June 2022 - Groupfinity

Rob Webb’s Fundraising Tips That Will Take Your Organization To The Next Level.

#042 Today I am speaking with Rob Webb, founder and Chief Inspiration Officer of Nonprofitcampaigns.com. He founded the company in 2020 to offer online training as a result of seeing nonprofits struggle in the pandemic. Rob is YMCA trained and has over 30 years of experience guiding volunteers and staff in creating High Impact Fundraising Campaigns. One of Rob’s specialties is creating a culture of philanthropy.

“…what we found is so many nonprofit leaders – they view fundraising as drudgery. And they take that paradigm with them when they’re talking with their volunteers and their board members. And they do things unconsciously that drive that culture of charity, versus what we all try to preach was developing a culture of philanthropy.”

Rob teaches his clients that fundraising is all about relationships. Create an active vs a passive relationship. You have to get your hands dirty – talk to your donors and potential donors, spend time with them, find out what is important to them. Start with your banker, insurance broker, your stock broker, people that you have a natural relationship with. Just meet with them and ask for advice, not money. Everybody loves to give advice.

The pandemic showed us how we were over reliant on “special events”. Rob says we should rethink these events and view them as relationship builders rather than money makers.

“Nonprofits gravitate towards thinking special events are fundraisers. Every nonprofit that really took it in the shorts during the pandemic was over reliant on special events. I look at special events as FRIENDRAISERS more than fundraisers.”

Be sure to stick around until the end to hear how to get Deborah to send you a copy of her book

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Resources

4 Key Takeaways

#1 Minimum levels of giving actually create maximum levels;

#2 Don’t become over reliant on grant funding;

#3 Don’t view fundraising as drudgery – be positive;

#4 Engage in ACTIVE not passive relationship building.

Show Notes

**Click the time stamp to jump directly to that point in the episode

[2:45] Don't view fundraising as drudgery.
[4:10] That's really what fundraising is all about - relationships.
[5:44] Tell the story of why you support your organization.
[7:25] Over 80% is given by individuals.
[10:11] The person you least expect may be your biggest donor.
[13:30] Special events are FRIENDraisers NOT FUNDraisers
[16:43] Minimum levels of giving create maximum levels.
[20:02] If you're too reliant on grant funding, that can dry up.

Deborah Pruitt tells us how her 6 Elements of Group Alchemy create a culture where your volunteers work more collaboratively and get more done.

#041 Today I am speaking with Dr. Deborah Pruitt. Deborah is a trained Cultural Anthropologist and applies a dynamic anthropological perspective to helping organizations achieve extraordinary results. More specifically, she helps her clients work collaboratively and unify around a collective vision. She’s found that it all starts with culture – many people have had experiences where they felt disregarded or disrespected.

“That was what led me to think deeply about how do we create a culture in a group that supports working together collaboratively for the same interests and same goals while also honoring the individuals in the group and their needs and what it is that provides the context and the space and the opportunity for them to bring their best and to do it together.”

She founded Group Alchemy to help clients build strategic plans that bring focus to the organization’s purpose and strengthen collaborative problem solving. In this episode, we discuss her 6 Elements of Group Alchemy to help groups, no matter the size, create culture so they could work better together.

1 Inspiration

2 Agreements

3 Accountability

4 Acknowledgement

5 Renewal

6 Mastery

Be sure to stick around until the end to hear how to get Deborah to send you a copy of her book

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Resources

4 Key Takeaways

#1 Agreements don’t really matter if you don’t have accountability;

#2 Foundation is built on knowing why we’re here and what we’re are up to;

#3 So many of our groups need to be freed from the management control model;

#4 Instead of blame, Accountability is the ability to solve problems.

Show Notes

**Click the time stamp to jump directly to that point in the episode

[4:55] We are accustomed to authoritarian systems with lots of rules and policies to follow.
[5:52] That led me to look at how we create culture to work collaboratively.
[8:17] My book - 6 Elements of Group Alchemy, was written to be a step wise guide.
[10:25] Agreements don't really matter if you don't have accountability.
[14:42] if we don't understand why we are each here, we don't have a foundation to build anything.
[19:05] I realized we need to constitute a productive group that doesn't depend on authority structure.
[20:30] In our society, accountability = blame.
[23:02] Resiliency was a BIG learning from the Pandemic.

Meet Polly Lagana Who Shares Her Fundraising Framework That Creates Happy Donors Who Give More Money More Consistently. She Tells us Exactly How To Do It!

040 Today I am speaking with Polly Lagana. Polly is a New York based Behavioral Scientist who has been researching happiness for years – it is her life’s work. Her formula is PLEASURE + PURPOSE + COMMUNITY = HAPPINESS. Through her research, Polly found that…

“people want to belong- they want to feel a sense of community – they want to feel like they’re part of something”.

Polly discovered that quick interactions that aren’t about asking for money carry a lot of weight with donors. We should focus our relationship building on putting in time to develop those small connections, unrelated to the ask.

After moving to Switzerland she found philanthropy was BIG, but very quiet. That is where she began to see the intersection between happiness, self satisfaction, donor satisfaction.

“Philanthropy actually comes out of this idea. That’s part of you as a member of the community. It’s a way to have a positive impact on your life”.

She used her research to create her SPARK Framework which results in happier donors who give more money more consistently and get others to give as well and join your donor community:

Simplicity of the ask and the task

Personal connection

Alignment of goals between the donor and your organization or institution

Research and information guiding your decisions And

Knowledge of a positive outcome

Be sure to stick around until the end to hear what Polly learned while living in Switzerland for 3 years.

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Resources

4 Key Takeaways

#1 Make it really simple and reduce the amount of choices for your donor.;

#2 People have short attention spans – keep your ask and pitch to 3 minutes;

#3 Have your best messenger deliver your message;

#4 This is the time to try new things – don’t be afraid – don’t let fear hold you back.

Show Notes

**Click the time stamp to jump directly to that point in the episode

[2:44] Look at this intersection between happiness and philanthropy
[4:13] PLEASURE + PURPOSE + COMMUNITY = HAPPINESS
[5:00] People want to belong
[5:49] The SPARK Framework
[8:33] Make it simple and reduce the choices for your donor
[9:35] Turn your pitch into a
[11:40] Make it as easy as possible
[13:22] Find your best messenger to deliver your message
[17:00] Those quick interactions that aren't about money carry a lot of weight
[18:07] Make a list of the different types of interactions you could have
[21:23] Don't let fear hold you back

Rob Webb’s Fundraising Tips That Will Take Your Organization To The Next Level.

Resources

4 Key Takeaways

Show Notes

Meet Polly Lagana Who Shares Her Fundraising Framework That Creates Happy Donors Who Give More Money More Consistently. She Tells us Exactly How To Do It!

Resources

4 Key Takeaways

Show Notes

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Rob Webb’s Fundraising Tips That Will Take Your Organization To The Next Level.

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4 Key Takeaways

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Deborah Pruitt tells us how her 6 Elements of Group Alchemy create a culture where your volunteers work more collaboratively and get more done.

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4 Key Takeaways

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Meet Polly Lagana Who Shares Her Fundraising Framework That Creates Happy Donors Who Give More Money More Consistently. She Tells us Exactly How To Do It!

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Resources

4 Key Takeaways

Show Notes

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BE AN INSIDER

Join the community