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How to Secure the Face-to-Face Visit-My Magic Key to Open the Door

10/07/2011 by 14 Comments

Has this happened to you lately?

Your donor just said, "I'm too busy to see you now. Call me later."

Here you are, sitting at your desk with your major prospect list in hand.

You’ve allocated time this morning to get on the phone and set up some appointments with some of your key supporters.

You want to visit with them in person.  And you want to use the visit as a prep to a larger ask.

Because you know that face-to-face visits are the most important cultivation tool available to you.

What happens when you try to set up face to face visits?

So you get on the phone, cheerfully calling and asking for a few precious minutes of your wonderful donor’s time.

And this is what you are getting, over and over:

“I’m too busy to meet with you – call me later.”

  • “I love your organization and I’m supporting you guys.   Since I’m already giving.  Spend your time on someone else.  And call me after I get back from my next trip.”

Gawd, it’s so frustrating!! How on earth are you going to cultivate this donor if you can’t get in the door to see him?

There goes the major donor part of your year-end fundraising efforts.

It’s particularly discouraging when donors you know personally won’t give you an appointment.  Those are the ones who will cut you off quickly because they know you, and they probably see you often.  So it’s even harder to get them alone to chat privately.

The key to getting in the door: Ask for advice.

Ask your donor for advice, and he'll be more willing to visit with you.

You probably know one of my favorite saying: “If you want money, ask for advice. If you want advice, then ask for money.”

I’ve written extensively about the power of advice visits:

You can call the donor and say, “I have an idea up my sleeve and I want to bounce it off you.”

Or say, “We’re thinking about an interesting project and I want to pick your brain about it.”

If the donor knows she gets to do the talking, then she’ll visit with you.

And this saying is all about listening, listening to the donor. It’s about letting the DONOR do the talking. (I know it’s hard but you’ve just gotta do it!)

Remember that fundraising is not all about you.

It’s actually about engaging the donor, pulling the donor out, finding out what turns your donor on, and fanning that flame of whatever passion they have.

My colleague, Tracy Proctor, shared some advice approaches that she likes:

  • “The one thing I have found that will often work is to ask the donor for advice.  You can try several angles:
  • “You can brainstorm their favorite area of the organization and frame a question to get some advice.
  • “Or you can ask their help about a particular prospect – can they strategize with you about how to get the appointment to see someone. (this particularly works if they say “spend time on someone else.”)

“I received an unsolicited $10,000 challenge gift in an advice visit!”

Another colleague and client, Linda Frenette, Executive Director of the Community Music School in Raleigh, wrote me recently with this amazing story:

  • “I had an “advice visit” today with a very prominent woman in the community who on the spot offered a $10,000 challenge grant!!
  • “What’s even more amazing is that she would not even schedule the meeting until she told me and my board member that her foundation had no money to give us!”

Wow, wow and wow again.  This just happened late week!

Bottom Line:

Donors are tired of being “presented to.” They want to engage, not listen to your verbiage. Try advice visits with everybody. They work!

How have you used this strategy?  How has it worked for you?

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  • Lisa

    What a terrific idea!  Thanks so much Gail.

  • Dottie_b

    I usually read your posts from the standpoint of a donor, and I do like this one!  But I would want the solicitor to become engaged in the discussion and give honest consideration to my point of view, not just ask for advice as a ploy.

  • Anonymous

    Dottie, great point. But it’s really not a ploy. I really DO want the donor’s advice. It’s invaluable.  The questions a donor asks about my project tell me what the community might ask too. She may poke holes in my case for support in an advice visit- and really need to know where those holes are!  

  • Wayne

    This idea is a keeper.

  • Aspringer

    I am a novice to board development work and am finding it fascinating.  This is an approach I stumbled on to myself because I found time and time again that people are willing to give of their professional time and advice and it is a terrific way to engage people in your organization’s work.  No one has ever turned me down if I asked for an hour of their professional time in service of my organization!  Many of them have then become volunteers with our organization leading we hope to a longer term relationship as donors as well.  Very powerful.  People love it when you appreciate and appeal to their talents and knowledge.

  • Anonymous

    Gail, I used your technique with a potential coaching and consulting client. I received two new client acquisition ideas I can implement immediately, and advice on greatly improving an idea I already had. So asking for advice didn’t lead directly to money, but I’m one big step closer.

    Further, I read your tip five minutes before the meeting. Thanks for your always timely advice.

  • Willsion6378
  • Anonymous

    Hi, and yes! Donors want to engage with an organization. Period.  Ask for more than money – and get the donor involved. They love it!

  • Anonymous

    You’re welcome, Lisa!
     

  • Andy Robinson

    Good stuff as always, Gail. A variation on this theme — especially useful for grassroots organizations — is the practice ask: “We are learning how to raise money in person. This is a new approach for us, and we want to get it right. May we come and practice on you? Just so we’re clear, it’s a real ask — I hope you’ll give — but more than the money, we need feedback. Will you help us learn to do this better?”

    Authenticity is the key here, as in every other aspect of fundraising. This is not a ploy, to use a work used below — it’s a genuine request for help. Even if you don’t get a gift, you’ve still added another brain to your fundraising team, because someone external is helping you think about how to engage donors and pitch your organization more effectively.

  • Anonymous

    wow, Andy – this is an absolutely terrific idea!  I so agree, when you are completely authentic, you are very powerful.   And your suggestion takes some of the fear and awkwardness out of the whole discussion. Thanks!

  • http://twitter.com/MatthewSm1th Matthew Smith

    Good advice, Gail! I’ve used this tactic effectively a few times, but I have a question for how to make it work more often…

    Even when I proposition an “advice conversation,” some donors/prospects still push back, preferring instead to talk on the phone. While any conversation is a plus, we are all better at our jobs when we meet with donors in person. Since you can’t simply tell them “I need to ask for your advice face-to-face, not over the phone,” I was wondering if you had any tips for converting calls into IRL meetings.

  • http://twitter.com/MatthewSm1th Matthew Smith

    Good advice, Gail! I’ve used this tactic effectively a few times, but I have a question for how to make it work more often…

    Even when I proposition an “advice conversation,” some donors/prospects still push back, preferring instead to talk on the phone. While any conversation is a plus, we are all better at our jobs when we meet with donors in person. Since you can’t simply tell them “I need to ask for your advice face-to-face, not over the phone,” I was wondering if you had any tips for converting calls into IRL meetings.

  • Anonymous

    Matthew, if a donor doesn’t want to visit with you, there’s not much you can do. Make sure the donor meets you in a social situation first and you are totally charming and let them do all the talking. Then they might be more willing to visit with you. If they are corporate executives, then their time really is quite valuable, and you’ll have to win their interest before they’ll visit with you privately. Hope this helps!