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The Fundraising Funnel
By Jerry Thacker
Most people in business sales understand that building relationships that lead to larger sales is a process. It's true for pregnancy care centers too. Your contributors and supporters are your "customers." You must sell them on the idea of supporting your center. And building a relationship with a supporter over time will lead from small sales to larger sales. Relationship building needs to be approached as an organized process, and the results need to be judged on whether the process was properly planned and worked well.
Think of the fundraising process as a funnel. You pour the ingredients into the mouth of the funnel, and the dollars flow out the small end. Sound simple? It is. The ingredients are gathered and poured into the funnel in order by a three-step process. The process starts with the accumulation of the names of potential contributors. Your final objective is to persuade them to consider providing regular support or funding for a particular project or program.
The first step in the process is to put together a brief letter explaining what your center does and why it is of benefit to the community. Obviously, including promotional material about your center is helpful. Spark interest by telling your potential supporter that you have some "great information you want to share in person about ways he or she can greatly help meet the needs of a segment of the community."
Everyone reads the post script (P.S.) of a letter even if they don't read the letter itself. That's why it is important that your fundraising letter's P.S. includes a promise to call to discuss in brief detail what your center does. Whoever opens your letter, whether your prospect or his secretary, will likely remember the P.S. of your letter when you call.
The second step is to make a telephone call to see if the information was received. It is also your goal to arrange a face-to-face meeting. Keep in mind that many business people (especially busy executives) are without secretarial support between 8:00 and 9:00 a.m. and between 4:00 and 6:00 p.m. Many times the person you want to speak with will answer the phone if you call during these hours.
The third step includes having one or more meetings. Try to assess what the prospective donor is interested in during the first meeting. It may be your abstinence training program. It may be your crisis pregnancy intervention services. Or it may be your post-abortion healing program. Be sure to include and present information about your community and what you are doing to benefit the community. What you are doing or want to do needs to be of interest to the potential supporter.
When meeting a prospect, many professional fundraisers take with them several proposals. After the fundraiser gauges the interests and giving needs of the prospect, he extracts from his briefcase the proposal that best fits those needs and interests.
Be sure to go in with well-written, succinct proposals for support. Any good "ask" should include multiple giving options. Many baby boomers (those who were born after World War II and who are now inheriting the wealth of their parents) prefer to fund projects rather than give undesignated contributions.
Think of the fundraising
process as a tunnel.
You pour the ingredients
into the mouth
of the tunnel,
and the dollars flow
our the small end. |
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Repeat this three-step process with as many potential supporters as you can—even if you get the answer "no." Eventually you will see a pattern of conduct emerge, and you will be able to calculate your closing ratio, the ratio of proposals accepted over the number of proposals offered. This ratio may hold constant across the hundreds of donors you will meet.
Don't forget to start the process with a good amount of prayer. If God has prepared the prospective supporter's heart, the proposal you set before your prospect may be an answer to his prayer about how to give, and his response to your proposal may be an answer to your prayer for new support.
| ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jerry Thacker, B.A., M.A., is president of Right Ideas, Inc., and Publisher of At the Center. He can be reached at (800) 588-7744 or at contact@rightideas.us. |
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