One of the main purposes of taking these notes is to capture a donoras inclination, capacity, and timing at a specific moment in time. You can and should make projections based on your visit. However, keep in mind that things can (and do) change. While good contact notes are indispensable for coming up with a good strategy, it should be acknowledged that a donoras inclination and capacity can (and all too often do) shift between contacts with your organization.
For example, say you visited a donor who managed private wealth on Wall Street in March 2008 before the Bear Stearns collapse (and before the even bigger meltdown in the fall). The donor hinted that a significant gift to your organization was quite possible. She said, aLetas get back together in the fall and weall have that conversation.a Well, when you called to set up a meeting in October 2008, you got the cold shoulder. In the immediate aftermath of the financial sectoras collapse, you should not have been expecting to continue the conversation at the same pace at which it was being conducted in March. You were right to still call this donor, of course. But you might have expected a very different conversation than the one you antic.i.p.ated after the March visit.
Good notes, therefore, capture three things that weave already discussed: Capacity.
Inclination.
Timing.
Stories from the Road: Why Notes Are Important, and Their Limits.
To ill.u.s.trate the point, Iall give you three examples from my own experience.
In the fall of 2008, I was in the Midwest visiting with a young alumnus who graduated from the inst.i.tution that I represent. I was a little over a year into the job, with a full fiscal year under my belt.
My colleague, who preceded me, and I had cited this particular alumnus as a potential lead donor for his upcoming 10th Reunion (and, to her credit, she turned out to be absolutely spot on). The plan in the spring of 2008 was to visit him in the fall of 2008 and solicit him for $60,000, to be made over five years. $50,000 ($10,000 a year for five years) would be used to set up an endowed fund, and $10,000 ($2,000 a year for five years) would be used as an expendable fund.
Once I got to him in October 2008, the conversation did not go as planned, as you can imagine. He worked for a small investment bank, and he said that there was way too much uncertainty for him to commit either to a gift of that size or a five-year time horizon. What is more, his interests were, at the time, in setting up an internship fund to send students to Africa. At the time, internships were not a funding priority.
So, all in all, the visit was not a success. I came away empty handed and couldnat satisfy his primary philanthropic interest. But I did my best to capture all this information when I wrote up my notes.
The diligence in writing up a thorough summary of the visit paid off. A year later, my colleague on the major gifts team was looking for filler visits for her Midwest trip, and I recommended this particular prospect. Between my unsuccessful visit and her trip, a lot of things had happened that would change the color of the conversation.
For example, internships were now a funding priority at my workplace. One of this alumnusas former professors took a job at our graduate school, thereby increasing the level and frequency of inst.i.tutional contact this alumnus had. Furthermore, his cousin was graduating from the school and had had a wonderful time.
Even if work at the investment bank still engendered a good deal of uncertainty, enough had changed since the last visit that my colleague had a wonderful meeting with this alumnus, and they remained in contact.
Granted, my colleague might have eventually tripped upon this alumnus, but having the notes to reflect back upon certainly made her initial visit a lot more substantive, both because she had a clear idea of how my visit went, and what had changed since then.
The second example of a contact note that was accurate at the time but didnat stand when I was ready to visit someone occurred when I took on my role as a major gift officer. In the transition that took place, one of the prospects whom I inherited was mid-conversation with my predecessor about an impending liquidity event involving his company. He had been looking to sell the company for the past year and half. Around the time of my transition to my role as a major gift officer, we were expecting the event to occur, meaning that he was going to be looking to give away a good amount of money to avoid paying capital gains taxes.
This alumnus hadnat been visited in about a year by the time I got around to putting a call out to him. The first time that I tried contacting him, he wasnat available, but I had other prospects to fill my trip to the city anyway. So I made the trip.
While on the road, I mentioned to another alumnus that I had tried to see this particular prospect but couldnat make an appointment. This alumnus then mentioned, aYou know his company went bankrupt, right?a I didnat. But I sure as heck did my homework when I got back to the office. Based on that comment, I entered that information into the particular prospectas record. And that information certainly did change my approach for my next outreach. As it turned out, he moved out West and was rea.s.signed to my colleague who covers that territory.
Weall round out this section with a happier example. I had a mid-range prospect on my list for one of my trips to a city in Western New York. I had avoided seeing him for a while, since all of the previous visits from two other gift officers painted him as a very lukewarm prospect with low inclination. Their notes had indicated he was more interested in giving to his graduate school than to my employer. This prospect was definitely on my B-list and not at the top of it either. Compound this with the fact that it took at least three attempts to get him to agree to see me.
I wasnat terribly excited to meet with him and wasnat particularly optimistic about the visit.
As it turns out, I was more than a little surprised at the outcome of the meeting. He revealed a lot of information that belied the pessimistic notes of the past. He said that while he wasnat terribly liquid at the moment, and that he had young children and was on the board of a local museum that was currently receiving the bulk of his philanthropic dollars, he was beginning to aget overa his previous hang-ups with his alma mater, my employer.
He made it clear that, while he was not in a position to give a lot right now, he was thawing out as a donor and would someday be interested in supporting financial aid. And, in the short term, he received an appeal from us that was aimed at establishing an endowed scholarship fund named after a former coach of his, to which he planned to contribute $20,000. That was five times what he normally gave to the school in any year since graduating.
So this visit revealed that his capacity had changed slightly (although his giving didnat increase enough for us to reevaluate his rating). His timing was still remote, but most significantly, his inclination had changed in our favor. Finally, and of equal importance, we were able to glean his philanthropic interests.
The point is that contact notes are extremely important to providing gift officers and supervisors with a summary of a prospectas capacity, inclination, and timing at a given moment in time. These three factors can change, for the better or worse, depending on the circ.u.mstances. But it is a gift officeras responsibility to capture them as accurately and as in-depth as possible with each new point of contact.
If, for example, you are reporting to your board (or even your boss) on planned solicitations for the previous fiscal year, you want to be able to account for why a solicitation did not happen. Youad be surprised how often you refer back to notes to provide color on a stalled or delayed solicitation.
In short, I hope you have gained an appreciation for the importance of taking good notes, as well as their limitations (which by no means detracts from how important they are!).
Notes, Continued: Examples and a.n.a.lyses of Notes from the Donor Visits.
Itas worth spending more time a.n.a.lyzing contact notes. Iall provide you with some examples, ranging from terrible to good, and take some time to explain.
Here is an example of a bad contact note: JDS plans to visit with Joe. Notes to go here.
How often does this note exist as the only capture of the visit? More often than youad think. Sometimes there isnat even a record of the visit. That lack of information can haunt a new fundraiser if a donor has just been visited, or the last visit went poorly. Itas even worse if the fundraiser who originally met with that donor no longer works for your organization. The new fundraiser going into that situation must, essentially, start cold.
In such a meeting, the new fundraiser might frontload this potential information gap by asking the donor to narrate to him/her where the conversation had last left off. Of course, the potential problem here is that you have to take the donor at his or her word, which isnat always correct. I have had times where the donor did downplay where the conversation had stood at last visit with a prior gift officer. I have even had conversations where the donor downplayed where the conversation stood the last time that I personally met with them. Needless to say, it has helped to have the backup of a good contact note.
Here is an example of a good contact note of a visit from an annual fund prospect: 22 September 2010: JDS met with Josephine over coffee. He thanked her for her consistent support of the annual fund. He provided her with an update from campus, with a focus on social life, financial aid, and the political science department. Josephine asked about Professor Smith, and JDS explained that he was still teaching, and was coming out with a book in the fall about campaign finance reforms. Talk turned to Reunion. Josephine is planning on being back at Reunion. Regarding her gift, JDS asked Josephine if she would consider making a stretch gift of $1,800 this year in honor of her 20th Reunion. Josephine said that shead consider that level, and had to check with her husband. JDS asked if it would be okay if they touched base around Thanksgiving to follow up on the gift conversation if they hadnat spoken by then. Josephine said that this would be a fine arrangement. JDS to send a follow up thank you note, which includes Professor Smithas book t.i.tle, as well as information about financial aid.
This note provides the reader with Josephineas capacity, inclination, and timing. We can see that her capacity is that of a mid-range (by my schoolas standards) annual fund donor. Her inclination is high, since she gives every year. And the timing is soon: weall know about her giving within two months. What is also good about this note is that it includes the content of the conversation, as well as follow up items.
If the fundraiser were to quit between now and November, their replacement should be able to pick up the conversation where it left off, with the $1,800 solicitation, potentially designated to Financial Aid or the political science department if Josephine so desired.
Here is an example of a good contact note for an initial visit for a major gift prospect that did not go as well as planneda"at least for now: JDS met Robert for lunch. Robert played in CA at the US Whiffleball Championships this past summer with his team: Smiths (cla.s.ses of 88, 83), Stevie Jackson, Mark Fish, and others. Robert was excited to see the pre-tournament dinner grow to include more [school] const.i.tuents. Robert in general seems to be hungry to stay connected to the school; was somewhat jealous that a lot of his friends are closer to campus. His oldest son is @ Dartmouth. Has 2 younger kids, a daughter, junior in HS and a son, 9th grade, both @ Academy, a top private school in his city. Hopes one of them will attend [school]. Lots of talk revolved around sports. JDS gave update on menas soccer and asked Robert if he was in a position to be a big donor to the effort. Sadly, now is not the time for a big gift; Robert made very heavy allusions to some transactions that could be very lucrative; in the interim, b/f that all shakes out, heas holding on tight to any expendable money that he has. JDS to keep on Robert for how the transaction goes, as from the sounds of it, it could mean Robertas net worth could increase significantly. Robert is very, very much on board for hosting an event in the area. JDS to send a listing of regional alumni and parents to give Robert a sense of whoas in the area. Robert said the next few months are too hectic, given this transaction, but that May/June or September/October would be ideal. A time of year where the event can be half indoor/outdoor would be ideal. Rest of conversation is around languages/revenue. Language instruction links in follow up. Other f/u: when [school] played again US junior nationals, what percentage of soccer players take a gap year to play intensively, info on schools abroad. Also, a reminder to call JDS when Robert brings daughter to campus. Might make sense to arrange meeting w/head coach of soccer team.
Here is an example of a good contact note for an initial visit for a major gift prospect that went well: JDS had a lengthy and interesting meeting with Robin at his office. Robin walked JDS through the hardware system that Robin invented, and explained the history of it, which can be found in previous notes. Robin owns 4 properties in the area. He has a $2.5MM planned gift to his undergraduate alma mater and a $1MM planned gift to the City Foundation, both bequests. He is also paying a $210K pledge to his undergraduate alma mater for a professorship there in the Russian department. He says that currently, his major giving is going to his alma mater, but that he is open to a conversation about giving to [my inst.i.tution]. He is very, very grateful for his experience, and joked that the $5K gift he made in a05 was a late payment on an outstanding bill that he never paid back in the 1980s. He said the $5K was that payment with interest. He did say that he will consider a project that excites him, and is open to continuing the conversation with JDS. He is also open to coming back to alumni career talk. He mentioned two different figures with regards to revenue; the lower figure would be $75MM / year in sales. Higher would be 75MM units sold per year @, on average, $15K per unit. Sells in 3 continents. Currently developing Thai. Robin is also hoofing the bill for a family friendas nephew at his undergraduate inst.i.tution in Seattle. Robin is single with no children. A very good prospect with lots of cultivation and follow up required. JDS to send TY note to Robin and Alexander for meeting and for treating JDS to dinner. His special collections of rare books and other antiques must also be worth a fortune. The collection at his office is easily worth many, many thousands and he said his home collection is even larger.
This was a first visit. This particular donor had never been visited before; we only knew to research him in the first place because he sent in a $5,000 check one year, unsolicited. After some preliminary research, we slapped a $100,000 rating on him. When I made it to the city where he lived, my visit was an a.s.sessment call. It quickly became apparent that the $100K rating was too low, based both on his outright and planned gifts. The contact note includes information about his company, as well as other indications of wealth (his private collections), his family life (never married, no kids), and his other philanthropy. We can glean from this note that this prospect has very high capacity (we b.u.mped him to a rating of $1 million after further research), moderate to high inclination (he is subsidizing someoneas tuition at our school already, and said he is open to the right project), with a medium time-horizon (he is currently paying off another six-figure pledge).
I realize that dissecting a meeting at this level of detail might come off as quite mercenary, ruthless, and cold. But there is a positive intention to all this. A gift of a million dollars anywhere can have a huge impact. Here, again, I want to reiterate that the role of a fundraiser is to act as an intermediary between the donor and the organization. You are facilitating a donation that will feel good for all parties. It is thus your responsibility to have as keen an eye for detail as Iam suggesting. Your detective work will have a lasting impact both the donor and your organization.
Here is an example of a good contact note for a cultivational visit for a major gift prospect: JDS met w/Patrick & Richard for dinner (3.5 hour) in downtown Austin. Patrick entertaining JDSas proposal. Admired bold tone. Conflicted with philanthropic relationship towards [school]. View 200k fund they are setting up as drop in the bucket. Building to 2MM isnat even the end of the road for their giving, either. Patrick said at some point they should be considered 5-10MM candidates. Patrick has reservations about schoolas endowment and spending policies with need blind admissions. Patrick not convinced need blind is a good financial decision, wants data that can convince him need blind policy graduating grateful students who are giving back. JDS to form a narrative that will hopefully build the case for this. Patrick said if he wasnat serious about his philanthropic investment in [school], he wouldn"t be having the conversation; Patrick and Richard want to support scholarships to create opportunities to allow deserving, pa.s.sionate kids to attend. What they do not want is to create a culture of students who feel ent.i.tled to their experience based on high school qualifications. He wants to know that students graduating feel grateful and continue to provide the fuel to allow the need blinds mission to continue, as opposed to just riding on the sponsorship of alumni. Want to support short-term projects as JDS, Patrick and Richard figure out the long term horizon for philanthropy. Baseball might be an area of support, because Patrick, interestingly enough, believes student athletes get a perspective on life. They hope to visit campus 1x yr, since sisteras children are there. Patrick is a big fan of the VP, would love to meet him. They remain skeptical of endowment as ablack box,a they are ready to increase their annual fund support to 100-200k / yr over the next few years. Should be considered for alumni advisory committee.
This is a couple that I have visited more than once, and corresponded with via phone and e-mail numerous times. They are fantastic prospects and I know them quite well at this point. Theyave essentially pledged to half a million dollars over the next few years. But what if I leave? What then?
There are a number of things to notice on this note, some obvious, some less so. The obvious things: Pat is very opinionated and very savvy about his philanthropy. He is also very interested in the happenings of the college. He notes out loud that the reason that heas so inquisitive (in the meeting he was downright belligerent) is that Iam challenging him to explore a new level of philanthropic commitment (which, he noted, was a positive thing). To give $50,000 a year was one thing; to Patrick and Richard, that was a drop in the bucket. But I had already asked them to consider more than tripling that to the tune of $150,000a"200,000 a year. This note reveals that their capacity is extremely high, that their inclination is also very high (if not hard-earned!), and that the timing is imminent. Of course, it also notes where the fundraiser (in this case, me) has a lot of work to do. I did spend the next week back in the office working meticulously to craft a narrative that would appeal to Patrick and Richard in a meaningful way, concentrating my efforts on demonstrating the grat.i.tude of students.
The less obvious thing to note: we went to dinner. This is different from going out for coffee or even going to lunch. Dinner can last longer. This dinner lasted 3.5 hours. The first dinner with this couple also lasted four hours.1 This should tell the fundraiser who inherits these two prospects to allot sufficient time to meet with them. That they want to make it back to campus once a year is also worth noting, as it allows the fundraiser to think of ways to engage this couple while on campus. For future trip planning, the fundraiser should budget one evening for this couple alone.
Another small, but important, thing to note is that Patrick liked the bold tone of my proposal. It was a pa.s.sing comment, but has informed our subsequent conversations; I have been given Patrickas permission to push the envelope with him. If the reaction to my admittedly bold proposal hadnat been as well received, I would have reacted accordingly. This brings up another point when dealing with donors: what degree of formality they expect. It can, and does, vary quite drastically. I am not just talking about dress code, but also the degree of familiarity that one can use with the donor. It varies, and Iall talk more about this when we discuss face-to-face visits in depth, but given that this appeared in the note, I wanted to call attention to it. It is a good idea, when possible, to try to capture how a donor speaks to you.
These were all notes from visits I had while on the road. Know that you can, almost as effectively, conduct similar, substance-rich conversations over the phone, via Skype, or e-mail if your company does not have the budget to send your fundraisers on the road. While nothing can replace a face-to-face conversation, you do have to work within your means.
Databasing: Information, Organized.
So you have all this great data. Now arises the Herculean task of how to organize it all. Ideally, you will have a database into which to dump all the information. If your organization does not have databasing software already, it does make sense to invest.
What you want to avoid is every gift officer keeping their records in astandalonea mode, which is to say on the privacy of their own computer. This violates the Mack Truck philosophy. If the gift officer gets. .h.i.t by that Mack Truck and leaves this earth, along with all their pa.s.swords, then all records of his or her prospect pool are effectively erased. This is a very bad situation.
__________.
1 This isnat to say, of course, that you canat accomplish what you need to over a 20-30 minute coffee. Not all meetings need to last 4 hours. In fact, my colleagues who have Metro NY as a territory rarely have prospects who will take that amount of time to meet.
There are several companies that offer specific fundraising databasing software. As mentioned previously, one very popular product is Raiseras Edge by BlackBaud (www.blackbaud.com/products/fundraising/raisersedge.aspx).
There are other possibilities other than simply purchasing new software. If your organization already has databasing software that does not have fundraising information built in, it makes sense first to see if development fields can be added (they often can be).
And there are free products out there as well. OpenOffice (you can find it at www.openoffice.org) offers database software at no cost.
If youare looking to be truly minimalist, you could get away with creating a file folder for each and every donor that contains your contact notes, giving history, contact information, and research dossier. This can become a maintenance nightmare, although it is doable.
Whichever level of sophistication you choose, you must have as much information about every donor centrally located and universally accessible for your development team. Information in silos is worthless.
Having discussed in depth how to collect data, why itas important, and explored the universe of note-taking, letas step back in the next chapter, take a look at the fiscal calendar, and describe how to create an annual fundraising plan.
The Annual Plan.
Setting Goals, Charting the Course.
One of the smarter fundraising colleagues I worked with lived by the six Pas: Proper Planning Prevents p.i.s.s-Poor Performance. She was right (if a little crude).
Then why does planning get overlooked so often? The answer is because itas easy to overlook Indeed, it is so incredibly tempting to make that one additional phone call, to send one more e-mail, or schedule one more meeting on the road. Because every moment a fundraiser spends in a meeting or planning is a moment that he or she is not raising funds, which is his or her purpose.
Planning often gets overlooked, but an organization does so at its own peril. Planning is important for a few simple reasons.
It provides you with a framework for your year (or quarter).
It gives you goals against which you can measure success.
It enhances workflow and helps you prioritize the innumerable tasks that you have.
It gives you a chance to strategize out loud, as a team, about micro-goals (i.e., certain prospects) and macro-goals (dollars to be brought in).
Why Set Goals?
Why bother with setting goals? Why not just get out there and ask for as many gifts as possible? Setting goals achieves the following things: It challenges and empowers your fundraisers.
It provides you with material to bring to your supervisor/board.
It informs your strategies and planning, both at the individual, targeted level and at the more general, partic.i.p.atory level in a way that cannot be achieved without goals.
In other words, goal-setting and planning are inextricably tied together. Letas explore both of them.
Goal Setting: Dreaming Big, Realistically.
Goal setting is always a fun exercisea"it allows you to dream big, to think broadly about your organizationas fundraising capabilities, and to think creatively about how to improve upon last year. It also empowers you to think about the impact that your operation can have upon the inst.i.tution as a whole.
Where do you start? Well, itas best to begin by asking the central questions: What can our organization currently NOT do due to lack of funding? What incremental increase in funding would we need in order to carry out those wishes?
Itas a better place to start than by looking at last yearas data, especially if your shop is still in its nascent stages. The expectation should be that youall raise more money than last year, especially if youave been able to expand your fundraising staff.
My own bias is to start as big as possible and then pare back once you get into planning the implementation. This is an evolved opiniona"I have often been accused, somewhat accurately, of being the one to shoot down big ideas, big goals. While the accusation has merit, it is motivated by the fact that Iam very much implementation- and process-oriented; so, while I sometimes come off as someone who enjoys shooting down big ideas, I like to think of it more in terms of me serving as a counterbalance to the dreamers. The aidea peoplea have their place in the organization, without a doubt, but so do the folks who devote their time to thinking about pitfalls, capabilities with limited resources, and getting from A to B without losing their sanity. In other words, you need both types of folks (remember the operations and logistics staff member from Chapter 4?), and both of them should be given equal voice when setting goals and coming up with your annual plan.
Goals should be ambitious, yet achievable. On the one hand, you want to challenge your staff to think creatively about how to improve both themselves and the organization, while on the other hand, not sending them over the edge with completely unrealistic figures.
Gift Pyramids: Your Dollar Goals, Visualized.
When it comes to setting your dollar goals, the cla.s.sic way to visualize them is with a gift pyramid. At the top of your pyramid sit the largest gifts in the smallest numbers. From there, you make your way down the pyramid, with a larger number of antic.i.p.ated gifts at each subsequent level.