Grassroots- A broad brush stroke
previous post: Fund Development Job Websites | next post: Using Board Members to Fundraise: Part 1
Grassroots fundraising is the starting place for all kinds of fundraising. Every organization has a group of people that are close to it and that is the best place to start. Think about who those people are, they are the volunteers, the past donors, past staff or in some places clients. Is there a group of people that is part of your history like a body of students? Keep in touch with these people and communicate with them regularly. If you just launched a new program or built a new building let them know about it.
When you are communicating with these individuals let them know what your needs are and what they cost. We call these equivalences. If you are trying to launch a new program to help 100 people, say something like, with a gift of $25 you can help 5 people in this new way. Make your equivalences specific and understandable. Another great tool is to get donors plugged into monthly donations. Many people think that they cannot give $1,000 but if they are giving $85 a month they will give more than a thousand every year.
As you’re donor base grows and you start developing regular campaigns you can start to create your major gifts program. If you find that you have an individual that only gives $100 a year but they have the capacity to give quite a bit more this is a great person to approach. The best approach is to set up a time to meet with them. Thank them for their gifts, talk with them about your organization, do this through stories about people that you are helping, and then ask them for a specific gift. I would connect this gift into a current significant need, make sure that they understand how important to the organization this need is (and how it helps the people in your stories). (Also use board members to make these visits or partner with your board members… I’ll talk about this more in another post… I will also talk in another post about “prospecting” and finding new persons to approach.)
So that is just a few thoughts about grassroots fundraising. I imagine I’ll go into more specific detail on many of these topics at a later time. Let me know if you have a specific question.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
November 27th, 2007 at 6:53 pm
As will I.
November 27th, 2007 at 9:03 pm
I’m excited about your blog, Jason. I’ll definitely be a subscriber.
December 21st, 2007 at 11:48 am
I actually have a slightly contrarian view on equivalences. I do understand
their importance and effectiveness, but….
My concern tends to center around how they’re presented.
“Your gift of X will do Y.”
No. No it won’t. Any sufficiently sophisticated donor will know that’s not how
it works at all. My gift of X will go into a big pot with a lot of other gifts.
Out of that pot will come many,many Y’s, Z’s and other things. If I don’t make
my gift of X, Y will likely still happen.
I know I’m spliting hairs here, and perhaps being a bit pedantic, but I think
that when asking folks for donations it’s critical to choose words VERY
carefully so as to be accurate and never be placed in a position where you have
to say “well, what we really meant was …”. It’s a trust thing - if they can’t
trust your message, what else can’t they trust?
A list of:
“It costs X to do Y”
“It costs X’ to do Y’”
and so on followed by a more general statement such as:
“Your generous gift will help us to continue to do those, and much, much more.”
Seems more honest.
Is it as effective? That’s the part I don’t know.
That’s what makes this as much an art as a science - balance.
As a donor, I know it’s one thing that I’ve always kinda sorta noticed from
various organizations and occasionally reacted to negatively.
Leo
December 21st, 2007 at 1:16 pm
I completely agree. I think that it is very misleading to say, “your gift will support X” and then later you have to explain how it went to general funds or greatest needs. In that case I agree that it is much better to say, “It costs X to do Y.” But I do know that there are charities out there that money goes directly to what the money asks for. Such as a sponsor a child program, or purchasing a goat, etc. And I would think that would make a huge difference.
I imagine that it makes a difference too describe what it cost to make real change happen. It might be better to say your money is supporting this kind of work if it costs $100,000 to do something. But if it costs $30 dollars it might make a bigger difference to say your gift supports an organization that is doing X and Y.
What do you think?