The Artful Solicitor: Successful Major Gift Moves Management

The Artful Solicitor:
Successful Major Gift Moves Management
David A Mersky
October 26, 2011

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Today’s Speaker

David A. Mersky
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Mersky, Jaffe & Associates
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The Artful Solicitor:
Successful Major Gifts
Moves Management

October 26, 2011

CASE STUDY IN THE USE OF
VOLUNTEERS
IN CULTIVATION
AND BEYOND

©2011 Mersky, Jaffe & Associates

Setting the Scene
• You are the director of major gifts
• You receive the following email from the
agency CEO about a donor with increased
giving potential who is the President of a
local company, Power Tools, Inc.
• Your agency raises much of its funds through
leadership—major and principal—gifts.


The Message
• Met Howard Jackson of Power Tools, Inc.
• Last year Howard gave $10,000 without even
being asked.
• He has attended an educational program of
ours in the past
• I do know he is doing well and his wife
inherited some wealth.

The Message
• At our last Board meeting I checked around
and found the following connections –
contacts we can ―get to.‖
• William Bell-- Plays golf with Power Tools' corporate controller.
• Franklin Fields -- As you know, he recently moved from a Wall Street firm to become Vice President for
Finance at Power Tools.
• Al Green-- Is Vice President of the Kalek Corporation which is one of Power Tools' major suppliers.
He and Howard have known each other and done business together for years.
• Charles Reagan -- Is distantly related to Power Tools' Board Chairman and sees him frequently at their
club.
• Phil Burns -- Is a major shareholder in Power Tools, and, of course, is a donor of ours at the $1,000,000
level. I believe Phil could be giving more.
• John ―Jack‖ Kennedy -- As the President of Precision Material Handling sits on several boards with
Howard and sees him socially.


The Questions
• What should be our next steps with Howard?
• How can we use our contacts with him?
• How can we best engage him?
– I believe his first gift was perceived as a favor to
me and a civic duty, and I think we may need
something stronger this time.
– He has never been to the center and doesn't
know us very well, but an upgraded gift would be
a huge boost to our campaign.

Additional Data
• Howard is age 66; his spouse, Alice, is 63.
• The Jacksons are peripherally involved.
• Net worth of $50.0 million.
• Annual income is $2,500,000.
• Three children, all grown and successful.
• Prior to the recent gift of $10,000, he had given
$1,000 annually for the last 10 years, and, through
his company, once gave an additional $5,000.

PROPER
PLANNING
PREVENTS
POSSIBLE
POOR
PERFORMANCE


PROPER
PLANNING
PROMOTES
POSSIBLE
POSITIVE
PERFORMANCE


Preparing Your Response

1. Who is on your cultivating and soliciting team?

2. What moves should you consider?

3. How much to request?

4. For what purpose?


MAJOR GIFTS MOVES
MANAGEMENT


What is Moves Management?
• Fundraisers manage a series of steps (moves)
for each identified prospect which will
―move‖ prospects from
– Attention to
– Interest to
– Desire to
– Action

• Continually moving to the next gift.


What is a Move?
• Each ―move‖ represents a discrete contact
– Email
– Phone call
– Letter
– Fax
– Face-to-face conversation
– Planned events
• Background vs. Foreground Moves
• Cultivation where solicitation does not occur
• One move per month—twelve per year

Goal of Each Move
• In cultivation, hard to ―quantify‖ goal
• Avoid goals that are too general
• Be realistic—not a major gift in three moves
• Sample goals
– Prospect accepts an invitation to a site visit
– Gain a better sense of how the prospect feels about agency
– Determine if pace of moves and goals is correct

• Best possible and minimal acceptable outcomes

Planning Each Move
• Review key points to cover during the move
• List benefits that will appeal to prospect
• What action are you asking prospect to take, i.e.,
what should be the next step in the process
• List questions you anticipate the prospect will
ask as well as your answers


Who Participates in Moves
Management?
• The prospect or ―moves‖ manager
– a staffer

• Primary player
– the person to whom the prospect is not able to say no

• Natural partners
– sources of information with strong relationships

• Centers of Influence
– additional sources of information


Role of the Moves Manager
• Develop a strategy for each prospect
• Track prospect’s relationship to organization
• Plan moves
• Coordinate primary players, natural partners and
centers of influence
• Execute the plan
• Reconfigure the strategy/refine the plan
• Coordinate refined plan and execute new moves

Managing the Moves Process
• Identifying Prospects
• Gathering Partners to Provide Information
• Evaluating Prospects
• Tracking ―Moves‖
• Maintaining Accountability: The Major Gifts
Management Team
• Keeping Score


Identifying Prospects
• Review your current database of donors
• Screen for frequency, recency, upgrades and
―diamonds in the rough‖
• Engage your board collectively and
individually—the hunt for sources of
information and relationships


Identifying Prospects: Engaging
and Gathering Partners
• Distribute a list of suspects
• Ask your board members—ideally,
individually—if not, then collectively
• What is the prospect’s gift capacity rating?
• Do you have access to this prospect—will they return
your call?
• Can you share information about this prospect?
• Comments?


Do you Remember Howard
Jackson?
• Who could be the primary player, natural
partners, and/or centers of influence?
.
Name and Description PP/NP/CoI
.
William Bell-- Plays golf with Power Tools' corporate controller.
Franklin Fields -- As you know, he recently moved from a Wall Street firm to become Vice President for
Finance at Power Tools.
Al Green-- Is Vice President of the Kalek Corporation which is one of Power Tools' major suppliers. He
and Howard have known each other and done business together for years
Charles Reagan -- Is distantly related to Power Tools' Board Chairman and sees him frequently at their
club.
Phil Burns -- Is a major shareholder in Power Tools, and, of course, is a donor of ours at the $1,000,000
level. I believe Phil could be giving more.
John ―Jack‖ Kennedy -- As the President of Precision Material Handling sits on several boards with
Howard and sees him socially.

Evaluating Prospects


Evaluating Prospects
• Why is this individual a prospect?
• In what has this person expressed interest?
• For what purposes should funding be sought?
• What is the giving capacity?
• What is our present relationship?
• Who are partners/centers of influence?
• What is the ―moves‖ plan for the next year?

Evaluating Financial Capacity
• Net Worth
– more is better
• Discretionary Income
– see above
• Number of Children
– less is more
• Age
– 55+ are more willing to make a major gift
• Prior Gifts to Others
– giving begets giving

Evaluating Financial Capacity
• Prior Gifts to Your Organization
– giving begets giving particularly if well-stewarded (c.f.,
August Webinar on Stewardship as a Revenue Enhancer)
• Service on Board or Committee
– involvement or repayer (e.g., alumnus, grateful patient,
family of beneficiary) relationship
• Close Relationship with Volunteer/Staff
– relationships are vital
• Spousal Involvement
– major gifts almost always involve both spouses


Tracking “Moves”
• The single, most critical step in the process
• Discipline and Execution
• The ―Call Report‖
• Prospect’s Name
• Date of ―Call/Contact‖
• Name of person making the call


Tracking “Moves”
• Type of Call: • Summary—Detailed Notes
– Foreground • Next Steps
• Letter
– Continue on PM List
• Phone
• Email – Remove from PM List
• In-person – Reassign to other PM
– Background
• Purpose
– Cultivation
– Solicitation
– Other


Maintaining Accountability
• A monthly meeting—face-to-face of the entire major gifts
management team with reports by each staff moves manager
• Prospect Name
• Capacity rating
• Status—where are they on the continuum
» Identified
» Information gathering
» Interested
» Involved
» Invested
» Post-gift stewardship


Maintaining Accountability
• Date of last contact

• Nature of contact

• Next step

• Comments from Moves Manager/Team


Keeping Score
A monthly report that shows
• Date of report
• Number of prospects in the system
• Number of moves planned
• Number of contacts made
• Dollar value of prospects ―moved‖ this month
• Dollar value of prior moves received this month


Getting Started
1. Select 10 to 25 of your best practices
2. Create a file for each
3. Collect easy-to-access research
a. Objective sources, e.g., www.DonorSearch.net
b. Natural partners
c. Active listening to the prospect on calls
4. Identify natural partners
5. Consult (confidentially) with natural partners

Getting Started
6. Preliminarily, select a primary player for each
prospect
7. Preliminarily, develop strategy and gift
objectives for each prospect
8. Plan five to ten moves for each prospect
9. Implement moves and after each move
a. Review and record
b. Refine strategy
c. Fine tune next move

Getting Started
10. Review status of each prospect monthly with
the major gifts management team
11. Add and delete prospects as warranted


In conclusion
Moves management is about time management
• Four types of prospects
– Those ready to make a major gift
– Those needing some cultivation but who would consider a
major gift in the near future
– Those needing extensive cultivation
– Those with capability, but little or no reason to give
• Focus on those closest to the major gift
decision—the 10% who can give 90%


Mersky, Jaffe
& Associates
Financial and Human Resource
Development Solutions for Nonprofits
800.361.8689 413.556.1074 fax
www.merskyjaffe.com

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