Happy New Year everyone! We sincerely hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.
We would like to welcome Humanities Montana and Mesa Community College to our growing list of clients. This will be our third contract with Mesa Community College!
We are going to continue our blog series with the Art & Science of Major Gift and Capital Campaigns. Today, we will talk about the “Importance of Volunteer Leadership.”
If strong leadership and volunteers cannot be found, the fundraising campaign has little to no chance of success, especially for small to medium nonprofits. Each organization needs to assess their likelihood of attracting a dedicated volunteer chairperson capable of putting together a winning leadership team and a cadre of engaged volunteers. Without these people, their major gift effort is simply not feasible. That’s the reality we have found in our 40 years’ experience.
Leaders must be able to give and to help solicit upper-level gifts, especially at the start. Can this quality leadership be enlisted, first from the organizations membership of the governing board, and, second from the larger constituency? Who is the best possible candidate to be the general chair for the organization’s effort? Do they have the proper strategy to enlist this person?
The Huddleston Group has found over the years that many organizations have never taken the time to identify their volunteer leadership potential. They have not interviewed potential campaign leaders and others that could provide information on their organization’s potential to recruit and motivate influential and committed volunteers. Nor have they spent the time to identify board leadership and their fundraising capabilities. Or, assess what it will take to create available volunteer leadership and ask if their organization has enough volunteers to help build fundraising teams. This knowledge is critical. Board members and effective volunteers are the single most important factors in the success of most fundraising campaigns. Keep in mind that fundraising gets bogged down not because of a lack of prospects, but because of lack of volunteers.
People give to people – that statement is as true today as it was when it was first stated more than 70 years ago. Charismatic Leaders Trump Strong Cases (Sorry had to throw that in). Strong cases presented by weak executives or volunteer leaders face an uphill battle. Regrettably, the converse is true as well: you can raise a lot of money for a mediocre case if the leaders are passionate. The bottom line is that people are ultimately more important than the case: donors are considerably more likely to invest their charitable dollars when they believe in and are inspired by an institution’s leadership.
To be a successful volunteer/campaign leader, members of that elite volunteer team must also be substantial and capability donors. Remember, campaign stewardship is a job that demands every volunteer’s personal dedication to the vision and purpose of the organization. That starts with every campaign leader “having skin in the game,” that they must be committed financially.
So how are those first crucial campaign commitments obtained? The “first task” of obtaining initial and lead gifts then typically falls to the organization’s executive and campaign volunteer leaders to raise the subject as the major gift planning gets underway. All too often, staff leaders of nonprofits become reluctant to approach their volunteer leaders and broach the notion of lead and major giving. Fear often strikes them, so they try to cultivate at an arm’s length with the rationalization that the volunteer leaders are already “giving so much time” and they don’t want to “offend” or “bother” them by asking for financial gifts, and that the “gifts will come.” Our advice: put these thoughts aside!
When volunteer leaders are recruited, the commitment to personal giving at their personal capacity must be part of the “deal.” They must agree to it in order to take on the role. Remember volunteer leaders take on leadership roles in every visible public campaign for their own reasons as well. Their activity must be played out on terms that benefit both sides. The longer you wait, the harder it becomes!
Considering the importance of campaign leadership gifts, how then should nonprofits approach their top campaign leaders about making their own capability gifts?
We encourage our clients to approach campaign leaders in much the same way that they would want to be approached: with enthusiasm, understanding, sensitivity, knowledge, and a sense of humor. Couple that with prospect research, together with anecdotal information, that will help to determine the leaders’ financial capacity, framing the approach for the gift.
We encourage two person teams not one-to-one doing the important “ask”, to be assertive in setting face-to-face meetings with each campaign leader. They must be straightforward in their approach and emphasize the importance of the donor(s) investment toward the campaign’s overall success. They must demonstrate confidence when requesting a specific gift size, and be ready to provide strong reasons why the leaders must step forward with a lead or major gift reflecting their capability for the effort that they have chosen to lead.
Our immediate advice for all executive fundraising staff working with volunteer leaders is to begin the outreach and asking process as soon as possible. A strong focus on capability gifts from campaign leadership combined with a sincere effort to better get to know your campaign leaders and major donors will be the stepping stones to your fundraising success.
I have often been asked the question what is better staff solicitors or volunteer solicitors? And, for years my answer has remained the same “who has the best relationship”? There are cases that the development professional and/or the CEO has a more direct relationship with the major donor than a peer or colleague – I have to tell you from experience that is rare, usually the peer has more influence and credibility than the paid staff. But in either case it is a team effort.
Building an effective solicitation team and matching the right solicitor to a prospect is the key to a successful solicitation. Your team should comprise the right mix of staff professionals and volunteer leaders who are committed financially to your major gift effort. I have not met many volunteers that wake up in the morning saying “I think I will go ask someone today for a million dollars”, in fact, many volunteers say they hate asking for money. This is where the staff professional plays educator, communicator, planner and motivator to the team of volunteer solicitors. Staff professionals train the volunteers in prospect screening and solicitation so they may be confident, comfortable and enthusiastic about the process.
At The Huddleston Group, we require all volunteers and staff to attend a minimum of one solicitation training session including role-playing practice, which usually takes about 2 hours. We insist on the development staff and senior executives to attend because we have found over the years that the “Art of Asking” has seldom been taught in the many workshops and conferences these professionals attend. After this process the development professional or the consultants can offer additional coaching to the volunteers wanting to grow in confidence and comfort levels during solicitations.
So are you ready to launch a major gifts campaign? Hope this article has helped in planning your next fundraising adventure. Please give us your comments and if you have an organizational or fundraising question you would like us to answer in one of our blogs please drop us a note.
I hope you have found this useful for your fundraising planning and if I can be of any further assistance please give me a call or drop me an email.
Ron Huddleston, FAHP, CFRE
President
877.831.0472
