Gail Perry’s Golden Rules of Fundraising

  1. IDENTIFYING PROSPECTS. Select the apples you want to put in your basket. Fundraising is based on relationships.  The closer the relationship between the prospect and the organization, the more likely (and larger) the gift.
  2. Create a VIP list and stick to it. Qualify your potential donors for interest level and ability to give. Use this analysis to set your priorities. You need three prospects for every gift needed.
  3. Your most likely donor is a donor who has already given in the past.  They have already invested in you.  Go to them first.
  4. Narrow down your focus to a few prospects with deep pockets and work hard on relationships with them.  Don’t spread yourself too thin by chasing every opportunity that comes along, because you can’t manage the follow up.
  5. GETTING THE DOOR OPEN. Never make a cold call. Your chances of success are much greater if you can have someone open the door to help you meet the prospect.
  6. Make “advice and counsel” calls on potential donors.  If you want money, ask for advice.  If you want advice, ask for money.  Advice Visits help develop a friendly relationship well before the matter of funding comes up.
  7. CULTIVATING PROSPECTS. Fundraising success relies on follow-through. Getting the door open to a prospective donor is only the first step.
  8. The magic key to your donor’s thoughts: “What were your impressions?”
  9. People give money not to causes, but to people with a cause.  Enthusiasm for your cause will take you a long way.  Be passionate.
  10. SOLICITING GIFTS. Peers should solicit peers.  When soliciting prospects, volunteers carry much greater credibility and clout than the organization’s staff.
  11. Remember to be quiet and listen.  You can “listen” your way to a major gift. Reconnaissance is vital.  The more you know about your prospective donor, the better.
  12. Never rely on your proposal to sell for you.  Cut the deal in person up front and the proposal is merely an after-the-fact formality.
  13. Before soliciting, find out the RIGHT time, place, solicitation team, people to be solicited, amount to ask for, project purpose and values to emphasize.
  14. THANKING DONORS. The first gift is never the largest gift.  Make the first gift such a nice experience for your donors that they will quickly give again.
  15. Find seven ways to thank your current donors and they will easily give again.  Thank you events are extremely important cultivation tools.
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