Questions Lead to Fundraising Connections

Are you struggling with where to start with your fundraising? Try this exercise:

1. Make a list of all the people your organizations are naturally connected to. This could be current and former volunteers, current and former volunteers, service recipients, "fans" who have made their appreciation known to you and more. Involve a few people who have been regularly involved with your organization to make sure this list is as comprehensive as possible. 

2. Add all available current contact information for the people on this list. Track this contact information in one central location.

3. Set a realistic yet challenging goal. Could you visit four of these people in one month? Maybe ten? If you have full time availability, could you visit an average of one person per day. 

4. Visit the people on your list in accordance with the contact goal you've set for yourself. Start out by saying thank you  for their time and past support Ask open ended questions that may be taken from the list below. 

• Tell me more about how you first became involved in our organization.
• What adjectives would you use when describing our organization to someone else? 
• What one thing do you like best about our work?
• What one thing would you most like to see improved?
• Do you know of others who feel connected to us who we should have this conversation with?

5.  Ask for nothing in this first meeting other than your connection's time and input. Follow up with a thank you for their time via note, phone or email. After that meeting, make note of the feedback in a central location. Once your meetings are done, share the results with your board for planning and improvement. 

6. For each individual contact, determine whether you think the interest is strong enough to maintain that name on your active fundraising list. Then create your Development Plan and start the process!

Photo credit above: http://www.flickr.com/photos/drachmann/