Showing Off Your Non-Profit: A Word About Tours
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A donor tour is possibly one of the most exciting parts of fundraising. Tours give you the opportunity to show off your organization and talk to your donors face to face. They provide you the chance to share all your organization’s wonderful stories and provide a context for the work that you do. In a solicitation letter you might have a brief story, or at an event you will often share a few facts about your organization, but in a tour you can explain more in-depth exactly who you are and what you do.
Here are a few things that I do on my tours that might help you as you give tours.
- Have a key program staff lead the tour or make sure to stop by a number of program staff members desks and ask them to talk about what they do (make sure to let them know you’re coming). This allows the donor to hear a “hands on” tale of what the organization is doing. And who knows their project area better than the staff member in charge of it.
- Practice your tour. Make sure that you know where you are going to go next and what you are going to say. If this means you walk through a practice run then do it, for me I take a minute at my desk and mentally think about where I’m going to go and what I’m going to say.
- Schedule enough time and take a deep breath. Pause for a minute as you go through each stage of your tour. I tend to get excited about what I’m talking about and who I’m touring. A deep breath before you get started and as you go can help you to take your time. A donor wants to see the organization unfold before their eyes not have it thrown at them all at once.
- Let the donor talk. Make sure you are allowing the donor time to ask questions and reflect on what they see. A tour should be an interactive two way dialog.
- Have a meeting room. Have a place where you can start and end the tour. This allows the donor to take off their coat and set their purse or briefcase down. It gives you a place to give a brief introduction to the organization (make sure your introduction is brief as the donor is there to see the non-profit not just hear about it). After the tour is finished bring them back to the meeting room and ask them their reflections and talk about how you can partner together.
- Have a “Tour Packet” to give to the donor at the end of the tour. Pull together a recent newsletter, your general agency brochure, and/or your annual report. At the end of your tour take out the packet and give it to them briefly mentioning what is inside. This allows the donor to have some information to take home with them if they want to learn anything more about the organization.
Do you have any great success (or failure) tour stories from your organization? Do you have any tips or advice of your own you’d like to contribute? Please leave a comment below I’d love to hear from you.
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January 17th, 2008 at 11:35 pm
As an organisation dealing with peasnts and small scale organisation called PEASANT FARMERS UNION OF ZAMBIA with a website to be constructed,we are facing alot of difficulties in accessing information pertaining to new development in farming and a forum.
We are also lucking experties i the above subjects.All we need is a connection to organisation that will help in uplifting the overl standard of the peaant farmers.
January 17th, 2008 at 11:44 pm
In Zambia the flood has destroyed alot things for the Rural People.Peasants and small scale farmers have been affected badly.They are losing the little the have.This means the stand of the farmer will be degrading every year unless people come and support in developing new skills at house hold level.School going children,patients and those in needs can not access the neccessities.My appeal for our country because on 17th January,2008 Zambia have been declared a NATIONAL DISASTER.
January 18th, 2008 at 8:03 am
Dear Sir,
I am the Director for ABC4All SIERRA LEONE (A Better Ccoomunity For All). This Organisation is a Branch in Sierra Leone whiles our Head Office is ABC4All in Masachussette in the U.S.A.
The existence Organisation is to create a better Community and environment as we would be very grateful to have your organisation to work with us towards the Success and Rehabilitation for a better Sierra Leone.
Presently, we are faced with heavy Financial constrains to support these less fortunate children to attend Schools. And since school re-opened in September, 2007, we are face with payment of School fees, purchasing stationaries, Uniforms, Shoes and even the adequate day meal is a problem. Our Organiation is a member of change.org. A new community for social change and idealist.org. We therefore seeking for Funds through your goodself to assist these less-fortunate innocent children as they are our future leaders of tomorrow.
ABC4All SIERRA LEONE is presently taking care of over (200) Two hundred WAR & ORPHANS Children who lost their parents in the 11 years of rebel war in Sierra Leone. Our Oganisation is mainly responsible for these children on the area of Education, Health Care, Food Aids, Clothing, Shelter,Sensitization of HIV/AIDS Program including various rehabitlitation within the (10) Ten Districts that ABC4All SIERRA LEONE is operating.
In this regard, we are hereby inviting your Organisation to work with ABC4All SIERRA LEONE as Partnership, coming to our aid and seeing to the Welfare of these Children to table and ensure their better living condition as they are our future leaders.
We do hope you will give our request a deep consideration as we would always need your greatest co-operation with ABC4All SIERRA LEONE, whiles looking forward to your Organisation participation towards our WARCHILD & ORPHANS Children and Community Development in Sierra Leone.
Kindly call OR Contact us immediately for any further clarifications.
SAVE A CHILD NOW AND GOD WILL RICHLY BLESS YOU!!
Yours sincerely,
Eddie Boston-Mammah
Director
ABC4All SIERRA LEONE
41K Ascension Town Road,
Freetown
SIERRA LEONE. WEST AFRICA.
Tel:+232-77550075
January 29th, 2008 at 6:14 am
I think facility tours are a GREAT way to educate people about the work your organization is doing. I remember once having a major donor come through for a tour. He got so excited that he turned to my Executive Director and said “What do you need?” She mentioned the next thing on our capital needs list and he said “Would $15,000 help?”. That was triple his usual gift!
It was the power of the visual. The power of seeing first hand what was happening. And it was simple for us to provide that to him.