos to them. They were in the room, they were doing the best they could and guess what could and guess what. We got that gift also.

Nathan Ruby: 6:42

So it is not about a outstanding, polished presentation. Your donors, that's not what they're concerned about. They're not concerned with your delivery. What they are concerned about is developing a real relationship with you and the organization and how you're going to use their gift. That is what they are really, really concerned about. Okay, so you do not have to be this amazing, wonderful presenter to be successful at major gifts. All right, that's two. Number three and this is I don't know if this is the most important. All of these things are important. Everything this entire series has been important, but I think probably, if you don't get this one right, you will probably struggle. If you don't get this right, you're just not going to get your program where you need it to be, and that is truly understanding why donors give.

Nathan Ruby: 7:41

I've talked about this before. I've talked about this in the podcast. This is nothing new, unless this is the first time you've listened to our podcast. Here's why donors give. There's only two reasons why donors give. One is to save a life. Two changing lives. That's it. That's all they give to saving lives and changing lives. They do not give to your leaky roof. They don't care about your leaky roof. They do not give to your budget. They do not care about your budget. They do not care that their gift will close the budget and make sure that everybody gets paid so that they can continue to do this great work that we're doing. They don't care about that. They don't care about your budget. They do not care about your deep-seated desire to become the largest nonprofit in town. I mean, I do. I would love my nonprofit to be the largest one in town. I know you probably do too. It's okay to admit it. You don't have to say it out loud, but it's okay to admit it to yourself. But they don't care about that. What they are giving to and why they are going to write their check is so that they can save a life or change a life, transform a life. Either one, you can say it either way Saving lives, transforming lives, changing lives same thing. So let's go back to our symphony example for a minute, okay, and we're going to go back to our favorite donors, the Macintyres, all right.

Nathan Ruby: 9:12

When you listen to classical music, it is not just a bunch of notes crammed together on a page. It's not just a bunch of instruments coming and all getting in the same room and everybody's just playing whatever they want to play and it's just this cacophony of noise. That is not what a symphony is. That is not what a symphony is. When a symphony plays and when you sit and you experience a symphony, the music takes you on a journey. It's an opportunity to see the world in a different way, to see the world, even your own world, through a different lens. That's what a symphony is.

Nathan Ruby: 9:57

Now, maybe you could tell that I really really enjoy the symphony and I really really enjoy classical music. Um, I also enjoy other types of music. I'm, uh, I could, I am comfortable sitting, uh, at the symphony or at a, uh, aerosmith concert and most uh, anything in between, uh, so I just I love music, the, the, the whole, the whole, the whole kit and caboodle of music, but that's what a symphony does. So, going back to our, our friendly donors, the McIntyres. They are interested in supporting the symphony at a at a major gift level because they believe that the symphony and classical music will change the world, because the people sitting in the seats, the people in the audience, are coming to listen and it will change their lives. And if it changes the lives of the people sitting in the audience, then maybe those people can change the world. That is why the Macintyres are so excited about supporting the symphony at a significant level. And don't forget, don't forget, they love the trumpets, because the trumpets are the best section.

Nathan Ruby: 11:11

So the entire point of this process, the entire point of all of these episodes and everything I've shared with you and everything that you're going to do with your major donors, the entire point is finding your McIntyres, your donors, who are like them, like the McIntyres, have a capacity to give at a higher level, and finding out how they want to save lives and transform lives through your programs. Okay, then you do two things. You connect the dots for them. That is, through the cultivation process, you're finding out what they're excited about, what it is about your organization that they love the most, what connects them the most. Connecting the dots for them and then asking them for the gift. That's it. That's all we're doing here.

Nathan Ruby: 12:11

So I want you to remember, if you don't get, that, your donor wants to save lives and transform lives. If you miss that point, you are going to miss the story that your donors need to hear. The dots that need to be connected for them, the paint by number set so that you can paint a picture for them that they go oh my gosh, this is exactly the type of things that we want to fund. If you don't do that, you'll never get there. You'll never have a thriving major gifts program. So okay, so those are the three things for today.

Nathan Ruby: 12:49

If it is to be, it is up to me, it is up to you. You need to be leading this. You need to be driving this. You don't have to be perfect to be successful at this. My goodness, I have seen people who barely could say their own name Go out and secure major gifts, because they did it with love, they did it with passion, they did it with authenticity. They did it with passion, they did it with authenticity. You could do it too. And lastly, your donors give because you and your organization save lives and transform lives. That's why they give Okay. Here we go.

Nathan Ruby: 13:29

I'm kind of excited about this. Yesterday I said that I would have an offer for you, and I do, and this is a special offer that, if you are listening well, actually, this is kind of weird If you are listening to this right now, then you are going to get an offer, this special offer. But not everybody's going to hear this, because I'm going to leave this version of this episode up for a while. I'm not sure how long I'm going to leave it up, but it's going to be up for a while. And then, when it comes time, then I'm going to change the ending and the offer is going to be different, but it's not going to be as good. So here's what we've got going.

Nathan Ruby: 14:16

If you're listening to, this, this offer is for you. I am going to help you with your first major donor prospect. So here's how it's going to work. You reach out to me, just reach out to me on the email. Email is the uh in the show notes. Uh, just send me an email and say hey, nathan, I'd like you. Uh, I'm going to take you up on your offer and uh, could you help me with one major donor? And I will respond back to you.

Nathan Ruby: 14:43

We'll schedule a time to get together and we'll we'll start the process together. So we'll we'll go through your donors, we'll talk about your donors, we'll pick one out that we'll make sure it's qualified to be a major gift, and we'll talk through your donors, we'll pick one and then we'll put together a cultivation plan. So you'll know what your first step is, maybe even your second step. It's hard to go three steps deep, because your third step is usually dependent on what the first two was. So we'll at least get you started. So you know what to do first and second. We'll get you moving down the path.

Nathan Ruby: 15:17

I'll help you plan out each of these visits and then we'll debrief afterward. Sometimes we could talk on the phone on that. Other times we'll just we could do it by email. Hey, here's what's happened, and then I'll help you walk through. Okay, based on that, this is what we're going to do next. What's happened, and then I'll help you walk through. Okay, based on that, this is what we're going to do next. Um, I, when the time comes, I will get you coached up and ready to go on making the ask. I'll make sure you have the right materials with you, uh, and then we're going to assume a positive, we're going to assume a good, close, uh, and, and assume that we get the gift, and then I'll help you through what the stewardship phase looks like.

Nathan Ruby: 15:51

Now I can't do this for everyone, obviously, because that's a ton of work, but because you were one of the first ones to get through all the way through these videos, all the way through the episodes, you know what you should be rewarded because you're first. So that's your reward. All you got to do. And, like I said, if it's not for you you're not ready for, that's your reward. All you got to do. And, like I said, if it's not for you, you're not ready for it. No worries, that's okay, it's okay.

Nathan Ruby: 16:18

But if you're ready and you think it's time for you to get started on this and you're ready to get to work on this, send me an email, tell me you want the help and let's do it. Let's get on it. We could do that together and we'll walk through. We'll do that first. Major donor for you, all right, not for you, with you, with you, we'll do it with you, all right, that's it. I can't believe we're done. Thank you so much for listening all the way through. I was so happy to have done this, glad we could do it together and that's it. That's a wrap. Thanks again. That's all for today, until next time you.