Self-Taught/Fundraising™

The 5 Formulas
for Fundraising Success

Level I-1

A “patented,” self-paced program
specially designed for
nonprofit board members,
fundraising staff,
& volunteers

by Dr. Stephen L. Goldstein
The Nonprofit Fundraising Institute
Educational Marketing Services, Inc.

Copyright, 2008, Dr. Stephen L. Goldstein
All rights reserved. No portion of this material may be reproduced
in any form without the written consent of the copyright holder.

e-mail: trendsman@aol.com


Self-Taught/Fundraising™:
The Concept


I.1 Self-Taught/Fundraising™ meets the unique needs of nonprofit fundraisers.

I.2 It saves you time and money. Your board, staff, and volunteers get “on the same page” cost-effectively.

I.3 The program pinpoints proven formulas, strategies, and tactics for nonprofit success.

I.4 You will find down-to-earth, practical advice.

I.5 Self-Taught/Fundraising™ is 100% interactive.

I.6 You master the material at your own pace.

I.7 To ensure your success, you benchmark yourself and your nonprofit through constructive self-assessments.

I.8 Self-Taught/Fundraising™ consists of guided experiences intended to lead to concrete action-plans—specifically to benefit you and your nonprofit.

I.9 You can tailor the material to your unique situation and needs.

I.10 Self-Taught/Fundraising™ is designed to help nonprofits implement positive change—on their terms.

II. Introduction:
Use the 5 formulas to power
your fundraising success

II.1 Don’t let anybody kid you. Fundraising is an art, but it is also a “science.” The most successful fundraisers follow powerful formulas—consciously or unconsciously.

II.2 People who aren’t “clued in” think of fundraising primarily as activities. They fall into 3 categories: “scribes,” “orchestrators,” and “friend-makers.” Mistakenly, all of them just DO fundraising. They make their jobs harder by not consciously using the 5 formulas to make their “doing” wildly successful.

II.3 For example, “scribe” fundraisers “do” fundraising by looking for “the right” words.

II.4 “Scribes” spend countless hours racking their brains for the phrase or phrases to convince others to make contributions to their favored cause.

II.5 At other times, they believe their “open sesame,” magic phrase, visited them in a moment of inspired illumination.

II.6 Either way, once they find their words, they test them out on others.

II.7 You know the process. Together, everyone involved drafts and redrafts “the” message.

II.8 “Orchestrator” fundraisers look for the perfect event.

II.9 Orchestrators spend their time debating whether a golf tournament or a tennis match will raise the most money.

II.10 Other orchestrators opt to hold ambitious galas. For them, doing/finding the right combination of hotel, invitation, honoree, and food is the key to raising the most money.

II.11 “Friend-maker” fundraisers insist that fundraising is about relationships.

II.12 Friend-makers spend their time getting to know as many people as they can personally, building a network of potential contributors—one by one.

II.13 Scribes, orchestrators, and friend-makers are all correct: At the secondary level, successful fundraising is based upon activities: words, events, and personal relationships.

II.14 But at the primary, or “foundational” level, 5 powerful formulas make it easier to find the right words, events, and personal relationships.

II.15 Just as there is a formula for calculating the circumference of a circle and another for gravitational pull, there are numerical formulas for successful fundraising.

II.16 Master the 5 power formulas and your words, events, and personal relationships will achieve the greatest power.

Power Formula 1: B x 10 = FT

“Never be involved in a cause that has weak leaders.”
--Dr. David Salten

“A nonprofit will only be as successful as its board.”
--Dr. Stephen L. Goldstein

Question: “What are the 5 traits of effective nonprofit leaders?”
1________________________________________________________

2________________________________________________________

3________________________________________________________

4________________________________________________________

5________________________________________________________

Power Formula 1: B x 10 = FT
Create a board that “tens”!

1.1 Ask (too) many people associated with (too) many nonprofits how much money they think they can raise in a fundraising cycle and usually they’ll smile and answer, “As much as we can.” How silly!

1.2 Typically, nonprofits operate on a wing-and-a-prayer and live out of hope—that “the money will somehow come.” After all, they think, “we’re doing good so somehow good things should happen to us.” Right!

1.3 In addition, my guess is that even if they know better, most nonprofit boards resist anything to do with establishing realistic goals for fear of under-motivating paid staff—or boxing themselves in.

1.4 Even worse, too often, when boards put a number on how much they need or want to raise, they set an unrealistic, “stretch” goal.

1.5 Then, having set pie-in-the-sky parameters for their success, they give marching orders to paid staff to meet it. And staff are afraid to challenge their board’s unrealistic expectations.

1.6 In other words, fundraising is typically based upon unrealistic assumptions and expectations. No one thinks that there may actually be a formula to apply to answer the question, “How much money CAN we raise?”
.7 So here is a standard against which every nonprofit can set a realistic yearly fundraising goal: An organization’s “Fundraising Threshold” (FT) is equal to the amount of money its board personally donates annually times 10.

1.8 In other words, if the board of nonprofit X collectively contributes $100,000, it is reasonable to expect that it can raise $1.1 million yearly.

1.9 Of course, in some years, an organization may have a windfall—a major gift from an estate, for example. That’s always good, just not predictable. By contrast, an organization’s FT establishes the parameters of its ongoing activities, putting it on a reliable, solid footing.

1.10 The FT formula is based upon two important assumptions.

1.11 First, the board of every nonprofit must understand that IT is the key to the organization’s successful fundraising. The buck and the bucks start and stop with them.

1.12 As fiduciaries, board members are responsible for their nonprofit’s financial health and well-being. They are its prime fundraisers. Paid staff guide and assist them in their fundraising role; they cannot and should not replace board members as prime fundraisers.

1.13 Second, board members “worth” anything should be able to get at least 10 others to donate as much as they do.

1.14 Of course, they may have to approach many more than 10 people to reach their goal, so they have to be willing to pull out the stops. They agreed to be on the board presumably because they were committed to the mission and goals of the organization. So what’s the big deal?

1.15 Before even considering making a major gift, potential donors should ask the board member asking them how much he or she gives, how much the board donates as a whole, and at what levels board members give, without naming names.

1.16 Before approaching a major gift prospect, representatives of a nonprofit should be armed with the giving history of the board.

1.17 The reason is simple: Why should a potential donor bankroll an organization if the people who are supposed to be committed enough to it to be on the board don’t ante up?

1.18 Effective board members exhibit five traits that are gauges of their ability to multiply themselves by 10: (1) knowledge of their nonprofit’s purpose, (2) commitment to that purpose, (3) willingness to make financial contributions, (4) willingness to get others to contribute, (5) willingness to be held accountable.

1.19 So, to increase your fundraising goal, determine your current FT, motivate your board to give more—then score a perfect 10!

1.20 Formula 1: Fundraiser’s Self-Assessment
From 0 (Not at all) to 10 (I’m gung-ho!), how willing are you to use Formula 1:

1.21 I am willing to determine board members’ knowledge of my nonprofit’s purpose…………………...……..0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1.21.a What would it take to improve your score? _______________________________
1.21.b How willing are you to improve it?..........................................0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1.22 I am willing to determine their commitment to that purpose…………………………………….…0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1.22.a What would it take to improve your score? _______________________________
1.22.b How willing are you to improve it?..........................................0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1.23 I am willing to get them to commit in writing to their personal “contract” for support
of my organization…………………………. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1.23.a What would it take to improve your score? _______________________________
1.23.b How willing are you to improve it?..........................................0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1.24 I am willing to determine their willingness to get others to make similar commitments…………......…0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1.24.a What would it take to improve your score? _______________________________
1.24.b How willing are you to improve it?.........................................0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1.25 I am willing to hold board members accountable for their leadership of my nonprofit…………..…….…0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1.25.a What would it take to improve your score? _______________________________
1.25.b How willing are you to improve it?..........................................0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Your TOTAL Score: _______ out of 100
1.26 Formula 1: Board Member’s Self-Assessment
From 0 (Not at all) to 10 (I’m gung-ho!), how willing are you to use Formula 1:

1.27 This is how I would assess my knowledge of my nonprofit’s purpose…………………...…………………..0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1.27.a What would it take to improve your score? _______________________________
1.27.b How willing are you to improve it?..........................................0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1.28 This is how I would assess my commitment to that purpose…………………………………….…0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1.28.a What would it take to improve your score? _______________________________
1.28.b How willing are you to improve it?..........................................0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1.29 I am willing to put in writing my commitment for my personal support of my organization………. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1.29.a What would it take to improve your score? _______________________________
1.29.b How willing are you to improve it?..........................................0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1.30 I am willing to determine the willingness of others to make similar commitments……………….........…0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1.30.a What would it take to improve your score? _______________________________
1.30.b How willing are you to improve it?.........................................0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1.31 I am willing to hold other board members accountable for their leadership of our profit……………....…0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1.31.a What would it take to improve your score? _______________________________
1.31.b How willing are you to improve it?..........................................0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Your TOTAL Score: _______ out of 100