Are you putting the cart before the horse?

Whether your ultimate goal is a solid marketing plan, a sound fund development plan, or, even more broadly, an overall direction for your organization for the next three years, it’s important to consider the significant differences between strategic planning and tactical planning. Both have a place, but one comes before the other – that is, if you hope to continue moving forward on a clear path toward a meaningful goal without a lot of costly side trips and unforeseen rerouting.

Partners or Vendors?

Do you ever walk down the street when you’re visiting an unfamiliar city and catch sight of some forlorn looking vendor with a mobile display of goods that are of mild curiosity but not of real interest? The poor fellow makes eye contact, and you easily see that he’s trying to hide his desperation for a sale behind a sad smile. He’s just a “vendor” – doesn’t really belong here, has no right to consider you his target market. That's a vendor, not a partner.

More about creating win-win relationships

Once you have a well crafted message about your organization and the specific marketing opportunity you’re promoting, the real fun begins: As you pitch the opportunity to your prospects, you will have a chance to learn about their business, including their strategic marketing goals.

It's not begging; you're offering opportunities.

Successful fund development begins with the right attitude, based on a key principle: You, as the development representative, are not begging; you are offering opportunities. Making that philosophical leap involves no magic, no mystery, no proprietary secrets. Believe it or not, once you’ve seen the job done successfully by one who embraces the challenge and enjoys the exchange, you will want to play an active role in fund development for your organization. My own introduction into the art of fund development might illustrate that.

Fund raising is matchmaking, plain and simple. You have a marketing opportunity to offer, and somebody with money recognizes that good opportunity and will pay for it. So, communicating exactly what you have to offer, and sincerely listening to determine whether it’s truly what the prospect needs, is your first exciting challenge.

We think fundraising success is more about attitude – yours – than about knowledge or skill. If you work for or volunteer with a worthy nonprofit, it’s likely you can successfully raise money from the corporate world, but you might need to change your attitude just a bit.